Factor at the Tour

For most cyclists, July represents the high-water mark of the racing season. The weather is at its nicest (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere), school is out, and the Tour de France is on. Throughout July, Factor will be active on multiple fronts around the Tour de France, starting in Barcelona and flying right through to the Champs on July 26th and beyond.

Rob Gitelis at the TOUR 21

Factor’s tour starts even before the Grand Départ thanks to Factor and Black Inc Founder, Rob Gitelis. Rob has joined the TOUR 21 and committed to riding every stage of the men’s Tour de France a week before the pros. The TOUR 21 is a charitable initiative for Cure Leukaemia, which focuses on increasing funding for blood cancer research and also funds research nurses and clinical studies at blood cancer centres across the UK to provide blood cancer patients with access to innovative and potentially life-saving treatments through clinical trials.

Rob and ten other participants started their ride in Barcelona on June 27th and quickly discovered that there is no easy day on the Tour. With a combination of extreme heat followed by violent storms, and the inevitable difficulty of hitting the Pyrenees on stage 3, week one on the TOUR 21 has been simultaneously challenging and exhilarating.

Riding his Factor ONE equipped with Black Inc wheels and Campagnolo Super Record 13, Rob is sharing his journey on his Instagram account @robgitelis. You can also read more details about his ride here.

Rob has already accumulated over £30,000 in donations for Cure Leukaemia and his donation page is still very active. If you would like to contribute, you can do so by going to Rob’s donation page: ROB'S TOUR 21 DONATION PAGE

For the Love of Cycling 

You can take the boy out of the Tour, but you can’t take the Tour out of the boy. Or so the saying could go when we’re talking about David Millar, four-time Tour de France stage winner and Factor’s Chief Brand Officer. He has raced the Tour 12 times and has worked as a television commentator on another 10 editions of the Tour. This year, he will be attending and recording his time at the Tour in an even more intimate and in-depth way. 

If you are already missing his race-reading insights on British TV, you can join David and his fellow amants du Tour de France on their road-side podcast, For the Love of Cycling. He and his merry band of commentators will be considering and discussing everything from performance expectations to historical flash points on the road to Paris. 

For those who particularly appreciate David’s ability to turn a clever phrase or to highlight the irony and juicy absurdity frequently found on the road at the Tour, he will be writing daily dairies on his Substack page. If you enjoyed the Joycean nature of the daily diaries he produced for us at last year’s Tour, you’ll love these since they will be even more unvarnished and unfiltered. We’ll be periodically sharing the best of them here, but we encourage anyone looking for a good read to check out David’s originals.  

Froomey on Tour

Four-time Tour de France winner and Factor investor, Chris Froome will also be on-hand at the Tour de France. In his capacity as a Skoda ambassador, Chris, aboard his Factor ONE, will be enjoying the race from a completely new perspective, helping Skoda’s VIP program. That will include morning rides with guests, spending time with the guests throughout the stage, finding key points in the stages to cheer on the riders, and helping everyone to celebrate at the end of the stages at the finish line. 

In addition to being the most successful stage racer of his generation, Froome is a huge fan of the sport, and this will be an opportunity for him to see the race from a different angle.

Don’t forget FACTOR HOUSE x Petit NOMAD

Anyone who will be at the Grand Départ for the Tour in Barcelona, be sure to stop by FACTOR HOUSE at Petit NOMAD just steps away from the Plaça Catalunya, next door to the Hotel Pulitzer. 

On display, we will have the special edition Factor MONZA VEXX, as seen raced at this year’s Paris-Roubaix, as well as a Factor ONE. Additional Factor-branded goodies will also be available while supplies last. 

If you plan on visiting the beautiful city of Barcelona during the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ, be sure to stop by to enjoy a restorative coffee and find some peace in the middle of the Tour commotion. 

Petit NOMAD is located on Carrer de Bergara 10.

Opening hours:

2 July – 5 July

Thursday: 8:00–16:00

Friday: 8:00–16:00

Saturday: 9:00–17:00

Sunday: 9:00–15:00

More to come

Though the men’s Tour de France finishes on July 26th, we won’t have to worry about the usual post-Tour depression since the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift follows very close on the heels, with the Grand Départ set for August 1st in Lausanne, Switzerland. Factor will be there, supporting Human Powered Health, and Ma Petite Entreprise.

We will also have the pleasure of the company of Team Amani’s Xaverine Nirere and Merhawit Hadush, who will spend the first few stages with us and Human Powered Health. They have also entered l’Etape du Tour, to give them a firsthand experience of racing over some of the most historic French cols and have the incredible experience of the French fans supporting every pedal stroke. 

 Stay tuned for more information coming on that front, as well as all the great stories we’ll be curating throughout July.

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