They put everything on the table: a caregiver's confidences

3bikes took advantage of the break for the pro peloton to go and meet Stéphane Gicquel, long-time support man, confidant to champions and cornerstone of their victories… We find him in that very particular in-between time of the season, when the buses are getting cold, when suitcases are still opening on their own, almost by reflex, and when bodies, suddenly, are no longer compressed by the succession of airports, briefings, stages, and midnight bike washes. The break, for 3bikes, it's'the perfect moment to open the door to a life that we celebrate all too rarely That of Stéphane Gicquel, a soigneur for a professional cycling team for over two decades. A behind-the-scenes job, a position without a podium, but without which many podiums would not exist.

By Jeff Tatard – Photos: Stéphane Gicquel

The man who greets us has a firm handshake and the precise gaze of someone who knows, instinctively, where fatigue residesHe speaks with the enthusiasm of a lover and the organization of a logistics expert. Above all, He speaks of others: champions restored to their humanity, when "the table" becomes the only place of truth.

"The massage session is the moment when the rider is finally at peace. He's relaxed, his body is bare – figuratively and literally. That's when he talks to you about everything: his car, his family, his contract, his doubts. They lay everything out on the table."

From the 90s to the elite: a thread held in hand

Cycling started early for him., back when we learned trajectories on routewithout earpieces and where we came back from shopping with scraped knees and dreams too big for a schoolbagAs a child, he rode everywhere, then stopped after moving to Val-d'Oise. He started again as a cadet in Beauchamp, passed through Gonesse, and slipped through the narrow gate of a sports-study program. He retains an undiminished indignation from that experience: "Frankly, it's a scandal that there aren't two or three high-level structures per region to allow champions to cycle properly."

The class is up. Saugrain, Lorgeou, Djouadi, Coutif,… The names sound like race numbers we've already seen in the results pages of the Ile de France cycling race. Cyril Saugrain especially (whom he will never cease to thank), and a generation of detail-obsessed individuals. Stéphane continued his studies – a BTS in Sales and Marketing – without giving up his motorcycle. He then joined the Paris Fire Brigade, becoming a "lord" at heart but with his helmet on, competing in world championships for the BSPP, right up to the phone call that changed a life.“Cyril called me: ‘Stéphane, we’re looking for a trainer at Big Mat Auber.’ I was in my second year with the fire department. My father, a cycling fanatic, told me: ‘You’re not going to quit the fire department!’… And I chose cycling.”

Auber first, on the amateur side, then a ready ear among the prosThe learning curve is steep, direct, and concrete. After three years, he asks for a raise. “I still remember it. I came to talk about salary, and they told me: ‘I’m not keeping you.’ That cured me: since then, every summer, I first ask if they want to keep me on next year. The answer is your compass.”

He bounced back, played for French teams, then adventure called him. Linda McCartney – Yes, that very one, linked to the Beatles name. A trip to England, introductions, promises… and then the chilling announcement: the funds have vanishedThe team came to an abrupt halt in February. A professional setback. So he got back on his feet elsewhere, in Rouen, for one season. "where everything is won in amateur competitions." His English, by the way, is becoming solid: "On the table, I had bilingual guys. They helped me improve. Massage is also a language."

The network works: AG2R opens a door for him (Vincent Lavenu, obviously), then the foreigner draws him in. He wants to test himself at the top, where the Tour and the Monuments are won.He speaks to Kim Andersento other directors, and chooses the one who says "Come" The first one. That's the jump. The Schleck, the classics, the pressure from a Luxembourg sponsor convinced that you can win everywhere, everything, and right away. "We get podium finishes in all the classics, Oliver Zaugg wins Lombardy, the Tour ends with two riders on the podium... and it's not enough." Structures are merging, being restructured. First RadioShack, then Trek Factory Racing, which became Trek-Segafredo, then Lidl-TrekThe names of runners mark his memory like kilometer markers: Fabian Cancellara, Frank and Andy Schleck, Bradley Wiggins, Andreas Klöden, Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Contador, Giacomo Nizzolo, Mads Pedersen, Julien Bernard, and many others.

Until the day when, once again, in July, the answer came: we're not sure we'll keep it. He knows musicHe anticipates, probes, discusses. Visma on one side, then a phone call from Alpecin (where he will meet Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper…). The offer arrives "24 hours later". He signs for three years.

Meanwhile, a philosophy has put words to what guides him. It is called Ikigai. “Being good at what you do, loving what you do, contributing to the well-being of others, and being able to make a living from it. When you have all four, you're aligned. Otherwise, it's a passion, a vocation, or a mission… but not Ikigai.”

