S13 Ep14: Jebel Without A Pause

[0] You're listening to The Cycling Podcast, brought to you by Sports Tours International.

[1] Now, you've probably heard of the Etape du Tour because it's the biggest and most prestigious sportive event in the world.

[2] And it gives you a flavor of what it's like to ride the Tour de France or one day of the Tour de France.

[3] At any rate, every year they pick the queen stage of the Tour and they open it up to thousands.

[4] of amateur riders to tackle a mountain stage of the Tour.

[5] And our producer, Adam Bowie, has ridden the Etape du Tour with Sports Tours International on two occasions.

[6] Adam, you did it in consecutive years.

[7] What was it that convinced you to go back and ride the second year with Sports Tours International?

[8] Yeah, they just sorted everything out for you, really, from getting the entry to the Sportive itself, sorting out local hotels, and then depending on...

[9] Which year I did it in, there was either transport to or from the start finish line, dependent, you know, exactly where the stage is running to.

[10] And then they had mechanics on hand so that once you'd arrive from the UK, any little fettling, any little bit of sorting out of your bike, they were to help you with.

[11] They also...

[12] gave you a nice sort of introduction to the whole event and just ran through the whole process really just to make it seamless as possible so that you know you were as fresh and prepared as you possibly could be for the day an actual team briefing just like being a pro did that help you out on the day itself It did.

[13] I mean, I'd had a look beforehand just to see how many hills I did have to climb that day.

[14] But yeah, no, they absolutely, they went through it.

[15] They also have a couple of their own stops.

[16] So they put them in.

[17] Obviously, the event has big stops that thousands of people are going to, but they lay on a couple of their own as well, which is handy to know just that you've got a couple of places where you can quickly recharge, get some drinks and so on and just know how much.

[18] you know how much effort you need to save for yourself for the for the final climbs of the day excellent well if anyone listening wants to ride the Etape du Tour or the new Etape du Tour de France fam this year Sports Tours International can get you to the start line go to sportstoursinternational .co .uk now Adam it's over to me and Daniel and Larry Warbass for the rest of the episode You are listening to The Cycling Podcast.

[19] Hello and welcoming you on Monday, February the 24th.

[20] That is the sixth anniversary of Tadej Pogacar's first stage race victory as a pro at the Volta al Algarve.

[21] whose 2025 edition, his eternal rival, Jonas Vingegaard, just happened to win on Sunday.

[22] My name is Daniel Friber.

[23] I am the host of this episode of the Cycling Podcast, in which we will no doubt touch on the mighty Slovenian 17th career stage win in the UAE, that triumphant return to action by Vingegaard, El Siv being crowned the sole man in Andalusia, and Cristian Scaroni cleaning up in...

[24] I've got Provence here.

[25] It was actually the Alpe -Maritime.

[26] Joining me to do that today is the also mighty and soulful Lionel Burnie.

[27] Hello, Daniel.

[28] And finally, yet another comeback after Lionel, Brian Nygaard, Vingegaard, Pogacar.

[29] This is the most important of them all.

[30] It's our endless love, the Motown maestro, Larry Warbaz.

[31] Finally back in the hot seat.

[32] Hey, guys.

[33] Good to be here.

[34] How are you doing, Larry?

[35] Yeah, doing pretty well.

[36] Just as I told you guys off air, got over a small bout of the flu, but pretty much back to 100%.

[37] So happy to be here with you guys.

[38] Larry, I was going to premiere a new moniker for you today.

[39] The Dearborn Dreamboat.

[40] Now clear this up for us once and for all.

[41] You weren't born in Texas.

[42] No. You weren't born in Traverse City.

[43] No. You weren't born in Detroit?

[44] I was actually born in Detroit, technically.

[45] Okay.

[46] So I was born in Detroit, like at a hospital in Detroit.

[47] Dearborn is a suburb of Detroit.

[48] So then I lived in Dearborn.

[49] I was born in Detroit, like in the city, you know, like at a hospital.

[50] Okay.

[51] But I grew up until I was nine in Dearborn, which is a suburb of Detroit.

[52] And then I moved to Traverse City when I was nine.

[53] So I still consider Traverse City my hometown.

[54] All of this, all of this can be an excuse to mention, well, I was doing a deep, another deep geographical dive of, you know, Warbast country earlier today.

[55] No three of them are in Texas, though, FYI.

[56] And I noticed, and I noticed, which lake is it, Larry?

[57] Just where, Traverse City is on which lake?

[58] Lake Michigan.

[59] And in Lake Michigan, not far off the shore.

[60] in fact, is an island called Power Island.

[61] It is.

[62] Whether you'd ever been for a training camp on Power Island.

[63] Power Island's really, really small.

[64] You can go across on like a paddleboard or something, but there's nothing on it.

[65] So there might actually be like a little power plant, but it's like, you know, it's probably 300 meters around the island.

[66] You know, it's not a big island.

[67] Okay, sounds like the kind of place where Lionel and I might go for a training camp.

[68] Lionel, how are you?

[69] Feeling fully powered up?

[70] Fully powered up, Daniel.

[71] Yeah, we've just had the busiest week of the season, haven't we?

[72] The four races all taking place concurrently.

[73] I wrote in the 1101 Cappuccino last week about how well structured it all was with the UAE Tour taking place in the morning, at least as far as we're concerned here in Europe.

[74] A lot of our listeners will be in the US, so it would have been middle of the night, I guess, for US viewers.

[75] But the UAE Tour in the morning, finishing handily just before lunch.

[76] And then what was the order?

[77] The Ruta del Sol was next.

[78] And because there's an hour's time difference between Spain and Portugal, the two finishes were well staggered.

[79] So you could watch the final hour of the Ruta del Sol and then the final hour of the Volta ao Algarve.

[80] I mean, three races.

[81] It's not easy to mistake the desert for the Iberian.

[82] peninsula is it really they do look quite different but with UAE Team Emirates basically pretty much winning all of them until yesterday Sunday it was a week of complete dominance seeing an awful lot of UAE Team Emirates jerseys up the road in all three races and it just made me wonder whether there shouldn't be just some kind of combined classification for the all of the races just say there's a week a winner for the week rather than dividing them down into individual races maybe that's the way to kind of reinvigorate and give some kind of definition and meaning to this kind of early season period have a sort of i don't know and what some kind of competition that takes everyone up isn't that called the uci ranking oh larry So 1990s, the UCI ranking.

[83] I know, I know, I know.

[84] But the teams love it, unfortunately.

[85] Well, maybe mention this.

[86] Well, maybe mention this.

[87] Maybe Richard Plugger is listening, actually.

[88] What was it Richard Plugger were upset?

[89] Possibly, potentially, it was Brian potentially upset Richard Plugger last week, didn't he?

[90] What did he say?

[91] He said that someone was, I think he said Jonas Wingergaard was finished or could be finished.

[92] Oh, that was it.

[93] If they didn't win the tour.

[94] This year, they might as well pack up and go home, that team.

[95] You sure he didn't say...

[96] Failed project.

[97] Finish.

[98] I mean, Brian should know that he's Danish, not Finnish.

[99] Yes, yes.

[100] Anyway, Lionel, you've already mentioned some of the races that took place, that have taken place over the last few days.

[101] We're going to do a full round -up in part two, but it is time for our alternative...

[102] News Roundup, the Newsette.

[103] The Newsette, this is catching on, isn't it?

[104] The section of the podcast in which we each bring an item of news that's caught our eye over the last few days.

[105] Larry's been exempted already because I didn't give him his homework, although we might have a contribution from Larry, maybe a scurrilous rumour, some gossip from Larry.

