One of these is Shelly Versus, Masous, spiritual counselor, and Dunmother for the 7-Eleven team who shopped daily to feed her hungry riders.

Shelly is called a swanur from the French word meaning to aid.

All right, what's next?

I got to get juices for the guys for before and after the race.

More liquid. You've got all right enough stuff in here for an army to cross the desert.

It's for breakfast and for after the race.

They like these nectar.

How much do they really drink during the day if they're racing?

During the race, the guys drink sometimes three to five liters of liquid.

Their energy drink, their water.

Three to five liters is... Pretty much. That's like what I drink in a week. Yeah. Unless you drink a lot of beer.

This is part two of a three-part series for Kilometer Zero by the Cycling Podcast.

It's called Chapter and Verses with me, Lionel Burnie, in conversation with Shelley Verses,

who became the first woman to work as a swanier at the Tour de France in 1986.

She was with the 7-Eleven team, who were themselves a novelty on the race, the first American team to ride the tour,

and they were a breath of fresh air bringing some much-needed modernity to a race that was steeped in history and tradition.

Shelley's presence on the race also attracted a lot of media attention.

This is 1986.

The first time an American team has gone to the Tour de France.

You know, the tour, this traditional French race was opening its doors, wasn't it?

It was welcoming in people from different parts of the world, different cultures,

and slowly it was beginning to change.

...