Chaos As The Giro Enters Slovenia | Giro d’Italia 2025 Stage 14 | Lanterne Rouge x JOIN Cycling

In this episode Patrick and Benji recap the 14th stage of the 2025 Giro d’Italia.

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Welcome back to Lantern Rouge Cycling podcast for stage 14 of the Jurid Italia. We were lamenting yesterday, how dare RCS, how dare the race organizers put a sleepy, boring sprint stage on on a Saturday when everyone has time off to watch the race. And that’s not what we got today in the Jural. It’s been a great jurro so far in my opinion or pretty good. And uh today was maybe not good, but there’s a lot of stuff to talk about. This episode is brought to you by our show partner, Join Cycling Benji. He can’t wait to do the join cycling read today. Actually, even before recording, he was like, I’ve got I’ve got stuff to tell. So, I’ll we’ll throw it to him soon. Um, but the the profile of this stage, 193 caves, absolutely flat for 140. They then go over a few hills over the to the Slovenian uh to Slovenia, over the border. Uh, beautiful crowds, a beautiful climb actually. And then they descend. And then this stage is all about this city circuit in Nova Gorita which has a pave chicanees narrowings and then before a punchy 700 m at 7.7% a quick descent and then they go and do it all again before a flat sprint finish. The last hill is 8ks from the finish. So this reminds me a lot of parane stages in stage one of they always put a little kicker near the finish. Uh, and any news? Pre-stage Benji? Not necessarily. I think I Oh, you can go ahead. Brand Rivera banned with sickness. That’s the only note I have. I didn’t even know that. So, thank you very much for the uh intel for this stage. Now, breakway formation. I was I was naive. I thought, okay, we’re going to start the stage. We’re going to have three Italian men from Pro Teams jumping in the breakaway and that’s it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no actual breakaway formation action today. And it I want your opinion on this. A group forms including two riders from Alvisison Hermons from the Bossk two riders from Decathlon AG2R the bomb the wolf then Agren for Yf Palini for group horn. No well I think it was first Manis actually for enter mare then then Cherney and Lampertie for quickstep. Actually it was Taco in this group Lampertie then Edmonson for uh picnic pastel and wildard. How many of these riders were trying to get in the breakaway? And were there riders in that group that had accidentally got into it because they were trying to control break formation? I think that Vanard came in at eighth wheel cuz he they Vizma didn’t want to control a group of more than five today and uh then someone there’s a split behind him and he’s like, “Oh, I’m in.” I was like, “Actually, he’s looking around like not a bad break. Alperson are pulling with Ker’s and Vanden Boscher. Agren’s pulling. Taco’s pulling. Churn, he’s got Lamp Persie and he’s pulling. Let’s go. Well, not let’s go cuz this breakaway didn’t actually end up going. There were multiple teams that were a bit unhappy about it. You’ve got the likes of Q36.5 that’s not involved with Mosceti as a sprinter. Then Tudtor was pacing a little bit. Inos was the last team to really uh close the final gap towards this group and make it uh inexistent. But then there were a few riders, well at least one rider from this group that thought to themselves, okay, I actually want to go in the breakaway. Kasparra goes into a second break way together with Mirro Mistri Marulusi Manis. Was there a fifth rider? Was it Davi? Clemon Davi. Yeah, I thought it was Pellini was in the first break and then it was Clemon Davi. I think Group Palmer actually been as active as one could hope for in these, you know, there’s no breaks winning uh so far. Yeah, considering God’s out, but uh yeah, they were in the end. It’s like a it’s actually ball no. It’s actually a as Benji say a low-key strong break. Moistry, what was his last break? Shenanigans of memory. Torreno Adriatico stage four, the 200k crosswind stage where Ben Healey bridged across to him and Olaf Koy won at the last minute. He went into the last 500 meters of that stage. He’s a strong rider. He was also the second rider in Alfale breakaway last year in the Jurro. So, this man’s actually a good rider. By the way, I need to call someone out. Eddie Guzman, there’s a guy in our YouTube chat that has donated $9 to us as a donation to Benji’s no fund. I I’m sorry, but this joke has gone too far. The joke has gone too far. I don’t want to see the word for the rest of my life. Nonetheless, this breakway went up the road and I thought to myself, it’s over. This is the breakaway that will get caught eventually despite my and being solid riders. Taco Valhorn tried the last minute bridge because let’s be honest about it, Andre Maria was not necessarily happy about Manis being part of a breakaway on stage like this and actually Maria ends up pulling Manis away from this breakaway to the Pelaton. They make him wait because they think to themselves this break has no chance and I thought this break has no chance. So I I do my siesta in this stage. You might have been watching a lot today, Patrick, but I was the one not in sleepy mode. I decided to first go on a little walk because those activities also count in the joint cycling app, but then afterwards I did my