In this episode Patrick Broe and Benji Naesen preview the biggest race of the year, the Tour de France.
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π§πͺ Benji Naesen – Host: https://www.youtube.com/@BenjiNaesenTV & https://www.instagram.com/benjinaesen/ & https://www.twitter.com/benjinaesen
π³π± Luc Grefte – Producer: https://www.twitter.com/lucgrefte
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00:00:00 Intro
00:01:52 Setting the stage
00:13:05 Route overview
00:21:20 Tadej PogaΔar versus Jonas Vingegaard
00:40:42 Other GC contenders
01:01:01 Sprinters & teams
01:16:55 Other teams
01:30:12 Stage-by-stage analyses
02:39:40 Picks & predictions
02:46:58 Outro
welcome back to Lantern Rouge Cycling Podcast for our biggest podcast of the year we have been peing training dedicating our voices tapering for this very moment the Lura France is here lron BL around France we’re in hot conditions we’re doing heat training right now for this podcast and I’m so excited it’s uh it’s time for the main event of the year benji the I mean how pumped are you
well I’m of course pumped this is the moment that the season is building up towards and this is the moment where we see thug versus ving at the big moment at the race day they fully prepared or are fully prepared for and now we’ll see one v one plus other candidates perhaps who will take the yellow jersey at the end of these three weeks and parkour wise some interesting mountain stages in week three but we’ll get through all that but I’m certainly very much pumped and I can’t wait for this race to get started we’re going to do this as we normally do we’re going to go through this we’ll set the stakes that’s what Benji’s got in the notes what’s happened up to this point not just this year but in previous years what’s the record what are the standings then we’re going to go and preview quickly what’s the general route looking like and then we’ll go through the start list uh by sort of jersey or goal so the GC favorites in their respective teams the outsiders the green jerseys the sprinters rather the KM jersey maybe some stage hunters as well as the white jersey and we’ll wrap up all the teams and then we’re going to go stage by stage analysis with picks uh the rules different rules applying to some of these stages and what we think will happen before rounding out and saying what our predictions are for this tour to France so very very excited it’s a a bit of a 2021 start to this route but what are the stakes Benji um what what’s happened in the postco cycling world with the two big players here
yeah it’s true it kind of starts postco because we have PDF 2020 which is the first to the fronts we covered on this podcast so bit of a flashback to our beginnings primos with Yambo Vizmmy being in full control of the race and we kept on hammering in our podcast we kept on saying they’re playing too defensively this might bite them in the ass and eventually Togacha beats Roglitch with his wonderful timelier that was a a master stroke and at that race Pogacha wins his fast tour to France then we come to the next year they’re both at the start line again roglitch and of course Pogachar but there’s one difference there there’s one difference there where Rogachan crashing out relatively early which means another man has to step up and that’s where Yunasving comes into play that’s where we have the 1v one beginning TD of 2021 bugger dominates but the Vingo podiums the race so that’s a fantastic result for then younger Yonas Vingo we enter the tour of France 2022 yambo Vizma is on their knees they are desperate how can we beat T Pogachar and that question is figured out in 2022 they crack the code and Yonas Vinga ends up beating Togachar the massive cold grano action i loved it you loved it everybody loved it we get to 2023 ah it’s a bit the opposite of the TDF 2021 kind of not really but Yonas dominates and Pogach capitulates on Koda Lo we had a good tour of France that year though we had a pretty good tour to France for multiple years now I would say um in certain years because then we go to the tour of France 2024 and we have good action again between the big guns but we enter that TDF 2024 with h youas crashed out at the um at the bass country pretty serious injuries to the point that can he cycle again stuff like that was coming up initially but he arrives at the to France and he comes up at a really good level in the in the first few stage on the sun Luca climb for example in that tour France though Yonas is not able to uh show anything to Pogacha because Pogacha has evolved he does not seemingly have those same weaknesses as 2022 2023 and he dominates the 2024 tour France with insane performances on plateau de Bay on Isula 2000 then that’s the the thought we have going into the 2025 this season and I got to say yes there was always the question Daniel Vingo with perfect preparation now on paper preparation that does not involve crashing hard at Bass Country can he prepare perfectly towards the uh tour France 2025 and the Dolphin 2025 was the last indicator there but Patrick what did we perceive at the Dolphin well it looked like for the first uh first four stages or five stages that uh Vingar was maybe the equal of Pagatcha stage one Vizmo started to ping attacks across the place and if Pagata still won the stage but he was outnumbered the TT was the big surprise where Pagacha was beaten uh by Okay Renco we all expected uh Renco to win the TT but then for Vingard to beat Pagacha we weren’t expecting but then the rest of the the Dofane was a beatdown pagatcha just did what he wanted i think a one minute gap on a 20-minute climb on comb if that’s the difference between the two we’re not we’re not going to have a competitive tour to France if that’s the difference the next day longer climb let’s call it a 30-cond gap in reality not it wasn’t a 14-second gap paga started to do his cool down um that’s still a big difference so Pagatcha wins the Dofphane by a minute before the doofen if we said we’ll patch you win by 30 to 60 seconds you probably be like sure kind of expected case if you’re vingard maybe you hope it’s more like 20 30 and uh but I guess it was the stages where it happened was different to what we expected if Pagata won one bonies and 25 seconds in the TT but then Vingard didn’t get dropped in the mountains I think that’s a different narrative right now but the narrative right now is Vingar’s got to catch up that is true and especially Because 2024 set the stakes we spoke about setting the stakes it’s it’s a to France 2024 that really set the stakes of what Pugachar can achieve at a tour of to France there we saw which what power toe ratio he can push on a big mountain at the end of a high killer stage on at the tour of to France in week three etc and those watts I have not seen from Yonas Vingo in his career so that’s what you’re hoping to see at the Dolphin then some kind of indication that Yonas might be able to get to those WS and maybe have that power once he gets to the tour of France but so far I have not necessarily seen that but does that mean that Yonas has no chance to win the tour to France not necessarily but we’ll get into that later
yeah there’s there’s 21 stages to get through but indeed the do one minute the hierarchy was the same as 2024 pog Yonas a tier below then another tier below to the Remos of the world fighting scrapping behind we did have some interesting uh pretenders like Florian Lipovitz is stepping up in a big way so that was really exciting to see but indeed I would say the stakes Benji are unchanged yeah they’re unchanged it’s Yonas against Pagatcha with Pagatcha in the ascendancy is the best rider in the world the defending champion and there’s no excuses i mean 23 Pogy had the I don’t think if if you read all the interviews which of course I I do it’s my I I just read everything poggy’s I think his his crash in 23 okay you say “Oh we’ll just get on the turbo get on the trainer the next day.” It’s clear that something didn’t go swimmingly with the rehabilitation like perfect rehabilitation so that’s effective preparation last year Vingar crash you know it’s an it’s an excuse this year zero excuses both have I mean Vizma as well they have super teams they have the teams they both have are a joke that they’re bringing they’re in good shape no crashes knock on wood pray to god it’s Yeah how much does the concussion of Vingo at Paris impact his preparation to a tour to France
we done the do now he did good ws on stage seven there’s no excuses from something that happened in March anymore
okay i think that’s I think that’s fair so that’s why it’s such an exciting tour to France to me it’s like and then Remco as well remco says he’s his lightest ever he’s he was way better in the do this year i think Roglish and Bora have some excuses but um yeah that’s why it’s so exciting such a mouthwatering proposition kind of like 2014 To France i hope it doesn’t end up uh that way but before we get into the the actual route itself what do you mean hope it doesn’t end up with Vinenzo Nebi the goat of cycling winning what do you mean
yeah well
talking
the problem is that Yeah two people crashed ahead of him who were arguably better bigger favorites arguably bigger favorites for the race
comedor was in Narnia after the couple stage talking about talking about I heard some rumors that you were climbing like crazy and put some people in Narnia on the clims the other day
dude I’m so cooked because yesterday I went out for just a chill ride 35Β° and then my joint cycling training plan was just like 1 hour one and a half hour just like some tempos and then I get to bet I hear some music coming up behind me i was like “Fuck me this car.” I cuz normally I that climb there’s nobody on a week like nobody there hear and it’s coming fast this music big boom box i’m like am I back in the in the go coast hinterland where Hilux is about to run past me i look around two Aana jerseys Bahrain jersey Bora jersey it’s the Colombia national championship this was this weekend it was a Colombian national champs but it was on ber list there past my house igita Tahara Martinez and Brago and I’m like “Fuck it i got to follow them for as long as possible.” So then I started trying to follow them they weren’t saying a word they were actually going like quite fast i mean not just like amateur they were actually going quite fast
um
how many watts were you doing in their wheel
400 400 i’m a little bit sick so yeah I’m doing the excuse i mean I’m I criticize I criticize Renco sometimes but I would do the same a little bit sore throat um true story i told my wife this weekend this is not even bullshitting not even doing a bit i said to Mrs rouge I’m not speaking all weekend
not even a word only I’m saving the voice for the Monday pod cuz I can feel a bit of a tickle in the throat and I got a taper and she’s like “All right I’m married to an insane person.” So we moved on but I literally didn’t speak um so now I’m pent up full of energy anyway this is join cycling join cycling can make you follow the Colombian National Championships up specialist it has changed benji’s coming here he’s about to do a test in a week look at the price I will drop Bago on his recovery ride well he Yeah he will be in the tour to France so I really don’t think he will but good good job for the read um if you were in the tour and dropped in we maybe need to do a different pod join cycling when you compare the pricing to having your own trainer or even other software products under β¬10 a month,β¬10 USD a month crazy value for something that adapts to your availability sickness you’re feeling bad don’t have time this is something that will make your fitness on the bike improve more than you can believe you even if you try it for try it for a month use our 30-day free trial you will not believe how much fitter you get from seemingly not overextending that’s part of the point it’s what’s in the algorithms and the training plans try out the Lantern Rouge plan thousands of people have used are using that plan it’s one of the most popular plans on joint cycling i helped make them with it to make it achievable go through our link down below and get the 30-day free trial or just get an annual membership because yeah supports the show join Cycling have been with us the last two seasons as our show partner go and show them the love and uh go and use the annual plan through our free trial as I said β¬10 a month or less than for something that can basically change your life on the bike and if you do a bit of running like I do helps as well all right Benji where are we going we’re going to France spoilers the tour of France is 100% in France this year which we don’t necessarily uh remember many of those in recent years because there’s always a grand bar in a different country or maybe just outside of France that then goes into France like Bas country we don’t have that at this moment in the story of France starts of very French in Liil next to Belgium just under Belgium and uh if you remember Lil was also the start of a stage in 2022 if I recall correctly but from little we gradually move towards Britannia where we have a bit of a I was going to say a more traditional first few days but the first week I wouldn’t classify as fully traditional either because it’s a combination of flat stages with punchure hilly stages that might also lead to GC stages and there’s an ITT in there 33 km there’s a couple of sprint stages but if a pure sprinter looks at week one they’re also not going to be too happy because there’s too many hill stages for them i would say if a GC rider looks at week one they might be have mixed feelings too you know cuz Patrick a weak one with lots of small hills with with with desends with maybe a a short steep climb stuff like that what do you think are the odds that a GC rider has some kind of crash in week one or something we don’t want it but this is the parkour that shouts it to me it’s 100% i’m sorry to say but it’s 100% i mean when you see the the roads the amount of these stages it’s not like okay maybe two of them you can get through and it’s going to be okay it’s like a week straight of this and unless worried about the really hard 4,000 m altitude stages cuz they’re so hard it will just get thinned out but I mean stage three to Dunkerk uh the even the chatoo stage on stage nine the stage eight and it’s like if there’s strong breakaways too in this hilly terrain it’s going to be even hard to bring back the breakaway and then there’s going to be like a pace all day it’s just with the wind maybe some rain predicted i’m afraid it will happen it’s inevitable I’m afraid
i’ve got that feeling too and obviously the go-to riders that have a higher crash probability in the in the GC list are the likes of Remor Rugglitch and Thomas for me those are the three where I look towards and I see riders that crash a lot in these kind of situations now I hope that does not happen i hope the GC riders get to week one in one go and it’s not just the climbs etc it’s also the sprint for positioning before every climb those moments I I fear we’re going to see something like that this week but hey we won’t jinx it let’s let’s believe that it will not happen what are you going to say
well in 20 in 21 what stage did we have stage one uh I do not remember oh yeah in Britannia right
when was the big crash it was the stage three that Meria won yeah there was OPMI and then this this random sprint stage on stage three to Pont TV i admittedly they had a descent finish but Little Hills there was this huge crash hey was out i can’t remember if Rogich crashed
i think he crashed in week one i think Poggy technically crashed there or maybe avoided it but didn’t lose time he didn’t lose time um we have a lot of those stages and it’s the same region so yeah this this first week is hectic and a lot of teams are actually built for this first week but we’ll get into the teams later let’s talk about week two for a second we we move away from Britany and we move towards the massive central we know the massive central from Pareno 4 from previous uh tour of Francis i would classify Massive Central stages as medium mountain stages and stage 10 is a a medium mountain fest like up and down up and down up and down to the finish line basically so can’t wait to talk about stage 10 for sure but from that it’s in the center of France it’s in the center that it’s typically hot
hard roads you see the tarmac boiling in these sort of stages and do we know what the temperatures are going to be like in week 1 two and three at the moment roughly
one looks quite mild we have a heat wave in Europe right now and uh one is quite mild week one rather i don’t know massive central when I say week one I mean literally stages 1 through 7 i don’t know about uh 8 9 10 and then the Pyrenees I don’t it’s a bit far it’s 2 3 weeks away or 2 and 1/2 weeks away till the Pyrenees which is where they go next which can also be super hot they go they just go directly south and they go towards Tuloo’s Benji with and then uh they hit the Pyrenees for like three consecutive brutal stages they do and we do have climbs like Tale being present being present we’ve got Perag being back and lots of climbs like that perura I can’t wait to go through every single stage that has uh one of those mythical climbs but it doesn’t stop after week two of course we enter week three and that’s where we get the hottest mountains that’s where we get the hardest mountains and that’s where we go to the actual Alps where we’ve got [Β __Β ] 2 for example on maybe one of the lighter mountain stages to be honest but there’s two other mountain stages there with the mythical called Laos can we say it’s mythical already cuz it’s so recent in the sport of cycling started in 2020 but it’s now the third time it’s been featured i think it’s a different site this year though right
yeah it’s an easier side than in 2023 there’s an extended easier section but that’s a brutal stage 5,000 m climbing the accumulated climbing is a lot in that stage and then the next day is uh La Plan I think so the Alps are a little bit more gradual than the Pyrenees which are typically more maybe the average gradient is similar but the Pyrenees is more like uh inconsistent gradients more rampass or steeper sections and then we move up to Paris for the last there’s a a couple of hard transition stages by the way the transition stages this year are very difficult like the Caros stage if that’s 40Β° it’s a nasty nasty stage for the breakaway and then of course the final stage in Paris they have changed this year to put in a couple of reps of the of Matra which is supposed to entice some actual racing um which I can understand actually i think that makes sense commercially excitement wise audience-wise so that’s the route
hilly punchy long TT hot in the middle start the Pyrenees middle of week two move our way uh east towards the Alps where we have three mountain stages and then uh back to Paris it’s Yeah it’s just a I don’t know the difference main difference here Benji is
Yeah a lack of a mountain stage in week one like a real mountain stage last year we had Galibia stage four pogy already set his stall out he already took 45 seconds on that stage with bonies on on Yonas stage five in 23 Marie Blanccard took a minute on Pagatcha and then they even had to kasask on stage six 22 I can’t recall so well we had plia maybe
