Among the hundreds of people milling around team buses in Florence at the Tour de France's Grand Depart was a small collection of of men unknown to those outside of cycling’s inner circle. They were there to shake hands with the protagonists and engage in high-stakes discussions. Dressed in flat caps, rolled-up chinos and deck shoes – almost an unofficial uniform – they are the agents who represent the world’s best-paid stars.
These influential men move cycling’s chess pieces around the board year on year. And the start of the Tour is a particularly important time for them, because tradition dictates that the race’s two upcoming rest days are their time to do business – two 24- hour periods during which, in quiet hotel bars and tiny cafes, contracts are negotiated and transfers finalised. These days, some deals are done earlier, typically during May’s Giro d’Italia, but agents remain totemic figures in the Tour’s travelling circus. Just who are these powerful, mysterious men and how do they exert such a big influence on the sport while remaining more or less hidden from view?
