When Servais Knaven won Paris-Roubaix in 2001, he did so with a rear wheel which was not issued to him from his team. Instead, it was given to him from a neutral service motorbike after he punctured on the brutal cobbles earlier in the race. Without it, Knaven may have lost the biggest chance of his career. He may never have got to fulfil his dreams of conquering the Hell of the North. Fast forward 24 years later, and the Dutchman is now repaying the service.
After stints working as a sports director for Team Sky (then the Ineos Grenadiers), then founding and running his own women’s team, AG Soudal-Insurance, Knaven is embarking on a new challenge: making Shimano’s neutral service as good as it can possibly be. It’s a task he began last year, using his expertise as a former rider to help make revolutionary changes to the programme which steps in to save riders in their moment of desperate need. When their team cars aren’t there and they need a wheel, bike change, gel, water bottle, or even – a new addition in 2025 thanks to Knaven – ice socks, the angels in the blue cars are there.
“Last year my first race I did was the World Championships in Zurich and I learned a lot there about the way the Shimano team was working and the communication between the cars and the motorbikes,” Knaven tells me. As he speaks, he is driving Shimano neutral service car two in the convoy of stage 14 of the Tour de France and there is a mountainous 182km day ahead from Pau to Luchon-Superbagnères.
Shimano Neutral Service bike behind the breakaway on stage 14 of the Tour de France (Image: ASO)
“I saw that they gave good information about the race situation, discussing when to go behind which group or when to pass and things like that. I realised there was so much I didn’t know about what they did. I started thinking, there are probably a lot of sports directors and riders who don’t know this either. I think it is important for them to know what we are doing, because we are here for them, so they should use us.”
Knaven explains that Shimano has taken a “step up” this season when it comes to its neutral service offerings since last winter. The brand now ensures that it offers tubeless tyres that are more puncture resistant in Classics races and lightweight wheels for mountain stages. Spare bikes on the roof have four different pedal types, and the mechanic in our car changes which bikes are on the outside of the rack based on the pedal brands used by the riders in the breakaway, so he can service them as quickly as possible if needed. He has every team’s componentry supplier, disc rotor size and axle size memorised – it is no mean feat to service the WorldTour.
“We really try to step up this winter with the wheels we have, with the tyres we have, so that it is more or less the same as the teams are using. They will have the best Shimano wheels on the market, the fastest Continental tyres. We want to be on the same level so that there's no difference if they would take a wheel from us or from the team car,” Knaven says.
Ensuring that the riders are offered the correct equipment is just one part of the job for Shimano, though. Knaven explains that much of the work is coordinating where each car and motorbike is stationed throughout the race, especially in a mountain stage when the peloton spans across kilometres of tarmac. We’re behind the breakaway on stage 14, but Knaven spends the majority of the day on the radio to the other two Shimano cars in the convoy. They try to be one step ahead of the yellow jersey group, ensuring that there will never be a rider on the road without the opportunity to be serviced when they need it.
“I think it's a big advantage that I have also been in the pro peloton as a rider and a sports director. You know the courses quite well but you can also guess a little bit what could happen in the final, which helps decide where we should position ourselves,” Knaven explains.
“When we cover the breakaway, like we do today, it always takes a while before the sports directors can place themselves behind the breakaway but we will be in there first so if anything happens in that moment – if it’s the final of the race and the peloton is splitting, we are in position. If the sports directors are there then we don’t help, but as soon as they make the barrage, when the sports directors are held up by the commissaire, we are allowed to help.”
Shimano Neutral Service motorbike is behind Mathieu van der Poel on stage nine of the Tour de France before the team car was allowed through (Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Perhaps one of the highest-profile examples in this Tour de France of Shimano assisting a rider is when world champion Tadej Pogačar crashed on stage 11 of the race with five-kilometres to go. The former three-time Tour winner’s chain had come off and a Shimano mechanic jumped off his motorbike to help put it back on, before giving Pogačar a hefty push to help him begin his chase back to the group of GC favourites. Knaven says it is imperative that Shimano mechanics remain calm in high-pressure situations.
“Of course, it makes a difference when it is in the final four kilometres of a Tour de France stage and the world champion crashes and has a problem. It’s hard to train this, but it’s the mentality of the people who are with us, they have a lot of experience,” Knaven says.
“They have helped the riders in the big races and it’s difficult to know how they will respond in a moment like that, we are always believing that they can do a good job. It’s hard to train this but it is the same for all mechanics and you don’t have time to be nervous. You just have to follow your instincts and help.”
Knaven admits that there have been situations where mistakes are made in stressful race scenarios, but argues these are few and far between. The Shimano Neutral Service crew is committed to excellence.
“In the beginning of the season when riders use different materials and people are doing the first race, a team might change from 160 rotors in the front to 140 and you take the wrong wheel,” he reflects. “If that happens, of course it is frustrating for the rider but it is even worse for our people because they want to do their best. Everyone is human and makes mistakes, but we avoid this as much as we can.”
During the four hours I spend in the team car with Knaven through the misty, rolling roads of the Pyrenees, I don’t witness our mechanic having to provide any assistance, but it is by no means a stress-free day for the Shimano crew in our vehicle. Knaven is in constant communication with the chief judges of the race to understand the race situation and where his Shimano colleagues are needed, all while navigating speeds of up to 100kmp/h on wet descents in the race convoy. Getting everything right isn’t an easy task, but it is clear that former pro and experienced sports director Knaven is the perfect man for the job.
Just like Shimano Neutral Service gave him a lifeline in that historic edition of Roubaix, he is motivated to do the same for riders of this generation. He tells me that next up, he’ll be lobbying for shorter cranks in order to match the bikes of the modern peloton even more closely. It is always a work in progress, but Shimano’s Neutral Service continues to repair dreams, prevent disaster, and be a friend for every rider in the bunch – no matter what groupset they’re using.
Cover image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
