Horror, Heartbreak and History in Milan-Sanremo S2E20

This week we’ll be discussing exclusively one-day races, including the first Monument race of the year, Milan-Sanremo, which as of last year has both a Men’s and Women’s race. We’ll also get into the Men’s Milano-Turin, the Women’s and Men’s Nokere Koerse, and the Men’s Gran Prix Jean-Pierre Monsere. And as always, we’ll finish with a fast-paced ride up the Poggio in the Broom Wagon. Allez!

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Thanks for listening... Allez!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

It's your weekly breakaway for fun conversations on pro cycling. Come join us for another ride beyond the slipstream. I'm Matt Harper, and together with my brother Justin, we'll do deep-ish dives on professional bike races, teams, riders, and all sorts of cycling-related stories. So jump in the saddle and tighten up those shoes. The road awaits. Aloy. Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Matt, and I'm here with Justin. And this week on the show, it's Monument Time at Milan San Ramo, where a giant box has finally been checked. A giant of the men's pro Peloton finally got his hands on an ever-elusive prize which has plagued him for half a decade. And one of the biggest questions in men's pro cycling was answered on the Via Roma in San Ramo, Italy this past weekend. Meanwhile, on the descent of the Cypresa, horror and heartbreak visited the women's Peloton as some big names went down in a very scary crash. In the end, another rider answered a big question in her own right. We'll take a look at both of the races from sunny Italy and hit on some other midweek racing as well. And as always, we'll finish out with a tank-emptying climb up the mighty poggio in the broomwagon. Alex, all right, well, welcome to the show, folks, and uh we are jumping right into Milan San Remo, and I want to open it up with uh the only place that we can start. Pog has finally done it. He has won Milan San Ramo. It's the biggest question on anyone's minds for the past couple of years is will Pog ever be able to crack this nut? Uh and he's done it, and he did it without adverse. I mean, and it was not without adversity that he did this. Um, as we saw him in a not a huge crash, but a crash nonetheless, a significant crash with uh it was 20, 20 something kilometers to go, right? 26-ish, something like that. Yeah. Um and uh I I for one, I mean, my my heart was in my throat. Like when that happened, I was like, oh my goodness, that was that was Poga Char. And from the looks of it, like he was the first one to go down in that crash.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Yeah, it certainly looked like it looked like him and um who's the guy from Little Trek that's is it uh Schmidt in a national yeah, like in a few years, and Schmidt Mario Schmidt went down to get like it looked like he caught like they they were one A and one B and they both went down and then they took about five other riders out. What do you mean by one A, one B? I think one of them, I I'm pretty sure that the the the guy from Little Trek bumped his wheel and that's what sent him down, but they both kind of were the first two on the ground.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yeah, they weren't now they were in the middle of the Peloton, which was kind of interesting. So at that point, like a good 20 riders were like gone ahead of them when they went down, and uh including Matthew Vanderpol. Uh correct. Vanderpol was escaped in front and like things were just like not looking good. It's like, wait, Vanderpol is out in front, uh, right, right but this is it basically happened right before the Chiesa.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Correct. And and it's Milan San Ramo, so this isn't the Tour de France where if the leader goes down or the world champion goes down, then maybe they wait for them, you know, in the Peloton. This is Milan San Ramo, they're gone. Like it see ya.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

And not only that, the entire point of the strategy in this race is speed, speed, speed, speed, speed. Like you have got to just go with the winner is in the group that's going the absolute fastest, like bar none. So, yeah, so now it's looking like advantage Vanderpol, Pagar's down. Now we pretty quickly learn that like he hasn't sustained any injury, uh, nor has his bike sustained any injury. And it's just like one of these things where, like, you know, the last time we saw him crash was at the end of the Tour de France last year in one of those late stages of the Tour de France, and he went down pretty hard on a pretty fast little turn there. But bike was fine, rider was fine, got up. And in that case, as you said, they did kind of wait up for him as memory serves. But uh, yeah, here there's no waiting for him. But he's back up and running, and kudos to that team. Now, they had lost Jan Christian due to a crash early in the race, who was kind of the the talk was sort of like his A-tier support was gonna be Christian and Del Toro, who have both been just like pouring it on uh in a big way the the entire spring. The the B the B tier was sort of like Vermirsch and McNulty uh that were gonna, you know, because he he was without um he was without his two big guys from last year, which were Wellens and Narvaez, uh both of those guys out with injuries. And so he still had a pretty formidable team. Well, boom, right off the beginning of the race, Christian's out. So now it's like, okay, well, he's still got Del Toro as his A-guy, but then it's okay, down to Vermeer McNulty. Um, and old Brandon McNulty, the American, was right there when uh when Pog was when Pog was uh was down. Uh he gets back up, he's back on this bike, and like McNulty is doing what McNulty does best.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Well, I mean, it was like he surfed the Peloton right to the front. Like, it was amazing to see how fast he got him back to the front of the race. Like, I mean, it was like, you know, minutes, and they were like, oh, he's back on the back of the Peloton. And then they started, then they started tracking him, like, you know, from the helicopter, and he's just like zooming right up the side, him and McNulty just like boom, boom, boom, boom, you know, first are in the back, now they're in the middle, now they're at the front.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

And yeah, they had the advantage of it not being because it's Milan San Raymo, there's not there's not a lot of times, especially in the latter portions of this race, where you've just got a big giant block of Peloton that is mashing the entire road up. It was it was moving quick enough that that Peloton was stretched out a little bit, and I feel like he basically just brought him up the right side. Yes, more or less. Yeah. And let me tell you, let me tell you the one word that was going through Brandon McNulty's mind as he carried Pog, as he freaking teleported Pog back to the front of the race. You know what that word was? Montreal. Exactly. Montreal. You got it. Nice pull because I thought the exact same thing just ended his career for him. And he was like, you know, and it's it's it's it's one of the beautiful things about this sport. It's like you can pay it for it, you know. You can you can write a check one day and cash it and cash it the next season sometimes in this sport. And that's exactly what he did. McNulty just did an absolute stellar job. Not only did he bring him back to the front, but then he jumped on the front in front of Del Toro, um, and in front of uh of uh uh Florian Vermeers and uh and gave him another big ass turn before he finally faded off, and then Del Toro took over, and it was like perfect, perfect work.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

So the way that the way that I the way that I saw it was it it seemed to me like I think that that there was a sense of urgency with them because I think that they knew that that window where they wanted to attack was, and they knew that it was in they were in jeopardy of missing that window if they didn't get him back up to the front. Because it was it was literally no sooner that they got him to the front that they started that the that attack that that everyone was putting him off.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Yeah, the plan was to attack on Chipresa. That that was the plan. That's the harder of the two climbs. That's where you really, really have to make the difference. And Pog gets up there, he grabs a few gulps in the wheels, you know, while his teammates are emptying themselves out. Credit to both McNulty and Del Toro for that. They both did great turns on the front, kept the pace really, really high. But it was it was in short order. Pogachar was like, and and we should note Pogachar in a in a shredded up skin suit. So the lower portion of his left side on his skin suit was ripped up. You could see his hip and his thigh in there, and then he had a giant black mark like covering his skin.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

