- We've been given access
to behind the scenes look at the AG2R La Mondiale team bus.
And I'm really excited to show you
what's in a bus during a three week Grand Tour.
So first impressions, super clean
and pristine bus this is.
You've got the front seats, which is normally
reserved for the director sportif
or a rider, if they do really well.
Then you got the drivers seat
most important seat in the bus.
You're not getting very far without that guy.
In the corner you've got loads of GPS units.
So making sure the bus driver knows exactly
where he's going and exactly how long it's going to take.
Up here, you've got Bruno Riviere,
and he is the driver of the AG2R La Mondiale bus.
So moving on from the bus drivers seat
you then go back, we got eight seats here
lined up for the riders.
This is where a lot of the riders spend a lot their time
during the travel for post stage or even pre race
to get to the start of the stage.
I've just found a Mavic box here,
if we have a look inside here.
You've got the numbers, so that's Alexis' numbers.
Loads of different numbers for the Giro.
His Mavic shoes there.
And behind me you've got the skin suits.
So there's Ben's skin suit.
There you go there.
And they've just had their TT stage.
So they're probably drying out
cause it was a bit of a wet stage.
Above us, we have an aero lid.
So that would have been used yesterday.
Still all drying out from pretty horrific weather yesterday.
And then we get to the middle of the bus.
We got bench seats.
Really comfortable bench seats,
really nice area to relax, chill out,
maybe even put your legs up, and try and recover
ready for tomorrows stage.
Then if we move right back to the kitchen area,
you've got PowerBar Max Recovery up here,
then coffee machine, microwave.
Under here, you've got bin, you've got to keep
the bus nice and clean and tidy at all times.
Plenty more,
washing up liquid,
and hand sanitizer.
After all, keeping clean and
cleanliness is key, on a team bus.
So moving on from the coffee machine
and the microwave on that side,
we come over to where the food
is prepared by the soigneurs.
We got plenty of fruit in there,
massive bowl of it, bananas, pears,
and anything you can really imagine.
Freshly made cakes,
that I'm looking forward to having a taste of.
You got bottles from Elite and then you've got
ketchup, I think that's, yep, olive oil,
loads of sauces.
Try not to make a mess.
And then behind me you've got a big monitor there.
And this way the director sportif will be
explaining to all the riders about the stage,
how long it is, what the plan is for the race,
and how they can, you know, get their best result
they can, if possible.
Also if the riders are doing like a recon
or they've done a recon, they can
show the stage on the telly.
I'm guessing, this is the fridge.
Yep, fridge stacked full of like,
pureed apple, plenty of drinks, waters, cokes.
We got freezer then, with loads of ice packs.
If you're interested to know what ice packs are for,
is they stick these down their jersey,
to keep them nice and cool,
or if they do have an injury it's good for
rest, ice, compression, elevation.
Got, another mirror, perfect for me.
If we open this cupboard,
we've got everything you need for
when you're traveling you can eat on the go.
So you've got all your sauces, your cutlery,
so the soigneurs, once they've prepared meals
like a rice based meal, they can have their food
while they're traveling to the hotel.
So each rider, has a specific shelf.
So, let's look at Lary's for example,
he's got his helmet there, casquette, and his shoes.
You've got spare casquettes, and podium hats.
Then when we move back we've got showers to our left.
Now these are actually, nice ones,
they've got their own, so there's two,
individual showers there.
Over here you've got radios, all being charged up,
really important to make sure they're fully charged,
so that the riders know what they're doing,
can communicate with the director sportif.
In the back here you've got one really long bench.
This is where the director can speak to some of the riders,
or they could even get a massage here,
but it's quite a nice area just to chill out
in the back of the bus.
As we move over there you can see an array
of different cupboards and cubbyholes.
If we open this one for example,
we've got a printer there,
now the director sportif will use that to print out
stage notes, and that kind of thing so they can
put the stage notes on the stem for the riders.
Maps, everything you need to know.
Got more hats, more gloves.
A desk, so that the director sportif can work.
Over there is, mainly for the soigneur,
so you've got towels there for the massage.
You'll notice they've got some really cool lighting,
going on up here, it's not the newest bus
in the world, but it's still, it's packed full of tech.
Digital clock, incredibly important,
so the riders know exactly, when they're warming up,
how long they've got before the stage starts.
Cause, yeah you don't want to be late.
After the radios,
there is, worth pointing out, they've each got
a full stack of rider cards to go,
to give to fans.
So that is Ben Gastauer, and Francois Bidard, there.
Now something I nearly missed because,
well, it's quite frankly invisible,
is the toilet,
and it's actually,
pretty spacious.
Well hidden that one.
You've got shelves at the top of the bus,
and this is for storage basically,
but up here you've got loads of different leg lubricants.
So all the different oils, from warm up oil to,
deep heat, anything the rider needs,
so this is where the soigneur will be lubing
the riders legs up or giving them
a pre-ride massage, before they go.
And then you've also got, some medium muscle balms,
you've got, this is actually really important,
some kitchen tissue paper, to wipe
some of the excess oil of the legs.
Spare shoes, sun cream,
so that's pretty important, during the World Tour,
especially when it's really hot, but also
the Giro gets hot, and cold, so
you need to be prepared for all weather.
More kit, more helmets,
so that's the normal, Bidard's normal helmet.
Not so aero, and
Bidard's skin suit, fresh from yesterdays race,
or should I say, not so fresh.
Right, so the riders are going back on,
so I better get off.
I hope you've enjoyed having a behind the scenes look
inside the AG2R La Mondiale team bus.
If you enjoyed it then make sure
you give it a big thumbs up,
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on the little tiger, up there.