Beyond the Slipstream
Your weekly breakaway for fun conversations on pro cycling and so much more.
Beyond the Slipstream
Game, Set, Match S2E30
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
On the show today… Jonas Vingegaard has made history, and in doing so has paid off a big dream that we have both shared since he stepped onto the top step of the final podium in Madrid last September when he won the Vuelta a Espana. That win gave him General Classification Winner’s jerseys in two of the three Grand Tours of professional cycling, having won the Tour de France on two occasions in 2022 and 2023. We knew at the time that it was unlikely that his main rival and the arguable GOAT of the Men’s pro peloton, Tadej Pogacar, would be taking the start at the 2026 Giro d’Italia, having won it already earlier in 2025. We also knew Pogacar would have huge goals in the 2026 Spring Classics season, and would of course be going to the Tour de France to defend his title, which was his fourth in that race. All of that top-level racing in the first half of the season for Pog would make a run at the Giro unwise, and unnecessary, since he’d already won it. And so the stage was set for Jonas to go to the Giro for the first time with no real competition to speak of, and a win would put him in a very rare club indeed: the men who had won all three Grand Tours in their careers. And the best part: he’d be accomplishing something that Pogacar has not, to date, accomplished. And so as Jonas stood on the podium in Madrid last year, we began salivating, and yesterday in Rome, our dreams were fulfilled.
This past weekend also saw the start of the Women’s Giro, and while it started in the most predictable of ways, what happened shortly after the first stage was completed was a total surprise, and one that has left the cycling world stunned, and for many, quite angry. We’ll dig into all the catharsis, and all of the tea, on today’s show, as well as making our final Orla Fit Check, a Fantasy league update, and a ride through the afternoon shadow of the Coliseum in Rome in the Broom Wagon. Allez!
Giro 2017: Dumoulin Stops for a Nature Break!
This Week From Instagram:
Anders Mielke in Jonas’ Hometown
Jonathan V on what we need to make cycling exciting again. Great Point!
Vic Campenaerts Getting an Update From Matteo Jorgensen
Crazy On BoardWreck Footage NonPro Race
The Fart-Turbine The Next Evolution in AERO
Valgren Shows His PowerData After Win
The Most Beautiful Giro REEL I have seen this year
Simone Consonni Stops by the side of the road for a POPSCICLE
Sepp Kuss Wins and Completes his Set
Adam Blythe and Vic Campenaerts
Crazy Cyclist Attacks Woman No Context
Contact Beyond the Slipstream:
- Slide into our DMs: @BeyondTheSlipstream
- Email us at beyondtheslipstream@gmail.com
Follow Justin's gaming life on Instagram
Thanks for listening... Allez!
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 to Beyond the Slipstream. I'm Matt, and this is my brother Justin. And today on the show, Jonas Vingegaard has made history and in doing so has paid off a big dream that we have both shared since he stepped onto the top step of the final podium in Madrid last September when he won the Vuelta a Espana. That win gave him GC winners' jerseys in two of the three Grand Tours of Professional Cycling, having won the Tour de France on two occasions in 2022 and 2023. We knew at the time that it was unlikely that his main rival and the possible GOAT of the men's pro Peloton, Tade Pagacar, would be taking the start at the 2026 Giro d'Italia, having won already earlier in 2025. We also knew Pogachar would have huge goals in the 2026 Spring Classic season and would of course be going to the Tour de France to defend his title, which was his fourth in that race. All of that top-level racing in the first half of the season for Pog would make a run at the Giro unwise and unnecessary since he'd already won it. And so the stage was set for Jonas to go to the Giro for the first time with no real competition to speak of, and a win would put him in a very rare club indeed. The men who had won all three grand tours in their career. And the best part, he'd be accomplishing something that Pogachar has not, to date, accomplished. And so, as Jonas stood on the podium in Madrid last year, we began salivating. And yesterday in Rome, our dreams were fulfilled. This past weekend also saw the start of the women's giro. And while it started in the most predictable of ways, what happened shortly after the first stage was completed was a total surprise, and one that has left the cycling world stunned and for many quite angry. We'll dig into all the catharsis and all of the tea on today's show, as well as making our final Orla fit check, a Fantasy League update, and a ride through the afternoon shadow of the Coliseum in Rome in the broomwagon. Alex. Oh no, I gotta take off my headphones. I do have a wee bit of pink myself. A wee touch of pink, that are loud. Um, and yeah, we're gonna get into the Jira d'Italia. Um the final week was uh I would say really great in some ways and kind of meh in others. We shall get into that. Um where do you want to begin? Um, I mean, I think you gotta begin with uh Mr. Vingigo. I mean, it's it's it is the story of the Giro. I mean, he is won the the general classification. He now holds the you know a a win in each of the three grand tours, and he has some remarkable company with the likes of Merckx and Froom and you know many other yeah contact Uncatier Bell Maldino you know it solidifies him and I you know and I think a way too considering that he is is living in the Pagatra era, it it does solidify his place in history, and he deserves it. I mean, he's a remarkable, you know, grand tour writer, and you know, it almost is sad that he has to compete in the same era as you know, probably the best cyclist to ever do it. But even so, he has found a way to etch his name, you know, in the annals of history, and I and deservedly so, because he is just the sweetest, nicest, you know, Danish guy that you will ever see. And it's just I don't know, it's it's great. This is you know, it's my favorite tour, and and and I, you know, enjoyed just about every damn minute of it. Yeah, yeah, it's it's really a phenomenal grand tour, that's for sure. Um I don't even know that I agree with you that it's that it's a bummer or that it's sad that that he you know finds himself competing in the era with like the greatest of all time, because in a way, uh as he looks back on his career, as he you know meets new people, uh, and they ask him, What do you do? And he gets to tell his own story, uh he can say, Yeah, I won all three grand tours during the Tade Pagachar era. You know what I mean? This is true. I mean, in in a way, and and and I'll really have a hard time feeling bummed about it if and when he beats Tade Pagachar and the Tour de France in a month, which with with every day that passed in his giro, looked more and more shit not likely. Maybe not likely, but definitely possible. I mean, definitely possible. He he was he he won five stages here, and on every single one of them, he looked like he was finishing up a training ride as he came across the finish line. Well, and I think that he could have won six, except for the fact that he wanted his friend to win. And I think that is one of the things that makes him so special, is that, you know, Sepp's mom was there on stage 19, and you know, they let Sep go for it, man. And that speaks volumes to the fact that this team is very, very cohesive. I think one of the things that one of my big takeaways, at least, of from this race is the fact that this team with him and Campin Arts and Cus at the top is just it it gels and they really are riding for each other. And these guys are emptying the tanks for him. They all believe in the mission, and it is, you know, absolutely, you know, to me, just joyous to watch these guys race because there's no there's no drama at all with it. It's just good old-fashioned racing. And they attack and they protect, and the only thing that they don't didn't do in this race is sprint. Yeah, and you know, as a team, they they certainly have uh a capable sprint operation and really interesting things happening in that world. It it didn't happen to be taking place at this particular race, but everything else that was for the team uh made it plenty, plenty uh interesting, plenty delicious for us. Um and I do want to get into the sepcoos uh part of the story, but let's uh let's keep the focus on Jonas for the moment. You spoke about uh how he quote unquote gifted that stage win to Sepkus. I think it was stage 19, was it? 19. Um and uh how cool that is and how much that that that speaks for him. He he's such an interesting guy in a lot of ways. I mean, I get the feeling that he within a team context is he's he he's probably respected more than any other writer has ever been respected by his teammates because of the the seeming uh level of of just pure human virtue that the man has. You know, uh obviously he is dedicated to his craft uh at a level that few writers probably ever match. I mean, you he he couldn't not be, you know, you can't perform the way he performs without being an absolute training monster. And yet we see how unbelievably important his family is to him, and the the the sort of unspoken thing that exists in there is that if he's uh training at like with that kind of ferocity and intensity, he is by default away from his family. He is he is uh putting uh time with his family aside to to do this thing, and that that alone must command such respect from his team for him. Well, and I don't think that and I don't think that it is lost on him in any way, shape, or form either. I think that it's something that uh