yes I think pla cobble stage in week one so those were differences already in the first uh part of the race and here some differences are possible it sounds like bad luck might be the biggest reason for potential bad luck or or skill issues that’s also a possibility crashing is not always bad luck the combination of that can lead to time loss for certain GC riders also there are like stage 10 for me is also a stage where time difference can matter but that’s more a stage where it’s tactically time loss can matter and not necessarily uh I don’t expect Pogacha to attack Vingar well I expect some action between the GC riders there but I don’t expect a threeminut gap between the GC riders on that stage i see it more as that is the kind of stage where potentially you can play out your co-leaders but we’ll get to that specifically when we get to that specific stage in our stage bystage analysis but we’ve spoken about this parkour very quickly now I want to ask you Patrick we see T Pogacha and Yonas Vingga at the start line let’s start comparing teams here because do we feel like both teams have a similar setup in terms of roles for their riders well no no i think they’re actually very different in both composition and roles and we’ll start with UAE we start with the heavy favorite Taga the odds are Pagach is $140 I think uh GC favorite $136 rather Vingard’s $340 so it’s really with with with Remco at $10 it’s between those three is what the market’s saying we’ll get to Bore in a second but Pagatch is the more than odds on favorite at $136 that’s an implied probability of yeah 60 70% plus to win the race his team though is is for that reason all around Pagacha you want to win stages you win it with Pagatcha you want to keep a rider safe seven riders committed to keeping Tatt Paga safe climbing wise the strongest team in the race most likely if Adam Yates is in good shape pogy of course needs no introduction almeida just won three consecutive world tour one oneweek races he came fourth in the tour last year third in the Jurro and 23 navias Poner Classicy type guy pollock climbing ruler civikov climbing ruler so climbing ruler tim Wellins the classic support just won Belgian national champs yesterday i think maybe the most important rider for Pagatra in the whole race tim Wellins adam Yates is the pure climbing support so there’s no like Poland is not a Feny
it’s not the same rider so to me it’s more climbing focused and this is a team that’s can just destroy some of those long mountain stages in the second and third week
i think so too but then you pointed at it it’s not necessarily enough spoit because we said this during our Milano Sanremo recap and preview that Bit is not necessarily a godlike when it comes to positioning he’s a good ruler don’t get me wrong he’s a great rider but that specific role he hasn’t necessarily mastered and we’ve seen that quite a few times it’s just not him based what we’ve seen so far so then my question on top of that is okay positioning wise I expect Visma to be better when it comes to positioning Yonas for every small hill in week one if I look at the UAE team and then the Visma team being Vinga obviously scores as the GC leader afini being that positioning land tishben and Victor Kenards companards also present for positioning I would argue jorgensson Kus Yates Vanard this is a strong team we’ll go into the in-depth roles of Isalisa Mike in a second but I’m just trying to build my point here that I think it’s very possible that Pogata might end up being positioning wise the ninth rider on Vizmissa bike during the first week of this frrons it really depends on Navas and Wellins so yeah as I said Wellins is in great shape but he can’t do it all himself uh Civikov was quite good in the doof at it actually and uh but yeah
but not perfect either the first stage didn’t work i think in reality one of Pit or Soair probably based on his do shape so should be out and then for this first week you want Evo Olivivera or Florian Vermesh um but Pogy can position himself better than Vingard he can solve problems himself better than Vingard stage one doofer he was isolated he still won the stage he never gets he’s always there in crosswinds the bigger issue Benji is what if something does go wrong does he have the team to solve it then the horsepower on the flat
um maybe maybe not but in the mountains Almeida could be the third best climber in this race ahead of Remco and then I don’t even think like the mountain hierarchy will be pullet pulling like controlling with Solair then you have Civikov to do longer climbs and then you have like Wellins and Nvayas if they can do their explosive lead out like on the on Comllo and even Murder Bratana or even Adam Yates did the San Luca lead out they have really good guys for those five minute climbs or even two-minute climbs so we say they maybe miss a little bit of horsepower but actually in terms of doing a twominute lead out on a steep climb wellens and Navvice might be and better than what Vizma have also because they’re all dedicated to one one person one one goal are we saying that Viz Malis bike is not dedicated to one goal cuz we look at those riders again being the GC leader then we’ve got Septus Jorgensson and Simon Yates which were kind of some of those riders were played out as a secondary GC rider at Dofin together with Ben Tallet as well so like are we saying that we see a multi-leer strategy brewing here because I don’t see the possibility for Jorgensson Ken Sam to endanger Pugacho in any way in this ground tour
and that’s the thing because you they have yeah maybe I’m wrong in that UAE would also just do that with Almeida i think Almeida the idea is he will get to ride for his own GC as long as possible and that it’s not that he’s going to throw away his own GC to keep him happy um I think think week one’s tough for him but yeah on the point of then yeah at Vizmo Sign is from the Jirro though
yeah but the Jirro is built different than the tour of France for me indeed
the consistency across three weeks in this Twitter front after having done Ajiro is also a question and that’s not just a question that is brought up with Simon Yates yes Sepus has been able to do
three grand tours but I’m looking at Mr wild Fernard as well where he did the Cobbles then the Jurro and then the tour to France and I’m then wondering are we going to see the best Ward at the store to France you’d hope so and what is the best Wild Fernard in 2025 is that the level we saw at Devalta for example is that the level we saw on Kel Finestre can he ever get back to 2022 W Fernard or was Fest W level the same as 2022 Ward it’s we’re always comparing the the peaks of Wenard together with each other but what is a realistic level we can expect from Ward at this Tw is a question that has actually been in my mind for the last week and I think he’s going to be good otherwise he probably wouldn’t be at the start line
except for the sickness
yeah he just had to pull out of Belgium Championships due to some sickness will he be in the 2022 shape maybe not relative to especially Vanderpool who Vanderpool in Dofane looked incredibly sharp so I would still say if there’s a steep ramp you’d expect Vanderpool to punch away on it um but will he be good yeah afini also did the Jirro and is backing up from the cobbles so Vizma bring three out of the Jirro uae only one they bring Adam Yates out of the Jirro and uh their team as I said is largely unchanged from last year just Auso out Nava in I’d say that is probably an upgrade uh on what yeah did last year and then Vizma yeah Vizmas is way more is way different last year you had Bard Lemon Yan Tratnik and can’t even remember who else but now that
they they crashed the season they cobbled it together like in the week before they just put some so yeah Cous got co and he was out and uh so they have two better climbers Cous and Simon last year and Atheni it is a downgrade on peak Kristoff Leaport and uh Camponas is in for Tratnik which is probably an upgrade i do want to mention something more in this discussion between UAE and Vizmalis Patch and Vingar can we talk about their level for a second here because Pogach when it comes to his climbing the 2024 tour of France that’s right now the level I expect from T Pogachar the Plato de Bay level isola 2000 level in this tour of France then I look at Yonas Vingo i haven’t seen that level i stated it before so how can Vizmissa bike then heard UAE team Emirates then there’s there I’ve obviously as someone that’s invested in the Twitter France that’s something that’s been in my mind the last the last two weeks and trying to figure out ways where have we seen any weakness from UAE in the last in the last half a year for example the last year which from Tani Pogatra himself not necessarily so it’s more looking at UAE can Malisa Mike as a whole heard UAE as a whole and then I’m thinking positioning before the small climbs in week on that’s something where you want to look at that’s a possibility because it’s possible that UAE’s positioning for Pogachar doesn’t get it all right is it possible that Pogatra himself saves it if his position by his team is not perfect yes he’s done it million times before but that’s an area where I’d expect Vizma to be better than UAE is that going to be enough to take minutes on Pogata and win the to France not necessarily but are there other ways we see Vingov being able to hurt Pagacha based on what we’ve seen in the last year i mean not really not really i mean if if Yeah but if if a guy rides a mountain top finish one minute faster than you like at the end of the day it’s a pretty straightforward sport uh in terms of GC so a lot can happen in the stages before like you just mentioned all those things but this UAE team Benji it ain’t the [Β __Β ] they were trotting out in 2020 and 2021
that’s why we were so hard on Yambo Vizma cuz they were up against the ghost of Fabio Aru two sprinters and like David Dela Cruz riding his own GC and they didn’t do anything this UAE team is stacked it is and it is stacked enough in my opinion because because then I look at another option okay how did Sepkus win Lavalta 2023 he did soul buy on a medium mountain stage which looks a lot like a stage 10 in this tour for example
try and go into a breakaway slip into a breakaway with one of their secondary GC riders and try and put pressure on UAE team Emirates
but that’s a possible tactic that could put UAE in stress but I have not necessarily seen UI at the tour to France make a mistake so gravely on a stage like that for that to be able to work against them and that’s the point because the Jirro that cluster [Β __Β ] that doesn’t happen with Paga because he’s the DS
on the road like he is aware of what’s happening he’s like “Okay this could be crosswinds here or this is a tricky moment or we should go here we should go easy or let that break go he is doing it that being said yeah Vizma have to apply pressure Benji if you don’t apply pressure if you don’t try things then if you just walk through every mountain stage most likely Pagatcha is just going to win and like that exactly brings me to the point of like over the last month we’ve heard the likes of Richard Bla mentioning okay like the the strategy that worked in 2022 and 2023 was throughout the three weeks put pressure on T Pogachar and then in doing so potentially building up fatigue and then it pays off on a massive stage where they also try to build up additional fatigue stuff like that but my initial reaction is then okay well based on 2024 tour to France that won’t work but on the other side I look at it and okay the only position the only point at the tour to France 2024 where Pugacha was a bit in trouble where Pugachar struggled a little bit was not necessarily super fatigue but it was a stage where it opened up early in doing so Pugacha seemingly fueled incorrectly or an not enough on the medium mountain stage to Pumari last year and in that stage Vinga ends up beating him in a sprint so that same strategy of doing the fatigue might accidentally lead to Pugacha not feeling enough or do you think they’ve got a dedicated person in the car now to to say “Pogy it’s time to meet your [Β __Β ] meal dude.”
Well no obviously yeah you see you watch every race with Pagatra and in the doofen and they’re pouring water bottles over him it depends on the temperature at the tour to France but um I’m not sure that was a feeding issue on stage 11 i mean he still did like 6.8 W per kilo for 12 minutes it wasn’t like a granol level crack but it also Yeah it’s the only time correct me if I’m wrong it’s the only time in the last 18 months anybody has done a climb faster than Paga in a relevant race yes I don’t know if he wrote a [Β __Β ] PLA or something probably there he went quicker too like probably there so that Yeah what sort of scenario could that be because that’s actually not called a loss Benji um that’s some other stage during this race but yeah it’s you don’t know unless you try and that’s like clearly Vizma going to try to win with Vingard he doesn’t get he doesn’t care about coming second or third um but then you still see Vanard is there as a bit of a backup to uh It’s not like he won’t go for stages either
yeah how much do we expect the freedom for wildfar to be because I do see opportunities in week one those hilly parkours where you’ve got mutani etc as maybe one of the longer climbs of the bunch but my scare is that I consider much of on the pool going into the store front yeah
a lot better than ward to the point that I question whether wenard in the first place even has a chance for those stages it’s not impossible he he has a chance but I don’t see him competitive versus much of the pull in a one v one for those stages no and there’s TBO nice i mean he’s also the second coming of Jesus Christ from your nation so um no but I all jokes aside like we’ll get to N and the punchers as well but it’s not a fatal compon plea that you just beat him either even if found does have a bad day so or Pagatcha he can punch pretty well from what I’ve seen so um to round off this discussion of UAE versus Vizma Benji I would say both basically the strongest teams they could possibly bring outside of in theory Leaport
uh and maybe I I would put in a VSH or Evo Vera but that’s I think nitpicking Matthew Brennan
yeah Matthew Brennan of course I mean yes bring him but really this is the best teams little bit visma is more weighted on the heavier rulers ua is more weighted on the uh climbing rulers i’m talking like 65 70 kilo guys like Civicov but they’re strong teams and uh no obvious no obvious weaknesses uh to to me and indeed we spoke or I spoke with Scott Roy Sevel’s engineering manager about the new S5 which you may have seen in the criterium dofane uh and this new S5 is launching on July 8th uh we spoke with him uh beforehand to get a teaser of what’s actually different about the bike maybe maybe Vanar on this new S5 Benji it’ll change your opinion on whether he will win on the M Bratano on a punchy finish but we bleeped out how many watts faster the new bike is uh the audience can find out on on July 8th but yeah Benji can guess but now we’ll go to this uh ad with Scott Roy Cavlla’s engineering manager what were the main goals in updating the S5 which is already supposed to be one of the fastest bikes in the world in the first place what are you trying to improve
we always have to kind of push the boundary on on making that bike faster so Arrow is always um at the forefront for the development having said that it’s it’s not difficult to make a fast bike it’s difficult to make a fast bike that rides well so I think having a balance of of uh arrow and and weight and stiffness um is what I think makes the S5 such a such a loved bike and such a unique bike
what was the rider feedback from the Dough have you got any feedback from the riders after testing it out in a pretty demanding race
we want the bike to not be this foreign feeling object for the riders having it feel the same is a win in my book so I think the rider feedback being as it didn’t feel any different while being you know what’s faster what’s faster than the previous bike is is a testament to to the team excelling at what their targets were so faster riser saying what actually has changed there’s some funky fork
the big thing that everyone noticed straight off the bat is the one piece cockpit as I mentioned earlier it’s easy to make a bike fast easy quote unquote to make a bike fast it’s hard to do it while not increasing the weight of the bike so the one piece cockpit is a good way of pulling out redundant weight also in in reducing those interfacing surfaces between the stem and the bar you’re able to reduce surface area so that front end gets a little bit more spelt so um there’s arrow savings there we look worked heavily on the fork so if you look at the bike side by side you’ll notice that the front end of the new bike is quite stocky and quite the cord length is increased on the fork legs the fork itself like for like got heavier that’s one of those sacrifices where I talked about arrow weight stiffness we didn’t essentially want to take any head tube stiffness out of the bike so that cornering ability and that descending how well it carves essentially it’s how well the front wheel stays in plane with the rear wheel when you really push through a high G corner a lot of that is is the head tube of the bike but also a lot of that is the fork legs so the fork compared to the previous generation bike gained about uh I think it’s 20 or 30 g but we took a significant amount of weight out of the front end for the handlebar and stem and the frame got a little bit lighter so if you look at the frame as well the back end has really kind of slimmed down a lot compared to the previous bike so the seat tube got a little bit the cutout for the seat tube got a little bit narrower so yeah I think as a system it lost about 130 g over the previous bike when is the official release of the new bike and when will it actually be available to consumers
july 8
and then people get their hot fingers and can start and start ordering from then so expect Yeah your accent as well is a giveaway so I expect to see it in the Hefron crits in Sydney that’s a shout out to the Sydney people
it’s it’s kind of nice every time I go back home and I see more and more he’s one kilo lighter he’s had no issues dofane he was better he was we’ve seen media reports that he was angry about the doofan we’ve seen him in Belgian championships on the weekend literally angry with Jasper Philipsson deservedly so take a
and with the motorbike
was he with the motorbike behind him for some I I still haven’t figured out the whole angriness situation but he’s very angry is what you were saying and are you saying that we’re going to see Remu doing the angry Marlier like sprint we saw in Bas country a couple years ago if Merier this could not this might not work out so well um Merier and and Bert and and Remco but anyway their team is not confirmed confirmed but the main protagonists are indeed Remco aapool but quickstep we actually said they should do this last year I think when you see week one it doesn’t hurt either they hedge their bets they bring the best sprinter in the world Tim Malier with just one guy to lead him out bird van Leburger that’s all he asked for uh they haven’t confirmed their team we did delay this podcast uh 5 hours and all the press officers about half of them then did upload their confirmed start We had seven or eight confirmed start list this morning and now we do have a critical mass of about 18 thankfully but quickstep is not one of them i’m assuming Katana goes with anorn Valent climbing support cases uh is un going Benji
