Cold arms, fast legs? Netcompany Ineos roll out unusual pre-cooling strategy at the Tour de France team time trial

There’s no clearer indication of a team’s attention to detail than how they approach warming up for a Tour de France time trial in scorching heat.

The challenge of getting riders to warm up their muscles while simultaneously keeping their core temperature cool is an unusual challenge for teams, and many of them roll out every trick in the book to make it happen.

Ice socks, ice vests, misting fans and alcohol spray were out in full force, as well as umbrellas to act as parasols, ice slush drinks, ice pops and simply pouring water over the head.

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But Netcompany Ineos have seemingly uncovered a new trick to add to the book and they turned many heads when a five-man team arrived at the warm-up area behind the start ramp with a trolley full of gear.

A crowd assembled, watching on with confusion, as the crew proceeded to unfurl eight folding tables, place them in front of a row of chairs, put giant plastic tubs on top of them and fill them with water measured to a specific 88°F.

When questioned by Cyclingnews, two crew members refused to explain their thinking, and simply told us, "you'll see".

Soon after, the riders arrived and sat down side by side with their arms submerged in the water. Oddly, they sat almost completely in silence and didn't interact with each other or the onlooking media. Dorian Godon would occasionally splash his face with the water but that was about the extent of their animation.

Since neither riders nor staff would open up, we're left to infer their motivations. Technically, we don't even know for sure that it was for cooling. It could be that the Netcompany Ineos riders are actually Thorny Devil lizards and they hydrate by sucking water through their extremities.

In all seriousness though it's obvious that this is a method to cool down, in what was a sweltering hot day in Barcelona, and that cooling one's arms is an efficient way to remove heat without cooling down the leg muscles that they'd previously been warming up; especially useful since the UCI has banned the use of ice socks during the race.

The respective approaches of other teams covered the spectrum. Cofidis struck me as unprepared. Their riders had no ice vests, were wearing double-layered skinsuits, and chose to prop their bikes on smart trainers in the direct sunlight, rather than under the shade of the provided tents.

NSN Cycling Team seemed slightly more prepared with ice vests, but had forgotten to put a bottle onto Marco Frigo's bike. It wasn't until half the team was already on the start ramp that anyone noticed, and it was too late to do anything about it. He raced without one.

Lidl-Trek impressed with their forethought. Speaking to Ellis Pullinger – the aero expert formerly known only as CyclingSpy on Instagram – he explained they brought a few road bikes over earlier in the day to secure a spot in the best part of the shade, where the wind was funnelling past a nearby mountain of ice that the ASO had provided for cooling water bottles. They also later arrived with half a dozen giant umbrellas to offer extra shade to their riders.

Both Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and UAE Team Emirates-XRG appeared nonchalant with their respective approaches. They had the ice vests, but they both chose to warm up with the sun on their backs rather than in the shade, although Red Bull did offset this with their own giant umbrellas.

Of course, the race isn't won behind the start ramp. Ineos put in a good showing with Filippo Ganna landing them a surprise 2nd place, but it was Jonas Vingegaard and the Visma-Lease a Bike team who finished day one in the yellow jersey.

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