The Performance Mindset

STEP 2BOOST YOUR RESILIENCE

Mat Hayman could be described as a journeyman in road cycling. His professional career in one of the most physically challenging sports lasted almost 20 years. He rode for high‐profile teams such as Rabobank, Team Sky and Orica–Green Edge and competed in the Tour de France four times. Mat also won gold in the road cycling at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Through most of his career he was typically a ‘domestique’: a support rider who rides tactically for the benefit of the team. He also became a one‐day race specialist. Mat experienced many ups and downs through his career. Along the way, he learned how to deal with these challenges, and the lessons learned had to be applied again and again.

Mat's career‐best achievement came when he least expected it. It was in his favourite one‐day classic, the gruelling Paris–Roubaix. In 2016, the 15th time he competed in the race, he crossed the line in first place by less than a second. The Paris–Roubaix is held over 250 kilometres of French countryside, with more than 50 kilometres of the race on old cobblestone farm tracks. In the insightful documentary All for One, which chronicles the formation and journey of the Australian cycling team, Orica Green‐Edge, as well as Mat's own personal story, legendary race commentator Phil Liggett described the Paris–Roubaix as ‘one that everybody hates to ride, but everybody wants to win’.¹

Mat's mantra: Always keep riding

When I interviewed Mat about his career ...