Inside the Mind of a Tour de France Cyclist: Mental Training, Suffering & Self-Determination

In this bonus episode of The Mental Training Lab, Pete Kadushin sits down with former WorldTour professional cyclist, Olympian, Tour de France team rider, broadcaster, and mental performance coach Brent Bookwalter. Brent raced at the highest levels of professional cycling, including the Tour de France, the Olympics, and World Championships. He rode on the 2011 Tour de France-winning team as a key domestique, supporting team leaders through one of the most physically and mentally demanding events in sport. Since retiring, Brent has completed graduate training in mental performance and now works as a mental performance coach. In this conversation, Pete and Brent explore how elite cycling maps onto key mental performance concepts like self-determination theory, mindfulness, acceptance, pain management, motivation, identity, and career transition. They also dig into the human side of endurance sport: the loneliness, suffering, pressure, and meaning behind the scenes of the Tour de France, and how mental skills can help athletes and high performers grow with more intention, not just figure it out by accident over time. In this episode, we cover: What the Tour de France teaches us about mental performance Self-determination theory: autonomy, competence, and relatedness How mental skills show up in real elite sport Pain, suffering, mindfulness, and acceptance in endurance performance Why mental coaching can change careers and transitions The identity shift from athlete to coach and broadcaster How lived experience and formal training can work together Lessons from pro cycling that apply to athletes, leaders, parents, and high performers If you’ve ever wondered what mental training looks like outside the textbook and inside real elite sport, this conversation is for you. Let’s head to the lab.