King maker
‘REALLY good, Tadej! OK, 600m to the bike change.’ It is Stage 20 of the 2020 Tour de France, the race’s only time-trial and the last day of GC racing. Allan Peiper, sports director for UAE Team Emirates, is talking on the radio to Tadej Pogačar, second on GC, who is about to swap his TT bike for a lightweight road bike before the climb to the Planche des Belles Filles ski station. The pivotal moment of what is turning into the most dramatic Tour de France day of the past 30 years is approaching. In the car, Peiper’s eyes are cast wide in concentration.
All appears calm. Then suddenly a blast of a horn. A TV motorcycle has positioned itself between the car and the barriers. Peiper looks over in shock. For months his team has been planning for this moment and now a motorcycle is in danger of derailing the whole operation. ‘Get, get, get, out of the way!’ shouts an incredulous Peiper.
The motorcycle moves away. The car slows. The moment has arrived. Vasile Morari, the mechanic responsible for conducting the bike change, jumps out, swiftly removes a bike from the roof and seconds later is sending Pogačar on his way. Morari gets back into the car and Peiper reaches back to shake Morari’s hand. ‘Good job buddy,’ he says.
Perfect preparation
It is nearly two months later on a cold and grey day in late November when Cyclist catches up with Peiper on Zoom. He is in Belgium, where he has lived for most of the past 40 years, and has just returned from a three-hour bike
