Since the start of the Tour de France, a team of twenty-five people have taken care of the eight riders day and night who make up the Cofidis team. Constant attention for the men of Cédric Vasseur which should last until Sunday July 23, date of arrival on the Champs-Élysées.
Nutrition, equipment, clothing, professional training participating in the Tour de France should leave nothing to chance. Like last year, 12 vehicles and a luxury bus will be mobilized to allow the small red, black and white squad to shine on the roads.
Part of this fleet of vehicles is dedicated to the daily supply of food and the delivery of fresh produce (mainly bananas, twenty a day). The team’s nutritionist has planned to distribute 1,600 energy bars and gels to the runners who will swallow around 200 sticks throughout their journey in Spain and then in France. The runners will quench their thirst by gulping down the equivalent of 3000 cans of 55 cl of water (50 liters of water swallowed during a stage).
Like the eight runners who hope to see Paris this year, the bikes are also the subject of special attention. 40 machines of the Look brand (whose unit price exceeds 12,000 euros) will be used. To these frames, it will be necessary to add the cycles dedicated solely to the time trial. All these bikes are meticulously inspected, cleaned and adjusted daily by four mechanics (an additional specialist mechanic is solely dedicated to the exercise of the time trial) who work in a workshop truck and a complementary van. 80 spare tires are provided in the event of a puncture, as well as 80 pairs of wheels (including 30 new ones) for a total of 1800 inflated wheels over three weeks! In the event of breakage, sixteen emergency managers are available to the French team.
The Tour de France is also a meticulous organization for the laundry service. The Cofidis team has two washing machines and a dryer to clean 48 jerseys (six per runner). Each team member also has two helmets and four suits. One hundred caps are also taken away and about fifteen others are used only during the presentation of the riders on the podiums that Guillaume Martin and his friends hope to collect in large numbers until the finish in Paris.