It was shoulder to knee, it was completely discolored.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

I'm I'm thinking what happened was it was a it was kind of a a new road surface and might have been a little bit slick because like the way his entire uniform was just black was that that says to me like it's a new road surface that was like you know, had a lot of residue on it. Um but he didn't let it stop him. The guy's a warrior. He was like, you know, I'm here to win this race. I'm only gonna get so many chances. This is the big box for me to check. I was down on the ground, but there's plenty of time. Let's put that behind us. It's time to go execute the plan. It's exactly what he did. He just starts putting in those power pogachar attacks. He just del Toro style.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Del Toro just just buries himself. Absolutely just completely crushes himself to get him to get the separation and then launch him off. And you only have two riders that that are able to stick with him. It's Vanderpol and Pitcock. I mean, that that's that's it, that's all you have. You know, and the sad part is that Wout, who was looking really, really good on the day, at least, is as far as being in the mix, he went down in the same in the same crash, and but he needed a bike change. Like he had to wait around for a bike. He immediately had to wait for a bike, and we didn't get to see his chase back to the Peloton.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

I think I think they showed when he bridged, when he when he finally reached the back of the Peloton, the front Peloton, I guess. They showed it. But yeah, in between, like there was so much action happening in the front that they couldn't really spend too much time.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

I would have loved a little bit of to see a little bit of of the Wout chase to the Peloton. Um but I think I I think at least I had written Wow off, you know, at that point. Like I didn't see him, you know, being in the mix at all for the rest of the day. So, you know, obviously all the action is uh up front, and you know, we don't even we won't even see Wout again until 500 meters. But you know, it's it was very interesting to see what it wa how it was that he was able to finally you know pull this off. And you know really it speaks to his will. He reminds me very much of like a of a Michael Jordan in the sense that he even though like he can't you know he seemingly on paper, he doesn't it's not gonna be hard enough for him to be able to drop these guys. I'd be very interested to see what his power numbers looked like through the especially through the last like 20k, because you know, he rode Vanderpool off his wheel. The only person that could stick with him was Pidcock, and Pidcock was on, you know, unusual form this week. I mean, he had already won earlier in the week. And I didn't realize you were back to talking about Pog.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

I thought you were still talking about Wow Van Art.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

No, no, no. I sorry, I I'd said I'd pretty much we wouldn't see Wood again until 500 meters. Right. Um but you know it's it's interesting with with Pogacar is that you know he he seemingly pushes the envelope with those three guys, and when he finally gets, you know, when they get on the Padgio, you know, they are able to completely you know ride Matthew Vanderpool, which is that's a feat in and of itself. Riding Matthew Vanderpool off the wheel, and you know, I think the only reason that Pitcock stayed with him is I think Pitcock was on rare form as well. But this guy is, I mean, his level is so much higher than everybody else. All right.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Well, you're you're getting a little ahead of things here. Um, let's rewind to the crash, um, which enables Vanderpool to get away in that big front group, and Pogachar has got to get him back. Now, uh Vanderpool was in that situation that we also saw in the women's race where um two very strong teammates. So so Vanderpoel had Phillipson, uh, a former winner of this race. Phillipson won this thing two years ago, and in fact, this team has won the race three years in a row running into this one. Um, so Vanderpoel's in front. He's got Phillipson behind as his like sort of backup plan. So, I mean, this is this is just as good of a case scenario um as you can get. Now, Jasper Phillipson, who has been, in my opinion, kind of kind of questionable over the past this season and some of last season. I mean, he didn't have a he didn't have a stellar season last season. Uh of course he was taken, he was taken, he was taken out of the second stage of the Tour de France last year by Brian Coca. But uh, you know, he's one of those guys that had kind of a question mark sort of hanging over his head, and uh he took a big, big win earlier in the week in in the Nokara Cars. Um, we'll see a little parallel to that in the women's side as well. But a big confidence boost, and that said to you know, the world at large, hey, guess what? He is a viable threat for this race, and they can really work this thing as a team. Um, I believe you wanted to give us a little taste of of a of a B story from uh No from the men's Nokura Curse. You want to talk about that real quick?

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Yeah, so the the interesting, the really interesting thing from from Nokura Curse and and Phillipson's win is that Alex Sagart had been out on the front for so so long that day. And and very much what could have happened in this race, you know, the Palatine catches with meters to go. I mean, it's it's it's you know, he was there. And it's that it's that heartbreaking scenario that we see play out over and over again where you know riders in the break end up getting caught, and you know, he's he's within the you know, he's he's less than a thousand meters and he's caught and Phillips and you know sprints to a wonderful wind and no curse. And you know, you think that that's the end of of that story. Well uh Sagar comes out the next day and rides in the um Grand Prix? Yeah, in the Danain, and does the same thing, goes off the front, like kind of far out, and this time he's able to stay away. You know, so you know it was it was neat for him that he got his redemption literally the next day on the same type of move, and they aren't able to catch him. But you know, you're absolutely right. Phillipson comes in with a with a fresh win under his belt, a lot of lot of uh positive vibes. Him and Vanderpol have both you know won big in in preceding days and weeks to this race. And now, you know, the number one in the world is down on the ground, and they're in the catbird seat at this point. Like they were in control, you know, moving forward. And you know, that's why I say that it's you know, with with Pogatra, you just all the rules go out the window.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

Yeah, so they have he he was down there in the catbird seat, but they hadn't yet got to the bottom of the Chopressa. And so, you know, there's still a chance. Now, in this race, there is sort of there's sort of the main strategy for any team, any team that wants to win this race that's that that has something other than a sprinter. The the name of the game is drop the sprinters. You've got you've got two climbs that are manageable by sprinters in in some situations, like it can be done. This race used to be a sprinter's race um almost every time because the the way the the levels have risen in the Peloton, it's become more of a of a puncher's classic, you know, different kind of rider race. Um, but that is sort of like thing one these days, is you gotta drop the sprinter. So so Phillipson, while they are in the catbird seat, he is still droppable. You know what I mean? Like, like, and Tade Pogachar is not the only rider in this race that is gonna want to crank the pace up on this thing. And we saw some we saw some some other attacks, but when when push came to shove, it was Pog's, it was Pog's attack to make, and he makes it on the Chepresa. Um and you know, because he had already bridged, he had he, I think he bridged back like on the Chepressa and then went straight on through. And um the only people that could follow, as you said a little few moments ago, was was Vanderpol and Pidcock. And so now you got the tantalizing situation. Vanderpool, Vanderpoel and Pogachar with a third guy last year was Ghana. This year it's Pidcock looking just as strong as Ghana because let's not forget Pidcock also run a won a race this week. He won Milano Turin.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

