The second day of racing on the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift featured a uncommon cut up stage, which hadn’t been seen on the Tour de France since 1991. The peloton confronted a difficult double-header consisting of a brief, flat 67-kilometer highway race within the morning, adopted by a 6.3-kilometer time trial within the afternoon.
Reviving a once-popular custom, the cut up stage doubled the joy for spectators however proved much less common with the riders. The day felt like a revolving door of pre-race preparations, outfit adjustments, warm-ups, cool-downs, refuelling, and refocusing — turning the race right into a psychological problem in addition to a bodily one.
Racing two occasions in someday is undeniably taxing for the riders, however they aren’t the one ones pulling double responsibility. Even a race as transient as 7 minutes calls for specialised time trial bikes and tools. Transporting this additional gear throughout three international locations required further automobiles, elevated storage at motels, and further mechanic hours for setup and upkeep. Biking Weekly took a peek behind the scenes to see what the day regarded like for the hardest-working folks of the tour: the race mechanics.
30 bikes and counting
(Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
The Tour de France Femmes is contested by 22 groups, every with 7 riders. Every rider wanted no less than two bikes –a highway bike and a time trial bike– to finish the second day of racing, however way more tools was being transported, prepped and cleaned than that.
Whereas the precise quantity of apparatus diverse based mostly on a workforce’s funds and sponsors, on common, most groups on the Tour de France Femmes have:
– 3 highway bikes per rider
-1 time trial bike per rider
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-1 spare time trial bike for the chief(s)
– 50-80 wheels in whole
Lucas Fouquet, a mechanic at FDJ-Suez, instructed Biking Weekly that he and the three different mechanics prepped and cleaned 35 bikes on Tuesday alone. To accommodate the short turnaround between the 2 phases, the workforce added a fourth mechanic only for the day. Along with lending an additional hand, the mechanic would take the time trial wheels again to the Service Course within the night. The bikes, nevertheless, would keep within the additional truck all through the Tour, and double as an additional logistic automobile for baggage, water, and so forth, Fouquet stated.
It’s plenty of work for a race that doesn’t even final 10 minutes, Fouquet agreed.
“It’s higher to have someday only for the time trial,” he stated. “It was a bit messy for the groups [in between the stages]. We had lots happening.”
The day began like some other race day. The highway bikes had been put away clear the night time earlier than, besides, they acquired a once-over to make sure every rider’s bike was completely tuned to the rider’s particular preferences and the day’s race circumstances. All of the gear was then loaded onto the vans and comply with vehicles and pushed to the beginning of the primary race in Dordrecht. Right here, the good trainers are arrange for the riders to do their warm-up, and spare wheels are divvied up throughout the assist automobiles.
Among the mechanics can be within the assist car, prepared to switch a wheel, swap a motorcycle or repair any points which will come up throughout the race. The remaining mechanics helped pack up and switch the non-support automobiles to the end.
As soon as in Rotterdam, it was all arms on deck for the mechanics. Trainers have been once more arrange for the riders’ quiet down whereas the bikes used within the first stage needed to get meticulously cleaned and prepped for the next day. The workforce additionally travelled to the resort so riders may eat and bathe earlier than returning to the centre of Rotterdam for a recon of the time trial course. This meant that the time trial bikes needed to be ready for the recon and regarded over once more afterwards, guaranteeing they have been race-ready. Earlier than the race, the trainers have been set out but once more for a warm-up and post-race cool-down. In the course of the race, mechanics took turns accompanying particular person riders in comply with vehicles.
One among their prime riders, the newly topped Olympic time trial champion Grace Brown, acquired a 3rd time trial bike for the Tour—a last-minute golden addition to honour her Olympic achievement. Sadly, Brown suffered a flat tyre throughout the time trial and needed to end the race on her spare bike (painted within the inexperienced and yellow colors of the Australian champion), dropping vital time throughout the bike swap.
Put up-race, the mechanics cleaned the time trial bikes because the riders returned from their particular person efforts, placing them away clear and prepared for a future race.
“For positive, these are busy days,” commented Luka Riva, Ceratizit – WNT Procycling Workforce mechanic. “It’s the start of the Tour de France and there’s a lot of stress additionally for us, the mechanics.”
Riva stated the primary two phases have been tense within the peloton, resulting in extra crashes than standard, which additionally provides work for the mechanics.
“We at all times must be prepared for every thing,” he stated.
His workforce carried 21 highway bikes and eight time trial bikes. In case of a crash within the time trial, the workforce’s Normal Classification leaders would have gotten a spare bike, and all different riders would have acquired both a spare wheel or a highway bike to complete the race on.
“For the mechanics, it’s laborious,” the mechanic of St. Michel Mavic-Auber93 stated a few cut up stage. “We’re not used to it at this degree. In beginner racing, it’s fairly frequent however they solely have two bikes – one highway, one time trial bike.”
The St. Michel crew solely had three mechanics for the day, one in all whom had an extended night in retailer, tasked with dropping off the time trial wheels to release some house earlier than rejoining the race in Valkenburg for the beginning of Stage 4.
“It’s lots however, you realize, it’s the Tour de France so we now have to do it.”
