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Look forward, because it’s time for the Femmes. We’re signing off from France, but we’re not leaving you empty handed, no – tune into Race Radio for a preview of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift with Rouleur’s Rachel Jary to hear what’s happened so far and what to expect in the coming days, a word with Zwift’s Director of Strategy Kate Veronneau on the future of the sport, and we catch Dominque Powers right after she photographs podcast favourite and absolute GOAT of cycling, Marianne Vos.
A lot to get stuck into here: have it!
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Adelaide, January. All the WorldTour teams. Sunshine, cold ones, and not a bad coffee in sight. Start planning now: the racing (and the vibes) will be world-class.
Oh, Harry, how you feeling? Little bit dusty after uh this is let’s call this the morning after the night before the end of the men’s tour of France. Um but there’s more racing, isn’t there? Yeah, that’s not all. That’s not all. We jumped on a train this morning, didn’t we? From Paris with our trusty Brmptons and we are we are in anger to check out the finish of stage three of the durance vam swift. Very good. This is a life in the pelon production presented by map. That’s showing the cool. Here we go. Let’s take advantage of this. I’m Mitch Docker and this is Life in the Pons race radio. Over to you. Well, Harry, this is our last day gallivanting around France and what a trip it’s been. Oh, but as a fan of both racing and traveling, I can’t help thinking about where we might go next. Tell me, Stu, you’ve always got a plan up your sleeve. What are you thinking? Can’t stop myself. I mean, it’s a bit far off, but uh don’t you think the Tur Under is one to get excited about? Oh, no doubt. I mean, if you’ve been listening to the podcast the last few days, we’ve been talking about how much we love it and how we’ve been before we and it was amazing. Yeah. I mean, the Tour Down Under, it’s got everything, hasn’t it? It’s got cycling, it’s got culture. I mean, I think that’s all there is to life cycling culture, but uh yeah, it’s got all the world tour, all the world tour teams, men’s and women’s racing. It’s got the weather pretty much guaranteed to be great. Uh so, the pros are happy. More chance to rub shoulders with your favorite rider there, isn’t there? And to see new stars on the rise. Yeah. And old stars on the Wayne like Major Daer. He’ll be there. Um life outside the pel. Yeah. But this is really a race where future champions are born. If you think back to a couple of years ago, you remember Isizakatel Del Toro, he punched clear to get that stage win. That was his first ever race as a pro. Uh Chris Harper, he’s been great there recently. And Luke Plap, of course, friend of the pod. They kind of all cut their teeth at the Santos Tour Down Under and all won a stage of this year’s Jirealia. It’s not just a flash in the pan there. Yeah. Um plus, if you bring your own bike, the riding is great. The riding there is great, but you know what’s even better is riding when you feel good. Yeah. Another sponsor of this of this episode is Join, who are an AI powered cycling app who will help you to get into shape. I mean, I know I’ve been saying that having uh a goal in the diary is a good way to structure your training, but a lot of the time I don’t have a specific goal. I mean, maybe you’re like me and you don’t know where the bike’s going to take you next. I know me personally, I struggle without having something to train for. I I go out and ride my bike, but I don’t work hard if I don’t have some if I don’t have like a race or event that I’m targeting. It definitely sharpens the mind having something to aim for, doesn’t it? And I think that’s pretty much true of everyone really. I think so. No doubt. But I mean, what about training for health or just for fun? I mean, we’ve all had that amazing feeling you get when you’re when you finish a session, and you get off and you’re like, you’re a bit tired, but you also feel amazing. And then you sleep better as well. I mean, you and I, we both have silly email jobs, don’t we, Harry? We spend too much sitting time sitting on our computers. So, it’s nice to stretch legs as well as the head. I do like to switch up the screens I’m staring at from time to time. It’s true. Just knowing I’m keeping fit is always a good thing. Even if there’s not some mucky event in my mind, getting the blood pumping is great. Yep. You don’t need a big goal to benefit from training. Join helps you stay fit, focused, and consistent. Even without the dirty docker to look forward to, and it keeps it interesting with challenges, variety, and smart progression that’s tailored to you. No race, no problem. Do it for the love. Go to join.cc/litp and get 30 days free. So sadly, uh, this is the only podcast we’ll be doing on the women’s race. We thought it would be a good idea for us to, uh, give you all a bit of an overview of what’s happened so far, as well as what’s to come. And to help us do that, we’ve we’ve coerced, it’s probably the right word, Harry, I would say, uh, journalist Rachel Jerry into giving us the lowdown on everything you need to know about this year’s tour to France of XWift. Welcome, Rachel. How are you? I’m good. Thanks for having me. Excited, Rachel. Of course, last year at the final stage, you and I were stood at the top of AlbuZ, which which was without question one of the greatest finalies to a tour to France ever. Um, it’s quite a privilege to witness that, wasn’t it? It was unbelievable. It was probably the greatest finish to