[106] And, but Lionel, would you like to go first?

[107] Well, I will, because I'll take us back a week to a race that kind of predated...

[108] this run of stage races that I was talking about, the Clásica Jaén -Pareso Interior in southern Spain a week ago.

[109] We kind of missed that one because we recorded before the race finished.

[110] And, well, now a whole, it feels like a half a season's worth of racing has happened since last Monday.

[111] But it was won by Mikhail Kwiatkowski of Ineos Grenadiers.

[112] Their first...

[113] kind of proper win since the Tour of Austria last July.

[114] Filippo Ganna won a stage there.

[115] Obviously, Egan Bernal won the Time Trial and Road Race Championships at the Colombian National Championships.

[116] They do count as wins.

[117] It happened so long ago, Lionel, that Egan Bernal had time to break his collarbone and make his comeback already.

[118] Apparently, he was riding on the cold airs yesterday.

[119] Did you see him, Larry?

[120] my girlfriend actually saw him and she was like oh she she likes Egon Bernal she's a fan so anyway she was excited and I was like I'd be really surprised if it was him you know and anyway uh it was him so well as you say yeah Bernal was riding very well wasn't he uh both he and Connor Swift crashed Bernal fractured his collarbone but as you say back on the bike already and Kwiatkowski won the race now the reason I wanted to mention this race was because I think it's one of the most visually interesting, tactically interesting races of this whole period.

[121] It goes through the world's largest olive groves onto the gravel.

[122] It feels like a kind of Iberian younger cousin, part of the same family as Strada Bianca.

[123] And it takes place on a Monday afternoon.

[124] There are only 13 teams there this year, as opposed to, I think, 16 and 18 at the Ruta del Sol and the Clásica Almería and the Vuelta a Mercia, which kind of went either side of the Clásica High End.

[125] It's a great looking race.

[126] It was really well won by Kwiatkowski.

[127] And it made me wonder why it's held on a Monday afternoon when everyone is supposed to be working.

[128] And the reason is simply that the Classica de Almeria and Vuelta Mercia both have those slots reserved on the weekend.

[129] But if you ask me, I think the Classica High End is worth those two races and several more put together because it just looks great.

[130] And so far, it's...

[131] four editions old but it's one of the most engaging races of the whole of the early period i think this reminds me lionel i was reading an article in a german newspaper the other day about how friday is the riskiest day of the week this is the the day when people are most inclined to take risks and i wondered whether this bears out whether it also holds true in bike races um do we see more attacking riding in bike races that take place on friday and by the sort of logical extension of that, do we see very conservative riding on Mondays?

[132] Well, I didn't see a lot of conservative riding.

[133] I did gather just in a bit of research, not universally popular the race with the teams because I think over the previous three editions have been quite a few broken bikes and that kind of thing.

[134] Maybe that explains why there's only 13 teams on the start line.

[135] But certainly...

[136] Good race to watch, a very diverting Monday afternoon.

[137] And Ineos Grenadiers, I mean, it kind of kick -started their season a bit with a win for Kwiatkowski.

[138] So we'll have to keep our eyes on that one over the next few years, see what this, you know, the one cycling project, whether that leads to some kind of shake -up of this period of the season, because it's pretty bewildering having so much racing going on.

[139] trying to keep up with it.

[140] One World Tour pro messaged me last week and said something along the lines of, you know, how do ordinary punters keep tracks of what's going on?

[141] Like, what are the storylines?

[142] And I think it always boils down to the riders, doesn't it?

[143] We pay more attention to where the top riders are.

[144] Hence, we probably paid more attention to the UAE Tour and Algarve than we did to the Ruta del Sol.

[145] Well, Lionel, you mentioned one cycling, one pro cycling.

[146] This was to be my news item of the week.

[147] There's been some reporting by our colleague, good friend Raymond Kirkhoff in the Netherlands.

[148] He's put a bit more meat on the bone.

[149] At this stage, it's still a sort of chicken wing rather than a T -bone steak, isn't it?

[150] But...

[151] Little bits of information are continuing to come out.

[152] The One Cycling Project, Lionel, you talked about Richard Plugger registering the company in the UK a few weeks ago.

[153] Raymond reported that the deal, whoever's involved, whatever is involved, should be signed in March.

[154] And, well, there's going to be 300 million euros of investment from Saudi Investment Fund.

[155] The UCR cooperating or giving...

[156] the project they're blessing to an extent um in the in the sense they don't want a situation like the one we've got in golf with the live breakaway league in effect so they're sort of tolerating it or they will tolerate it at the moment the teams will get one million euro a year each for three years not that much um so there is some sort of revenue sharing plan the tv rights will be bundled um unfortunately from the point of view of those participating some of those rights though are currently inaccessible because there's some pretty long -term deals between organizers and broadcasters that don't expire until about 2030 so that's not going to be that easy who else is involved or aso are definitely not involved this is what we've always thought would be the stumbling block for such a project rcs and flanders classics are as far as race organizers are concerned teams red bull certainly are ef education easy post ineos grenadiers little trek and also sudal the french teams and visma lease bike of course we mentioned richard plugger the french teams are saying no merci They are very much aligned with ASO, as you would expect.

[157] Races, the calendar, Lionel, you mentioned the long lamented Pro Tour, or you sort of alluded to that, which everyone was very fond of.

[158] About 20 years ago, we had the Pro Tour, 2005, Heinver Bruggen's baby that was.

[159] It's sort of modelled on that.

[160] It's going to be modelled on that.

[161] 85 race days only though and races like Tirreno Adriatico would shrink to about five or six days.

[162] There'd be another second tier of races like Tour of the Basque Country, Tour of Romandie.

[163] There'd be an end of season gala in Saudi Arabia with an accompanying race and there were plans as well for a series of City Centre Grand Prix.

[164] races but that idea seems to have been abandoned and all of this richard plugger hopes is going to start in 2026 larry what's all gone well i was going to ask you mentioned the pro tour there and we don't know whether this is going to have an overarching classification but here we are what uh 15 odd years since the demise of the pro tour but can either of you name any of the winners of the UCI Pro Tour, which lasted four years.

[165] There we are.

[166] Maybe Valverde.

[167] It left more of a footprint than I expected, but you're right.

[168] De Luca, Valverde won it twice and Cadel Evans won it.

[169] It lasted from 2005 to 2008 and then was replaced by the world ranking, as you say, Larry, which the teams do take very seriously.

[170] I honestly thought it was called the Pro Tour until like...

[171] I don't know, like six years ago.

[172] I didn't realize it wasn't even called the Pro Tour anymore.

[173] The marketing executives are keeling over.

[174] Their genius marketing hasn't left an imprint on you, Larry.

[175] Larry.

[176] thoughts on well maybe thoughts on what i just said about one cycling or indeed any morsels that you can bring anything it's any sort of word on the street on the mean streets of professional cycling about what not to be honest i haven't i haven't heard uh much there uh but to be i mean i think it's interesting i think uh you know a little bit of uh New blood, you know, like new people coming in and shaking up the sport.

[177] I think it's probably pretty good.

[178] You know, I think, you know, we're sort of a sport that's always like done it the way it's always been done.

[179] And, you know, we have these organizers that have, you know, been involved for a really long time and probably haven't, you know, been really pushed to change.

[180] So I think.

[181] having someone come in with some pretty we saw a pretty innovative race format for the outgarf last week um in stage one certainly oh yeah that was interesting i mean it was that made for some uh yeah some good clips after but uh but yeah you know i think uh i think it's interesting and i'm all for like uh yeah new change you know i think Yeah, things like having a race calendar that has four races going on at once doesn't make sense.

