domestique

[doh-mes-teek]

noun

1. Cycling.,  a member of a bicycle-racing team who assists the leader, as by setting a pace, preventing breakaways by other teams, or supplying food during a race.

Word History and Origins

Origin of domestique¹

1980–85; < French: literally, domestic

Example Sentences

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider has done a lot of work for race leader Tadej Pogacar in the opening two weeks of the Tour but, freed from his domestique duties for the day, attacked on the final climb of the hilly 169.3km ride from Muret to Carcassonne.

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Meier was to race as a professional for more than 10 years, riding all three Grand Tours including the Tour de France, and becoming well known as a reliable domestique for a number of World Tour teams, latterly the Australian outfit GreenEdge.

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The role of a domestique is to ride in service of others: to deliver the stars to the finish line in the best condition and position to sparkle.

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"I wanted to be a domestique," he says.

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For Poels, it had been a long wait before he finally claimed a first stage win at the Tour de France, after serving for years as a so-called super domestique in support of the leaders of the mighty Team Sky and Ineos.

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