3 Days ago I returned from the Tour de l’Ardeche, a mountainous 6 day women’s stage race in the south of France. Whilst there I was working as a Soigneur for the Racing Chance Foundation and their team of 6 riders.
As Soigneur I basically spend my day helping the riders so that when they’re not racing they can put their feet up and rest for the next day. Duties include massage, cleaning bottles and feeding the riders from the side of the road as they pass as well as a number of other tasks.
We set off from Manchester on the morning of the 30th of August where we picked up our van/mini bus and loaded it up with bikes and bags. To begin with it was just 4 of us, myself, Alan Gornall (Director 
Sportive), Amy Gornall and Lizzie Holden. Whilst Alan drove us out of Manchester to begin the journey south, the girls in the back attemted to get the DVD player working only to find 2 hours later that the instructions we had been reading (I’m guilty of missing this too) said THE DVD PLAYER DOES NOT WORK. Thankfully we half got it to work but without sound Cool Runnings isn’t quite the same.
My van driving experience was limited to my Mum and Dad’s Peugeot Partner and my current car, the Granny Waggon Ford Fiesta made the step up to this ‘MASSIVE’ VW Crafter was a little worrying. Despite this I got behind the wheel and battled with the variable speed limits down to Harpenden to pick up our mechanic Ian and 3rd rider Julie Erskine. The other 3 riders planned to meet us at the race accommodation so all that was left to do was to get to the Channel Tunnel.
The next morning we set off from our overnight stop outside Reims and soon I had not only 
driven a van and travelled on the Channel Tunnel for the first time but also driven abroad! After picking up the Team Car we finally made it to the Race Accommodation, Le Ranc Davaine. Here we met the other 3 riders, Bethany Hayward, Anna Christian and Swiss National Road and TT Champ Doris Schweizer. The static caravans we had were, shall we say cozy.
The first night was a fairly easy one. Whilst Alan and Ian prepared the bikes I just cleaned the new Secret Training bottles to get rid of that new plasticy taste and smell.
Day 1.
It was an early start to my first day as a Swannie. Bottle filling and van loading took up a chunk of the morning before I drove the van to the start. The first stage involved a number of laps of a large town circuit before making its way to the next town for the finish. Before the start of the race I teamed up with another teams Soigneur and we made the short trip to the feed. The pace of the race was fast so out of 4 feeding attempts I managed to make only 1, a pretty sorry effort. To add to the misery, on the drive to the finish I misjudged the height of the van and scraped the top on a low bridge. Whoops! Lizzie was our first finisher in what was a sprinters finish in this climbers race.
Back to the caravans after a quick meal at the finish kindly provided by the race organisers and straight away I begun half an hour massages for the 6 riders who were all excited to get into the mountains tomorrow.
Day 2.
After finishing cleaning bottles from the night before I began the daily tasks of preparing the recovery drinks, filling bottles and making sure the riders had their race bottles. It was little over an hour to the start and after teaming up again with the same swannie from yesterday we made our way up the mountain to the feed. The trip was a little longer than anticipated as we spent most of the journey stuck behind the slowly moving Publicity Caravan. At the top an isolated house looked the perfect place to park the vans, and between us we managed to convince the elderly French couple to let us park in their front garden. Merci beaucoup to them! At the feed I just about managed to get all of our riders a bottle (I think) although it was a rushed and panicked affair on my part. Still getting used to it.
Next, onto the finish in what looked like a sleepy French town. Sleepy until masses of cycling fans took to its streets. Doris hung onto the tail of the lead group and as the other girls came in it was clear how hard the stage was. The heat was almost unbearable with Anna adding that this stage would have been enough for a single day race. Tomorrow, Ventoux.
We were late getting back that night and I’d decided that sleep was just as important as the massage so slots were reduced to 20 minutes. The last rider Julie left the cabin at 11pm. More bottles still needed washing and my sleepy head dint hit the pillow until 12.15.
Day 3.
Today would see the first ever women’s race to finish at the summit of Mont Ventoux. After a hard stage yesterday it was going to be a gruelling day. Again it was an early start for me doing the daily tasks. The start was around 2 hours away and market day made it a tricky navigational task. After doing a big loop and ending up where we started, then making a 25 point turn, Alan took the lead and navigated us to the start. Using my TomTom and navigational skills made making it to the feed and then the top of Ventoux a doddle… almost. The police were being a pain and wouldn’t let me drive to the very top so I parked up, put my bag on my back, set my Garmin to run and clambered up a rocky path. First Racing Chance to the top was Doris, followed by Anna and then the rest. Spirits at the dinner table were much higher today whilst reflecting on a day the girls will for sure remember for a long time. Another late night was to follow but I think by then we were all getting used to them.
Day 4.
