Let the Show Begin: The 2025 Tour de France is here! | The Ultimate Cycling Show

It’s time for the 2025 Tour de France! The team rounds up a weekend of National Championships, previews the first week of the Tour, and looks at the sprinters’ mission to Paris. Plus, Jonas Vingegaard joins to talk leadership and his rivalry with Tadej Pogačar. We also welcome special guest Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to the show!

News and coverage from the #HomeofCycling in Europe. Watch TNT Sports Cycling anytime, anywhere via: https://bit.ly/3boIVvd

Welcome to the Ultimate Cycling Show 0:00
National Championships Round Up 0:15
Wout van Aert pulling out of Belgian champs 4:38
Build up to the Tour de France 6:03
GC nerves for week one of the Tour de France 7:56
Tour de France Stage 18 Preview 11:56
Sprinters mission to Paris 18:40
Jonas Vingegaard interview 23:35
Vingegaard on leadership 26:50
Vingegaard uncertainty 28:56
Pogacar or Vingegaard to win 2025 Tour de France? 34:04
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot joins the Ultimate Cycling Show 35:35

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[Music] Italy’s queen of the road yet again. It is Alisa Longo Borgi and Philip Concha looking good. Is he going to do it? It’s going to be so close between Kcha and Kobe. I think he’s done it. They so richly deserve that the way they’ve ridden today. Watson just wants to roll off the front here. This gap will open up very quickly if they don’t act soon.
Look at the look at the crowd.
And your men’s elite national champion of Britain for 2025 is Sam Watson. It’s fight for Georgie on the back. Millie Cousins goes long. Henderson in the slipstream. Fight for Georgie going to come through. Millie Cousins. Is she going to take the title? Millie Cousins takes it for Fenix to Kernic. Zipping up his jersey. Seeing some people he knows on the side of the road. And a first elite title here for Ivon Romeo Abat. Out the very very powerful and explosive. A first ever national title to Moistar’s Sarah Martin. It is one of the most iconic jerseys in the world of cycling and for 2025 it belongs to Marie Lynette. She is the champion of France. Gordon pulling away from Gregoir Dian Gord is going to win the French national road race. [Music] National championships. I mean what were our takeaways? What were our standouts? It’s one of the best Sundays of the year. I always try and watch
too much.
I used to try and watch everything I could and then go, okay, 12k to go, 8k to go, backwards and forwards, Belgian, French, German, Dutch, and but the Dutch was now on the Saturday, which made it a bit easier.
Made it easier. Yeah. But your your brain and your eyes go ping ping ping ping all day. It’s amazing.
Yeah. You just keep pro cycling stats open and go, “Okay, who won there?” The ones you can’t watch and
you can’t even remember who’s wearing the jersey right now. So many races in one weekend. Yeah,
I loved it. I was doing British Nationals and when you watch all those nationals there, the British Nationals is great, but it’s such a different race to when you see all the races on the continent, it’s like a proper race still. Then you go back to England, you’re like a I wish it was like bigger and better almost in a kind of way.
In terms of the crowds, in terms of the setting,
all of it, all of it. I don’t know. It’s just, you know, when you watch a race in Belgium or Holland or France, wherever it is, you see all that and you’re like, “Oh my god, that looks like an event I want to go to.”
England just looks like a race by the coast that’s coming in. like a little marathon almost. But it was it was a very very good race.
We do have to have a quick word on the men’s Italian nationals. You were talking about it as soon as you walked in this morning. Yep. I love I loved your excitement about it. It’s just brilliant, isn’t it? What a race.
Like talking about like nationals being important. Italy is one of those championships where everybody is
and then a club rider wins the Italian jersey. M
like imagine being Kofi sprinting to the finish line thinking you will be national champion and then this club rider pass like comes past you and wins the sprint.
What was his name again?
Uh Koncha I think
Kcha. Yeah. Yeah. It’d be interesting because he created that club I think didn’t he though the team that he
I think it already existed. He joined it because he was a pro with like 36.5 lost his contract didn’t get renewed and so he went to ride back at that level. But it’s sort of been a place where guys who are in and out of the pro ranks they’ve gone back into. But it has this almost religious following and the guys they they
it’s like the underdog team, isn’t it? The underdog always like there and everyone wants them to win. But I I don’t know if he’s part I saw something about it from I think it was 2015 when that team started and he was a part of it then.
So it’ be really interesting to see where he’s at now. If he wants to go through all the rigma roll of being a pro again and fighting for contracts. Surely. Yes. But it just depends on what he’s paid now, you know, because I can’t imagine he’d go back into the pros and be like paid double what he’s on now. So you might be like, is he on anything?
I want like he’s a national champion. Surely you’ve got to land a good contract.
Come on, someone sign him.