Yeah. any race I’ve ever seen. Goosebumps at the top of that climb for sure. Yeah, it was amazing. Let’s hope that this year can be as exciting. Let’s talk this year’s tour. We’ve had a pretty amazing first couple of stages already. Can you talk us through what happened on stage one and stage two? Yes. So stage one was won by the absolute goat of women’s cycling I must say Marian Boss. Um such an exciting finish on that final climb. Her teammate Pauline Frano who is back from well basically focusing on mountain biking. She kind of did a lead out and well kind of attack leadout. I don’t really know. I don’t know if their plan was definitely for Voss to go for it or not. But um in the end, Ross ended up catching her teammate just before the line and took an amazing stage win, was in the yellow jersey. So very cool. Just the perfect way to start our trip to France, I would say, with like you say, a goat led out by a goat. Stu is a massive Mariana Voss fan. So who isn’t a Mariana Voss fan, though? Come on, guys. Who isn’t? Uh and what about stage two? Stage two was a bit of a surprise winner, I would say. It was Mavi Garcia took the win after I think she attacked just outside of 10K to go for uh Live Lula Jacob. She won at the age of 41, which is quite impressive. Um, yeah, I mean, I’m 41. Would you believe it? Do you reckon you could have won? Absolutely not. Uh, but yeah, she survived the chasing bunch. Uh, she beat Lorenna Weebs who just almost was looked like she might catch her, but she didn’t in the end. So, it’s another exciting a bit of a nailbiting finish actually. Yeah, I thought that was a great win. I love Mavi Garcia. She’s been a really classy rider for years. This felt like the win that her career has deserved. Um, so it’s just great to see and we love it when the Solar Rider keeps the pelaton at bay, don’t we? What can we expect from the parkour for the rest of the week, Rachel? What what and also what would be the the one mustwatch stage for our listeners? Oh, it’s a tough question because I do think every stage is going to be really good. Like the way they’ve designed the route is a like classic style stages kind of every day, but sort of following tradition with the tour to France FX Zift, they’ve kind of um headlined the final weekend with two massive mountain stages. So the stages leading up to that are kind of a mix of punchy classics style stages. So I think that’s the yellow jersey is most likely to kind of be decided in that final weekend. And as we were saying after what happened on the final stage last year if it’s anything like that and the GC battles looking close at all then they’ll be the days you want to make sure you tune in for sure. Um so we should talk about riders. We’ve got sprints today and tomorrow most likely. Uh Lorenas have been a dominant force for a few years now but Charlotte Cool did her best last year. Who are the ones to watch this year would you say? I think it is hard to look past Loreno Weebs for a sprint finish, but what has been quite promising is that I think riders are looking to attack. Like I think everyone knows now that she is one of the best riders and so people are taking different approaches, which is something that we haven’t always seen in women’s cycling. So, it’s good to see that riders are thinking outside the box and seem to be attacking more. So, hopefully, I’m not sure anyone can outs sprint her, but I’m hoping that she won’t be given an easy ride to the line. Yeah, the problem is she’s improved her climbing in recent years as well. So, she’s just like an absolute She’s just an amazing rider. She’s also lovely. I got the chance. Have you Have you interviewed her? She’s very sweet and very thoughtful, I thought. Yeah, she is. And she’s a completely different person to what you’d expect from the way that she sprints as well. She’s so like calm and like sweet. And then when she’s on a bike, she kind of unleashes this other side to her, which I feel like most professional cyclists manage to do, don’t they? Yeah, there’s something different about there, though. They’re built different. Um, let’s talk overall the main story line. Who are the podium contenders for this year? Give us give us your rundown. Your your top five favorite, should we say. I think number one favorite is obviously Demi Voltering of FDJ Suez. She narrowly lost out last year uh after that kind of very controversial crash that she had. Um and she lost by just 4 seconds. She is so motivated to win yellow this um I was at her house interviewing her actually just a few weeks ago in Switzerland and she’s working very very hard for this. Um and the pressure is on. So it’s about whether she can handle that I think. And then obviously we need to consider Cassie New. She she’s the defending champion, but she hasn’t quite looked to be on the winning form yet this season. And then Kim Laort, she’s the dark horse, I think, for the GC. We don’t really know what she’s like in the mountains, but I think that she’s got a pretty good chance of of like posing a challenge to the likes of Demi Volering. I’ve got a soft spot for Puck Pizza. I think she’s one of the most exciting things in cycling full stop, let alone women’s racing. The tour last year was her first ever stage race at elite level and she managed to to hold on to the white jersey in the mountains at the end. Do you think she could be a dark horse or do you think it’s still we’ve not seen enough of her to to think that she could be an overall contender? I think it’s hard to know solely based on her performances this season. But I think what we shouldn’t underestimate is how much experience she