The beating heart of a team: the trainer

In the peloton, you always sniff out the sports directors, the mechanics, the science of the performance coaches first. We forget the soothing handThe ear that listens. The caregiver, however, tightens all the seams.

Before the race: early wake-up, water bottles in a chain, solid food supplies, room allocation at the next hotel, menus, arrival bags, podium bags, lists, ice cubes, thermos. The figures, sometimes, are staggering. : "We work with meticulously planned nutrition: for example, 4 gels per hour per runner, and even 45 bars per runner if the day demands it, plus water bottles – often around ten per day per runner depending on the heat and the scenario. If there are eight of us, do the math, and over a week you reach insane volumes."

During the race: Distribution at the start, refueling area, cars, radios, adjustments. And the unexpected, always: “You expect 80% of the film… the remaining 20% ​​is life. If it’s cold, you need hot tea. If it’s hot, ice-cold water bottles. If the sports director changes the plan, we reorganize the supplies. If the rider asks for a cold Coke at the last minute, it has to magically appear out of the cooler. It’s anticipation, all the time.”

After the race: A warm welcome upon arrival with bags, a dry jacket, cakes, and a kind word. Back at the hotel, laundry, setting up the massage tables, then the massages. We've made significant progress in improving the staff's quality of life. “Back then, you could have too few soigneurs for too many riders. The last massage would finish very late… and a rider who eats at 22 p.m. doesn’t sleep well. Today, on a Grand Tour, there are enough of us to get everyone through quickly; you save the rider two hours of sleep over the course of a day.”

On the table, preferences are learned like a musical score.

“Mads (Pedersen) likes it when the pressure goes deep into his thigh. He’s tough. Others, like Julien (Bernard), prefer a softer touch. The secret is that a massage isn’t for everyone. Your hand has to adapt to the person, not the other way around.”

As for miracle gadgets, He tried everything, to get an idea. "Nothing beats the hand. Tools complement, they don't replace."

The science of refueling: scents, grams, and psychology

People think a satchel can be filled by feel. That's naive. In the morning, the performance hub declines the plan Energy per hour, race strategy, weather, number of expected relays, probability of echelons, sectors, and a full-throttle finish. The musette becomes a flight plan.

"You know the number of gels, bars, the carbohydrate intake, who might need more if a race starts? Van der Poel could blow everything up 160 km from the finish? Then the team activates very early, we fuel earlier, we cool down earlier, and we even prepare plan B if the day gets longer."

And There's the crucial detail. – in the literal and figurative sense: taste. "I learned this on a Vuelta: one rider loves strawberries, another loves caffeine without coffee. You know that, you prepare. In the car door, I always have an assortment; when I open my hand, it has to be just right for him."

Confidences: "They confide in each other at the table."

This chapter requires discretion. It will not reveal the intimate details – only what speaks of trust.

Jens VoigtFor example. At the beginning of his last season, he lies down and says: "Stéphane, at the end of the year, I want to attempt the hour record. What do you think?" Months of conversations, doubts, and adjustments followed. When the time came to take the plunge, Jens asked her to come to Switzerland. “We spent a month together. And beyond the champion, I saw the man: six children, two washing machines, two fridges, liters of milk in the shopping cart… You never imagine that goes hand in hand with the watts. But it does.”

Fabian CancellaraHe, however, remains the cornerstone of an era – the athlete who imposes a culture of high standards even in the smallest time trial. Bradley Wiggins – crossed, recrossed, always a word, even in the yellow jersey. The Schleck – the summer when everything seemed possible. Everyone, one day, passed by the table, left that suspended hour.

And then there is Mathieu van der Poel, stable meteor, living paradox – unpredictable by method. Stéphane tells the story of Roubaix like telling a legend in motion: "There are days when the team puts everything into route Very early on. You see it on TV, you know it's going to explode. And in the finale, when everyone is "dead," Mathieu also tells you he's dead... but he still passes the baton to Pogacar. These champions, when they take turns, neither of them gets back up. And as for the victory: one day it's you, one day it's me.

Stéphane shares an anecdote with us that you won't read anywhere else but on 3bikes. AT Paris Roubaix 2025, when Tadej Pogacar crosses the line 1'18'' behind Mathieu van der Poel, his jersey still striped with dust, Van der Poel comes to see him and he says to him: "But why did you come into the turn so fast where you fell?" They had just crossed hell at over 50 km/h on cobblestones that shake the soul. Pogačar then replies, ruthlessly honest: "I was so exhausted... I didn't even see that there was a turn."

Contractual life: lucidity as a lifeline

This is the part that is often overlooked, yet explains so much: the contract. The staff, like the riders, lives with a horizon that is redrawn every summer.