I know. Exactly. We want to see that jersey in the Pelaton, don’t we?
They have to like I think every team that wants to be in the Jurro next year with the wild card needs to have him in Italy, right?
Yeah. So you’ll already have those Italian teams like Badani and Vinnie Fantini, etc. were going like, “Please, please come to us.”
Yeah.
Um, speaking about the risk of um, injury or something going wrong, I had my suspicious hat on whenever Venard pulled out of the Belgian Nationals and I thought, is that just in case? Is he actually ill? Because he pulled out he’s done that before, hasn’t he? And we weren’t entirely sure whether he was that was injury maybe cited then. Do we suspect that he’s maybe also saving himself to France?
To Yes. To tour to France. Yes. Just a yes.
I thought I was being a bit too conspiratorial, but no. Just you.
Yeah. And I’m here for it. Really? No.
Saving yourself. It’s a day. I don’t think I don’t think
I I don’t mean saving himself physically, but there is a big risk factor involved in in a one-day race, national championships, if it matters that much to him compared to a good tour to France.
And also in Belgium, you need to have a good excuse to not ride the championship. So, you need to be either sick or like Wellins actually wanted to miss his plane to not ride the Belgium championships. Really? He already said to the team, I’m not going to ride the championships. I will say that I miss my flight.
No way.
And then in the end there was only I think for me riding for the team and he said like okay if it’s only for me I will come.
Wow.
So he’s not the only one.
And then they were both in the break as well. But then it was Tim Wellins who made the winning attack after Remco covered pretty much everything all day long. But Wellins rode off and he’s
brilliant that Wellins made his flight after all the he made the flight and kept flying.
He organized the logistics.
I like this nationals finishes. Then you got the build up to the tour which we’re in now. And I love this part cuz it’s when you see all the picture of the teams going out training all together, all the tour to France presentation. It’s like that little buzz around how is everyone where you’re looking at I know we’re not going to find out anything but you know when you’re looking at a rider and thinking oh they look skinny or oh they look ready or oh look at the new kit they’re on. All that kind of
they all get the new haircuts.
All the new haircuts go right Thomas same haircut every year. I love that part of the season. I just can’t wait for this first five days of the tour.
I cannot wait. I think it’s going to be absolute chaos and I just can’t
five or first even like 11 but until we hit those high mountains I feel like there’s so much opportunity for chaos.
Yeah, absolutely. Starting up in the north always and you’re very weather dependent of course anything can happen at the at the moment over in in Europe and northern France, Belgium, Holland is boiling hot
but there’s a little bit of rain forecasts coming towards the end of the weekend. And so racing up around out to Dunkirk on I think it’s Monday. Yeah, Monday. Uh a little bit of rain out there, a little bit of wind and and then onward and outward to Normandy, Brittany, anything can happen.
Yeah.
And I think the good thing of this like this big first week this year is it’s going to be so exciting with all this punchy finals, a yellow jersey can switch around like every day almost.
And it says like maybe it’s because I’m Dutch, but it says Mache Vanderpool that first week, right? every stage almost last day of the first week does. We’re going back to the scene of taking the yellow and honoring his granddad and you going back to the mood of Britannia. That’s one of the days despite all the sprints that we’re going to have and I should be maybe more excited about those. I feel like I’m letting myself down the
Are you excited about those?
No, I am. I’m I’m I want I’m really excited about the very first sprint because a sprinter gets the chance to take the yellow jersey and that’s not something that happens very often. Yeah,
I’m just really nervous about the GC guys getting through this first 10 days
like not stress free without any injuries, no crashes and just
Yeah, absolutely.
You don’t want do you want it to be that we get to stage 12 without much of a difference in time gaps or what do you like as in almost that the GC is neutralized until we hit the high mountains or like I kind of want to see it all blown to pieces a little bit as long as it’s not completely blown to pieces and and we can put the pieces back together again, you know?
I want to see racing. I want to see racing. So if it’s like time gaps because they’ve been raised and they missed stuff,
love that. If it’s due to crashes and stuff,
absolutely, absolutely. It’s the most depressing. But it’s almost impossible to survive those first 10 days for all the GC GC guys without a crash.
Unless you’re Yeah. Unless you’re or your finger guard with a very strong team.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All his bodyguards around him.
He has so many good guys around him for the flat stages like or the the hilly stages actually.
All the stages.
Yeah. all the stages actually, but he has a way stronger team than Pogacher has for those first 10 days, I believe,
for the first 10. Yeah, I would agree.
I I think Vizma is more a positioning team in defense, but Pogata and his team are positioning in to rip the racing.