[182] I mean, when you're sick and you're stuck on the couch and you can't ride your bike, it's good because you can watch bike racing literally all day.

[183] But I don't think it's good for the fans in general that like there's not, yeah, there's not a whole lot of cohesion and there's not a super easy storyline to follow.

[184] So, you know, I think...

[185] Someone coming in and shaking things up a bit, I'm all for it.

[186] It strikes me, Larry, that figure of 1 million euros each per team for three years seems very modest as an incentive.

[187] Absolutely.

[188] But I mean, if teams don't have to give a whole lot back and they get 1 million plus whatever these revenue sharing, you know, whatever that's going to be, then I mean, it's better than nothing.

[189] You know what?

[190] I mean, for the Netflix thing, what they got like.

[191] literally nothing almost, you know, like, I don't know, like 10 grand or, you know, like really something really small.

[192] So I think, you know, there's probably, they see a lot bigger benefits to it than just the, you know, million bucks.

[193] But, but yeah, I think even a little bit of cash is probably good.

[194] And then, you know, hopefully they'll bring a lot more than just money.

[195] Yeah.

[196] Bear in mind where that cash is going to come from.

[197] I mean, sponsorship is one avenue, but whenever I hear revenue generation, it's going to come from fans, isn't it, basically?

[198] And when I hear broadcast rights being bundled together, as we've seen here in the UK with the increase in prices for TNT, Warner Brothers Discovery, that's...

[199] you know, let's be honest about where the potential cash is going to come from.

[200] It's going to come from people who like watching the sport.

[201] So there's an element of, certainly from a fan's point of view, being slightly careful what we wish for.

[202] Yes, we want a bigger, more cohesive, more dynamic sport that attracts more eyeballs, but we also want it to be accessible and affordable.

[203] Yes.

[204] One final thing I wanted to mention in this week's Newsette, a little tribute we ought to pay.

[205] I think, to someone that I didn't know, Lionel, not sure if you did, but one of our colleagues in the sense that he was a journalist, very long -serving journalist, the most long -serving journalist at the Tour de France.

[206] Jacques Augendre died last week at the age of 99.

[207] He was the first journalist to cover 50 tours, did his first one in 1949.

[208] That year's tour was won by Fausto Coppi.

[209] He did his 50th tour.

[210] In 2001, when I did my first, and he did his final tour in 2006.

[211] That's 1 ,170 stages in total.

[212] Imagine how many buffets that is, Lionel.

[213] How many chunks of, I don't know.

[214] I was trying to think, what is the most common food item at a Tour de France buffet?

[215] It's got to be a small piece of cheese in some form.

[216] Cheese or some kind of cured meat, isn't it?

[217] Usually a pate.

[218] Indeed.

[219] Jacques Auger was the son of a cyclist, of a former cyclist.

[220] He raced as a boy during the German occupation of France during the Second World War, but soon opted for a different path.

[221] He started writing for a newspaper called Le Témoignage Chrétien in 1944 and joined L 'Équipe a couple of years later and became...

[222] The tour's official historian in 1991, when he was supposed to retire, but his old mate, who was then the director of the Tour de France, Jean -Marie Leblanc, created a role for him.

[223] And as I said, he carried out that role until 2006 and very nearly brought up the century.

[224] He would have turned 100 in April.

[225] That was Jacques Engendre, a monument of the Tour de France.

[226] That's Seb Piquet, the voice of Radio Tour, to remind me to tell you that this episode is also sponsored by NordVPN.

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[243] Well, chaps, I said we would get around to rounding up the week's racing.

[244] Last week's racing, we've already mentioned the Volta Algarve.

[245] Also mentioned the fact that it was won by Jonas Vingegaard.

[246] But, but chaps, it sort of broke out of the cycling bubble in terms of, well...

[247] resonance and audience because in the first stage of the Volta Algarve we had a very incongruous situation didn't we of riders going the wrong way on at a roundabout just before the finish line and effectively racing up parallel roads and it was a big mess but probably got some laughs Well, not from Filippo Ganna.

[248] Not from people who were racing.

[249] Not from Filippo Ganna.

[250] I mean, he took the right road, won the stage, and then didn't get the victory.

[251] Now, I know there's kind of no way to kind of flex the rulebook to have given him a victory whilst also neutralizing the general classification.

[252] Although, you know, we think back to when Egan Banal kind of won the tour in 2019.

[253] They sort of...

[254] They circumnavigated the rules there in the Tour de France when the, what was it, it was a hailstorm.

[255] uh came down in the alps um it just seemed that cycling's in an odd place when the rider who takes the correct course wins the stage is then stripped of a victory where you know really they should have just said yeah that victory does count neutralized the gc and uh you know what harm would it have done to have taken him to the podium and and given him the leader's jersey I mean, yeah, I don't know.

[256] Sorry.

[257] Just a small thing on that is just there was a sprint that seemed to occur on the other side of the road.

[258] And if I had won that sprint, I'd be pretty disappointed if someone else was given the victory.

[259] You know, like it appeared that Jordy Mays was the fastest sprinter on the other side of the road.

[260] And he went a lot faster than Ghana did.

[261] Right.

[262] You know, so if I was Jordy Mays, I'd be pretty.

[263] I'd be pretty upset, you know?

[264] And I think a lot of the teams were upset, but yeah, I don't know.

[265] Page one, Larry, is that you've got to follow the course from the start line to the finish line.

[266] I know this is, it's really, really awkward because we all know that these deviations at the end of, they come very close to the finish line, don't they?

[267] Where they take the official cars off, the team cars come off.

[268] Sometimes these deviations can be two, three.

[269] 100 meters from the line so it's an easy mistake to make especially on a smaller race like this where there's not the same infrastructure as there is at the Giro and the Tour and the riders will follow whatever they deem to be the correct route they might see a flash of a of a marshal with a with a with a flag or they might follow a motorbike it's something that is very easy easy to happen but And I take your point, the rider that won the parallel sprint would be aggrieved.

[270] But you've got to at some point say that the finish line is the finish line and the first rider over it is the winner of the race.

[271] And it's kind of bad luck.

[272] or we're inventing a new format you know the one -sided new format i guess i just i wasn't in the peloton to see if like you know what this marshall did you know like was he really pointing one way and they all went the other way or was it like you know gana was just at the back and then like sees everyone go the wrong way and goes the right way you know like i don't know maybe I guess it just depends how this person directed people.

[273] It was a pretty laissez -faire Marshall.

[274] I don't know if you've ever seen that meme.

[275] There's a gif that often gets sent around on social media of a ticket steward letting people into a football match and he's supposedly searching people.

[276] but he sort of barely, barely even touched people as they were allowed to go in.

[277] It reminded me of that.

[278] And as a moment of slapstick, this would only have been improved, I think, though, by Marc Soledad.

[279] It felt like Marc Soledad won this stage.

[280] He was at the Ruta del Sol.

[281] But this is common, isn't it, chaps?

[282] Lionel, you'll remember some of these.

[283] There have been some famous wrong turnings in professional cycling.

[284] going back I mean even in the last decade I found several there was a great one last year Primoz Roglic still won the time trial at the Tour of the Basque Country when he sort of disappeared off screen off route within 50 metres of the finish line then reappeared again in sort of slapstick fashion 20 seconds later and still won the The stage line of a couple of weeks ago, we mentioned 2006 Tour of Britain where they ended up in a Tesco car park.

[285] There was one chap's 1914 Tour de France, stage three, 405 kilometers from Cherbourg to Prestes.