ride that was told by join cycling for me to do today, an intensity ride. I I did I did choose a Zift phrase over the the ride that was specified for me because I want the competitiveness in that. But nonetheless, at the end of that ride, my EFTP went up. and another update. In the last month of doing my joint cycling training regularly, consistently because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you miss one training, you try and be as consistent as possible. And the the app then basically adapts according to what you have done. So if I miss my training today, it might put it tomorrow or the day after. And that’s the beautiful thing about this app. Consequence, I’ve lost three kilos in the last month. Pretty good. Benji’s doing really, really well. I’m also actually doing pretty well with because I I do a lot of running. Well, I do a mix of running and cycling and now joints uh cycling caters to that. You can set how many running workouts you want to have a week. You can do multiple, not just one either. And if you’re looking to actually improve your riding this year, the annual membership is the way to go. Make an annual commitment through our link down below. It’s under €10 a month. You can do the free trial, do the 30-day free trial, no credit card required, and then under €10 a month. I mean, you compare that to other paid subscriptions to not real, not coaches, but other paid platforms. Under €10 a month or under€10 USD a month is a crazy value for all the functionality that join cycling has. And uh you can get full access to adaptive training plans. And on average, join users increase their FTP by almost 20% in a year. 20% FTP increase. And that’s I mean if you’re fully compliant, that number is usually even higher. It’s not just theory. It works. So go down through our link down below. 30-day free trial or if you want to get stuck straight in the annual plan is the way to go. Saves you 23% compared to paying monthly. Join the lantern route cycling podcast group on it because I need my competitive with competitiveness with all all the viewers and listeners here. Benji off his horse. That that ain’t happening. That ain’t happening. It’s not going to By the way, something did knock me off my horse. I was doing my allout sprint at the end of my uh my race today. I get off the bike. I turn on my my stream of the race again and I realize, okay, this race was not that sprint I expected it to be. This race had action because we we spoke about it when it comes to the parkour. There’s this concurrent hills with about roughly oh with 20 km to go you’ve got twice a hill the sav climb 700 m 7.7% and there’s a descent of that hill as well that goes into would you describe it as a a small village with cobblestones on the road. Yeah it’s yeah a nice picturesque Slovenian town with some rain that’s just come down and slippery wet cobbles. Now they’re not like Belgian cobbles, but they’re still cobbles and they’re slippery and it’s really So the two teams controlling and I think Vizma are in a bind here. They got Koi who’s not the best sprint climbing sprinter. So but if they bring back Asgrren before the hills, maybe you get punchers or other riders jumping if you bring back the breakaway. But then Asgrren, if you don’t bring him back for the hills, you’re going to lose domestics on the hills. Vanal are gone. Kelvin out of position. And then you’ve got flat that you’re trying to close to Casper Agrren. Now Casper Asgrren has not had the best run of things compared to his 2021 level. Yeah. But in the classics that is but in his quote unquote bad years at Suda Quickstep in the third week of the tour to France he was by far by far the strongest ruler in the race in the third week. Two consecutive stages won one should have won the other one. So it’s not just a matter of course that you bring him back even if the gap is 50 seconds. Uh Alison on the other hand I think should have been smashing the hills. You’re not going to drop Kaden Groves on 5%. So, I would have been trying to get rid of Koi. Uh, but anyway, we’re up to Inos, I think. Benji Inos, did you see them? They smashed. They started to smash a descent for positioning with tingling. The gap went to 38 seconds. Aronson lost his wheel and then they stopped cuz Bernard wasn’t there. Bora take over and then Bora do the right thing. Why? Why are we going to do this wet descent into town at the same speed as they put the brakes on, take a chill, gap goes out to 55 again? Gaz go gap goes out to 55 again. But at the end of the day, we’re we’re looking at a race where this breakaway does seem to suddenly have a chance. So which teams are willing to get that breakaway caught? And in my opinion, Vismalis bike is certainly a team in this race that would like that breakaway to be caught. Was it them that went to the front that eventually ended up to the what I would call the chaos event in today’s race? Yeah. So, Vizma, they put Vanala’s gone after the the descent. They enter the City Circuit. Kellerman’s nowhere. It’s looking dicey actually to even bring back this breakaway. Albertson had been helping beforehand control it with Y Jimmyens. I think even Picnic put a rider for Casper Vanuden. And you say why would they do that? But it’s like well he might come like third or fourth. He might even win. You’re you know I don’t know if he’ll make it over the hill but like still