S13 Ep93: KM0: Chapter & Verses, part three

The Cycling Podcast

News, Sports, Sports News

4.8 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is the third part of Lionel Birnie's conversation with Shelley Verses about her experiences working as a soigneur for the 7-Eleven team at the 1986 Tour de France. She was the first woman to work as a soigneur on the Tour and her presence on the race attracted a lot of attention from the media. If you've not listened to part one yet, you can find it here. That concludes our Chapter & Verses mini series for now.

This episode of KM0 is available for everyone to listen to for free, thanks to you the support of our Friends of the Podcast. To sign up to listen to all our KM0 episodes go to thecyclingpodcast.com. An annual subscription works out at a few pounds (or dollars) a month and plays a huge part in keeping the show on the road.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Now this is a third kind of cereal you've gotten already for just six guys.
0:05.0	Don't they like the same thing?
0:07.0	No, they don't all like the same thing. I gotta cater a little bit.
0:10.0	Uh, Bob Mathis likes raisin brand.
0:13.0	Davis likes spoon-sized shredded wheat.
0:16.0	Chris likes grape nut flakes.
0:18.0	A little bit of everything here.
0:20.0	Now, I can't believe we're shopping in the cookie area. I have to get fig newts for the feed. When you say feed, what does that mean? This means the fruit and water and a little bit of fig newtons that the guys get in their Muzette bag during the race. So when they're riding along, they get that and this is the treat inside? Yeah, they like the blueberry and cherry because they're moisture. How many calories are these? I mean, I believe we've got 10,000 calories in here. How many does a race here are consuming a day? I'd say every day the guys take in between 3,500 and 6,000 calories a day. All you have to do is ride 100 miles on your bike and you don't look like you're the fat man in the circus, huh? Yeah, I got to get a treat for Doug. He gets good in the race today.
1:00.1	This is the third and final part of our Chapter and Verses mini series, focusing on the
1:04.7	1986 Tour de France as witnessed by Shelley Verses, who was a swanier for the American 7-11 team.
1:12.1	This episode of Kilometer Zero is brought to you thanks to support by our friends of the podcast subscribers.
1:18.2	You can sign up as a friend of the podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com.
1:22.4	Your support enables us to cover the Tour de France on the road and in exchange you get to listen to our
1:28.7	back catalogue of more than 300 episodes made exclusively for subscribers. Go to thecycling
1:34.1	podcast.com to sign up for an annual subscription. Now let's pick up Shelley's story.
1:41.3	So the 7-11 team right was I think from the sort of midway point in the race
1:46.6	started losing riders, there was sickness in the team, wasn't there?
1:50.5	Yeah.
1:51.1	There was a battle for survival for the others as well.
1:54.6	Yeah, we did.
1:55.8	You know, and the upsetting thing about losing Eric Hayden
2:01.6	was that he wore a hard shell helmet,
	...

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