Growing by stages

‘Staff wake up at 6:30 in the morning,’ says team manager Tom Varney with a look that only barely disguises the weariness that comes with stage racing. As if to highlight the point, rain begins to drop from the clouds above Wrexham. ‘Then breakfast is at 7am. It can certainly be early mornings and late nights; yesterday we finished at 10pm. Which is also why we like to have two mechanics, two directeurs sportif and two soigneurs.’

This week is the Women’s Tour, which means the Le Col-Wahoo team faces 734.1km of racing around Britain, spread over six stages. The team is formed of six riders, overseen by the two sports directors, Julia Soek and Nico Marche. A DS since 2016, Marche has an abundance of experience to complement Soek, who retired from racing last year and is learning her new role on the job with the Le Col-Wahoo team.

‘Julia is looking after the performance side, since Nico is managing the logistics part of the Women’s Tour,’ says Varney.