HOW TO BUILD A TEAM BUS

When Chris Marshall-Bell set out to shine alight on the people and companies who design cycling's houses on wheels, he did not expect quite so much silliness

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 On the end of the phone is José Maria de la Peña García of La Rioja, specialists in the design and fabrication of the interior of cycling team buses, and I’ve just asked him what the strangest request is that they’ve ever received from a team. I wasn’t sure what answer to expect, but it was not this.

“We once had a request to install a sauna in the back,” he responds. “A what?” I say as I laugh at the suggestion. A sauna in a moving vehicle? “We could have done it but we didn’t,” Peña García continues. “In motorhomes we have installed a sauna and a bathtub before, as well as a hydromassage bath. It’s possible.”

I can’t comprehend it. Then, speaking with Raf Vervoort of the Belgian company Van Hool, the same question yields a similar response.

“A sauna would be OK,” Vervoort says, before adding, “one team once requested a jacuzzi.” A cycling team, I ask for clarification? “Yes, yes, a WorldTour cycling team,” he comes back. “The idea was that it would be a nice way for the riders to relax on the bus after a hard day’s racing.

“But a jacuzzi has a lot of water in it and it doesn’t stay at the same level if you go around a roundabout or take a sharp corner. It wouldn’t remain still! After discussion with the customer, they realised it was not the best idea.”