i would assume yes okay shockman I would assume yes so who’s out from my list who would Katana maybe because he’s leaving
i’d be surprised if Acorn is at the start line from the list that I’m seeing but I would say so MCO is definitely there obviously spoilers malier Barrett is there that’s three we’ve got Shockman von Wilder I would expect as well that’s five then Pantra is six kaser Peterson is seven i expect I forgot who you said shakman Vanva i’m at seven i forgot some writers I think
so basically there’s some like there’s some miscellaneous rulers to keep Ramco safe there’s then the lead out of Bert and Malier
and then there’s the two climbers plus Shakman the Van Wilder Parapantra and I think the team is fine i mean you would take Lander if he was available he’s not available you would have Vaka as a road captain but he just crashed out of the Dofphane i think the level difference especially after the Dofphane they had to take Merier i mean you just you have to take an option for stage wins they got to keep Remco safe cuz he’s the favorite for stage the first time trial is flat 30k TT i don’t have any issues with the the team i think
if we have a nebly 2014 situation and I’ll say this about Bora 2 if we have that situation then they will miss Lander and Vaka because then suddenly you have to control the race and we’ve seen Quickstep really struggled to do that in the VA to 23 and but that’s a maybe but you say a Nebi 2014 situation first of all I’m still offended by that any 2014 situation is Neily riding away from the cobbles and destroying everyone that’s not going to happen here but I feel like the rider that has been shown as a positioning weakness in the last year has been Remco pull in his team so I actually fear for Remco in week one cuz at the Dolphin he was all the way at the back of the pelaton at the start of certain clims his team didn’t necessarily bring him to the right position and if he was in the right position in the last kilometer before the climb he seemingly lost a couple of positions as well there were a few hills where he was in position but there were also quite a bit where he was not in position so Remco is at the together with potentially Ragglitch based on his crash probability as well those two riders are at the top of my list of those riders that could potentially have trouble in week one and I hope for the sake of both of them that they get to week one and harmed but that is my weakness when it comes to this team because in the mountains at the end of the day it’s going to be about Remco and whether he has the legs to beat Rogich Lipovitz etc for a podium position how close he can be to to Yonas and stuff like that that’s going to depend on Remco and his level because first place and fourth place last year I’m sorry but the gap was 10 minutes like we can’t forget that so even a question then if you’re MCO and you know that you don’t necessarily have the expertise of positioning in your team based on the last based on the last few races and LBL on top of that how do you approach those hill stages do you try to position yourself perfectly at the front i think you have to are there specific do you then go go to the strategy in the last 20 km of sprint stages for example and position yourself at the back with a buffer around you instead of trying to keep yourself at the front
but they should do that I mean two of the team on those sprint stages are not going to pull Mia and Vanberger Pantra I don’t think that’s going to help if he’s pulling in the final 10ks of a sprint stage nor probably Vanu too much
mate the pelaton will go backwards
yeah so I agree on those stages you should probably be chilling and crossing your fingers and hoping nothing bad happens on the hill stages they’re an opportunity for Remco to take time on Joa on on other GC contenders who are not out in position remco you can talk okay positioning 50/50
mhm
this guy’s a what two-time LBL winner
yes
for a reason he’s armst gold race he pulled Pagatcha back
in a in a 200k hilly stage that’s advantage Remco even not Joa
that is advantage against the podium competitors but how do you think Quickstep will approach this grand tour are they going to approach it with Remco is one of the three riders that can win this grand tour or do they approach it as we’re going to try and get rid of Almeida and Roglitch and Lipovitz maybe in the first few hill stages which not necessarily seeing a massive weakness in Lipovitz in those stages but are we trying to get rid of a few of those podium competitors instead of trying to 100% fight Tanyonas because I think he’s going to do the latter i think he’s going to try and win this grand tour and then see where he ends the others i mean Ramco is the third favorite and he’s quite a bit shorter than Rogich he’s 10 to1 and Lipovitz Rog is 29 livitz is 34 i think let’s be honest Benji remco needs the front two to crash out normally yes
so
or capitulate badly
or one crash out one [Β __Β ] up badly he needs to do his best possible race this is very I know it sounds obvious no but it’s it’s not obvious because that’s not how they ride stage races with Remco the last three years
he needs to do his best possible race for Remco even apoll he actually did do it on the the stage he attacked last year on the hilly stage and he surprised Remco rubbish not rubbish Jonas and Pagatcha but when it’s a mini Amster gold race go you know that’s a positive thing it’s not like defensive sort of race and yeah in the mountains he should just do TT mode i mean he’s a TT he is a TT climber and trying to respond to Yonas and Pogy doing whatever they’re doing i don’t see how that helps him
i think so too and I think we’ve said this for a while when it comes to Remu as a GC rider that he enters this GC state where it’s a conservative way of riding and then the mountain start and he stays conservative to try and keep his GC position or try and up his GC position and what you’re referring is kind of the strategy of okay hill stage try and actually go for it on that hill stage instead of just staying with the others and trying to survive with Pogatra and Ving and stay as close as possible because those are the stages where he might be able to take some time on some of the riders like is there a possibility that Vingar or Pogacher have some problem on a hill stage that he can benefit from that is that is a possibility there is a problems can always happen or they look at each other what if Pagasha gets sick
yeah i mean he’s not going to win the tour to France for him but in the first week but
I mean he’s a TT dominant climber like Wiggins but he doesn’t have to ride these hilly races like Wiggins he’s also an LBL winner he’s Olympic gold rate Olympic gold medalist in the road race on the Matra circuit so the problem Yeah shackman’s got to Shakman has to be doing the Wellland’s job plus plus they got to do a better job than Dolphane yes but we can’t necessarily look at LBL and Olympic road race and just say “Okay just do what you did in those races.” Because in those races group two syndrome matters and I feel like in Grand Tours a lot of these big GC teams will have doses in their group will have um their their best domasts to potentially control situations where goes on a hill stage still i would expect that because I don’t look at the Sula quickstep team and I don’t see per I don’t see a team in that solo quickstep team that can make a hill stage selective enough for Remco’s attack to lead to just end up being the other GC riders in a group behind him
and that’s the problem with Merier and Bert is they are really pure sprinters it’s not Kristoff Leaport and Van it’s
But who else did the team have to send
no I’m not criticizing the team i think this is the team they should send when you don’t have Lander available i would also to be honest I would send the problem is Lampard’s also declined but yeah this is the team they should send it just has its limitations the most surprising team is maybe the other uh they say themselves they’re going Ralph Aldog said they’re going for the podium which is a change
nice
red Bull yeah i I would also say it like that red Bull Bora Hans grower i actually don’t get surprised by team lists very often for a tour to France this surprised me in a way
just surprised me primos Laurian Lipovitz they’re $30 a piece let’s say for GC Vassov Py Mick Van Djk Johnny Mosone Danny Van Pppel Jordi Mayos they’ve Red Bull Bora what they always did was tell a sprinter they’re probably doing the tour and then tell them a week before they’re out bennett Akaman this year they do the reverse and I think the reverse also comes because Yord has been so good this year because he keeps on winning whenever he gets sent to a a relatively important race he threw the Swiss victory then going to a Copenhagen sprint the week after he keeps delivering and yeah I’ve I’ve had the opinion after Y Mesa’s first Grand Tour stage victory on the on the Shan Le of all places that it looked like a one trick pony and it was that for a bit it was that for a couple of uh years but I do see Yords as a sprinter right now that can win a tour of France stage again in 2025 he has that level is he as fast as Tim Milan even Yaser Phillips no but Yord Mayo May is a is a is a seagull in Dutch so I just call him a seagull anyway uh Yi Seagull does have a chance at winning a sprint stage here and I got to say after Copenhagen sprint I thought to myself Rogich Lipovitz podium possibilities some climbing domestics what if they just send a sprint train with with Mayos i generally had that thought as well and I think it’s the right choice i think this is the right team maybe I would Tim Van Djk I think is better than is better than Mick
i don’t think this is a full sprint train i
I see what you mean
i think I’m trying to be I’m cuz you could look at this team and say they have completely given up on Roglitch and they’re sending five guys for a sprint train plus just blast off of the mountains i think this might be an understanding of these these hectic stages these punchy hill stages in week one if you want to get Roglish to the mountains without hitting the deck Lawrence Pithy there’s he’s one of the best in positioning there van Djk they get over these hills mosone okay so is it that they put these guys in Benji on the understanding that listen Vizma and UAE are going to have some sort of nuclear battle in week two and three on the mountains whatever climbing domestique we have is irrelevant just Robert Rollins just has to follow like Remco but we got to get in there in one piece or do you think they’re just here for sprints
i think I think both are a good argument i think there’s even a third argument you can make and I’ll get to that but first of all when it comes to the sprint train I see Mayos as a sprinter danny Vampo has the lead out Biffy has the fighting third last man fourth last man not completely sold on what they have there but you can work with Biffy Vonop and Meus so I see that as a possibility in sprint stages yes it’s not a perfect sprint train but Mal has bet one rider and Brett wasn’t able to position him perfectly in most of the sprint stages they’ve done together either like they he they get to a position that for for most sprinters the position that Bit brings Me to in in half of the sprint stages is uncompetitive but it’s Merier and he’s so good that he still gets to win from those sprint positions and maybe I’m I’m bit a bit harsh in bet there but that’s what I feel like even when I look at certain stages from the Balwasa Belgium tour about a week and a half ago i look at this team and I see a possibility for me to be in a good position and for Vampo to also be a solid leadout from that point although I haven’t seen the best from Papa lead outs in a while despite him as a sprinter for himself having won quite a few races this one just beat Koi in from his will in Dutch national championships
exactly now to bring that forward I also see the possibility for a piffy like character to try his best on the lighter hill stages in week one cuz the man can sprint on rough hilly terrain is he a favorite against Machu Vanderpool no but he can compete that being said that’s where your point struggles with that one I just mentioned because if Piffy then goes for the hilly parkour then that’s one rider that you might miss in positioning roach and lipovitz perfectly in those hilly stages and that should be the priority gc podium should be the priority on top of the stages and I don’t necessarily agree that people look at the start list and say they’ve given up on ruggage i think they have perhaps given up on Ruggage having a solid chance of winning the tour to France which I fully agree with he doesn’t have a solid chance of winning the tour to France he’s just like Lipovitz a podium competitor right now can he win the tour yes the odds are not very high that’s the reality so I think it’s a realistic start list for Ed Bora and that’s why I like it i I agree it’s a change from what they normally send uh they would normally send in previous years like Sagan plus a fourth yeah Bookman and no sprinter I think uh Lipovitz is clearly going to be allowed to be like go for his own GC anything I mean he’s earned that he just came third in the doofan so you you cannot with what happened in the Jira Robish whole past with crashing you have to just if you have if you have two price you double the chance that one maybe doesn’t crash in week one
if they’re of more or less the same level so
so they’ll keep if they don’t keep Litz in Germany will will riot so
but
they have no choice
if you have two GC leaders do you approach positioning differently
do you keep them both in the same train at the front or do you let one stay at the front and one on the other side
it’s going to Let’s be honest but it’s going to be a disaster like we we both just said the whole piece
it’s going to be disaster okay are there any other podium competitors we see next to Red Bull B Hans Grow with Roll and Lipovitz and even a Pitula Quickstep outside of potentially Almeida at UA Team Emirates yeah Almeida do we believe in Enrique M stepping up at the tour of France
i don’t believe in No I love Enrich actually no I don’t enrich’s my enemy but um No I don’t i mean Schalmosa no I don’t see it thomas I don’t see it kl Rodriguez no because like the level difference is so big
yep
even with Arda I mean even say he [Β __Β ] up some positioning in week one and loses 30 seconds here or there and the TTS alone Arda is taking all that time back on a whoever and then in the mountains he will do his thing too it’s not like he’s just going to drop but are we are we neglecting Skellmo a little bit i don’t feel like his high mountains level is high enough for a podium competitor status but I we’ve obviously seen him do well on hilly parkours and is there a way where the team of little trek can try and rip open week one in doing so for scalos and for Tibonese and trying to hurt podium competitors that way to put skills in the running by taking other GC riders out in week one it’s a good question because I would say of all the teams we’ve just discussed Little Trek is the one with the most different objectives and like Benji you’ve got Edward Turns Yasper Sturvin Simony Consi uh plus and Simmons but then that’s the train for Johnny Milan you then have Tibo Nice for the uphill sprints so a clear to me designation between Milan stages and NA stages it’s actually a clearer distinction than Pison and Milan and then you have Schelmo with zero climbing support
zero but does he need it so and he also he won Amster gold race as well this is not a guy bad in hilly terrain is he going for breaks is did he win KM or he helped Chani win it
uh he helped pay helped Chico win KM
no no no um mozzarell went to LVLA but I don’t remember if he went actually went to the tour last year anyway he came fifth in Lavla last year I think but like back dooring everything i think he’s just going for GC top 10 yeah but I think Little Trex should destroy week one should try and split it on hills stuff like that try stuff because their team can afford to do so because they don’t have a fragile GC rider and they’ve got a GC rider that on paper benefits from it well fra crashed a few times but you know what I mean the rain fits him
he got hypothermia in 10Β° yeah but there’s no 10Β° next week so actually it looks quite cool um but you’re right
no 10 degrees i’m sitting in 40Β° right now in this room
you’re right this team i mean first of all Tibo Nice needs it thinned out but this team is really like Simmons is in great shape scones is great so Sturvin gets over these hills i think it’s an exciting team i think Simmons will be going for the week two week three transition stage breakaways is it the best train in the race yes it is it’s the best sprint train in the race
yes if we then compare it to the Well we’re talking about sprinters now actually we’ve transitioned over from GC riders to the discussion about the sprinters in this race and we spoke about Milan here i want to compare the sprint train of little trek with the uh leadout train that we see on opposing now we speak about these teams and we speak about their riders alison is one of the teams that is not confirmed yet so we have to take a bit of grain of salt yep philipsson is rumored to be here but I argue that Yasper Philipsson is definitely going to the tour to France so is Machool Groves is also written down i heard some words that Groves might be going to the tour to France do we have a confirmation on that i don’t know but if they want to to beat Milan they need a better train i if if Milan gets if they get to do what they want a little trick
and line it up and deliver Milan at 15200 I struggle to see Philipsson winning maybe Meria can but Philips needs that Gross Vanderpool like crazy lead out
um but gross to be was every sprint by Milanet so impressive that we’re like okay true clearly better than Philipsson
got beaten by Stewart right
you’d argue Milan is better it’s a better sprinter than Philipsson based on the last year that’s what I assume going into this tour of France but I wasn’t impressed by the Dolphin either i was a bit like oh oh that’s the kind of feeling I had when I looked at Milan at the Dolphin yes he won stage but it wasn’t like a godlike stage victory either medier is the one sprinter where we do have that feeling and we said it already Melier together with Berto Leber compare that to the little track train little Trek is more likely to bring Milan into the right position in every sprint stage compare that to the Alpasin train where I’ve actually got a bit more confidence in the Alpine train than you might have that being said I don’t know what the rest of their train will look like i just feel like the Vonpool Philipsson combination has worked very well in the last two years of the Twitter France and I expect it to work relatively well again in this tour to France especially because I expect a better level by much of Vanderpool overall in this tour of France than than in the last than maybe ever to France i don’t know what’s your feeling about Vanderpool
yeah great level but he needs a strong team i mean I I’m looking we’re going to look at these stages that coming up Benji but he’ll be the favorite for some of them but you need a strong team to control the breakaway jonas Abrahamson he’s not going to want to get go to the finish on a hilly stage in week one with Matthew Vanderpool and he’s not a you’re not just going to bring him back with Silandier alone maybe he will but they need a strong team i think Vamesh will go i think should go robbie will go maybe