Yeah. But all but but but at the same time, recent years would say the opposite that Vizma are the ones who who ride and attack and rip the whole thing to shreds. It doesn’t always work obviously, but they’re the ones who throw everything at the race. in the in the mountains. Yes. But on the flatter days, those punchy sort of up in the north, his first three, four, five days, I think probably advantage Pugacha with the way the bunch is going to be. And I think the the biggest thing is just the fighting within the bunch. The tour is such a special beast. It makes everybody so nervous. Everyone’s told to ride at the front and it just seems that the tour it could be the same amount of riders as in the Jurro. It just seems like there’s twice as many. The roads are are twice as narrow. It’s just everything. I think when you look at those teams, you’ve got Vizmo who’s super strong and they can ride at the front all day and really control things. And you’ve got Pagatu who can float around and do his own thing and he can do that I think with minimal effort. I think he’s almost better on his own than what he is with a team and I think for his team’s sake they get to sit back a bit. So that first week they can stay calm, not put as much pressure on themselves because they’ve got Pagatra doing his thing. Keep an eye on him but don’t kill yourself to do the job that Visma are doing. Then you get later on into the race the second third week. how much is this first week going to take out of them later on for that then UAE have maybe not tried as hard then they’ve got more power in the mountains so it is a real tussle of how much effort we’re going to put into this first 10 days I think
I think the advantage that Pagata and UAE have is that those first 10 days suit him better as a rider than they do you so I think there’s more opportunity within that team of visa bike to try to destroy things a little bit
but they kind of have to do that if they want to get any time because you otherwise has to wait until stage 12 before he starts to really properly get onto his own terrain.
But I think when we see saw the first stage in Adop where Fingard was attacking Pogar as well, he really focused on his effort like on his explosive pacivity um on those small hills.
I think it’s better for him to do that. I think if he can get out of the chaos, I think it’s better for him just cuz he’s safer. He’s with the guys that he needs to be around. So it wouldn’t surprise me if he started doing that. I’m just intrigued to see what Vanard’s going to do in that situation with the team because I can imagine he’ll want to look after Yonas, but there’s a chance to win a stage.
Which days does he get exactly mood to Bratannia for sure
day day seven and then there’ll be other days that
I think Walt will say that one and that one and that one. But for the rest of the race, we talked about Vineyard getting on his own terrain and mountain stage after mountain stage, but this year it’s like mountain stage, flat day, mountain stage, flat day. There’s a lot of breaks in between the big mountains until the last couple of days 181 19 something like that.
So, it’s a funny sort of layout of the tour
and only a couple of day two days in the Alps. [Music] Stage 18 is set to be one of the toughest days of this year’s Tour to France. With 171 km and 5,500 m of elevation, the Pelaton will have had to conquer two mountains before they take on the dangerous planet summit called Dealos. I’m gone. I’m dead. The twotime tour winner Alberto Conidor is on reconnaissance duty to take us up the brutal climb. We’re just at the beginning of the menacing de la. The riders will get here having already done two all category climbs, the Glondon and the Madlin. So this climb could be decisive. [Music] We’re already on the first slopes. It’s a long climb, 26 km with an average gradient of 6.5%. Some kilometers at 11%. The road is wide at first and then bit by bit it will narrow bit right here after 11k the riders will tackle the first really hard kilometer around a constant 10%. For me this will be an important point to launch an attack because they’ll already have been climbing for quite some time. So, an attack now could do some damage. That being said, there are still 14 km left. [Music] [Applause] [Music] We’re now 5 km to the finish line. The latter part is very, very hard. You can feel it because just one kilometer back, the road changes and becomes narrower. Straight away, you can feel the gradient change. [Music] We’re finally at the top of this tough and endless climb. The final part is also really complicated. Once you go past, that following kilometer is really hard. And then there’s an area of maybe four to 500 meters of rest before the gradients ramp up to 9 10% again. It’s a climb that’s designed to make time differences. It doesn’t have ridiculous gradient percentages, but because of the distance and all the previous accumulated climbing during the stage, this climb could make the difference. [Music] Oh, does anyone else feel sick with excitement about this? No, just memories 18
and then stage 19 10,000 m of climbing in two days. This is 5 and a half thousand meters of climbing. Three or category climbs. It’s insane. Isn’t it?
I just it might be too much. You know, this could be too much. I mean, it’s not I’m not going to win this.
But with with the best climbers that are in the tour, this is what it takes to separate them. Yeah, exactly. It’s anything less they’re just going to come to the line together because it’s been too easy.
How is it going to be? Obviously, it’s going to massively and well entirely depend on how the GC is sitting at this stage. But how’s it likely to be raised? Three or category climbs given the fact that the following day we also have another two or category climbs, a cat one and two cat twos. These are going to be the decisive stages. How is this stage going to be raced aggressively or it a bit negatively neutally if you like given everything that
all on the GC where it sits that day how much separates the top guys but that those two days are perfect for Yonas I think I think there you go that is like his bread and butter what he want so for him if he’s in the lead if he’s not if he’s got time to bring back
that team will race it full gas you almost guarantee W’s going to be in the break waiting later on in the stage and just that typical how they ride that will be good by I think one of those days that tactical early on section of getting teammates up the road. Who can we get up there? Where are they going to be?