Yes. Um well that's why I said he could he comes in on rare form, too. I mean, he looked really, really good. Yeah. I mean, and and to his to his credit, obviously the big story is pog, but it was only pog by you know the width of a wheel.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Yeah, and there's so many interesting parallels here. You got you got uh both the men's and the women's side, you've got you've got people winning big midweek races that are going in as favorites. Um you also have a parallel with like this is the second time that that that Pidcock and and uh Pogachar have gone sort of head to head in one of these in one of these one-day Italian early season races, you know, because last year famously we saw Pidcock and Pogachar going head to head in um Strata Bianchi. Um obviously Pogachar came on on top uh in that one. But again, Pidcock out there, we've always loved him since since the minute you know he started racing on the road. Um, and it's just so so fun to see him out there. The guy's got an incredible, incredible uh battle chest full of weapons. And wow, he made it such an exciting race. For as we saw, about a third of the way up the uh the the uh Poggio, Vanderpoel got dropped. It was it it became that's why I would love to see those.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

I'd love to know the power numbers rolling up there because I mean that that's a feat and of itself that the two of them drop him. You know what I'm saying? You know, like they had to have just been crushing it. Maybe he just didn't quite have it, I don't know. But it's just it's such a rare it's such a rarity to see Vanderpool not be able to hang in that situation that you have to you have to wonder if if they were just you know completely out out of you know off the charts as far as the power numbers are concerned. And what makes it even to me what's more interesting is the fact that it comes down to those three because you have three very, very good descenders as well. So they dropped Vanderpol, but that still they still have that that you know insane descent where Maddie Mahoric, you know, a couple years ago, you know, was able to to to push you know push off in that moment and and still create some distance on the downhill. You know, now you've got two, you know, three of the best descenders in the world all vying, and and even after being dropped, Vanderpool has the ability to to re-catch them. However, it wasn't it wasn't meant to be because he he ends up, I don't know if he just gave up or whatever, he ends up getting swallowed back up by the Peloton, you know, before the end.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

Well, if you want to if you want to make it even more interesting, the dropping of Matthew Vanderpoel, um, consider this. Uh let's rewind back to his pre-race interview, literally from the day before, all of the pre-race interview stuff that we were hearing throughout the race, uh, on the wonderful on the wonderful uh uh broadcast from uh what's it called again, the breakaway um from Eurosport or whatever. Uh did you catch what he said in his interview?

SPEAKER_01 20:12

I I saw it. I mean, more or less didn't he just say that like Pagasha was super strong and he said the day will come when he will win the race.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

He he he knows that it's gonna happen. I mean, when Matthew Vanderpoel is like, nah, he he's gonna win this race, like it's it's it'll happen. Um, maybe he knew something about his legs. I mean, the the thing is, as you were saying, you we got these three guys, they're gonna they're incredible champions, they're all great descenders, and and all three of them are on a flyer right now. Vanderpol is coming off of the greatest cyclocross season of all time, and then like multiple wins in the beginning of the season, uh including a giant classic. Pidcock just got his first win in a giant classic. Pogachar is raced one time and destroyed the field in Stratabianki. I mean, it just doesn't get better than this. Finally, a super, super exciting men's race. Like, that's I think I mean that's part of why we love this race so much, is it's almost guaranteed to be exciting. There is no guarantee in any of the other monuments that it's gonna be exciting. We have seen Pogachar and others, maybe Perry Rubet, but we've seen Poga Char and others just do long-range attacks and finish solo. And this race, that just doesn't happen. So it was incredible. I mean, yeah, so so perhaps Vanderpoel had a little bit of of of sort of premonition that his legs might not be the best when he gave that interview. I don't know, maybe he's just saying that to be a a sporting gentleman, but uh it certainly makes it a little bit more interesting in my mind.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

It's very prophetic. Um you know, and I and I don't want it to be understated. What he did was amazing. you know, on a race that on paper is is not a race he should win. You know, he willed himself to the win. Um do you think he do you so let me let me ask you this just for the sp the speculation of it do you think he races it ever again? Do you think that's it's a one and done and he's like I'm I'm done with this. It's on the board.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

I'm out I think he will. I think he will. I think it'll it'll make sense. He's gonna want to keep racking up these tallies now that he's realized he can do it it is possible. You know I mean Vanderpoel is now is now no longer invincible. He has been vinced. So um yeah I think he will I mean you could say the same thing about Strata Bianchi he had already won that he came back and raced it now he's gonna be the defending champion. He might be thinking to himself oh I might be able to win this thing two or three times in a row.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Well with str with Strata Bianchi too is one of those situations where you know he he knew he had the ability to break that record and be the only person to ever win that many. So I don't know that he I don't know that this one is as repeatable as rinse and repeat as some of the other ones. So I could very easily see him not be here next year.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

It could make sense like if he did I wouldn't necessarily be surprised I don't know I but but I would I would be like yeah that makes sense but at the same time if he did decide to keep racing this thing it would also make sense because he's Toddy freaking Pagachar and this man loves racing his bike he loves a challenge. You know when he's on the deck he grits his teeth and he comes back and gets it done. If he's not there next year I won't be disappointed so no I'm sure you won't uh well I would like to finish the conversation with um some talk about you know what how the what how this rates in his palmaras but I do have a few other comments just in general about the race so why don't I I drop a couple of those and then we'll finish it out with some uh some talk about Tade's uh career go from here perspectives yeah so first of all as I mentioned the Eurosport uh broadcast package just such a delight to be watching um I like how Adam Blythe and Sean Kelly were like getting into it in the uh in the beginning um I also have to say Sean Kelly the man is 69 years old he turned 70 on May 4th uh it's just incredible to have a freaking living legend there talking about this guy's won the race he's won this race you know twice decades ago and yet all of his commentary is still completely relevant his memories are relevant his experiences are relevant and I love that the guy's still fit as a fiddle he's just rocking some jeans a quarter zip and some running shoes out there just fit as a fiddle mind sharp like God bless you Sean Kelly I'm glad he is a part of that broadcast it's so cool um also got to mention how about the whole like uh breakaway going off course two kilometers into the race like are you freaking that's crazy are you kidding me especially after it just happened in women's races Stratabianchi Unreal could not believe that it's just like yeah deja vu with these Italian races like what are you doing guys that was that was bad that was bad and like suddenly the guy's going down he's like he's going down like a closed off road and he has to like zig past a truck that's in the middle of the whole thing it was it was all completely ridiculous. Yeah bad bad bad finally uh I gotta give uh a sh a shout out to the the pulti visit malta throwback kits um have you noticed this trend in throwback hits where now when when when teams are rocking throwback hits it's like throwback to the 90s we're old because the 90s are throwback now I want to see some old I want to see Eddie Merck's multaney thing. You know I want to see like you know but I guess I guess Uno X gave us the 7-Eleven kits that was to at least to the 70s that sort of feels vintage the 90s just feels tacky. I don't know they were cool but they were also tacky I thought they were cool as hell I don't know man and I thought the I thought the the plethora of jerseys that I just didn't know in the women's race was amazing dude some of those Italian teams have sick sick jerseys dude did you did you make notes of any of them um well the the girl that wrecked their team jersey um is is awesome uh you they're all in they're all in the start list for the race if you go into the start list you can actually see them all the they they have them updated the jerseys you mean for each team what they're riding on you mean the start list like on on PCS yeah but you can't really see them it doesn't pull up the let me see if this does it oh yeah there they are so um that team that of the the rider who crashed I believe that was the uh Laboral Kutska yes correct and that is certainly uh a beautiful jersey he's got some great like greens and pinks on there um you got the uh the St. Michelle jersey which I think is pretty iconic equal sides green and orange of course our girl aj is uh in the Canadian national champions jersey so we don't we don't get that one um team uh what was the other one that I liked oh the um the one from a team at Mendel spec ework it's got this like really cool sort of like like white blue purple and black jersey that jersey looks nice um and I went on record last year as being a fan of the Volcker vessels uh jersey that black jersey looks really smooth with a blue on it it's got that cool blue and the blue around the armbands also I like the human powered health jersey too yeah yeah yeah that's a that's a that's a nice looking jersey um the uh the fossa bar the fossa bortolo jersey is also cool with like this sort of blue and orange it looks like it look that one looks kind of throwback honestly the top girls Fossa Bortolo big Italian team from what from from whence uh Eliza Longa Borghini uh came out as a junior um another yeah some great jerseys another kit that I really liked from the men's race and this is a neat thing that I didn't know about this team but the team Nova Nordics team Nordisk team do you know that all the riders on that team are type 1 diabetes have type 1 diabetes I did not know that I thought that was really interesting and they literally test they've been doing that for years and they test them yeah and they test themselves like literally out on the race course it's so cool that they're able to like actually field you know a uh uh not a top level team but you know certainly you know just a pro thereabouts um for sure all right well let's uh let's finish off talking about um you know Pagacar's Paul Marais so now this is he he now has four of the five monument races the only one that eludes him is Perry Rubet and he damn sure could have won that thing last year. I mean that one seems more winnable than this one has thus far um and he's he's already been doing recon with with Vermeers out there.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