probably nags at the back of his head, but he understands that you know what he has to do is almost bigger than himself. And you know, the fact that he's you know committed himself to this team and to these goals and you know the sacrifice that that comes with it. And I tell you, he obviously has a good marriage, he obviously has, you know, a good family life. And you know, apparently he's able to strike that balance. It was it was but you can see that it weighs on him because in in his interview yesterday, I mean, he was you know literally broken up, you know, when talking about how important his family is and how great it was to have them there, and you know, what the sacrifice means. And you know, he is uh uh it's it's interesting because the juxtaposition between him and Pagacar being, you know, obviously a single guy with no kids, and you know, it it's it's such a different uh viewpoint, and it's so far to the other side of that scale that you know it just it really, really endears him personally to me as you know as a as a family man, because you know, that that is it, you know, striking that work-life balance is so hard for everybody, but only I can only imagine how hard it could be where you're away for months, you know, weeks and months of the year. And you know, good on him for for being able to balance it as well as he obviously seems to. Yeah, I mean that you know, I I can't remember if it was Richard Pluka or um the the other DS that they talk to a lot during this race, um, who was just like kind of talking about just how incredibly chill this man is. I mean, he has found a way to strike a balance um amongst all of these these things. I mean, basically these two giant facets of his life, his family and his career. Um, and I think that for for his wife she is able to handle it because uh number one, because she loves him and she she wants his her man to to be fulfilled in his career, but also the the the prizes, um both uh tangible and intangible are enormous for what he's doing, and that is a valuable thing for him and for their family that will serve them for the rest of their lives. Um and for his teammates, you know, I I get the I I get the idea that he is is kind of like apart from his teammates in a way. I I don't know. I haven't seen enough behind-the-scenes VISMA stuff to know. I'm sure everybody gets along and there's fun and laughter and camaraderie on the team bus and all of that, and on the flights and and everything else. And yet I would imagine that he is at some sort of an emotional remove from his teammates, um that has to do with with number one, the focus that he needs for his training, number two, the focus that he maintains with his family, um, the contact, and and then like number three, just his his personal mentality, his personal psychology, um the way that he is. Um and because he is so good at what he does, he has sort of earned that respect coming from both ends of his world. He's really a fascinating figure. I wish he was a little bit more interesting in an interview, not gonna lie. Like pretty much you you could have cut and pasted the first interview that he did after his win onto the the next four that he won. He really doesn't ever say anything much at all or give us any insight. I mean, that's part of the mystery, but I'd love a little bit more. Except for except for his his few moments of you know, two times during this tour, he was like, Yeah, we're gonna go win this stage. Which is different. That that's that's I know, but it's still not his typical MO. No, and he did he did shed a couple of tears, but I mean this man has just like achieved like a massive thing, you know, a something that that happens once every 15, 20 years or something, you know, the the the the the only times. Yeah, I mean that's absolutely incredible. Um and all we got out of him because of that was like 10 seconds of tears talking about how well his family supports him. Um you know, he's uh he's one of a kind, and we should be thankful for any version of this guy that we get. So can we talk about how sick all the Vistma like bling was around the yesterday stage? Did you catch all of the different little things that they had going on with the buttons and the kits? Some of them I like it. I like that when what's her name gave us a little close-up on the on the rear view of the team car, uh, and it had it had like a little transparent sticker that just had all of the names of the guys who had won eight tours, and Jonas's was on there as the last one. Did you catch that? I did not. That's one I didn't catch. If you scroll, if you scroll down, if you scroll down into my notes, you can see uh I put a bunch of examples of different things. So um, I can't hold on, let me let me pull it up so I can look at it with you here. Um so there's a bunch of different stuff. Well, that that the design that they did that they also had on the t-shirt that Nott and Von Hoydonk was wearing. I don't know if you caught that on the last day. Um that that design where they've where they've done the outline of the three different countries, like in a very stylized way, and of course the France is yellow, the Spain is red, and the Italy is pink. That is a really cool image, which this this team kills it with the graphic design. I think those are the routes for our grand tours. Oh, okay. Well, either, yeah. Which is even cooler. Yeah, I mean, if you look at the Italy one, it's kind of shaped like Italy. I thought it, I thought it looked like it was kind of shaped like Italy, nonetheless. Um, a killer, a killer look for the jersey. Um they do a really, really good job with that, like the marketing of the stuff that they're putting on the other guys is because obviously they can't customize the Magali Rosa, but they can customize everything else, and boy do they. Yeah, this team, this team has just got the graphic design on lock. I mean, we talked about it a couple weeks ago when they with it and they dropped the Tour de France jersey, and it's just like, I mean, it's sick. Like, they're so good. Um, another thing, there's a couple of really fun parallels, Visma Lisa bike parallels at play this week. Um, while we're talking about the jersey, you notice this is they they have they have those those three rings around the collars and sleeves. We've seen this before because this is the team that also pulled off the unprecedented single-year Grand Tour slam when they where they won all three grand tours. The year that uh Sep Kus won the Vuelta. Umis's last Tour de France win, and Primo's Roblick had won the Giro that year. And of course, we got that just incredible drama in the Vuelta and the whole Sep Kus story. And they were one, two, three on the podium at that Vuelta as well. Incredible. And then I'll when we get into Sep a little later, I'll I'll mention the other uh parallel that I liked. But um yeah, a great jersey. Um such a cool way of celebrating their success. Uh what what other what other articles did you like? Check out the shoes. The shoes. Yeah, they got that kind of iridescent pink kind of look to them. Those look rad. Super rad. Another thing I liked is how the frame color was three shades darker than the the jersey color. It just created such a nice little a nice little like coordinated offset that that just like worked so well together. Oh, absolutely, but it also incorporated that the the pink red and yellow like bits to it, and then it has the in different parts of the frame. You can see like that they also did that dotted line, like you know, motif all through everything. And it they just it's it's just it's such attention to detail. Down to the tires are pink, but you have the like the wording on them is pink, red, and yellow. Like it's ridiculous. It's it's such ridiculous attention to detail. And then if you Sorry, go ahead. Well, and I just have to say, like, the level of pageantry happening in this race is is so incredible, and I I just love every second of it. I love how on Paul Manier's Sudal Quick Step team, he of course took the Magliazzura. Um Chicone, but the Azzura. I mean the uh the Chiclamino, excuse me. Um, and he the team was wearing the um socks, uh the the the Chiclamino colored socks, but only one man besides Paul Mannier was allowed to go with the Chiclamino colored gloves. That man, Jasper Stoiven, the the the the low-key MVP of that team in in getting Paul Mannier where he needed to be. Um really cool. I love this aspect of this sport where there's there's opportunities to be really creative in a visual way, and that that those those optics are woven into the very fiber of the sport and our traditions which which go back decades and decades and decades, and it's just uh it's so sumptuous. Yeah, it was uh it was just super cool, man. The just every everything about it, his him with his kids on the podium, um, you know, just ah man, I just it's the stunning circuit in Rome, like like the beauty, the beauty of Rome. You know, I don't know if you if you caught it, but they were they were giving the helicopters some unprecedented access. There was a wide shot from above the Peloton from a helicopter. You could see the other helicopter in this shot, and it was like a hundred feet over, like it was right down in there, in and amongst it. And I noticed that only after I had taken notice of the shot where they run along the river. The helicopter was like out there in the middle of the river, like level with the riders. That was not a down shot, it was a side-on shot. You could see the wall and then where they were riding, and of course, it was like trees, so they were obscured. I'm like, I'm just sitting there watching this. Like, this is insane that this that I'm watching a live sporting event. It's insane. Something this beautiful. You gotta this is a shot from a movie. You gotta figure too. It's probably a big part of their tourism, you know, budget that they've got in the city. And it is, I mean, the city pays for all that. So I mean, I think they would probably be, you know, remiss if they didn't allow some, you know, unprecedented access to the situation. And in my opinion, like, I I don't know, like, you know, the Tour de France, the way that it ends, that you know, obviously there's a lot of iconic things, the Arc de Troyology. The Eiffel Tower, you know, the Louvre. There's a ton, but man, I don't know, dude. There's just something about those shots of them riding past the Coliseum where you're just like, holy moly, dude, this is just absolutely insane. It's at least as good as Paris for the finish of the Tour de France. It's it is I no, I shouldn't say at least as it is on par with the beauty of Paris and the Tour de France. 