Cycling: Being patient all part of the cycle

Patience isn't a virtue that comes naturally to Hayden Roulston but it's a quality the double Olympic medallist has quickly had to learn on his return to the highly competitive world of European cycling.

Accustomed to being number one in New Zealand, on both the track and road, Roulston has had to get used to life as a domestique with his Cervelo Test Team. Rather than racing for stage glory in his maiden Tour de France this month, the 28-year-old has been riding for his Cervelo captains Carlos Sastre and Thor Hushovd.

"I can just imagine the [New Zealand] public looking at the results in the Tour de France, seeing 116th or wherever I am at the moment, and they'll be rolling their eyes," Roulston said. "But it's not about that. I'm employed to do this job and that job and that's what I've got to carry out."

A domestique is a support rider. He is paid to lose or, rather, sacrifice his own chances in the race to make sure his principal riders are in the best position to win.

They shield the team leader from the winds in the flats, allowing him to slipstream; escort him up mountain climbs, protect him against riders from other teams and do the donkey work on a breakaway or chasing a breakaway. They even fetch water bottles from team cars trailing the racers.

Domestiques never win the tour - unless, perhaps they are Lance Armstrong, supposedly a domestique to Alberto Contador this year. A domestique can win - but only when he graduates from domestique-ness to principal rider status (like Greg LeMond of the USA in 1986, after being a domestique in 1985).

It's a subservient, team role Roulston feels he took a while to accept following the hype of the Beijing Olympics.

"You come over here to Europe and it's like what you achieved in Beijing means absolutely nothing, nothing at all. Yeah it gets mentioned, but it really means nothing," he said. "That's when you realise how big and how different road cycling is in Europe. It's unbelievable how hard it is and how professional you have to be to achieve."

Part of that professionalism has been patience and it's that which has proven to be one of the toughest obstacles for Roulston.

"Knowing what I want to achieve might not necessarily come straight away and that's something that's hard to adjust to, as I'm not a patient person, to be honest," he said.

But he believes he's "come a hell of a long way" since he was last in Europe as a brash professional with Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team in 2005.

"I've developed as a person, I'm more media-friendly and I just look at life differently now -so I'm a hell of a lot more mature," Roulston said.

"I was young then, I was in the biggest team in the world at 23 or 24 years old and was in the team with the biggest rider in the world."

So Roulston is happy to play the support role with Cervelo, but only for the time being.

The three-time Tour of Southland winner firmly believes he can eventually become a top 10 rider at the Tour de France.

"Everything I've talked about and thought about is definitely achievable," Roulston said. "When I saw myself in the front group over the Col du Tourmalet, I realised that anything is possible."

Roulston points to his track rival Bradley Wiggins for inspiration. The two-time defending Olympic individual pursuit champion has lost 8kg since the Beijing Olympics to transform himself into a top 10 contender at this year's Tour. At 82kg, Roulston is one of the heavier riders on the Tour, with overall contenders typically weighing around 75kg or less.

"I think Brad has done me a huge favour in self-belief," he said. "It's not about fat. It's about heavy, dead muscle that's not being used. So it's about stripping a bit of muscle, keeping the same power and passing over the climbs."

Roulston believes he needs to lose 2-4kg so he weighs roughly the same as Spaniard Miguel Indurain during his five straight Tour wins in the early 90s. And Roulston is adamant the weight loss won't hinder speed on the track.

"I think if Bradley Wiggins went back to the track right now he'd break 4.11 minutes [the individual pursuit world record], because he's got the same power," he said. "If you can hold the same power and be lighter, you're going to be faster, whether it's on the road, up a mountain or on the track.

"I don't see them [the road and the track] being a detriment to each other; I think they help each other, to be honest."

While the road is the priority for Roulston in 2009, he still feels he's got a lot to achieve on the track in the coming years.

"London [the 2012 Olympics] is definitely going to happen," he said. "The beauty of the track and the individual pursuit is that you can float in when you want and do it, with a bit of work."

The Commonwealth Games in New Delhi next year are part of Roulston's plans and he's aiming to return to the track with a World Cup meet once the road season finishes in October.

But before all of that happens there's a Tour to finish, a new contract to sign and fatherhood to keep him busy.

Roulston's partner is expecting to give birth to the couple's first child just two days after the final stage in Paris. His immediate family has become a key cog in Roulston's professional cycling machine and he feels he struggled in their absence in the opening three months of the season.

"But then my partner and her children came over and it was back to a family unit again and that's when it started to click," he said.

The financial security of that family unit is up in the air at the moment with Roulston off contract with Cervelo in a couple of months.

"There was a lot of talk that we were going to sign before the Tour de France and we held off, for both parties' own reasons," Roulston said. "I'd love to stay with the team, but you just never know."