Beyond the Slipstream
Your weekly breakaway for fun conversations on pro cycling and so much more.
Beyond the Slipstream
Strade Bianchi / Samyn / Laigueglia S2E18
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This week we’ll be discussing all of the gravelly action from the Women’s and Men’s Strade Bianchi. We’ll also cover the Women’s Beobank Samyn Classic, the Men’s Ename Samyn Classic, the Men’s Trofeo Laigueglia and the Women’s Trofeo Oro en Euro. And as always, we’ll finish with a ride in the Broom Wagon.
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Thanks for listening... Allez!
It's your weekly breakaway for fun conversations on pro cycling. Come and join us for another ride in the Team Bus. I'm Matt Harper, and together with my brother Justin, we'll do deep itch dives on professional bike races, teams, riders, and all sorts of cycling-related stories. And we might just sprinkle in some other shiny pop cultural objects along the way. So jump in the saddle and tighten up those shoes, the road awaits.
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SPEAKER_00Hello and welcome to the Team Bus. I'm Matt, and this is my brother Justin. And today on the bus, after taking in a couple of small one-day races at the start of the week, followed by three miserable days with no bike racing whatsoever, the biggest day of the year so far finally has arrived as we alighted upon the white gravel roads of Tuscany for the women's and men's Strata Bianchi. We were surprised to learn just hours before the start that the races were not only going to be shown on HBO Max, but also we got the Eurosport feed with the breakaway. That's right. Orla and the boys were back to host the first truly elite day of racing for the 2026 season, and I, for one, was delighted. My delight faded slightly as coverage began amidst some serious audio issues, but the problem was eradicated pretty quickly, and we got lots of pre-race content with Shenouy, King Kelly, Natan von Hoydonk, and of course the cheeky little Adam Blythe and his loafers and slacks. The racing didn't disappoint, at least on the women's side of the Peloton. The men, on the other hand, not so much. But we'll find plenty to discuss as we sift through the gravel of La Tolfe and sip the Prosecco in the Piazza del Campo. And as always, we'll finish out with a gravelly attack on the Monte Santa Marie in the broomwagon. Alex All right, welcome to the show this week. And Justin, I think we've agreed to uh start with the uh lesser races at the beginning of the week. Uh I speak I'm speaking, of course, of the Le Samen races, uh, which uh we had the Bayobank Samen ladies um on the women's side, and we had the Ename Samin Classic men's on the men's side. Uh they went off in that order. I suggest we take them in that order as well. I'm good with that. Um yeah, so in the uh Sumin ladies, um, we we basically I got a little redemption tour in the end of this uh for a rider who has uh been there or thereabouts uh for the first couple of uh races um this season. Uh when I picked it up, uh they were in a breakaway group of like seven to eight riders, uh, which took it all the way to the finish. I mean, it was it was pretty much done and dusted for the rest of the Peloton from from way out with these seven working in front. I was getting like like I've talked about before Vebus vibes here where you've got like a top sprinter somehow making the front group, and then it there's like there's like somewhere between like seven and eleven of them, and they're all working really well together. This happens on the ladies' side all the time, I feel like.
SPEAKER_02Um it's very different from the men's because you because you with the men's you always have that one guy that's just like you know sitting on the back and not doing any work at all.
SPEAKER_00Right, right. And this group also was just like set up very nicely because you had uh uh representation and numbers from three different teams. So uh UAE uh had two with uh Elena Baxted and Laura Gillespie. Um Jaco had two in there. I'm trying to remember who they were, and then uh Uno X had had two in there, um, including uh Virgilia Home Girl that's that's put it put in such a good showing in Australia. Um so yeah, you know, team tactics aplenty within this group, which just made things so so so much more interesting.
SPEAKER_02You had uh you had Car Caroline Anderson and uh Quintiton. Yeah, Quinty Tan. Were your Livalula Jaco riders, and you had uh Camila Asbo and Alessia Vigilia was your other, was your two Uno X writers, as well as Marte uh Guzens from AG Insurance, uh and Marte Tryon from Fenix Premier Tech.
SPEAKER_00Gotta say, I love the green AG Insurance jersey. Like it looks like a it looks like a sprint jersey every time I see it, and I'm like, oh no, wait, that's that's just the uh, aging AG Insurance. I'm I'm I'm for it.
SPEAKER_02Um yeah, and then like the the thing that I noticed like probably probably you know predominantly out of this group is that Eleanor Baxted is just putting in the work for Laura Gillespie.
SPEAKER_00Like so great. Like she she you could tell she was maxed because she was sliding off of the back of that group at times. Yes. And she, by hook or by crook, claws her way back to the the group the front group with like just over a K to go. She sits on the back and got, you know, grabs like you know a couple of gulps of air. And then I love this. You see her get on the microphone, and she is saying to Gillespie, who's sitting second wheel, being very vigilant, okay, baby, I'm coming through. I'm gonna give you everything I got, and then you're on your own. And she takes off around the right side. You see her get on the radio again, like as if she's saying, Here I come, here I come, coming now, coming now. Like the coordination, the the communication is so good. And she pops on the front. And Gillespie, to her credit, I think she she kind of I think it gave her a little comfort level knowing that Backstead was out front there, but she did not jump on her wheel, she stayed hooked on to the other Uno X Rider's wheel, not Virgilia, the other one. And uh, and that was far and away the right move to make. Although, honestly, given how many bike lengths she had as she crossed the finish line, she probably could have picked any wheel or just gone out in the wind herself.
SPEAKER_02What was what was really interesting? So at 1.6, you had you had the group, the the the the front grouping was Gillespie, Asbo, Try and Goosen's Anderson, and Quinty Tan. 1.2 Virgilia joins group one. 800 meters back step joins, get it gets back into the front group. I mean, we're less than a kilometer to go. I thought she got back on like right before one kilometer to know. No, no, no. It was eight, it was I have the I haven't noted as eight eight hundred meters is where she got on. I must have been thinking of uh Virgilia getting back on there as well. 600 try and grabbed uh Gillespie's wheel and then backstets back in front of Gillespie at like you know 500 meters, which is just it's nuts. That was awesome the way that it came down.
SPEAKER_00Small brunt bunch sprint, group dynamics. It's so awesome. So Laura Gillespie this year, uh two times second in the UAE tour behind who? Lorena Beavis, of course. Um she DNF'd Omloop, but then came second in the Omloop at Hogaland, uh, and then uh finally gets the win here, you know, a week less than a week later. Uh so good honor. Very happy for Laura Gillespie.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and and she, you know, she's on she's on, you know, one of these super teams with a lot of you know, with a lot of big uh you know, big names. And so, you know, she does a lot of work for other people, you know, a lot of the time. So it's it's nice to see her get a win when you know she's doesn't have to be the person that's doing all the work. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Agreed. Um I should mention the other two teams with two writers in the group did not even manage a podium. Jaco and Uno X did not take the second or third step. Uh I did not make a note of who did. I think the I think the uh Liv Alula Jaco, I mean the um the AG insurance writer uh was up there, and I cannot remember who the other one was.
SPEAKER_02Uh your second was Goosens from AG and Marta. That was it was the two Marta's Marta Gusens and Marta Tryon from Phoenix Premier Tech took third.
SPEAKER_00Right, right, right. Um all right, let's move from there to the uh Ename Samin classic men's with Wout Van Art in the house and Carlton Kirby and Brian Smith on the call.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Sorry. Right in this moment, mom is like frantically texting me. I'm trying to figure out what she needs. I apologize. Um let me see here. So um oh yeah. I pick it up with 80k to go, and I literally don't know anybody that's in this break that was in the breakaway.
SPEAKER_00Well, oh, at 80k to go?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, at 80k to go, you had a five-man breakaway, and I literally not knew not one. Was your boy Per Stranhaginen not in there yet? I don't believe so, no. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00So I I must have picked it up much later. Um I I know that that uh I mean I I know that this race almost always comes down to a sprint, so I wasn't like real motivated to to take in too much of it.
