In recent years we’ve started to get used to teams putting out behind-the-scenes videos on YouTube, Mitchelton-Scott probably being the most well known with ‘Backstage Pass’ and ‘What it Takes’ series, but now Deceuninck – Quick-Step has joined in.
The Belgian squad takes you onto the bus and into the team car through each day of the 2020 Tour Colombia 2.1 in a new two-parter documentary called ‘The Wolfpack Insider’.
Starting out with the craziness of the team presentation and the latino music along with quotes from Colombian sprinter, Alvaro Hodeg, we jump straight into stage one and the team time trail.
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This immediately gives us a look inside the team and the high stress that goes on behind the scenes, especially as the race fell apart for them on a climb during the course.
Julian Alaphilippe had gone way too hard with Luxembourg champion, Bob Jungels, and had dropped team-mates Bert Van Lerberghe, Jannik Steimle and Mikkel Honore.
With the sports director, Wilfried Peeters, screaming down the radio, they realise they had lost connection to the riders which adds to the frustration, after the race we see the riders close to arguing during their warm down.
All was not lost, though, as they finished second on the day behind EF Pro Cycling, admittedly a little further back than they would’ve wanted though.
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Stage two we take a look inside the team bus before the start, talking tactics and what way the wind is blowing to see if they could force splits along with organising the sprint lead out.
But it didn’t go to plan yet again, as Sebastien Molano (UAE Team Emirates) took the win, only two teams would win stages through the entire race, the film shows how Hodeg really takes losing to heart.
The episode finishes with Van Lerberghe and Hodeg arguing after another loss in the sprint due to another mistake for the new lead out train.
This documentary is showing a side that other behind the scenes videos do not. It shows that tempers are high at the finish if the race hasn’t gone the team’s way and how stressful the racing can be for the riders and staff alike.
It is refreshing to see such a huge team, like Deceuninck – Quick-Step, open its doors like this and show the world how they operate.
The second episode will be released some time next week on Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s YouTube channel.