yeah and then I would keep gross with the welter and then yeah do it like that and then to be honest they don’t really have any climbers anymore on the team except for Veralito but they won’t take him
no so I feel like the team should be all in support for Philips and Invulner
but then I want to bring you to a discussion around this whole sprint list because we spoke about it off camera before we uh we’ve both taken a look at how the sprint points are given out in this race and it’s I would argue unusual because if I take a look at the actual point system then we’ve got for people that don’t know the tour of France organizers designate certain stages into categories from one to six and those categories will decide how many points for the spring jersey for the green jersey that each stage gives and in this particular race the stages with the maximum amount of points the 50 points which traditionally is for the flat sprint stages there are a lot of stages that I would classify as definitely not sprints related that are getting 50 points the maximum amount to the level that I’d argue that I’m not particularly sure whether Philillips or Vanderpool is the best for the green jersey at Alps in the Gunning i think it’s Vanderpool cuz like Philipsson’s not going to win four stages like he did in in previous years there’s Malier and Milan here
and Murder Bratana is 30 is 50 points uh I think stage two or four are 50 pointers and they’re uphill finishers and then you have like all the intermediates i think the problem with uh Phillipsson and what’s his name Vanderpool is they will cannibal they will cannibalize from each other
and sort of the same with Tonace and Johnny Milan but Milan is more clear like at an intermediate he will just go for it where is and we’ve done their teams my final word on it is I would I would take the little Trek lead out mainly because I also know who’s in their team and I don’t know who’s in Albbertson’s team but I would take the Little Trek lead out right now because especially on the versatile sprint stages Simmons and Ster and Mega Strong to bring it back vamesh is good but I see on the flat sprints they’ll be good but on the bit of Hilly Jonas Rickard ain’t there anymore um but then we go to another sprint team who are all in all in on one man who won the green jersey last year binium Gome and they have Hugo Page Lawrence Rex Yorg Zimmerman Louis Bay Bar Vito Bright Jonas Ruch St martins and this is some big ass rulers Rex and Roo some punchy guys Zimmerman Bar and then a sprinter lead out Ugo Page to me this is all around Binnie they will go for Binnie in the flat sprints they’ll go for Binnie in the intermediates they’ll go for Binnie in the uphill sprints on the real breakaway stages yeah Louis Baret will get his chance but Binie has the advantage here of that that he is the one focused on his team for all the green jersey points that is true but my issue with Benny is that he has not won a single race this season machu Brennan is a better sprinter based on his pal Morz this year which is crazy to say but the case he’s been beaten by Brennan already this season then I look at Binyam Ginmayan last year fantastic Toyota of France was the the most consistent sprinter throughout the Grand Tour that’s for sure maybe individually Philipsson was the fastest one on the flat but is more versatile I’d argue and actually Philips has also become more versatile over the years so not sure that’s 100% correct but I would Look at I don’t expect Binnie to do the same as last year binnie last year was a an exception of the years that he will have at the tour of France in my opinion because Philipsson didn’t have it at the start of the to France last year crashed in the first sprint if I recall as well that Biny won and Melier and Milan were not even present at the tour of France last year now the three best sprinters in the world are here does it help Binyam that there’s more versatile sprints on argue yes but much of Vanderpool is here then so I don’t see it for Binnie and I’d like to see it but I don’t i agree because I think with Vanderpool here the versatile sprint stages become a puncher stage with like a solo winner or a group of three or four when it was no vulnerable vanard vizma in the past or yambo they would try to control for like a sprint of 25 30 which then beanie would be there to me it’s either going to be a flat sprint huge group or literally like three guys cuz Vanderpool’s dropped a nuke
and then Banie can’t follow that so is it is it also because the hill stages that we have in week one we haven’t gone in them to into the parkour but would you classify them as hill stages with a an uphill sprint which is Binie style or actually it’s a climb 10 km from the finish line or 5k from the finish line where punchur’s goal and then Binie has to survive until the sprint afterwards which that’s the problem right that’s the problem that being said stage eight it is like a 1k 3% finish that is good for beanie
there there are some good beanie stages here I think his team is actually very good zimmerman just won German natty champs bar was so good in the whole year to be honest is actually mega strong and uh so I actually think in Mare they’ve not had a good year it’s a good team uh I’ll wrap I’ll go through some other sprinters just quickly there’s actually not that many this is the death of the sprinters Benji like where the [Β __Β ] are the sprint trains where are they where are the Okay Mia and Milan are here with Philipsson but Greenway Dylan Greenway
Dylon is here with a lead out of Deridge mez gets uh Plap is here confirmed i was so he’s backing up from the Jirro he’ll go for stage wins I assume okconor’s here for GC dumbar here climbing GC I guess schmidt for stages he just won Swiss natty champs it’s to be honest they’ve literally just brought their five best riders acon plague and Dumbar does it fit all together i’m not sure it’s just but they’re just bringing all the best riders
exactly and then I look at other sprinters bow House is here for Bah and Victorious any chaotic sprint in the past I would say Bow House but I haven’t seen that recently either it’s been a while since uh the Bow House victory at Walter level has come if I recall then picnic postell Tob Andre was initially supposed to be the lead out for Yakobson but then Yakobson had to step off the bike for a an undetermined amount of time for uh was it a heart issue or I don’t remember
battery maybe that sounds like hard to me but it’s not it’s like the leg thing right when you It’s what a lot of riders are struggling with due to their
sitting position roughly but that being said other sprinters when I look through the list then I guess Case Bull you could mention for Astan or I don’t know I don’t really feel it when I name those names akammon not really feeling it is the weird one Benji well it’s not confirmed yet cuz yeah it’s it’s hard to shadow box and unconfirmed but yeah they have like ballerini ball Federov Turnison but no sprinter so they kind of need cancer there do is it bad that we have not mentioned Arnold i don’t feel it based on the season so far he’s been not at a good level
yeah he’s he’s not so many stages that are good for him like stage eight last year was nailed on for him he should have won some of the stages like Ben just said are too hard i’ve changed my mind
oh
I think the strongest train in the race is the uh is in is Uno X like
I think
the units they have Yiannis Abraansson Manuscort Saurin Vargold Lechnesund Pulgard and Stan Friedheim then the two Johannes brothers for GC/ mountain stages that’s the strongest train because they’re on the on they will have six guys all weighing about 80 kilos apart from court and lechnes and var Vishnold more driving it in a line i don’t know who’s the last man i don’t even know who the actual sprinter is if it’s Vishnold or Fredim i think it might be
Fred is the lead out for
gold yeah who won envelope and I think when it’s harder they’ll go for Fredim
or Court
yeah hmanus Court indeed so I think that’s actually don’t be surprised to see their um their jerseys on the front driving it with 2Ks to go i agree that they’re a strong sprint training i still have little track above them but I agree that they’re a very strong team as a whole i expect Magnus Court to compete on the uh on the hilly stages as well that’s that’s the reign that on paper fits him to Holland Hollison i swear we’ve said for years that this guy can win to the front stage i think he can do it again maybe he goes for to France GC based on the Dolphin because he rode very strongly at the Dolphin based on the his level there abrahamson is a bit of a question mark for the reason that he had a was it collarbone fracture a week and a half ago bro on the tour of France list how are we healing so quickly these days when I have a fracture it takes me six years not really but relative to the the speed at which cyclists are back on the bike is crazy to me sometimes but it’s good to see him back at the to France
yep he’ll be in breakaways I assume uh other sprint so yeah they’re mostly around going for sprints and then yeah Johannes would have won the cultter race stage six and 23 were it not for Vizma ruining that break
um it’s typical picnic postnel bring Lundres he needs they want him consistent in sprints they bring Naramman Vandenbrook who of course was the star of stage one last year pavle Bitner also in I think he’ll be the lead out for Andresen nicholas Markle Merkel Flynn and of course Oscar Onley is the the GC guy i think I don’t know who’s quicker out of Nah they’ll go for Andreas I think and Bitner will lead him out
i think so too but I don’t see I don’t see a a good sprint train here i Bitner is a good versatile sprinter i don’t see him as a lead with both yeah UCI points
so for context there’s a relegation battle at the moment picnic coffidus are in grave danger aana are basically saved and so they need UCI points the tour to France gives a disproportionate amount of UCI points compared to other races they changed the rules and now minor stage places of honor in the tour of France stages you can rack up a lot of points sprinting sixth every day you can rack up a lot of points so I I think they might sprint with two and then on will go for um GC top 10 and trying to also get good stage placements in the uh in the harder stages
yeah I’ll be honest tim Nbermon hasn’t exactly shouted as the as the rider that would deserve a TDF position for me that seems to be the kind of rider where when a team is looking for an eighth rider in a race you send Julian Vermont on Vismalis bike you send him Nman on picnic postel and I think the reason that Na is then sent to Picnic Postel is because the rest of the picnic team that is the riders that you might expect that the tour to France instead are going for UCI points elsewhere maybe CBU cycling tour is next week or in two weeks right
yeah CBU CBU tour of Austria i’m not sure if they’ve added all these races but indeed you can’t send you can say “Oh well Bjon K is is better.”
Yeah
to go than Nabberman but I’d rather have him on the minor calendar scoring points kevin Vera who was okay he’s you know they’re probably going to take him to the minor calendar so that’s a consideration for them but indeed uh other sprinters Dear at Ara they also have they they bring no train normally he had a train they just bring Capio they bring stage hunters in costume leber Venttorini and uh Darcia Piano will kind of just do the TT kevin Vocal the big star won a stage last year he has Christian Rodriguez as climbing support and there’s actually this week one really suits Vocal so um yeah
week three doesn’t
week three does not any other sprinters you want to mention
no not really do we think Gunnar is gonna go for sprints come on Ghana come on Philippa
nope
yeah I think so too but it was fun thinking about it for one second
uh we haven’t mentioned Inos i guess that they’re not confirmed yet i think the reason why is that Thomas crashed in Swiss i think he has he was a hard crash the PL has a bad back vakovski hasn’t raced since Torreno i think he’s had knee problems so I think their team is Ghana for the TT plus versatile sprint stages carlos Rodriguez for GC foss I think is in as an all round ruler but otherwise they I don’t think they know the team yet so they’ve got a few days to figure it out is what we’re saying
oh and Axel Ross axel Ros will be the versatile sprinter Sam Wson should go especially after the strength we saw at the British NC from him
but um did we mention Felix Gull at any point at the Kathon AG2R that’s the the main man there
that is GC focus obviously will he uh win the tour to France no
can he top five in the Twitter France
what do you mean should he
I’m going to help your notes here
oh
they got no sprinter you got no fans you got no um they got no six
look sexy ass is not ready for the tour he’s got to do
Who said that bro s probably top 10 this tour to France seriously
it’s not even a hot take top 10 um it’s a team which brings no sprinter one sort of puncher so there’s no God um on this team nicola Pradon’s been given a rest we have a K discussion in the notes here benji Felix go he should go for the white for K Benji he should go for the king of the mountains if I’m then this week one the 33k flat TT I’m sorry Felix G ain’t making it like the question is more for me what is more valuable for the Kathlon AG2R in this race is it riding towards a top 10 position that is relatively anonymous which is a realistic possibility for Felix Gaul or is it going for KM Wargill style in 2019 19 2018 where he wins two stages from the breakaway takes KM that is definitely possible for for Billy Filix from breakaways etc but he has to lose time on purpose in week one or maybe not on purpose he might lose the time anyway but um I don’t know what his personal goals are what the team’s goals are if they don’t go for GC with Felix Gaul then there’s a realistic chance that a different French team beats them as the best GC rider oh
big trouble i forgot that there’s that sort of Yeah there’s that thing going on but it’s not a French guy
exactly so they got Bast exactly where’s SH they’ve I mean okay here’s what they’re actually going to do armarell will go for K from the breakaways bisager will do the TT first TT and I don’t know i actually don’t know what else he’ll do positioning bertay in the breakaways climbing nice in positioning aelian Parapantra for versatile sprints tran for the versatile sprints he was good in the do good puncher i do think they’re missing odd but um the I I see a risk Benji when you bring versatile sprinters that aren’t macho i agree but is there a realistic chance where they get a vendrammy stage victory on the Carson Carason stage
true and then you want a guy that really can climb like and sprint like a and you want multiple guys in the breakaway and Catholia um yeah I think Felix go I mean he won a stage from the break in 23 i I think that’s where he’s best and this first week we all know I mean he came sixth from last in the crosswind stage in Parines East this year lost nine minutes he he can’t position for [Β __Β ] so it’s a problem for him uh EF not confirmed speaking of sort of maybe KM breakaway operators Neilson Palace Harry Sweeney Ben Healey uh I think they’ll probably have a versatile sprinter allah Albanazi maybe um but otherwise we don’t know their their start list speaking of versatile sprinters Aaron Buu Bookman Cockard Iser Renard Benjamin Tomard Damen Tuz Dylan Turns so they got the puncher and turns and Aaron Baru Cockard for the sprints and so yeah for covetous it’s it’s not bad i’m I’m saying it again dylan turns was one of the worst transfers I’ve ever seen in in a in a while
yeah yeah reminded me of Pung to Israel for a decade
it was a long time mastar Pablo Castrio Enrich Marilson Olive Rubio Romeo MΓΌber Garia Cortina gafia Cortina they hope again surviving for a versatile sprint and then they have guys for the mountain breakaways in Castrio MΓΌer Abata and Romeo even Rubio perhaps Enri will try for GC and and then see where he ends up i’d love I know Rubio KM uh I would really really like or Castrio they could be good for it so it’s they got quite a few debutons but the experience of Olivivera and uh
why not why not Kevin Vocal KM because he’ll go for GC because it’s the law but the man would be it would come across so much better in my opinion i don’t know what his personal beliefs are that if he wins two stages from the breakaway and takes KM I’m sorry but that’s much more impressive impressive than getting nine for 10th
i agree i agree but someone has to come fifth or sixth or seventh
yeah just some other some other scrub
yeah I agree though uh Groupama FDJ Lewis Aski welld deserved uh Sirrobat Roman Gregoire Madawas Gio Matan uh for that top 10 uh bid quantum Pasher Poner Penuay and Clemore Russo so they got some punchers in Gregoire they got a versatile sprinter Aski they have a maybe a real in a bunch of sprints they’ll go for Penuay I suppose and Gio Martan will try his best for GC I think
talking about it
oh yes gio Mangi achieved a top 15 at Lava last year or top 15 at the tour of France last year then in 2023 he achieved a top 10 at the tour of France then in 2020 two he achieved a DNS at the tour to France but before then a top 15 at the Jurro kio Martinez is going to top 15 this grand tour he will go solely for GC and he’s going to be the one that finishes either 10th or 11th just off the podium off the podium off top 10 do you know where he finished in the doofeneck i um I expect Oh my god it’s 10th
10th he’s He’s He’s timing it just right he’s t He knows what he’s doing he’s
like now i mean why not i mean for him it’s like I get it going for top 10 of the tour you are French and f like a French team so I understand it uh Israel bring Akaman with Blackmore woods woods is making a start despite out of being out of Oxitine uh Luchenko Stewart BVA Luvel Nens nens was crazy good a couple of years ago in breakaways so it’s the team for breaks in the sprints though they got a good train for Akaman bvar Stewart you know is good enough ll is solid for the for Akaman who did top five a few of the tour sprints last year and otherwise they’ll go for the break with Woods and Co there’s no real GC rider I see here tuda bring uh both their punchers they did the bait and switch with the Jira organizers got the invite and then said uh actually both of them Alfa Phipe and Hishi will be joining the tour to France they bring a They do bring a sprinter in Dynazi haven’t seen him in a while with a decent enough train I would say of of Hala Lannard uh Alfipe himself Trentin and Maya Hoffer who’s a versatile sprinter as is Trenton michael Store backs up from the Jurro top 10 though he’s had a heavy season so he There you go that’s our man
there you go have we spoken about Martinez and Butrago yet
we played one of them the other day so
we we we briefly went over Bow House but indeed they bring Fred Wright Stannard Gradek Bow House Moric Brago Lenny and Hague i think Lenny’s your man for K and is he not he was
going for GC
no he’s not is not the indicator
lenny’s not going for GC he knows he can’t do it when they signed him they said “We’re trying to go for the Tart of France podium with Lenny Martinez as well.”
He finished in Echelon 25 in that Paris cross win stage week one
he did
they can say he’s going for GC on that first rest day the reality they’ll they’ll open PCS see where he is and then say “Okay we got to re-evaluate.”
