Education First bike mechanic Michele Primaro fell in love with cycling during his time at Findon High School in SA
Education First bike mechanic Michele Primaro’s job is one of the most important for a rider says he has slept in more than 150 hotels during his career.
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He’s slept in more than 150 hotels in 2019, has surgical precision, driven trucks thousands of kms across Europe, hangs out of cars doing 90km/h and can change a wheel as quick as a Formula One pit stop.
Adelaide suburb West Richmond is home, but Michele Primaro doesn’t expect to be spending too many nights sleeping in his own bed this year.
Primaro is a bike mechanic for Education First, preparing his team for the Santos Tour Down Under.
His job is perhaps one of the most underappreciated by those not familiar with the nuances of cycling.
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Primaro must ensure every one of his men’s tailor made bikes are built millimetre perfect or he will hear about it either from the rider’s mouth or an avoidable soft tissue injury caused by an out of whack set up.
“We have to be as precise as possible,’’ Primaro said in his third year on the WorldTour as a mechanic.
“Some guys before a ride they’ll take out a tape measure and check the measurements themselves, measuring the seat post height and everything else that counts for comfort and endurance.
“A poor set up can affect a rider with knee problems, back problems or just discomfort, it can interfere with their racing.”
Primaro says he can get a wheel off and on a bike in under 15 seconds – about the same time it took a Formula One crew in the 1980s and can replace a punctured tyre inside three minutes.
He can also be seen occasionally hanging out of the back window of a team car with spanners in hand making rolling repairs to a bike.
He loves his job.
READ ABOUT A DAY FOR MICHELE PRIMARO BELOW
“We can start at 6.30am and work until about 10 or 10.30 at night,’’ Primaro said.
“In Europe you’re travelling to races in a truck or a team car, we have to have a truck licence to do this job.
“But the Tour Down Under is perfect, there’s no packing up and going to a new destination every day, it’s all in one location and that’s why everyone loves coming to this race.
“In Europe you get up at dawn, you might have to drive to the start of the race and get the bikes ready.
“Pack everything, jump in a truck or car after the race, drive for another two to four hours, wash the bikes and if you’re lucky you can get something to eat.
“Sometimes by the time we have finished working for the day the restaurants might be closed.”
Primaro said he had been involved with the Tour Down Under since he was sports director for UniSA in the inaugural bike race in 1999.
He was at the team helm when Patrick Jonker won the event in 2004.
“I was sports director for UniSA at the Tour Down Under for seven years,’’ Primaro said.
“After that I went back to being a mechanic, I was always a mechanic and I had my business for 20 years but we closed that when I started working full time as a bike mechanic overseas.”
Born in Molfetta, Italy, Primaro arrived in Adelaide when he was 11.
He became passionate about bikes when Tour Down Under race director Mike Turtur introduced him and his brother Tony to racing via a ‘roller derby’ event through school.
Primaro said the former Findon High School students were crowned SA U-14 and U-16 champions but another brother Massimo stuck to soccer where he now coaches Adelaide City’s women’s side.
Diary of Michele Primaro Education First bike mechanic on a European WorldTour
6am: Wake up
6.30am: Breakfast
7am: Straight to the team truck, open up and start pumping tyres used for the day and spare wheels.
Then load bikes and wheels on team cars (usually three cars)
When Michele is in the team car
9am: Load bikes onto team car in a specific order on the roof. Riders that are going for GC or a stage win have their bikes on pole position closer to the mechanic (sitting in the back seat).
Mechanic can also hand drinks over to the riders during the race.
11am: Stage starts: Michele organises the position in the car by having the right wheels ready for each rider and check out the cassette gearing for the wheels. All this is written in order.
GC and potential stage riders aiming for a win always have top priority with access to help. The mechanic is also there to alert the sports director when there is a breakaway so the team can work out a strategy.
There is live vision inside the back seat of cars in Europe.
4pm: Stage finishes: Load up bikes that have been raced onto car and take off as quick as possible to start the washing process and the checking of the bikes. Hotel arrival depends on distance from finish.
Join the rest of the team that have taken the truck to the next stage earlier that morning.
10pm: Goodnight and hopefully Michele can get something to eat.
When Michele is driving a truck
9am: Gather suitcases from riders and load them on truck and leave for next hotel.
Park the truck to connect water and electricity, unload riders suitcases and take them to their hotel rooms.
4.30pm to 6pm: Wash bikes and service and check issues and get them read for the next day.
This process takes up to three hours.
10pm: Goodnight and hopefully Michele can get something to eat.