TIRELESS WORKERS AND STAFF: THE TOUR DE POLOGNE‘S IMPRESSIVE ORGANIZATIONAL MACHINE

Each edition the Tour de Pologne attracts more than 3,000,000 fans who turn up along the roads of this country to cheer on the strongest riders in the world.

 

As always, such a significant sports event requires the efforts of men and women willing to work tirelessly throughout the duration of the race.

 

Logistics is an ephemeral yet essential aspect of the Tour de Pologne. If you take the time to notice, it’s really quite incredible to see how, at the end of each day’s stage, the logistics team gets to work: barricades, banners, inflatables,  hospitality trucks, podiums, arrival arches, mobile television stations… it all gets quickly disassembled to be transported to the arrival station of the next stage. To take on a job of these proportions there is a need for impressive equipment and personnel, and the entire operation is controlled by an efficient internal organizational machine that has garnered indispensable experience throughout the years.

 

But let’s put things in order. Two different teams work simultaneously to organize the logistics of departure and arrival. Furthermore, qualified personnel are in charge of insuring safety along the perimeter of the route. The workday begins at the first light of dawn, from 4-5 in the morning. There are just a few hours to get everything ready; the fans start to line up along the route several hours before the start. A few numbers can portray a better idea of the importance of this organizational machine, which has been coordinated by the Lang Team for more than 25 years. It requires more than 20,000 people to take care of all these details, with teams in charge of setting up safety parameters and preparing the entire route. The necessary equipment is transported in more than 20 trailer trucks containing more than 200 tonnes of equipment. During each stage, more than 14 km of barricades are set up and more than 15 km of electrical wiring is laid down. Every day more than 1.200 people are on the move as they follow the race, in more than 400 vehicles that are supplied by the organizers.

For 7 days this big, happy family criss-crosses Poland, providing colourful celebrations throughout the country as the Tour de Pologne touches 400 locations, including towns and countries. Before the riders even pass through, more than 50 vehicles from the publicity caravan hit the scene with music and gadgets for attending fans.

 

These remarkable numbers give a better idea as to what it means to organize a sports event as important as the Tour de Pologne, and the manpower required to insure that everything keeps running smoothly.