I think that’s a fair conclusion i tend to agree there he’s definitely winning it to the front stage in my head though
Lenny yeah he should go for it and uh I hope he does but yeah there’s some good guys for KM if they do want to go for it i do see some of these quality guys who like Lenny i mean the doofan yeah they tried to go for GC he fell out of it very quickly i think we’ve gone through all the confirmed teams except for Total the last one and that’s Burgo puncher Janeier sprinter Tis won the gravel stage last year Jagat climber Dletra allaround Crimeber and then two punchers in Versia and Gashinard and that’s a That’s all the teams Benji we better go into the stage by stage
exactly every single stage every single team is what we’ve gone through every single stage is now we we always do this in the previews going every single stage talking about the obstacles in the race talking about a potential rider that could win that race who are the best riders for that but I do want to pre preface preface whatever preface this by saying that there’s one proper difference compared to the previous to Frances the stages don’t have a bonus second sprint or something on the second last climb this year that’s gone and I gotta say why why did they take the bonus seconds out
yeah why is it gone to try and stop Pagatcha to try and stop Patcha mate you just made the green jersey we got We spoke about the green jersey we didn’t mention Patcha if you give 50 points on every hill stage punchure stage and medium mountain stage then Patcha might be in green
pagotaa has a real chance to win green we’ll go through but like he has a real real chance to win green he should be a top he should be top three favorite for green because also he might get greedy what if Godard’s like out he might think “Fuck it I can go for the intermediate sprints.” He might he might do it he’s got one chance to win it maybe in his career i think he might go for it but uh we’ve we’ve gone through all the teams before we get into the stage by stage uh previews we need to refuel i’ve been refueling during this pod especially in the heat it’s important to stay fueled and you’ll see in the tour to France this year especially on the punchy stages you will see their by carb products being used and that’s Morton morton have come on board with us and uh yeah they’ve quietly become the fueling choice of the Pro Pelaton not just the teams they they actively sponsor but a lot of teams also just buy their products to use them because their hydrogel technology lets you take in more carbs without the gut issues it’s encapsulated in a hydrogel so it passes through your stomach more smoothly that means more energy fewer problems i’ve been using it in the heat uh and it’s I never have a gastro problem in fact not even mild discomfort or anything it’s sometimes you’re like “Ah I should eat but I really don’t want to i don’t feel like it.” These gels you actually want to because there’s no weird flavor no syrupy mess just a clean natural texture and it’s fuel that’s actually designed for cyclists and as I said in these punchy stages or these important stages you’ll see the riders using their Morton bicarb system it delivers sodium bicarbonate in a way your body can actually handle buffering the acid that builds up during efforts and yeah if you watch closely in break formation you might see people eating uh eating a bowl of Morton by carb system so if you want to try Morton’s products you can get 20% off your first order of Morton’s hydrogel products with the code LR Morton 2025 at morton.com that’s LR Morton 2025 for 20% off which is a pretty steep discount I must say thanks to Morton for coming on board and supporting us and our tour to France coverage as well all right stage one take us away Benji yes sir let’s start with stage one from Liil Tul it is the uh start just south of Belgium so lots of Belgians will be at the start looking at the uh to the France as well which as a Belgian I love that 85 km and parkour shouts flat sprint but question for you Patrick are there echelons possible in this stage or the first stages of this daughter of France yeah it’s possible i mean we’re in the north of France here the wind can blow even if there’s not echelons it increases the fatigue of what is an otherwise a flat flat race it’s going to be so nervous in the first place none of the GC contenders want to do this stage all the GC contenders wish this was a prologue or I don’t know i think uh like in the Bass country it was so hard and in Italy it was so hard last year the stages actually became safe that being said the sprinters you got to give him something and they got a chance for once to take the yellow jersey that increases the the chaos I would say i mean imagine taking yellow turnison took yellow in a sprint stage in Brussels in 2019 and um but I think this is still a sprint Benji
and if there’s crosswinds if there’s flat there’s only one man I want to pick and that’s Tim Malier i think that’s a good pick for this first sprint stage now I uh we often go through this discussion where we’re like “Oh should I should I be contrarian against your picks right now?” I’m actually not going to do that today i’ll try and pick the riders I actually believe are going to win so I’m also going to pick them as the winner of the the first stage and the first yellow jersey in this grand tour i’ve looked at the runin of this of this stage not I don’t know i I feel like B might be able to position Merier in a good position here and and therefore I’m also going for Merier but if that’s a
and if it splits Malier is making it with Bert Malier is he he don’t miss so
especially because in a smaller group it will be even easier to position yourself
so and I agree with you i ain’t doing [Β __Β ] picks this time i’m doing like legit what I think um Okay well it’s not that I don’t think it’s more like it’s fun to I enjoy going for 150 you know a big outsider but I’m more going to go with really what the most likely outcome I expect is stage two by the way it’s a 50 pointer stage two 50 pointer it’s an uphill finish from Louis Pon to Bon Ser again near the north of France or in the coast this is a much hillier stage 210 km we have two category fours a cate two category 3es they’re steep in the final there’s a 1.1k 9% climb with 30ks to go then there’s three consecutive hills beginning 10ks to go steep 1k 9 12% followed by 800 m 8% followed by an uncatategorized one this the easiest of the three to the finish this is going to be Carnage and um you know what the organizers have tried to do here they they want MVDP and Pogy and the GC guys jumping and I think that’s what they’re going to get and I think Vanderpool he should have won stage one of the doofen with more cooperation but I don’t think he uh I feel like I feel like because he wants the stage so much Pogy can gamble and it benefits him to actually win the stage more
i hate you i hate you so much i was hoping you’d pick my pool because I was going to pick who you going for i’m going for Pagachar before you say it
yeah okay I’ll go MVP then i think
you said you weren’t going to be contrarian you can’t just say it like that
yeah it’s like 50/50 what chance Benji do you see uh a group of 15 making this finish with Binnie with Binnie no no chance
with two
nice is a possibility yes okay with a Louis Baret like I think this is but what you don’t think a group of 30 versatile sprint you think it’s more reduced i think it’s more reduced but then if you look at a 15-man group then is there a possibility that a Victor Laafi attack happens
yes so then you have the chance that uh Aurelian Perry Pantra or Tron Shaw can can get it right i think this is stage is all about positioning
who ben Healey
yeah exactly ben Healey Neilson Powas so a lot of a lot of riders can win this stage uh especially as the last Yeah the last 360 m is 2.6% i’m happy with Vanderpool i’m happy cuz it’s it’s not it’s not that steep the finish so but yeah I think it’s Vanderpool do you think that there’ll be GC gaps somewhat like Felix Gaul he’s on 30 seconds here well yes i also feel like Felix Gaul will lose time on a stage like this but also these are the kind of stages where the run in towards those hills will matter when it comes to positioning and that could cause a GC rider to be behind a crash could happen gc rider could crash stuff like that can happen here but also to add on to the green jersey discussion the winner of the stage gets 50 points this is the stuff we’re trying to say this is far from a pure sprint stage
yeah true so Pogacho Vanderpool or whoever wins this stage is taking 50 points for green that’s the same as stage one by the way stage three Benji
stage three is Volen to Dun also 50 points but this one is an actual flat sprint stage 178 km i’ve gone for me on stage one i feel like this one might be on Milan yes there’s a hill in the last 30 km but it’s like 2 km at 4% so Milan should not be in trouble said no against Milan or
no against the hill mattering um I go with varnish gold oh is that your 150 to1
no because this is properly flat he’s big he’s not that fast though is he like
no because because three sprinters have to [Β __Β ] up for him to win yeah that’s that’s what I’m doing what I said I wouldn’t do okay I I retracted i’ll uh I’ll go for Philipsson I think yeah
okay
alternate Alperson’s train because Yonas Rott should be good there stage four another 50p pointer another 50 pointer 174ks hilly stage and it begins to be honest the last 70ks is quite hilly but it intensifies with no valleys um in these hills from 900 meters 1k 7% 2ks 5% 800 m 9% and then a quick descent before an uphill punch in Rua and uh Ooh ooh i don’t really Yeah again it’s kind of like stage two i’m going to go with Nvas what what a stage win
why not
do you not expect Navi if he’s in a group at Pogachar to launch Pagacha for bonus seconds true true i mean the favorites are going to be Pagacha and Vanderpool and then maybe Tibo Nice and Van third and fourth favorites that’s the
How does he Yeah he could win the sprint is he the guy that on stage two can ride away love five stall because Vingo go and will respond to each other
not sure
i don’t think so not no i’m going to change I’m going to go for Van Art serious pick
okay
who you going for
i’m going for Yeah the second last climb is only 5% so I’d argue this is one where Wildfar can get over the climb uh it’s also not the craziest finishing hill either so this is the one where you’d argue that W Fernard is a good pick much of Vanderpool one v one on a an uphill sprint against Wernard i’ I’d lean towards Machu Vanderpool right now i I would too but I think Vanar has the advantage that Vanderpool’s going to go on the last hill and maybe he gets neutralized by the GC guys and Van comes back yeah I’m going for much of the poolool i have to stick with my guy
be the favorite he should be the favorite and and to be clear on these stages positioning these are the chaotic positioning stages same principles as stage two
exactly now we go over to uh stage five which is a time trail quite different 33 km relatively flat to be honest if we take a look it’s a 20 point stage of time so very different all stages before this are all four points all 50 points by the way including stage four so that’s what we’re trying to get across to you that there’s so many hilly parkours with 50 points rewarded for the green jersey now that stage five time trial if we take a look at the uh parkour Patrick and we dive into the actual terrain then I look at the map and I see a time trial that is not the most technical outside of Cayenne maybe in Cayenne itself there’s a few corners but once they get outside of the city which basically they start in Cayenne go out of the city then come back to Cayenne outside of the city it’s relatively straight roads so is a relative power time trial removable should be the favorite philip Gana is present as well so that’s a competitor for the for the crown of the stage victory but compared to GC riders Remco should take time here and quite a bit perhaps yeah I think the flatter TTS suit Ramco they suit Ramco more than ones that have a hill in them like there wasn’t a doofen and there he took 20 seconds in 20 minutes on on Vingard he took 48 seconds on Pagatcha i think if he takes 17ks i mean
Mhm
ramco could take big time here
he takes yellow here for me yeah Ramco should take yellow here because Ghana unless Ghana has managed to stay in the groups we didn’t mention Ghana he he was good in San Ramo good in the classics i didn’t like what I saw in Bawaza Belgium Tour in terms of fighting for position and then sprinting so I didn’t name him in the previous stages for this TT it has to be a big goal and uh I just think Remco’s in better shape and Remco’s the TT god so I have to pick Remco and then if he wins it then he should be in yellow if he hasn’t been put on a gap in the previous stages how much time does he take i would say on Vingard 35 seconds 40 maybe up to 50 and then on Pagatcha 30 to 40 ice ooh so you’re saying Pogachar loses less time than the thing or
normally that’s what we expect in a flat TT in not Dolphane is one data point but going back two three years
I would expect the same if I think blank slate Dolphane is the skew is the is the one that skews my view a little bit where Bingo had a solid time trial there on the flat he he was better than Pogacha but for Pogatcha I’m not sure I can count that Dolphin time tri I that’s a time tri where I I’m not sure you It’s like one of those like ah I’m not sure
is that really going to be what data point
is that really going to be his TT level on stage five i wouldn’t expect it
i wouldn’t expect it here so I I expect Pogat and Vinga to be relatively close to each other though on this time tri so I’m looking at the Remco to be the one that benefits from this and I’m also looking at 30 to uh 40 seconds when it comes to the gap there if it’s more great for Remco if it’s less still good for Remco but this is where he wants to take a gap on the others if he wants to fight for the crown he’s going to need more than 40 seconds to win the tour of France though once we get to the mountains but more importantly he can take down time on Lipovitz who also had a not so great time triu in that time trial so I don’t know lipovitz is not a terrible time trialist but I expect a minute plus yeah I mean there’s going to be big gaps 33k TT with it’s going to take them 36 minutes that plus that’s that means big gaps so um double the length almost of their doate t stage six from biota to v normal remco in yellow perhaps 201 hill stage a lot of accumulated climbing over 3,500 m and uh hard start it’s it’s hilly all day to be honest we don’t know the weather yet could be hot might not be uh the final is a 1.2k 7% climb with 4ks to go is where it crests a descent about a K flat and then another punch to the line about 800 m 7% who controls this stage well Alison will try and control for much of the pool that I think is a is an option i think you would argue that UEI can control this stage in a in an ideal world for them where Pogacher can take bonus seconds on Vingar but Pogacher is the best climber in the race on paper anyway though he doesn’t necessarily need to spend his entire team trying to control a a Muda Britannia stage anymore in week one that’s the difference we have from previous years right when it comes to UAE more confidence that Pugacha should destroy the rest in the mountains
last year remember last year everybody expected them to control for the stage win on stages one and two in Italy
and they didn’t and
he did for Beted for Bet and in stage two Vanderpool jumped in the break himself on the San Luca stage
i’m not sure if pull in the break
i’m not sure Vanderpool’s so confident from the Pelaton on this stage because that amount of climbing historically a Pelaton thing i want to see it a Pelaton thing my friend come on give it to me
which stage but I’m talking stage six
oh yeah you’re right you’re right you’re right fair
but stage six is way harder and like than than stage seven i think stage six is is going to be breakaway and um I think we’re going to have all the French punchers grego Vogala hopefully um Tron I think Vocal will be too close in GC at this point does anyone really care i agree with you he’s the kind of rider where a UA and Vizma might look at and say okay if they’re in the yellow jersey right now by four minutes I don’t care tibo nice Simony Velasco or Shampusan from Aana if he’s on the list alf Phalip this could be this is the French puncher i mean that being said now that I’ve named so many guy teams who might be delusional enough to control the break if they miss it like if Chuda missed the break what do you have to lose but to pace for heal on this finish or put them in the breakaway
yeah I would say put them in the breakaway because if you go to this finish Pogy and Vanderpool should win yeah I I agree with you by the way that I don’t actually see opposite controlling this i think it’s breakaway i think I think they will go in the breakaway and try and do it that way it’s like stage seven of the 2020 one tour to France 2022 tour to France machard both being in the breakaway that’s the vibes I have here and those are the riders that will be looked at tibon might be a rider that is being looked at but I think he might have Simmons in the break as well so I think Simmons is a good guy for the stage as well
sim yeah wow i I think it’s gonna be big break it’s a lottery i’ll go French i’ll go Alfalipe um I would love that he actually looked in decent shape in Swiss against proper GC riders if he’s in a break on a hill stage and he keeps his cool big if he’s got a chance but I think it’s this is the first break victory or possibly and I think it’s Salip
i think Hi is not looking that good in the runup to this race so I hear more
i I see Alfa Phipe as a great pick for this race ah mama mia who will I pick for this louis Buddy is also an option for stuff like this
grego
I’m going for I said it before i’m going for Quinn Simmons from the break
there you go
their mistake would be betting everything on Tibon in the breakway here
i think you need
from the pedal well true actually very true ah yeah i’m going for coincidence for this one and that brings us to stage seven which is another another hilly parkour which the fast part of the parkour is relatively flat in this one stage seven from Samalo to Metanya which that name might ring a bell 196 km so a long stage to control just like the last one 50 points so the stage you just mentioned is 30 points by the way the next one is 50 points so I would like to see the pelon go to the finish unit being a pelaton thing and I think this stage is more easily between quotes controllable for Albasin than stage six is so that’s why I think Alpison will go in the break with vulnerpool on stage six and we’ll try to go from the pelaton on stage seven muritani is also where much of one in 2021 in doing so taking bonus seconds on the second last Murani which is also once again the case two times Muritani in the last 15-ish km ometers 20 km and this time there’s no bonus seconds on top so the action will be on the final climb of this one m Britannia if you didn’t know is not the shortest hill either it’s kind of the kind of hill where it drags on a little bit it’s 2 km at about 7% and we’ve had some different situations on this climb in the past thunderpool rode away and ended up winning that way we’ve had Vie Mo doing something similar in maybe 2015 2016 for a laal nobody was looking at a rider like Vier Mo they were all looking at each other and then Vos attacked and the riders like Dan Martin weren’t able to catch him by the finish line so it’s actually a a bit of a tactical climb but does the world of cycling 2025 change that completely where the two GC teams now have the punchures unlike 2016 2016 we’re talking about GC riders trying to survive Muda Britani trying to not lose a minute like Thomas has I think at some point and then I feel like UAE and Vizma will be taking uh up the ranks on this climb trying to get their riders into position in doing so positioning themselves to to try and go for a stage win when it comes to Pogachar plus Ferpool when it comes to Alperson but when it comes to Vizmalis bike or Venard Not Vanard got got cooked by Vanderpool in 21 yeah but I I agree i think I have a feeling that on a stage like this Venard should probably be locked to Vingal which as a Belgian I’m probably getting my passport ripped up right now but