SPEAKER_02Um but I know that late in the game Hogan is uh at 29k uh uh Perstron went off the front, and at 26k he had 30 seconds. So I mean he he started a huge acceleration. Um and then a group with with WoW launched off the Peloton as well. So Vin Visma was trying to neutralize for Perstron. Um at 20 K he had 20, he he was he was all the way out to 20 seconds, and he kept that all the way into 13k, he had 21 seconds. Um and then that's when the the the chase group started trying to to form. And I will say is that Wout was helping to really shut the chase down for him, which um was big. Until he got his mechanical on the run into the finish. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that was at at 10k. 10k he had the mechanical, he grabbed someone else's bike, and it was disaster because he obviously was not comfortable on that bike at all and got another bike from the team car, but at that point he was completely out of doing any help or any possibility of of contending for the win.
SPEAKER_00Well, I'd rather it be a mechanical than a crash, that's for sure. Um Jordan Vermeers doing amazing work for uh uh Jordy Mayus in the final kilometer.
SPEAKER_02Uh anything to report from the uh so you had so one they were in the last uh they you know they by the when they got to the last cobbled sector, Hagenus still had five seconds on everybody. Um and Rotor Hugh or uh Hugo Page ended up attacking from the Peloton. Um Hags was inside 1K and they caught him at like 700 meters, and so I mean at that point it became a normal, you know, bunch sprint. I really I honestly really thought he was gonna stay away and just they just ended up catching him. He just didn't have enough in the tank to get himself, you know, across the you know, across the line.
SPEAKER_00Would have been cool. Uh Jordy Mayus wins pretty handily, I'd say, over uh over Rex, Hofstetter, Beermans, and Lucas Kubis.
SPEAKER_02Um I mean out of that grouping, I mean he was definitely, you know, he was the quality, you know, he was the most quality rider out of that group of guys. And and you know, it was it was by the time it all came together, it was his race to lose because they they had him positioned really well. And he's a good I mean, he's a solid sprinter. I mean, if you don't if he's not up against the the big names, I mean he's he is just as as uh effective as anybody.
SPEAKER_00Certainly is, certainly is. Um all right, let's move on then to um the uh trofeo li gueglia mens. Um nice pronunciation, dude. Did you say did you say you uh I did.
SPEAKER_02I did watch it. I I I watched it in in obviously I watched it on um on Tiz. It had it was in Italian. So I basically what I did because I was watching it, you know, post, I I pulled up the live off of PCS and was like trying to follow along. I like rolled it back to where I was and I was trying to like you know parallel the two so I could kind of keep up with it. Um at 21k, you had a a group you had Kevin Vervaca that was uh had 34 seconds on the Chasers, which was were Greg War, uh Antonio Tobaney, uh Santiago Boicharago, and Quentin Hermans. Um which is by the way a very quality group of riders. Yeah, you know, as far as I mean Roman Gregoire is just impressive as all get out of the game. His form has been great the last couple of weeks. I mean, he's pretty sure he's been on the city.
SPEAKER_00Pretty sure he was he was he was fourth in the big race on the weekend. So we're gonna be discussing. Um yeah, he's and he's already got a win this season as well, I believe. He's he's he's lighting it up.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so about 3K later, Vrvaca got caught by the chasers. So now that group had, you know, so you have Boitrago to Berry Gua Gregoire Vrvaka now now leading the race. Um Boitrago took some KOM points, and then uh let's see, what does this say? You had two riders in 35 seconds, you know, on the Peloton. Bahrain was looking for a win, but Greg War is really, you know, his his form is really, really on, you know, on. So those guys, it is pretty much who it who it ends up coming down to.
SPEAKER_00You have um you know what I said, like what's Butrago and Tiberi are teammates on uh Barra and Victorious. So um Tiberi has already demonstrated his form in UAE last let or two weeks ago, I guess, when he won a stage at UAE. So um, you know he is sitting good, and these kinds of finishes, Butrago is just like so dangerous when it's like a reduced group like this on a on a you know climby finish. Um I think I felt like Alessandro Covey from Jaco had gotten into the mix uh as well. Um and then uh basically Tiberi sets up Boutrago for the attack, and uh Greg War tries to hang on, but it was not happening.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so 11k to go, they start the final climb uh of the call of machete, and you know this thing is brutal. It's it's an average of 8.4 with a max of 14%. Yeah, it's nuts. And um 10 at lit literally a half a kilometer into that climb, the front grape, the front group started breaking up. Boitrago was dropping Gregoire and Taberi. 10k to go, um, Boitrago was with solo off the front. 7k yet 13 on the 13 seconds on the chasers, um, and 34 seconds on the Peloton on the Grupo. Uh 4K to get 4K to go, he had 16 seconds on the chasers and 41 on the grupo, and then you got that beautiful waterfront finish.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, it's so gorgeous. Oh, dude, I like absolutely gorgeous. That must be so fun when you're a rider and you're all by yourself and you get to enjoy a ride in like that, knowing like these fools ain't gonna catch me. I got this thing locked up on it.
SPEAKER_02Well, and it's like I love those coast road shots when they've got the when they've got the coast on the right and you know they're coming at the the rider from the left, so you get that sweet, just like ocean view as they as they ride down those like long streets along the ocean. Um super, super beautiful run in. And yes, he he takes the takes the win all by himself. Um Gregoire takes second, Tiberi takes third.
SPEAKER_00Well, Tiberi, you know, caught made a cat, made the catch on Greg War with like over around seven kilometers ago and literally sat on the poor man's wheel the entire way in. And I am gonna hand it to Roman uh Greg War. Uh he did not let Tiberi take the second step of that podium from him. He beat him by like two inches on the line. They sprinted it out, and uh, I was so glad for Greg Greg War. I should I mentioned him just a second ago. Uh he he podiumed uh a stage of Andalucia and was fifth on GC. Um and then yes, he won the Fondrome Classic, this the second of the two Fawns. Um then he was second in this race, and then he was fourth over the weekend. So very, very strong out of this guy. He is he's on form to be sure.
SPEAKER_02For sure. It's a one-three for for Bahrain. Um and you know, those are much needed early season wins for a team.
SPEAKER_00And take a guess who who who had a four-six on this race. I don't know. Take a wild guess. What team managed fourth and sixth? No, come on.
SPEAKER_02A four and a six. Oh, Vesma?
SPEAKER_00Astana.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. Just top tens.
SPEAKER_00They just they just Ulisi and Scaroni just sneaking in there. Skaroni.
SPEAKER_02Scaroni's always in the mix.
SPEAKER_00Just doing their thing. I just love it. I love it. Um, let's let's do this. Let's um did you watch the first stage of Perinecia?
SPEAKER_02Uh yes, I did. I didn't take any notes, but I did watch it.
SPEAKER_00Um, did you catch up with the women's trofeo RO and Euro? No, I did not. Okay. Let me briefly run over RO and Euro. Yeah. Um I can't find my Perinice notes. Um yeah, I can. Uh, and then yeah, we'll talk about the Perinice. So so Trofeo RO and Euro is just like a a lesser Italian one-day race that follows on the heels of Strata Bianchi. Um and uh my girl Eliza Longa Borghini's got three teammates with her with 15 kilometers to go, and poor Puck Peterson is trying to hang on uh with with four UAE riders, including the Italian Tricolor. Um ELB puts in a withering attack on the final climb after being set up one, two, three by her teammates, and and Puck has no answer, game over. Um, I wanted to just make a point here, okay, and I guess this is kind of you know what? I'm gonna save this point for our discussion at the end of Women's Stratobianki, actually. So just let me let me put a pin in that for the second. But I I I've made an interesting observation as pertains to uh our favorite lady, Eliza Longa Borghini. So um I'll save that. Let's let's get into um into uh stage one of Perry Nice, which uh delighted me to be sure big time, big time, big time. Even though I wasn't thinking about it as it was happening, but then when I realized, oh, oh yeah, no, I was I was I was quite happy. I was certainly kind of rooting for somebody else. But uh I have to note right up front what is going on with this broadcast. Like they're showing Bob and Christian like in their homes. Like I feel like normally uh these things like if it's if it's them remotely, they don't you don't see them, you just hear their voices, you know what I mean? Um and so if they're gonna show them, you'd think they would have them in a studio or something like that.