[286] It was supposed to start half two in the morning, the stage.

[287] The whole peloton got lost in the dark and they had to restart the race three hours later.

[288] Marcel Alain finished last in a time of over 21 hours.

[289] six hours after the winner, and he got DQ'd for doing some of the route on the train.

[290] That was a fairly extreme example.

[291] But there have been lots of others.

[292] Even Marco Pantani, when he won at Alpe d 'Huez, he sort of went the wrong way at the end, got back on the route.

[293] What happened at the 1949 Paris -Roubaix, Daniel?

[294] That rings a bell as well.

[295] Was there not some kind of misdirection?

[296] And so they had two winners because it was Circe Coppy, wasn't it?

[297] I'm stretching my, who was the other rider?

[298] Also two winners, just as you think of that, two winners last year at the Argentine Road Race National Championships.

[299] We had two, a bit like at the Tour of the Algarve, but there we had Jordi Mayers, effectively sprinting on the parallel road.

[300] The Argentine National Championships last year, we had two pelotons coming over the finish line in opposite directions.

[301] and they had to, they declared two winners of the Argentine National Championship, and it was such a fiasco, such a farrago, that the Argentine Federation was subsequently suspended, probably rightly so, because that really could have ended in tragedy.

[302] I mean, had Mikhail Kwiatkowski not won the Clásica Jaén a few days earlier, I mean, that would have been trebly bad luck for...

[303] Ineos Grenadiers and Filipe Haganah, wouldn't it?

[304] But, you know, they've been prolific since, so they didn't really need that win.

[305] What else happened in Algarve?

[306] Well, as I said, Daniel, it was UAE Team Emirates, wasn't it, who were dominating until the final day.

[307] The second stage, which was basically the first proper one that actually concluded properly, Jan Christen and Joao Almeida finished first and second.

[308] They were in a group with...

[309] Laurence de Ploos of Ineos Grenadiers and others.

[310] Then there was a sprint stage, which Jordi Meus of Red Bull Bora -Hansgrohe won.

[311] Milan Fretin of Kofidis then won the following day, beating Meus.

[312] And the race concluded with a time trial.

[313] Jonas Wingergaard won it and took the overall victory as well.

[314] So he gets a victory in his first stage race of the season.

[315] Primoz Roglic a little bit.

[316] undercooked at this stage.

[317] No panic yet for Roglic, but off the pace as far as Vingegaard is concerned.

[318] Thoughts, Larry?

[319] A shot across Pog's bows, was that?

[320] You mean Vingegaard?

[321] I mean, to be honest, I was surprised he didn't win the first mountain stage.

[322] I mean, I guess I didn't see the whole final climb.

[323] I heard that he had gotten away with someone else and then they got caught.

[324] And then there was a bit of tactics and stuff.

[325] But Almeida looked insanely strong that day.

[326] And I didn't really see Pogacar.

[327] Sorry, Pogacar.

[328] I didn't see Pogacar there.

[329] But yeah, Vingegaard, I didn't really see, you know.

[330] So I was a bit surprised because I thought he would maybe, you know, put on a demonstration like he usually does.

[331] But then obviously he showed he's still going extremely well by winning the overall in the TT.

[332] But yeah, I...

[333] I don't know.

[334] I guess I would have thought we would have seen Roglic a lot more.

[335] So that surprised me more than anything there, I guess.

[336] He was, Roglic was faster than Vingegaard on the climb yesterday.

[337] I don't know whether we should read anything into that.

[338] That might just have been a slightly different pacing strategy.

[339] Almeida was the fastest on the climb.

[340] It was only two kilometers, the final climb.

[341] And then it was Romain Grégoire, Tiberi, Chulet, and then Roglic.

[342] And Vingegaard was the sixth.

[343] Fastest.

[344] Larry, you mentioned before we started recording today, Vingegaard needs cranks, these miniature cranks that Pogacar has been using for a while.

[345] I think they're the same length.

[346] No, no. So, yeah, I mean, last year Pogacar went to 165.

[347] Whole peloton is up in arms and then everyone wants to switch to small cranks now, you know.

[348] But yeah, surprisingly, the entire Visma team went to like small cranks, you know, shorter cranks this year.

[349] And the standard, I would say for most guys, was like 165.

[350] But then they, you know, Vingegaard was riding these like black cranks the whole season.

[351] Yeah, I had heard he was on 150, but I didn't really believe that, to be honest.

[352] And then, yeah, in...

[353] uh algarve the other day uh i don't remember who it was if it was you know cycling news or what what uh news outlet it was they went and they measured the cranks and they were 150 so essentially sram i don't know if they either had to maybe their rival like so not red sram red is like you know the highest level Maybe Rival is maybe like the second level.

[354] And I think they might make like 150 in Rival.

[355] And so they de -branded them or they had to make their own is what I had read.

[356] So anyway, you can't get these, you know, they're like not really on the market, but he's riding 150 millimeter cranks, which is insane because last year was on 172 .5.

[357] So if you can think that's like 225 mil shorter, that's like, if you take the whole pedal stroke, that's like.

[358] four and a half centimeters smaller, which is pretty crazy.

[359] I read earlier today that Mark Madior used to ride 180s.

[360] So did Pantani.

[361] I'm just thinking Miguel Indorain.

[362] Miguel Indorain was big, big chain, big, big crank length, wasn't he?

[363] I mean, the interesting thing is like, so yeah, Pantani, I read once that on mountain days on his climbing bike, he'd ride 180s.

[364] And to me, it was interesting because like, actually, like the longer your crank length, the easier, effective gear you have.

[365] So back in the day when they were riding like 21 cassettes or 23, probably max, having a longer crank actually like made it easier, you know, like it gave you more leverage to pedal.

[366] And now that we have all these like super easy gears, you know, like probably riding 36 in the back on a lot of mountain days.

[367] Uh, you know, you don't need that like longer crank to have like an easier gear to pedal, you know?

[368] So anyway, I think that's kind of interesting.

[369] I think that our new gearing now is like allowing us to go shorter, but, uh, I mean, 150 is super short.

[370] So, but now I'm just sure we're going to just the poor bike industry.

[371] Well, no, probably not.

[372] Now they're probably pumped, but I would say for the moment, they're not able to keep the short ones on the shelves, you know?

[373] Pantani had a thing.

[374] It was a sort of macho ego thing about the sprocket size.

[375] He wouldn't use a 23 sprocket.

[376] Refused.

[377] And he thought it was a snowflake gear.

[378] Anyway, on to the UAE.

[379] We've talked about one of the big favourites for the Tour de France.

[380] At UAE, we expected Tadej Pogacar to clean up.

[381] And he did so in an even more emphatic way.

[382] or even more emphatic style than we imagined, I suppose, in the sense that, well, he not only won, but he sort of amused himself by getting breakaways on two days, including on the last day when he won on Jebel Hafeet as well.

[383] Second overall was Peo Bilbao.

[384] No, second overall was, you know, Judo Chikone.

[385] And third overall was Peo Bilbao.

[386] Two stage wins for Tim Merlia.

[387] One stage win for Josh Tarling.

[388] Who won the other stage?

[389] Jonathan Milan won the opening stage, didn't he?

[390] I commentated on this live as we were recording last week.

[391] And the TV camera angle kind of flattened out what was quite a significant rise up to the line, which explained why Pogacar was in there.

[392] He was supposed to be leading out Sebastian Molano, wasn't he?

[393] his teammate, Sprinter.

[394] But Milano had crashed on the run -in.

[395] Whether Pogacar knew that or not, not entirely clear.

