The blisteringly hot weather that has hit the opening week of the Vuelta a España has seen teams hand out more water and ice than ever before in a bid to beat the heat of southern Spain.
So far, despite riders including Richard Carapaz entering "a zone of desperation" in the high temperatures, the Vuelta peloton is suffering but surviving. The same, however, can't be said of the team buses at the race, with Soudal-QuickStep's team bus falling victim to technical problems in the heat before stage 4.
As a result, the team – rebranded for this Vuelta to T Rex-QuickStep – had to ask locals in the start town of Plasencia to accommodate them as they prepared for the race's first mountain stage.
The last-minute change of plans didn't affect the Belgian squad too badly on the day, with team leader Mikel Landa racing to seventh overall on the Pico Villuercas on the same time as stage winner Primož Roglič.
On stage 5's sprint to Seville, they were again forced to compromise with the team bus still out of action. Luckily, Spanish squad Burgos-BH – non-invitees at the Vuelta for the first time since 2017 – were on hand to help.
The ProTeam, currently in action at the Tour Poitou-Charentes, stepped in, loaning Soudal-QuickStep one of their team buses on Wednesday.
The Spanish squad's bus driver David was called back from holiday to help. With the team's base located near Burgos in northern Spain, he faced a six-hour, 600km trip down to the stage 5 start town of Fuente del Maestre in Extremadura.
"I was in France on holiday with my family and I was called," he explained to Marca. "Soudal-QuickStep had a problem with their bus and I returned to Burgos at dawn. I drove in the morning from Burgos and reached the start."
Burgos-BH posted a message on social media, writing that it's "a pleasure to help you! Best of luck in La Vuelta and enjoy our home race", while several Soudal-QuickStep riders thanked the team for helping out.
"Hey everyone at team Burgos. Thank you so much for the help with the bus. It's been a lifesaver for us here in the heat of the Vuelta. Cheers," said Danish rider Kasper Asgreen in a video the team posted on social media.
