The Incredible Logistics Of The Tour De France | Inside Neutral Service

Ever wondered how neutral service teams coordinate during the chaos of the Tour de France? From flat tyres to mechanical failures, they’re prepared to handle emergencies at a moment’s notice and provide essential support to all riders! How do they stay so alert and efficient throughout the race? Join Dan to find out how neutral service – the unsung heroes of the Tour de France – actually operate during the race!

In collaboration with @RideShimano 🤝 https://www.shimano.com/en/

00:00 How does neutral service do it?
00:59 What does neutral service provide?
03:43 How many pedal systems does neutral service have to accommodate?
04:48 Does neutral service specifically set bikes up for “star” riders?
05:23 Telemetry system (NTT)
07:39 What have been your favourite moments in providing this support?
10:02 How many bottles do you have?
10:22 Complications with different wheels
12:07 France Neutral Service
12:46 How many bikes & wheels does France Neutral Service provide?
14:56 Neutral service is vital!

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normally at the T front we are very busy whizzing around all the team hotels looking for bikes and hot Tech Etc but right now I’m off to do something quite different I’m visiting some of the most important people in procycling the Shimano neutral service [Music] team uh now as many of you will know neutral service is there to provide riders with spare Wheels sometimes even spare bikes in the event they have a problem and their team car is not behind behind them the complicated part about the wheels is that there are so many different types of rotor sizes gear ratios number of cogs etc etc and with the Riders if they need a spare bike there are lots of different shapes and sizes of riders so it must be quite a complicated thing to organize I’m about to catch up with constan and Bruno of Shimano neutral service to find out how they do it at a race like the tour Shimano bring with them 64 pairs of Wheels 18 bikes and hundreds of water bottles energy bars and gels in spite of this huge undertaking their task is a thankless one we are like a team we are organized like a team but we just don’t have own Riders uh my team has uh eight Riders but in the end we have 180 and we have to be ready for them if they need it in addition they have several motorbikes which can provide additional service if the cars aren’t able to move through the pet on inside each car is a driver in the front and a mechanic in the back a mechanic who has to be not only proficient but super fast as I’m about to find out I’ve been challenged to a wheel chain race so I’m against zulia who I can only presume is the fastest wheel changer in town wish me luck a now he’s done me by a long way I’ve jammed the wheel second place but first loser well done that was a lot quicker than me unfortunately for me changing a wheel should be the easy bit knowing which wheel to put back in is one of the many logistical nightmares that face the Shimano neutral service team as constanza explains we have a big puzzle to solve because uh yeah we have a peleton of 200 Riders uh each and every one of them with different specific different body uh lengths from 1 M 60 to uh the two 2 m guys the challenge for us to uh yeah to Pride everyone in case it’s needed with a fitting bike yeah so how many bikes and how many bike sizes do you have as a variation yeah on every car uh we have uh six bikes in total with with three different frame sizes only three size s m and L yeah and with the help of the dro a seat post we are able to really adjust to the to the sell height of a rider and we have a wider range how we can uh support the Riders of the different uh body length Okay so for those of the people at home that don’t know what is a dropper seat post and how does it work question yeah so the drop a cost means that you can adjust the SLE height manually yourself while sitting on the bike you have a lever on the Handle by itself with which you can regulate the sell heite on the bike while riding your bike so you don’t even have to stop you can just keep on pedaling and adjust the shite and how many pedal systems you now have to accommodate for so uh yeah we always check before race uh which teams are participating uh it’s a difference if you go to a big race or a smaller race but like here we have four different pedal systems of course Shimano pedal system but also the competitor brands because yeah we also we need to help everybody everybody needs to be able to get a bike from us if needed so how does that work with with four different pedal combinations but only three different sizes of bikes how do you know which pedals to put on which bikes yeah we we look a bit uh it’s a also mathematics we look okay how many teams are using Shimano how many are using the uh the different brands and uh yeah we we uh I think with a like a m frame you can serve really a lot of right ERS so the majority of the Riders um uh in the pelaton we will also dedicate the most used pellet system to it so