come on it’s five men like uphill
yep i What’s the chance it’s steep at the start as well well I mean if a big break goes then I can win from it i don’t see a break winning because it’s easier but then again if a big break goes with Abrahamson some big engines in it that’s how that’s the chance for you know X with you know Anderson Johannes or someone in the break if you’re vocal do you want the break to go and you want to win from the break you can try to be competitive from the peloson but they’re hoping the break goes and probably they this might be more interesting break formation than you think again because who’s going to control all day
i think it’s on this one it’s going to be opposite on the one before I expect opposite to go in the break on this one I expect opposite to control
yeah i mean they might have that idea but then suddenly you’re realizing you’re running out of guys and you got to go in the break yourself but
but the benefit is that their entire team can focus on it i I think the break wins 200ks i really don’t think I really think the break will go and UA don’t want to control it and
okay
I’m going with Vocal from the break possible i am uh I’m doubting between three riders obviously uh it’s Pogacha Remco and uh and Vanderpool i am going to pick like factually objectively I wouldn’t pick Ramco but I’ve got a feeling I’ve got some feeling that something on this climb can happen i’ve said it it’s bit tactical this climb i think Ramqu might win on Mir Britany and the only downside I see there is that his positioning at the foot of the climb will be [Β __Β ] based on what I’ve said
but it’s a wide road it’s a w This is not a positioning climb yeah and there’s time to move back up yeah my
So I’m going Ramco
from the pelon of course pog is the favorite followed by Vulnerable equal favorites my dark horse is Oscar only
um I think if there’s anyone that can win via Mos style who gets underrated who’s actually very very strong on these efforts it’s Onley he’s won and we lunger i I think uh I think Onley is could win if a lot of things went his way
is it like the way Okconor won at the top of Jis that kind of vibe yeah but Navias also could just win
yeah but I I agree with you that Nvas has a level but I just don’t see UE picking Nvas over Pogatro at any point when Pogatra can get bonus second yeah I agree i agree uh stage eight so yeah I but I I really I really am not sure Abasum will ride for 200ks on the front i’m not sure
fair
um depends what help it really depends what help they get who misses the break etc stage eight from Sman Lron to Laval laval was where the TT finished in 21 and stage five 171ks this is a sprint stage a little bit rolling terrain but it’s just a 1k 3% uphill sprint i would like to pick Binnie i don’t think his shape is where it was last year i’d like to pick Delely for the same reasons I can’t pick him and so I’m going with Mer cuz I think Merier on the false flight uphill sprints is nasty my pick for the stage is Oford Phillips he’s more versatile in my opinion than me and if I look at the final kilometers then this is the kind of vibe where if a must if if a MS Person is here three years ago we shout Peterson at this stage
and I feel like Philipsson was close in those stages but didn’t necessarily win i think this is a stage where Yasper Philips can win i agree that Binyam is the first name that pops into mind when seeing this stage i do think this is different than the first stage of Bawaza Balwaza Belgium Tour the Kokah stage with the uphill ramp i don’t think we can compare compare that to be the same i do see Malier as a possible winner but I think Philipsson’s going to beat him so we have to we have to pick different riders
are we underrating Milan well we saw Milan being very good at the first stage of UAE tour which was an uphill drag sprint
so it’s possible what do you mean
well that was like 6% it was yeah but I don’t know maybe the Dolphin has just skewed our opinion on Milan maybe we’re underrating Milan as a whole just because of the Dolphin which is possible but
it happened so I can’t ignore it
uh yeah it’s to be honest I actually do think Milan is more likely than Philipsson now that I really think about it but
and not them earlier it’s a coin to be honest it’s a coin toss
okay okay
stage nine
next up we’ve got stage nine from Shol to Shatu that is a flat sprint stage and yeah the final straight is 1.5 km long i can I be honest the profiles that we’re looking at the Laflam pro profiles they actually have it on like the the profile now how long the final straight is and that is actually useful to see um are you seeing the same or am I inventing this
no I see it i see it i don’t know who that benefits i would say it benefits Merier because it’s a bigger chance there could be a wave rather than if there’s loads of corners and trek established from position they can dominate it uh with their lead out he needs to shoot from behind so yeah let me go with I’m going to go with Meria this one i’m I’m I’m having coin toss between Malier and Milan i’m going to go for Melier as well i’ve got that feeling but the next stage is one where that that’s the good vibes right well good vibes
what do you mean
it’s action buddy action
action we should have had action up to this point already we’ve gone through about 25 hill stages where Pog is supposed to be launching yeah even more action so we we have not had a climb in this race so far longer than 5 minutes for nine stages i checked that’s since maybe before 2020 but in 2020 onwards there’s always been longer climbs and and this stage there are some longer ones but not by much 165ks 4,500 m climbing from Enza to Leondor 30 point stage for the green jersey but I just read you some statistics that make it sound like a mountain stage there is no valley in this whole stage it’s up and down all day steep parts of these climbs i assume we’re near the uh maybe south of Climmore for north of Tuloo near the massive central it finishes with a 3.3k 7 12% climb there’s some longer ones like 5k 6% 5k 7% 4k 7% in the middle third
it’s a brutal medium mountain stage
is this French LBL parkour wise it’s not nothing similar parkour wise but it’s like climb lengthwise i
think they’re longer
a little bit eh in general yeah they’re a bit longer trying to find something that compares to it but just it’s just a medium mountain festival that’s how I describe it 30 points available at the finish here and this is the stage where I have the vibes of breakaway forms large breakaway forms on the first climb a GC rider or a secondary GC rider from maybe one of the big teams or from an outsider like Okconor for example comes to mind instantly we’ll try to slip in the breakaway we’ll try to take time through the breakaway on the stage and I’m having such O’ Conor vibes when it comes to this stage but do we have second GC leader on Vizma Lisa bike feelings on this as well because this is the stage where if you’re going to use multiler strategy at any point in this grand tour they’re still relatively close in GC if they didn’t have any crashes or bad luck or stuff like that in the first week this is where you’d use it i would feel it if you feel like you believe in your multiler strategy this is where you’d use it yeah jorgensson should be good good on the medium mountains simon Philip Yates is is good there even Sept Cous to be honest is not bad on these sort of stages the danger is this is a good paga stage so do you risk opening up that can of worms um
you have to every stage is a good pagatcha stage exactly if a man has no weaknesses then you better try something especially
where your team’s strong especially because of that team aspect you point out it perfectly there where if we look at UAE we spoken about it at the start it’s a very strong team but Pogacher is an even stronger rider than UAE as a team for me so because of that this is the kind of opportunity where you try and see if there’s a vulnerability in the team by going mayhem in the first breakway formation with your secondary GC riders so this is the stage where yes large probability that it does not work that UAE can control it but at the end of the day it’s an opportunity and you can’t leave opportunities to the side if there’s a chance a very small chance that it might work so instead of attacking Pogachar in break formation here you’re attacking UAE as a as a team seeing whether they can control the madness that you present because it won’t be just you attacking if you attack with a secondary GC rider let’s say Sign Yates for an example for example he goes into the breakway of 10 15 riders with other riders from other teams ui needs to choose between okay do we send the rider with that do we send Adam Yates with Samates and create that scenario up the road do we start riding behind it with Marair with Bullet etc from the get-go and we try and control it the entire day what is the response from UEI that’s what you want to try and figure out at the start of the stage
but who else is jumping floren Lipovitz I mean he loves that he loves that sort of racing that’s how he got his time gap in the doofan he went in the breakaway
this is that’s he he’ll be like happy days i’m jumping in O’ Conor that’s he’s that’s all he’s looking for is these sort of stages to do that it’s where he how he improves his GC position or goes to the stage win romeo
Romeo for Mavastar who won that stage I mentioned uh that Liis was in the breakaway and now that’s not to mention then you’re going to have mega strong riders going for the breakale Sweeney
Vool for Green
Arrell Vanderpool yeah going in as well um Lou Baret Simmons Mosa like if Livitz is in why Gilmo be in
yep yep
if if Lipovitz is in why can’t Oscar only be in what if Bugattach goes in panic stations if Bugattach can go in then why can’t Enri Masco go in
remco does Vizma respond or do they let UAE clean it up i think Vizma I think everything’s UAE’s problem because Pagash is the favorite that’s the problem but
on the road that’s sometimes different e the might decide
exactly like remember last year remember last year when Yates were in in the crosswind break that was never going anywhere
and they were like panicking it’s like Yeah but I think Graco should try it once even if he’s in yellow
of course he should make them panic
but then the break might not ride with him
that’s the thing if you have too many big guys and the break just won’t go and it starts I think it’s in a very interesting stage i just can’t remember who I picked um I can’t remember either who you picked i’m going with
I’m going with Luke Plop i like that pick i like the idea of an Ivon Romeo i like the idea of a Ben O’ Conor i’m going for Romeo though because he’s been on fire lately by the way Roma’s not in the team is that because he I think something happened he had a heat stroke or something at the Spanish road race I think and
I don’t know if that’s the reason that he’s not there but I was expecting him at the tour of France you know
he wasn’t good in Swiss i presume he did altitude after Romany but yeah he’s he’s not he wasn’t as good in Swiss and then he DNFed both the Spanish natty champs TT and road race so indeed he would have been a he was good in the heat and down under so I thought he would be good in heat but uh yeah I think agree with Benji i think it’s like a 65 to 70 kilo GC ruler type guy who can get in the brake ride like and do the climb blackmore from the breakaway is also an option for this
ah I don’t see it
he He’s 65 to 70 kilome but he’s not a GC rider
give me Alexi Luchenko i I like your style but
I this to the stage I’m could legit like being an old man sitting down and just start throwing names and be like “Yeah
that’s a great Ben Healey.”
Ben Healey
there’s lots of names like this i just hope that we get a GC move at the start of the stage cuz that can open up the stage completely
that’s the point we don’t have any mountains that makes it the Septua 2023 stage that he wins that’s week one in the books it’s 10 stages because the the organizers wanted uh stage 10 to fall on the 14th of July which is a national holiday in France so we have a rest day after 10 stage normally it’s nine but stage 11 Benji the the hills continue it’s the same theme in the Tuloo uh stage after the rest day
that is correct indeed but it’s a bit of a different stage on stage 10 though it’s a parkour where Yeah there’s there’s a hill in the first half of the race 1.5k 5.9% and maybe that’s part of break formation but it’s not an an insane climb either so break formation will be the part of the the first half of the stage though in the second half that’s where the uh climbs continue with one two four categorized climbs but I’d argue there’s three more that are uncatategorized where they’re basically hills of 1 to two kilometers at 5 to 7% is the average roughly the last one is 800 meters at 9% though this is a lot of up and down to control 156 km is a shorter stage though so do we expect breakaway fighting for the stage win or Pelaton controlling it for vulnerper characters i’m kind of leaning to breakaway unless we consider this a stage where Binium might survive and stuff
yeah because this hill is actually further from the finish it’s 8ks 9ks the crest rather than being one 2ks from the finish it really depends on what’s the pattern of the race up to this point what does T-Bones look like has Vanderpool been dominating if Vanderpool’s won all these sprints then the break is much more likely to win
if it’s 50/50 and Benny’s in great shape I don’t know maybe he can win so I think uh I think this is the sprint and I’m going to go with uh Jesus
okay go with
I kind of want to go with Philipsson actually
well I think Philipsson is the most likely of the three cuz there’s we’re talking about seven hills in the last 40 km that’s quite a bit of climbing and he also Philips is the more versatile the question is also you said it Ro Vanderpool etc what is the green jersey green jersey situation is it at a point where to win it they need to decide between Philips and Vanderpool it’s a possibility so I think that
Yeah you’re right
cannibalization problem might also register who might actually be going for the stage 12% in the first place they can also just go for both eping the breakaway Philips from the Bellator no exactly i I think you’re right this I’m ning more towards break than I thought mainly because yeah no team might be too confident so I’ll go with uh I’ll go with Bastion Troll Shaw winning a flat sprint from a breakaway i just accidentally ate an ice cube and it’s hurting my teeth a lot
benji’s finished nonetheless we’re going to the next stage actually it’s your stage buddy stage 12 from Al benji just had an ouchie so we’re starting an ouch to how to cam 181ks it’s uh is that correct just a 30 point stage no that can’t be right benji for green
it is i checked i double checked i triple checked or am I no wait wait i don’t know i don’t know this might be a 20 points one this might happen
move on two is a 30 points one not kidding [Β __Β ] 2 is a 30 points this is a 30 point this is a 20 point i was like 30 points 181ks yeah like 3,500 m climbing a bit hilly for the first 122k then they do the cold dul we finally have the some real mountains 12k 7.5% descent then the co des de border 3.3ks 8.1% another descent no real valley and then uh the halt 13.5ks 8% is a bit irregular there’s a 5k 9% section in the middle there’s uh it levels off it’s on a reasonably sized road for most part this is where vingard dropped pagatra in 2022 with the the lead out from the breakaway of vanard winning the stage that was in the third week i think this is PLA day this looks to me like UA lead out
and Pogy wins the stage and takes time
i think so too togacha wins on is also my feeling like Kis is a proper climb the second Well you said three climbs i feel like the cold border that smaller climb is kind of just a bump in the descent if we’re really talking about that climb cuz yes it’s it’s it’s a short climb it’s quite steep but it’s not going to actually make the biggest effect on the race i would expect unless someone wants to try something unexpected maybe but I agree that UAE is the one that is perhaps going to control this from the Pelaton and will go for it whether it’s from the Pelaton or like obviously Pagacha will not win from the rakeway what I’m trying to say is whether the break wins or the Pelaton wins Pogachar can take time on the competition or not to come either way that’s how I feel about this this finish and I think there’s other stages where because the paragot time trial a mountain time trial is on stage 14 it also gives an option to use domestics for UAE on the stage 12 for example to to save some uh I don’t know to to save some what do you call it to
but no the TT is the next day this is this begins three this begins the three-day block very good TT stage 13 and then super super banier is 14 this begins the three-day block
what I’m trying to say is because that time trial is in between UEI might be okay with spending the Roma on stage 12 is what I’m saying the next day the the stage numbers incorrectly my bad
that’s how I feel so Patcha wins his I agree
yeah stage 13 then is the TT
yeah i feel like I’m missing a stage in the nodes by the way so we’re going to have to figure that out by by the time we get to it so Luke get on it while we while we keep on podcasting
no no you’re good you haven’t missed one
okay stage 14 lud Vel to Perag Mountain time trial 10.5 km a 20 point stage plus 2 and a half km is basically flat and it gradually starts going uphill until it’s actually the proper climb and good is a climb with 8.1 km at 7.6% but it’s also the climb that you might remember where Fabio Aru and Roman Barde slashed Chris Froom on the final steep slows back in the day in 20 17
16 you’re probably right with 16
but we also saw Patcha beating Ving there on the tour to France 2022 on the stage where again McNoli went went crazy at the start of the stage this time trial i have two feelings about this and I want to discuss this for a second how do we look at a short time trial a pure mountain time trial on paper a pure watt per kilo test but on the other hand you’re pacing it yourself so when I saw the stage initially my thought process was okay this paragot mountain time trial just a pure w per kilo test from the start of the time trial to the end that is going to be the highest watt per kilo we’ve ever seen in the sport of cycling in terms of the best climbing performance but