[396] But he was up there anyway, getting involved in the lead -out.

[397] But Jonathan Milan, well, for a big guy, did very well on that uphill finish.

[398] But yeah, it was all about Pogacar, wasn't it?

[399] The day in the break for...

[400] just about 100 kilometers, wasn't it, on a flat stage.

[401] He went across to it with his teammate, Domen Novak, and they were caught with about 40 kilometers to go.

[402] But it enlivened what was a pretty uneventful looking parkour that day.

[403] But yeah, winning both of the uphills convincingly, very, very convincingly.

[404] And his third overall victory at the UAE Tour for Pogacar.

[405] He's kind of...

[406] De facto home race, isn't it, I guess, as his sponsor is the United Arab Emirates.

[407] Lionel, you talked about UAE and their continued domination of stage races.

[408] We had Runa Herogot and Florian Vermeerch.

[409] Vermeerch, who's a strapping lad, he's a big lad, looking like prime Nairo Quintana, all of a sudden having switched teams and joined UAE.

[410] Larry, did you catch any of that?

[411] Yeah, I did.

[412] Yeah, so since I was on the couch a lot this week, I did watch quite a lot, probably more of UAE tour than I'd like to have watched.

[413] But yeah, it was interesting.

[414] I mean, I thought it was funny to see Pogacar go on the breakaway that day because, yeah, having done that race quite a few times, it's like sometimes it's so easy in the bunch.

[415] And I mean, you really, you hardly pedal.

[416] and so you know most riders if you're not like a sprinter it's like you almost dread going to uae tour because you're worried about detraining you know like uh you're just worried like it's so slow and so easy that like You just worried you're going to get worse the whole week, you know?

[417] So like, I remember when I was there the last time we'd beg our director to let us go on the breakaway, you know?

[418] And so it was kind of funny because then he finished the day.

[419] He's like, oh yeah, it's good.

[420] You know, I got more training in, you know?

[421] And it's like, I'm sure he was just like excited to be able to go on the breakaway so he could actually pedal, you know?

[422] I can see the headlines in the Dearborn Inquiry about Warbast claims.

[423] professional cycling is too easy.

[424] Yeah, no, no, no, no. Only certain stages of the UAE Tour.

[425] It's a very rare occurrence, but yeah.

[426] And Larry, just sort of numbers -wise, performances from Pogacar and UAE seems to be pretty much in line with what we've seen in the past.

[427] Nothing that remarkable.

[428] I mean, I didn't really see what the like estimations or anything were.

[429] You know, my Twitter got hacked.

[430] So I can't look at all the, you know, times and all those people on Twitter now.

[431] So, but yeah, I would, if it wasn't faster than normal.

[432] you know I wouldn't be surprised because it looked like a pretty hard day the last day uh splitting in the crosswinds and then you know yeah there were something like 40 guys and it was supposed to be a headwind uh on the last climb so uh so yeah if he went faster then I'd be surprised to be honest yeah just a couple of other things that caught my eye over the week were uh well Jonathan Milan and Tim Malia they shared the sprint stages to each The time trial, as you mentioned, was won by Josh Tarling of Ineos Grenadiers.

[433] Coming a day after the UCI and the race jury gave them notice that they were banning the clip -on visor design on their Cask Aero Pro time trial helmets.

[434] Did you pick up on that?

[435] Larry, do you know anything about that?

[436] Yeah, I mean, I read about it.

[437] I mean...

[438] it's kind of stupid because these visors have existed for a long time.

[439] And I don't know why just like, I mean, to me, that was just classic that they would receive like notification that it was banned.

[440] I think even the day of, or it was either the night before or the morning of the race, which is to me ridiculous.

[441] I mean, I understand if you want to ban something, but you know, it existed now for a couple of years.

[442] So it's like, yeah, it, to me, that was just, yeah, it was not awesome timing.

[443] That's that's, I don't think that's fair, but, uh, But yeah, you know, so it's like these little flaps that come out on the bottom of the visor, which, yeah, they started, I think Ghana started using it like a couple of years ago.

[444] And they've subsequently gotten bigger and bigger, these flaps.

[445] So I guess what they had to do was just cut the flaps off the visor or maybe they could even remove them.

[446] So I think it was a pretty easy fix.

[447] You know, if you're a rider and you've been training with this and you've tested it in the wind tunnel and you've done all the work, it's a bit annoying to then kind of just have this thrown on you at the last moment.

[448] And yeah, you know, I'd say like that ruffles your feathers a little bit just before TT.

[449] But yeah, so I would say like, you know, banning them is one thing, but just the timing was not cool.

[450] Yeah, I mean, it gives the impression that the rules are being made up on the hoof mid -race.

[451] But especially as it's been in the peloton, I think since 2022, a version of that.

[452] Maybe, as you say, it's because they've got a bit bigger that the UCI has decided to step in.

[453] And the other thing, Daniel, the two mountain stages or the uphill finishes, Pogacar dominated.

[454] But I thought Oscar Onley looked...

[455] particularly good on Jebel Jais, the first of those two.

[456] He was quoted as saying that he felt like he could have possibly won that, but it didn't quite get his finish right.

[457] But a very good ride by a young rider, therefore.

[458] And this is stretching me here because it always takes me till June to remember the team names anyway when all the sponsors have changed.

[459] But it's Team Picnic Post NL now, isn't it, Daniel?

[460] Have I got that right?

[461] You have, you have.

[462] Yeah, it looks like a big win is coming for Omni.

[463] It's come close on a number of occasions recently.

[464] Yeah, he, well, on the last day, he ended up finishing fifth, didn't he, on GC.

[465] He was with Bilbao and Chicone for a while.

[466] But he's very versatile, fast finisher, good climber.

[467] So I think big things are coming for him this year.

[468] Lionel, next race?

[469] Should we have the next race, Ruta del Sol?

[470] Rooted El Sol, indeed, yes.

[471] Well, this was another UAE extravaganza because Pavel Sivakov won overall, didn't he?

[472] It was the opening stage that kind of laid the groundwork.

[473] But UAE team Emirates made a bit of a mess of it, really, didn't they?

[474] Because it was Sivakov and his teammate Tim Vellens, together with Maxime Van Heels of Bora, Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe.

[475] And Van Heels beat them both.

[476] Now, normally when it's two against one, you would expect the two to beat the one, but they were outwitted there.

[477] But Sivakov had a very solid week, didn't he?

[478] He was there up at the front whenever he needed to be.

[479] Tom Pidcock won the second stage with a very decent sprint.

[480] I actually think he's a good...

[481] Not even outside bet, is he?

[482] But I think he's got a very good chance for Omloop Het Newsblad at the weekend.

[483] There's my one and only delve into speculation.

[484] Alexander Christophe rolled back the years to win a sprint.

[485] Diego Uriati of Kern won the fourth stage from the break.

[486] And a rider not terribly familiar with this rider, Movis star John Baranecea.

[487] Have I got that right, Daniel?

[488] Balenciaga.

[489] Balenciaga, I think.

[490] It's the TX.

[491] Is that not a chuh sound in Basque?

[492] I think you said it right the first time, actually.

[493] Barantea, I think.

[494] It was a brave effort and a brave performance by John.

[495] I'll take that.

[496] I'll take that.

[497] Yes, it was very brave.

[498] But yeah, Pavel Sivikov won overall.

[499] Quite a big win that for Siv, really, in the context of his career.

[500] Yes, especially for a while.

[501] Yeah, I think he's been gaining confidence, hasn't he, last sort of 18 months or so since he's gone to UAE.

[502] There were a few eyebrows raised at that signing, but going very well for Siv.