So we know that it's it's definitely the the top priority for him right now. I think it was really funny because Maro Gennetti is that his name is that am I saying that right yeah his his team boss his team boss was was you know he was he like said something about this race is more important than Tour de France and then Mauro was like yeah but tour de France it's still really important.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

Yeah yeah I also liked when they showed they showed a clip of the the the UAE team Mauro and the other guys actually watching the finish of the race and they were all literally like huddled around in iPad I'm assuming it was you couldn't quite see what they were looking at. I'm assuming somebody had an iPad so it's like all these guys are just like standing around at the end of the race like waiting for the riders to come in. They have no way to like actually see what's going on unless they're like sitting there watching an iPad and they show them all like in a huddle like looking down and then all of a sudden all their heads pop up and they're like you know so also also uh speaking of good shots I love it that that Pog gave us yet another iconic photo that will go down in the ages when he celebrated in that like low sort of like you know rather than being up and hands up. It was like a totally different look than you're used to seeing which is him like crouched over the butt. It's almost as if he didn't realize for a second he had a little bit of a delayed reaction there as they came across and he he was just like let me just make sure that I just did this and then he does it and he was he was still in his in his bike throw talk and then he realizes and he gives out the roar as he lifts his fist so so iconic. I mean this guy has a chance to to basically close out the monuments in in three weeks from now he could be a five monument winner and join some very very rarefied air um and then after that I mean really the only big prize like like like uh they were saying on the breakaway is the Vuelta yep I mean what's left after the Vuelta well I would say an Olympic gold medal yep an Olympic gold medal and and you know I mean which we will watch him win. Do you assume that he just tries to start you know ticking off every race that he can like yeah I do and winning as much as he possibly can to get his like all time wins number up as high as it'll go.

SPEAKER_01 31:47

Yeah yeah yeah yeah so I mean I could definitely see him competing away which you know while it may take away a little bit from some from if you know if he's popping into some smaller races but it'll also like really help those races.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

So like it's like a yeah it's like a double edged sword where I'm like uh but yeah uh I mean I I I can't imagine that that man could comfortably retire from pro cycling without winning the Maryland cycling classic so you know he's gonna be checking them off he's he's he's he wants to get all of the big prizes in professional cycling the really big ones and no rider can truly say they're one of the greats without winning the Maryland cycling classic I mean Matias Skelmo's Sandy Dujardin I mean these are some huge names huge so huge names um so yeah and then it's the Vuelta which you know the Velta he's gonna be my cycling Mount Rushmore definitely has Sandy Dujardin on it mine does um he he I feel like the Vuelta is the easiest of the three uh the three grand tours to win like I don't think he's gonna have a problem winning that and quite frankly the man could go out and decide to win it this year if he wanted to yes you know so who knows but I mean he's he every every year every month every week he makes it makes a stronger and stronger case for the greatest of all time the goat um hard to argue against it it really is hard to argue against it.

SPEAKER_01 33:17

I mean he really is something special I mean you can't you know this week I was I was like kind of talking about cycling with somebody that he's like he he was who was kind of dumbfounded that like I'm I'm as into it as I am and I was like you know I'm we're also you know and one of the things I said to him was I said we're also you know living through you know a Michael Jordan esque a tiger woods esque era in cycling and it makes it you know as much as as much as we complain about like oh here's another 80k breakaway with Pog and you know he's he's making these things you know not as fun to watch and like oh it's Pagotchar with another whim we we have to have a little bit of reverence for the fact that like we are witnessing history. We are watching history in cycling unfold on a weekly basis with this guy and you know we we should we should try to savor it a little bit because you know we will probably never see anything else like him in our lifetime. I mean you know I it's I I've heard some like pundits like not really big pundits but say like you know like yeah okay yeah these guys are are kind of on the same level but they're really not as they're really not you know what I mean and you know the I think you know what guys are on the what guys are on the same level like Paul say shas and you know Isa Isak Del Toro like somebody had said like on the same level as Pog yes and and like you know as much as we want to say that Isaac Del Toro is is is really really good and he's doing all these things like he he he just isn't pog you know what I mean and and most likely will never be you know Iuso is not pog del Toro's not pog say we don't know but is likely not Pog. I think I mean I really do think that we are watching a once in a generation type talent. I doubt that the second one comes through like him in the near future. You know what I mean I think that you'll have guys that beat him eventually you'll have guys that give him a run for his money but I just Of course I mean he's he's going to decline.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