If they can get up there.
If they can get up there directly from the start, it’s uphill.
Yeah. Yeah.
But I feel like if I see this stage, it’s made like anti pogar.
Yeah.
Because this is made for finger guard. Like three long climbs two days in a row that’s made for finger guard. That’s not that doesn’t to poker jar as well as it suits finger guard. This is why I like it because I do feel the first 11 days of racing is much more friendly to tally. And this is where we get over excited. We’re in the when we’re in the middle of a bike race and we are calling out these time gaps like they’re definitive and forgetting what’s to come and the terrain to come and who that favors most because we I think and all of us watching right we can be guilty of this where we’ve written the story before it’s ever happened. So by stage 11, we’re going to stage 12 behind mountains. And maybe TAD’s got, I don’t know, a gap of a minute and a half, whatever. We’re thinking that’s it. It’s all done. It’s all done. Forgetting that stages 18 and 19 could completely turn this race in his head.
One and a half will is nothing with these stages. I think Poker once lost 5 and a half minutes on Laos on Finger Guard. I think that stage talking about the Cordurus, the favorites are going to be waiting for that climb because it’s not only three mountains in the day, but that climb is 26k long, it goes to 2,300 m. The altitude really starts to kick in, really steep gradients. I think once they’re halfway up that climb is where we’re going to really start to see guys make their move because you make it too early, you can be your own worst enemy. Yeah.
So, who else are we looking at by that stage though? Because we are now guilty of this race. Yeah. But we can’t obviously we can’t do that because anything happens in a France. Anything else we looking at by here?
I want to say Primos, but let’s get him there first. Get him there.
Get him to those first 10 days and then we can talk about Primos Roglish. Remco will be good. I think I don’t think he’ll be quite there, but I think that sort of terrain he seems to mature. So, he’ll just stay within himself. And if he can stay within himself on each and every one of those climbs, he’ll be consistent through those two days. So maybe Remco, we have the danger of Yonas and Taday really watching each other too much and racing each other out of a bike race. Maybe I don’t think that will happen, but there is always a chance where each of them are scared a little bit of each other and they just cancel each other out and other bike people might take advantage. We’re talking about the top two when it comes to GC, but there are so many other narratives when it comes to tour to France. Anyway, and I mean the sprints are going to be a lot of fun, aren’t they?
They are. I mean, there’s a yellow jersey up for grabs on day one and the sprinters we’re going to see in this race. So, Tim Merid, Yasper Phillips, Jonathan Milan, defending green jersey, Binium Guray, uh, and the the leadout trains that some of those riders have at their disposals and and for a guy like Merid, lack of a lead out train, but never seems to worry him. There’s so much going to be going on in the sprints. I can’t wait.
Need a napkin to wipe the drill. Robbie, won’t be big enough. Get me a full bath towel. But yeah, it’s going to be exceptional. And I just wonder, I started the season predicting this is going to be Jonathan Milan’s year. How do we feel about his chances going into his first year to France?
I think he’s going to be good, but it’s going to be so hard for him. I think it’ll be hard for him to get to Paris after those final two days. The amount of climbing in just those two days, it’s going to be so hard for him. I wonder which printer is going to get to Paris actually because it’s there’s four chances. Okay, Philips a bit like a Merier or a Milan.
Their only chances are in the first week actually and after it’s so hard
and it’s no longer even guaranteed that the final stage is going to be a sprint now anyway. So, but at the same time, finishing a tour to France is a prize in itself, isn’t it? If you’re a sprinter, you’re what you’re not going to stop the tour to France early because you’re saving yourself for something else. You’re hanging on for grim death.
You try and get there if you possibly can. And there’s there’s still a good chance that the last day in Paris will be a sprint for for those that haven’t looked at it yet. Um the the change is that they’re going to do the the Sakraur the the malt mark climb that they had in the the Olympic Games three times in top of the climb the last time 6k from the finish. That’s going to be one hell of a last day.
I’m calling a GC race in the final stage.
It could be Yeah. Go any which way. I mean a nutiv clipping off with Walt maybe Remco doing a repeat. Here I’m in Paris again.
Yeah. Yeah. I love the way they’ve shaken up the final stage actually. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and it makes it You’ve changed your tune.
Well, I think it’s fine. I’m now a spectator.
I was going to say before you were like, “No, damn it.”
Yeah, I love it.
I’m not going to have a number on. What the hell? That’ be good to watch.
