(digital gears grinding)
- We're at the 2019 Giro d'Italia,
and we've been given exclusive behind the scenes access
to the Astana Team bus, so we're going to go
take a look and see what we can find.
(funky soul music)
Before we even go in the bus,
you can see next to the door here,
there's, well, all the major successes of the Astana Team.
So we've got Vinokourov's Olympics win in London,
and then also all the victories they've had
in the Grand Tours, in the Vuelta, the Giro, and the Tour,
so, Alberto Contador back in 2008,
but also Nibali's wins here, as well.
Woo!
Alright, let's go in.
It's nice here, isn't it?
Nicer than my house.
I'm going to take my sunglasses off
before I get accused of being like Bono
wearing sunglasses indoors.
But these are the chairs that the riders sit in
when they're traveling to races,
and also, when they have their race briefings.
And I'm told that they turn, they turn round,
and they can swivel around for when they're driving along.
(hydraulic lift squeals)
(exasperated sigh)
Got Road Books littered around, so we're at the Giro,
so this is the Giro Road Book.
It's got the rider's name on it, and inside here,
all the riders read this before every stage
and do their homework, and they learn about
what's going to happen on the stage,
and where the feeds are, and what time the stage starts,
and all that stuff.
Cool, I'll leave that one there, right.
Let's put this away.
(hydraulic lift squeals)
There we go, alright.
As you move further back into the bus,
the first thing that captures my eye
is this rather splendid looking coffee machine.
Think I better check that it works,
just want to help the team out and stuff,
fancy a brew as well, so, put a pod in there.
(coffee machine brewing)
(brass horn serenade)
Yeah, it's uh, appears to be working okay.
(funky bass drum beating)
(speaking Italian)
Complementi.
Oh, look at that, it's loads of coffee pods,
that's a lot of coffee.
Tell you what, this is neat, this, look at that!
(door handle clicks)
(chuckling)
This stops people catching on it
as they walk past, that's nice.
Alright, let's move further back into here.
So this is a small kitchen area,
plenty of recovery stuff here.
So we've got all their whey protein,
the energy drinks can be made up here,
and also things, some of the supplements,
so we've got glutamine as well, all good stuff.
And this is a sink, but underneath here,
we've got a little hub, so a little electric hub,
which means that's the soignuers can cook rice
and things like that for the team when they're finished.
And then a big fridge here.
Wow.
Lot of Coke, a lot of Coca Cola in there.
We've got lemonade, all the chilled drinks,
oh, some nice lowfat yogurts, parmesano cheese.
I'll tell you, this fridge is brilliant,
look at the chocolate.
I mean, dark chocolate's good for you,
I've been saying it for years.
And what have we got in here?
Tuna, plenty of tins of tuna
to get their protein in, as well.
And well, it looks like some more yogurt.
More yogurt, so, you want to eat like a pro?
Chocolate, tuna, and yogurt,
with some parmesan cheese on top.
Also, got a microwave oven here
for cooking other various bits and pieces,
and then these cupboards are full
of all sorts of other bits and pieces,
lots of food, as well, in there.
Nice big bag of cookies and some cereal.
Nice, close that, right.
As we move further in, well, we've got a toilet here,
so it's a nice sort of sized bathroom.
There's a standing up one and a seated one,
pending on your requirements, and a big sink, as well.
And then in here, we've got the shower.
There's actually three shower heads, so in theory,
three people could shower at once in here,
but apparently the team generally
just do two people at a time.
But yeah, it's quite, it's a good size shower
considering it's in a bus.
As we move into the back of the bus,
there's this nice, sort of, sofa area at the back,
and this is an area that's used for different things.
So sometimes, this is a chill out space
where riders can come and just relax
if they've got time ahead of a time trial,
or at the end of a stage,
and they just want somewhere where they can
just have a little sleep or just chill out.
But also, it's used to store things.
So at the moment, you can see we've got
all the rider's helmets here, ready to go
for the next stage.
And also, they've got finish line bags.
So this is a finish line bag that we've got here,
and a finish line bag is filled with everything
that a rider will need at the finish line.
Clue is in the name.
So at the bottom, we've got some shoes.
