What is a domestique, and what do they do?
Domestique is a French word, which, when used in a cycling context, literally means servant.
The role of a domestique is simply to be a helper to their team leader. Some of what
the job entails is obvious, other parts are more subtle. The role of each domestique will
also depend on their strength, experience, speciality and tactical nouse, so here is
our guide to that role, which will hopefully make everything clearer.
One of the main jobs of a domestique is to protect his leader from the wind. Sitting
behind another rider will save you around 30% in power on a flat road, sitting behind
your entire team will save you even more. In this way, domestiques will do everything
they can to make sure that their team leader saves as much energy as possible, either for the
entire stage, or at least until a selection of the best riders is made.
Domestiques are also priceless when it comes to protecting a race lead. At the start of
a stage, the race leader's domestiques will make sure that nobody dangerous goes up the
road in an early break, and that the group isn't too big. As the stage progresses, the
domestiques will start to set a pace on the front, making sure that the gap to the breakaway
doesn't get too large, and depending on the aims of the team, bring it back before the finish.
Their job also entails helping their leader if they get into any kind of trouble. If they
are forced to stop for a puncture, mechanical problem, natural break or crash, then one
or more domestiques will wait with their leader and bring them back to the bunch, again saving
them as much energy as possible.
A domestique will also make sure that their leader doesn't have to stop if they don't
need to. If their leader needs more food, drink, extra clothing or anything else, the
domestique will drop back to the team car and bring it up to them.
Just as important as keeping your leader out of the wind is getting them into the right
position before a crucial part of the race, be that a climb, cobbled section or
an area of potential cross winds. If the leader had to do it himself, he'd have to use a lot
of energy to get into the right position and might not be at his best when the crucial
point actually starts. Likewise, if the leader starts an important section at the back of
the bunch, he'll either use unnecessary energy to get to the front of the group, or even
worse, not get there at all.
Some of the more experienced domestiques will make on-the-spot tactical decisions on the
road. Many races these days do not allow race radios, so this quality is becoming even more
important. The team leader is normally the strongest rider in the team, but that doesn't
necessarily make them the most tactically aware. A good domestique can keep them calm
and stop them making any mistakes on the road.
The job of a sprinter's domestique is slightly different to that of a GC leader, and also depends on
what role you have within the sprinter's team. For a couple of riders, the job will be to
make sure that the early breakaway isn't too big, then set a tempo on the front of the
bunch to make sure that the gap doesn't get too large, and then, eventually, start to
bring the gap down.
Other riders fall into the job of the leadout. A good sprinter's team will aim to keep as
many domestiques as possible for the last part of the race. Once that team gets into the
final kilometres, each domestique will have their own job. Often starting with 3km to
go, their aim will be to keep the speed as high as possible in order to keep their sprinter
out of trouble and reduce the risk of them getting blocked in. That speed will build up gradually
until the final domestique's role is to, ideally, hit the front with 400m to go, gradually increase
the speed until around 200m to go, at which point the sprinter will hopefully do his stuff.
An occasional job for a domestique is to enter the early break, with the sole aim of helping
their leader later in the race. In a mountainous stage for example, some riders might not be
capable of making the front group on one of the later climbs when the pace rockets. However,
if they're in the early breakaway and setting a steadier pace, they can be in a great position
if their leader attacks from the group behind. They can then pace them for as long as possible,
with the aim of maximising the time gap to their key rivals.
Domestiques will also sacrifice their own equipment, if the situation arises. At a crucial
point of a race, the team cars are sometimes not directly behind the front group, so if a leader
punctures, a domestique will give them their wheel to speed up the change. Likewise, if
there is a rider who is of a similar size to their leader, they might simply swap bikes.
On some occasions, a domestique can be useful simply to give their leader motivation, or
keep their morale up. Athletes often start to question their own ability at critical
moments, and cyclists are no different. The relationships that teammates build up together
can often mean that the domestique is key to making sure that their leader doesn't give
up, quit, or hold back at the crucial moment.
Finally, the term super domestique refers to a rider who is one of the best in the world
in his own right, capable of winning races himself, but who sometimes puts himself at
the service of others. Think Fabian Cancellara at the 2013 Vuelta, Chris Froome at the 2012
Tour de France, Tony Martin riding for Mark Cavendish, or Jens Voigt at almost every other race of the season.