I mean he now he may choose to retire before he has to he has to accept too many losses in his career um because he's already he's already made intonations about not necessarily wanting to have a very very long career especially considering the fact that he's already just about conquered everything there is to conquer in in about a half a career's worth of time um so you know there's that but uh uh what was the point I was gonna make um I can't remember what I was gonna say um well he got a big win this weekend we also got a big win because I know what I meant to say we we we got to witness a really really exciting race on both the men's and the women's but especially in the men's where excitement in the big races has been very hard to come by in recent years. I agree a lot of it a lot of it due to this guy but as you said there is there is a different kind of enjoyment to be had in witnessing you know history making of the sort that he has given us of the Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods level of the Serena Williams level um you know to be able to say I remember when you know when 20 years from now we're talking to people who are just getting into their cycling fandom and we're like oh yeah you've never seen anything like what we witnessed um that's definitely a very cool thing. So um we salute you Tade Pagacar uh another big box checked um and we're going to uh be talking here momentarily about another writer who also checked another pretty darn big box in her career. Uh stick around and we'll have that for you in just a few. Please check out our other show Inglorious Brothers a pop culture show with Cult Classic swagger. Search and subscribe in Apple Podcasts Spotify and YouTube or click the link in the show notes all right we are back and we are going to turn our attention uh more closely to the uh women's Milan San Remo from this past weekend um both races were characterized by crashes much more so on the women's side but before we get into that a question who knew demi wollering had a kid sister who was a pro cyclist not me scroll down to my notes to see a side by side uh photo of demi and I guess it must be her little sister uh is her little sister with the really cool name Bodine her name is Bodine which is just such a cool name Bodine Vollering uh and I mentioned her because she was out in the breakaway uh all afternoon um for this race uh didn't figure in the final but still bodine wollering sister of Demi um but yeah as I mentioned other than the hair they look exactly the same yeah they look they look pretty similar um yeah so things you know in this race it was it was pretty straightforward breakaway was out there all day caught just before they get to the Chopressa um boom we head up to Cypresa and Casia Newadoma is hitting it hard because as we learned less than 24 hours before this race started not one but two big hitters uh who were had been on the start list up until then uh were off one of them was Eliza Longa Borghini um due to I believe like a a flu or a stomach bug or something like that and I did not catch why Pauline Ferron Prevot um was not racing. Did you catch that?

SPEAKER_01 39:35

I did not and I believe Lippert was also supposed to race and didn't race.

SPEAKER_00 39:42

And also Mariana Voss who apparently her was it her father or her grandfather that's taken taking a turn for the four definitely it was family illness thing. Yeah yeah so she she had to rush to be by the side of a dying loved one I believe um so um we're gonna get more into our fantasy stuff uh a little bit later in the show but that definitely had a major effect on our fantasy outlook going into this race um it's funny on Friday night I got home from work and I was I was just kind of glancing around trying to catch up on some of the early week races and uh just glanced at PCS and to my shock I'm seeing up at the top like minus MSR a lot of uh Eliza Longa Borghini minus MSR uh uh Pauline Ferron Pervo and I'm like what are you freaking kidding me those are like two of my biggest hopes for this stupid race unbelievable I was so so annoyed um still I was pretty stacked but we'll we'll let we'll save that till later um Cassie is bossing it up the up the Chepresa climb as we knew she would because now she's in a much more sort of favorable what I thought of was a favorable position but if you listen to her pre-race interview she did not necessarily see it as a more favorable position to be in because of the fact that that she wasn't going to have those two teams up there trying to boss it on the front of the climb. They're you know those are both those are both climbers and riders that are going to win races by getting away in solo breakaways which is how Cassia would be expecting to win this race. We have already seen Cassia going head to head with both Eliza Longar Borghini and Demi Ballering off the front of big races this season. So you know what we are expecting to happen is happening. Cassia is on the front bossing it she's got some of the other big names there with her noemi Noemi Roog amongst them and also Sedrine Carabal her uh her teammate um the lots of hitters up in the mix in the big in in the beginning of the Cypresa you've had you had um Kim Lecourte Pinard you had Lotta Kapecki up there you had uh Elisa Balsamo is up in there um of course Capeki's big teammate you know Lorena Vibas she's still in the Petersa was there yeah Petersa yeah absolutely had a couple of uh riders from um UAE up in there um what was it uh I can't can't remember but cut yeah a couple of a couple of UAE riders um you had well you had um um the one that won a couple weeks ago uh Eliza yes yeah you had Gasparini and Vladicek also who was I think the VIP or the uh MVP of this race uh was Vladicek um I honestly um well I I we might be getting a little bit ahead of ourselves but basically it's a big group that goes over the top of the pogio nobody is able to separate anybody um so all of the hitters are together going over the poggio uh and then we get into downhill and this is I mean not the Poggio the uh well no no no no no no no no no no because going going clear on the Chapresso was was Nika Nico uh Nuiyan.

SPEAKER_01 43:04

Yeah so Nikonuian goes off the front now Nika Nulyan is would have been riding in support of Voss but they don't have Voss so now she and for on pervault and for on provo so that team gets a little bit of a you know free pass to do whatever they want and she must have been feeling really good because she goes off the front and ends up going clear and she is off and running when the wreck happens on the descent. So she's there a lot of the cameras are following her that's why we don't see this wreck until after it's happened. Well we see it we see it moments after it's happening yeah like as it's as it's happening.

SPEAKER_00 43:49

Casia Casia had already gone down but um but yeah you're right I mean visma Lisa bike really was in a bad way starting this race when they lost basically not one but both of their Prospects. They lost last year's second place. They lost the winner of the Tour de France. Like major, major losses. So it's like it's not so much that they had leeway. It's like they had to think of something. You know what I mean? They could do whatever they wanted because they didn't have any kind of plan after that whole thing happened. And uh yeah, that writer did did well to get out in front. I she had a she had a very good post-race interview, and I think she put it into good perspective. I mean, she kind of knew that like chances are she's not going to stay away, but she gave it her best. She got out there in front and was in front of the cameras, and she certainly provided something for the Peloton to chase. Uh, and Chase they did. So she she you're right. She she got away before the top of the climb. She was first over the climb, and she is being hotly pursued uh basically by Cassia. Um I think it was one of the UAE riders um and one of the EF Education Oatley riders were like the three that were in the front. Um, and they're whipping down that were they're whipping down that descent. And as I I as I like to do, I went back and I watched that that crash and frame by frame and kind of put together what happened there. And I'm gonna say that even though Casia was in the front and quote unquote taking risks or whatever, I mean, she wasn't necessarily taking risks, she was just storming down that that descent as as she is able to because she's one of the best bike handlers um in the Pro Peloton. Um, if you watch it closely, her front wheel hit a sticky spot because she was just banking into a turn. She had not overcooked it, she was on a perfect line going through that turn. And you can, if you slow it down and you watch, you see her front wheel kind of get stuck there. And when she goes over the bars, it happens in the blink of an eye. She goes over the bars in an instant and is thrown right up against the uh the guardrail and is kind of like dazed.

SPEAKER_01 45:54

Um now, did you now, because I know it's we're gonna talk about um we're gonna talk about the girl going over the wall. Did you notice when the camera first comes to the wreck, there was a Visma rider already down in that in that gully?