SPEAKER_02And I I don't remember because I it was I was trying to watch this in in in the midst of a lot of chaos in my home yesterday. Um does Bob still look like uh Santa Claus? Well, unkempt Santa Claus is Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00I mean Bob is just like he looks he looks like a grateful dead fan or something. Like and you know, Christian's kicked back in his like you know, his sweet, like modern looking spot or whatever, but it's just strange. And like the the uh the the sound was the like they were not getting the audio from the race for a while in that thing. So it was just like Bob and Christian just like talking over. Dead silence. Like, like, how do these companies keep blowing this? It's mind-boggling.
SPEAKER_02Um well, it's just what's mind-boggling is that you have there's such a disparity between these two situations where you have sometimes it's it's utterly amazing. It you can't, you know, you can't get any better with the coverage of it. And then sometimes it's just a complete and utter joke. And it's no rhyme or reason because this is an ASO race. So you that means that you've got TNT's covering it for Europe, NBC's covering it for the states, and it's like when you when you side by side that with this weekend's Stratabianchi coverage, it's not even close. Other than other than the the obvious like sound issues that they had, which seem to be probably something I don't think that they realized they were having, they're making a choice to show Bob and Christian in their home. Like they don't have to do that. Like, that's a choice they're making. So when they make completely ridiculous choices, is where I go, like, what like who's in charge of this? Who who's looking at this going, yeah, yeah, yeah. We should definitely cut to to to you know Bob and Christian on their on their PC, you know, on their laptop cameras. We're not even going to put a decent camera and like make sure that they have like a nice home studio setup that we can show you. We're just like literally showing you, you know, Bob sitting in his in his office with uh with a coffee, you know, with his coffee.
SPEAKER_00And it was just kind of strange. I mean, the the the they they must have some kind of specialized feed that they are getting because I know that they get like additional information. They know when an interview spot is coming up, they're being cued to announce like, you know, hey, let's let's go and talk to Mateo Jorgensen, you know, like they have to have some sort of producer. They have to Yeah, no, there's there's got to be some kind of specialty set up. I would think that, you know, they the NBC would send out a camera guy to their place, but I mean, I don't know. It seemed pretty lo-fi here. Uh I just thought that's a strange choice to to make. I I I don't care. Like, you know, Bob Roll can look however however he wants to look. They can, you know, they can choose to give those images, but it just sort of like, I don't know, it takes a little bit of the polish off of it for me. Doesn't seem you know what I mean. I feel like it should be I I feel like any ASO via NBC uh cycling content should be coming to me looking uniform. Like the you know, Perry Roubaix and Perry Nice should look just as good as the Tour de France package.
SPEAKER_02Well, and here's the thing is if you you know, it's like I understand them not being there for Perry Nice as opposed to being there for Tour de France. Like I get that. That makes that makes all the sense in the world. It doesn't, you know, it's like you know, sending these guys to Europe for a five-day stage race doesn't make a lot of sense when it's you know, it's it's not like a huge ratings thing.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02So I get those decisions, but you're absolutely the way they do the lesser races, you know.
SPEAKER_00Don't show, don't show them sitting in their house in a in a you know quarter zip. Like just put their names up there. How they did the intro, you know.
SPEAKER_02Well, and here's the thing is like for me, it's almost like the the what I the sense I get from it, and I've had this for a while, with anything that's not the only exceptions that I will make for this is when they do Perry Roubaix and Liege Best on Liege, okay. For whatever reason, the coverage on those is definitely much better. But other than the Tour de France and the Vuelta, all right, they you know, at least NBC does not do a good job covering any of these other races outside of the tour down under, but I don't really think they had anything to do with the tour down under.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the tour down under, they're just sending, they're just they're just grabbing the feed, yes. They're just paying for a feed. So, well, we don't need to belabor it anymore, but um, I'd say from the outset, this race in terms of our fantasy contest is looking much better for you since you've got, you know, some of your top picks in there in Jonas, Mingigaard, Wana Uso, uh while I have nobody. Um, I'm maybe a little more stacked in Terreno with uh Del Toro and Vanderpool, but you've got three guys in there with uh Milan, Manier, and somebody else. Didn't you have somebody else in there as well? Um yes, I do.
SPEAKER_02Who is it? Sorry. Delhi. No, I don't have Dili. Deli's Delhi would not be a would not be on the thing now. So I've got um, oh I don't have this is this week. I don't have my I have to.
SPEAKER_00Oh no, you just have you just have Milan and Manier. Yeah. So I don't know how sprinty it is, but I would say I'm a I have a little bit of an edge on you there, but I have nobody and and and Perry Perry uh Yeah, but you could you could easily come out of uh come out of the week with a jersey with Del Toro.
SPEAKER_02So true that, true that. Um if you pick up a stage you pick up a stage win in a jersey, you're looking at you know 31 points off of just that.
SPEAKER_00True, true. All right, let's not uh belabor the breakaway action too much. Um there was a group of four or five Durbridge Gamper from Jaco, plus like Casper Pettison from Suit All Quick Step, Max Walker from EA from EF, uh a couple other guys, and Pederson basically wins the KOM contest. Uh a little bit of work from Ewan Costieux, uh who's another one of those up-and-coming French guys trying to get away on the final climb. Um but I would say mainly on the back of the work from Vismalab, uh the Peloton keeps the breakaway at bay at at bay and and catches them with like two kilometers to go. Uh, we're looking at a sprint finish in this race. Anything from earlier, notably that you want to point out? Um no. Um Vismalab was kind of had a twin purpose this year. Obviously, they're looking to get a big win for Jonas Fingegaard at the end of the week. Um, but they do have Axel Zinglay in there with a good opportunity in the sprint given the uh the thinness of the field. Your biggest biggest contender, I would say, would be Biniam here. Uh he's already won twice this year.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I I was I mean the the three riders that I had marked out for this were you know frelan frenton, Germay, and Plowrite. I thought that they had the the best, you know, odds as far as the the group of riders that we have.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and Case Bull was here, and he's been he's been on kind of rejuvenated uh form this year as well. Um it seems strange to even have these words coming out of my mouth. I still can't get used to it. But of course, Binnyam was there with the really good leado train. It's crazy. Binieam's finally got a leadout. Um yeah, so you want to walk us through this sprint?
SPEAKER_02Um yeah, uh yeah, hold on. You know, I don't have I you forget I I don't have really any notes on this one.
SPEAKER_00Oh, oh, well then I I can pick it up. I mean basically Case Bowl launches early. Uh Plowright, Zingle, um Um, and uh uh Front Friton were were all uh in the mix as well, alongside uh Luke Lamperti from EF Education Easy Post. Uh and Lamperti, I think I I think I think what happened here is Binion blew it. Because Luke Perti Luke Lamperti wins this race with Biniam right on his shoulder. And Binham had been on his wheel for like the last like 500 meters of this race, and he had a big opportunity to swing off his wheel left and follow, um, and follow uh one of I think I I want to say plow right. Um and he did not, he stayed on uh he stayed on Lamperti's wheel and he kind of was hanging to the right side, hoping to sneak past him on the barrier. And Lamperti to his credit just stayed about stayed about a foot away from the barrier the entire time through that sprint, making it impossible for uh for uh Binningham to come around. At one point, Binnyam had to stop pedaling, and like when you're when you're in sniffing distance to the finish line, you gotta stop pedaling because you get hung up on the barrier, like you're done. And uh try as he might, he could not um could not catch him. I I don't even think he got, I think he ended up in fifth or something like that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he ended up in fifth. You had Lampardi takes the win. You had Vito Bret from Lotto Inner Marché take the second place, and Orluis Aular. I'm terrible with the Spanish names from Movistar took third with Milan Frentin um in fourth and plow right in sixth.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I thought it was quite interesting to see Ryan uh Marine Vandenberg leading out Luke Lamperti. I thought it would be the other way around. I thought Vandenberg was their was was like their best sprinter. Um so I'd love I love this. I mean, American boy, of course the American team, yeah. He number we we should point out this was their first win of the year. They they they they they snatched uh victory from the jaws of defeat uh here because there's only one other team that hasn't won yet this year, and that is picnic post NL. Still winless in 2015.
