Swimming in the bays of Capri, flying with the helicopter doors open over the Dolomites and riding down the lava fields of Mount Etna at 4am; Giro d’Italia 2022 was a very new Grand Tour experience for Nicolas Roche.
At one point on his tour of Italy, the former pro rider was in the press helicopter above the peloton – even above the TV chopper – as it was tilted to the side so the photographers could get the best possible shot of the action below. “It was absolutely crazy, just fantastic,” he said.
Roche may have hung up his racing wheels for good at the end of last season, but he’s still in demand in pro cycling. And while his former rivals and ex-teammates were slogging it out on the roads during La Corsa Rosa, Roche was completing his own three-week challenge.
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This year he experienced the race from the other side of the barriers, taking in the best of Italian culture – including plenty of food and fine wines – and also getting to ride his bike, all while working for Bianchi.
While the Italian bike brand is a major sponsor of the Giro, it does not have a top tier pro cycling team at present. And so Roche was brought in to be its ambassador on the race – or more accurately “around” the race.
The 22-time Grand Tour finisher - and twice stage winner and Vuelta leader - didn’t slavishly follow the riders every day. Instead, he crisscrossed the event while traveling with a six-man crew of producers, photographers and cameramen and his own mini fleet of Bianchi bikes.
“We were obviously on the Giro, but we were looking at the lifestyle, the cultural aspects around the race,” he said. “So in Budapest, for example, we went to the local food market and I tried the local dishes and then went and cycling around the centre of Budapest on a city bike.
"In other places we went to the Unesco sites and did the local attractions, like cathedrals; we showed those in the films we recorded and we spoke about them and I really enjoyed that.
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“We went to Capri and I was doing some filming on a boat because you can’t go to Italy without being on a boat at some point. And in some of the places, Naples for example, we sampled the culture and did the filming the day after the race was there.”
While he was in Italy to promote Bianchi bikes, Roche said the emphasis was on shooting stylish videos and photographs rather than more “in your face” commercial content. He also insisted – not very convincingly – that it was hard work despite the glamorous locations.
“To do the filming at Mount Etna, we were up at three in the morning,” he explained. “The guys I was with, the cameraman… they’re making a movie so the right lighting is very important for them. And the best light was between 5am and 8am.
“So on Mount Etna I’m going down the lava fields on the volcano on the bike at 4am in my shorts and T-shirts and it’s only two degrees and I’m freezing my butt off. So, yes, the videos look cool but it was a lot of work. We were up a lot before 5am and I was cycling between some of the filming points just to get some training in.”
Roche said while he had taken helicopter rides before on Grand Tours – often laid on for long transfers for the top 10 on GC – being in the press photographers’ chopper was a very different experience when the race hit the Dolomites. And it was clearly something he was very impressed with, especially the dedication of the snappers.
“It was an unbelievable experience; not only could I see the race but you could see how these guys are hanging out the helicopter over Italy,” he said of the photographers. “It was a spectacular experience - flying with the doors open and the helicopter slightly tilted to one side to give these two guys their best angle for the photographs.
"They’re hooked onto the helicopter (via safety harnesses) and they’ve got their legs dangling over the edge and looking down at the race and trying to get the best angle. We even had an eye on the TV helicopter because it was about 100 metres below us, absolutely incredible.”
Roche said he got to see two or three stages of the race each week, at the start or finish and at times stopping at viewing points to mingle with the fans and do some shooting. “I was eating and drinking more than I’d done in the last 10 years because everywhere I went I had to try the local dish,” he said.