would have gained from doing this last year and how much difference that can make in a stage race that’s like nine days and she’s she knows now the kind of fatigue and how her body’s going to manage that. So, I think I think she is one to watch. I think it is hard to look past Demi uh when the when the roads get really high into the mountains, but Puck is Yeah, she’s one to watch, but I wouldn’t bet on her dropping following on a climb at this point. A betting person. I’m not a betting, but it’s actually unethical as a journalist to bet. So, I’ve got I’ve actually put money on her. So, what are you a journalist? Is that No, ethics don’t come into what we do, Rachel. Um, so you kind of mentioned Kim Laort there as a dark horse. Are there any other names that are exciting you that maybe you’re expecting to show themselves? Like we had Justine Geeker, the the Belgian rider who won the Queen of the Mountains last year who was fantastic. Or we also had Sadine Cabel who’s now on the air who had a brilliant breakout ride for Saratism won a stage last year. Um, anyone that Come on, let’s have a prediction. Rachel. Oh no, pressure’s on now. I think when the mountains come, watch out for Sarah Jagante. The way she performed at the Jirro was so impressive. When when she’s in those high mountains, she’s pretty unbeatable. Um, she’s one to watch. I think there’s a few kind of classic style riders who we’ll see come to the four later this week as well. The likes of Lara Gillespie from UAE, I would put her there, especially if the weather. It looks like we could get some rain and she’s the kind of rider who really performs well when it gets wet. A lot of young, really talented young riders. Phoenix Dunnic bring a team with Millie Kzins, Flora Perkins who are quite new to this but like like enjoying enjoy racing in that aggressive way which these courses kind of cater to. I think some absolute top picks there. Okay. As a journalist, what makes covering the tour to France Fam of Xift so good? I think it’s the riders themselves. They really are generous with their time. There’s so many good stories to tell because well coming off just doing the men’s race, you really feel the difference with the women’s race that they’re a bit more open to giving you interviews. I don’t know if it’s just it’s all a bit a bit of a newer thing to them, but that’s really helpful. Um, and I think there’s this year especially, there’s so many riders in contention for for victory. Like I used to write race previews for women’s races and I’d be able to pick out five riders off the top of my head and now it’s like I struggle to pick who who to put in the preview which is like an amazing sign of growth for the sport. Brilliant. Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. Rachel, thank you so much uh for giving us some of your time and your wisdom and knowledge. Uh we very much appreciate it because uh we certainly don’t have it. Um we’re now going to head over to the stage finish and see what the vibes are like. We’ve pedled over to the to the finish area, haven’t we? Yeah, we did a few sprints in the final kilometer, didn’t we, on our Brmpton. That was good fun. Yeah, give it a go. Had a small run in with the uh with the local constabularary as well, which is not something that I tended to try and kind of have happen, but you know, sometimes it does. It was dealt with calmly. Uh I wasn’t by you, not him. Yeah. Yeah. Right. I mean, I managed to not get body checked, which was quite nice, but no, but other than that, it’s the vibe’s amazing. Don’t you think? Yeah. Well, apart from the fact that or is a lovely lovely little town, um the vibe’s super calm. The weather’s lovely. It’s kind of We’re about an hour before the the race comes through. It’s starting to build up and it’s just always nice. It’s nice at the tour to France and Big Swift. It’s a great fan experience. It’s not got this there’s there’s big crowds, but there’s never too much that it’s like just intense and you can’t you need to, you know, reserve a spot on the barrier eight hours in advance, that kind of thing. It’s not like Montre the other day where the people out at 9:00 in the morning. No way. No way. No, I mean I know this is a race that’s close to your heart. Harry, maybe you could tell us a bit about that. Yeah, it it really is actually. I’ve I’ve been a couple of times, but I was lucky enough last year I did the whole race. Um I was working there making a documentary about well we were we were going and making a documentary following a few riders. It ended up being just about Cassie Newodma who of course was the winner as Rachel mentioned just the 4 seconds difference between her and Demi Volering. Uh it was an extraordinary experience but I just remember like every day the racing was amazing and the just the experience the the the feeling of positivity around it is incredible. both from the riders, from the people that work there, from the fans. The access you get to the riders is amazing. They’re also far more interesting than the men, as a general rule. Um, they have much more to say. They’re also more willing to share their feelings and maybe be more open about things. So, and they’re definitely definitely a bit more human, aren’t they? You know, like I think that that probably the fact that the race is still quite quite young. I mean, it’s got a long history for sure, but the modern the modern iteration of it is only a few years old now. And uh yeah, having having that like appreciation of of a a race on this level, you know, I was speaking to one of the the live riders the other day and she said when she was young, you