SPEAKER_02Which is ironic because they came out of last season like with you know all you know only was was doing very well. I I'm surprised they have not picked up a win. Um did you did you see who came in came in seventh? Uh no. Mike Tunison, another Astana top ten.
SPEAKER_00Top ten. Yeah, you get a top ten in every race, at least. Minimum one top ten every race. Every stage, every every everything. Um yeah, so uh love to see an American boy pulling on a leader's jersey, uh, a yellow jersey, nonetheless. Um very, very cool. Uh this makes me very happy, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. This is definitely this is always one of those races that's um that's really fun to watch. It's it's climby. It's you know, it's good, it's got all the it's just it's a mini tour de fronts. It's it's you know, you got some good climbs, you typically have some good drama in it, and uh it'll be interesting to see what happens. And hopefully Jonas can uh I mean he is the odds-on favorite for this race, so for sure, for sure.
SPEAKER_00Well, um, you know, I don't I don't want to wish him ill, but uh all the success that he has just brings us closer, closer, closer together in this fantasy contest. Is this gonna ruin our camaraderie that we've you know, the the uh you know the one of the things we love about cycling is that you can kind of root for everybody, you know, but now it's like I I have a definite rooting interest in it, rooting against interest uh in certain races and certain situations.
SPEAKER_02So uh but hold on. We can we can discuss more of that when we when we get into Strata Bianchi because it definitely comes into play for both of us on both sides, too.
SPEAKER_00Big time, big time. Um, yeah, we will. We will uh yes, we'll get into that and lots lots more. So stay with us. We'll be right back. Don't miss Beyond the Slipstream, our weekly companion podcast to the Team Bus, our domestique, if you will, dropping every Saturday in your usual podcast feed. All right, we are back, and I think that in the interest of saving the best for last, we should start with the men's race. I am so fine with that. Okay, well, I I uh did not watch this live, and I will be perfectly honest with you. On my first pass, I basically fast forwarded through almost all of this race. Um, like basically once the big move had been made, uh at like 82 kilometers to go or something like that. Um but I went back, I watched um a recap, a couple of recaps and some some supplementary material. So I'm prepared to talk about it. I have things to talk about, and I did want to make one note that uh I thought it was cool when they lined up for the for the start of the race. Um they chose to put all the national champions jerseys uh up in the front alongside a pogachar in the world champions jersey. So you got a little Quinn Simmons up there, you got Concha of Italy up there, and you got Del Toro of Mexico all in the uh front. That's cool. I did not see that. Yeah, yeah, very, very cool. Um, but they're not a whole lot of cool. There's cool, some cool things to look at in this race. I mean, you know. Um, yeah, so we got the classic long-range attack from Tade Pagachar at 82 kilometers ago. What do you got? Do you have any?
SPEAKER_02So, all right, so yes, that I mean you do have that, but I feel like what we saw in this particular race is something that we haven't seen, you know, with Pagachar, which is that, you know, and and obviously they know where they know where to go. They know when to launch. Like, and it because it's basically the same place that he launched, you know, right. They know where to where where to put him off. And you can't don't you can't take away the the the credit of the work that the team was doing, you know, prior to his launch. However, after he does get to the front of the race and then all of a sudden when he starts to to pull away, we have never seen someone catch him after he goes. Yeah. All right. And you know, Paul Seychas, for all you know, all that it did, which was n amounted to nothing, he did catch him. All right, after he went.
SPEAKER_00He was he was two lengths back. He got to within two lengths of Pogachar.
SPEAKER_02And that is the closest we've seen that after he went to to to holding his wheel after he he decides to go that we've ever you know that we've ever seen in one of these you know big long one-day races.
SPEAKER_00So that's that's like the that's like the big B story of this race, and and it really is the A story when it comes to interest in this race. The B story is much bigger than the A story. Um Paul Seychas. Yes. So unfortunately, not on my squad.
SPEAKER_02If only one of my race, one of my men's racers were were injured right now, Paul Seychoss would have been getting me points in this race, but uh getting ahead of our once once once that you know happens and it he kind of falls back into the into the the two-man ch the two-man chase with um uh with Del Toro, you know, the the two of them are are essentially off doing their thing until uh you know, you could see that the you know they got on the radios and were like, it's you guys need to to to slow up and just wait for this group to catch up behind. Because I think my assumption is that by s you know, whenever that happened, I think it was like around 70k or or mid-60s. Those teams are are telling you, look, there's no chance you're catching him. Like he he's off and gone. So really it's it's the fight for second place. Better to conserve your energy rather than end up letting them catch you deep into the race and then you don't get the podium. So the smart the smart move for say Shoss is to get with the group. The the smart move for Del Toro is that he can now help manage that group, you know, moving forward and try to position himself for a podium spot. And you know, he's in a he was in a group with you know quality riders, and uh, you know, Jorgensen was in there. Um I'm trying to think who else is in that big in that big second group. I think Pitcock was in that second group.
SPEAKER_00Pitcock, you had well Seychos had had uh had some good team support in this thing, LeBrass and LaPera, um bodes really well. LeBrass, I should remind you, was the one that was putting the hurt on the bunch at the Fawn Ardesh, setting it up for setting up for Seychos. So and speaking of good um good teammates who have already you know proven their abilities this season already, uh, who are the two guys that were bossing it for for for Pogachar, you know, before he makes his attack? Isaac Del Toro and Jan Christian, the two guys that have just been lighting up the entire season so far for that team. I mean, really, really impressive that they've got these weapons that can be out there just like crushing on their own. And then when the really big, big, big grace comes up and the the the you know the greatest of all time needs a little assistance, those two guys are just like happy to help, sir. Yep.
SPEAKER_02Now, what can be said about the Bhagacar of it all is you know, he's now done something that nobody else has done. All right. He has one not only is he won four, and he's the only rider to do that, he's the only rider to ever win three in a row.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. You know, and if what if it weren't for poor Tom Pitcock, who had just the the dip most difficult day out there this year, he probably Pugachar probably would have five in a row. Um or maybe I don't know, did he did he did he even race on 2023 when Pitcock won? I can't I can't remember. I can't remember.
SPEAKER_02Um well you know, and poor Pitcock's literally plagued by mechanicals all day. Like you know what I mean. There was there was he had two points in that very critical, very critical gravel sector where his chain came off. I mean, you can't you can't, you know, those are not things that you can predict. You know what I mean? And it it created, you know, a an unneeded difficulty for him when at the very most critical moment where you can't because that gravel sector also favors Pitcock's style of writing. So, you know, the fact that he wasn't able to even be a factor at that point really was where, you know, where it it it took him out of the race. The you know, those two mechanicals at a critical moment are just you know terrible bad luck in a way that you can't even imagine.
SPEAKER_00I mean, it just I felt I felt real sorry for for him uh in the in the post-race. He was quite distraught, you know, he was super frustrated as you can tell, and like looked to have looked to have shed a couple of tears. Um yeah, he had the tough, tough race for him. It was interesting the the sort of uh the difference between him and another uh person in the women's race who who had difficulty uh with mechanicals, but I'll get into that when we get there. Um back to the pot Pogachar of uh of everything. Um what were you gonna what were you gonna get into?
SPEAKER_02I mean, the the the fact of the matter is is that you know he is a singularly great writer, all right. And we are watching the things that people will talk about for the next you know 50 years of riding. And while it may be boring for us in the moment because it's like, oh, here we go again, another 80k, you know, stratabianca that you know he's gonna you know just handily win. It's not, you know, we can take comfort in the fact that it's not gonna be like that forever. You know, there's gonna be, you know, and within the next few years, there will, you know, he his his dominance will wane, other people will get better, and you know, the competition level will, you know, come back to some sort of parody like it is in in the women's, and we'll get that. But right now, you know, we are seeing you know the tiger woods in his prime, you know, type of you know, athlete, and you have to take your hat off to him because he can't you just can't watch this guy and not be like, damn, like he is so good. And I will say it doesn't hurt the crowds. I feel like the crowds are getting bigger and bigger every year that he wins this thing. Like, and you know, there's like these these crazy, like you see these crazy effigies that they make for him out on the side. They've got the amazing signs, they've got all these different, like well, let's let's talk, let's talk about those.