no I don’t think so
does the fact that you don’t have teammates counter that I think it’s more that if pag is the best ever I think he’s more comfortable on a road bike in almost a road stage
is not going to be a road bike is what you’re saying yeah but there’s also like a flat part so there’s still three and a half KS so he still has to push on that like that’s still 4 minutes he has to push
on which is a decent proportion of this TT if it’s a 25m minute TT it’s still 16% on the flat so it’s not flat it’s rolling but you know what I mean um
cuz what stage do we then see as the as the one that might break records in the tour of France move on too
n cuz then it’s too long i think Halter can
Okay despite the Salora being before that I see it too
yeah but you don’t get tired like Neil’s P pulling at 5.3 W per kilo doesn’t make Patcha tied um
do we expect the 2024 records to be broken in the st of France depends if the level it it the level between Vingard and Pagatcha has to be close enough that Pagatcha feels the pressure and has to go all out
but not so close that Vingard is on his wheel cuz if they’re actually together then you don’t go you don’t do a TT from top to bottom plateau de Bay or PL Plateau de Bay jorgensson did the first 10 minutes crazy fast vingard then did the next 12 minutes just as fast as he could and then Pagacha did the next 15 minutes as fast as he could there was just perfect pacing so it’s actually unlikely that happens unless Yeah and and if Vingar’s nowhere near Pagacha he will just
he won’t go all in so but I think Alicam may be very good um I think Venard wins this stage because Pagata’s TTS I’m not 100% convinced um is it because of the Dolphin AT are you letting it influence you
kind of yeah yeah i’ll choose not to for the reason that I expect this time trial to be on a road bike right yeah i mean Pachu they’ll be on the road bike it’s what that final ramp’s what 500 m like 14% even gearing wise and you’re moving it around
so
time trial setup wise it’s kind of odd because the first four minutes are they’re going to have to be in a time trial position on a regular road bike as arrow as possible which they might not necessarily be used to training they always train on either riding regularly on a road bike versus riding arrow on a TT bike
so
that’s what I mean that’s why I don’t expect necessarily that they break all the records here they’ll break the perag good record but do they do their best ever i’m not sure
also do you know if cuz puppy paws are banned in a road race do you know if it’s banned in a time trial
not banned
ooh will the UCI comma know that though that’s the question that’s a good question i don’t know the answer to that one
um so who I pick Vanguard who you picking
oh gotcha stage 14 from P to Lucon Super Baner 182ks this is the uh highest like hardest mountain stage so far 5,000 m climbing pretty long to be honest we do the tormale 19k 7 and 12% it’s the souvenir god of course over 2,000 m 2,100 m after 70k valley descent about a 5k 4% false flight slide uphill in the cold 5k 7 1/2% it’s category 2 descent another false light uphill value in the perasur 7k is 8% then a descent no valley and then the uh luchon super which is 12.6k 6k 7 12% and uh it’s a little bit irregular 5ks 8% maybe to the finish it’s a hard mountain stage yeah it’s I don’t know what more to say really it’s just a brutal mountain stage the thing when I look at stages like this and when I think about what could potentially visally do against Pogachar in 2022 and 2023 was making these kind of stages hard as possible and then trying to build on that i am at the moment not on the belief that that will would necessarily work but it’s still kind of their only option to throw [Β __Β ] at the fan and hope that it sticks that expression makes no sense but just take it and leave it i do expect Visalis bike to make this stage as hard as possible if Bugattacha as we said well you you said Vingo would win the time trial but in my scenario Pogacher is ahead of Ving and GC by quite a bit and in doing so I I would see Viz Malis bike making this as hard as possible and therefore it will make it harder for a breakaway to perhaps win in this stage so I think Vizma throws everything at the race and Pugatcha wins i think it’s po yeah I I think Pagacha winning this stage is most likely it’s not that hard a finish like it’s just a 35 minute 30 minute climb and even if the upset of Vingard following him happens he can still win the stage so um but the most likely outcome is him is him winning with a gap so yeah say Pagatra is the favorite for that stage for KM tactically the HC climbs give 20 points uh the category ones give 10 the category twos give uh five these are the maximum points souvenir go there the one on top
so if you are army rail for example you let’s assume we all think not to get political but um these two [Β __Β ] countries have been fighting each other for so long they don’t even know what they’re doing anymore to Benji’s point Vizma or UAE are just going to nuke every stage and probably a GC rider will win probably Pagatcha if you want to win K you got to you got to get the early climb points and that’s tormale 20 pointer then a a cat two and a cat one and then of course on H on Super Banana yeah Pogy catches you see you later and um on Altacul it’s a four a one and a two so yeah you have to be in these breaks mopping up these points
for sure bud and I look at Yeah you have to be you have to try and go for these breakaways and for the first three climbs like you say to try and get K
i think it’s possible this year
and there’s also enough stages beforehand for a lot of potential GC riders to be out of GC and fight for KM which might give an interesting battle there but there’s also enough finishing clims in this race for Bogatra to also win KM so it’s going to be an interesting battle there’s no double points for the for the GC riders on the last climb this time so that’s a good thing for me because I I am an old school traditionalist in this sport my friend so Tom Clair and Nicolola Vog and David Monu and all these French dudes in the breakway going for KM points that is how I grew up i want that [Β __Β ] on my TV
100% km should go to some skinny French climber that can’t position for [Β __Β ]
and we’re looking at you Lenny Martinez
bring us back to that so or Felix G or Armor or whatever listen sorry to go back to stage 10 has 40 points available more or less that’s two HC climbs because they’ve made every medium mountain a cat 2 so you got to be in the break there um after the stage if Pagacha wins social media is going to be like “Oh he’s too greedy.”
I think he he might throttle it back then sorry I was sneezing there for a second but um yeah he might get a Are you saying that he might hold himself back for it we’ll get to more Montto in a second do stage 15 the transition stage from Muret to Kakason first
okay I will my friend mureta Carason is one of my captivating stage profiles of this tour to France first half is basically flat and in the second half there’s three categorized clams forget the first one even though the first one will matter for breakaway formation actually so don’t forget the first one third cat climb 1.7 km at 6% then after that we’ve got a 6 km climb at around 6% so those two if the brake has not formed yet which that’s after 60 km so the brake might have formed yet if it hasn’t break might form there after that we’ve got a descend and then in the second in the in the last third of the stage we’ve got the last climb pusan climbed 3 km at 9.2% that’s a steep climb but it’s got this like Russia focus continued ascent that’s what we have here as well of like I don’t know this the profile says 15 km 4% i think that might include the pisson so I’d say it’s less steep the actual extension on top so lower gradient there
but it tops with 40 km to go in the stage is it me or does this kind of feel like a BTE polar stage
no I think this is them trying to design a a break transition stage in the modern era
okay where if you’re the sprinters you look at it and you know you can’t do it
but then it’s not hard enough that Poggy gets interested so to me this is a very nicely poised battle between the climbers or climbing rulers who need to get the gap on that 3k 9% climb and then the wow vanards of the world in the breakaway can and then you got 40ks of flat where it can play it’s like the stage camps won last year I think yeah or polit even won so
this could be a number of guys i’m gonna go with uh George Zimmerman i like the pick of Gorg Zimmerman i really do in his team Louis Bay is also a pick that you could throw forward here they’ll be going all in for this stage they should that’s for sure in other teams I I’m expecting Ivan Romeo on the break again luke Plop probably as well but 3 km at 9% is a little bit steep for Pappy I would say i am thinking about Estana on paper you’ve got Velocoo those guys need to be in the breakaway going for the stage uh whether it’s a Blackmore at Israel for example that’s also a rider for the breakaway
aramu Lotto funny it felt I’m feeling as well but he crashed at the Belgian champs i don’t know what the consequences are there you said Arambururu it’s an option the profile would fit him but knowing him he’ll get over the top with two other riders and he’ll start his lead out for himself at 400 meters to go and lose his sprint so I’m going for I want to say Juliana Phelp but can he drop everyone on 3 km 9% and then do a 40 km solo i’m not feeling it so is there a world in which we see a Fuga La Fuga before that climb making it over the top of the Polus yeah it’s really possible it could be so many it could be so many right i mean so many guys maro Schmidt from JCO he’ll be circling this stage uh Yanni Zigiraa Yasper Sturvin Quinn Simmons Gregoire there’s just this is going to be a big break so Frank Vandenbrook Fuga Deaf Fuga W Fernard will be in the breakaway but will not win the stage is my prediction for this
benley wins
ben Healey could happen could happen uh that’s brings us to the second rest day now to stage 16 for Met to Monu it’s a Uni Puerto 171K a 30 pointer for the green jersey which is uh quite a lot if
but the website of the tour to France says 20 points according to some Twitter users shouting it at me but the road book says 30 points
okay maybe they change it to 20 points here we will see will cuz if Pagach has won three or four stages and he has a fiveminute lead on GC politically he has to let Lenny Martinez win this stage
tal Pagacha wins this stage because he was dropped by Yonas Vingarot in 2021 I think on the Morvon 2 and this is his revenge era so every single climb that he was dropped on he will want to win that’s my prediction for this entire tour
i think you’re right i think they’ll be I think what you there will be the people on the rest saying ah stop winning stop winning and then you win and that’s not good for it’s an HC climb so there’s 20 km points available but yeah most going to change my mind what is our man thinking post it in the comment section below Uh nothing really going on in my brain like
I have no clue what you were trying to say actually
from the breakaway of course Lenny Martinez has to so hopefully it’s Lenny
he needs a tug buddy to get in the breakaway though so uh I’m going for UAE controls a stage and T Pagacha wins i have lost count of the amount of Pogata stages I have so far but I fear that it’s not the last one on my list here stage 17 is Bolen to Valance 160 km it’s got two categorized climbs one that is 66 km into the stage 3.7 km at 5% and one that is 60 km 50 km no actually 43 km before the finish line and that is 3.9 km at 3.5% this is a sprint for me and that sprint is won by do have a feeling of who is the best sprinter after two weeks in a grand tour cuz Medalier doesn’t have the best track record there no
and Ajurro he won two sprints later but this is a much harder race it’s a much harder race the way they’re going to race these mountains I mean him and Bert will be lucky to make it honestly to this point so I’m not going sprint anyway cuz I’m going with Magnus C from the breakaway ola I like your approach sir i think it’s going to be a sprint and I think Milan versus Philipsson milan versus Philipsson belgian bias picks Philips I think
fair enough stay because Philips also he had a dog [Β __Β ] week one last year then he started to come good as everyone else got tired in the tour to France stage 18 from Viv to Corvel called the de Lao 172ks and uh hard stage two HC climbs 20k points on each the glandon which goes up in three steep steps
that’s 20 22ks at 5% but all the climbing’s over 7% there’s two descents in there uh they do the malan afterwards no valley 20k 7.5% both up to to 1900 1986 m descent 15k valley loa 26 12k 6.4% it’s uh to core chvel like 7% for 10ks 12ks so that’s consistent climbing on a big road then flat well not flat it’s like 5% then for 8ks and then it’s like the ramps up to Loza which we’re all familiar with which is very irregular um it’s a harder climb than the average gradient suggests it goes to 2,300 m that’s high altitude but um are the same are the ramps on this version of Kalo the same level of difficulty as the ramps we saw on Roglitch versus uh Pogata versus versus Miguelang Lopez in 2020 vibes
i don’t actually know
let’s go check one v one tomorrow
no I’m not feeling so good so we’re both half sick in this podcast our timing is perfect nonetheless you named a fantastic stage on paper crazy parkour is it boring that I would go the same approach as I’ve been so far i see no weakness in Pogachchar so I have to go for Vizmissa bike makes the stage hard and and Pogachar wins as a consequence
i think Vingigar wins this stage with a small gap of 15 seconds it looks like a wobble and it’s ultimately irrelevant okay fair fair point but
that is more me just being contrarian like in the Yeah of course pagasha is the favorite i hope the breakaway wins from the breakaway you need to be a proper climber lenny um Army Rail uh and is there anyone else i like him a lot
cuz they’re so long the climbs yeah but isn’t he a bit heavier for a climber no offense to Armin i mean like he to me looks like a medium mountain TT rider am I underrating him i think he’s born in the wrong body and he has the spirit of a climber both six stars would have won here i’m telling you
yes he would have of course he would have won i’ve so I’m so stupid why arel Felix go is winning the stage from the breakaway [Β __Β ] he won it in 2023 it’s not really a rocket science
yeah that’s a really good pick that’s a really good pick i like your pick a lot
cuz like he’s on he’s on 20 minutes by this point yeah and if you look at the parkour the only thing that I have is if Malisa like makes the stage hard then will the break get enough of a time to be able to win the stage that’s a possibility that that might not happen but Philix Gull is such a good climber like he’s not he might not be the climber that we is Phix Gull the climber that we expected him to be two years ago
yeah is he not a little bit worse or a little bit
no
did we expect him to become all more all round by now
no fair like
what sorry
but I mean he came 20 seconds behind Alter in that uphill TT in Swiss he can climb he can’t descend he can’t position he can’t ride in the flat he can’t TT there’s two descents in this route bro yeah but no one’s going to go on the Maline and then be like I’ll hold it i’ll hold it to the finish there won’t be a I mean maybe but I don’t think there’ll be a fuger on Malin um but yeah I’m I’m going golf from the breakaway stage 19 benji
Alfield to Laplania it’s basically if you look at the parkour if the if you had a 3D version of the parkour in front of you and you felt it it would feel like the same parkour as the one before and I’m saying that because there’s once again three massive climbs in it yes on paper there’s five categorized climbs here but the first climb is basically two clams past it together you start with the uh this is one of those moments where I have to put my laptop sideways to be able to see the name of this climb the keri it is 11.3 km at 5% after that a small descent and we continue climbing basically after like 3 km onto the cool which is 13.8k at 6.4% combine those two you’re already climbing 25 km by now you’re only 50k into the stage then starts the next climb without a valley and that climb is the uh co du pre which is 7.6 km at 9.2% for the last portion but in total 12.6k at 7.8% so it’s actually a hard climb but like I said earlier it’s kind of just one part of the second mountain on the on the profile cuz after the top of that a small descent a little bit up and down then you start the the last portion of the Cormet along which is 5.8 km at 6.5% so you don’t actually go up to above 2,000 mters by now in the stage but with 80 km into the stage so about 50k left you top that corrosal law you start descending towards the foot of Llani you’ve got a a 14 13 km valley before the foot of Llania llania is 19.3 km at 7.2% this is a very hard well this is a hard hard climb i wouldn’t say a very hard climb it’s a hard climb and that’s because of its length as well can we compare this a little bit with the isula 2000 a bit similar in length
very similar climb easily yeah because it’s also so steady every K is also 7% and so Isela was Yeah very very similar plateau to Bay was harder in sections for the K they’ve tried to give the gift to the breakaway because the cold dup pre is HC um in the middle of this stage surrounded by two cat twos and a cat one if you want to win the K you have to be on the cold D pre and the break
um I think Pogb wins this stage because Llan is the sort of climbs he’s just so good at so
it’s also just so long so how many minutes does a breakaway need to have on Pogachar even if it’s goal how much time in 19 km can Patcher take back on Philly’s goal i’m also feeling something like that
and that’s a big gap to have if if Visma Lisa won’t just give up if Tali Pogach is in the yellow jersey you’d hope so that’s the thing or what if what if Remco is trying to drop Roglitch or Lip Bora trying to attack Remco to make last year Vingard looked bad on Isla so then on the cuall stage we step attacked Vingard and that put the stage win in play again for Pagatcha and Carropaz and mascot caught so someone’s going to be trying something to attack somebody i just don’t believe in breakaways that much in mountain stages anymore because of that because the GC action is teams trying to outplay each other in GC teams and in doing so upping the speed on the entire day and that restricts the gap that a breakaway can have and there’s also not 50 km of flat before the first mountain if this is a 200 km stage with 70 km of flat before we get to the first climb then you might not have the the light climbers in the breakaway but the break might have 10 minutes by the foot of the climb you know
