I am asked the question a lot about how I prepare for races. How do I train? What do I eat? How long do I ride?

All good questions, but one question I rarely get asked — and I’m only saying that in case I’ve mentally lapsed on someone asking it — is WHY do I do all these things?

As I have ridden nearly 1200 kilometers in the last nine days of the Tour of Portugal — officially the hardest race I have done and will ever do — I’ve been asking that question a lot.

This race has a legacy of being the hardest race on the European calendar, with some even claiming it harder than the Tour de France.

Finishing in the Top 10 here is as good as a sign as any that those who do so have a good shot in France.  

Being the second race back from my midseason crash, I had to go into this one with a specific goal in mind. I picked something that was realistic, that was achievable in the limited time I had to prepare for the event.

Training to win a race like this takes months, and as I had weeks, I had to be modest in my preparation knowing that it was going to be a little over my head. I looked at the task at hand and was confident in the one thing I know how to do well — and that is to be a good teammate.

My goal this time was to amplify that and really focus on being a teammate when it matters most, hence sacrificing personal success.

We have a young 22-year-old phenom on our team at the moment.

His name is Daniel Martin, he is the current Irish national champion and is the nephew of a former Tour de France champion. He is a magnificent person and one of the most talented cyclists I have ever seen.

He’s an extremely genuine human being and rarely, if ever, gets himself down and is always encouraging and positive to the people around him. I knew he was gunning for this race, a race that is within his means, whereas for the rest of us it is just beyond our stretched fingertips.

These are the team leaders I have talked about in the past, the riders that are modest and don’t talk a lot and let their legs show how good they are.

These are the riders you go into a 12-day stage race wanting to sacrifice everything your body has to help them. Knowing that they are going to come through at the end and thank you after the day is done is reason enough to give up any ambition of personal glory.

As you may have guessed, I went into the Tour of Portugal with one goal in mind. That was to be a good teammate to Dan Martin, to help Dan grow as a team leader and help myself grow as a proper domestique (or worker as we call them in cycling).

Sacrificing chances at personal success isn’t easy, but finding something that brings about the same sense of gratitude and accomplishment is. I find happiness in helping others, and if that is my one true strength in cycling, then so be it, that is the reason why I will continue to ride my bike.

It’s been hard finding my place in this sport. There are sprinters and there are climbers, there are time trialists and all-arounders, good teammates and bad ones, so finding where one fits can be a challenge in itself.

I have struggled with this in my career, but I have come to the conclusion that being a champion might not be my calling, but helping others get there just might be.

I have always stressed that this is a team sport, but a team can’t consist of just leaders — there has to be a solid group of support riders behind them.

So if you want to cheer for one of the world’s next great cyclists, cheer for Dan Martin. If you want to cheer for the world’s next great team, cheer for Garmin-Chipotle — but keep in mind that achieving success in this sport comes from collaboration as a whole.  

With just two days to go and the hardest day approaching us today, Dan sits just outside the Top 10 at the Tour of Portugal and is currently the best rider under 23 years old in the race.

With his talent we hope to move him into the Top 10 if not even higher.

As you are reading this, sipping your morning coffee, our team will be suffering through the Portuguese mountains, hopefully doing it better than everyone else!

Please, think fast thoughts ... with the time gap, if you all think fast thoughts while reading this, our team just might be able to pull off something great. If you want to check in on the results, go to www.slipstreamsports.com and you can see if those fast thoughts really worked!

Either way, I’ll thank you in advance.

Editor’s Note: Napa native and professional cyclist Lucas Euser, who is living and training in Girona, Spain, writes a column for the Register every other Friday.