100%. You know what I mean? It it perhaps does not have the same number of iconic things that you clock on on each trip around the circuit. I feel like in Rome, there's just kind of the Coliseum is your marker that you catch, you know, every 12 minutes. Um, whereas in Paris, there's there's several. They go through the tunnel. You got the Joan of Arc, you've got the pyramid, you've got the Arc de Triomphe, you've got the obelisk. Yeah, yeah. So so look at there's there's a bit more, but but the just beauty of it, though. It doesn't, even though there's not like, oh, there's the this, there's the that in the Rome circuit, still every single time you're looking at it, it's stunningly beautiful, no matter what you're looking at. Look at look at the two pictures that I put from like in the race. Though there's one of them of Jonas like kind of rounding a cobbled corner in front of I I can't remember what that what that landmark is. Yes, some sort of gate, I can't remember. And then and then the the head-on shot of the Peloton with the with the Coliseum in the back. I mean, that run-up is just absolutely ridiculous. Yeah, it's stunning. That building in the background of that shot actually, there was a helicopter shot of it at some point, and you could see like tourists milling around up on the top of that building. Apparently, it looked it looked to me in the shot like there was a there was a aftermarket um elevator situation, like strapped onto the back of that building, basically. This big old green, like metal elevator that's like hugs the back of that building, like right there that you're looking at on the other side. Um, and the tourists come up and they can walk around and get views of the city from up there on like a terrace that's on top of that building. Super cool. Um, the the podium location, iconic. It's just the same kind of thing as with the Tour de France, where it's like this open air thing, there's no backdrop. They have the city as the backdrop. Um so and like, and they do a great job of timing it to where it's like it's this the beautiful sunset when they're up on the podium. It's just ridiculous. It's like every part of it is just so perfectly measured and so perfectly done. It's it's it's unbelievable. And that's a great parallel to the the the way that Vingigaard and Visma performed in this race. Absolutely perfect. I mean, this was arguably a B squad, a B squad that they had here. It's a B plus squad. Um and still just an incredible job. I mean they came away with one and ten. Right. They came away with two, you know, two top tens. Yeah. Incredible. And one of them was was from a guy that like nobody knew six months ago. Like really, really incredible. Um, well, let's pivot into then some of you know some of the the other stories. Um, and we can we can pull we can pull some of those Vistma, those other Vistma stories into it as well. Um so let's talk about uh some of the other winners, specifically our other Jersey winners, because we got some really terrific stories um in those uh battles. Um I'd say let's start with Chick Lamino since Paul Manier uh won the opening stage. I mean, what uh what a giro that man had to win the opening stage, and then I think he won the third stage and then uh and then shortly thereafter won a third stage, right? He had a so he had only he only had two when he won eighteen, total of three. Total of three. But he you know he he got the Chicklamino and was looking early on, he was kind of like looking like a lock. And then Arvaez came up with three wins, and Arvaez story enters the chat, and and of course that's another great story. We've already gotten into that because it happened in the first week, the whole like UAE sort of turnaround, which was just nothing short of magnificent. I mean, they kind of they they kind of left left the chat by week three, but um yeah, I mean Narvaez comes in and suddenly the how many times, how many times did the did the they they they swapped it back and forth three times, I think I believe. So it went from Manier to Narvalles, back to Manier, back to Narvaez, right, and then finally back back to Mar back to Manier. So after Manier took it in the beginning, it's it changed hands four times. That's pretty strong. Yeah, and what one of one of them was like by one point, too, at one point. Um yeah, it was it was super, super close, and and it was just it was the interesting part of it was they weren't really like going head to head against each other. See, that's that that's what that that's why this prize is kind of interesting. It is not a straight-up flat sprinting prize, it is a points jersey. Uh, and there are multiple ways that multiple wine right types of riders can garner points. And and to me, I I like that. I mean, I know there's a lot of people that do not like that. They think like they feel like the sprinters jersey for should be for sprinters. Um, yeah, it's funny how sprinting is such a specific discipline that it's like anytime you deviate from that and take chances away from flat sprinters, just people just get in such an uproar over it. Well, you know, and it's it's you know it's weird. I was thinking about this at one point. I was riding home this week and I was thinking about sprinting, and I and and like sprinting is what got me into cycling. That was like my was my initial like gateway drug was um was Cavendish. And so like that was my way in. And then as I learned more about the sport, like my I really kind of like fell off on caring about sprinting. I'm like, oh, there's so many more things, but now I've come back around to where like I really really appreciate you know a bunch sprint and how important it is to the sport. And so now I I'm just as invested on sprint days as I am on anything, you know, any other day. And in this, you know, this race. To me, what was more interesting than our vies manier was the fact that Monnier is putting the wood to you know our previous Chicolamino jersey winner, Jonathan Milan. All right, and up until the very last day, he held him at at complete bay. And that was one of our big questions going in. Is manye on the same level as these guys? Because he has not gone up against big level talent the way that we saw in the over the last three weeks, and he absolutely proved himself. He deserves all the accolades, he deserves to be in that jersey, and I couldn't be happier for him. And it and and you know, it is it is a you know, it is a great start for the new era for Sedell. The new era for Sedal, and in a lot of ways, like maybe, maybe are we seeing the new era of sprinting? Hopefully. I mean, I really am looking forward to seeing the I mean, god, the Tour de France. I mean, it's gonna have absolutely everything. It's gonna have all the top sprinters and it's gonna have all the top G C. We won't have Monnier because he's on the team with the world's best sprinter. So Right, right. That's for sure. That's fine. And I'm looking forward to him going if possible to the uh to the Vuelta and and mopping up some stuff down there. Although I'd like to there's there's not gonna be a lot of sprints, and I'd really like to see Milan go as well because um that would complete his trifecta. Well, and and Olav Olav Coy is back, by the way. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's it's it's gonna be awesome. Um, it's very tantalizing for the tour. Very, very tantalizing. I'm interested to see what the like Phillipson level is, if he's like still in the conversation, you know. Well, you figure I think I think Merlier is still in the conversation. You figure you've got Merlier, you've got Philipson, you've got Petterson who will be at the tour. Right. You have um but Petterson's like not a a classic sprinter like like Phillipson and Merlier. Pedderson's kind of a different kind of kind of sprinter, right? Yeah, but he can also get in there in the in the mix. Yeah, well, yeah. I mean he'll he'll find his his stages for sure. So I mean, those four guys alone, you know, at the tour are gonna make sprinting interesting. So that and that's not to mention, you know, the plethora of other, you know, sprinters that that are out there. Like, I mean, I doubt we see London because we're gonna see Coy, and it seems like Coy is definitely on form. And I doubt we see Brennan from Visma. So, you know, I don't know. It's gonna be interesting to see what happens. But I am I am very much invested in the sprinters for uh for the tour. Plus, you got you're gonna have a WoW in the mix, too. Wow can sprint. Yeah. Um no success for uh Johnny Milan in that competition, but he basically, you know, saves his, I should say he saves his Jiro on the final stage with uh with the stage win. Um and you know what? I sure do love Jonathan Milan, man. He's he's he's got a great spirit, that guy. His his pre-race interview, he wasn't