Behind the scenes with the American WorldTour team
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Welcome to the Trek Factor Racing service course(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
A service course must stock everything a team needs(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
The Paris-Roubaix wheels are ready for action(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Bauke's box: Each rider is provided with a section in the team service course(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Team time trial lids for the entire season(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Clothing for all weather is essential(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Well stocked in team caps(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
The mechanics' to do list for the week(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Old 2014 frames sit neatly on the upper deck of the service course(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Old Bontrager road wheels line the upper deck of the team's service course(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Bontrager supply the team with wheels(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
The service course can hold well over 200 bikes and frames for the team(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
A selection of frames and bikes for Fabian Cancellara(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Each rider has a section in the service course with bikes and frames for the entire season(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Low on rations: A new order of SIS product is needed(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Bauke Mollema's kit for Amstel Gold Race and beyond(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Line them up: The Trek Factory Racing team's time trial helmets(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Fabian Cancellara's national time trial helmet(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
A year on the road for the Trek Factory Racing team(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
The indoor bike wash (Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Extra security at the sercive course(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
A litter of chainrings decorate the wall (Image credit: Cyclingnews)
The team's frames for Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Trek Factory Racing's bikes for Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Trek Factory Racing show off some of the trophies(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
It was a case of business as usual at the Trek Factory Racing service course on Monday when Cyclingnews stopped by to take a tour of the team's new(ish) European base.
Nestled between Gent and Deinze, the team's service course has been home to European activities for the WorldTour team since last September and now fully operational it provides round-the-year support to Fabian Cancellara and his teammates.
And although Cancellara will be missing from the team's roster for the coming weeks as he recovers from two fractured vertebrae the team mechanics have been busily putting the finishing touches to the rest of the squad’s bikes for the remainder of the Classics.
The service course itself is different to the open space planning we’ve seen in the past at Team Sky or BMC Racing, with neatly compartmentalised sections and rooms for various tasks. Past the offices of the service course manager and his team are the mechanics’ quarters with enough room to park the proverbial very real team bus, and an in-house wash station for them to clean and service in-coming equipment from races.
In the centre sections the team split up section for clothing – each rider is given a shelf for personal team attire – while the food needed to keep 28 mouths fed for an entire season needs its own complete area.
On the second deck of the main hall sit a number of hidden gems including bikes from last year and wheelsets and turbo trainers yet to dispatched.
As service courses go it’s up there with best we’ve seen, and while the sight of Cancellara’s never to be used Paris-Roubaix bike is a reminder of how entire seasons can hinge on the smallest of details and luck, there will no doubt be a reason for the service course to toast team success in the weeks and months ahead.
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