couldn’t even dream about it because it just didn’t exist. You know, she would watch the tour um but but it wasn’t even a dream. And now now you can dream about it and you can see riders doing it as well. And it’s also befitting the level of the women’s pelaton these days as well. What they had before which was like course by tour to France which was just like a one day or a two-day race. It was like such a poor imitation of what was supposedly the tour to France. And to now have it as nine stages is amazing. Um because it’s a true battle. It feels like a grand tour. Uh and they go over all of the same roads, all of the same mountains. The racing is just as hard and furious as the men. And it’s even shorter cuz to be honest, who wants to watch for 6 hours anyway? It’s a long time to sit on the couch. Yeah. And like you say, the first two stages have been amazing. So I’m excited to see how this one turns out. Yeah. All in all, it’s just a great event. And do you know what else is a great event? Oh, tell me. The dirty docker. Yeah. I mean, Harry, am I right in saying you like riding bikes, running trails, cold beers, live music, hanging out with your mates? I like all of those things. Not exclusively, but I love all of those things. And you I mean you can like them, you can enjoy them all at the same time at the Dirty Docker cuz uh yeah, it’s the perfect event. It’s all happening down in Lan Vegas, also known as Lancefield, I think. Uh probably by the community council, right in the heart of the Macedon Ranges. Off-road riding, gravel cycle cross, cross country running, dirty legs, fire pits, beer under the stars. That sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it? It really does. And you’re right, you can do all of those things at once because one of the events is the is it is it the dirty beer mile? Oh, so you can drink beer. I’m guessing there’ll be music. You can run trail and do it with your mates. I guess there’s no bikes in that, but close. Yeah, like I say, it’s it sounds like a dream, but uh because it wasn’t originally a dream of our of our fearless leader Mitch Docker. He’s uh plucked it out of his head and turned it into full-blown weekend. Just a festival packed full of sport, music, and good times. From gravel grinds to crosscountry sprints, you learn your beer and then some. Sign me up, Stew. Get us there. Get us there. Uh, but you better be quick because uh, spaces are filling up fast and who wants to miss out on a great time. So, if you go to lifeinthepelton.com/dirty-docker, you can get your name down there and you won’t miss out. So, we are now in the VIP area with Kate Verono, who’s managed to sneak us in. Thank you, Kate. I better have that kind of pull at this point. Yeah, Kate, of course, is the director of women’s strategy at Zift. And actually really Kate, you’re going to go down not for your job title. You’re going to go down in history as one of the driving for forces behind this race. You are one of the main people that have made the Tour of France fam of XZift what it is. And to me, it’s a race that’s actually befitting the women’s pelaton more than it has ever been before. Every year, you just must love coming here. This must be your best week of the year. It’s like Christmas every day for nine days. It’s incredible. Honestly, it’s a giant industry media friends reunion. It’s the best racing all year. Like full stop. Full stop. Come on. Um and uh and just to see the crowds and the scene around it grow each year. It is. It is. And I get to also dress up and be on the podium. So I know I have a little fun with that. I was going to say Kate, you’re actually quite known at the race for Nobody misses Kate when she’s walking through the zones. I was going to say you’re actually quite understated today for you. Yeah, you know, it’s a it’s a sprint stage. So, um I knew it was going to be hot. Um I I went out like yesterday was a banger. I mean, that was a Yeah, the outfit really was next level. I picked a Spanish outfit. The Spanish rider won. It was so much that I was like, I got to tone it down. I can’t peek too early. So, today I just uh you know, just a little touch of pink, some big Elton John shades so everybody knows I’m here. No, but you know, it’s it’s really I have a lot of fun with it because women need to take up more space in this sport and I’ve been given a wonderful platform with Zift and with this race to be loud and proud and there’s no better time to do it. Totally. I uh you have quite a quite an interesting background in sport. You were a college basketball player. You won the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and then Captain Brown. I mean, that’s also another sport that’s having a real moment at the moment with stars like Caitlyn Clark taking it to the next level. We’re kind of at the precipice of a global sporting movement for females, wouldn’t you say? Absolutely. And honestly, I think my background in basketball and coming from another sport um really allows me to not only pay attention to the momentum and the outlets that are covering women’s sports and who’s paying attention, but also model some things after it. Exactly. Women’s basketball has done a wonderful thing at cross promotion with men’s and women’s NBA showing up to WNBA showing up for them. I want to see more of that in this sport. We can learn a lot from other sports. Basketball styly, cycling styling. There’s so much fun we could do with our whole cap campaign, our watch the fem cap campaign. I mean, we do it like because it’s fun. It’s a pop of color. It’s a statement. You can do these things. They can all be combined. Fashion, culture, sports, and that’s something that I care a lot about. And it it and it really allows us to reach broader audiences, too. Right. You were also then a pro cyclist, right? I was. In both sports, I’d say you’re a bit unfortunately too early to really enjoy the benefits that maybe uh the pros are enjoying the these years in terms of financial and just and just the professionalism, the level of professionalism. Was that or has that been a bit of a driving force for you in this mission to push things forward? 