I think it won’t be a lot of fun to watch and I think it’ be more fun than the usual Paris stage to be honest because yeah, it’s a procession until the racing starts, but then the racing itself it really does there’s a chance of a breakaway whatever, but it comes down to that final sprint. You’re waiting for the last two laps really around Paris. Lap and a half. Whereas now, I think we’re going to have a chance of it all splitting apart an awful lot earlier.
We love surprises.
Yeah, exactly.
It’s so stressful though for the riders.
I know. Like you think for Wow. Good chance for him, but he’s going to have to look after Yonas. Tad will look after him. So obviously
depending on the gaps and depending on the gaps I think the GC could be raced in Paris.
GC riders can go for the stage. Like Tad can go for that stage which is bomb. If he’s a couple of seconds behind, he is racing for the stage in Paris to to get
if he’s 5 minutes in front, I think he’ll still face stage like Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I agree. But what I mean is I I don’t know if we’ll have the gentleman’s agreement. But that’s stage 21. I want to go back just a little bit to li the one that’s still got a start stage one. But that that racing for the yellow jersey and and looking at the the sprint teams, you can’t go past Alperson with their their south the train. I mean, Vanderpool Groves, who you know, he’s a sprinter in his own right, won in the Jurro, leading out Phillips, who he was third at the Belgian Championship on on a hard course. Uh, so he’s going to be really good.
So, you’re calling Yasper for yellow?
Uh, no. I’m just saying they’re going to be really good. I think they can dominate the lead out, but it doesn’t mean he’s going to win because Merid, he can just come from almost nowhere to win races. And he did exactly that in the tour of Belgium just 10 days or so ago. Um he is really flying and he’s although it’s in LIIL and that’s in France.
Malia is from not far away. He’ll feel like this is a home race. Yeah.
And I feel like he’s so good when it’s chaotic. He doesn’t need a sprint train. He only needs fun with him
and then he finds his way in the sprint. And the first stage in the tour to France, it’s chaos.
That’s what suits him.
Yeah. He reads it so well. He just sees it before it happens. He he’ll look up and go,
might be really crowded there now, but in a minute it’s going to open up over and he just and he he’s so explosive long. That’s the thing. He’s so strong and can go long range. He doesn’t If you look at you as a sprint, you always have to wait, find your gap, and then go. With him, it’s just like he can see the chaos and go, “That’s there. I’m going to go there and go.” And he somehow gets away with it every time.
So often goes from 300 m to go. He’s like, “Well, he’s going to blow up.” And then he doesn’t. Then he just does this and you go, “Okay, done it. [Music] Apolog It’s the rivalry of this magnificent hero’s going to go and he’s having none of it. Go’s going to have a go. Oh my goodness. It’s the top two going toe to toe again. And this is looking ominous for everybody else today. Pugatcha. Nobody can touch him. Finger goes. And who is going to follow? The attack is launched. It’s Vingore versus Bugatta. It’s time now to finish the job to the line. And look at that. I think to be honest with if I was racing without him, it wouldn’t wouldn’t be the same. And and hopefully he he feels the same the other way around. Uh but I guess it could be kind of boring if you just win every how do you every mountain stage with two minutes. Um so yeah, I actually enjoy having a rival like him.
Tell him catcher can’t respond. And this is a big moment. A huge crack opening up here. And Vingo, well, he had a team. He had a plan. And he’s going to have his cake and eat it by the time he gets to the top here. A man who packed fish for a living. Well, he’s just landed a big one. That is amazing.
Yeah. I don’t I don’t really care about what what kind of style and I have and what what people actually think about me. Um, I just care about my family, care about my career, about my team. I want to to win as much as possible. And of course, if if people don’t like the way that I’m doing it, then it’s their problem. It’s not about the way I’m winning it. It’s more about winning the two fronts. Uh, yeah, of course, I also like it when when the whole team is about a part of it, a big part of it. Uh, like we showed in the past. And yeah, I always have had super good teammates in the two fronts and and yeah, again this year it will be a super strong team. So every year it seems like everybody’s taking a step at the moment. So obviously I also need to be better than than I was 2 years ago. Um but I also have the feeling that I am improving. Even last year going into the tour I was still kind of believing that I could that I could go for the win. Uh obviously that didn’t didn’t work out. But yeah, this year I feel like completely different uh person to be honest uh in the way how my body reacts to to training but also how yeah how my body is in in general. To be honest, I would have liked to raised a bit more. Uh we and we were speaking about adding Roman D to to my program. Um we decided to leave it out just to focus on the two fronts. So yeah, obviously uh I feel like I I missed out a bit on on the whole spring. Um but yeah, that that’s how it is and and it only gives me more motivation for the tutor fronts. To be honest, I don’t think I’m I’m the born leader. Um but I kind of learned how to be a leader. So actually by the time the more and more I do it, the the more I also enjoy it as well. I mean in the past I learned from from Bout obviously but also from Primos uh as a teammate obviously now I’m more learning from myself as well. So if there’s something that I’m doing in in a race that either I like it or I don’t like it. So yeah I I kind of learn by what I’m doing myself. So I want to communicate with my with my teammates. Um I think last year probably in the tour I didn’t I wasn’t the leader that I actually would have liked to been. I was probably how do you say a bit insecure in some kind of way and then then I was not communicating as as I normally wanted to. Um but yeah I know there’s a reason for that as well.