“In France, we talk about a 35-hour week; in a WorldTour team, you're more on a fixed-day contract. They tell you 180 days of work, blocks of races, and so on.”tagThere are rest periods. There's no obligation to achieve a specific result like "so many bottles, so many grams". You're asked to be professional, reliable, and proactive.hr.

My golden rule is this: in July, I ask if they're keeping me on. If they say "we don't know," then they're not keeping me. So I plan ahead, to avoid ever putting my family in a difficult position.

Throughout this journey, he received helping hands, loyalties, and friendships that have meant a great deal: thank you to Cyril Saugrain - and Thanks especially to Peg. Peg is his wifeHe insists, stating his words with gravity. “My wife sacrificed years of her life. When a child is sick and you’re abroad, she’s the one who calls the boss to say she can’t come in. Without her, there’s no balance, no career. Today, she’s spread her wings, she’s progressing, and I’m proud of her. But without her, I wouldn’t be here.”

In between, we ask him a question: does he keep a personal sanctuary? A jog, a walk, a home trainer stolen from a truck… He smiles.

"When necessary, I find an hour. But the main thing is to arrive fresh at the next table. A tired hand is no longer the right hand."

Unexpected events (and how they're not quite unexpected anymore)

He cites a handful of examples, which say it all:

• Changing weather: plan for hot and cold dishes, sweet and savory dishes.
• Capricious Hotel: Anticipate the menus, hot water for the mechanics (are their hands sore from washing the bikes? Plan solutions for them too).
• Changing tastes: A perfume you can no longer stand? Have the other one ready.
• Race that's getting out of hand: satchels already prepared for several scenarios.

"With experience, you don't eliminate the unexpected, but you reduce its impact. When things go wrong, you have to stay calm. Everyone looks at the trainer without saying a word."

The champions are dad's colleagues

He tells us about a scene we love. His younger son often saw runners at home or on the bus. For him, Fabian Cancellara was not “Spartakus”, but Fabian. Mathieu, after “Van der Poel”, fair Mathieu. Jasper, Mads, Brad… "He knew their first names, but not their last names. For him, they were his dad's colleagues. That puts everything into perspective." Stéphane keeps this shift in perspective open: seeing the man before the achievements. That's probably why people talk to him so easily.

What is happening to the profession

We asked him how he sees the evolution of the staff's role. His answer was clear. “It’s become a real profession. You no longer call on ‘a friend to help out for three weeks at the Tour.’ Teams have professionalized care, nutrition, logistics, and data. We’re aiming for one massage therapist per rider at major events: sleep, recovery, meal times—everything is connected. The challenge now? Training. In France, there aren’t enough soigneurs. And getting everyone on the same page: sports directors, mechanics, nutritionists, cooks, coaches… You don’t win ‘by providing services,’ you win when everyone speaks the same language.” And of remind young people who dream of getting into cycling, not necessarily as racers : "Never stop studying. Choose studies that keep you close to sports: press officer, chef, physiotherapist, sports coach...""Racer, coach… There are a thousand jobs in the cycling world to make a living from your passion. And be respectful to people. One day, it'll pay off."

A simple ethic, a straightforward gratitude

Stéphane Gicquel has a way of maintaining his composure that commands respect.Being available without losing oneself, professional without becoming detached, clear-headed without bitterness. You can feel it when he talks about the renewals that never happen, the mergers that sweep teams away, the phone calls that save seasons. He has no bitterness, he has a method. "You don't control everything. You control how you are. Ask early, prepare a plan B, don't put your family at risk. And work. Always." He also doesn't forget to say thank you: to Cyril Saugrain, which marked the route since my early years, and to Peg, his wife, an invisible column throughout all its seasons. "Without her, I wouldn't be here. It's simple."

Epilogue (provisional)

When we close our writer's notebook 3bikesWe recall a phrase he uttered with a smile: "Perfect professional happiness may be unattainable, but we can get close to it. To be good, to love what we do, to help others, and to make a living from it. I, for one, can almost touch it." 

We often tend to reduce a team to its riders and its managers.We forget those who, in the shadows, carry the hours, the bags, the confidences and the nights that are too short. We forget the hand that soothes, the ear that listens, the gaze that anticipates. We forget the caregiver.

This account is neither a posthumous tribute nor a romantic fluff piece. It is an observation: In great victories, there's always a little magnesium on the fingers.a marker on a cooler, a well-chosen strawberry bar, a ready-made podium bag "just in case"an hour of confidences that will never be heard, and Stéphane Gicquel which, without making a fuss, keeps things going.

And this is very well so.