Igor González de Galdeano He was leader of the Tour de France in 2002 after winning with his team, ONCE, the team time trial against Lance Armstrong’s Discovery. For a week, the Basque lived a yellow dream leading the most important race in the world and sleeping with two stuffed lions every night.
The curious thing is that, a week before that appointment, Igor lived an unpleasant anecdote in the Midi Libre, a French test. He was putting on a great performance when Armstrong insulted him. “He told me a bit of everything. He insulted us and then he didn’t want the podium to take place. That’s why only he appears in the podium photos, because he didn’t want us to go out. Lance taught me the things that a leader can’t do,” account to BRAND someone who has been very present at the beginning of this Tour in Euskadi.
“That it starts from here is a dream for everyone. Here there is a lot of tradition for this sport and I think it has been a party for all the fans and something very special for both the Basque runners and the former”, he confirmed to this newspaper in Bilbao someone who, as a curiosity, cut the sleeves of his yellow jersey in 2002 because they were a bit tight and that ended up costing him a scolding from the organization. “I didn’t want to bother asking for another one,” he recalls.
Now, González de Galdeano works in a company that tries to make the end of athletes as comfortable as possible: “My company (Outpoint) was born with the intention of accompanying high-performance athletes at the end of their career. The past is lived in company, you receive tributes and recognitions because the effort you have made to be on top is highly valued, but when the day after comes, which usually takes two months after stopping, the future is lived in solitude. The fans, journalists, those who seemed like friends turn the page and stay with the new idols that come. You go into the future alone.”
He says it from experience. It happened to him. And he tells another funny anecdote: “It seems that, when you retire, your cell phone breaks. They told me that the moment would come when it seems that it has broken. You pick up your cell phone and you think that it has turned off and you have run out of coverage. But really it is that nobody calls you. People have turned the page and you have to look for a new life looking for success in another way. And that can only be done by reflecting from the inside out and advising yourself well to make the best decisions.”
He had two moments of fame in his career: “I lived two parts. Fortunately I lived the part as an athlete and then, no longer being a runner, I became director of Euskaltel Euskadi. As an athlete, I received many calls from friends. He was even recognized on the street and I felt important. As manager of Euskaltel, the telephone burned every day. Because you had many brokers in various parts of the world. The mobile battery did not last long. Of course, when I finished being general manager it was when I looked at my cell phone to see if it had broken down.”
Looking at the future
Then came the time to make decisions: “When I finished my degree I received investment proposals. You have money that a person like me, who left the sport at 38, had savings and I received many proposals. But you have to make a decision good and not get carried away by the projects that people close to you present to you or those that seem like friends that can lead you to ruin”.
The key, according to him, is to be well surrounded: “In my life, he always advises me well, but not everyone does. When you’re up there, you think you’re never wrong. Luckily, I always worked as a team and I was right because The experts around me were right. I also failed in investments, but what cannot be is that any decision you make weighs you down or discourages you in the rest. I would not change anything from the past. I know that I would return to being an athlete or a cyclist. You always want to change something, but you don’t have to look back even to gain momentum”, confirms the Basque, who believes that Vingegaard and Pogacar “are going to give us a great show on this Tour”. Igor looks at the race that brings back the best memories. The quote that ti your life in yellow forever.
The synopsis of his book, ‘Pedaling to Success’
In the pages of the book ‘Pedaling towards success’, which is already available, the reader will discover the trajectory and extraordinary evolution of one of the great athletes of our country, which led him to achieve his dream. González de Galdeano, yellow jersey of the Tour de France and winner of two stages of the Vuelta a España, explains in his book step by step the road to success, but not only sporting success, but the conquest of the greatest challenge of any professional. of any field, which is to lead oneself. Teamwork, emotional management, personal balance, humility, discipline; These are some of the keys to success that the author highlights and that will serve as a magnificent guide for managers. ‘Pedaling towards success’ exposes the similarities that appear in the existence of a business professional with responsibility for people and a high-level athlete, with an exhaustive analysis of his experiences to transfer lessons that can be extrapolated.