It’s Vingle up the front. Pugatcha waits. Stalks his prey. Now he goes Patcha trying to come around. Ving’s holding it. Ving to the line. And look at that. What a story that is.
It means a lot. And all the things I went through. Yeah. I mean, I’m just happy to be here. And yeah, it means so much to to win a stage.
I think it back then it was just mainly a relief to be honest. I mean, with all I went through then to be able to take that that stage win was was really incredible. And I mean now when I think back to that stage but also in general the whole tour to France last year I’m first of all I’m thinking that uh I shouldn’t have been there because of what I went through but I was there uh and I’m happy that I was there and then I’m even more happy about how it went as well. [Music] He’s such an interesting character, isn’t he? Because he he isn’t as exuberant and as outgoing as Tally Pagetar is, for example. And I feel like we often think he’s a bit of an enigma like that, but he’s actually not. Like that was a really open interview, I find, and a really self-aware conversation, which I I just find really interesting. Yeah, it seems he just has a lot of reflection and thinking through and
he really um I know appreciates the the gravity of of what he’s been through that that crash that he had last year in bus country where a number of other riders hurt themselves as well. But he like you said he shouldn’t have made it to the tour. Fact that he did was was quite amazing that he won a stage as well was just ridiculous. Uh, but I think it’s been an incredibly important building block in his fight for this year’s tour.
However, I still have some questions around how far towards 100% has he recovered from that crash from last year because I’ve seen some little things.
Both.
Okay.
Both. I I really do find it intriguing. I think with him, he knows what he can do on a good day. I think on a bad day if you look when he was good like two years ago when he won the tour he was exceptional just rode away with that singular time trial a minute and a half into tad day on one 30k time trial or whatever it was
that is like peak yonas and that’s where he’ll hope to be but he knows that tad wasn’t at his best then either so I think there’s a bit of uncertainty about it which there would be against Tadai my concern is not concerned but how the heck is he going to beat Taday that’s My big question around it and I don’t even think he knows that and you come into a leadership role which he was talking about doesn’t matter your team it doesn’t matter any of that stuff around you when it comes down to him and Taday it’s just them two and for me it’s like the what’s his edge that he’s got on him at the minute and as you said the uncertainty I’ve not seen anything yet which is that edge
you know sorry go ahead
what I think is like we haven’t seen it yet but his whole plan is to build towards to France he hasn’t been his best yet because he wants to be at his best in the tour to France and that’s the big difference with today because he’s been enjoying himself doing the classics riding good in doof
and how much is he how much better is he going to get towards the tour how good prepared is he for the tour
for that final week like did everything right
I also feel like the mental resilience that he is displaying can only be to his benefit because he’s really vulnerable there talking about where he has his weaknesses that he’s not a natural-b born leader He’s had to learn that that he didn’t communicate so much last year because he wasn’t feeling confident. I think that’s a really vulnerable place to put yourself into to be so open about all of that before the trip to France. But he’s only able to say that because he’s learned from it. You’re not saying all of those things if you’re still feeling that as a weakness. So I feel it like actually he’s been through so much both on the bike but away from the bike probably mostly
that will have allowed him to sit back and go, you know what, I’ve come through a mountain of difficulty. And even the way he’s talking about last year’s tour to France that I probably shouldn’t have been there, but I was and I rode it exceptionally well
and I got second. So I feel like all of that is going to build into a resilience that he’s going to be able to enjoy that few riders really will have. I’m not saying that Tad doesn’t, but he’s not had to overcome what you and has to the same extent. And if it comes down to something whereby they’re they’re testing each other mentally as much as physically, you can’t really doubt you on that level.
No, you can’t doubt doubt his mental fortitude. And I think the ability to be able to talk about it now like he is shows how far he’s come from that point. He’s like he said he he wasn’t communicating well back then. He’s communicating to anyone and everyone now and talking about it which shows he’s come a long way. Has he come far enough? And as you said, the planning will be there to get that much better between the dorphina and the tour and up to probably the most important part of the tour from stage 9 10 onwards when we we get to the mountains. But
is he going to have that progression between Dan? That’s the huge question mark. We just don’t know.
