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Pssst! The latest insider news: The team behind the team - Feeding during the Tour.
10/07/2024
Just where it’s getting serious, nothing can be done. The field rushes along with nearly 50 kilometers per hour. Out of eight feeding bags, only two find their destination. The rest goes back to Vittorio Algeri’s team car. The sport director is in charge of the provision on the way. Ralf Grabsch later says: „I’m not tired of life, you can’t feed yourself at this speed.“ So he also just passed the helpers of Team MILRAM as a precaution. And Stefano’s and Yankee’s work during the stage was nearly in vain.
The two Italians are part of the team behind the Team. They accompany the nine pros as physiotherapists. Yankee is doing his third Tour de France, for Stefano it is the second. About a quarter of an hour before the start, the two set off for the course with the third team car. For Yankee the best part of the day: leaned far out of the window, he first enjoys a second breakfast and then the view on the fans standing in narrow rows along the road. No wonder he prefers taking the Tour-route to get to the feeding zone instead of the shorter way over the motorway. „As a precaution,“ as he says. „You never know how to get back to the route otherwise.“
After about two and a half hours they reach the feeding zone. The viewers are standing close-packed. „No chance to do a reasonable feeding,“ Stefano says. „Sometimes, the viewers are sent to the one side of the road and we’re standing on the other,“ Yankee says. Here, however, everybody has to fight for the best place. Thanks to the colleagues of Liquigas, they soon got a parking space at least. Everybody profits from that: Next time, Stefano and Yankee maybe keep a parking space free for the others. Besides, with some chatting in Italian, the time to the rider’s arrival passes much faster.
A glance into the TV shows Marcel Sieberg and his comerades extending their lead continuously. At the moment, he still has a good hand – in the feeding as well. Crossing the feeding zone, he easily grabs his bag from Stefano. Yankee, positioned 50 meters further as a precaution, initially is without work. When the field rushes past the feeding zone about five minutes later, there isn’t a lot to do again for the two. They get rid of one bag each – and Yankee saves a windjacket of the team, which was thrown at him by Alberto Ongarato and grabbed by a fan at once.
A few minutes later, it’s over. The team cars join the convoy on the road and disappear for the motorway towards the finish. On the motorway it becomes obvious that there is a patron among the physios. Or even two. „Quick Step and Credit Agricole are always first,“ Stefano says. „They’re not overtaken.“ And Yankee adds: „We always drive to the finish together. Together we’re strong.“ So, the convoy of more than 20 colourfully pasted cars rolls over the motorway to the finish in Ghent, where the team busses are standing, with a speed of about 130 kilometers per hour. The main work for Stefano and Yankee starts in the evening in the hotel. There, the riders’ legs are waiting for an extensive massage. And especially those of the rider of the day: Marcel Sieberg wasn’t able to continue his escape to the finish, however, he was on the podium as the stage’s most active rider on the third day of his first Tour de France already. (sts)
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