[503] Yeah, I mean, head could have gone down a little bit, couldn't it, after they messed up the first stage, but he got back in the break the following day and that's what netted him the leader's jersey and then saw it through.

[504] just by being consistent and solid and attentive.

[505] So, yes, a good week's work.

[506] Lionel, just because we're in, well, you were in Andalusia there, so one thing we should mention as well from the UAE tour, this, I think, escaped a lot of people's attention.

[507] Ineos had a great week, generally, with those race wins that you mentioned, but they lost Bernal in Jaén, and they also lost Carlos Rodriguez in UAE.

[508] He's also, has he broken his collarbone as well?

[509] I think he crashed in stage six and didn't start on the last day.

[510] So a bit of a mixed week for them.

[511] Also, after we recorded last week, there was more sort of bleak sponsorship, more speculation, wasn't it, about...

[512] I talked about Ineos and the Soccer Turkeys, Tottenham Hotspur, a couple of weeks ago, and I said they were still sponsoring Tottenham Hotspur.

[513] They are still sponsoring them, but there were stories as well last week that that might be the next thing on the Ineos chopping block.

[514] They might be pulling out of that deal at some point soon.

[515] Wow, Jim Ratcliffe.

[516] A week of light and shade.

[517] Yeah, Jim Ratcliffe has cut the free meals for everyone at Manchester United's training ground.

[518] It's only soup and sandwiches available unless you're one of the players.

[519] I mean, I can see this having a big impact on the cycling team.

[520] Riding through the feed zone and all you've got is soup and sandwiches.

[521] It's going to take some balancing.

[522] Lionel last stop and we're in sort of in Larry's neck of the woods actually Larry you weren't racing here at the weekend but it was the Tour des Maritimes race you've done in the past I believe and it was pretty much dominated by Astana and their Italian rider, Cristian Scaroni, who is very much a late bloomer.

[523] I think he's 27 years of age from Brescia.

[524] He's been a solid performer the last couple of years, but we've certainly never seen anything as spectacular as what he produced at the weekend.

[525] Won the first two stages, both uphill finishes.

[526] First was a one -day race, and then it was a two -stage.

[527] Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.

[528] Stage race, but yeah.

[529] One -day race, yes.

[530] What's the one -day race for?

[531] Classic VAR.

[532] Classic VAR, of course.

[533] Sorry, my internet connection is a bit ropey.

[534] Too ropey for me to look that up.

[535] Scaroni won the Classic...

[536] No, just Classic VAR.

[537] It used to be OVAR.

[538] And then, you know, they changed it to...

[539] It was a stage race before.

[540] And then last year, they changed it to a one -day and then a two -day stage race.

[541] So now it's Classic VAR and Tour de Zabmère team.

[542] So what you're saying is my confusion was understandable.

[543] Yes, yes.

[544] Scaroni won the one -day race, and then he won the first day of the stage race, which was a tour of my team, and he could have won on the last day as well, but there was some sort of prevaricating, wasn't that, between him and Santiago Buitrago, who was also...

[545] vying with him for the overall honours.

[546] And Larry, as they hesitated, flimmed and flammed, it was your old teammate Dorian Godon who took the stage win.

[547] But a very useful week that was.

[548] A very useful few days for Astana.

[549] We've been talking about the fight for survival.

[550] Astana, of course, they're currently in 21st place, aren't they, in the three -year rankings.

[551] They've got a lot of ground to make up if they are going to...

[552] retain their place in the world tour but Scaroni I looked earlier I think he's amassed over 500 points so far in 2025 he's one of the top point scorers anywhere but of course all of this if one cycling Richard Plugger have their way who knows what the fate of these rankings is in fact in that report I mentioned earlier Raymond's report it talked about whatever the one cycling project ends up being called it will be a closed shop there will be no promotion and relegation so what's sort of been shaping up as quite an exciting fight for survival between archaea kofidis and astana it might all be redundant fairly soon and larry I'm sure you had an eye on those races as well as a weekend.

[553] Yeah, I did.

[554] No, I mean, Scaroni, even since the start of the year, he's been insane.

[555] Like in the two races in Spain, he was, yeah, I think the only guy with Hirsi in one of them, the one that Hirsi won.

[556] He was second in a bunch of races already this year.

[557] So I think he was really knocking on the door.

[558] It was about time.

[559] And yeah, I mean.

[560] uh yeah they were interesting to watch like uh the last day was yeah it's it's i think they're they're hard like intense races and uh yeah usually make for good good viewing um so yeah but i can't say i was surprised uh to see scaroni pull off a win and then in the end uh yeah good on winning like this reduced bunch uh sprint on the last day because he's like king of that so I mean, he started the season brilliantly, but if it doesn't work out, if it was not to work out for him in professional cycling, he does have a future as an artisan barista in Berlin, because that's what they all look like.

[561] Although he shaved his moustache now.

[562] Yeah, I think after he won his first race, he shaved the moustache.

[563] I actually have a policy of never...

[564] Never go into a coffee shop whose barista looks exactly like that because they are all identical.

[565] I'm sure they're all manufactured in a factory in Berlin.

[566] And chaps, also from that race tour, Larry, it's been a bit of a theme with you the last couple of years.

[567] We've talked about a lot of these prodigies that are coming onto the scene.

[568] There have been a few this year that have been really hyped before they'd even started as professionals.

[569] We've seen a few of them.

[570] Performed really well.

[571] A few of them clearly, well, finding their feet a little bit more.

[572] Yano Vidar of Lotto was very impressive, I thought, yesterday.

[573] Certainly on the steep part of that final climb.

[574] He was trying and nearly did manage to hold on to Scaroni and Buitrago.

[575] I predicted, Larry, this was going to be the year when the fetishisation of youth in professional cycling would end.

[576] A lot of teams would end up with egg on their faces, having decided that they were going to put all their faith in.

[577] toddlers yeah teenagers problem is yeah then there's the guys like uh paul sex us and stuff who i think will be very very good already this year uh i think he's already been pretty good but um yeah i think there are some young guys that they will you know they will keep proving the teams right in their investment in young guys so uh so yeah so we'll see Well, it won't be long, Daniel, will it?

[578] The Giro d 'Italia will be here before we know it.

[579] That is the unmistakable sound of Kotze, our theme tune for our Giro d 'Italia coverage by Amada Terra, the pizzica band that you discovered, I think, way back in 2016, was it?

[580] When we first went to the Giro d 'Italia in Appledorn in the Netherlands.

[581] Yeah, Lionel, this will be our first...

[582] No, this is, sorry, not our first.

[583] This will be our 10th year.

[584] of doing every stage in all of the Grand Tours, wouldn't it?

[585] Gosh, yes.

[586] Yes, it will.

[587] It will.

[588] Well, Amaterra are going to warm everybody up for the duo.

[589] They've got a big gig in London on Saturday the 15th of March.

[590] It's at Brixton Jam.

[591] There's a capacity of 400.

[592] They're hoping for a big...

[593] crowd there of cycling podcast listeners kotze will be on the set list of course and if you want to go and hear them give them a bit of support you can buy some tickets now i'll put a link to the tickets in our show notes and one other thing i'll put a link to in the show notes is the fundraiser friend of the podcast charlotte elton launched a few weeks ago she is going to go and pay her own tribute to Our dear friend Richard Moore at Ghent Wevelgem in a few weeks time.

[594] She's going to paint a tribute on the road and hopefully she's managed to pull a few strings and that will make its way onto the international TV pictures and be broadcast around the world.

[595] If you would like to donate, I'll put the link in the show notes.