stressed, he was happy. He's a happy guy. He was super thankful for for all of the hometown people that were that were cheering him on the day before when he was going up that hellish climb. And uh awesome, awesome dude. Uh we'll take that to pivot to the Azzura, where his teammate, Julio Chicone, also he he that let's talk about Trek. This team, like what an interesting and I think in so many ways, like wildly successful Jiro this team had. They got they they held uh the pink jersey at one point, and that was and that was a huge milestone for Giulio Ciccone as well. They got a fifth in GC and defended it hardcore when they were coming for it on the final stage on on the stage 20. Uh Coconi got his second, you know, Maglia Azzura, and they got a stage win out of Jonathan Milan. I mean, that is that is a strong, strong Jiro for that team. Absolutely. I I couldn't agree more. And it looked going into the last week like Jonas had you know the lock on the King of the Mountains. I mean, who's ahead by an insane amount of points? And out of nowhere, here comes Jaconi just got you know going for these because there were some big category climbs, you know, in the last week that weren't necessarily the stage finish. And I I think they did the math and they were like, if we can get, you know, two or three of these, four of these, five of these, like we're in this jersey. Like, we could win it. We could actually take it, especially if he doesn't contest it. And, you know, uh as you said, you know, stated earlier, it's almost like this was a training session for Vesma. And so they weren't. Pluga said it in the in the post-race interview after stage 21. Pluga said it. He was like, Yeah, we were definitely holding back, like we got a big goal in front of us. Yeah, like not mincing words at all. Um, well, Chicone made things super fun, just watching him. He's an animator, he's he's I I wanted him to win. I I want to see a sunglasses throw. I'm that's that's like my number one coveted cycling moment right now. So occupying my top spot is a Giulio Chicone sunglass toss. Um, I really thought he might do it on, I think it was on stage uh 19 when Sepp won. Like, wasn't Chicone out there like with a pretty two-minute substantial lead or something like that? I mean, in the end, he got completely ranged. I I don't think any I just I don't think anybody could have beaten Sepcous that day. I mean, I think that he wanted it so bad that it just didn't matter. Yep, yep. He he knew to be in the breakaway and he knew he knew what he had to do. And I mean, I'm like I'm he's done it plenty of times before I don't give a shit what anybody says. That dude can climb his ass off. All right, he is a quality rider, and and as far as I'm concerned, like when you write the story of Jonas Van Gigo, you're right, you're also like writing the story of Sep Cus because Sepp Cus has been integral in every single one of his wins. All right. He's been at every single grand, he's the only rider that's been in every grand tour with Jonas since the beginning. Yeah, I was thinking about that like during his stage, just just just sort of considering the the Palmares of Sep Koos uh, you know, wins and otherwise, the things that he has seen and done in his career. I mean, he has been there for every bit of Vismoli's like success, essentially, like since the Primos Republic era. He is part of it, he's part of the success. He is he is the you know, he will go down in history as one of the greatest domestiques to ever arrive, and he's won a grand tour. All right, and all right, and to your point, you wanted to bring it up now that we're on now that we're talking about Sab Kus. No, we're talking about Chicone right now. We're talking about Chicone, but we're here. He completed his set two. Ah you're killing me. You're killing me. All right, yes, he did as well. Can we talk about that when we get to the other stuff? Sure. Stay on track with Chakone here. We're talking about the mountains. Uh I'm sure it had to have killed you when uh on stage 19, I believe, um, or maybe it was 20, that Jonas leaned over to Chicone when they were together headed in heading into the intermediate climb and was like, Don't worry, bro, I'm I'm not gonna go for this. It's it's your own. For points, yeah. I mean, dude, when he when he snatched the jersey back, I was like, oh, this isn't good because they're not. I knew they weren't gonna fight for that jersey. Well, Jonas, I mean, he gifted it to him. He 100% if it was if he was Tati Pagacchari, he would have taken that jersey 100%. Like, I think that shows the shows the distance between the types of riders and the types of competitors that those two guys are, too. Because you're right, I think you're right about that. Well, and at the end of the day, like Yonis is not is not chasing numbers the way Pog is. You know what I mean? He's chasing different kinds of numbers and different kinds of goals, but like Pog is a is a winning machine. Like Yonas has never done anything in a one-day spring classic or anything like that, whereas you know, Pog is utterly dominant in those things. So, you know, uh uh you know, ticking another box, it's it right, it's you it's pales in comparison. Um, so uh the but nonetheless, it was interesting to it Jonas getting to wear blue throughout that thing also made for something that I thought was very cool. Yonis got a win in his team kit, he got a win in the blue jersey, and he got two wins, three wins in the pink jersey. So, you know, just what a great set of set of two finish lines of photos. One, two, and two. Oh, was it one, two, and two? Yeah, one, two, and two. Yeah, yeah, that sounds right. Um, but uh yeah, very cool. So that's that's gonna lead us to finally like could this be the best of the other jersey stories of the week? My man Low Red Adam Sandler. That is my that is my guy. Afonso Ulario. Who what an what an absolute revelation. Well, his hid the like that stage five was the craziest stage that you will ever see where he took where he was able to grab the pink and Igor Arrieta came back and had that unbelievable win. Um, see our social media if you haven't seen it, it's posted up there. Um the you know, the reality is like what a story for this team. Hold the pink for like, I don't know, seven, eight days. You know what I mean? Bahrain Victorious was leading the Giro d'Atalia for like over a week. I mean, it's it's like that makes a great point. You know, we were just having the same conversation about Letal Trek. You know, we've talked about it with with with Visma, um, and we'll we'll talk more about it. Um this this Jiro was feast or famine. Like with a couple of exceptions, there was like a whole lot of success for for a couple of teams, and there was a whole lot of nothing for a bunch of other teams. And Bahrain Victorious is one of them. Like you said, they held the pink jersey for like what, 10-11 stages? I it was gonna be something like that, eight to eleven stages. I don't remember what it was exactly. They and they get it in like an unlikely scenario, very unlikely scenario, you know, with this breakaway win. And you get this guy who lalio is like got basically nothing on his palmares, and suddenly he's defending pink, which makes him de facto white as well, because he's correct two years old or something like that. And um and then he defends what then he defends the white jersey at the end. Right. The man was in a jersey for every single stage of the race except for the first one. I mean, that's just sick, right? And so and still had to defend it at the end, and and then they also that team comes away with a stage win with Alex Segaard. Yeah, incredible. I mean, just what a what a a an absolute because that is that is solidly a mid-tier team, what I would call a mid-tier team. That is not a super team. Um, they're a mid-tier team, but damn, they must be feeling so good. Um Hannah Walker, who, by the way, was just as good as as she just just as good and better as she always is. I mean, speaking of of Ulalio, the whole sunglasses moment with Hannah Walker and Ulalio sunglasses. She had three awesome moments. She kicked a spectator with a soccer ball. Yeah, that was great. She got the pink glasses from Olalio. And then she did you see the bit with the parrot? She had like a parrot on her arm. I saw a shot of a guy with a parrot, so it must have been the same parrot, but I didn't know. This week, just check out this week on the gram, and you will you will be able to go back and see Hannah Walker and the parrot. She she is so good at these things, man. Unbelievable. And and great. You know what? Her her uh her Sunday outfit um was as good as anything Orla wore the entire week. The white slacks with the pink vest. Um amazing. I mean, she does have the cyclists, she does have the cyclist hand, but she got that soccer jersey too one day and was wearing that. Yeah. Did you see that? Yeah. Yeah, she's phenomenal. And then Orla asks her on on stage 21. She's like, Oh, but somebody commented on her beautiful like pink outfit. And Orla's like, she's like, Oh, but do you have the glasses? And she's like, Yep, got them right here. I think the camera guy was holding them for because she leaned up in front of me. She's like, Got them right here, and pops them up on her head. I'm like, I love it. The way she fangirled out over getting those glasses from like the pink jersey rider was just like, I don't know if she was being real or not, but that was that was so awesome. I did want to mention she interviewed this guy, Franco Pellazzati, the DS from Bob Rain, several times. In the in the earlier part of the race, they were making this big joke about how he looked exactly like Matt Stevens, and the producers of the of the breakaway even