It’s 10:58 am, and a group of Unibet Rose Rocket staff stand outside the team’s camper van, nervously refreshing their phones.
Even though the sleepy village of Selva has been taken over by Challenge Mallorca, all attention is on ASO’s crucial announcement regarding this year’s final wildcard selection for the Tour de France. This is the most significant moment in the short history of the Rockets as a serious cycling team. So much rides on the next two minutes with ASO set to push the button on their announcement at 11 am. You can feel what this moment means.
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In the end, the tension isn’t punctuated by the news on a phone screen, cheers of delight or words of sympathy, but by the honking of a horn on the Caja Rural team bus, which is about 100 metres further up the road and just around the corner.
The Spanish team, to most people’s surprise, had taken a wildcard spot at the expense of the Rockets, and although there was speculation that such a scenario could unfold last night, it still remains a massive shock.
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I approach the Rockets’, hoping for a quote or two, and sports director Sverre Dyngeland Vik kindly agrees to be interviewed.