use points Q365 I don’t understand to be honest. Like respect Mosqueti. No but first of all is Moscetti not the best climbing sprinter. Secondly Pitkox’s your big rider. Take him out of GC. If he’s in that break today instead of closing it down I mean the first break with WOW. He can win that um and have a big day out on the cameras. Anyway, they enter the city circuit. Gap is not moving to Casper Agar and Miko Maestri and Luca Kovi. Clemon David was dropped. Bart Lemon starts going way too quick at least for Wow, Venard and Simon Yates taste on this cobbled section and indeed there’s a uh in Josh Tarling was in front. He’s looking around for Inos. I I’ll go through really slowly what what I can see from the multiscreen. Tarling slides back. Bahrain were in good position with Kuso positioned by Ulio. That kid is good by the way. That Portuguese kid. Um, okay. He’s not setting the world on fire, but he’s there when he needs to be. Doik, he’s he’s doing a great job for a neopro. There’s a righthander, then a lefthander as the pave starts. And Tyling’s looking back, he goes back and then I’m as they enter the pave, there’s a left-hander, a narrowing, and a Bahrain rider. I think it’s a Bahrain rider. I’m not entirely sure. He goes down. I think so. He goes down right in front of Pison and basically at I would say position 20 in the group and all of Vizma in terms of Vanard, Koi and Yates are in front and basically every single person behind that crash is behind except for one guy, Isak Del Toro. Isak del Toro was not in the front split when it happened and he bridges himself over. But at the end of the day like if you are caught behind a crash like this in a very narrow street cobble area etc. So you’re you’re already kind of lucky that you also just don’t crash by the reaction of it because if you go around that corner rider or crash in front of you, you might overreact and you might crash as well. We’re relatively lucky that the amount of riders on the floor was not insane, but the riders that did crash were highprofile riders. We had, like you said, Pison down, but also Chicone was one of the uh biggest victims of this crash here. Bernol hit the ground as well. And in general, so many riders were just blocked by it. The fact that Del Toro got by, Del Toro is a pretty special rider when it comes to positioning. today’s positioning wasn’t necessarily at the front, but in a way he still managed to get to that front group after this crash even happened. So this guy has some kind of X factor in that sense that the other riders here at the end of the day, half of them also were quite unlucky by the position they were in. Like Roich is not in the top 20 riders, so he is behind. Auzo is also behind after this crash. and we get multiple groups on the road riders that get on the bike and try and go riding again and it’s absolute chaos in the race at the moment. And just to give you a a grasp of what scenario we have at the moment is we’ve still got Osn together with two Italians up front. Then in the crew behind that, we’ve got a Visma Lisa bike with a lot of riders in that front split of the Pelaton from that crash with Del Torto who like you said has bridged towards that. But then there’s a proper gap to be honest to the next group which is the Rogage group. Roglitch, Auzo, Bernal, Ardensman, all in that group behind the Vizmolap. And what was it? 40 seconds I reckon was the gap. Roughly 45 seconds, maybe. I think even maybe less. It might have been 30. It definitely came down to like 20 on the the first time they went up the hill. But yeah, Asgrren is just storming my three and Kovaley basically can’t hold his wheel anymore. He gets them on a gap through some corners and I don’t know when he loses them. I think maybe a bit later. But we were looking where’s Ragglitch? It’s raining. Where’s Bahrain? Looks the same as Bora’s kit from the front. Where’s Auzo? Where’s UAE? Because we the whole time we were looking at the runin. Okay, we saw Tarling. Bernal was in good position. Bernal was unlucky because he actually was in okay position, but that meant he was right behind the crash. I don’t know if he crashed, but he was literally like the first guy to come to the pileup, whereas other guys were were just blocked. is the reason that Delto was able to surpass the crash and bridge because he was on the left side of the road going into the crash. Yeah, I think he he was forward enough that there wasn’t 12 riders blocking in front of him trying to get through. Okay. And he could snake his way through and and he was definitely on a gap at some point. Uh he also Del Toro was not so confident on the pave. He was he was slipping and sliding. We saw, let’s be honest, Del Torto was had a pretty terrible time trial the last one. And I truly believe that the the partially the reason for that was not necessarily just physical. I also think that it was the fact that it was super rainy that day that during his time trial a certain portion of the parkour was wet and that he might not necessarily be the best in super wet conditions. And maybe that’s partially the reason we see that again on the other side. It’s odd to have that happen when in a gravel stage technically he’s done much better. Does that make sense? Yeah. And I think he has like a mountain bike background. He was that was what he was doing and then he started training on the road