like even like cut and pasted his face in there where Matt Stevens was supposed to be when they're doing their little their in house competition standings or whatever. Um but uh uh I was watching him. In his final interview that she did with him, this guy looks a lot more like two other people that I can think of. Number one, Bruce Springsteen, in a way. But if you get rid of the hair, if you just zero in on his face, that man looks like a young Robert De Niro. Interesting. Go back and look at it, man. I was like, holy cow, I was zoning out. Like, is De Niro could have played this guy? Um, so great competition there for the white jersey. This Pigonzoli, it just comes from out of nowhere and is looking super, super strong. I mean, they 100% they wrote off Eulalio to defend the pink jersey. Everyone knew that wasn't going to happen, but to his credit, he held it, as we said, for a long time, including, including weathering the TT. Yes. Man got through the TT and still held on to that pink jersey for another day or two after that. So that was super impressive. And then they were kind of writing him off for the white as well. Like it really looked like Pigonzoli was coming for him. I mean, that kid was looking so strong. Like, I mean, he was he was he was giving a Jonas a huge, huge turn on the front and then dropping off and then sitting there in third. Yes. Didn't didn't he come third on one of those stages that Jonas won? I mean, he was looking super strong, and it was just looking like it was going to be a matter of of you know time before he took before him out of that jersey. Talk about talk about domestique of of of of the race in the sense that he would peel off that big turn and then he'd go and sit on the competitors and just you know sit on their wheel the whole way up the hill. It's fantastic. Which is also doing work for Jonas. So unbelievable. I mean, just you know. Well, that's one thing that I've I've thought was kind of interesting. You know, on UAE, you know, Pogachar for you know has had Isaac Del Toro as sort of like the the the waiting in the wings, you know. Um uh Ayuso was around there for a while. But a rider like that has been largely absent at Vismo Lisa Bike. You know what I mean? They've they've got a lot of hitters, but but they were not like straight up GC guys, and now we're starting to see an air apparent possibly emerge on this team in the form of uh Piganzoli. So um, yeah, a really, really great storyline there, and really cool to see Ulalio defend it. You know what I mean? Like he deserved it. The guy just went hard. And the fact that on on stage 20, he popped off the front and put time back into back into Pigonzoli. You know, the the story of this guy's race up until the last day was losing a little time and losing a little time and it getting a little bit closer and a little bit closer. And there goes the pink jersey. Now the white he's got the white, and that's getting a little closer, a little closer, and a little closer. On the final day, he said, nah, nah, it's gonna go back out again. So, kudos to that man. Absolutely, absolutely. All right, so let's talk about some of the other stuff that we really liked from the week. The one-offs, go start. You want to start with Step? No, I want to I'd rather start with Michael Valgren. Honestly, like Valgren's win on Wednesday was one of the most heartwarming moments of the Jiro that I can think of. Dude, when I saw him pull that green pokeyball out, I knew exactly what it was, dude. Exactly what it was. I was like, that's a green pokeyball. And you know, he said if you if you caught any of his interviews, right? His son made that. His son made that for him, and he only carried it on a few stages. He didn't carry it on every stage. All right, but he did one of these exact moves in um in Cat was it Catalun. No, not Catalunya. Um what's what's the other uh Torreno Adriatico? He did the same, he did one of these same moves to take his first win in like many, many years, and then to pull that same thing off. And it and if you go to this week in Instagram when I when we post, you will see uh his power numbers were not crazy. Like it it's funny that he was able to win this. Oh my god, so so touching. What a moment for them. And it's I think it was his first grand tour. Yes, and completely saves the tour for EF. Yeah, EF was one of those teams that had had nothing. Nothing going on. Nothing going on. Yeah, that was huge. And thank goodness, because uh, as listeners of this show are well aware, we are, of course, big fans of the the biggest American team. Uh, I would say, well, I guess Letal Trek is kind of the biggest quasi-American team, but full American team. Yeah. Um, yeah. Uh that was great. Um wasn't it his first Grand Tour stage one? I believe so, yes. Yeah, so a wonderful story there. Um we'll go to Sep Koos now. Uh as you mentioned, he uh joins the 115 odd men who have won stages in all three grand tours. And in a beautiful little parallel, Jonas Vingegaard joined that club in this year's year to tell you too. The two of them, you know, they did Jonas did it a a week or two sooner than Sep did, but nonetheless. And then the same race. He got to and he got to be there, and it's like a mom was there, dude. Yes, and like the way you got to see the little behind-the-scenes stuff with his mom there, it was beautiful. And he said it the himself that the sacrifice these writers make and the time they spend away from their families is immense and and very long. And so the fact that he got to share that with his mom, like how like uh just well, and they showed they showed uh him, you know, sort of like before he had seen her. Um, sort of he was like in the backstage area right after the race, um, when they when he you know first made his way back there pre-interview. Um they had been talking about the fact that his mom was on site and everything, and and you know what a big deal it was, but you hadn't seen her yet. And the camera shot is looking at Sep, and he's got a look on his face like he's looking for something, and then boom, a smile just like melts across his face, this giant smile. And literally at that moment, I was like, he just saw his mom, and like one second later, boom, mom comes in from from frame right, and they give this huge hug, and I was like, that is beautiful, that's so beautiful. Um yeah, so what uh are were there other winners? I mean, the Arietta story, we already went over that. That was that was you know just the chair, the cherry on top of the UAE Jonathan Narvaez Sunday talk about you know making lemonade out of lemons for that team. Um I mean they probably the probably the funnest stage of the whole race, right? Oh, easily, easily, easily. At least that was probably the best 25 kilometers of the entire race. I'll put it to you that way. Yeah, that was that was so great. Um who else? The Astana guy got got the got the the race in the debacle sprint. Well, and then you had you had Betty Ole that won, and that was a really sweet moment as well. Yeah, that Betty Oll win was good. But um, yeah, for a lot of teams out there, not a whole lot of uh uh success. A lot of teams will be will be, I mean, FDJ and Picnic Post. I mean, these these teams are just like in a doghouse. They can't seem to do anything this year. Um Lotto Nothing from this race. No, nothing. Um X got a win. They got that they got the win from um what's his name? Not Colsett, but uh they get their win out of it, not Lechnison. What are you talking about? Which team? Uno X? Uno X? That's uh DeVernis. Yeah, Diverse Nas got that win. Um so they got something. Moby Star walks away with nothing, Pinarello, nothing, Tudor, nothing. Like a lot of teams gonna be gonna be hating life after this thing. So um I've said all I need to say about the Jiro. You got anything else? Nope. We got more Jiro talk though. Yeah, we'll sweep. We're switching to the women. We're switching to the women in just a minute. Stay with us. 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. We pivot now from the wonderful men's giro to the start of the women's giro d'Italia, which began began over the weekend on Saturday. Uh, and well, it was not looking great on a Saturday as it started off because ho hum, we got a win from Lorena Vievas, who smashed the competition by two and a half bike lengths on a sprint stage. Uh it's just getting old at this point. Maybe for you, but uh I every time she wins in a world tour race, I like it. Yeah, no, I know. For for the for the fantasy implications, uh, it's just great for you. Um, but uh, it's just boring, man. It's like it's like if she's there, like you know, she's gonna win. I mean, she just came up to the front with like 800 meters to go, sat there for a couple of pedal strokes, and then was like, bye everybody. Well, and then then what happened? Right, so I you you'll probably be better at uh talking us through this because basically I was very time crunched this this past week and this weekend especially. So I I got on this morning for the first time, and I watched the little preamble um before the before stage one, uh, which I have to say, like number one, that at least there's there's two commentators here. Very thankful for that. Number two, there's there's some pre-race stuff. We got Danny Rowe out there, and we got uh uh the other girl, uh, who is it? Danny Rowe and it's not Hannah Walker, but I can't think of what her name is. Um anyways, uh so happy to see all that. Um saw pretty became abundantly clear pretty quickly that it was gonna come down to a bunch sprint, and I literally fast-forwarded to like two kilometers to go and watch from there, and Lorena Weavis Vivus wins. Um and it was the same old story. Balsamo never got closer than two bike lengths, and