100%. I am so glad I didn’t get on one of the big teams and I’d be still racing in Europe for I would have done it for like 10 years and tried, you know, been a domestique on a various teams, made no money, probably tired myself out. Um, instead my career was sort of like, okay, there’s there’s just not a lot of potential here. There’s just not uh a lot of I can’t make this a sustainable career. I got to get back to work. So I started working in the industry and that experience that I have the the knowledge of inside the race um the friends I made in the in the Pelaton the friends I made in the industry all now contribute to the passion I have to make sure that the next generation has it better than I did. So Zift’s tagline for the race is watch the fam. I want to know what the thinking was behind choosing that particular line like what does it represent and mean? Ah great question. So the first year of the race when we signed on, you know, four-year title sponsorship of the tour to friends of Xswift, it was all about we got to make sure everybody knows this is happening. And we wanted to create something that, you know, was accessible, something we could send out to people. We we did this big cap campaign. We sent out all the caps because it was all about visibility. Visibility drives change. If we can just get the opportunity to be on that world’s greatest stage, the world is going to see what can happen. But watch the FEM became so much more than tuning in. It means showing up. And now watch the FEM is a global movement that represents our our our leadership, our long-term commitment to the race and to growing and elevating the sport. But it also we want everybody to be a part of this movement. So this year watch the fem is about how we all collaborate how women show that the industry can work differently as well. We can we can work together to continue this momentum. I think for me one of the biggest things that could make a huge difference is getting more men i.e. sports fans men to cross that rubicon and watch the female sports more. Would you agree with that? And and how do we go about doing that? Absolutely. Um we we go about doing that by just making sure they are aware getting I mean the sport speaks for itself. This is a phenomenal action with great characters and you know each day is been you know so many great stories and and and breakthrough performances. So it’s there. We just got to make sure that we are leveraging the same media, the same platforms. So where men’s eyes are looking right now, just put this in front of them. They’re going to be fans. I love it now when I show up on a ride and the guys want to talk to me about the race last weekend and they’re talking about the women’s race. That’s what I I I feel that change. I see it um in the conversations I’m having on a regular basis with my cycling community. I’m seeing it online. I want more of the uh men’s pelaton, more of the men’s media to to really promote uh the race, to talk about the riders, to share the space. Okay. Obviously, you’re at the forefront of pushing things forward. What are the biggest challenges that remain? Is it sponsorship? Is it you you tell me? I think right now there’s been so much fast progress with this race and this race catching fire and the the huge audiences that are coming to it. We got to make sure that the development keeps pace with that. So, we got to make sure that the investment goes to all levels of the sport. We got to contribute to grassroots efforts to create pathways to the pros, development teams that are popping up. seeing more, but we’re also seeing some races cancelled because of lack of sponsorship. So, that’s why we do things like we just um we just uh produced an impact report last week about the impact of this race that we are seeing on the sport. You know, in the four years that we’ve now been sponsoring it, we’re seeing so much growth on our platform. We’re seeing the return uh of investment on our business. We’re seeing uh better opportunity for women pros in terms of of salaries and agents. Uh we’re seeing higher budgets for the World Tour teams. We’re shouting that from the rooftops because we want other brands to come in and and and know that this is good for the bottom line because right now the cycling industry needs it. The cycling industry is hurting. We saw doubledigit growth for new subscribers on Zift in the past year. That’s massive for women. For women. Wow. So this is uh we all need to look to this as a a major growth opportunity for the industry when it needs it most. I can’t wait to see it grow from strength to strength. Well, the sprint’s almost coming in now, so we better go and watch. What are you What prize or or jersey are you giving today on the podium? I get to do the uh stage winner. So, Zift sponsors the stage winner, which is really fun. I get to give them a giant plush squirrel for Scotty the Squirrel, Zift’s mascot. Um it’s it’s really I get such a kick out of it. Never gets old getting up there and seeing somebody like Mariana Boss holding a squirrel with a big smile on her face and a Zift medal. Um, who would