The battle for marginal gains at the Tour de France Femmes with FDJ-Suez's secret hypnosis chamber

With the battle for marginal gains getting more and more important in the women's World Tour peloton, FDJ-Suez believe they may have a secret weapon that can propel them to success.

The secret in question? A white cabin, transported from stage to stage, following the team around. Inside the cabin a bed, with a padded, flowing surface with a multicoloured LED nightlight. A state-of-the-art hypnosis chamber where the riders can nap for an hour, refreshing themselves and waking up with a new, clearer state of mind.

“Every team is doing a lot of work in recovery, so we have to do our best to come up with new ideas,” says Flavien Soenen, FDJ-Suez's performance director to Cycling Weekly. “I joined the team last year. It’s a team that is constantly developing, and we’ve wanted to push a little bit to find solutions. Every team is evolving, and we don’t want to be left behind. So for a stage race like this one, we asked ourselves, ‘What is the most important thing?’”

The cabin is exclusive to the French-based team and they believe it provides them an advantage. “We use it to reduce hyperactivity in the brain, brought on by things like stress,” explains Eric Lozaïc, the director of Cyrorecup. “The biggest benefit is that it improves deep sleep, the part of the sleep cycle where everything happens with regards to tissue recovery and mental relaxation. It also lowers stress levels and helps balance the central nervous system.”