Introduced to the Tour in 1910, the year the race first went into the Mountains, the voiture balai or broom wagon follows the last rider on the road. If the balai catches struggling riders they must climb off and retire, handing in their race numbers. The van literally sweeps the remnants of the peloton off the road. Until 1992 the balai always had an old-fashioned broom strapped to its roof, although rumour has it that a broom can still be found inside the modern balai.
Nice post by Joe Hall over at the Rapha blog.