SPEAKER_00Did you see what I had in my show notes? No, I didn't. Take a peek at my notes. Um, I saw this actually twice out on the course, and I adored this. I would love to get an actual like physical copy of this. Tell me it's the prayer card. Is it the prayer card? Yes, San Pogachar, pedala pernor pernoi. Yes, absolutely incredible.
SPEAKER_02The prayer card is amazing, yes.
SPEAKER_00Um, uh a couple of notes that I had on on Pogachar. Um, how about when he went? Went past the curve where he wiped out last year, and uh you saw him like give a little little look back to the camera, and then he does like a little calm down, calm down, like kind of kind of thing.
SPEAKER_01I love that.
SPEAKER_00I love that he was able to like acknowledge that spot, knew exactly where it was, et cetera, et cetera. Of course, I've saw many, many images from last year while watching this year and various coverage with him. Yeah, with his with his one with his like left pant leg like all rolled up and just looking, he was just like looking rough. He was looking so rough in that crash, and yet comes back to just completely decimate once again. Um the other uh great image that that I that I loved outside of just like the the the packed in crowds on on La Tolfe and Um Coley Panzuto. Uh the the we got one of the classic. I feel like in Italy, for some reason in Italy, it's like where we get the best ones of these, which is which is the the the rider solo going down like a you know like a ridge helicopter beside, but like even, you know, not looking down, just like looking at it from dead from the side, and you just get a just a uh an empty screen with nothing but Tade Pogachar on his white bike in his white suit with his rainbow stripes, just like all by himself. Just amazing. Like at the start of the shot, it's at it's at 56.3. If anybody wants to go back and check it out. At the start of the shot, you see the camera bike in the in the frame with him, but then he moves forward and the camera bike disappears from the shot, and it's just like chef's kiss.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and on the on those Tuscan roads, it's just you can't beat it. Um you also just you know, and one of the things that I absolutely love about this race is the is the that that final kilometer. The final kilometer might so it might be my favorite final kilometer in any race. It's it's still like I will be more entertained by this than the than any time they end on the Champs d'Elysée and the Tour de France, you know, ending in Rome. I will always be enamored with this end. When they go through that gate and it all just, you know, it it it all cut, you know, it it's what it comes down to. Now, sadly, you know, when Pagaccio's out there by himself by two minutes, it doesn't really matter.
SPEAKER_00But Well, here's the beauty of it. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_02Well, I was gonna say, when they come into that final finish and they come out of the buildings into the into the piazza, it's j it's just like it choked. Like I get choked up just thinking about it right now because it's just like I do the whole climb.
SPEAKER_00I mean, the entire thing. It's like they're they're coming into it. There's they're they're on there the at first the roads, it's a it's a bigger road that's leading into it, and there's crowds there, but they're like, you know, there's there's space between the people as these come in. And then and then they get to a certain part and like the crowds start, and then by the time he go you go under the arch, you know, the ancient arch that's like at the very, very bottom. Yes, you go through that, and like once you're through that. The crowds are there, and you have a section where it's crowds but no barriers, and then you get out of there. And I don't know if you caught it. Did you notice he gave a guy a high five? Um, as he right as he's getting to the uh to where the barriers start.
SPEAKER_02No, I guess I didn't notice that, but there is there was a great um, and I didn't send this one to you, I don't know why. There was a great um reel that I saw on Instagram where he high-fived the same guy four times.
SPEAKER_00Stop, stop.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_02Stop. Stop, sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry.
SPEAKER_00Damn you. Um anyways, the whole climb up through there, the crowds, that's where I saw the second instance of the uh San Pogachar Padala Per Noi card. Um, one of the people in the crowd. So it's like when the barriers start, it's it's that's when it starts uphill proper, and it makes a left, it makes a curved left and then a curved right. And once you make that right curve, it's where the buildings tighten in and it really gets steep. That's where the steep section starts. And like if you notice in the helicopter shots, those normally like there's no sidewalk on the side on the right hand side as you're going up. Those buildings are like right there on the road, and they've got it, you know, barriered off. But if you look, it's only like one person deep along there. Like it's a tight little thing on the right hand side. On the left hand side, there's looks like there's room for for four or five people. Looks like there's a sidewalk on that side. Uh, but really wild. And and what I love about this is when the race is on, when there's a bunch of people going through there, it makes for such an exciting race. It's like it's insane. But when a guy is by himself, it's just got majesty. You know what I mean? It is triumphant. Like there's something about like those buildings and just people everywhere. And like you said, when they get up to the Piazza del Campo, it's like they come out from the buildings and they'll give you that wide shot, you know, from across the thing where you can where you can see them and the crowd swelling around them. It's just spectacular.
SPEAKER_02And then and you have that that little dip down, that little dip down in that little curve. And it's so iconic and it and it just it feels it's just I don't know, there's just such a feeling on this race every time that I watch it, where I'm just like, I'm just so enamored with that finish. It was it when you know it brought me back to Wout winning that stage in the Jiro that finished there. And there's just there's it's such an iconic spot, man. Like you cannot I just I don't know that there's any anything that's any any finish in the sport that I think is is better than that.
SPEAKER_00I mean it's so good. I feel like I feel like um I feel like Pidcock like had tears streaming down his face when uh when he won there. And of course, you'll I'll never forget. Was it was it um Vollering v. Capecki there one year? Like where they were when they were on the same team and they were sprinting it out against each other. I think, yeah, that was absolutely insane. Uh that that that uh that finish. No, it's it's an iconic spot for sure.
SPEAKER_02Uh now I wanted to here's here's my question to you. Now that he's won the four in a row, he's done something that nobody's done, does he does he not make this his first race so that if he now and assuming he does not win MSR, all right, does he make MSR why why are we assuming that? Uh-huh. I I'm saying because I mean he hasn't been able to to to get it under his belt yet. So but if he say he doesn't win MSR again, does he does he put all the focus next year into MSR and not even bother, you know, coming to this race next year?
SPEAKER_00It is a good question. Uh there's you know, there's there's one school of thought that would say um, he he comes here and does this because you know, Strade, I mean, he can he can win this thing with ease, basically. Like, you know, it's not the the the the reason not to do it, I don't think would have anything to do with form and would have everything to do with like the possibility of crashing and getting an injury and not being able to be at MSR. But then you can argue right back against that because like every time he wins this thing, he's by himself out in front with no chance of like, you know. I mean, sure he has a chance of crashing, but he gets a big enough lead and can maintain a fast enough speed that he doesn't really have to put himself in danger for the last 81 kilometers of the race. You know what I mean? Why not make it five? Why not make it six? It seems like he's having fun out there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, it's true. It's absolutely true.
SPEAKER_00I just and it's one of the most iconic moments of the year every time he does it, like we just talked about.
SPEAKER_02I have uh I think that there's a part of me that just hopes that that we get a little bit more of what happens in the women's race next year. But again, at some point it has to come, it has to slow down, it has to come to some sort of end. So, you know, maybe we're just holding our breath until then.
SPEAKER_00Well, funny you say that because one of my notes in here, um in my way in my women's race notes, which which chronologically the women's race went first and then the men's, uh, I had a note halfway down the page. This is easily the best race of the year so far. Please let the men's be this good with like an entire an entire line of uh fingers crossed emojis. Uh it was not to be as we just discussed, but um there's always something to talk about with that race. It's great. It's one of the, you know, we for the purposes of our contest, we're calling it a monument. Yeah. So, you know, the the powers that be do not have it listed as monument yet, but but we sure do.
SPEAKER_02I mean uh I don't understand how at this point, considering how big that race is, that it's a not that they don't just go ahead and just call it a monument because my God, is it it's just it's uh it's so iconic.