and progressed quickly in one tour to Lavanir but he was doing mountain bike CX this and that but yeah a front group is created and it’s got multiple Albson Keelik Plankard Groves uh and maybe one other I think maybe just them moistar actually in they were in really good position there and there with uh Rubio and Jefferson Sepa Bad is in there with pool. We have Venard, Koi, Lemon and Yates for Vizma. Obviously, Del Toro for UAE, Derek G for Israel, Karapas and Honore for EFldani for Kafis as a oneman. And by the way, importantly for Patrick himself, Damiano Kuzo as the solo Bahrain rider here because Tibeti is not even in the Roglish group. Diri is in the group behind the rob group. Uh and like 50 seconds behind based on the the the ticker at that point in the race and just in addition to that, Chicone is in Narnia and let’s hope he’s okay physically. I don’t know if he’s going to be in the race tomorrow. I would have to read the update on the Little Track social media tonight, I feel. But let’s hope he’s relatively okay after that crash. Timewise, he’s going to be out of GC regardless. But I think I think Tibber is the guy who might have gone down first. Yeah, it’s a it’s a it’s a bar Rangers that goes down and yeah, Caruso was positioned really well from Ulio. Um anyway, Vizma start pulling all out with Lemon. Uh there’s still the matter of Maestro and Asgar and up the road. Is this play on Benji? Cuz Vizma start ripping it with Vanard and Lemon. the the way I look at cycling, I’ve always had the opinion regardless of the situation that I think when the race is on, the race is on. In this specific situation, I feel like for Visma Lab, Olaf Ko is in the front group. If they don’t ride here, the stage winner is going up the road. They have a valid argument that if they don’t ride, they’re giving away a potential victory with Olaf Koi. So for that reason, I would say the play is on. But I personally I don’t necessarily like seeing major gaps on a flat stage because of a crash, you know. So I’m torn if you if that makes sense. Yeah, Vizma got the out in the what you’ve been pulling all day all day for Koi and what you’re just going to let Maestro and Asgrren battle it out because people crashed. on the other hand, whereas that if Koi wasn’t there, if Koi wasn’t there and the break was up the road, even if you do pulling, let’s say Ky was caught up in the crash. Yeah. Then I don’t think it’s play on, then I think you cuz this is not the last two either, then you then you slow pace with Lemon and you wait for the groups to return. Um I agree with that. On the other hand, I am of the opinion that the if you ask the Pelaton, the perspective will always change of the teams regard depending on where they are in the split. For example, Bora and Inos today might feel like, okay, we kind of got bottled over here by Vizma. But at the end of the day, if Vizma was on the other side, they would also have the opinion, oh, that was a bit unfair and stuff like that. Because at the end of the day, teams have are self-interested. But from my personal perspective, regardless of the the teams, I have the opinion that if you are in the final of a race and there’s a crash that happens and you’re giving away a victory if you don’t keep riding, then you have the right to keep riding it. It’s different if it’s a night an entire pelaton down. It’s not like there was an entire pelon down here. There was a crash that blocked up riders. Yeah. And I guess that’s I I agree. If if if it’s just Yates in front with Vanard and Vanard could have won the stage and Koi’s not there and you just pace all out with Vanard, it would look pretty bad. Uh but this but this is different. You got Koi there. You’ve been pacing all day and to be honest like yeah Yates pulls in the end for Koi to win this to try to win the stage. Um and the problem is Arg wasn’t slowing down. So that split happens. We’re looking we’re trying to find okay who’s in group two. Group two, Io, Rogich, Bernal, P Gonzali. Yeah. Um, one damique for Roglish on the on the hill. Pelazari. Pelazari. I mean, whatever they’re paying him. That’s the thing like these superstar U23 riders that come in and then they get paid a lot. Okay. But he’s the best all around domestique almost in the Jurro right now. Without Pelisari, what what time gap would Roglish be on in GC? Yeah. So Aelazar is worth his weight in gold and he’s pulling he he’s really did a fantastic job again today. Tyling dropped back I think for Bernal. He did make group one. Uh Py pulled for Pig Ganzoli. And who else was in that group? Not not store but they didn’t have many domestics on the hill. So on the hill when Pelari was pacing, I feel like I saw very limited riders left in the group to be honest, including just the GC riders at some point. Store was also in there by the way. I’m not sure if you mentioned that. Yeah. So he was also behind. Uh that’s also a potential top 10 competitor if we Yeah, I would say so. He’s 347 back before the stage on paper. But um I was also curious is the gap towards the Batty going to expand because he actually has he’s got Yalio Govar back. Well, not full team car back. I’m okay with that. I agree. Cuz what’s the percentage chance he beats Groves and Koi? Very limited. And at the end of the day, Tibet is an actual podium competitor here. Yeah. And he’s Italian. Yeah. Are you surprised they didn’t pull