If you attend a stage of this year’s USA Pro Cycling Challenge, you’ll see a line of vehicles driving behind the cyclists. This rolling parade is called the race caravan.

The race caravan contains officials, safety personnel, referees, VIPs, photographers and team managers and mechanics. Each vehicle plays an important role in helping the racers reach the finish line safety.

The race communications car drives near the front of the caravan. Inside, the communications chief broadcasts the action on the road to the cars via a two-way radio. The communications chief tells the entire caravan if a rider has crashed, for example, or if a group of riders has broken free from the bunch. 

Behind that car, the various team cars line up. When cyclists are thirsty, a team domestique (helper) rider fades back to a car and grabs water bottles and food for his teammates. If a rider crashes or suffers a mechanical problem, the team car pulls to the side of the road, and a mechanic jumps out to either fix the problem or handoff a new bike.

Driving through the caravan, motorcycle-mounted referees patrol the peloton to make sure that riders are not breaking the rules. If a rider is caught holding onto his team car for too long, for example, referees can issue him a fine.

Additional cars hold official race photographers, whose images make their way onto cycling websites and into print magazines.

This caravan plays an integral part to strategy as well. If a rider is dropped, he can navigate his way back to the peloton by drafting off of the caravan vehicles. It’s not uncommon to see dozens of cyclists riding between the cars as the race goes along. 

Lexus Supplies Race Vehicles 
Race sponsor Lexus supplies all of the vehicles used by race management, as well as many of the teams. In total, the race uses 135 cars from Lexus. 

“They like our cars because they are speedy and they can carry a lot,” says Adrian Si of Lexus. “If they need to run up super fast and swap out a tire or wheel change, they need to do it quickly.”

Lexus outfits the teams with two separate sport utility vehicles: the RX 350, NX 300h and LX sport utility vehicles. You’ll see the vehicles outfitted with roof-mounted bike racks in the caravan. The RX350 is the most popular car in the caravan, and its zippy two-liter turbo engine gives team managers the acceleration they need in order to reach riders in need. The larger LX can carry a load of water bottles and wheels. The race’s broadcast unit uses an LX to haul its audio-visual equipment. 

Driving near the front of the caravan is a fleet of Lexus sedans. The team’s medical squad rides in an IS convertible. If a rider crashes and needs assistance, he is allowed to hold onto the convertible while medics affix bandages.

Driving behind the medical car is a fleet of Lexus LS460 luxury sedans, which contain the VIPs. Each stage, sponsors, reporters, local politicians and other special guests ride in these cars. 

And at the front of the race, Lexus supplies the official pace car. This year, the brand-new 2015 NX 200t rides at the front of the race. 

“Driving around Colorado is our performance test,” Si says. “And we get to show the breadth of our product line.”