SPEAKER_00That is for sure. So all right, well, let's get on to the uh women's uh race. Um, where as I mentioned in the intro, so psyched for the breakaway, I couldn't believe it. I put it on, and then I'm like, wait a second, why can't I hear anything?
SPEAKER_02Oh no, what really this happened in the men's race too. Yeah nine minutes before the sound comes on in the men's race.
SPEAKER_00Unreal. So that was just not cool. I mean, in the end, like it was fine, you know, it didn't hurt anything, but the anxiety of thinking, oh god, is it gonna be like this for the whole thing? Like, am I gonna have to wait here?
SPEAKER_02Like that that that that feeling was not good, but now and I I will say that I do have I do have one kind of gripe about this, about the coverage with the breakaway. Which I don't I'm not very tech I I don't v very often get um, you know, have have issues with with the breakaway. I think that it detracts from how great the women's racing is when they are during the pre women's race broadcast and and run up that they're showing the interviews from the men.
SPEAKER_00It's weird. I think if you I think if you were over there, like if you're in Britain and you're watching all of this stuff live, it's race morning. Right, I guess it makes a little bit more sense. They could edit it better for the replay so that like the women's stuff just contains women's stuff and the men's just men's. Um I don't know. But they have I take your point, it didn't take me out of the way.
SPEAKER_02But they have another breakaway for the men. Like they do it a second time. So like I know.
SPEAKER_00I I I get what you're saying.
SPEAKER_02I'm just saying that like But it goes into the greater to me, it goes into the greater the greater misogyny of of sports in general that like you know, people it's like, well, we have to talk about the men because that's what the people are really interested in. And it's like, well, you know, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I don't I don't think I don't think I don't think that really plays a factor into it into that particular decision. I'm not saying it's not there, it definitely is, but hey, compare the women's stratabianchi coverage to the uh to the men's day one Perry Nice coverage, okay? Compare those two because like what I loved, like you you had Danny Rowe and Mana Lloyd out there on the gravel roads, the shot where they bend down, like they're they squat down and like the camera moves down so that you can actually like see the gravel right there, and they're like picking up the gram. I'm like, this is good stuff, and like having them there at the finish for their reactions where they were both just like so exhilarated. I mean, uh the uh I love that immediate cloud.
SPEAKER_02I love that immediate interview, like in the paddock at the end. Like, I am all for that all the time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um they they did an interview with Puck Peterson at the end, and I was just like, man, like what a great like interview that they I don't know, man. They did they they do a very, very good job of coverage for for these races. I mean, on both sides of the coin. They really do a great job.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. So um absolutely was just psyched to have really good production going into the the big, big first race, first big race of the year. So um, you got Alice Wood and Marty McDonald on the call, and when they come just before they start the the live broadcast, um, they give us this highlight reel of crashes that have happened earlier in the day. Vonna Bregan goes down, Cassia uh takes a tumble, it looks like Amanda Spratt goes down. There's uh there's a another writer from one of the the lower end teams, like green and orange team. She went down hard. Um Kim Lecour-Penard went down like a bunch of crashes in the beginning of this thing. And I'm like, oh wow, like what are we what are we in for? They we pick it up with 66.7 kilometers to go, and there's a big group out front, and every single hitter is in there. And I was just like, bring it on. When they come on to the live shots, you have got Dami Valering, Casia Newadoma, Pauline Ferran Prevaux, Mariana Voss, Liza Longa Borghini, Theon Lippert, Lucinda Brand, Puck Peterson, Naomi Rug, Magdalena Valiere is in the world champions jersey, and Lotto Capecki. And FDJ, yeah, and Lili Shabet, and FDJ is looking so strong with four teammates for Demi Volering. Four teammates and demi volering. Uh, I'm like, holy crap, this is gonna be nuts. And what is that that I just noticed? Cassia is wearing number 31, my favorite number. Uh Kim Lacora Pinar is like her and Anna Von der Breken are the only two big, big names that did not make that front group. So what a setup. What an absolute setup.
SPEAKER_02And um so, you know, and no great race would be complete without, you know, a bit of chaos. And you know, what what what ends up happening?
SPEAKER_00We well was there a breakaway. I feel like there was a breakaway. There was like a split. Yeah, there was some kind of split.
SPEAKER_02Um where where uh a camera bike got in between the two of them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but who's who's in the front and who is in the back? I know I know that like Ferron Pervo, Kapeki. Well, for for Ferron Pervo had fallen off, she had a mechanical and lost a ton of time, and it was like everybody was saying race over for her because she sat there waiting for her team car. It's Stradabianchi, like it's not is it's not as quick and easy to get the team car there as normally, and she waited a long time. So all of a sudden we see her just get back onto the to the to the chasing group, which had demivalering and lot of kapeki in it. And uh, I'm trying to remember Voss had made the front, yes, um Shabet made the front, uh Longo Borghini had made the front. Um and uh yeah, there was uh Valiares had made the front. Yeah, the Valier's up there, correct. And uh but there was a group behind. Now that group behind, it looked like they would they're gonna get back on. That's demi. That's like it's gonna it's gonna come back together for God's sake. Because the split wasn't the split wasn't huge. Ocasio was in the front. Yeah, Ocasia Newoodum was in the front as well. Yeah, and so it's like it's I can't remember exactly how what the mile marker was when this happened, but what what we were doing.
SPEAKER_02I feel like it was in the 30s.
SPEAKER_00I don't know. Something like that. So there's a motorbike that that the second group is behind. Now, what I heard after in the aftermath was that this was it was not a camera bike, it was like a police escort bike. Oh and I don't know if the escort bike just made the wrong turn or what, but definitely that turn was not like roped off. There should have been like a ribbon, you know, a little a little thin thing like hanging across that area right there on a on a corner like that, because basically the road that they were on bent to the left. Yes, and they the road that they went down was like going dead straight, basically, but the actual road is making a left, but nothing's marked. And it's like white gravel here, white gravel there, and you know, the motorcycle goes down that way. And I mean, you're talking about like hundredths of a second, like these riders are going right down the right right down behind the motorcycle. Now, all the commentators are sitting there gonna tell you, well, the technically speaking, the riders are responsible for knowing the course. Like Notting von Hoydonk said he always had the map up on his on his head unit. That was his thing. Like some riders like to have other information on the head unit. He said he always had the map on his head unit because he was he worried about things like that. Um, but a group of like 12 riders follow this motorcycle down the the wrong road and they're and they're gone for a while. They're riding for a good 15 seconds before like it's finally whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, before people started going like you know, and making the hand motions and shit. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, which also probably didn't help matters the confusion because like they're going down there and they're seeing people on the sides, like, okay, we must be on the right path because there's people. But did you notice how bad that road was though? Like that was junk. Yeah, it was junk. Yeah, it was total junk. And it's just like, and now Dami Vollering, the the out and out favorite, is like down this road, like way down. She was in the front, too. She's just like one of the last two. You had Kapeki, her, Pervault, all all, you know, all Ferrari had just gotten back on, and like I would say by the time that they even got back onto the right road, the announcers are like at race over. They're not getting it.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I think they were 32 minutes you know, yeah. That was like, I was gonna say two minutes down. I mean, it was yeah, they were yeah. I mean, they were gone.
SPEAKER_00So fortunately, there were still a number of hitters left out in the front because we've got Longa Borghini, Cassianawadoma, Mariana Voss, Valerie, no, Noemi Roog, and uh Puck Pete Peters all in with a chance to win. Every one of those riders I just named could win on this on this straight on this race. I mean, you look at every single one of those names, the only one I might rule out would be would be Mariana Voss, just because of the climb.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_02Like, like Shabay, you got a lot of fan favorites in there too, because Petisa, Shabet, Longa Bergini, you know, though they like people love them now.
