VARS goes to the Tour de France. Dan Mátl in the saddle for eight hours

With less than a month to go, fifty VINCI Energies employees in red and white jerseys with a heart on their chest will be among the hundreds of participants at the start of the L’Etape race in Nice. One of them will be Daniel Mátl, Sales Manager of VARS BRNO. Together with the other competitors, he will have to conquer the course that the real Tour de France peloton will take on two weeks after him in the penultimate, twentieth stage of the 2024 edition.

Daniel Mátl is the only Czech from Central and Eastern Europe to take part in the Coureurs du Coeurs programme. His run will have a charitable dimension, as VINCI Energies will be supporting a medical programme to provide heart surgery for children in developing countries.

This was one of the reasons why Dan decided to take part in the race. But now his thoughts are elsewhere. The idea of 138.6 kilometres in the saddle over three mountain passes. With a difference in altitude of 4,591 metres. It’s a stage that even the Tour de France peloton fears. “I think I might not make it, but I don’t want to admit it. I’m giving everything to the race – I’m going to Nice early to acclimatise. I’ll train as much as I can,” reckons the 36-year-old businessman, who works in communications diagnostics and information systems.

To get a place in the peloton of the most prestigious race in the L’Etape series is exceptional. Fifteen thousand riders will be at the start. Including professionals. Many of them didn’t even make it. “I know how lucky I am to have won this place. That’s why I want to give everything. To represent VARS BRNO and VINCI Energies. It’s a kind of reward and prestige”.

The peloton will set off from Nice by the sea, and at the thirtieth kilometre, on the Col de Braus, it will approach the 1,000 metre mark for the first time. After the descent, Dan and the other riders will climb the legendary Col de Turini. A mythical hill, familiar to Tour de France riders and Monte Carlo Rally riders alike. The saddle through which the riders will pass is six metres higher than Sněžka. The Col de Colmaine follows and the peloton will finish at 1,673 metres above sea level on the Col de la Couillole.

Motivation? Fear? Both. “I knew from the start that I had to start preparing, even if I was on the bike. It’s a challenge to combine it with work; part-time would be ideal. But I feel supported by the company management, and not just materially,” says Dan Mátl. He has changed his lifestyle, from a “party animal”, as he calls himself, to a person who follows a lifestyle. “It takes a tough regime. Ride, eat well, sleep a lot, don’t stress,” he lists the “conditions” that are often difficult to associate with professional commitment.

When he had to tell the organisers what his target time was, he chose a range of 8 to 9 hours from the start. The maximum is ten, and anyone who arrives later will not be classified. “I know that I can do individual climbs at this pace. But here it will be necessary to keep going for eight hours straight. On the other hand, I have two hours to spare, so we’ll see,” he reckons.

He also has the support of his colleagues. He took part in the monthly To Work by Bike challenge with them in May, and the group around him regularly goes out for training after work. “I think it also motivates others to cycle when they see that I put a lot into my cycling.”

Dan has been cycling since he was a kid, like almost every other kid. First he rode an old BMX through the woods in the Kohoutovice district of Brno. Today he remains faithful to the dust and mud, only he has replaced the BMX with the popular “gravel”. He also wants to ride L’Etape. “I have never ridden a road bike before, but I think my experience on gravel will be enough,” says the bikepacking enthusiast, who fell in love with the sport during the Covid era.

In order to ride L’Etape, Dan had to get the go-ahead from the company’s management. His boss, Tomas Miniberger, is also a keen cyclist. And he supports his employee. “As a condition of VINCI Energies, we had to donate a certain amount to the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. We were very happy to do this. At the same time, we gave Dan more space to train and helped him financially to complete his equipment,” calculates Tomas Miniberger. “His participation represents VARS BRNO and the whole Czech Republic,” he emphasises.