In his 2008 book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell said that to become an expert at something, a person must practice it for 10,000 hours. A month later, Geoff Colvin published his own theory, making the bold statement that ‘talent is overrated’ and that focused practice plus time - over DNA - is what makes someone great at something.
Rather than Gladwell’s 10,000 hours, Colvin wrote that it would take 10 years for someone to become truly great at something. This train of thought is something that appeals to Megan Guarnier, who, after years of ‘chipping away,’ enjoyed a banner season in 2016.
Guarnier, who rides for Boels Dolmans, has been moderately successful in recent seasons but last year surpassed everything she could have hoped for. The American raced just 36 days but was victorious on almost a fifth of them, including successes at the Tour of California, the Giro d’Italia and the Philadelphia Classic.
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“If you look at how many years I’ve been doing this, really putting everything into this sport, it has been 10 years, and maybe there is something in that philosophy,” Guarnier tells Cyclingnews.
“As far as I can tell, there were no big changes. Last year was my third year with Boels, I’ve had the same coach for nine years, and it has just been about chipping away at my weaknesses and continuing to work on my strengths and never taking anything in this sport for granted. With all of that, and the support that I have within my team, it just all came together for me in 2016.
“For me, last season is still a dream. It was part of my progression and when I look back at what I achieved it was more than I ever thought that I could have.”
Staying at the top
Racing in the USA
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