Bicycle racing not only offers an instructive metaphor for 21st century investing, but the outcome of the 2008 Tour de France in particular offers lessons for the savvy investor. Investors can learn important lessons from the strategies that prevailed and those that did not, specifically, the thinking and principles behind those strategies, in the larger context of this greatest of all sporting events.

Competitive sports actually reflect more parallels to investing than some may recognize. Competitive sports — and especially bicycle racing — are ultimate alpha contests. While some athletes value participating as much as or more than winning, those who win regularly, it is often said, want to win — and therefore value winning — more than do those who do not win.

Winning is alpha; participating is index hugging. For those committed to alpha outcomes — to winning — matching the average to finish in the middle of the pack is far from an acceptable outcome.