Cycling is won in the 'preparation' more than any other sport that I can think of. Illustrating that point was a comment made by a friend & competitor of Lance Armstrong's. One Christmas Day he picked up his telephone & called Lance's cellphone to wish him a 'Merry Christmas'. Lance answered the phone while on his bike somewhere in the Pyrennes in the middle of a training ride. On hanging up the friend was quoted as saying to his fellow partygoers, "Sh-t! I just lost this year's Tour de France!"
Great story.