SPEAKER_00 46:10

Absolutely, and I'm ready to talk about it. I watched the slow-mo. She comes into that. Actually, that's right. It was it was Cassia. Um there was the UAE rider, I believe, and then the the the Visma rider, Lacourte Penard came in at right after the initial crash. So that Visma rider, when she came into that crash, her body turned and her the back of her legs hit the guardrail. So, like in her calves. So most of her body was above the guardrail, and that momentum carried her over. But because that thing took out her legs and the speed that she was going, when she came down on the ground, she had done a complete flip and hit the ground first with her feet. And if you watch it, she hits with her feet and that cushions her fall. She rolls out, and after sitting there for a moment, like in a little bit of a day, she gathers herself, gets up, gets gets her bike back up. She pushes her bike back up onto the main road surface and takes off. I was like, hot damn. That was impressive. It was crazy. And so that was like that was that was I would say where where she fell, it was probably about a uh five or six foot drop. So then you see Kim LaCourt, Pinard, and another rider come. It was the other Visma rider that was there, come flying in right where Cassia is like splayed out on the ground. So Cassia is like flat on the ground. And it looked like LaCourt came in to her left, like just between the guardrail, and then the other rider from Vismay basically just like blew right through there. And I couldn't tell if she actually ran over her or just skirted past her. It was not possible to tell, but I think both of those Visma riders headed on.

SPEAKER_01 47:48

And La Court was like pulled up, right? Like she was she had she had almost stopped.

SPEAKER_00 47:54

Yeah, she had almost stopped, and I think she managed to to get past uh Casia without doing any damage. And in fact, one of the big heroes of the day because she knew her race was over, and what did she do? She immediately came back to check out Cassia.

SPEAKER_01 48:07

Did you see her interview after the race? Yes. Yes. I mean, like, you know, she she she almost deserves a special reward, dude.

SPEAKER_00 48:17

Yeah, she's one of the good ones.

SPEAKER_01 48:18

She was like, she was like, you know, I knew that I knew I was done, like, and it was more important for me to make sure that Cassia was was okay.

SPEAKER_02 48:27

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 48:28

You know, if I didn't like Kim Lakourt Pinar enough already, like I like you even more now.

SPEAKER_00 48:34

Right. And um, so yeah, so that so she comes in, and then right after she she comes in and goes through there is when you get the two riders. Um, you get two riders from human-powered health that come through there, and just as they come through, right behind them is uh Deborah Silvestri from Laborall. And I mean, she hits the wall a little bit right before Cassia and just flies right over. Um, she is she's it's it's higher where she goes across. So her drop was closer to like eight or nine feet, and she lands on her head and shoulders and back and is immediately appears to be unconscious. She's her her leg was barely moving, and that was it. It was way scary. I was just like, oh my god. And like there were more riders coming in because that was like a tight kind of a tight blind corner, yeah, and it held up a bunch more riders. I mean, super, super scary. The fact that it was not worse than it was was wild. But I think we saw on PCS that that that that woman, or or maybe it was Cassia that had uh that had rib, rib, rib damage. And no, that was her.

SPEAKER_01 49:47

That was Deborah Sylvestri. Ribs and a uh ribs and a collarbone or a clavicle. Clavicle. Yeah, two ribs and a clavicle. All brown.

SPEAKER_00 49:58

Um let me see. Oh, yeah, that's right. Naya Wedoma's PCS did not list what her injuries were. So um, but yeah, the the fact that that there weren't more worse damage, like thank goodness for that, because that was certainly one of the worst crashes we've seen in a while, and we've seen some bad ones. Um so of course, this is gonna completely change the character of the race from that moment forward. Um, because headed in heading into the pogio, we have now got a reduced group. I have lost uh I have lost now um Longa Borghini and Faron Prevaux from from the beginning of you know the start of the race, and now I've lost Kim Lecourte Pinard, and the only person that I have left in the race is Lata Kapeki, who is there ostensibly to ride for your top rider, which is which is Lorena Views. And I'm like, real cool, guys, real cool. So it certainly made for a very, very interesting uh finish to the race. Um basically uh they hit into they hit in into the bottom of the podio with the Vis Melisa bike rider still out in front. She enters the poggio on her own, but she's only got like a handful of seconds at that point, with uh the other group charging hard behind. Uh and you've basically got the the move is made by Puck Petersa to catch her. I'm pretty sure Petersa kind of blows right past her. And then um you've got Ruog, uh, Puck Petersa, Lada Kapeki, you've got the duo from UAE, Vladicek and Gasparini there. Correct. Um, and they put a little bit of distance into uh Lorraine and Vebus, and that is obviously the plan. And the only team still intact would be Vladic and Gasparini for UR UAE, and they're the ones that are that are uh making that plan happen. Well, and it benefits them because you don't want to have to sprint against Weebus. Right, and Vladic is not the sprinter. Gasparini is the sprinter, she's coming off of a win as well. She just won last week. Um, so you know, once again, you got these riders that are in form, and uh they're and and you got Vladichek who has just been crushing all season long, and she gets on the front and she is doing the lion's share of the work up this climb. Uh, and she puts in a huge attack with about a half a kilometer to go. And uh the only person like on her wheel is Lada Kapeki. Um, and when they go over the top, they got about eight seconds on the Vus group. Um so we're set up beautifully, you know what I mean. Now, last year, last year, Capecki was back in the chasing group with Vebus. There was only one rider out ahead that was a longer Eliza Longa-Borghini with a group chasing, and Lotta Capecki was the one that put in all the work and buried herself to get Vebus back to the front so that she could sprint past uh uh Eliza Longa Borghini. Slightly different situation this time. We've got five riders ahead. Lotta Capecki is one of them, but she's the whole time she's sitting in the wheels and she keeps looking back, she keeps looking back. Where's Lorena? Where's Lorena? I mean, credit to her for being very, very aware of what is going on in this race situation.

SPEAKER_01 53:14

And what she didn't know is that Lorraine Weebus was working for her at this point. Because did you see Weebus' interview? I did. So she fully admitted to slowing that group down. Okay, and not bringing that group back together. Because I think that that that she knew that Kapeki had the legs to be able to take this group out. And, you know, I maybe it was a bit of that, maybe it was a bit of, you know, I'm paying you back for last year, whatever it was. Right. A lot of Kapeki wrote it just she made a tactical decision on her own to try to help Kapecki get to the end ahead of everybody.

SPEAKER_00 54:02

Yeah, I mean, it's just like Pogachar. He wrote a check last year in Montreal and he cast it with Brandon McNulty on Saturday. And same deal. Kapeki, Kapeki wrote that check last year for Vebus. She found herself in that situation. She was still very much aware of Vebus behind her the entire time, but it wasn't really up to her whether her group was going to stay behind. Now, she could at one point she was on the front, and I thought to myself, I wonder if she would actually try to slow this thing down. I also wondered if it was any other writer on SD Works besides Lotta Capeki finding herself in that situation. Would she at some point have dropped off that group, gone back, gotten gotten Lorena Vivis, and tried to pull her up to the front? I wonder, but when you're talking about Lotta Capeki, a former world champion, a monument, multiple monument winner, and a winner of Nokura Cursa a few short days before, and he's not gonna do that.

SPEAKER_01 54:56

Damn, this is like this is her goal for this year. That's a that's a bridge too far. She's wanting to go back in in and to the one-day races and and you know, attack these monuments, and this is one that is not on her palmaras.