Kuzo back? Cuz at the end of the day, No. That’s crazy. Competitor. Guso’s in GC. What if Terry has to abandon tomorrow cuz he’s hurt himself? Fair. You don’t know. He’s trying to uh spicen you up here. If they dropped Cruiser back, I would have gone crazy. Um, honestly, what you would have dropped Cruiser back? No, probably not. It would have made a It probably would have made a difference cuz the bar probably would have. They get They then they go around again. They go around again. They go through the same spot where the crash had happened. We see riders getting put on caps. There’s a little hill up there. Lemon drives it. Van’s like, “Hold up. That’s a bit too fast.” uh through there and we see a gap. Del Toro I was saying has he got a slow flap? Because Del Toro kept opening gaps. Plankart was kind of looking at him like and I thought I thought the way Alperson were doing it cuz we come to the last hill. I thought Del Toro was going to go solo and attack. Why wouldn’t he? Why would you cooperate? Well, he’s not going to cooperate with the group, but this is also a chance to go clear, take time, take a stage win perhaps if Agren’s caught back. But then I think Plankart was positioning himself to follow Del Toro. But then Del Toro kept opening gaps through the city. Yeah, but would it have looked good if Del Toro decided to attack at that moment? We have to stop. We have to stop. They’ve been doing it for a week. He’s in pink. He won uso. I don’t care about uso. I’m talking the fact that people are behind cuz of a crash and then to attack the group. So what? Let [ __ ] Vizma win with Koi or Albson with Groves? [ __ ] that. But they’ve got dumbsts to keep riding. So are you going to really do they do they lemon done by the last hill? Simon Y like Yeah. I mean in the end it’s it’s all hypothetical but yeah I mean Del Toro after today especially there should be no shackles on him none of course within the team of UI of course not because the thing with I’ve given my opinion on Delto and Auzo yesterday or the day before whatever it’s like Del Torto is in that position benefit from that position it’s also a good thing for uso that Del Toroto is in that position like obviously it’s not great that you’ve got a teammate that’s 2 minutes ahead of Roglish But at the end of the day, it is solid because it will force Ruggish to maybe overextend against El Toro and maybe Auzo can benefit from that. And that’s the the way Auzo can win this purital in my opinion. Oh, by the way, just as well that kept him in GC. Uh, McNalty and Yates fell to 12th and 15th. Use it or lose it. Yep. You cannot keep four riders in GC throughout three weeks of a Grand Tour. It’s impossible. So, use it or lose it. And now they lost it. Um, what was I saying? Anyway, Plankart looks like he’s lining up Del Toro, but Del Toro is actually having struggles with through the city on the hill. It starts to get sent. I I don’t know who was pacing. I think it was Ke sent it. We see Koi. Koi does the the sprinter slide. He goes from position three and drops the whole climb and finishes at the K last wheel before the descent. Uh, just hanging on. But there’s still the matter of Kazba. The gap to him is down to 15 17 seconds and it’s only 6ks to the finish. And it felt to me like that breakway of three riders initially was almost gone and then Osgane made the made the move to keep it going. One last chance, one last opportunity to really make it work. And it started looking good. It start looking better and better into the last 8 km. I was like, “Okay, 15 seconds. Not a huge gap, but it’s a gap.” And Osgen, he’s no pancake. Asgrin is not a a Louis Manis climber type. He’s not a Brazono climbing type like he’s not part of your small man club. Patrick Gasper Asgrren is not Clemon Brazon. Hot take. But this man can actually ride. This guy has an engine is what I’m trying to say. So I’m thinking, okay, the amount of double sticks in that second group after that hill have deteriorated a lot to the point that Simon Yates ends up riding for Visma Lisa in that group for Olaf Koi, which I’m okay with that. I’m very fine also because Son Yates in a great position in GC, but on some Pellegrino, he didn’t look that amazing either. So I feel like he can afford to ride a little bit in the final of this sprint state, especially knowing there’s a a rest day on Monday as well. And there’s not necessarily the craziest stage coming tomorrow either if my memory serves me right. Well, they go up the grapple tomorrow, but yeah, fair. Pretty hard stage. This stage ends with 6ks to go. Wven pulls off the front. It’s over. All due respect to Simon Yates and Jefferson Sepa, they’re not bringing back 15 seconds on Casba Agrren in full flight. and Albertson gamble. They don’t I don’t know if playing was cooked but they it was a little bit weird how they just waited and Simon Yates is pulling. Mother stuff stop pulling pulling pulling pulling and he’s not going to take time on Kasbar Asgaran even if he’s been on the in the break all day. Eventually they sort of semi a surge with Edward Plankart. Yeah. Which EF were blocking with Honor but it’s too it’s too late. Kazbar Asan wins actually like easily. This wasn’t close. He won by 16 seconds. Incredibly impressive. And he brought back that 2023 tour to France week three break form. Uh Kaden Groves wins the sprint for second ahead of Koi. Uh and