The Man Who Cares

by MARK · April 11, 2013

Training

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The Man Who Cares

April 2013

In cycling ‘the man who cares’ – the soigneur – is an essential part of any team, doing everything from massaging riders to handing up drink and food, then sorting accommodation and doing the bulk of the driving – anything to keep riders as fresh for the racing as possible. Its a tough job characterised by long hours, hard graft, a wealth of knowledge and essentially being a good people person.

The Six Days are perhaps the most gruelling of cycle races. Late nights in smokey, boozy, noisy velodromes with constant high speed, frenetic racing make for tough working conditions – and not just for the riders. As the Six progresses with constant late nights and increasingly tired riders, trust and understanding are essential, so looking after riders on the Six Day circuit is especially hard. For a Brit to break into this ‘closed shop’ of Continental soigneurs is even harder still.

The Man Who Cares is a magical short film via the Dutch Soigneur Magazine about Garry Beckett who did just that. Its directed by Sven Prince and was filmed at the Rotterdam Six.

Garry travels all over in his role at World Tour team Garmin Sharp but is well known in London cycling circles, hailing from just round the corner to us here in Tooting and being heavily involved in the Bec Cycling Club. His late father, Ron, was a prolific race organiser and one of the driving forces at the famous Herne Hill velodrome.