Trois Etapes look back

Well the dust is starting to settle and we're taking a look back at the fantastic Trois Etapes. Over $2.2 Million raised for charity so far from this year's event (and over $4 Million in the last 12 months). What an incredible amount, and we had as great a time supporting it as the riders did taking part!
Hats off to Cosaveli for their great organisation of such a massive event. You'd never think this was only the second time round. Here's everyone starting to arrive, in blazing Alpine sunshine:

 

Most of our mechanic team flew out via Geneva, but Jaguar were kind enough to loan us an XF Sportbrake (yep, same as Team Sky use), and so a couple of us got to cruise down through France in ultimate comfort (and from Calais to the heart of the Alps on a single tank of fuel!)

Here's the workshop set up for the next few days:

And I don't think the mechanics were complaining about the change of scene from central London - here's the view from the back of the "workshop":

It wasn't all views and sunshine, though - the lads worked long into the night to keep everyone's bikes running smoothly. Here they are working by the light of the car headlights:

The assembled support cars made for a pretty impressive lineup, each team had their own dedicated follower car...

...and a team leader borrowed from the ranks of past and present pro cycling, including big names such as Carlos Sastre and a certain Mr Bobby Julich:

It was great to see the teams working so well together, their dedication and determination was awe inspiring:

Here's a few more random images to give a bit of a flavour of the event. Check out http://www.troisetapes.org for some proper professional photos (we were too busy working to take many ourselves!) and look out for highlights of the event coming to Channel 4 TV in the not too distant future...

Look forward to 2014!