[596] Any money over and above the cost of the ethical paint that will be used to paint the tribute on the road will be donated to Sir Chris Hoy's charity.

[597] Tour de Four, which is to raise awareness and support for people living with stage four cancer.

[598] So a very worthy and worthwhile cause.

[599] And I think I'm going to go to Gemp Weathergem to document Charlotte's painting of her tribute on the road there.

[600] I think she's going to aim for very close to the Banyaberg climb, which is not a cobbled climb.

[601] So the painting will look excellent, no doubt.

[602] The graffiti podcast.

[603] Yeah, I mean, we shouldn't really encourage graffiti, but I should just maybe, you know, I mean, everyone who watches cycling knows that it's a custom, isn't it, to write and paint the names of the riders on the road.

[604] It's a long -established custom, that, so it's nothing out of the ordinary.

[605] It's not graffiting.

[606] She's not going to get arrested or anything like that.

[607] It's all fine.

[608] Larry, to you now, your 2025 season and that watch.

[609] um no larry let's in all seriousness let's talk about your 2025 season so far because you have been you've been in action uh tour of oman new team of course this year tudor pro cycling went pretty well in oman as far as I could tell but give us a bit of a give us a summary of your 2025 so far yeah so I started uh the first races of the year in Valencia um so that was really cool because uh on the second day uh we had yeah Mark Hirschi and um so we were really yeah hoping to go for a big result with him and yeah he won the race so that was really cool so really nice to be a part of that like first win for the team for the year and then uh yeah after that those two one days i was back training for a bit and then i went to tour of oman and again yeah that was really cool because uh yeah we won the first like one day race just before oman called the muscat classic And so, yeah, I was able to help set up our sprinter for the day, Rick Ploymers.

[610] Yeah, brought the last few guys remaining stragglers of the breakaway with, yeah, like a few hundred meters to go.

[611] And then, yeah, set it up for the sprint and he won the race.

[612] So that was really cool.

[613] And then, yeah, Oman was also quite good.

[614] We had Marco Brenner.

[615] who's quite a strong young guy.

[616] So yeah, just trying to help him.

[617] And yeah, I had a decent, decent race there myself on the last day.

[618] And yeah, so it was actually, yeah, pretty good.

[619] I was pretty happy with the form going into the first race of the year.

[620] I usually, I don't really like racing that early in the year because I always end up racing quite late in the year, like towards Lombard.

[621] I always usually finish around Lombardia.

[622] So I always...

[623] like to delay the start of the year as much as possible because I know I'm gonna be racing super long.

[624] Um, but yeah, it's pretty nice because I have, I don't have like a crit, you know, in the last years I've just raced, raced, raced, raced, raced, raced.

[625] As soon as I started, I never stopped racing.

[626] And this year I have like a pretty nice program.

[627] Um, yeah, without like a crazy.

[628] ton of races.

[629] So, so that's good.

[630] So I have some time at home, time to rest, time to build up.

[631] Um, and so, yeah, so next on the schedule for me is Tirano.

[632] Uh, so that should be good.

[633] And then I do an altitude camp after that and then tour the Alps and hopefully the Giro should we get invited.

[634] So, um, so yeah, we'll cross our fingers and hope that goes well, but, but so far it's been really good with the team.

[635] It's, it's really professional, really well organized and, uh, yeah, pleasure to be a part of.

[636] Larry, in February, every team is professional.

[637] Every team is well organized.

[638] Yeah, that's true.

[639] That's true.

[640] Every year.

[641] I don't know about that.

[642] I'd say there's...

[643] There's some teams that are a bit bumpier than others.

[644] What's the opposite of a honeymoon?

[645] I enjoy that.

[646] There's the honeymoon period of the season.

[647] The first two months of the season where every team is well organized and really professional.

[648] I prefer the back end of the season where everyone is shitting on their team.

[649] Everyone is complaining.

[650] Oh, don't worry.

[651] Giving us the unvarnished truth about how dysfunctional every team is.

[652] People still love to complain.

[653] I mean, I would say also at the beginning of the year, there are a lot of...

[654] teams that are extremely disorganized you know like that's also one of the reasons I don't like racing at the beginning of the year it's like especially if you have new equipment and stuff there's all you know like half the teams don't have their kit they don't have the bikes they're you know having to fly here and there with like their home bike and you know I don't know chop and change parts and it's uh it can be a big mess in in pro cycling at the beginning of the year actually um but yeah also Tim Wellens once told me, you're not a real professional cyclist if you don't complain.

[655] So I'd say that's probably pretty accurate.

[656] So there's still complaining, you know, but we just keep it to ourselves.

[657] And you mentioned the Giro d 'Italia there.

[658] Are the Giro d 'Italia going to tell Tudor whether they've been invited before the race actually starts?

[659] Hopefully.

[660] Are you just expected to report to Albania?

[661] I have no idea.

[662] They're going to ride on a parallel course.

[663] You're going to ride on a parallel course and finish parallel to the finish line.

[664] It's going to be great.

[665] Yeah, I mean, we'll see.

[666] I don't know.

[667] I don't, you know, I don't really know.

[668] But, you know, I know they went last year.

[669] And, you know, I hope hopefully we'll get invited.

[670] But we'll see what happens.

[671] You know, I guess we'll find out in the next, well, probably the next month, I would assume.

[672] But we'll see what happens, you know.

[673] Larry, the other team, of course, who is rumored to be sending in with a shout for wild cards in the Giro and the Tour.

[674] And they're your...

[675] I'm going to say your great rivals.

[676] The other half of the Swiss, you won't know what this means, Larry, the old firm, the other side of the great divide.

[677] I believe this is quite an intense rivalry.

[678] um q36 .5 versus tudor pro cycling come on no really that's i mean i don't know it's not you know it is i've seen interviews i've seen interviews where people in one team have refused to mention the name of the other team oh really well i'm talking about uh to be honest that's i haven't really like uh they haven't really talked about them much so it's not like when you're in a when you're in like a french team all they talk about is the other french teams that's all they ever talk about you know whereas like i would say in our team uh it's not like we talked about q365 very much but um but yeah i don't know so maybe there is a rivalry but i just haven't done enough races with them in it to experience this rivalry you know And apparently when they started, so in 2022, when Cancellara was kind of, he's your boss, of course, was sort of putting plans together for this team.

[679] They very nearly became one team.

[680] They very nearly, Q36 .5 very nearly became a sponsor of your team.

[681] And there was only, there would have only been one Swiss team.

[682] And Cancellara and his right -hand manager, Rafael Mayo.

[683] Yeah, yeah.

[684] They decided that they weren't.

[685] going to go with Q36 .5 and hence another team was born.

[686] But yeah, they've had a good start to the season.

[687] Yeah, really good.

[688] Personal hopes and dreams, Larry, for the season.

[689] Yeah, I'd like to win a race somewhere.

[690] That would be really cool.

[691] And if I could be a part of a big win for like Alaphilippe or Hirsi, that would be really cool.

[692] Just because, yeah, I mean...

[693] Just having them on the team is, like, it's a really cool thing.

[694] I don't know, you really can feel the motivation and the drive of the team with, like, these two new, like, big stars.

[695] And they're both super nice guys and cool to have around.

[696] So I'd really like to be a part of a big win for one of them this year, which I think they're capable of.

[697] So that would be just, it would be a nice thing to be a part of.

[698] And then if I could win a race somewhere along the line, anywhere, no, it doesn't need to be anything fancy.

[699] That would be cool.

[700] So we'll see.

[701] How were those two, their ambitions?

[702] Because they're very similar.