have ever thought uh a virtual world could make real life dreams happen? So, I really do have the best job in the world and I love it. Brilliant. Thank you so much, Kate. [Applause] Wow, that was that was seriously intense, Stuart. Uh, what do we see? What did we see? We saw Lorena Vivas win in perious fashion, I would say. Uh, with Maros riding a wheel. Fingers crossed for Oh, someone’s just caught a beat on. That’s a nice little touch at the end there. I saw someone on the other side of the barriers with one of those little boxes for beat on. See if we play and I was like here a sprint finish. Are you are you for real? It just happened. You can hear the barriers are banging because there was a big crash at 5k to go which held up most of Pelaton. So, it was actually a very reduced sprint in the end, but what about the speeds shoot? Seeing Lina Vivas in full flight, that is as good as it gets. That’s like watching cab back in the 2010s. 100% agree. 100% agree. Who’s still coming in? I was just having a look there to see who’s still coming in. Yeah, we still haven’t seen Demi Bonnering yet. We saw she went down in that crash that she’s, you know, a former winner of the race. Let’s hope that that is nothing too serious. Yeah, I mean that’s really the last thing you want to see in the final in the final few kilometers of a race, isn’t it? Is like a crash that reduces the reduces the excitement overall, doesn’t it? But not to say that this wasn’t exciting. It was very very exciting. No, but I think the problem is that it might it you know, if it potentially robs us of a of a GC one of the GC favorites, then that is an issue. And you can see Puck Petson now. She She was definitely caught up in the crash. I can see some tire marks on her arm there. Ouch. It does doesn’t look comfortable. I mean, it’s quite the thrill, isn’t it, to We’re we’re literally at 75 m to go on the barriers here. It’s quite the thrill to watch a sprint in full flight, isn’t it? I mean, it’s something you have to experience, I think, to really understand. And it’s like it’s one thing to see it on the TV, but even the mark difference between like the first riders and then the ones who are not contesting that and you know like well yeah or even between the rider in first and then the rider in 10th you can tell the speed difference. It’s like um especially in that white skin suit. Holy Lorena looks fast. Here comes Demi with her FDJ Suez teammates. She looks okay. Okay. Did you see any signs of a crash? A bit of a grimace. There’s some holes in the skin suit on the back which Yeah. doesn’t look good. Well, that was on what should have been an uneventful day. Quite eventful. Not really a surprise winner either. Lina Vibes. I mean, she’s just she’s just incredible. I mean, when you when there’s a sprint, is it is there ever really a question? I suppose it’s like if she’s there, the chances are she’s the first to cross the line. Yeah, I agree. And we feel well quite privileged to have witnessed it in full flight to be honest. Dominic Powers, a photographer at the height of her Paris perhaps. Oh, just just starting out. Yeah. Only I don’t know. I think you’ve got a you’ve got a like a super unique uh view of cycling, I would say. I mean, cycling is not your only thing, right? Like Well, tell us a little bit about you. How did you get here? not just here right now in this time, space and time, but how did you get to be where you are in in in cycling and photography? Yeah, for sure. I um got into Well, I got into cycling during 2020 and it quickly took over my life, took over everything. I fell in love. I was, you know, riding at 150 to 200 miles a week cuz what else were we doing? Um and yeah, just really fell fell into love with cycling as as an athlete first and foremost. Um it was at a time that I was working in the photo industry as a digital tech in a more assistant role and was kind of like thinking about shooting and then you know started working on some personal projects that really got me into the cycling space and then it was kind of one one thing led to another and started working with brands and um came to the first tour of France film of Xswift in 2022 and have come back every every year. It’s definitely three years later highlight yeah highlight of the year for sure. What is it about cycling that keeps you coming back then? This is like you say three years at the Wow. Yeah. I mean, so so many aspects. This race in in particular just has so much energy around it and so much like electricity. It’s kind of like effervescent when I think about it, whether you know that’s the the fans that come to the race or the athletes themselves. And then just like the experience of being here, like it I I’m definitely going to have a crash afterwards because it’s so overstimulating every day with the the lights and the sounds and the colors and and the shapes. It’s just like a feast for all of your senses. And I guess people might also think that I mean you probably you spend a bit of time in a car, right? Oh. And I think people will think that that is chill. You’re like, “Oh, yeah, it’s chill.” But like the fast times are really fast for you, I guess. And then like even when it’s not fast, it’s still pretty fast. So it’s Oh, for sure. Yeah. Car times are spent. I have an assistant with me this year. Um Tim, he I brought him out last year as well and uh my partner Ken drives me. So, I have a little bit of a team which I definitely wouldn’t be able to execute at the level that I aim to and accomplish all of the things that I try to, especially this year trying to do a like daily diaries real every day cuz I think like the behind the scenes and the story behind it is so interesting and really gets people engaged in the race in a way that like yeah, you know, you look at the grouper photos from the tour to France and you’re like, “Oh my god, that is the most epic thing I’ve ever seen.” But there’s still like a texture that’s missing when you don’t get to put yourself in the shoes of what it’s like to be there. 