He doesn’t know. They they try to plan for it. They try to prepare like that. But if it happens is is another thing. And I can’t wait to find out. One thing that Visma do very well, seem to do very well, is building that team cohesion. And it seems to annoy the other teams the way that they stick together and they’re this closed band of brothers, but it works within it. And you know, we we’ve gotten to know Natan Van Hoy Duncan a lot who’s one of you and’s best friends and he speaks with such fierce protective loyalty about everybody in that team. That’s something to their credit as well because they are able to get together and work for each other even when you’ve got riders like Walnard who will be going off and doing their their own thing in terms of trying to win stages whereas UAE arguably well it is it’s all in for TAD if they’re going to win a stage even it’s probably through TAD but even with that even with the fact that that Visma can do different things I feel like they are the tighter band of of brothers together in this
who would you rather win tonas oh she’s going to be she’s going to be on here talking about it that’s hard. That’s hard.
No, it it really doesn’t matter as long as we have liar. Doesn’t matter. You’re right. Like the the way Poker Poker writes, that’s more fun. It’s more fun to watch. Come on, get to it. But you
ride.
I love I love the way like Finger just goes for it. He does everything the whole season to win this tour of France.
Yeah. Yeah, I’m the same. Who would you rather win? It’s a really hard question. I’m just asking.
It’s actually really hard because here’s the thing. I’ll give you one answer today. I’ll give you another another answer after stage one, another answer the first rest day. But it’s true. Like generally generally I want the underdog to win.
I was going to say it’s going to be the underdog ridiculously even though he’s won twice. I want Yonas to win because he’s the underdog. If they start dominating and he starts dominating then I’m team Pagatar. So, I always want the underdog because then you’ve got to fight and I just want the most brutal, bitty, gorgeous, aggressive fight all the way to that finish line in Paris. That’s what I would love.
So, you want Remco to win. [Music] These riders are just going to be wanting the race to start. We are racing. Lorenas has got an issue here. Shellott call comes off the wheel. It’s Shalot Cole that comes through to take the first stage in front of a home crowd. And with it the Mayo, the yellow jersey down. Cassie Nuvia attacks over to the right hand side of the road. Pop Peterson is poised and ready for the sprint. Pop Peterson now launches a move down the left hand side of the road as Volering tries to challenge on the line. following throws the bike, but Peterson has got it. What a finish. The slopes are really starting to bite now. 20% [Applause] kaboom. Sad dream cabal takes the stage for France. It has got to be the sprint of her life now. up towards the line. Casian drives for home, saves the yellow jersey. What a mighty ride from the Polish rider. That was an outdoor ascent for the history books. Right. Well, that’s got us excited about the true to France fam of Xrift. I’ve got a surprise for you.
Do you want to know what it is?
I don’t know. I You worry me.
Do me one.
It’s actually on. We have a chat lined up with Pauline Fam Pro. Come back here to the road. Should we chat?
Thank you so much for joining us, Pauline. First of all, where are you and what’s going on right now? You look like you’re somewhere in the mountains. Uh yeah, I just arrived in Latin for a training camp in altitude. Uh I’ve been doing the recon of the last three stages of to France. Oh, it’s why I look so tired. And no, now we will stay um 15 days here to train in in altitude with the girls of the team.
And how’s the preparation going, Pauline? Your first ever tier to France fam swift. No, it’s going uh it’s going really good. I’m really happy and I feel quite relaxed. Um yeah, as you know, I didn’t finish VA and um I use this period to to take a rest and after I went to altitude for five weeks uh to train and um yeah, just to train and um now I’m here in altitude until uh yeah the 16 to to prepare um to def France and after that I will go home for a few days and start difference. How have you been since Steve Welter then? We haven’t seen you re since the 8th of May since you pulled out. How have you been? Um, yeah, I took some rest because uh I did quite a a big classic period and I was feeling a bit tired, not only physically but also mentally. Um, so I took a rest and it was really needed. Afterwards, I uh I just start training again and um yeah, I had a really good time, you know, because I spend like two months away of home and um was just good to to be at home and to train and to yeah, just train, eat, and sleep. And yeah, it was really nice.
And I wonder like uh of course you did a lot of preparations the last few years for the mountain bike. How different is it now towards the tour to France? Yeah, it’s not so much different because um yeah, it’s it’s the main goal of my season, you know. So, we base all the preparation for for that goal and was the same with the Olympics. Um yeah, now I just have to be good for nine days. So, this will be the challenge. But, um yeah, it’s not so much different, you know. It’s uh just about like training hard and uh losing a bit of weight to to climb uh well and um and yeah that’s it. So Pauline you told us about reconing the final three stages of lour that’s obvious where you find the most important points of the race where you’ll really make the difference. Does does that mean you’re not as concerned with the early part of the race? Is there anything in the first part of the race that you have been and looked at at all or you’re comfortable? Yeah, after VA I went to to Brine to also do the first two stages because um I don’t think you can win tour during this two first stages but you can lose the tour friends. Um I mean it will be really hectic, really nervous, everyone will be fresh. So it was important for me to to see um the first two stages to yeah to just have an idea you know I don’t lose the time in the stupid way if I can say um after that I think the the middle part will be for me more like recovery uh kind of days um and yeah using trying to to don’t make uh too much effort these days and to be ready for the last three stages. I did the recon two days ago of Madlin and it’s going to be really hard. So yeah, you have to be ready for that. Just for all. So all is doing the lit up during the race.