SPEAKER_00Valeres, Valeriez, who won on a finish just like this, like you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_02What's really cool about you know, now, like, because I am my assumption is as soon as they realized that the demi was out, that they were on the radio with Shabay going like you're not pacing this this front group, it's your you know, you're working for you now. And you know, she I to her credit, in my opinion, we'll get to it here in a minute. I'm not gonna go, I don't want to spoil it. Did such a damn good job of marking everybody out and how she played it, especially in the last kilometer. You know, this is a quality group of riders, and you've got Nawa Doma in there that's that's what coming second two or three times at this point. Yeah, I mean, a week ago she's right there with Danny Bollinger. She was hanging with Demi a week ago, exactly. So, you know, you've got a group of hitters, you know, that that you've got to contest with, and now they've taken they've taken your your chain off. You know what I mean? That you are now ready to you can do what you can do, whatever you got to do to win. Well, and she's wily.
SPEAKER_00She's she's wily about it because like even even in the absence of Damie, where she has now become the the the the hope for that team, nobody is still gonna give her, you know, a chance for top three. Like if if somebody said, okay, right now, pick the top three, like she's not gonna be in there, I don't think, for most people. I mean, I wouldn't. I don't think she uses an absolute. Absolutely said Longa Borghini's.
SPEAKER_02I thought it was I honestly thought out of that group that it was Longa Borghini's race to lose.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I did too. It's it's really, it's just uh I'll I'm gonna make my point about her later, but it's just kind of kind of fascinating how things played out here, but you know, credit to the case. Catch us up after the after the the the the the screw up with the with the yeah so so we've got so so so you get um you get a a little breakaway with with Longa Borghini and Shabbe. It's like one of mine, one of yours. Um, but who reels them back in but Cassia Newadoma, super strong again. Um then there's another little breakaway, and you got Cassia out in front with Longa Borghini. You got the two national champions jerseys. Last week it was a national champions and a European champions jersey out in front. Um Cassia is just so strong all the time, she's just always in the mix. I mean, that's why you got to love her because it's like she has such a hard time closing the deal. But damned if she doesn't try for it every freaking time she gets on the bike. Um, and and let's remind ourselves she's a former gravel world championship. The woman knows how to ride on the gravel and has done very well at this race in the past. Um Peterso is looking super. strong um she she kind of she kind of was dangling off the back and then gets back on and then boom she goes straight through she's trying to keep the move going um and they that now valeries and chabet have kind of been dropped with like 10 kilometers to go they're they're they're trailing by like 12 seconds and it was just like the the attacking was just off the charts Cassia the killer I have in the notes just going for it straight back and forth the whole way in they're showing you these replays you got you got Cassia and the Longa Borgini and Cassia's just got that that gritted teeth look on her face like uh uh there's they're showing you know the slow-mo slow-mo replays I'm thinking like it's the podium with the with with 10 kilometers to go you've got Cassia uh uh uh elb and Petersa out front and I'm like oh this is it that's your podium right there they're not getting back on boy was I wrong no because that that chasing group ends up just roaring back and yeah like uh Voss and Coke had Voss was the yeah coke was the remaining um yeah she was the remaining uh uh FDJ united rider that got back in to help help Elise Shabay they bridge up so now Shabay's got a teammate you got Valerie's there they're 19 seconds back uh if the leaders want to stay away this is the time where they got to start working together period that does not happen no so they end up you know more or less going into the final kilometer as that well hold on you're you're too far ahead too far ahead um on the final Santa Catarina climb Casia and ELB drop puck peters um so it's looking like they're trying to which would make sense I mean this is how both of those well this is how this is how ELB wins races is like she gets ahead with 12K's to go and and and keeps everybody behind her. And as we see Cassia is always up for that for a two-woman break you know fight it out the at the finish kind of thing Casia is always up for it. So it makes sense that they would drop puck uh there but um there's they the they kind of stay together and I think at this I think it was on that climb um elb touched peters's wheel did you catch that she was she was like making a move trying to come around her on the right she was too close and she touched her wheel and I think she had to take her uh I think she had to take her foot out but in an instant they went from like 12 seconds to like five seconds with that little like slowdown or whatever and boom six kilometers ago it all comes back together I'm just like this is insane I made a note that at this point Justin's in the driver's seat with Shabay and Coke out there you know she's got a she's got a teammate um oh and then this is when we start to see the uh re-emergence of Monica Trinka Colinel for uh for uh little Jaca um she starts coming back in and things are like coming back to gear together at like five Ks to go your leaders are now longer borghini Shabet Coke Puck Peters is there Voss Casia and Valera it's just like all the names right there. And I I I have to say like Valerie's I I'm so thrilled that she is mixing it up in all these races. I mean she we have been talking about her all season long I absolutely love that she's doing such respect for the uh for the rainbow jersey I know she's gonna get a win um but I got a note for girl you got to get off the front of the race like you're a little too eager she's got Cassia vibes she's always out there like pulling she's she's uh treating herself like a domestique when she's yeah exactly exactly it's like babe Naomi Roog is gone all right she's not here get on the back let some of these other ladies do the work but God love her she'll learn she's she's she's young and and uh she's really you know making making a great effort in doing that jersey respect um Trinka Colinell gets back on with like five K's to go and goes straight back over the top who covers her Alice Shabet unbelievable just this the whole run in is just gorgeous beautiful race course that you know they're going in and out of the trees and little houses and there's people everywhere it's just like so so great. Franzi Cox starts attacking uh Cassia is covering and the whole time I'm thinking my girl my girl elb is playing this perfectly now she's chilling she was she was not attacking during this little like section between like five and two K's to go she's not really she's not really attacking but the makeup of this group is just so great you got four champions jerseys you got four teams jerseys so much drama uh it becomes apparent that at the bottom of the climb Trinca Colinelle and Voss they're the first ones that are like I'm done I'm I'm not doing it so yeah for Voss it's just too much of a climb it's just it's yeah it it's for give her credit for her age she's not keeping up with those 20 year old girls you know what I mean like she's just she just doesn't have it in the tank anymore to to be able to take to tackle that hard of a climb against that good a competition.
SPEAKER_02Right. She's I mean she's definitely top 10 at that point she knows it and all she has to do is just get to the finish but it's yeah she's she's not winning that race.
SPEAKER_00It's a it's a big ask. Let's take a quick break and when we come back we're gonna finish up with the finale in the women's race and we will also take a ride in the broom wagon stay with us. Don't miss Beyond the Slipstream our weekly companion podcast to the team bus our domestique if you will dropping every Saturday in your usual podcast feed all right we're back and when we left off we were entering the bottom of the climb at the Via Catarina and as the road went uphill uh Marianna Voss and Monica Trinka Colinel uh were falling off the back. We never had much hope for either of them uh but we had a real strong group heading into the climb. We've already spoken on our men's segment about just how iconic this area is it's just so such an amazing theater for our sport um and it is anybody's ballgame as they are headed up this climb. I mean you've got Eliza Longo Borghini kind of leading things out you've got Casia Neoadoma right behind her. And then also in the mix you've got Buck Petersa you've got uh Magdalena Valeries you've got um Coke and you've got Elise Shabet staying wiley hanging back in like fourth wheel fifth wheel but right right there where she needs to be and it doesn't get more exciting as this because as we discussed you get to the top of the climb it levels out for a little bit and then it's kind of starts going going downhill and you got to go through a series of chicanes and at the most important one which is the the very last shicane uh right hand turn into the finish no in the second to last one I should say to last um second to last one you had three riders and and this is where the team tactics came into it so perfectly coke comes up and wedges herself in next to um next to Cassia and ELB and tightens the three of them up and that enables Shabay to take a much better line through that turn and when she comes out of that turn she's going way faster than them and blows right past them and once you're out in front it's once you're past that turn you're in front nobody's catching race it doesn't happen.
SPEAKER_02She she played it so well all right like the the the two of them and it ends up it ends up paying off even more because she's able she's been she's been riding the third wheel all right coke's been riding the third wheel and you know Shabet makes the move to get out front and then Coke's able to get herself before the end around ELB and takes third.
SPEAKER_00Yes don't remind me I don't even get any points my my hot favorite at the bottom of the climb comes away with zero points no podium position uh quite disappointing but what an incredible race and you got to give it up to Elise Shabet did you catch the little bit they did on her afterwards that she's like a doctor she was like administering to patients during COVID.
