THE LAST WORD

I

have been retired as a pro for 15 months now and I still know the drill. I don’t want to be that guy, who acts like it used to be just champagne and caviar in the old days. For sure, I can also remember the more miserable days in the bunch and often Laurens shares the best advice an old pro could ever give: pack your rain bag

they were around the week-long races in March, which saw snow cancel stages and bitterly cold weather. In all three of these races, Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Volta a Catalunya, I ask my friends who are still racing this one question: is your rain bag prepared? Some guys smile, some guys call me a dick, but the question is always important enough to extend our conversation by at least five minutes. If you’re taking part in these races, you need your rain bag.For those of you who aren’t as fortunate as the guys and girls racing bikes for a living, I’ll explain. The rain bag is a small bag for each rider filled with spare clothes. It sits in the trunk of the team car within arm’s reach of the mechanic. Some younger riders who have just come over from the development ranks will keep only a rain jacket and arm warmers inside that bag. But as the years in the bunch add up, and their experience of racing in bad weather grows, the rain bag typically gets more filled.An old veteran will have everything inside that bag to keep him warm, all ready in a tiny team car waiting with the wet, miserable riders after a stage is cancelled mid-race due to snow. I’ve had that experience (more than once) and that bag saved my life while I wasn’t on the bike any more. I was warm and dry in the team car while my team-mates next to me were shivering in their wet clothes for more than two hours, begging for a hot hotel shower. They learned their lesson. Clothing which sits in your suitcase travelling from hotel to hotel at a race is useless. Their rain bags were topped up the next day.