So I’m trying to do the mine and that’s the last thing I needed to hear. Pauline how difficult it’s going to be.
Can you please can you please um put the fear of God into her about how hard it is the maline? I would say the first 2K it’s not that hard but you had I added wind so it was quite uh quite challenging already
and from kilometers 18 to kilometers 13 it’s very steep so you need to be like ready mentally that it will be hard
I feel
but after that you have 1k you know it’s a bit flattish so you can recover and the last 12k it’s quite okay So the worst moment is from the 18 to 13. So
okay, that’s the hardest bit. From 18 km to go until 13 km to go.
That’s a decline, not the day. Pauline, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. Before you go, can I just ask, I’m curious, where do you keep your cobble? Where’s your trophy from Parave? Where do you keep it at home? you know that it’s still at the service course of the of the team.
Yeah. No, no, no, no. So heavy that I can’t fly with it. So
yeah. Have you decided where you’re going to keep it? Uh next to Dylan’s one. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, listen. Pauline, we’ll pay for the extra baggage if you tell us the secrets. Yeah. Okay,
perfect. I’ll send you a message.
Thank you so much. Good luck with the Jans of Exift. I will be hopefully on the Maline cheering you along if I’ve survived it. So, I look forward to seeing you up and close. Okay. Complete from you.
Oh, you’ll hear me. You’ll hear me. What a lovely chat. She’s in really good form, isn’t she? She looks really chilled, like she’s on course. She knows what she’s doing. She’s ready for this or she’s going to be ready for it.
That woman loves preparation. I like that she even said it herself. But I think being in that mental space where she knows she’s got this block, the block she had beforehand where she’s just building, building, building, building. If she loves it that much, this is like
this is like racing was to me. It was like
that was the enjoyment part of it. So it’s no wonder she’s in a good place cuz every day she’ll do something that’s another step further. That’s another step further and she’s loving that bit off. She must be well she must be going good if she’s looking like she’s in a good place.
Yeah, that’s also true. But I find that so many riders either love the competing or love the training. To be able to enjoy both of those, it’s easier to love the the racing when you’re winning, which she has been doing. But she seems to enjoy the whole package of it. It’s really encouraging.
She does. So, it seems that the training is probably her favorite because it’s she said it’s very calm up here. She enjoys the calm, the quiet,
stressfree, and when you’re up there in the mountains, at least if you’re a good climber, uh it can be absolutely beautiful and away from the stress of competition. But
when we were talking to her and she she said, “I don’t have a particular ambition. I just want to prepare well and then let the rest happen.” But I don’t know. I reckon I re I reckon there’s a spreadsheet on the bedroom wall.
Well, she was very open when she came back to road racing that she wanted to win the fans fam of exift. That was her aim for coming back, but she gave herself a three-year window. You wouldn’t be shocked, would you, if she were to do it this year after that?
She’s exceptional. She’s exceptional. And I feel like we’ve got so caught up and we’re we’re lucky these days. We’re blessed with women’s racing that there’s so many riders that we can get distracted by, but we have been caught up an awful lot in the Damy chat and the Lau chat and obviously Cashia who’s defending champion, Alisa who’s going to defend her title at the Geodatalia. I feel like because we haven’t seen Pauline since she dropped out of the she had such a strong classics campaign. It’s easy to forget actually this has been her goal for the comeback
and we haven’t seen her climbing that well this year but when we see her in the interview and we know when she’s training for a goal she will be good.
So she needs to be on the list like she is a podium candidate.
Yeah. It almost blows me away the thought in advance of a French rider doing really well at the Taylor France fam. It’s been a long time in the men’s side of things if she were to come along and be that darling of French cycling. She is already the tour to France to have a French winner of the tour to France.
Next level. Do you know what I really like about her is obviously she has real off periods where she switches off and I love that about her that she’s a human and she’s like I enjoy the process and I can imagine her being now I start but once I’ve finished then it’s chill time again then I can go back to my life as such and then
start again
holidays like Greek holidays all that kind of stuff but I but I absolutely love that about her that she can switch off put weight back on and then say right I’m going to lose it again now rather than just be that
that line. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I think you get a lot more of a character when someone is up and down that much when they can enjoy the life outside of the sport as well.