Allas fourth, Aldani fifth, Maestroy sixth, G seventh, Pitcock eighth, Carropaz ninth, Honor 10th, EF Education Easy Poster having a very very good jural and uh let’s talk gaps. Let’s talk gaps. There’s a solo man at Edward Plunkard irrelevant for GC on 43 seconds, but the group of roglitch, which is a group of roughly 134 riders, finished on 104 of Ogane, which means that they finish on 48 seconds, I think, of the group of um Salmonates and Elto and so forth. So that’s a another solid loss for Roglitch and a Yuzo towards El Toro in Jodalia. Same for Bernal, same for Store, same form, all in that group. So those are the most important GC riders there. But then there’s another gap because on two minutes there’s the group of Antonio Tiberi. The entire Bahin team must have ridden themselves into bids because I don’t actually see a single teammate left solo on the last climb. And the problem was all the guys who’d been dropped by the ROG group or in between were blocking the full climb, not pedaling. They’re just getting up to finish the stage. And he’s literally having to do that climb in a slalam style. And you’re the Pythagoras genius. So would you reckon he climbed 50%? He did 2 km in 700 m. But on a serious note, he finished on 2 minute of the of the stage victory. So that’s on 56 seconds of roll and so forth and in total on about 1 minute and 44 sec. My mop’s on today by the way. Just I’m not trying to flex, but I can do basic maths. Apparently 144 behind the group of Del Toro is where Tat lands. And now I’m trying to scroll down. I’m trying to scroll down. And I’m typing in control FG corn. He’s on 16 minutes with the entire team of Little Trek. He’s definitely out of GC, but I’m slightly worried that it might be more than out of GC at the end of the day cuz he’s a big rider. There’s a week of racing left. He’s hurt that badly that he can’t even push like Tibari. How realistic is it that he can win a breakaway stage? Yeah, even if he’s technically able to race. I don’t know. They’re going to obviously assess it overnight. There is a rest day in two days. So, but yeah, hopefully Chicone is okay, but not the not the day Little Trek were hoping for. Uh, but yeah, it was a day of really it’s bad luck. Bad luck. This really changing this race again. This reminded me this was very much like the strata stage and Del Toro extends his lead on GC over everyone except Yates G Carropaz Caruso. Simon Yates moves up two spots into second now 6 seconds ahead of Auso. Auso moves down to third. Maybe that’s indeed why Del Toro couldn’t really do anything. Carropaz, not only Asgren’s win being a good day for EF, Carropaz makes that first split and he’s moves into fourth on 207. And yeah, he’s looking dangerous. He’s looking like one of the better climbers in this race. His TT was dog [ __ ] but he’s taken half that time back through making the right splits every day. Um, and attacking the other day. Ragglitch stays in fifth on 223, but the gap to Del Toro is now even bigger. 223 still a small gap if you crack on Finestra, but yeah, it’s not a bonus second gap either. If Del Toro cracks, that’s gone in a single mountain stage. So, that is very much a possibility. So, he has not won the jury yet is what I’m trying to say. Week three is really hard. There’s a lot of mountains there, a lot of hard mountain stages. Sun Valentino stages 4,700 altitude meters. Fineste is the hardest climb in this race on stage 20. Super hard climb. If you have a bad day on either of those two days, you can be instantly out of the top five. So, he has not won yet to the point that there’s still the opportunity in my personal opinion. I’m still of the opinion that there’s four riders in this GC that can win this JRO. But I’ll continue our list. Sixth is Derek G who jumps from 10th now on 254 in the uh GC. Guso is 1 second behind in seventh place. Terious teammate is 7 seconds behind. Kuso on 302 on eighth place. Then Bernol and Ireland’s one or ninth and 10 from 338 and 345. Then Tom Bitco sitting in 11th. So maybe week three breakaway stage might eventually lead him into the top 10, but his climbing so far has not necessarily um looked like that for me personally. Like you said, Adam Yates, McNeli out of the top 10 now on 424 and 447. So they have completely lost the value of that multiler strategy of still having them in GC by not using them. Like you said one thing Patrick there was so much drama so much drama about after the Sienna stage Bianca stage should stra Bianke stages being a grand tour blah blah blah Patrick should flat stages be in a grand tour my friend that’s the thing should should city circuits with a bit of rain be in grand tours I mean there’s bigger gaps here or the same the same gaps as that strata stage uh but just with less entertainment I would say so should cycling be grown tours Should three should grand tours just be uh they all start at the bottom of a mountain every day and just ride up it? Oh, we saw that in Tour of Swiss last year. It’s a terrible race to be fair. Yeah, it is. Not I wouldn’t rewatch that race. Uh so what do we before we preview tomorrow stage, Benji, what does this change? I think I think Del Toro needs to be even more respected internally in UAE if not if that wasn’t already happening. I think yeah yeah I think uh Rogich I don’t know if he crashed or not but probably his strategy stays the same. I think Auso