Inside Lotto-Soudal’s Service Course

Lotto-Soudal was preparing its mechanics’ truck for the Giro d’Italia when Cycling Weekly visited a few weeks ago. Photos by Simon Scarsbrook

The mechanics' truck in the Service Course warehouse
The mechanics' truck in the Service Course warehouse
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Cycling Weekly was recently invited to visit Ridley’s Service Course – the warehouse and maintenance centre serving the Lotto-Soudal professional cycling team. The mechanics’ truck was just being prepped for the Giro d’Italia when we took these photos.

The mechanics' truck in the Service Course warehouse
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The Lotto-Soudal team mechanics’ truck has storage for hardware at the back and a baggage area further forward, just behind the cab. In front are bike racks for the team’s bikes.

Ridley bikes ready for action

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Lotto-Soudal’s bikes racked in the mechanics’ truck – a mix of Ridley’s Noah SL and Helium SL models.

>>> Bikes of the 2015 World Tour

New Zealand flag on Greg Henderson's Ridley Noah SL

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New Zealander Greg Henderson’s Noah SL.

Different tread patterns for different conditions

Different tread patterns for different conditions
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Continental tubulars ready for action - conditions during the Giro can be variable.

Baggage area is packed with rather less care than the bikes

Baggage area is packed with rather less care than the bikes
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Luggage thrown into the baggage area of the mechanics’ truck – bad luck if you’ve packed anything fragile.

German champion's colours for Greipel's jersey

German champion's colours for Greipel's jersey
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André Greipel’s German champion’s jersey hangs from a trophy. Greipel won stage six of the Giro before withdrawing before the stage 14 time trial.

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Belgian champion Jens Debusschere’s Lazer helmet in Belgian national colours.

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The bouquet was still going strong from the end of March - are they real flowers?
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Rising neopro Tiesj Benoot‘s third place bouquet from March’s Handzame Classic one day race.

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A bulk delivery of Tacx bottles
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Pro teams go through a lot of water bottles – around 3000 on a three week grand tour.

A repository of race souvenirs

A repository of race stickers
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Race souvenirs plastered on an internal wall.

Washing and food area in the Service Course building

Washing and food area in the Service Course building

Lots of washing, the occasional microwave meal – and quite a few signed jerseys.

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Paul Norman

Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.

He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.