Shimano Assistance: always ready to intervene

So far, so good. We've had several repairs, but I'd say everything's normal. You know, it's always complicated to work in a group and do the right repairs. Consider that we have nine different wheels in the car.

What is the reason for having so many wheels?

Think that even if we are Shimano, We need to help everyone, even those who have Campagnolo and SramThis means we have to have Campagnolo wheels for both disc and rim brakes, the same goes for Shimano, while SRAM only has disc wheels. Then there are teams that have traditional brakes but with narrow rims and others with wide rims.

Speaking of disc brakes, are there different diameters?

Yes because some riders use 140mm discs at the rear, so we need to have rear wheels with both 140mm and 160mm discsI'll give you an example, At Tirreno-Adriatico Van der Poel fitted 140mm discs both front and rear, so we had to have that size on the front too. The ability to change wheels also depends on knowing in a second who it is and what it's fitted with.

What are the interventions you perform most often?

Replacing wheels is certainly the most frequentThen a day happens like at the Imola world championship where the gearboxes were stuckIn that case we did a lot of interventions hanging from the car window while the riders were going. But we also have water bottles and energy bars in case any riders ask for them. They often pass us rain jackets, as happened in Roccaraso with the rain and cold.At the end of the stage we go to the teams to bring back everything they gave us. In addition to the wheels we also have the complete bikesFor example, at the last Tirreno we gave the bike to Froome and the stage ended there.

How do you measure bikes?

We have a database with all the measurements of the riders and based on these we make averagesWe take a whole series of parameters and adjust the bikes accordingly. It happens that riders reach the finish line with our bikes, like Froome this year or Antonio Nibali. I have to say that we have excellent bikes, in fact the frames are Bianchi Xr3s fitted with Dura Ace Di2, Shimano C40 wheels and PRO handlebars.

Do you do more wheel swaps with disc brakes or calipers?

By now most of them are disco. At the Giro this year, the teams that remained with traditional brakes were Ineos-Grenadier, Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates.

Do you use tubeless or tubulars?

The wheels we have in our cars are tubular, while the C40s mounted on our bikes are tubeless. With single wheels we try to give the maximum lightness and for now the tubular weighs a little less than the tubeless.

Do you only have carbon wheels or also aluminum ones?

The wheels mounted on Shimano are the C40 carbon, while those mounted Sram and Campagnolo are made of aluminum.

Speaking of tires, have punctures increased or decreased compared to the past?

I am clearly decreaseI used to work with Vittoria and we averaged 15/16 punctures a day. At this Giro d'Italia we are averaging 2 puncturesOnly on the day of the fans, the stage finishing in Brindisi, did there appear to be a lot of punctures. Evidently, the riders were going full throttle and weren't paying much attention to where they were riding, and perhaps even rode on the dirt.

Do you provide any assistance during time trials?

If there is a need and a team asks us, we provide assistance to some riders. In Palermo we followed four athletes. But I have to say that these are the most boring days.

Finally, can you tell us whether group traffic has improved or worsened compared to a few years ago?

Considering that the number of vehicles is always the same, in fact at Sanremo they now also start the second flagships so there are more vehicles in the race, I have to say that the situation has improvedI've noticed there's more discipline. It used to be a war, there were stages where we'd have to push and shove. For now, that's how things are going, but maybe we'll update you on the next rest day...