yeah it’s a bit uh mathematics a bit estimation on okay how can you cons serve it the easiest and uh yeah we uh we figured out a good system that’s working where sounds like it do you set any of the bikes up specifically for like the best place right the biggest star Riders let’s say so so at the tour to France the last few years Figo Pacha they’ve been dominating have you got a buy set up for each with their measurements and their own pedal system Yeah we actually do that uh considering the different uh pedal systems uh that they are using uh we prepare up to four bikes for the first four in the GC and uh yeah we set up already their satellites so in case they need our our help we can just easily give them the bike with a perfect uh satellite and you were telling me before we started recording that inside the vehicle here uh you’ve got a sort Telemetry system that allows you to see through Dimension data I think it is n NT yes exactly where every Rider is is that correct yeah I can show you if you want yeah let’s do it oh it’s in the back I thought it was going to be in the front for some no it’s uh with a mechanic the mechanic is the eyes and ears for the driver during the race looking out the window but also through the help of their tablets we are we are able to see the life position of the Riders of the different Riders groups the gaps uh of the different groups uh in time and distance and so how do you use that information for for what you need to do as as Shimano neutral service yeah there are some UCI regulations uh as to when we are allowed to place a car or a motor motorbike behind the rider you know there’s 20 seconds a motorbike may come there is 40 seconds then a a car may come uh but yeah this is very theoretical and a lot can happen during the race and sometimes it’s needed that we adjust just uh uh uh to the needs of the race and it helps us next to the information which we get on radio to on time gaps Etc to also really see ourselves okay what are the real time time gaps for different groups so yeah we can we can adjust uh our position if needed and in the end I think it’s also important for the safety because we know sometimes we have to decide in a split second okay do we stop the car because the back is coming uh very very fast or do we stay another few hundred meters so yeah it really helps us to make these decisions yeah yeah cuz these gaps can change very quickly don’t they and so in a race like the Tour of France you have you have three cars per stage is that correct yes that’s uh that’s very true and the three cars among each other also really communicate so it’s not car one and three one two three uh somewhere in the nice uh sunflower fields of france but now we also really communicate to each other say okay we are here this group is covered reconfirming to each other other uh to make sure every Rider group is covered because in the end that’s our job yeah and have you got any of feel good stories like what’s the most positive thing that been your experience in terms of you know helping a rider that hasn’t been able to access their own spare bike Etc yeah what I personally what I really like I I think also if a rider um thanks for our help it’s really a small detail but you can see uh the guys they really they really appreciate it in the end they are the unsung heroes really in the background uh and uh yeah they are prepared every day uh to be there when uh when it’s needed and then when the rider comes and say hey thanks good job or uh great that you gave me a wheel I think it’s really uh making everybody very very happy I would imagine yeah because it can be a thankless task I think like looking on the outside in you know you look at somebody changing a wheel and this is a team mechanics as well it’s not just neutral service it can only go wrong like if it’s a quick change I’d just be thinking that was a good change if it’s a slow change I’m think well that was that was a shocking change and it’s it’s more critical and it is praising so yeah when a rider comes and specifically says thank you yeah it must mean an awful lot oh absolutely true and I think uh I mean we are there but we are yeah we are like a team we are organized like a team but we just don’t have own Riders uh my team has uh eight Riders but in the end we have 180 and we have to be ready for them if they need it and uh yeah it can be that nobody needs us but in some races we really have a lot of work to uh to do what I think a lot of people don’t really know looking from the outside to a race yeah there must be some like Ru obviously that are incredibly complicated for you guys yeah yeah absolutely it’s uh I think maybe uh yeah one of the most challenging races throughout the year uh a lot of pressure it’s fast race uh narrow roads cobblestones everybody is stressed and nervous but in the end yeah when you when you arrive at the Vel Drome everything went well and you could help the Riders it’s really uh really a satisfying moment for everyone there’s a lot more to it than just sticking a l bikes on the roof and hoping for the best isn’t