The Tour de France adventure begins for Tudor without glamour – the chief mechanic is relaxed, the CEO fears he might forget an important detail

A small town somewhere between Lille and Lens. A huge shopping mall dominates the scene, surrounded by fast-food restaurants. Cars race past on the highway. In the background, a black hill rises into the sky, incongruous with the flat landscape. It's the coal mine tailings that once provided jobs for many people – until the mines closed in the early 1990s because mining was no longer profitable.

In this unassuming setting, the most important race in the history of the Tudor cycling team begins – without the glitz and glamour. The Swiss team, founded in 2022, is allowed to participate in the Tour de France for the first time, presenting itself on cycling's biggest stage. This is a milestone for Tudor.

The parking lot in front of the team hotel is full. Tudor shares the accommodation with another team. Cars and support vehicles are parked everywhere – and there's Diego Costa's workshop van, too. Two mechanics are tinkering inside, two more are working outside. Costa, a broad-shouldered Italian with close-cropped hair and a firm handshake, is Tudor's chief mechanic. He remains calm, even though there are only two days left until the Tour's premiere.

Costa says that for him and the three other mechanics, the Tour is hardly different from other tours like the Giro. He should know – this is his 16th Tour de France. Until 2024, he worked for Team Sky and its successor, Ineos Grenadiers. "We've prepared intensively. I'm relaxed; we're doing our job," he says. But he can feel the motivation rising within the team. In France, it consists of 35 people.

For the mechanics, the tour began a week earlier at the Service Course, the bicycle and spare parts warehouse in Schenkon near Sursee. There, they overhauled the bikes: new chains, fresh tires, precisely adjusted gears, and checked the brakes. Costa has defined the exact procedure – this increases safety, he says.

Tudor is bringing 24 road bikes and 16 time trial bikes to France for the eight riders. They're also bringing 65 sets of tires in various sizes and all sorts of spare parts: groupsets, frames, saddles. And around 5,000 bottles for drinks: "As far as the technology goes, I'm relaxed. The only thing that can stop us is crashes with broken frames or flat tires," says Costa. The biggest challenge is keeping the staff in good spirits for four weeks.

During the tour, the mechanics' daily routine is strictly scheduled. In the morning, one inflates the tires, another checks the brakes, Costa installs the front wheels and checks the transmission batteries. After the start, he drives to the nearest hotel and organizes water, electricity, and parking.

After the race, he and his team wash the bikes and discuss the next day's setup with the sports director. Each is responsible for the bikes of two pros. The days usually last from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. "I don't see much of the racing, but I've experienced enough Grand Tours," says Costa. Why does he do this job? "I want to win. It's the best feeling when we're successful as a team," says Costa.

Raphael Meyer, CEO of Tudor, also wants this. In the foyer of the team hotel, he explains how exhausting the journey and the days leading up to the Tour were; packed with press conferences and sponsor meetings. "Everything is bigger at the Grande Boucle – the entourage, the vehicles, the organization." And unlike at other tours, Tudor is particularly in the spotlight in France – thanks to Julian Alaphilippe. The Frenchman is a two-time world champion and a star in his home country. He has already led the Tour and knows the feeling of wearing the yellow jersey. "Our team bus will be besieged before the start; we have to get used to that," says Meyer.

The team had less than 100 days to prepare for the Tour, as the wild card didn't arrive until the end of March. Until then, Tudor planned the season without any certainty, which made organization difficult. "Which riders do we use where? How do we plan the budget? These were the questions we were concerned with," says Meyer. Tudor did not apply for the Vuelta, the third Grand Tour alongside the Giro and the Tour. "That would have been too much," he says.

The team's operations continued as normal. After the Giro, Tudor also competed in the U23 race of the Tour of Italy, competed in competitions in Denmark and Belgium, and the Tour de Suisse. Meyer says: "At times, we were pushing ourselves to the limit. Our structure had to accommodate a lot of things." This even extended to the employee who checks expense receipts and suddenly had a lot more work to do.

The Tour is a showcase for Tudor – with both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it raises the expectations of sponsors, while on the other, participation makes it easier to find sponsors. Shortly before the start, Tudor announced a partnership with a major shipping company. Meyer says: "Being represented at the Tour de France helps us in negotiations with potential sponsors."

Meyer is wary of paying too little attention to a detail. "We rented a car with a cooler specifically so we always have enough ice and the drivers can cool off," says Meyer. He and the team try to keep an eye on every detail to ensure nothing is forgotten—a Sisyphean task. Meyer wants to avoid any mistakes that could diminish the performance of the professionals.

If Meyer has his way, the team around Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi should prove its capabilities right from the first stages. The hilly second stage on Sunday, with the finish in Boulogne-sur-Mer, is especially suited to the co-captains. Meyer says he dreams big and thinks in visions. These days, he's dreaming of a Tudor rider wearing the yellow jersey in the first week.

Some teams paint their bikes yellow as soon as one of their riders is the overall leader. Costa and Meyer left the yellow paint at home. Meyer says: "We'll only do that when we arrive in Paris in yellow." So the dreams and visions aren't going away anytime soon.

An article from the « NZZ am Sonntag »