boom, I went to the second stage. Uh went through, I feel like I went through a little bit of the preamble stuff, but like almost immediately, like a graphic just kind of came up on stage that it was just like Lorena Vebus, or it was like it's like Lorena Vebis, like on the title on the top of the box, and then it was like, well, informational, just FYI, disqualified for her bike being too light. I'm like, what is that how you found it out? Or or I found it out. I found it out between the stages. It happened over it happened in the evening. I got wind of it on social media after the stage, um, and was just utterly floored by the news of it. Um I will go on record right now as saying that um I think it's complete and utter bullshit. All right. Um so essentially her bike was weighed after the stage, after her win, and it was found to be twenty grams lighter than the minimum, all right, of six point eight kilograms, which is a point three percent difference. It is for just so that we're clear of what twenty grams is in in bike terms, um, it is uh two to three links of chain. All right. Right. I believe I believe a nickel is weighs five grams. So it's like the weight of the game. Four U.S. nickels. Four U.S. nickels. Um, it is also it is also like the the weight of a of a bike cage, you know, a bottle cage, like a carbon fiber bottle cage. Um, but where I have the problem with it is is that this exact same bike with this exact same setup, they have used multiple times this year where it has been weighed and been found on all occasions to be over the classified weight. All right, not close, like over the weight. I I think there is going to be more to this story. Um, and this is where this this right here is where things for me start to get a little bit murky because I completely understand what you're saying. Man and Lloyd is the other person that's with Danny Rowe, man and Lloyd. Um I I get that. They're like, well, it's the same bike, blah, blah, blah. But I know that there's there's no way it's just like you know, Lorraine Vivis finishes a race and they throw the bike on the truck and then they pull it out for the next race. Like between every race, between every stage, this bike is being tinkered with. So regardless but they're but it's the exact same setup. Go ahead. Let me make my point. So I'm sure I'm I'm sure it is, but nonetheless, it is being tinkered with, and when you're talking about very, very tiny amounts of weight, things could possibly happen. That's all I'm saying. Things could possibly happen. Okay, um in the in the same day the bike was weighed, okay, and at one point it was well over, and at one point it was well under, and they don't know if the scales were calibrated correctly for where, you know, for sea level, there's a lot, there's a lot of gray area here that is, in my opinion, questionable. I mean, SD works has already come out and said that they're filing a lawsuit. Yeah, it needs to it needs to be um really really investigated like deeply. I mean, the decision was made by who the race organizer? UCI. Oh, the UCI makes is uh is in charge of of doing that kind of testing, so um, yeah, it just seems and and and to just patently DQ her from the entire race just feels so political because that that feels like a punishment that is way worse than the supposed crime, which is already questionable, as you've said. Um it it seems really weird, like the there had to have been some kind of error, and it like the fact that like the based on the point that you made, where um you know this is the exact same setup that she's been running all year and it's passed every single time, but suddenly the setup is now 20 20 grams too light. I mean, that seems inexplicable. And for them to just straight up not even question anything and just to make uh as as basically as harsh of a as harsh of a decision as they can possibly make. I mean, this to me sounds like it's worse than somebody or like intentionally on the line or something like that. You know what I mean? Like, um it's a harsher punishment than somebody deviating on a line and pushing somebody into an unsafe situation. Yeah, I mean that this to me, it just feels political. It feels like there's there's got to be more to the story. And look, and I don't and I don't want to take anything away from Elisa Balsamo, but I think it's pretty goddamn convenient that an Italian goes into the pink jersey. But you said it's the UCI, so you know you just say, man. Look, that's that's why there's more number one. To me, it's very questionable. To me, it's very questionable. I completely agree. You know, I think that she is dominant, and I think she dominated the last time she was here. And boy, did it like it just has the air of home cooking on it, man. Like, I I don't know. I, you know, I I don't know. Like I said, I I'm I'm I think it's overly harsh. I think it is uh, you know, I I I don't know. I you know what I mean. I I really hope that it's investigated. I hope that you know, but I mean it's at this point by disqualifying her, it doesn't even matter. Even if they gave her back this, even if they somehow come to come to it later on and say that no, she did win the stage, it doesn't matter. She's gone, she's out of the race. It's it's complete it's it to me, it's completely ridiculous. It's it's a a complete overcorrection for something that should have been handled, in my opinion, completely differently. I just I don't know, man. Four almonds, you're talking about the different talking about four almonds. I mean, it's ridiculous. No, I it the the I mean I just I it's inexplicable to me. Okay, just what's the margin of error? Just relegate her on the stage, you know, and at least allow her to remain in the race, but to just like summarily just boom, you're out of the race. Like uh on the first, I just that's crazy. By the way, it like she had something to do with the weight of her bike. Also, another reason why why do you disqualify her? Like we really did DQ for like this, just yeah. So it's you know, for for podcasting purposes, this is gonna be great. Like, this is gonna be a great story to follow. I really, really hope that there is some serious investigation because you know people are gonna be talking about this for a long, long while. Um let's let's move on. My next statement is thank God, Balsamo 1 stage two. Thank God. Because at least now she can feel good about having the pink jersey on her back. You know what I mean? How about how about the fact that it was a the one, two, three, both days were exactly the same. Exactly the same, yeah. Oh, that reminds me on the men's side, uh I believe on stage 20, the top ten finishers on the stage were the top ten finishers of the GC, and it was almost in the exact same order. Wow, that's crazy. Because Gall pipped Jai at the at the line, so it was definitely it was definitely Jonas Gall Jai. Uh, and it was kind of close for the rest of them. But yes, there was uh yeah, same three, same three riders. And if you look at them on PCS, you'd you'd almost be fooled into thinking they were all Italians because the Italian and the and the Irish flag looked damn close to each other, especially when it's a little tiny version on PCS. Yeah. Um yeah, so and full disclosure, I love seeing Balsamo in the pink jersey. That just like makes me so freaking happy. And I mean, when she won that stage, but I also think I just think it's tainted. I think the whole I think it I think that part of it is just tainted a little bit. It is tainted. I mean, she there's no chance in hell that she would even be in it uh at this point um if Vebus was still in the race. Um well I shouldn't say that. If if they had not DQ'd Vebus, but relegated her and taken the win away from her, that would have made Balsamo in, that would have put Balsamo in pink, and she would have the bonus seconds. If Vebus then wins the next day, but Balsamo comes second or third and gets bonies, she retains pink. Correct. So there's a chance that had the punishment for this been a little different, not a lot different. A lot different would have been like there was no punishment, and Vebus is in pink, and Vebus is in pink in day two, because she's gonna win both days easily. Um, but had they given her a slightly more mild punishment, Balsamo could have possibly maintained that pink jersey through day two and been able to feel a little bit better about it. Um so it is tainted, it will forever be tainted. Um if that then there's no there's no scenario in which she you know wins it in the end. So I guess it'll always be tainted for, and that's just that. Nonetheless, I I'm happy for her. I'm happy that she got it. Yeah, I don't want to tell I don't want to take it take anything away from from Elisa Bossaman. When sh when she's fifty years old and she's living in that, you know, house that she just moved into in a new neighborhood, and her and her husband invite some people over for dinner, uh, they will look lovingly across the room to the wall of the, you know, whatever, and see a big ass picture of her winning a stage of the giro d'Italia in a full pink regalia, and she can tell that story however the fuck she wants to. I agree. I agree. So good honor. Uh hopefully the race will start hiding up from here because like two uh nailed on sprint stages is whatever. I agree. We'll see. It should be it should be a good race. We got we got we got a bunch of bunch of hitters in here. We got Demi, we got ELB. Um Cassia, unfortunately. Um, but we got Marlon Roysa here from MobiStar. That should that should make things interesting. Did you speak of Casia? Did you hear have you heard the Casia news? No. Well, well, let's let's leave let's just go ahead and and leave the women's jurors for now and pivot to