Totalcar – Magazine – Why are more than 120 vehicles needed for a 120 person cycle race?

Without motor vehicles, there would be no cycle race. If you feel this statement is steep at first, you may want to head out to one of the Tour de Hongrie stages in the next few days. A huge caravan will crash before and after the 119-person cycling field. Some 84 cars, more than 40 motorcycles and dozens of other service vehicles (police cars, ambulances, sweepers, jugs, etc.) will guarantee the smooth running of the race. Without them, there would be no Tour in the Tour.

Company cars

These cars are the most important for cycling teams. In them sits the team leader who is responsible for tactics, an assistant who delivers refreshments to the cyclists and usually a mechanic is with them. At least half a dozen spare bikes are on top of them, and the rest of the car collapses with food, clothing, tools, and spare wheels. From a professional team level (second cycling division), a team is essentially expected to have two or three of these cars in the race.

Diesel trucks are essentially basic, very few run on gasoline alone. In the last twenty years, the Škoda Octavia / Superb Combi has essentially become the basic two-liter, 150-horsepower TDi in European racing, but the start of the Tour de Hongrie in Esztergom has already shown that other manufacturers are getting started. to join the field again.

The CCC team, for example, also had Volvo V90s in the fleet, Androni still complains about third-generation Focuses, Trek already has hybrid Toyota Corollas, while Jumbo – Visma and Israel Start-Up Nation voted for German premiums. .

It’s no wonder the Octavia is so popular, as not all teams get the car for free as a sponsorship tool, and for this purpose it is perhaps the most spacious and best value car that meets the rules (a minibus too high, for example, cannot be used for this purpose). ). Let’s say the Sunweb team couldn’t always tell you to use a car from a blessing sponsor – one year they suffered with Mini Countrymans and Clubmans all season long.

The cars are the same as those that can be bought in the salon, except for the special bike racks on the roof and the huge radio antennas. Inside only there may be some modifications to fit smaller televisions, radios and tools.

On such mixed courses, such as the category 2.1 Tour de Hongrie, there are also unique solutions. One of the helpers from the continental (third class cycling, there are only fans below him) Adria Mobil said that his Fiat Tipo pickup has a 1.6 Multijet diesel, but they flaked it to make it a little stronger. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell you how much it managed to improve performance, but it’s just a software modification. It would have been nice to have a power meter :).

Buses

The richest Pro Teams and World Tour teams (first-class professionals), which cost tens of millions of euros a year, also have large buses where passengers can travel in luxurious conditions so that they can focus only on regeneration in Multi-day tours on the destination-hotel route.

Of course, the buses are much more complex than this, in addition to the luxury armchairs, they also have small separate rooms, a kitchenette, a bar counter equipped with a huge coffee machine, a washing machine and compartments for storing bikes, tools and wheel.

If you’re already rolling – there is usually a huge shield on the sides of the buses to keep riders as warm as possible before races. Large teams also hold pre-race briefings on buses. The most popular models are the Scania Touring, the Irizar Century and the MAN Lion’s Coach.

Neutral car

Despite the utmost care, the team may not be able to help a struggling competitor. This happens most often when the person is out of the head, but their teammates roll even further and the accompanying car is focused on them. This is when the professional racing neutral car comes into the picture, which can give everyone a wheel or even a bike. The really shaky cobblestone classics also have a separate neutral motor, which brings extra spare wheels.

Cyclists

At the start of the Tour de Hongrie in Esztergom, I asked the surrounding police, who said that 15 of themselves would help run the race, plus 26 more of them. yellow vest works for the Hungarian circle. They take a photographer or a member of the jury or people from the television crew with them. Their job is wildly dangerous: riders can shoot at speeds of over 50-60 on flat ground and up to 100km / h on slopes, and motorcyclists can’t affect the race. Of course, cycling is not an indoor sport, the broadcast must go 2000 meters in snow, frost, rain and mud.

In professional bicycle racing, a moving barricade is used, which means that road safety motorcyclists, working together with the police, keep the road in front of the cyclists and then release it after the caravan has flown. Even in the face of sidewalks and other terrain obstacles, motorcyclists often signal with a whistle. In big races, the neutral engine is also an important player: it carries a wheel and bottles with it.

Police officers, ambulances and medical convertibles

To have immediate help in the worst case scenario, three ambulances and three police cars travel continuously with the caravan on the Tour de Hongrie. There is also at least one convertible working in the field that serves as a medical car. Smaller abrasions and wasp stings can easily be done from a moving open car, so the rider is not limited in time.

Jury

In a truly professional cycling race, there are many rules to follow, plus there is no indicator for all of this (except the time and technical conditions of the bikes). That is why the jury travels with the field. The vehicles used here are typically provided by competition sponsors, with the Škoda Superbek serving the Tour de France for many years, while the Tour de Hongrie this year has a mixed fleet (Mercedes for race directors, Volkswagen Tiguan for the jury).

Without exception, cars with a glass roof are needed, often the right front seat is also removed from the car so that the race director or a member of the jury can comfortably spy on the field.

Other vehicles

In recent years, the Tour de Hongrie has grown so much that two helicopters and an aircraft flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters are working in addition to the fixed cameras of the escorts and the departure / arrival areas for continuous live coverage and high quality to do the best possible. we get an experience.

Another good thing is the van that rolls at the end of the caravan, the broom car, which usually picks up passengers who are given a time limit. The entire line also includes cars that transport VIP guests and journalists. Buses and other team vehicles do not usually go with the field, they try to move around the field in a shorter route so that everything is ready for the competitors to arrive.

Cover photo: Destination area at the 2019 Giro d’Italia at Ceresole Reale / János Macsuga – Flowcycle.hu