Our friend Chris Henry was kind enough to pass along this feature he wrote for Road Bike Action. Make sure to check their site daily for Chris’ Tour coverage.

If you’ve seen the Tour de France on television, you’ve probably caught a glimpse of one of the race’s most important staff members in the caravan of vehicles that follows the peloton. Dr. Gerard Porte is the chief doctor for the Tour, and for 38 years he has worked with his staff to provide on-the-go medical care to riders and race followers alike over three treacherous weeks of racing.

Porte, 58, has lived in Paris since his medical school days and loves life in the French capital. Originally from the Champagne region near Reims, he still enjoys the variety of terrain experienced throughout the cycling calendar, particularly forays into neighboring countries. Above all, like so many who follow the race, he has a passion for cycling and for everything that goes into keeping 180+ riders and hundreds of followers healthy and mobile.

Road Bike Action had the pleasure of spending time with Dr. Porte one morning recently in the start village at the Tour to hear his stories and learn more about life on the road, where the waiting room is the back of the peloton and the doctor’s office is a convertible.

Road Bike Action: When and how did you get involved in cycling?
Gerard Porte: I started when I was a medical school student. I was a paramedic for four years, after that an assistant doctor for six years, and for the past 38 years, the head doctor for the Tour.

RBA: Were you always interested in cycling? What brought you to the Tour?
Dr. Porte: Cycling was a big passion for me when I was a child. I dreamed of being a cyclist. I wasn’t that great a rider but later when I was studying medicine I looked for ways to get involved in the sport. I was lucky to be selected [to work with the Tour] and I’m still enjoying it with the same passion I’ve always had.

RBA: Of course for you it’s not just the Tour. You handle all of ASO’s races, correct?
Dr. Porte: Exactly. I’m lucky to work on all of these races. Of course there’s the Tour de France, but there’s also Paris-Roubaix, the Tour de l’Avenir, the Critérium International and Paris-Nice in the beginning of the season…. My team and I follow all of these races, as well as the Dauphiné Libéré in June.

RBA: Is there a normal day on the Tour, or is the fact that your job is to treat the sick and the injured indicative of the fact that no day is routine?
Dr. Porte: Well, we need to be present and be vigilant from the start to the very end because a crash is always possible. The proof came during the team time trial in Montpellier, where there were a lot of crashes. You’d think sometimes that a time trial is not a particularly dangerous day, but there were some bad crashes that day.

Even at the time trial in Monaco, some riders crashed during the pre-race training, so we had to be ready before things really got started. Crashes can also happen during the neutral ride before the official start at kilometer zero. It’s not as if the only dangerous times are the descents in the mountains. We need to be ready to respond at any moment.

RBA: I imagine you’re always on duty at the Tour.
Dr. Porte: Almost, yes. There are also things to do to help the riders before and after each stage.

RBA: How much can you do within your team and what requires a visit to a local hospital?
Dr. Porte: Everything that we can do, obviously we handle on the spot. But of course some procedures that are more involved or require special equipment take place at a hospital, like x-rays or treatment of particularly bad breaks or cuts.

RBA: You’re not the only doctor on the race. How big is your staff?
Dr. Porte: We have eight doctors, one nurse, one osteopath… Ten medical staff, but also ten drivers since of course we are always on the road. We have six ambulances, two cars, and two motorcycles.

RBA: The Tour is tough for everyone here. How do you keep yourself in good shape to be able to best do your job?
Dr. Porte: We’re not riders; they’re the ones that count. But it’s true that for those of us who follow the race, it’s a long day. We get up early to be at the start village, after which we go to the permanence to check on riders or other staff members who may need assistance. Then we do the stage, and whatever travel may be necessary after that, including trips to the hospital to accompany someone who may need more help.

Really, the most important thing is to get enough sleep. It’s a three week race and we need our rest. That means trying to get to sleep early and staying healthy. We don’t just treat the riders, we treat a lot of people working on the race as well.

RBA: What was the most serious accident you’ve tended to in the Tour?
Dr. Porte: The worst accident was, unfortunately, the death of Fabio Casartelli in 1995. It was very dramatic. Young people don’t get involved in sports to die out on the road. That was the worst accident we’ve experienced.

RBA: There must be plenty of good moments as well…
Dr. Porte: Sure… On the other hand, there’s a lot of satisfaction when we treat a rider and he’s able to finish the race in Paris. Then we can be satisfied that cycling is not quite as dangerous as it looks. In 38 years, I’ve only known that one horrible day with Casartelli. The others have been bad at times, but they’ve come back and continued to race and we don’t have that sort of drama every year, even if there are crashes all the time.

RBA: What about the other end of the spectrum, are there requests for assistance that you find ridiculous?
Dr. Porte: Of course. The riders’ tools for the job are their bodies, and they need to perform. It’s normal that they’re listening to what their bodies tell them, and whenever they have some muscle aches or knee pain or whatever, they call us right away to ask us what’s going on and if we can help. Sometimes we know that it’s nothing serious so we have a role to play in providing reassurances and helping them out psychologically.

RBA: You seem quite satisfied. After 38 years with the Tour, do you see yourself stopping any time soon?
Dr. Porte: For now I still have the same passion for the riders, for the race and all of the ambiance surrounding it. Cycling is a big family and we all know each other, the riders, directors, journalists, organizers, commissaires… So as long as I’m in good shape and the work my team does pleases the organizers of the Tour, I will continue. The Tour de France is a great adventure!