In cycling’s Grand Tours, the term “rest day” is a bit of a misnomer. There’s plenty for mechanics to do, often after a long drive the previous evening, there are press conferences to be held, and the riders will get out on their bikes for a while to keep the legs spinning.

As in 2014, when the Big Start took place in Northern Ireland, this year’s Giro d’Italia unusually features three rest days, the first taking place today to accommodate the long journey to Calabria from the Netherlands.

Team Sky’s solution to how to make sure the riders’ legs didn’t seize up following this morning’s 1,700-odd kilometre flight from the Netherlands to Lamezia Terme was to have staff waiting at the airport with bikes and kit so they could hop straight on and ride the remaining 50 kilometres to the hotel.

The riders didn’t seem too unhappy at the prospect of it, as this video posted to Twitter shows.