is going to start panicking like the way I look at the final week is the following for me. If we look at GC right now, Karapas right now is on his way to looking really good for a potential podium. The same for Simon Yates. Although a bit more worried about the climbing for week three for Simon Yates versus Karapas based on what I saw on the limited amount of mountain stages we’ve had so far. So it’s not much to judge from at the moment. But if I then look at Del Torto use and rogitch, we have to appreciate two things about the multi leader strategy. You’ve got the team view. If I’m UAE team Emirates, I’m extremely happy about Del Torto being so far ahead of Roglish and Auzo also being ahead, which means that you can use Del Toto as super defensive in the wheel of Roglish and try to attack with a uso to put pressure on him if you want to. You can play defensive with both riders, which I’m not necessarily a fan of. If you got two riders in GC, I like to I like to use them if I think about it. But you can also play it the other way around. If you if you believe that Del Torto is more likely to crack, then you can put pressure on Roglitch with Del Toro. Keep doing that just like you’ve done in the last two weeks and try and benefit with that with a Yuzo. So there’s three ways to go here. But then there’s the selfish part, the the the rider mind, not just the team mind. At the end of the day, if you’re a rider, if you’re Del Torto, if you’re a Yuzo, you don’t want to win a Grand Tour as a team. You want to win a Grand Tour as a rider. Are we underrating that? No. I think I think if it’s like with Hindley and Kellum in the 2020 duro, it’s really tricky like what if say Ro I mean yeah what if they get to the Finestra is different. You can’t wait on Finestra. But I can I can see it happening that Auso begins attacking and exposes Del Toro and then Auzo himself doesn’t win. And and I think it’s possible either way. Yeah, I think it’s very possible like you say that Auzo attacks and Del Toro gets exposed. I think it’s also possible that maybe Auzo isn’t the man at the moment. Maybe he still has issues from his crash at the Sienna stage etc. to the point that Del Torto does something crazy on a stage and suddenly Auzo’s in trouble while Rogich is not necessarily showing that same trouble. So that is the danger of trying to use this multi-le strategy where they’re both ahead against the Rogich who is on paper behind. I think the most realistic outcome is going to be that I reckon they’ll both ride relatively defensive and if they see weakness they’ll try and act on it. I mean I actually don’t know what they’re going to do. Like I actually don’t know. Um maybe tomorrow we see them just like defending and riding setting pace with McNelte and Yates. Uh now I don’t know. And tomorrow is a good stage to talk about. Stage 15, the Sunday stage from Fume Fume Venetto to Asia. Long stage, 220ks long, including big climbs. Uh there’s 104ks of mostly flat to begin, but there is the muro deio which is 1k at 12.2% 45ks in. So if the break hasn’t gone, it should go there. We then have the Monte Graa 25ks at 5.7% but really it’s 11. It’s 12ks at about 7%, a flat section of 4 to 5 km, and then another 8 and 1 halfks at 6.5%. Not the most brutal climb, but it takes an hour and 5 minutes, an hour and 10 minutes. So, it’s long. Then they have a descent short valley of about 15 km, 20 km, and then they do the Dory climb from Finding Nemo, which Benji said 16.6ks, 6ks only 5% average. It’s not that difficult at all. I don’t know if it’s a wide road. There’s a Red Bull bonus sprint 2/3 the way up it. And then there’s a hill zone afterwards. 1500 m 8% short downhill, false slide uphill, and then like a false downhill to the finish at 1,000 m. It is a flat finish. I this should be a breakaway stage, but then there’s so many GC teams that need to take time back now that I feel like someone is going to kick it off on the grapper. This parkour, I don’t know why, reminds me of a stage that Leonard Kam Kamna won from the breakaway against Karapas. Maybe I’m thinking 2022. No. Uh 2022 to France. 2020? Really? Yeah. Are we that old? Holy. It’s a pretty similar finish. Yeah. Yeah, it kind of reminds me of that. I do see a possibility for satellite rider strategies. If you really want to try something, I’m not sure anyone is desperate enough to try it because usually when you’re like thinking about satellite rider strategies, Patrick, you’re in a situation where, okay, I don’t think I can win in week three. And this is like an attempt of like okay if I if we succeed here we can be in the running again but it might be risky and on paper cut is the man for such kind of moves. You know if you if you look at the parkour then you try and get a rider in the breakaway you try and have that rider reach a a proper gap by the top of the Monte Graas. And in the meanwhile, you try to attack from the pelaton on the Monte Graa. And then you’ve got a satellite rider in the valley, those 15 km valleys. The Dhi climb, you have that satellite rider for a little bit, but most likely Karapas would then have to go relatively alone for most of the climb. And then the last 30 km are flat. So I feel like the stage might be too long flat on top of Dhi to be to see someone risk that. UAE I I try to take big time with Del Toro tomorrow. I try to take another 30 45 seconds. And uh on the