7.30am The alarm clock rings. In the first 10 seconds you try to figure out where you are. Being in a new hotel every day can be confusing.

8am Eggs and bacon

9am Visit each rider in his hotel room to clear tactics for the day before the team meeting, which will be held in the bus at the stage start. Tactics are agreed the night before; discussing them individually now means everyone is on the same page at the meeting. Sometimes the riders have better ideas than the SDs (sporting directors) – Tony Martin’s Mulhouse stage win in 2014 came from an idea of Michal Kwiatkowski, and the SDs weren’t in favour at first.

10.30am The whole team takes off for the start; usually the mechanics drive the sports directors’ cars. Some SDs jump in the bus but I like to drive with my mechanic. A good mechanic could also make a good SD, because he will understand the race, tactics, radio Tour and the riders. The way we work is sort of like a marriage: we spend many hours together.

11am At normal races we calculate to be at the start area one hour before the off, and always keep 15 minutes in reserve for traffic. But at Le Tour we try to be there up to 1hr 45min before the start.

First we always have the team meeting – usually this is about lead-out, the roads, the weather, maybe a pep talk. Sometimes the riders need to laugh rather than be pushed to the limit. If it’s going to be a bunch sprint, Tom Steels [an SD] will show a PowerPoint of the finish. The best thing is when a leader tells his team-mates how he wants them to ride: Cav [former team member Mark Cavendish] is brilliant at creating a winning mood. One rider, who I won’t name, used to be on Facebook during meetings.

Then we speak to the press. Better results means more press; scandals also mean more press.

12.30pm The race starts, and in the neutralised zone some riders come back to the team car to adjust seatpost, handlebar, cleats etc. In the past every rider would drop by the mechanics every day to adjust their bikes but now they are more likely to spend their time on social media.

12.30-5pm The most important tactic is to say yes or no. I only use the race radio when I am 100% certain of something. The riders are stressed, tired and focused, so the last thing they need is an SD who can’t make up his mind. Steels leaves 20 minutes before the race and feeds back info about the road conditions, the wind, and how fast the corners are in the last 10km; I pass it to the riders.

5pm At the finish we answer questions from the press. Sometimes I wonder how a journalist can wait at the finish for more than an hour and the smartest question he can figure out to Cavendish is: “Are you out of shape?” That gives Cav a “Billy Idol lip” or “whisky mouth”.

6pm After the stage there is usually a transfer to the next hotel. The mechanic drives and I write a race report for the management group of 12 people. The key thing is to write stuff our colleagues can’t read on Cyclingnews.com or Het Nieuwsblad: why did something go wrong or what went well in the race? Did we screw up the tactic or was there a mechanical problem? Was someone ill or just tired?

Another golden rule: you fuel up the car before you get to the hotel.

7pm At the hotel: on most days this is about when we get to our rooms. Every two days I run 10km. It’s good for the head and weight.

The SDs get together and start planning for the next day: tactics, logistics, guests. If things have really gone wrong we see the riders one by one or have an extra team meeting to solve any problems. The rule is to give the riders shit collectively, and critical feedback individually.

Some SDs visit riders individually after each stage, but when I was a rider I hated having the SD in my room, because there is very little privacy in a Grand Tour. So I never visit a rider’s room after a race. But all SDs are different and so are the riders. After a few years with a rider we know if he needs a visit or not.

8.30pm Dinner. In a good team riders arrive at the dinner table together and leave together. The good old days are over, and not many teams drink alcohol at the table any more unless we win or someone has a birthday.

Staff always eat half an hour after riders because they have to finish bikes and massage. Of all staff, the soigneurs are the hardest working: first out of bed and last into bed. They are alchemists, who turn the riders’ concrete legs into diamonds.

11.30pm Bedtime. I enjoy the silence because explosions are always waiting around the next corner (trust me). Every day brings something new: a great win, a horrible loss, a crash, a smashed car, a fight between staff. The job will never be boring, which is why we love it.

Last rule: always sleep eight hours, then we can solve all problems. Good night! Tomorrow we will smash everybody, I just know it.