Mechanics of the Tour de France: How professional mechanics cope with innovations

At the end of a race day, when the Professionals from the Strains the recovery begins for the hundred or so Mechanic in the Tour de France teams the work begins. Behind the hotels around the stage towns, the same spectacle can be observed in many places: Until dusk Wheels washed with high-pressure cleaners, tyres changed and chains oiled so that the machines work perfectly again on the next stage.

Every now and then, a racer in shorts and flip-flops shuffles over and makes a special request; otherwise, it's just the two of them, the atmosphere mostly relaxed but focussed. One person who has been doing this for 14 years is the German Guido Scheerencurrently a mechanic at Team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl.

Mechanics open to new ideas

During his time as Professional mechanic he has already experienced many technical modifications to racing bikes: Carbon rims, electrical circuits, Disc brakes and Tubeless tyresIn the recent past in particular, things have been happening in quick succession. Almost every year, he has had to adapt to new developments. Training courses participate, train new processes. No problem for Scheeren: "What is good for us is what makes things faster, not what is easy to repair" he says. "Everything else is secondary. If it's the future, let's get ready for it", the mechanic explains the professional athlete's perspective on road bike technology.

The latest Technological leapswhich hobby drivers often criticise as unnecessarily complicated and not very maintenance-friendly, he does not regard as extra work. "On the contrary - the many innovations have even made everyday racing work more relaxed", says Scheeren. This starts with the fact that Hydraulic brakes and electrical circuits are largely maintenance-free and require hardly any adjustment or care. "We used to change all the trains after a rainy day. You no longer have to worry about that with the new groups," summarises the Quick-Step mechanic.

Advantage for hobby screwdrivers

The Batteries the Electrical circuits are only recharged every few days when they have reached about half their capacity. If the bikes were well prepared for the race, the disc brake lines would only need to be recharged every few days. rarely vented become, says Scheeren: "Once they have been calmly adjusted, i.e. meticulously vented once or twice, the set-up usually remains untouched for a round trip."

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Pads are changed less frequently and more quickly than with rim brakes, and brake discs are only replaced when necessary, for example if they are bent after a fall. An additional task for the mechanics is the Braking in new coverings. In contrast to Hobby screwdrivers but professional teams have Machinesthat do this in a matter of minutes. "This is absolutely necessary for the brakes to develop their full power. But it's not much effort for us", says Scheeren.

Mikey van Kruiningen, chief mechanic of the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert teamsees the switch to Tubeless tyres as the most formative innovation of the modern era. His team has been experimenting with it for several years and has completely switched to the new technology this season. "Many riders were sceptical at first. But the power savings we measured - up to ten watts at racing speed - alone helped to convince them", he reports.

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Hill climber Louis Meintjes even drives on good roads 28 millimetre wide tubeless tyres with only five bar air pressure. With this approach Van Kruiningens Team not alone, the vast majority of the peloton now rides on tubeless tyres; only Astana and Movistar use glued tubular tyres.

Exciting discovery phase

For the mechanics, the Technology change major changes in day-to-day work, many are still in the discovery phase. "We still have a lot to try outHow much sealing milk is perfect and how long does it last? Which type is best?", describes Van Kruiningen the new questions. One problem, for example, is that the sealing milk dries out after around two months.

So that such a Impeller is not inadvertently mounted during the race, the Van Kruiningen small stickers that Filling date, Quantity and Type of sealing milk on the rim. The team around Guido Scheeren tries to counter the problem with movement: "We rotate the spare wheels regularly so that no lumps form in the tyre", he reveals. The amount of sealing milk also differs greatly. While the Specialised teams not take any risks and, for example 60 millilitres milk into a tyre, it is the same for Intermarché only 30 to 40 millilitres.

Manual labour for mechanics

The mechanics are largely unanimous when it comes to fitting: the new tyres are much easier and faster. Secret Special tools You will search in vain, the mechanics use their hands and commercially available, small Plastic tyre lever.

The professional mechanics have experimented a lot and found their own tricks to ensure that things run smoothly in everyday life. Intermarché tried different thicknesses of rim tape, for example, until the tyres hopped easily onto the rims and were tight straight away. With Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl the tyres are first inflated through the valve stem with the compressed air gun so that they are already firmly seated in the bed before the sealing milk is filled in.

"It now only takes five minutes to change a tyre", estimates Bora-Hansgrohe mechanic Marek Bajfus. "For tubular tyres, we always set aside half a rest day for gluing. Now we do that straight after the stage on the side," he reports. This will also have an impact on the logistics of the wheels, Guido Scheeren surmises. "In principle, we now have far too many spare wheels on board; until now, they were mainly replacements for damaged tyres", he explains. The tyres can now be changed quickly, and there are fewer broken rims due to punctures or brake damage. System more robust.

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This also applies to the cables integrated in the cockpit, which are now standard on all high-end models. "Building a bike like this has become more challenging", says Guido Scheeren. Especially the Seat position adjustment take a lot at the start of the season Time consumingbecause changing the cockpit can easily take an hour. In the past, this was done during the season, when a rider could simply request a shorter or longer stem for the next day. And today? "He would have to have a very, very good reason for that", says Guido Scheeren - and calls it a day.