explosivity after 5% gradients, he just looks better than Roglish. Roglish team is not so good. Peladari is good of course, but I think yeah, you you get multiple riders in the break and you use that Red Bull bonus sprint if it’s still in play and you you hope that you have someone for the last 30ks of plateau and uh it could be Baroni, it could be uh Vine, it could be Arieta, could be Micah probably they keep Micah behind and I go with Del Toro. And you know why Del Toro is more effective than Auzo? It’s because there’s no one ahead of him on GC. So like is Simon Yates is he 30ks from the finish. Is he going to chase on the flat behind Del Toro? No. Is Derek G iso is going to chase on the flat after a maybe not. I’ve got the same feeling about both of them to be honest. I do think for some reason they’ll throw stronger though. Del Toro looks stronger at the moment, but he’s also got the complete uncertainty about week three. We don’t know if he’s going to survive week three at all. Like, we’ve never seen him do a week like that. We never we’ve never seen him do multi- mountain stages like the ones we see in week three in a serious race like this. So, he can completely fall apart next week. He can also completely overcome next week. We have no indication data from the past to see whether he can do that. So, it’s really hard from an external perspective, not knowing whether he could survive that to judge whether he or should be making moves like this. They’re both ahead. So, I don’t see them do it. I think they’re going to keep doing what they did on some Pellegrino. They’re going to play it relatively defensively. If something happens on Monte Graa, they’re going to try and close it down again. Micah’s going to come to the front at a controlling tempo. And at the end of the day, we might see a move on Dhi, but I don’t necessarily expect UEI to try and blow it up. I think it’s someone else trying to blow it up and UEI may be benefiting from it cuz that’s what happened in a lot of situations in the Jurro so far. Yeah, it could be. It looks like a Carropas stage again. I mean, this looks like where Richard Carropaz could go. Bernal, I mean, Inos I’m looking at here, they’re ninth and 10th on GC. They got to do something. And it’s actually a really good Aaronman stage. Both the good ironsman climbs. We say that, but he needs to be ahead to make it an Aaron one climb. Yeah. How does he get ahead? Getting in the breakaway. Yeah. Probably won’t be allowed in though. Don’t think so either. Yeah, I think a break wins. And although Yeah. Well, I think a break will try to go. A big break might go. UAE will perplexingly keep the break really close, then not do anything, and then counterattacks will begin and someone can sneak away again. That’s what happened on S Pelgro stage and could happen here again. Yeah, I I feel that as well. And when I look at a parkour like this, I feel like the instigators of potential moves are EF or Inos if we see GC action. But for the stage victory, Monte Graasa’s not an easy climb. I uh I would love to see Barde win a stage. I’m not necessarily feeling him for a 30 km flat section on top of a climb like the one at the end of the stage though. So I think it’s going to be someone else. I’m trying to look through the list at the moment. I’m feeling Marco Frigo. Frigo or Plap? This stage is so good for Plap. I’ve staged I’ve said Frigo way too many times in the dur and I’ve lost complet. Yeah, if he’s in there with Plat Ah, it’s kind of boring to go blap again. No, I think it’s it’s a really good stage for him. And if he gets a gap on the 5% climb and then a rolling 30ks of rolling terrain, he’s not going to get brought back. I’m of the opinion that Picnic Postel should get Max Pool in the bloody breakaway for once cuz he’s 18th right now and if he can get him in the breakaway, he can win. So Max Pool is my pick. Yeah. Who’s going in the breakaway? Max Pool. Come on. free Julio Peladari. That’s never going to happen. Rogich will not let that happen. Yeah. Be funny though. Yeah, but I think Rogich needs the man. I think tactically Pelazar in the break is good for Bora. Jvine’s a good pick, but he’s looked [ __ ] for the last week. Or is that No, he’s he’s in the group almost coming last rider the last three days. So, there must be something up. Um, okay. I’m keeping max pool. You want pool and go plappy GC action. Yes. Yeah. Kapas or Bernell will try something. Yeah. Especially cuz like Bernal’s not in a good position GC wise. No, he has to do something. Ninth on 338. Yeah, that’s a long way from winning. So I I would like to see Talling in the breakaway. Maybe not the ideal rider to survive Monte Graa. maybe as the tug buddy for someone else that can actually get over Monte Galapa and then craziness from Inos. I am begging you that would make the the race really good. But I think we have to somewhat wrap it up because I’ve got 9% battery left. But you want to talk about uh Burgos or do we wait for the weekly show that we might do on weekly show? We’ll do weekly show that we release on Monday. Perfect. And Burgos hasn’t finished yet. Fair point. We know he’s going to win. Let’s be honest. Yeah, we think we know he’s going to win. Okay, thanks for listening as always. Go check out joint cycling through our link down below and we’ll see you at the recap of the Monte Graa stage tomorrow. Until then, Cho Cho