SPEAKER_00 55:11

So, you know, I look and let's face it, Vebus won it before. Vebus has already won it, she hasn't won it. Yes, Vebus is the generational rider, but Kapeki is one of the greats of the modern Peloton. You know, she's she's got her own right to go for this race.

SPEAKER_01 55:25

Well, and earlier in the race, you know, they were kind of writing off SD works, and it which to me is like kind of crazy because it's like they were basically saying, like, well, they've got Weebus. You know, well, they've got Weebus. And but that's it. And I, you know, I think tactically they did a wonderful job. I think that they did ex, you know, I think that it was an absolute team effort on their on their part, and they played it as well as they could.

SPEAKER_00 55:57

They had, yeah, they had an easy hand to play, but they played it, they played it to perfection.

SPEAKER_01 56:02

Very, very well. And uh, I I won't lie, you know, when I watched Kapeki go across the finish line, as happy as I was, I was definitely yelling, you know, fuck, fuck, fuck.

SPEAKER_00 56:16

Yeah, uh, the the fantasy contest has just completely complain changed the complexion of our bike of our bike race watching, like totally. But honestly, Lotta Kapeki, she has a lot of weapons in her war chest as well, but her biggest weapon on that day was Lorena Vebas being five seconds behind her. That was her biggest weapon. She did not have to do a lick of work on that entire run-in. And I mean, it's it's a good thing that she didn't because Noemi Roog was was you know six inches behind her. No, that no, that I'm thinking of the men's race. But Noemi Roog was less than a bike length behind her.

SPEAKER_01 56:52

I mean, she she got up and left throwing the big looked it on the run on the original shot, it looked closer than it actually was. When you saw the overhead, she was definitely further out in front than it looked like.

SPEAKER_00 57:03

But she but it was still less than the bike length. And you know what? Credit to Noemi Roog. She just stepped up from she was third last year, she's second this year, you know, as Danny Rowe, I think, said in commentary. Well, I she gets to she gets to rest on the on the knowledge that she'll be winning it next year. So, you know, so uh love seeing that. We love EF, our beloved American team, and great work from uh from again from Sedrine Carbal to to set her up. Um some great work in the final for there. Um we did get a report from the DS of Laboral afterwards that Sylvestri was okay. Um and as we mentioned, um, you know, total class from Kim LaCourt looking out for uh for uh a lot of Capeki, I mean, looking out for um Casia Noah, Newa Doma there in the final. Now, um what are your thoughts on you know the the Capecki Vebus? We have seen in the past bits of of tension within the SD works team, but a lot of that tension I feel like was centered around Dami Bollering. She's obviously no longer in the team, and I feel like I feel like Weebus and and Kapeki, there's a bit more of a mutual respect between those two.

SPEAKER_01 58:15

Um agreed. I agree. I you I also think that the they're different enough types of riders that the overlap will be minimal, and you we obviously see here where there's overlap, it wasn't a problem at all. And in fact, it it played into their strength.

SPEAKER_00 58:36

And now they've each got one, they can they can approach them in ensuing years with a lot more, you know, nonchalance or a lot in a in a bit in a more carefree way. So Lot of Capeki now has three of the five monuments. She lacks uh LB. Has she won LBL? Oh no, you're gonna have to look at it. I feel like I feel like I know she has not won Lombardia. I think she's at three of them.

SPEAKER_01 59:03

She has Roubaix. Well, there is no Ill Lombardia Il Lombardia.

SPEAKER_00 59:08

Oh, yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 59:09

There is no Lombardia. So But there I did hear that there may be in 27 or 28.

SPEAKER_00 59:18

Yes, I did hear that as well. Um she has not won. She has not won uh LBL. So she has three of the four.

SPEAKER_01 59:31

She has Flanders, she has Roubaix, she has MSR.

SPEAKER_00 59:35

And given her her talents, her her bag of of her arsenal of weapons, um, I don't think LBL is out of the question for her. And we have seen her sort of transitioning to more of a Grand Tour style rider in terms of her physiology and just the the racing that she does. And given that, I do not think that that an LBL uh win is by any means out of out of the question. And she is uh most certainly um has it on her race program this year on April 26th. So who knows? We could see we could see another rider on the women's side completing her package, and you know that she's gonna be the team leader at LBL. Uh yeah, yeah. And she'll have Anna Von der Break in there to help her out. She'll have and she will she will likely have um have uh your girl Misha Bradevald. Isn't Bradevault on that team as well? So yeah, yeah. So, but once again, another fantastic race. I mean, this weekend just does not disappoint ever. Such a good race, such a good race. Um, I enjoyed the living heck out of it. Um so we'll we'll put a pin in that. Now, I did want to get into uh some talk about some other racing. Uh mainly our our guy Dylan Grunevagan, the old the old man of the of the sprinting Peloton who is quietly just just just riding out the latter part of his career uh in style. You know, he's not necessarily going to the biggest races or winning the biggest races, but my man is still winning. And he's got three wins this season. Uh he just won the GP Jean-Pierre Montserrat, which is uh, you know, the race uh of which I did a long broomwagon talking about the the fateful career of Jean-Pierre Montserrat, uh the French champ national the world champion who was killed in the rainbow jersey and who then lost his own son, his own son killed in a rainbow jersey in the same way that his dad was killed. Uh one of the most harrowing stories ever. Um, but yeah, uh Grona Wega wins that. That is coming on the heels of a win in the Bradain Koch CJ Classic earlier in the week, and uh a win at the Classica Communicata Valenciana uh earlier in the year, as well as a second on stage two at Etoile de Bassege and a third at the Classica Almeria. Uh Dylan Grunovegan quietly just crushing for the Rose Rockets.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:05

I think that it I think that I I think that from the teams from the team standpoint, you know, it was a tremendous value to add him. All right. He was a big enough name with you know not a lot of expectations. It puts him riding in races that he has a much better shot at winning. All right. And so it's a very good, you know, give and take for both sides of that equation. And and I think it's really working out well for him. And he looks great in that Rockets jersey, too, because that Rockets jersey is like one of my favorites.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:42

Yeah. I agree. Um just kind of kind of cool to see him out there, out there doing that kind of thing. I mean, I'm I I feel like I like rooting for the guy just because like his his career was completely derailed by that whole situation in Poland when he took out Fabio Jakobson and he he paid a high price for it. Um he never really got back to the top level that he was at when that happened, but he has nonetheless soldiered on and you know maintained a career um at a time when a lot of the big sprinters just kind of fall off the map and are never heard from again. So uh good on him for that. Um heck of a wee week of racing. Uh really enjoyed it. Let's turn now to an update for our um our fantasy contest, and uh I'll let you take the lead in the standings and let's talk briefly about some of our some of the rules uh that that we're using. Um so go ahead and give us an update on the standings.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:36

All right, so the current standings are hold on out at the bottom of my notes. We have uh me with a measly 235 garnering absolutely no points this week, and uh you with a uh masterful 296 picking up 60 points on your uh double monument win this week, having Pagacar and Lotta Kapeki on your team. So you you took first place in both races, and I did not podium in any of them.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:16

