I could suss out that we’re going to do something big today. I don’t get too involved in what the team tactics are for the day usually, but sometimes I’ll talk to the sports director Nicolas Portal in the mornings. Sometimes Froomey will text me the night before and say, “I want to do something special tomorrow,” so I’d make sure I have his gearing right.
This day, on stage 19 of this year’s Giro d’Italia, he was not going to make one mistake. You could see it. As the stage progressed, more tactics were unfolding on the radio. Then it happened. Froomey attacked with 80 kilometres to go. I’ve seen him explode before so that was my biggest concern but that was usually down to refuelling.
He ate and drank more than I’ve ever seen him do in any other race on this day. I had goosebumps in the car. He was talking a lot on the radio and you could tell he was fresh and the pain in the knee had disappeared.
When he crashed on a recon before the race started, he hurt himself badly. Then he rode an ok ITT on stage one, but the following day he hit a barrier with the same knee, doing more damage. It looked like the race was over. Twice he told me he wanted to go home.
I’ve been Froomey’s mechanic for a long time now. He is as tough as nails and doesn’t go home easily.
If you know his character, fourth place is not good enough for him. It’s all or nothing. He’s got an incredible character. So, the Giro this year was a special race, it was a rollercoaster of emotions. That was probably one of the best days in the history of cycling.
Chris Froome wins the Giro d’Italia, stage 19 (Photo Marco Alpozzi – LaPresse)
I was on the road for 40 days prior to the Giro so was already exhausted. We did a training camp in Tenerife, several Giro recon days, the Tour of the Alps and after that straight back to the warehouse to build bikes for the Giro before flying to Israel. The workload is immense as a World Tour mechanic.
For a Grand Tour, each rider will have four road bikes and two TT bikes each. Froomey and Geraint have six road bikes and three TT bikes each. The Tour de France was a nightmare. We had to build 24 bikes just for the one Classics stage. We prepared 35 pairs of wheels just for the one stage – wheels that will never be used again.
When you see how hard the riders train, it’s all worth it. I wish fans could join us on training camps and see how hard the riders work. You’ll understand why they win races.
My job continues during the race. I’m in the first team car with the sports director. My role is to listen to the radio and relay the information to the DS which he relays to the riders. If there is a breakaway of 47 riders going, I must write down every single rider and know where they are on the general classification in case we need to shut down the break quickly.
One thing that has changed in the sport is the drinks list. I’ve got a comprehensive drinks list in the car. It’s not just standard water and a carbo drink like in the past. Some guys have coconut water and all these things … it’s a bit of a bar order. When I retire I’ll have bartender as experience on my CV haha.
The Tour de France was another bag of mixed emotions for me. I wanted Froomey to win 5 Tours to join the legends and prove a point for all the criticism he’s taken. It would have been nice for him to win and prove a point. I’ve been with him for 280 Grand Tour stages and he’s the most scrutinized rider.
In another way, I’m happy for Geraint. I’ve been with him since his first Tour when he finished second last on GC in 2007. He’s the kind of guy who suffers an incredible amount of bad luck. I’ve seen victory snatched from him so many times through a crash or a dropped chain. In Tenerife, I’ve seen him crash and break a frame. From there we went to Belgium to recon the cobbles and he crashed in the first day of training. Then he entered the race and crashed on the first cobbled section. Here’s a guy with a huge engine who can win but has no luck.
This was the first time for three weeks where nothing went wrong.
He’s one of the hardest workers in cycling. I’ve helped him out on a training camp in South Africa during his holiday in the off-season where I’d meet him every morning in Camps Bay at 6am. Every morning, without fail, he was ready to go at 6am, waiting for me. That’s during his holiday. It’s great to see someone like that getting rewarded with the victory. He deserved it and did the perfect race.