SPEAKER_02This woman is also like a multidisciplinary athlete I mean she's an absolute badass beloved in the Pelican she's a former Olympian okay in a different sport that's not the sport that she's kayaking or something? Yeah yeah yeah it's like they call it something else but yes it's basically kayaking and then during COVID all right she is also a a medical doctor and during COVID she took a sabbatical from racing to help in like in medicine. Incredible and she you know she's Swiss obviously like a worthy winner first Swiss woman to ever win first Swiss person I believe to ever win Strado Bianchi and she's she is a you know she is a fan favorite racer like she is in the mix a lot she is you know she doesn't have a ton of wins I think that they said that she only has five wins under her belt at this point. You know this this you know despite great team rider yeah despite the fact that she's like in the mix with a lot of a lot of you know races a lot of times um hey it's an interesting pickup that was a risky pickup that you had this year grabbing her and it's already paying off well yeah it the well I didn't expect you know I didn't expect it to pay off like this like this was pretty this was a pretty crazy one but she went you know she garnered points you know when we were when I was looking at the top riders the you know the top point gatherers last year I mean she was one of those ones that was on the bottom end of that top 20 you know men's and women's racers that was gathering world tour points and those are the ones that we need to win. So when it was you know when I was looking at it that was what I was you know in my head I'm going this she grabs points she you know it might not be the big points but in this case it ended up being the big points.
SPEAKER_00Yep she won the big one definitely the biggest win of her career it was an incredible race. Now I mentioned earlier about another writer's post race interview um and that was Dami Bollering I thought that she um you know she has shown her disappointment in certain situations in the past um I think this time she took it in stride she was I think I think it was it helped a lot that her teammate won because you could tell she was exhilarated and happy for her teammate. Well she busted into she busted into Shabay's interview to give her the high she busted into the interview and she was like enjoy it you know she said enjoy this moment you know so um but she said that when she got hurt because she had a mechanical just before the the the craziness ensued with them going down the wrong road and she said she got some kind of rock stuck someplace it was it was a mechanical issue that she'd never seen before she was like I couldn't do anything with it because I've never seen this happen. So I I'd I'd be curious to to dig back a little dig in a little bit more to as to what happened but I thought that was uh it was interesting that she said that but you know she was just kind of like I you know we just went down the wrong road and it was race over you know weird like I can't believe this happened but you know I guess for her personally the consolation prize is that her teammate gets a win and you know now she's she can count on Chabet even more when the push comes to show in the grand in the grand tour season. So uh an awesome race a great way to kick to kick off you know monument season got Strata Bianchi in two weeks we got Parinece and Terrace I mean not not MSR yeah Strata Bianca M SR thank you MSR in two weeks the two Italian races and we got Paranese and uh terena this week it's gonna be a good couple of weeks and I'm excited anything else on women's MSR?
SPEAKER_02No just that you know good lord it was such a great race and and such a great finish and um goosebumps goosebumps man that whole the whole finish of that race gives me goosebumps so good.
SPEAKER_00So all right well we'll leave it there uh we'll take a quick break when we come back we're taking a ride on the gravel in the broomwagon stay with us all right so we're at right at the end of the show at the end we always get to do a little extra thing from each of us um cycling related but it doesn't have to be related to the rest of the uh thing so who writes this uh well this is like a this is like a shared Google Doc with my notes and his notes so like up at the top it says the this is the episode it says who the host of the particular one is well you're writing all the all the cycling commentary I I well no I write the I wrote the intros and outros but these are just my notes that I'm reading from right here.
SPEAKER_01These are just my notes that I don't watch the race you're watching the race online yeah I watch it right here and take notes.
SPEAKER_00Occasionally I've if I'm watching on TV I can take notes on my phone but all right we got to keep rolling because we're running out of time we we're we're we're on the clock here. Alright um you ready? I'm ready we are back and it's broomwagon time Justin what have you got for us um so I came across this super cool thing with E the the EF did where they gave a full tour of their race uh of their service course I watched it did you watch the the video oh dude it is to me as somebody that doesn't know a you know a ton of the technical stuff about cycling it was really really cool to get an inside look and and it for anybody that's curious about like the day to day how they you know build a bike for a rider how they test it how they size it you know what what it looks like when they're storing all you know how they organize all of this you know tech that they have to organize for you know 20 riders this is your video this will show you how it works in a very behind the scenes type of way uh you know with their service course and it is just it I was I literally was like just enthralled by the whole video because you got to see all the stuff that I I wasn't I mean I was like aware that it's there but I was unaware of how you know how it all works and how it all fits together and how they you know size a a seat post and you know the which handlebars they they choose and it's all so so technical but it this is just a really really cool way to see that behind the scenes I absolutely loved it yeah the inner workings of a pro cycling team um some of the details I liked first of all I loved how the main interview was with Dwight Schroot's cousin in his overalls there um that guy that guy was that guy was just just very stoic dude real a real Moe's type character yes um he uh I liked how they also showed like the offices and stuff upstairs but like the quantity of gear that is at this place it's it's like it's like five bike shops worth of of like incredible equipment and the one detail that I loved um this is always something I kind of wondered um and boy my god like to be a pro cyclist like if you were a guy that just like gets paid to ride bikes every single rider on that team has eight bikes did you catch that they have they each have four backup road bikes they have two backup TT bikes and then they carry they have one road and one TT bike with them at their home wherever they are so every rider on the team's got eight bikes that they're looking after and there's like 30 riders on the teams you know what I mean do the math oh yeah it's literally hundreds of bikes that these guys are maintaining and the way they show how they use like the the um the video graphics um to take readings on the geometrics for their body and help them pick the right you know parts and get them all set in I mean it's like it's wild yeah it's really wild the level of technology that these teams are using yeah it's it was it was it it's a like I said if you've ever wondered how that stuff works this is the absolute video for you 100%. Yeah I think we watched a pretty good one for Vis Melisa bike which has like a legendary service course over in Belgium someplace but it was more like a just a tour. This really like Amsterdam I should say this really got into like how certain things work and how they come up with yeah I mean it was definitely more on the technical side of it wasn't just a avert overview tour like it was more in depth yeah um no definitely check it out we'll link to it in the show uh really really cool video thank you for sharing that now I mentioned uh when we were talking about the men's uh race the high five that Tade Pogachar gave to a dude off to the side of the road and you kind of halfway spoiled my broomwagon here because uh as pointed out earlier he gave a high five to a spectator at the bottom of the Santa Catarina climb just before the barrier section began I as I was watching was wondering who this man was and so I did some digging. As it turns out this high five is now a four-time tradition with Poggy going back to his first win in 2022 followed by 2024 2025 and now 2026 who is this man that Pog so effortlessly picks out of the crowd each year why he's none other than Miha Konsilija Pog's very first coach from way back when he started racing bikes as a kid. He's a former pro cyclist of basically no renown but his Instagram paints a portrait of a fit and happy family man with one very big superstar of a friend. I will include a link to the said Instagram video that we were talking about in the show notes uh and you can see you can see him giving a high each high five up to this year. Not the this year's is not in there but you see each year's up to this year's um in the description of that video it says a world champion who never forgets his roots I like that Tade you really make these races boring but I salute you nonetheless oh and thanks for the 30 points okay here's the thing someone needs to make sure that that guy doesn't go to doesn't go to uh to strade next year like I I noticed in at least two of the videos he's holding a flag so so there's definitely something that has been worked out in advance so that Poggy can pick him out pretty well but I mean every single time he's high five that guy and I think that is like the coolest thing ever. Yes. So that's uh that's gonna do it for this week. Please join us next week for full coverage of two of the biggest stage races of the year the men's Perinice and Toreno Adriatico as well as a big sprinters classic for the women the Trofeo Alfredo Binda. Until then for my brother Justin I'm Matt Harper. Thanks for listening. We hope you'll join us again soon for another ride on the Team Bus. Ale. The Team Bus is a production of Harparama. Find us on Apple Podcasts Spotify and YouTube. Please like and subscribe smash that button leave a five star review and most importantly tell all your friends about us thanks for listening. Talk to you next time
