Eve of Grand Depart

With excitement levels this high, it’s hard to sleep!

We’ve been really enjoying the social media buzz over the last few days, with cyclists making final preparations before setting off for the ride of their lives. Check out any of our social media links for regular updates … and here of course! Photos will all be posted into daily albums on Facebook.

There have already been several days of complicated logistics with vans moving throughout the UK, collecting bikes from all our brilliant bike hubs (who provide this service to us out of the goodness of their hearts – a big shout out to them) and heading over to France/Holland and ultimately Brussels for tomorrow’s Grand Depart. Some riders arrived a night or 2 early, but the majority are heading to Brussels as we speak by plane, train and automobile! Safe travels folks!

Meanwhile, the Le Loop team are now in position at our hotel in Brussels with all the bikes, our mechanics hub and more, making sure all the little details are sorted. We’ve got snazzy new bike numbers this year and … drum roll please … name labels for the bikes! So you can surrepticiously glance down at the top tube for a reminder when you’ve forgotten your new cycling buddy’s name (#gamechanger). We try to think of everything.

And yes – it’s hot. And it’s going to get hotter. So we’ve got plenty of sun cream for everyone, gazebos to shelter from the rays and gallons and gallons of water.

Tonight we’ll have a full team briefing at 7pm. The medics are sure to be reminding everyone how critical it is to keep hydrated: “If you’re not pee-ing, you’re not drinking!”.

So with bike faff at maximum output, we’ll sign off for now. More later, so stay tuned …