And and it must be said, your guy, your guy, the finder of lost children, Wout Van Art, screwed you. Because did you see who came in fourth in the men's Milan San Ramo? Mads Patterson was back in business and came fourth. Your boy Wout Van Art kept you from getting even a third place on the podium in the men's. So uh yeah, a tough week for you, bro. I feel for you. I mean, I got very, very lucky considering the number of riders that I lost uh going into this race. Now, obviously, I was in the hot seat for um on the men's side with both Pogachar and Matthew Vanderpool on my squad. Uh, you know, but on your side, you had Lorena Vebis. Uh you thought you had Demi Ballery until she pulled out like another week.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:06

Well, and I just I thought, you know, Weebus reigning champion, it typically comes down to a sprint. I thought that my shot, my chances were damn good. So I figured I was.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:16

She was the top favorite. I mean, she was the booky shot.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:19

At first, we split and you ended up taking all the points and then some.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:24

So yeah, and I mean you also had the the, you know, the whole thing with like the as I was saying when we were discussing it earlier about the fact that if it came down to it, uh the plan was most likely for my rider to be working for your rider. So correct. Um pretty amazing how it turned out for me. Uh, no complaints. Now, we had a lot of conversation about the rules of this thing and how it's gonna work with us subbing in riders and subbing them out. And what I think we've come to the conclusion is that if we try to if we try to dial this in too much, it's just gonna become too complicated and too difficult to manage. So I think we have agreed, we have agreed on this moving forward. And if we want to retro this back to the beginning of the season, if you feel like putting in the legwork for it, I'm fine with it. Um, what we're gonna do is we're we're gonna each have 12 rider teams, six men and six women. We're gonna have one alternate each, and we are going to base our substitution on what PCS says for a rider's uh upcoming race schedule, i.e., if one of your 12 riders is taken out by injury or you know, illness or some other reason, and their they their race schedule is is taken out on PCS, meaning it's open-ended and we don't know when they're coming back, then and only then your one sub will be subbed in. If your sub is in and your main rider is out, and then another one of your riders goes out, well then you're shit out of luck. At that point, there's no more substitutions, you're just out of luck, and let the let the chips fall where they may. That sound right to you? It does sound right to me. Yeah, so as I said, if you want to put in the legwork to claw it back um to the to the beginning of the season, I'm fine with that. Maybe you'll pick up some points, maybe I'll pick up some. I don't know how that'll play out, but um I'll leave that up to you. Um so uh with that, let's uh let's take a let's take a ride in the broomwagon. Um, what do you got for us this week, Justin?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:28

Uh so I'm I'm gonna take us on a on a little ride through history um with two of our two of our races this week. So um the first being I'm going to talk a little bit about some history from Milano Torino. All right, so Milano Turin, which Tom Pitcock won earlier this week. It is the world's oldest one-day stage race, 106 editions, all right, dating back to 150 years ago. So there's been um 43 years where there was not a race, all right. So over the over the course, but there's been 106 editions. There is some some um some some argument that there was one that was started and not finished. So some people say it's the 107th. You know, but we're gonna go with Rob Hatch in 106. Um what's really interesting about this race that I did not know, all right. Marco Pontani was almost killed in this race when he had he and two other riders were plowed into, or two him and two other riders plowed into a four-wheel drive vehicle. The police mistakenly let on course. All right, isn't that crazy? That's crazy. Um and it was it was won in 2012 by Alberto Contador. It was his first one-day race win in his career. And then it's sure. Now, on to Milano Sanremo. A couple of neat, like, historical things that have happened in this race, as far as like you know, top crazy moments that happen. So Milano San Remo is is part of the infamous coffee stop. Do you know about this?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:20

Uh I think I've heard of this, but do enlighten me.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:23

So in 1946, after a hundred and fifty kilometer solo attack, all right, copy, the the you know famous Italian cyclist, all right, stopped for Copi, sorry, Copi, stopped for an espresso, all right, leaving him 14 minutes ahead of the nearest arrival by the finish. He was so far ahead that he stopped for an espresso on the route and still finished with 14 minutes. Um 2022 saw m Matty Mahoric's historic descent on this, where he used a dropper post to his full advantage. So, like his post like you know, had like an adjuster to where he could dri lower it down so that he could get into a better AR dynamic tuck.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:18

Yeah, it lowers the center of gravity for a rider and you can just stick to the road better.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:23

Um and he he you know flew down the pagio. Um in 2021, the year before, we had Tom Pitcock's debut where he did the absolutely daring descent of the Paggio. And you can uh you can go see all these videos. I will try to find links and get them all in the description so you can see them. But um, I I love these older races where we where you can go back and find out some really interesting little tidbits about what what's happened in the past. So definitely, definitely. That is that is all I have. What what did you have for this week, sir?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:04

Yeah, it was it was it's cool, like like when I when I went back and watched that the Jean-Pierre Montserrat thing, and you can go back and like watch how he how he won the world championships, or as we were talking about earlier, like when they were showing the old clips of Sean Kelly, you know, winning winning MSR in his day and how he did it, you know. And it's just uh yeah, these these there's such a rich, rich history. Um, I I love digging into it as well. Thank you for sharing that. Uh, I am unfortunately gonna have to end today's uh wonderful show about some terrific racing on a kind of a down note. Um, but there was a story this week about Olympic uh cyclist um former uh Visma Lisa bike, no, former former uh jumbo Visma rider Rowan Dennis, the time trial specialist, uh, who, if you'll recall, received a 17-month suspended sentence over a 2023 incident in which he killed his wife uh outside of their home with his car after they had gotten in a fight. Um I guess they weren't able to prove absolute, you know, like intent or whatever, but he pleaded guilty to one charge of creating the likelihood of harm and was got a 17-month suspended sentence. His wife is dead. This week he uh got a new Porsche and made an Instagram post in which he referred to his Porsche as a weapon. Like, really, bro? A weapon? Yeah. So I am washing my hands of that guy. If there was ever any redeeming factors for him, they are now gone. That dude is a piece of shit. Uh, and it's a real shame because uh, you know, on at least one occasion he put in a turn that enabled Jonas Vingegaard to win the uh to win the Tour de France, I believe. Um and you know, we had we had a really, really fond memory of that guy, and it is it is gone now. That dude is a piece of shit, and the fact that he would post something like that just sickens me. Um, and uh I wish only the worst for him moving forward. What a what a what a monster. Yeah, that is disgusting. So I do uh I do hate ending the show on such a down note, but I did want to call attention to that ugly, ugly sorry. So that is gonna be all for this week. Join us next week for racing coverage from around the European continent and a look forward to the start of Pro Cycling's Holy Week. Until then, for my brother Justin, I'm Matt Harper. Thanks for listening. We hope you'll join us again soon for another ride Beyond the Slipstream. Ale. Beyond the Slipstream is a part of the Harparama family of podcasts. 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.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:59

Alex,