[703] Yeah.

[704] How are they going to dovetail?

[705] I think, I mean, from the impression I got is that like Julian will tackle more of the cobbled classics like Flanders and stuff for him would be like a big goal.

[706] Whereas Mark will be more like the guy for like the Ardennes and Alaphilippe, I think will be like more in a supporting role for him there.

[707] But I think in the end, you know, I think they're both actually pretty easygoing guys.

[708] And so I think.

[709] They're not the kind of guys who are going to be like bumping heads and stuff.

[710] And yeah, I think it'll work out just fine.

[711] I think they'll probably complement each other more than anything.

[712] So that's cool.

[713] Honeymoon period.

[714] Yeah, sure.

[715] Okay.

[716] Cobble classics coming up, Lionel.

[717] Well, yeah, it's opening weekend, isn't it?

[718] With Omloop Het Newsblad on Saturday and Kerner, Brussels Kerner on Sunday.

[719] Everyone will be eagerly anticipating.

[720] this weekend's racing.

[721] For me, it's when things start to get really serious, isn't it?

[722] I mean, I'm not belittling in any way anything that's come before because they are all important in their own way.

[723] But this is kind of where the real season starts.

[724] And then we sort of propelled forward into Paris -Nice and Tirreno -Adriatico.

[725] And then before you know it, it's Milan -San Remo.

[726] And then it's back up to Belgium for the even bigger cobbled classics.

[727] So yeah, there's always a sense of anticipation about Omlut Het Newsblad.

[728] It's a few days to go, so the start list hasn't been confirmed yet.

[729] But I said earlier, I think Tom Pidcock is looking very good.

[730] And I do wonder whether he will be a real rider to watch.

[731] It's a tricky one for him.

[732] I think he was fifth last year.

[733] It's a tricky one, that run -in from the Bosberg into the finish in Ninov.

[734] tend to favor light riders.

[735] It's kind of a real strong man's finish.

[736] So he might need to be in a small group and then he could use his fast sprint to maybe win it.

[737] We'll have to see whether he gets a big win for them, Larry.

[738] Q36 .5, of course.

[739] Wout van Aert is going to be there for Team Visma.

[740] We're going to stir this up, even if there isn't a rivalry.

[741] We're going to stir this up in the next few weeks.

[742] Jan Trachnik, last year's winner, of course.

[743] He is there as well.

[744] I mean, it's going to be really interesting to see who is kind of ready for...

[745] this weekend of racing who's taking it really seriously you know lots of other little things to keep an eye on casper askrin's first big outing for ef education easy post as their kind of classics big hope um so yeah really looking forward to the race weather forecast at the moment looks cold but dry for the race day itself although it's forecast to be a bit wet in the days leading up to it so you know that could always change as well and daniel you mentioned uh well you made me think back at decade or so to the first time we did all three grand tours on the cycling podcast that was 2016 i always think of 2015 as kind of like peak on loop het newsblad that was when ian stanard outwitted the three ethics quick step riders at the finish do you remember that Nicky Terpstra, Tom Bonen and Stein Vandenberg.

[746] And Ian Stanard was the only team Skyrider in that final four.

[747] And he was the one who won.

[748] And it just reminds me of Richard Moore, who was there covering those races that year for the podcast.

[749] And at Koerner the following morning, he approached a rather gruff, disgruntled Patrick Lefevre of Etik's Quickstep and asked him whether he'd watched the finish back.

[750] And I mean, quite a bold question to ask Lefevre when he's in a bad mood.

[751] kind of said, oh yeah, Stannard, he won again.

[752] And that always sticks in my mind because it's a really big weekend for the Belgian teams especially.

[753] Who's your tip, Daniel?

[754] Have you got your top 18?

[755] I think it's Larry's mate and compatriot, Matteo Jorgensen, although he's been in Tenerife, which doesn't seem like a very good place to, well, it's not the most natural place.

[756] to prepare for Omeloup Het Newsblood.

[757] Maybe he should have been preparing on Power Island.

[758] But I think, actually, I think Tenerife kind of is Power Island, isn't it, as far as cycling is concerned.

[759] Interesting, he has been at altitude.

[760] Wout van Aert has not yet been at altitude.

[761] different approaches because Matteo is going straight in, isn't he?

[762] Yeah.

[763] To Omloup Hepnusbad and he almost won that race last year, ended up being won by his teammate Jan Traknik.

[764] But yeah, it's going to be interesting to watch him this year, Larry, because obviously it couldn't, well, it's difficult to imagine how this year could go any better for him personally than last year.

[765] But I know he's very ambitious and he will certainly think and be hoping that it does go even better and that he will have even, even lofter ambitions this year.

[766] I think that's accurate.

[767] Just a small corrections corner on Pidcock.

[768] He was fifth two years ago, eighth last year.

[769] So he's getting worse.

[770] So maybe he'll be 11th this year.

[771] I don't know.

[772] Well, Lionel, just before we say goodbye, we are going to premiere a new feature this week.

[773] It's a feature we hope we are going to accompany us through the classic season.

[774] A good friend of the podcast, Hugo Corvitz, who we've mentioned before, legendary journalist in professional cycling.

[775] Hadn't done quite as many Tours de France or Omeloups as Jacques Augendre did Tour de France, but he certainly did plenty.

[776] Hugo retired at the end of last year, long -serving correspondent of Het Neusblad.

[777] We couldn't really envisage, we couldn't really conceive of an Omeloup Het Newsblood or of a classic season without Hugo.

[778] So, we have offered him the chance to give his insight on the Belgian races throughout this spring in a feature we're going to be calling Corvitz Corner.

[779] Here it is.

[780] Thank you, Freebie.

[781] It's the Omeloup Het Newsblood on Saturday.

[782] It's better to forget everything you saw in the past few weeks of the new season.

[783] The Omelope at Nielsblad remains the most unpredictable race of the season.

[784] Who would have ever predicted that Ian Stannert would win twice in a row?

[785] And how?

[786] Because of the cobblestones and those typical Flemish hills and weather?

[787] The Omloop is a bike race with a completely different dynamic than what we already saw in France, Spain, Portugal, the Middle East or down under.

[788] The race is not only unpredictable because only Wout van Aert of the big three will start in Ghent, but also because it's the first time that the riders of the cobblestone classics are gathering.

[789] Some, like Matthieu Jorgensen, for example, even come straight from training camp.

[790] What's the condition of the American?

[791] I don't know.

[792] Normally, it will be a battle between the Haiti Emirates and Visma Lisebaic, which won three times in a row.

[793] But I'm also curious whether Paul Magnier will still be there if it becomes a sprint with a large group and how, for example, Tom Pitcock comes out.

[794] We will know a little bit more after the climb of the Molenberg, where the final begins, and certainly after the Bosberg, the last climb that was so decisive in the old Tour of Flanders.

[795] One thing is for sure, whoever wins the Omloop at Nielsblad de Ninoven on Saturday will lose this year the Tour of Flanders.

[796] Never before has a rider won the first World Tour race in Europe and the mother of all Flemish classics in the same season.

[797] And that's good news after all for Tadej Podjakar and Mathieu van der Poel who are skipping the envelope.

[798] But it's a pity that they are not there.

[799] So chaps, we will be paying attention as Hugo says.

[800] He will be telling us what to pay attention to throughout this spring.

[801] Larry, we'll be paying very close attention to your performances over the next few weeks.

[802] Hope everything goes well and we'll catch up with you soon.

[803] Thank you very much.

[804] Thanks, guys.

[805] Thanks, Larry.

[806] Thanks, Daniel.

[807] Thank you.