Dimitri van Boxstael, one of the four soigneurs for Team LottoNL-Jumbo, takes care of our riders at this year’s Tour de France. Dimitri, in his sixth year working for the riders, tells how an average day in the Tour goes.

“My day starts one hour before the riders are due to eat breakfast. I first start with my own breakfast, then the preparations start. In total there are four soigneurs at the Tour de France. Two soigneurs deal with everything that has to do with the course, the other two make the lunch boxes for all the staff members and take care of the other preparations. They drive right to the next hotel, where for example they set up the massage tables so we that we are able to start immediately after the stage."

“On a hot day, we fill around 150 bottles and divided them into three coolers. There are also drinks for the staff on the move. When we finish the preparations for the day, it is time to go to the stage. At the start, we make sure that every bike has two bottles and we rub the backs of the riders."

“After the start, we go to the feed zone. It is fun to drive on the course with all the fans on the side of the road. At the feed, the riders take their musette bags filled with sandwiches, bars and gels. After the feed zone, we race to finish where we stand ready to give the riders a drink. We go to the hotel to change clothes afterwards. Each soigneurs massages two riders. We are one of the few teams to vary the riders we massage. So every day, we massage two different riders. When the massages are finished, after a 12- to 13-hour day, our work is over. We eat dinner and rest, and often it’s already time to go to bed!”