100%. Is there do you have a favorite part like is there an aspect of covering cycling that is your favorite? I mean I guess the reason I asked that question is because I think one thing that comes through for me looking at your your work is that you seem to have like a really developed connection with the riders. That’s probably a weird way of putting that perhaps, but like you can really see the connection in the pictures. Um, I mean, how do you how do you do that? Um, be myself is a really crappy answer to that, but yeah, I mean, I’m I’m such a people person, and that is absolutely a huge aspect of what really got me into cycling. Like, the first project I did was the series called The Leaders of Gravel that was portraits of 15 women in gravel cycling. And I photographed that before I had ever photographed a bike race. So that was, you know, fall of 2021. 2022 comes around and I start photographing bike racing. And then all of a sudden, I’m like seeing these people that I’ve really gotten to know and gotten to care about. And I get to I get to see them do their thing. They’re racing. They’re pushing themselves. And like I’m out there pushing myself, too. And it’s this just like really saturated shared experience. And I think just like getting into the sport with that kind of like subject photographer relationship, it’s like that’s that’s when it’s the best. That’s when it’s so fulfilling personally just like going through life like in existence wise, but then also like those are yeah those are the images that also stand out the most when the subject has just like a little extra sparkle in their eye because it’s like it’s me behind the camera and not someone else. And that is I mean it’s such such an honor also to just like come here and be able to spend a you know one week. It’s really I have shot Perry Perry Rubc Swift three times and this is my fourth tour to France Femov Swift. So it’s I only get to see these riders for you know a week and a half out of the year. but to be able to develop relationships with them over that time and like form friendships and like now like this this year did a project right ahead of the tour with Allison Jackson and we really got to like I reached out kind of with the idea and she was like yes this like totally aligns with what I’ve been thinking and wanting to do more of. And so it was just like the connection there was so kinetic and it just like worked out and we were able to, you know, I snuck her out of the team hotel for 30 minutes on Thursday and or I I don’t even know what day is it today, but it was ahead of the race and we were just like able to make make it happen. this kind of like exploration of like fashion and sport and to be able to create bodies of work like that with the athletes kind of around the race is just and you know I got to like give her a big old hug after her insane time in the breakaway today and just like seeing her just like go so deep and it’s yeah it’s it’s an honor to care about these athletes in in that way. Yeah. I mean how would you put that into words? It’s, you know, like when somebody does that, like you said, she spent a day in the breakaway and when you’re that hollowed out, but being able to like shorthand that connection, that must be really special. You know, like you don’t have to do any of the because you know, like a another photographer, another journalist might struggle to feel a connection there, but you know, like you have that ground work done already. Do you have a favorite? It leads me to do you have a favorite writer to photograph? It sounds like there’s probably a few people that might make this list. So, if you need three, we could do a top three. After spending three days embedded with Visma Lisa Bike, um I’m like falling in love with Marion Voss in a way that I didn’t know that I could and it is just it’s just been a absolute delight getting to share space with her and take so many so many pictures of her cuz I’m also I’m doing stage winner and yellow jersey portraits for Zift every You literally just took I Yeah, I don’t have the card in my camera anymore otherwise I’d show you. But it was we’ll see it on Instagram shortly, I suppose. Yeah. Yeah. But that has just been been really great cuz I mean she’s like one of the goat most goated goats really, isn’t she? And the fact they’ve got pulling front of her on that team as well. Another of the greatest of all time. Yeah. Unbelievable. But um I need I definitely need to like throw elbows getting to the team bus in the morning. Yeah. Yeah. Get out of my way. I’m going to work. Yeah. Um is there something you could tell us about uh Marina that maybe we don’t know? don’t don’t uh compromise your your relationship. She’s just really lovely, super cool, I think. You know, and it’s like even that like having spent three days like we’re we’re not like gabbing. I I I got to have some some girl talk with the other with the other girls on on the team this morning as as they were getting ready. And I think that’s what’s also really fun about the team and about the Pelaton is that there’s so many different types of personalities. Mhm. Um, and yeah, I think kind of like her attention is just so on this race and I just like so deeply