Abstract
This article recognizes that sports coaching uses predominantly cognitive-based psychological techniques to bring about success. On the whole a psychoanalytic application to sporting success is minimal. Athletic success at the highest level requires suffering beyond the ordinary limits we would expect individuals to endure. In my experience psychoanalysis de-contextualises suffering in sport so that it is seen as a form of self-harm. This position limits the scope of psychoanalytic understanding to support professional athletes in maximising their athletic potential. This article is especially interested in how group analytic theory can be applied to create a winning identity. The theatre of operation in which this identity formation will be tested is the Tour de France (bicycle race).
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