news, and you can lead off with Casia. Um, so um uh something that I picked up on this week, uh Daniel Benson, all right, perpetual uh the most beloved, the most beloved writer in all of the pro cycling. I that's uh yeah, okay, thank you. You can you said it even better than me. Is reporting that Cassia Nemo Doma to Little Trek is on the horizon. Oh wow, shit. I I thought you were gonna go a completely different direction like with that and be like Cassia Noodoma has been found doping. I was in no so Cassia the Little Trek. I mean, she's been she's been with Canyon Canyon Tram for a long, long time. So well, and coming out also kind of around this is the one of the main sponsors for Canyon Trams on to crypto is in some legal trouble. Oh, yeah, I'd heard about that. I I think they are no longer a sponsor of that team. If I wow, yeah. So, and I don't know if that has something to do with it as well. Well, they could use a uh strong GC rider because um who do they have? I mean, Lowe's Atahist is more of a domestique type. Um Neem Fisher Black does not seem to be on that kind of uh uh a level. Uh Ryon Marcus, kind of same. Um Amanda Spratt, her her time has come and gone. Sharon Van Anroy. Uh so can I can I add another little wrinkle to the story? So I I buried the lead. So um there might be a couple of other riders coming with her to Little Trek. All right to to uh one er one early year superstar and one uh monument uh season superstar, Paula Blasi and Ollie Wallaston are also rumored to be going to Little Trek. Super teams. We talked about it last week. Wow. Wow, Paula Blasi. Yeah, be a huge get for that team. Oh my god, a huge get. All right, that's wild. Um you uh mentioned that with this could have been on last week's show, or the timing was weird, but that you wanted to uh talk a little bit about the Antwerp port epic. I watched it and it went in one ear and out the it went in one eye and out the other. Um I know who won, but go ahead and talk about whatever it was that you wanted to talk about with that race. Alright. So I like this is a race that is not like somewhat on my was never really on my radar. So last week while we were recording, I had this race going live on my TV, and we made the com I made the comment to you and you pulled it up to see like how kind of crazy this race looked. It was like going through like some farm country. So what's what is really really cool about this race, um, it's a wild race through the unrelenting flat terrain defined by the industrial docklands, exposed winds, unpaved farm tracks, and brutal cobbles of the port of Antwerp. Okay, which is which is in the port of Antwerp Bruges is Europe's second largest seaport, trailing only Rotterdam. It's located in Flanders, Belgium. It extends over 13,000 hectares and merges the ports of Antwerp and Zo Zebruges, um, handling roughly 290 million tons of cargo annually. It serves as a crucial global gateway in Europe's largest integrated chemical cluster. All right. So they had a they had a nine-rider breakaway, all right, that managed to hold all the sprinters at bay because this was everybody thought this was going to be a Tim Merlier slam dunk, but this nine-rider breakaway gets out and stays gone, working hard as shit to stay away. Um Sandy Dujardin, all right, and Dries Dubont. Yes. We have to say that every time his name comes up. Um I do in my notes, I have MCC winner, Sandy Dujardine. Um with Dries Debont, Perstrand Hoganess, and some others get through this grueling one-day race, and it's a real game of cat and mouse going into the last 10 kilometers. Yeah. Yeah. Coming into the finish, it was it was clear the break was going to make it. Dries de Bont and Perstrand were getting cagey with Perstrand taking a late flyer with less than a kilometer to go, and he wins by a country mile over Paul McGill and uh Dries de Bond. And then there was an amazing drone shot in like the last two kilometers where they were like flying over the port following the race. But it was just, it was, it's it's super cool. Like it's it's something like I've never seen. They're like literally riding over like farm tracks and dirt roads with like grass in the middle. There's cobbles, there's you know, open spaces with literally no protection from the wind. It is this wild thing. And if you scroll down to my notes, I threw some like really cool photos in to where you can actually see the the the like the actual roads, like and the cobbles. I mean, these are some big friggin' cobbles, bro. And you know not only not only that, but then like they get into the the city part of it, and it's well that's a port. It's not a city, that is the port they are riding through. The port, right. I I get it, but like it's you know big, wide, giant paved roads, roads that are you know normally have like massive vehicles running on them and stuff like that. I mean, it's like just wide open. I mean, the the the variety of uh of terrain that they go on in this one race is just wild. That that the a race that ends in an area like that could could be running through areas with that are basically like dirt paths through the woods. I mean, it's I know pretty wild. That's crazy. So um super cool race. Perhaps John Hogganis, who has been, you know, winning throughout the season so far. Um really, really good rider, seems super strong. Um, definitely, you know, my opinion, there is gonna be their classics guy of the future, because this dude is he looks huge. I don't know why, but he just has that he has a presence on the bike, and he's a he's a ridiculously good looking guy. Um but you know, really I really fun little race, man. I agree with like that whole finish was great, and the drone shot comes with one kilometer to go. Um, it's when they do the big hairpin that goes right next to that crazy building that's got that wild, like that wild, like silver clad trapezoid thing up on the on the top. Yeah. Um yeah, yeah, yeah. Really great, great little shot. It was only it was only 15 seconds long or something, just as they made that hairpin bend, but um that led right into Hogan's win. Uh yeah, heck of a good race. It was it was really cool. The way they were throwing everything at each other for those last few kilometers. I mean, it's just like one attack after the next, and just guys riding at their absolute edge of their limit. Really cool. It was a really, really cool race. Um there was I did have another piece, I did have another piece of news. Um Lot of Capecki and Axel Merckx got quietly married uh last week. Cool. Good for it. Good for Lotta Kapeki. Capecki and Axel Merckx. That is um that's very cool. Quite quite the quite the power couple. Beautiful. Any other uh news stories before we pivot to our final that is that was that was I mean there's other things that have been going on, but nothing in my opinion that's uh show worthy. That's the big the big news this week. Gotcha. Um let's talk for uh the last time in 2026 uh about Orla Shanoe's outfits. Um I think the theme has been that we're a little down on uh her outfits this year as compared to previous years. Did week three raise raise it up any for you? Um not on Tuesday or Wednesday. I did particularly like um third I honestly everything but Sunday I really really liked. I don't know why she she should have flipped Friday for Sunday and and had the pink on on Sunday. I loved her. She looks great in red, dude. She needs more red in the outfit in her outfits because her outfit on Saturday was was so awesome. Um But I think she looks pretty good in pink too, but you'll notice as I said last week, her best looks are are sleeveless looks, and just look Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, sleeveless, sleeveless, sleeveless, sleeve, sleeveless. She loves Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. She was sleeveless all week. Yeah, yeah, that is true. Um I will say though that Sunday, I feel like, you know, that's that's like PTA mom look. I don't know. That green just is does nothing for me. Yeah, I wasn't crazy about that either. And for the final day, I think a strange choice. Why wasn't she wearing the Friday look on Sunday? That's what I that's what I'm saying. Why would she not have gone with the pink? And the fit was a lot better. But basically, um the Thursday, the Friday, and the Sunday are three versions of the exact same thing. I totally agree. I totally agree. Suit cut vest, uh Billowy slacks, matching color, um, exact same thing. So yeah, I gotta say, like um she's been braver in the past. Yeah, I don't know. I would love to hear her talking on it. You know how how I'd love to hear about the whole process, how the outfits are chosen. There's a if you go to her Instagram, she does give a lot of insight. All right, I'll check it out. Um, I'll get to the bottom of it. I want to know what's going on. But um, yeah, little let down by the uh Orla's Orla's outfits. Here's what I'm not let down though by Orla Shanaway. The woman is awesome. No, she's fine. Um I adore her accent, and she is an incredible host. Um they did a bunch of remotes this this week, which this week and this and for this whole Jiro, which I kind of fascinated by. And there was one where she began out on the street doing her like solo, her yeah, her patented little solo thing where she like starts off solo, gives a little intro, and then walks over and joins up with the boys. And she actually did that in a in a live, actual, you know, real-world space and not a virtual studio. The picture from the picture from Thursday is from outside. Yeah. Yeah, so that was cool. Um the consummate broadcaster, she's phenomenal. Um, all right, give us the damage. All right, so we are so I I it's it's it was too hard for me to try to figure out because there were so many