respect that. Um, what are you looking forward to in the coming days? Oo. Um, I mean continuing to see how how the race unfolds. I I honestly I’m like I don’t even like I don’t know what the GC standing is right now. Like I haven’t been able to like sit sit down and catch up on Well, you know, one Well, yeah. I I that’s I I know the most important one for sure. I’m going to be dreaming of yellow. I I’ll say that. But um yeah, that’s it’s it’s also so interesting being so like in the race is that I’m like I don’t even like I don’t know how it’s good like the through lines, the story lines. Like that was something that was really fun from last year. I made a photo book all the way up with work from the tour of friends from a mix with last year and um it was only really like in editing. I mean, we know the 4 seconds like 4 second that like last year will go down in history, but it was only when like putting together the layout of the book and really like thinking about the race and like okay, you know, the stage winners for each day that I was like, “Holy both Kashia and Demi lost stage wins like individually when Blancavos beat out Kasia and then when Puck got Demi in a photo finish.” Yeah. And it’s just like just like coming to that that like if either of those had flipped then like maybe the race would I’m like what if they had tied like you know it’s just there’s the like subtle nuances in the storyline and of the race and how it unfolds that like I I don’t get until afterwards when I can really like process it all. Yeah, 100%. Like we said before, it moves quite fast. And I think being able to like step back, I think that’s one of the things that’s super special about photography as a medium is is it it’s like a moment in time like 125th of a second or more. Yeah. Or less. I’m not good at math, but you know, like and then you can come back and you can find those smaller moments that have happened and maybe you didn’t see them at the time, but the beauty is you can find them again. You know, for sure. I didn’t really get to this before, but when I was asking you about where um your background was having a relatively unique sort of take on cycling, do you think it helped coming from somewhere else or you know like how did you develop your style? Yeah, for sure. I when I worked as a digital tech, I worked on a lot of fashion photo shoots and like really big advertising like it was like Vogue cover shoots and like Gucci campaigns like and to like work in those environments and really like experience that imagery cuz I don’t know like as as a tech you’re if the camera is tethered so connected directly to the computer like you’re seeing every image that’s being taken and people probably can’t imagine how Like that’s a serious thing. There’s like so many people on set for that, isn’t it’s, you know, it’s not just a people with with no experience of that will think, oh, it’s just a photographer taking pictures and there’s some lights and you’re like, no, there’s people for the lights, there’s people, like you say, you’ve got somebody on the computer, you got someone looking after cards, you’ve got, you know, all this kind of stuff. So, yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um, but yeah, I think like having that just I guess that like visual language kind of embedded in when I like look at or think about creating imagery. Um, definitely gives like a different different flavor to my work. Um, I do think also that like I come over for Perry Rebe FMV swift and I come over for to France femovic swift and like yes I would love to like come over for other races but I think it would have to be like a trade-off because I get to come into this race fresh and you know having spent the last couple weeks thinking about like okay what projects do I want to do? what like how how how what you know creative energy am I like coming into capturing this race and I also know that like I get to go home and like recover after this and not think about bikes for a while if I don’t want to people if if you don’t follow what’s your tell us Instagram my name is Dominique Powers my Instagram handle is Dominic Powers there you go my website is Dominic Powers I really lucked out with the uh with the with the naming on on the internet thanks mom and dad Nice. Thank you so much for chatting to us. Hey, thank you. Everybody listening, please follow along. It’s a, like I say, it’s a pleasure to be able to experience I mean, I’m here right now. I’m only here for today, but I’ll be experiencing the rest of the tour through through your photography, which is a happy to have you along for the ride. Thank you. Cheers. Cheers. Well, Harry, that’s our tour of France over. Tour to France fam is not over, of course, but our our trip’s come to an end. It’s been fantastic, hasn’t it? Oh god, it’s been amazing. Been bloody brilliant. We just want to keep watching racing, don’t we? Really up close and person from the road from the roadside. It’s the only way to see it. Yeah. Thank you so much to Mitch and the sponsors for getting us out here. Yeah, we’ve we’ve loved every minute of it and we hope you’ve enjoyed a little bit of our ramblings along the way. Quite quite. I hope we’ve uh managed to bring a little bit of the flavor of the roadside uh to to your ears. kind of like a reclet but maybe less messy. Yeah. And as we always said, watch racing, go roadside. It’s the best way to enjoy this beautiful sport that we that we all love. It is. It is. All that’s left to say is a bonut. See you next time. Here we go. Let’s take advantage of this. I’m Mitch Docker and this is Life in the Pelons Radio. Over to you.