exactly that was the beauty of the finestra stage design and I think what the tour of France is lacking a bit is that yeah these mountain stages they need to add more flat before the first climb make it a bit longer on one end I would say yes but on the other end we’re also complaining if it’s too flat at the start because we want the breakaway formation with a hill in it or a climb in it so it kind of goes both ways but then I then I maybe want to see like a climb at the start a long valley afterwards stuff like that but is that not just a sign of the times we we hear the sport of cycling talking about it needs to be more entertaining we can’t just have a 200 km stage where half of it is flat where not much happens
yeah but they will they’ll be jumping the whole time trying to get in the break i agree but the traditional well it’s not a traditionalist view but I feel like the view from the mainstream view on cycling is that oh let’s make it shorter more exciting stages these mountain stages
and and the beauty of the of the finestra stage was it was 205ks and there wasn’t a categorized climb until like 150ks in and the break got a 10-minute advantage um anyway I think uh stage 20 from Nantoat to Pontalia 185k is 30 points it’s uh it’s a transition breakaway stage very very clearly that’s how it’s been designed there’ll be a 50 man breakaway there’s 12k 4% climb at the start and it’s really hilly all day dakota TZ is the hardest climb 3 and a halfks 9% that’s those 63ks from the finish that’s the climb where Vingard went solo in the doofan 23 and then it’s punchy hills uh to the finish yeah it’s going to be it’s going to be a strong man winning solo like a Moric type guy so or Asgar
i’m hedging my bets Mr patrick i’m hedging my bets because we always speak about a GC rider might crash out or might have lost time by now in a grand tour
oh Remco Remco and the pool wins from the breakaway
oh no i mean yeah he if he’s out of GC he will win this it’ll be Remco against Healey like there there’ll be a selection on the TZ and then the Fuga de Fuga games begin and then the strongest hill guy for an hour riding solo wins and it’s it’s Remco and if not him probably Healey um but that’s break stage okay 21 Benji bring us home
who’s your pick healey
okay all right i’ll I’ll take it stage 21 is a oh mount loli to Paris the usual sprint stage no we’re not doing that this year 142 km first half i don’t know how it’s going to happen like traditionally paran stage has become the festivities at the start drinking champagne picture with all the nationalities of the the GC winner so if it’s a Danish rider winning or a Slovenian rider winning all the Slovenians come to the front stuff like that i don’t know if that’s going to happen because the last half of this race has potential GC terrain which I’m sorry Patrick but there’s three more martras in this parkour so martra is the the cobble climb for the pi Olympics from last year where didn’t attack on that climb but the one where machul tried to drop and tried to bridge towards poolool that cobble climb is the one we have here it is 1 km at 4.8% 8% but it’s three times once with 40 km to go once with about 23 km to go yes my math is correct and one with 6 km to go that is that is crazy to me first reaction is of wins the on the Shan or Pogachar or riders like that but is there a realistic chance that we get to the stage 20 of the storefronts and Adam Hansen comes knocking on the door of ASO and it’s like you you got to cut it out you got to freeze the GC times before MR
well if it’s raining they will if it’s raining they will freeze the GC times when they enter the Paris finish circuit i for safety I understand but it’s a shame you know well yeah then don’t have then it’s not stage 21 it’s like a it’s a criterion sort of yeah it’s a random post tour crit in measa in Belgium
yeah um I think this is this climb is not that hard like it’s 1k 5% i know it’s cobbled i know it’s very narrow um the full pelon going through here on stage one would be really bad maybe after 3 weeks it’s okay
yeah i think this is just a sprint and uh I’m going with Jordi Mayos backto back sprints it’s a bit of a a cobble climb it’s a little bit harder he doesn’t you never see him and then all of a sudden he pops up and he wins
yeah that’s a really good pick i’m jealous of that one i’m going for Yasper Philipsson for the sake of those clowns being present h much of Wonderpool can be their attacking option onward Mart but I think Philips is the man for the finish and I think I’m leaning towards Sprint as well although I would I wouldn’t mind if Pagasha tries something on the cobble climb here like for the for the vibes he did it on a flat sh so he better do it on Mart nonetheless he might not have to because based on my scenario Bugattacha is in yellow and wins his tour of France do we
Yeah if he’s in yellow it’s less likely indeed do we feel like there is something here where like the way we presented this you you even said there’s perhaps a wobble on Ka los for Patcha even with that wobble Patcha winning is so incredibly likely at the end of this race exactly when you see him that short in the odds I mean that’s that’s pricing in crash risk which this the first week is crazy or sickness or something
is it well yeah so he’s crash often
he’s a$136 to win those odds will get a lot shorter he won’t be even if he’s the same time as Vingard and he starts the second week he’ll then be a$120 or less because
he’s gotten through the hectic stages so that’s with the crash risk that shows how yeah how short of a favorite he really is and um his team is good as well like I mean you can maybe okay Solair they could have done more of a refresh it’s not a not a big deal to be honest and um Vingard just hasn’t shown it this year so far i think so too and we’ve gone through the entire race now which usually brings us to the uh the moment of truth my friend the predictions do we start with the yellow jersey you start with the the white KM jersey where do we begin we’ll start with the KM jersey the one I have least idea about and that’s why I’m pausing because I actually don’t know who win uh Arml won Bass Country K he won Dopan K i don’t think he wins this K because I think he gets outclimbed on the finish climbs by Yeah felix Gull his own teammate i think that’s very possible i’m going for the rider that you named for KM the first i think Lenny Martinez I’m going to steal your initial pick for this
yeah Lenny should do it uh for the white jersey Pagasha is not eligible anymore renco is eligible i’m going with Florian Lipovitz ooh I’m going for Remco and if if we take a look at who is eligible outside of those two then we also have scale mosa which we shouldn’t forget either we also have Martinez I guess
only you said it Rodriguez I think still as well six as if he was here yeah I’m going for Ramco I I said I hedged my bets I said he would if he loses time in GC he’ll take stage 20 if he doesn’t lose time he takes white that’s what I feel right now and that brings us to the green jersey the green jersey of this race which we’ve said could go anyway i’m going for Pogachar yeah I kind of think the problem is he won’t go for the intermediate sprints they still are worth something true but there’s so many 30 pointers but I think the break might take a few of the some of these stages in their first week where like oh Pagacha v MVP paga v MVP
they will actually first he might more likely to win the sprint secondly the break is actually going to win some of them and so I actually think it will still go to a sprinter although Pogy will be close and so yeah I think um I think Johnny Milan wins it actually really i’m I’m I applaud you for taking that pick i’m just wondering at the moment like we’re talking about these points and how it changed etc do we know how close Bugattacha was last year to the green jersey or because he was last year he was four on half the points of the winner Binyam Girmay who won three stages the odds of a sprinter winning three stages exists pogachar will get more points for the stage that he does pick will not go for the bonus uh for the intermediate sprints the thing is I would pick much of the pool easily if I had more confidence that he would win every single one of those hill stages
yeah yeah is he going to go for the is
I would hope I I think he he should but it’s difficult with Philips and Marandra it’s that’s the thing who’s Yeah I I think that those two it’s tricky so that’s why I went with Milan because I actually think Tibon really won’t cannibalize too much
fair but isn’t the whole reason that ASO changed the green jersey to because Adri Vanderpool complained that the green jersey doesn’t is too much for flat sprinters or something was that the case
i don’t I can’t I don’t know why they changed it they obviously want Yeah they want Vanard against Vanderpool every day
but Vanderpool has to go for the intermediate sprints
yeah so I mean
I don’t feel venard
part of going for the green jersey is contesting all the intermediate sprints knowing that it might cost you your legs
and you might end up coming second on a stage you otherwise would have won that’s part of going for green um the the opposite side of the coin is about Fernard who will be going in the breakway sat for Yonas multiple stages in doing so being in the breakway for the intermediate sprints does he have the level to win green i’m not feeling that at the moment
i don’t see
but he might be in the position in the breakaway to be able to compete for it but I I’m leaning to top three in the green jersey classification more for a while
there’s still a lot of 50 point flat stages here where you you got to be coming top three as a sprinter i
I think I’m sticking with Milan i I I I I I agree that you’re leaning towards sprinters and I objectively I probably should as well but subjectively I think there’s something about going for Pagachar Green in this prediction so that’s what I’m doing but this brings us to the final my friend the most important moment of this podcast who is going to finish on the podium of this Grand Tour at the end of the tour to France 2025 i’m going to have a bit of a shocker and I think one country will will be very angry at me almeida finishes third remapul finishes second and Bugattacha wins it toward the front and Vigard’s finished
well not not saying finished i’m saying Fisma wall will go ham to try and beat Bugattachar and I think it not working will I I want to see Vingo going all in for the victory in doing so trying to be trying to beat Tip Pugachar and not ending up in a position where he’s like a now I need to defend my position to Remco so out of that desire of mine that’s why I’d rather see Vingo go all in and capitulate than seeing him finish second trying to defend against David Nipple i’ll made a third i think that’s something I feel very strongly about because that’s just what he’s going to do yeah vingard second Pagatcha first
okay that’s the most like that’s the most likely i think that’s the most rational one like he might lose 30 seconds in some positioning issue on the first week but he’ll just
and that’s the difference like if Al is the outright leader and someone’s constructing a strategy to take maximum time on Ala he’s really exploitable but backing third yeah with no one pacing against him specifically He can do it and I just don’t have any confidence in Roglitch for this tour of France after the Jurro which that doesn’t mean much his second grand tour is often his best in a year but I’m just not feeling it when it comes to Rogich and maybe that’s a mistake on my end but when it comes to Lipovitz I’m also not sure he can hold it for three weeks he he showed at the Vela that he’s a solid GC rider stage
didn’t look so good
yeah there’s something about that so I think he can’t top five for sure i think that’s the most realistic outcome for Lipovitz in this race and Scalos’s goal should be top five but he might land sixth or seventh or something like that could happen okay that’s our predictions i think we discussed all the possible machinations or what could happen at length i think it’s going to be another huge battle between UAE and Vizma it’s going to be a real tension between them trying to hurt each other and all these other teams trying to have their own objectives winning stages K and then there’s this but this this war raging on between those two teams
and I think you pointed something perfectly there like I think the overwhelming question before the Dolphin after the dolphin a from a lot of maybe mainstream cycling fans or even like right people that are more invested in the sport even more when they’re looking at the watts etc is is this going to be a boring Twitter France because Pogacher is the obvious winner beforehand quote unquote i think the way this tour France has been built parkour wise makes it so that the tension is there until the end of week two at least week one we’ve got the the hilly parkour battles week two we get a first indication maybe when it comes to okay is Pogatra indeed better than Vingon most likely yes then we’ll see that but it’s week three where the domination might happen if that is likely to happen if Pogatra is better you know exactly i mean the tour to France last year was kind of over by stage 15 this year okay say Pagasha takes 30 seconds on how to cam you still got the TT the next day who knows what could happen it might go that deep uh hopefully we we’re praying it it becomes a huge battle into the third week that’s what we’re all hoping for there would be nothing better for the race than if Vingard was you know at the level of Pagatcha or just or just below and then then you have a real fight but yeah the first 10 days I can’t wait because you normally no one should be taking minutes there unless this crashes or something
yeah is this our longest tour of France preview of all time
it is it is i don’t know why i feel like I was trying to move through it but maybe it was good pacing don’t worry i it’s just
I’m gassed now i’m gassed i’ve uh there’s so much to talk about
anyway thanks for listening to the massive LRCP preview thanks to our sponsors not just for this uh episode but throughout the year uh join Morton and uh Sevel today check out the merch if you want a Tug Buddy t-shirt to support us directly and otherwise we’ll see you with uh stage one of the tour France we will do live watch alongs on YouTube for certain key stages uh not stage one but like the Well maybe if you twist my If Benji twists my arm maybe you do a watch along he will twist my arm um
stage one will do good on YouTube
true yeah get the algorithm rolling so yeah we’ll do watch alongs we’ll have recaps it’ll be great benji is coming here to Andor on Friday and uh yeah we’ll see you see you then chowo chowo
31 Comments
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This was what I was waiting for, time to eat ( 2am now but totally worth the wait)
Don't see a competitive race happening. Pog is head and shoulders above the field. Only a crash or mechanical can allow anyone else to win. Sorry, but domination is boring.
Thanks guys, great preview! If I had one suggestion, it would be to leave out the individual stage previews and just focus on 3-5 anticipated key stages. For me, the individual stage details and previews do not mean much at this point given all of the unknowns of how the race will play out. Obviously you can still include a route overview as you did here.
For me, what makes the race special are the unknowns, weather, crashes, injuries, unexpected riders doing well or doing poorly, etc. I never wish anything bad to happen to anyone, however, when a race simply goes to plan without a lot of variables impacting the proceedings, that is a boring race.
Literally been waiting for this all week
Come on it's all about if Gianetti got the vitamins right
Curious why no Majka on UAE? He's been such a dependable domestique for Pog in the mountains.
I've been waiting for this. And seeing that its almost 3 hours has me even more excited
paul sexy ass π―
You guys are the best! Thank you!
With the comment about Pogacar at 1:28:10. I realized that it might be possible for a Merckx repeat with one person winning the GC, Points and Mountain classification in the same year. Would be completely insane but somehow seems within reach
I was more excited for this pod than I am for stage one π
Omg, how long???? Canβt wait to listen to this at work tomorrow! Thank you fellas
Could PogaΔar take Yellow, Green and Polka Dots? Has anyone does this before? If not he could do it as part of his best rider ever target
Patrick Broe, one of a kind. What a podcast have you created. For new generations of cycling fans also extremely watchable. You remaining objective in this podcast. Is awesome, no noticeable bias. Though putting PogaΔar in the favourites role is the right thing to do anyway.
Thanks once again lads!
It's my assumption Patrick will be present at the TdF. Is that true and will Benji go that direction for a few days as well?
Got to 2:05 stage 11 analysis and Iβm just gonna stop it right there, hard for analysis to matter when thereβs a big math problem.
Great first two hours but I donβt reallu think the polka dot jersey is worth 45 mins of my time
Cervelo ad on lrcp π surprised its taken this long
Great show. You covered everything. Now weβre anxiously waiting for Saturday
Good pacing, usual good stuff
Stage 6 will be Quinn Simmons. You heard it here first.
Almost 3 hours……………. no way will I make it to the of this ordeal. I'm barely hanging on a minute 5:00 …………. maybe time to hang up my headphones.
Seems Jonas doesn't race much then trains slot where as Pog races a lot and trains his normal cycles… I'm not sure Jonas methods are getting him where he needs to be. Wouldn't be surprised to see Remco leading going into week 2. Visma needs Laporte back… They were unbeatable when he was healthy and haven't been same team since he got sick. Visma needs to attack with Jorgenson or Yates to take focus from Jonas. There's been only 2 races where Pog was caught after going… The one where Remco and Skelmose caught him and the other was when Jonas beat him in sprint.
Lets fucking go
LRCP is what Iβm talking about! Iβm so ready for some real tdf analysis , Letβs do this!!! π₯³
No Rafael Majka or Brandon McNulty this year? It seemed like they had always been the key domestiques for Pogacar.
Btw. You guys are the best cycling coverage online. Love your coverage of both the mens and the women's peloton.
Tomorrow it will be 27C, Sunny, Light winds, with great mountain roads on the Canada day holiday here in the Rocky Mountains. Unfortunately I won't be experiencing that as I'll be on the trainer for 2 hours, 49 minutes, and 47 seconds.
Points jersey points per stage is different here to the TdF website, and I've also seen it different yet again in articles. Anyone know the actual points per stage. Benji said first 4 stages are all 50 points and the TdF site does not say that at all
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Col de la Loze climb is from the "easier" side and not the same side as in 2020, right?
Should still be very exciting.
quickstep has to try something crazy on all these breakaway stages + the TT … I dont see it happening in the mountains but maybe they can get enough and hold on
LETS GO PRIMOZ
Highest quality tour preview available! In a year when I feel both the tour is at a fever pitch for value and everyone with a platform is trying to cash in, you guys provide the most thoughtful, current and relevant analysis π€π»