Someone has to keep the bikes working and the riders riding at the big races. For EF Education-EasyPost it’s Helder Gomes, one of the most experienced mechanics in the game
Words James Witts Photography Harry Talbot
What were you doing at 15 years old? Perhaps studying hard for GCSEs, or being refused entry to your local nightclub because of your dodgy fake ID?
‘That was when I took up my first job as a mechanic,’ says Helder Gomes. ‘It was with Continental team Barbot Gondomar in my home country of Portugal. That was 28 years ago. I’ve been with EF for the past eight years. I don’t like change.’
Unlike the sport he’s been married to for nearly three decades.
‘This sport has evolved hugely,’ Gomes says, reflecting on his career. ‘It used to be cables, cables, cables. Now we have technology like electronic wireless. In our team, that’s Shimano Di2. In many ways, that has made the job simpler, especially with the software updates. In others, it’s harder. In the past, we’d have to change cables once or twice a season; now we might need to tweak something at every race even if it’s just charging the battery.
‘The focus on detail has also changed. Now it’s like Formula 1. But arguably the best change is where we work. Once, we’d always have to work on the bikes outside and fans would come over and distract us. Now we have the big trucks, so we can work inside and keep focussed on the job.’
At a Grand Tour, ‘the job’, as for many of the support staff, involves a 14-hour focus every day.
‘We’re away for four weeks and, in general, I get up at 7am and finish work at around 9pm. After breakfast I’ll head out to the truck and bam, bam, bam, help load up the race cars with bikes and wheels. Each of the eight riders has two spares per stage plus the one they’re on, so that’s 24.’
With around £250,000 worth of equipment clamped to the team cars’ roofs, we suspect Gomes’s approach to loading the bikes isn’t quite as bam, bam, bam as he suggests.
‘Once the cars are loaded up I’m responsible for the team truck and I’ll always drive straight from one hotel to the next hotel rather than cover the stage. That could be a 50km drive or it could be over 200km. When I get there, I’ll repair any problems with the extra bikes in the truck. Later on, w