So obviously, you don't want to be going around
in your cycling shoes, especially if you're going
on the podium, you need your podium shoes,
so you can walk up there.
And then there's also other things in here such as, well,
clothing and things like that,
and towels to get your dry.
And you've got your finish line baseball cap, as well.
So the soignuers will have those bags
ready at the finish line for the riders.
Something else cool we've got in here right now
is all the team radios ready for the race.
So they're all labeled up depending on the riders.
We've got Lopez, his radio there,
Dario Cataldo's radio there,
Ion Izagirre's radio, and they've all
got their own headphone, and then these
are the radios down here.
Cool.
Also got a cool bag here, as well,
which the soignuers can use to put cold drinks in,
keep them cold for the riders.
I'll tell you something I really like though,
I've just spotted these towels, look at these.
The riders have personalized towels with, what,
golden embroidered names on them.
(laughs)
They're really cool, and they've got
their flags on, as well.
I want a personalized Astana towel.
(chuckles)
(funky electronic jazz music)
At the front of the bus,
you'll see we've got a really nice tribute
to Michele Scarponi, who is a much loved member of the team
who sadly died when a car hit him in 2017.
Scarponi was, well, as very successful rider.
He was a 2011 winner of the Giro d'Italia,
but when he went out training,
there was often a parrot that went out following him,
so as a tribute to that, there's a parrot
up in the bus, as well.
And then also, when we go around the side of the bus,
Scarponi's memory very much lives on in the Team Astana,
and we've got a little picture of Scarponi there, as well,
with a parrot on his shoulder.
It's a nice tribute to a much loved rider in the team.
On the outside of the bus,
there's loads of really cool features, as well.
So this here is actually a massive screen,
and the purpose of that is that when fans
are stood round the bus, say, at the finish line,
waiting for the riders to come in,
they can watch the race on this big screen
on the side of the bus.
And it's really nice, sort of, harboring
that sense of community with the fans and the team.
And then, also, there's a big awning that comes out.
There's a big kind of, well, gazebo out the side of the bus,
and well, it serves two purposes.
It protects mechanics and riders from the sun,
but also, the rain as well.
(hydraulic door opening)
In here, we've got all the tax rollers,
so these can be pulled out and the riders can be warming up
on those at the start of a stage,
or cooling down on them at the end.
And then in this one...
(brass horns amplify)
They're not going to go thirsty on the Team Astana.
It looks like they're expecting some kind of drought
based on all the stuff we've got.
(chuckles)
Then in here, well, we've got
a load of energy bars stowed away,
and some cleaning kits, as well.
So these little hoses, these can be used to clean the bikes,
but also, the bus as well, and that's what the pump's for.
Right, let's go have a look around the other side.
At the back here, we've got a massive 24 kilowatt generator,
and the purpose of this is to power
all the systems on the bus, so the showers,
the washing machines, the TVs, when the bus is static.
And it means that they don't have to run the engine
and just sit there with the engine idling,
which would be bad for the environment, and well,
any fans outside, or mechanics, would be breathing in
loads of fumes, which wouldn't be nice.
We've also got the washing machine here, as well,
which is really important for cleaning all the kits
so that riders aren't riding in dirty bib shorts.
And there's all the detergent and stuff for that.
And then here, we've got more supplies,
more drinks and bits and pieces, and various sort of things.
Also, the sort of memorabilia, sort of stuff, that, I guess
can be given out to fans, as well,
information on the team, these nice little cards,
and Giro d'Italia promo bits and pieces, as well.
And underneath here, there is a 1,000 liter water tank
which is for, well, all the showers, and washing,
and cooking, and well, toilet flushes
that you'd want to do, so more than enough water.
I hope you've enjoyed this behind the scenes look
at the Astana Team bus, and if you have,
then please give the video a thumbs up
and subscribe to GCN if you haven't already.
And if you'd like to get your hands
on one of these GCN Italy themed t-shirts,
then well, we've currently got them in the shop,
you're in luck.
And if you'd like to watch more Giro d'Italia content,
then well, click on Michele Scarponi and his parrot.
The teams say, it's actually quite nice,
the teams say Michele is always with us,
which I think is really nice.