there yeah it’s uh nice stories we we do everything we give bedons we give gels we give uh uh bars we take clothing we clean glasses we give TOS it’s uh yeah we do everything the bottles must be a big thing I mean we’re stood here we’re absolutely roasted just ahead of the 2024 tour to France yeah we could do with a bottle but I’m imagining these first few days of this year’s race you’re going to get a lot of quests yeah so how many bottles do you have stored normally in the car normally we take uh around 30 but days like this it’s uh yeah it’s obvious that more is needed and uh we bring more I remember two years ago I think when there was really this heat in the tour the France I even had to send uh boxes of new bottles from the Netherlands to the tour because we ran out of bottles W the other thing I was going to ask you about is is the complications with different Wheels cuz for the most part you’re changing wheels for a rider I Pres presume now everybody at the Tour of France is on 12 speed yes that’s correct okay so that’s one thing that’s a bit easier than a year or two ago yes absolutely but we still have the different uh rotor sizes for disc brakes and presumably you know which teams are using which yeah so in in fact uh yeah there are a lot of uh details that we have to know for each Rider the the drivetrain brand um yeah that will determine which cassette we have to uh have to have to take the pedals the rotor sizes and the closing system uh for the wheels as well and that for 180 Riders you do the math yeah yeah so the in the closing system you mean the through axles exactly so how are they different yeah we have three options in fact at the moment uh in the pelaton it’s uh either with a quick release or with a five or 6 mm and uh yeah oh oh I didn’t realize any teams were using 5 mm through axles yeah we still have two uh who are using it oh wow so that’s it’s a lot of information to take in when you hear on the race radio or you see that a certain ride is punctured yeah I I think that’s maybe uh uh what a lot of people don’t know that in fact our mechanics have maybe the most difficult job of all mechanics in the race because yeah you hear the information on the radio you have to think okay this Rider is using uh this drivetrain brand uh this uh um through XEL this rotor size so it’s really a lot of things have to happen in a in a split second before running out of the car that’s what you have in the list at the back here so you just quickly see what team it is what size rotor what size through Axel I’ve now joined Bruno uh who’s with France neutral service who was just telling me he’s been in this sport for a long long time first Tour of France 1997 you said it’s a long time yeah since then he created his own neutral service team many years ago but once Shimano got the contract with ASO in 2021 he’s headed that up but we’re in the room pre- tour to France this year uh we’ve got a lot of bikes and Equipment some of it’s outs on the car on the car we’ve just seen I know some of the bikes are already there and the wheels but on the Tour of France how many bikes and how many wheels do you have here and on the cars Etc yeah we have a lot for commercial stage we have uh 6 603 wh in the total oh wow yeah we have we have uh six bike per car and 13 wheels and we also have six wheels motor bike and for conventional we have one motor bike for the Trav State we have three additional motorbikes okay so it’s a lot time because we have for this stage we’ll have three cars and four motorbikes that’s the 63 Wheels there and I think in in the an in the last 10 days in the last 10 days we’ll have also uh two motorbikes so total of three cars and two motobikes okay have you had a moment where you’ve helped a rider to win a stage of a tour or a stage of I I can uh I remember it was our first our first assistance in 2021 we assist hmes uh and the American uh champion and um we assist him and he he he ride with a bike for 40 kilm it was incredible because normally when we assist the rider the rider has change immediately bikes or if we change a bike he change a bike immediately after and Will it’s also the same but um he he ride with a bike for around 40 km it was really really really good another example but it’s um it was during uh FR Championship it was for small category CAD uh CAD is a is 17 years old and uh we assist a rider and he became France Championship oh fantastic with a with a bike so it was really a nice story so there you have it I mean I don’t think that neutral service is ever seen as the most glamorous part of a professional bike race but it is just so vitally important there are always times when Riders often the biggest names in the sport get caught without a team car behind them and that is where Shimano neutral service effectively comes to the rescue I hope you’ve enjoyed this insight into exactly what they do if you have we would really appreciate you clicking on the thumbs up button down below and please share this with any cycling mates that you’ve got that you think might be interested in it I will see you soon