Behind the scenes at the UAE Team Emirates makeshift service course

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to the winter training camp of UAE Team Emirates, ostensibly for the launch of the new Colnago V4Rs and to write a first ride review of it, having bombed around the hills behind the Costa Blanca being constantly overtaken by WorldTour pros. The team also put on a media day, where journalists could ask riders about their ambitions for the upcoming season, how they were settling in at the new team.

I decided not to stick around during the rider interviews, and instead, as the sun dipped below the horizon, I wandered up the road a few hundred metres to the entrance of an underground car park that the team had taken over to create a makeshift service course. Here I was lucky enough to shoot Pogačar’s bike for the upcoming season, but while I was there I also took some snaps of the service course itself and chatted to Pogačar’s mechanic, Boštjan Kavčnik, about the new team bikes, what they’re like to work on, and who are the picky riders in the bunch.

WJ: Hi Boštjan, if you could introduce yourself please that’d be great.