Klas Johansson is a mechanic at Belgian team Lotto Soudal. Like many of the WorldTour’s backroom staff, in a former life the Swede was in the spotlight himself during a respectable racing career. He won his national championships in 1993 – a race won by Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt in 2007 – and was on the precipice of riding onto the global stage. But life conspired for a different outcome, and although still chiselled and youthful-looking – only the creases in his forehead give away his 55 years – Johansson finds himself at his ninth Tour de France as a mechanic, wrench in oil-stained hand.
‘I’ve been a mechanic since 2009. I started with women’s teams and the national team before moving to the WorldTour and Garmin [now EF Education-EasyPost]. I then worked for Vacansoleil-DCM until they disbanded in 2013. It was then onto MTN-Qhubeka, which became Dimension Data, for six years before they closed. Then I spent a season with Israel Start-Up Nation, and now we are here.
‘As a rider I had a contract offer to turn professional, but I didn’t take it. I regret that to this day,’ he adds in a way that makes it clear he’s only half joking.
has caught up with Johansson on the Tour’s sweltering second rest day near
