Something weird is happening at the Tour de France: teams keep losing their buses.
And that’s important because team buses are effectively team offices, changing rooms, toilets, kitchens, showers, and, yes, vehicles all rolled into one. Without a team bus, what even is a cycling team?
The weird and disturbing trend started on stage one when only half of the race’s team buses were present at the finish line. Instead, the riders were met by team staff members, who handed out backpacks and sent them on their bikes in the direction of their hotels. It was like a throwback to yesteryear when pro cyclists had to fend for themselves.
That same day, stage winner Romain Bardet couldn't even contemplate the magnitude of taking a career-first yellow jersey in dsm-firmenich PostNL’s bus shower because the team’s vehicle had broken down en-route to the finish in Rimini from the start in Florence.
The warning sign on the bus’s dashboard started flashing during the four-hour drive, indicating a major problem. A quick call was made to a local garage, and the bus was swiftly in for a repair – although team officials were keeping tight lipped as to what the confirmed diagnosis was.
Tyre sponsor Vittoria hastily offered to assist the Dutch team, withdrawing one of their own branded buses from an event, but it was unable to arrive in Rimini in time to welcome Bardet and the victorious team. It was, however, present at the start of stages two and three, while DSM’s official bus was in the garage.
The bus drama then escalated at the start of stage three in Piacenza, when a blue bus with the words ‘Italia Cycling Team’ printed on it was spotted entering the team paddock. For a brief moment, spectators thought they had been transported back to the 1960s when national teams last contested the Tour.
It was therefore a shock and a surprise to see Intermarché-Wanty riders, none of whom are Italian, stepping off the bus to sign-on. Where had the Italia Cycling bus come from?
The reason for the confusion, according to one of the Intermarché’s shouting staff members, was that the Belgian team's bus went "kaput" on stage two.
Cycling Weekly’s investigation team later found out that the team's original sponsor-laden bus had an issue with its "cooling belt", but promised inquisitive journalists that their official bus would be back for when the race returns to mainland France on Tuesday.
The Italia Cycling mega bus, it turns out, was only borrowed to transport the riders and their equipment to the start. Waiting to welcome them at the finish in Turin was a cutesy, stickered campervan.
ASO, the Tour organisers, were asked to comment on this worrying development of teams losing buses, but a company spokesperson said that “ASO cannot be held responsible for the disappearance of team vehicles”, before adding a “pfft”.