On paper today looked harder than yesterday and what was to happen today would confirm this. Up until today I was beginning to love VanLife but the twisting roads to the start made me and the Party Bus fall out a little. This morning the girls were looking a little tired so I offered to get coffee. The smiles soon returned and I was on my way to the feed. Roads didn’t improve but the tricky hairpin bends were more than worth the views from the top. I was now getting into Swannie life. The windows were open, tunes blasting out and the horn tooting to every fan on the roadside. After the feed I followed the riders down the mountain before peeling off to make a 2nd feed. Here I waited for an hour or so to find the groups even more spread out. Alan called to tell me that Julie had been taken to hospital but was OK after becoming dehydrated. I was still waiting for Amy and wandered down the mountain to scout for bottles as we were becoming severely depleted. I made a final feed to some of the back markers before being passed by the broom wagon with Amy smiling and waving
at me from the window. Amy had struggled with a hamstring earlier in the season and after 4 hard days racing and having spent half of today pushing with one leg she made the correct decision to throw in the towel.
Today was a hard one and the news that Julie was to spend the night in hospital dampened the mood ahead of the double stage day tomorrow. My workload had been reduced but it was another late night.
Day 5.
It was clear to see that the younger riders on our team were finding the hard racing and heat increasingly difficult to deal with. It was a very early start for the Time Trial in the morning and I was up at 5.55am to go about the morning schedule. Just as Anna was to set off she realised her saddle was too low and with the mechanic in the team car still returning from Bethany and Lizzy’s efforts I had to put my limited mechanical skills to the test. Panic over, Anna made it to the ramp in plenty of time. Doris, our final rider was looking for a good result. She had ridden the course in the morning and was a little concerned about the condition of the roads but still produced a solid performance.
Onto the start of the road stage and despite it still being very very hot the wind had drastically picked up. The experienced Doris seemed relaxed between stages but the other girls looked exhausted along with a number of other riders from teams dotted around the car park. In a bid to lift moral a little I added some smiley faces to the top of their race bottles, there was little else I could do.
Me and Amy followed the French out to the feed where they tried to do one over on us, leading our big van to a spot on a descent where feeding would be almost as hard as turning the van around. We just about managed the turn and headed back to a spot on a slight raise we had seen earlier. With Margo, the South African Swanny I had been working with a good laugh was never far away. She would imitate every accent of every person she spoke to and the best by far was at this feed. A bull in a nearby field let out a loud noise to which she immediately, and with surprising accuracy returned the call at a volume which could have been heard by mating cattle throughout France. The peloton passed through with only 2 of our riders and pointing at my Racing Chance Jersey a race motorbike made me realise my French phone app was actually working, “Deux arriere”… That must mean two at the back?
We waited, hoping our 2 would soon pass and take a bottle but when they did come into sight they stopped at the van. Anna and Lizzy’s gutsy ride had come to an end and we loaded their bikes before making our way to the finish. Bethany and Doris had just one more day to get through.
With only 2 riders left in the race I could increase the massages again to 30 minutes and had the time to treat Amy’s hamstring too. Bottles were cleaned and it was time for the last night in my tiny bed.
Day 6.
The final day. Whilst 19 year old Bethany was planning a day in the gropetto, Doris, a rider who had been competing and winning at the highest level for a number of years had one goal in mind.
After more fun and games turning the van around I assembled my swannie team which had now swollen to 4 and made our way to the feed at the bottom of the final climb. We had a long wait at the feed in the baking sun but we made the most of it with the music again blasting out of the Party Bus. When the feed came around we could see that Doris was looking strong as she took her bottle at the front of the group. We waited for Bethany with a bottle of water, a can of Coke and a big piece of Broccoli after we’d joked I’d give her this broccoli at the feed. When I first saw Beth approaching however I thought she may not have welcomed a large chunk of broccoli being waved in her face as she passed so I dropped it and passed her a bottle. Whilst giving her a cheeky push up the climb Beth was in great spirits adding she wanted the now warm and smelly vegetable lying at the side of the road but had to settle for a Coke waiting another 20 yards up the climb.
We got back to the van and set off for the finish. I began walking down the last 500m to the finish aware that the first riders would soon be flying past. Walking backwards I saw a lone rider take the final bend into the long finishing straight. ‘Is that? It can’t be! It is! Its bloody Doris!!! Go! Go! Go! Go!’ 
After running to the finish and back to the van 2 times I walked the next time to the finish to see Bethany cross the line and witness Doris on the top step of the podium.
It would be fair to say we appreciated the work, hospitality and food provided by the organisers but after a hard week and craving it for the past few days, me and 3 of the riders located a pizzeria and couldn’t resist!
Setting off at 8pm we drove North dropping Doris off in Lyon and wished her luck for the European Champs next week. We arrived back in Kent early morning and made our first drop off in Harpenden before setting off to the nearest roundabout to make a U-turn, Beth had left her passport in the van. We than dropped Anna and Lizzy off at Birmingham Airport before making it to the nearest motorway slip road and again turning back for Lizzy, her flight had been cancelled. Next onto Manchester Airport to make a second attempt at dropping Lizzy off before finally saying goodbye to the van (I’m going to miss you really). I arrived home at 7pm, just in time for a family BBQ. The week couldn’t have been any better!
I’d like to say thanks to Alan, Ian, Amy, Beth, Anna, Lizzy, Jools, Doris and Margo for the opportunity, help and for just being a great bunch to work with.
Aidan Holgate Sports Therapy 