little things. But the way the month of May ends is with you still at 777. But I have cut it down to a I don't know what the actual math is, but I am up to 614. So you are I have I have back under the 200 mark, and I was damn near 300 at the beginning of the beginning of May. Yeah, you're at 163, it looks like. Yeah, so um the the reality is like I needed this month to stay in it, because it who knows what the next month, because I mean, obviously I'm not gonna have Jonas, but I I picked up um I pick up Iuso we back in, Almeida will be back in, you know. So uh I got my I got Peterson, I've got uh obviously a lot of a lot of women riders. I got Demi. Well, the loss of the loss of Lorena Vebas was kind of big for you right here, here and there, but you got Demi Volering getting ready to torch everybody anyway. So I'm thinking you'd be hurting that much. I've also kind of I've also kind of come to the conclusion of this. I think that all of our riders should just remain active throughout because like we have riders that have taken you know minor injuries that are gonna be out for a minute, and and as far as I'm concerned, I just think we just go with the full stable team just keep it. Yeah, yeah. I think it's just easier that way. Um makes sense. So, but that that's it, man. We got we got some we got some, I mean, you know, I I got some ground to make up for sure, but depending on how things go, man, we could, you know, I could I could definitely end up making up some making up some ground. But you know, we've got big races. We got the Dauphinet coming up, we've got uh Tour of the Alps, we've got, you know, uh obviously the the women's Giro. So, you know, we you know just it real depends. You know, you've got ELB going, I've got Volering going, so you know, it'll be interesting. That is for sure. Um yeah, this and the the the fantasy league is uh continues to to stay interesting, I would say. So um let us now move to our sun dappled ride in the broom wagon. What have you got for us this week? Well, so I I've been I I've you know I really like researching the because obviously I don't have a lot of history with cycling, it's only four or five years old. So I like going and finding tidbits about these races from the past. And today I'm gonna talk about a funny one, and I will link some videos in the uh in the uh comments or in the uh in the in the show notes in the description. Um but in 2017 Tom Dumelin on his way to winning the Jiro had a very, very iconic moment where uh in the middle of the race, all right, wearing the leader's pink jersey, he had himself a bit of an emergency. And so he pulls over to the side of the road, and the commentators are like, what is he doing? As he starts to strip off his shirt, they're like, Oh, is he is he going for a clothing change? Wait, wait, nope, oh, and then they have to run, they have to immediately move the camera over as Tom Dumblin, all right, in in the high stake stage 16 race leader Tom Dumlin was struck by severe gastrointestinal distress on the approach to the umbrella pass. In a highly unscripted and desperate moment, he pulled over, stripped off his jersey, and dived into the roadside ditch to answer nature's call. He lost massive amounts of time, but managed to recover enough in the following days in a thrilling comeback and win the entire Jiro. Hats off to Tom Dumelin and his roadside almost accident. That was some crazy shit. Um literally. That's a wild video. We'll we will have the link in the show notes for sure. You must go and watch it. Uh if you're wondering why is he taking off his jersey if he needs to drop a little deucey, uh, the reason is because cyclists wear bib shorts. And in order to get those shorts down, you got to get those bibs off from over your shoulders and down and down. So he had to, he literally pulls over. He is, you know, he's a man on a mission. He gets that jersey straight off, and they were about a fraction of a second away from getting the turd actually tumbling out of the man because uh a car went by just as those drawers are dropping down. Uh, that is hilarious. Yes, thank you for uh for reminding us of that hilarious incident, uh, which did not affect uh Tom Dumulan in the least. He went on to win that Giro d'Italia. Yes, he did. All right, what do you got? So um tangential to uh pro road cycling uh is the sport of gravel bike racing. And as we've seen in recent years, uh many um many uh pro pro racers uh have dipped their toes into the gravel uh area um in varying ways. Uh so I want to talk about the big gravel race that took place this past weekend that is called Unbound Gravel. Uh and I'll do a little recap for you of the action this weekend, and then I can give you a little bit of some few historical nuggets about it. So, uh gravel racing, if anybody doesn't know, um it is basically off-road cycling done on bikes that are cousins to road bikes. They have slimmer tires than mountain bikes, um, and they have uh drop drop handlebars like on road bikes. They look like road bikes from a distance. Um, you get up closer and they're a little bit different. They are not doing like crazy downhills over big rocks and stuff like guys are doing on mountain bikes. Um, they are basically going over like country roads, farm roads, gravel roads, etc. But they're they're still on roads per se versus trails. Um the sport has become incredibly popular over, I would say, like the past 20 years. And uh this year, 2026, marks the 20th anniversary of the Unbound Gravel Race. So it's got a pretty good history. And in the past, like I would say five to 10 years, it's really, really exploded in popularity with, as I said, the enter the entrance of some pro riders and more high-profile people, uh, some big sponsors coming on board and just like much more of a global presence in the you know social media era, et cetera, et cetera. Um, there's a number of different classifications that uh riders can ride in, but the marquee events are the men's and women's 200-mile uh races. They have a 100-mile and they have a 200-mile. The big one is the 200-mile. And that's like 300 kilometers, right? 200 miles would be like 300 kilometers. That's more be like 350 um or 320 or something like that. Uh that is unreal. These races take like eight hours. Like it's it's wild. Um, I know. I spent some time watching it. So uh it takes place out in Kansas, um, in uh outside of a town called Emporia, Kansas, I believe. Um little college town out in Kansas that has really, really embraced this race and seen it as a big opportunity to market their town. And the town has had a big revive resurgence as a result of this race. Um, they uh I thought this was interesting. That town has likes to lean into all sorts of quirky out uh you know second-tier sports. Uh, they once hosted the Disc Golf World Championships in Emboria. Um, so real quick, this year, the uh men's race was won by Mads Verts Schmidt of the specialized off road team. Um, 20 kilometers into the race, there's a giant muddy mess that every single rider in the race went through. Uh, they all bogged down, they were doing hike a bike, as the announcers called it. Where they're picking up their bikes and running to get past this like massive, gloppy, gloopy mess. And then it was just muddy for the next like couple of kilometers. And every single rider in the race was literally just covered. Their entire front of their bodies was just covered in mud, tip tip to toe, just one big brown just monster on top of a bike that was also covered in mud. Um they I thought it was interesting as they went through the pit areas, they were getting like pressure washes, like they had these like battery-powered pressure washers giving them like drivetrain drivetrain cleanings and everything. Um did you catch that they can't that they have to refill their own water? They can't like take water. That I did not notice. Yeah, there's a lot of interesting quirks. They're allowed to carry cell phones, they're allowed to cut they're allowed to contact their team via cell phone if they want. Um so basically, there's a there's a breakaway group. Um Verz Schmidt is part of the group, but ultimately breaks away and wins by a huge margin. This guy rode for Israel Israel Premier Tech for a number of years. He's won a Toreno stage and two uh Denmark stages. He's a Danish guy. Um Specialized just released a uh gravel bike called the Crux 5. Uh came out literally like two weeks ago, and all three riders on the men's podium were on that bike. So pretty pretty good advert for that bike. Uh, the women's race also won by the specialized off-road team. And I'm I'm guessing that uh Sophia Gomez Villefant was on that bike as well. Um, much more exciting race. Had a big group of uh leaders out for not a big group, but a group of like four leaders out in front that was pretty much established more than halfway through the or less than halfway through the race. Uh there was a moment where a train got in front of uh or stopped the chase group, and at that point it was like game over. It's gonna be one of these four women. There's no way that group was getting back on after that train stopped them. Uh there was, I guess there was one woman that was in front of the train but wasn't part of the group. She bridged up, so it was a group of five going into the into the uh finish. Um specialized off-road had two riders in there. Um G Schurz uh was the other one alongside Sofia Gomez Vilafan. And uh five up sprint going into the very narrow finishing straight. Vilafon attacked, and nobody uh except for her teammate could even make a run at her. Uh trick special or specialized finish one-two in the uh in the women's race. Real quick. I've never seen people so exhausted as they are at the end of that race. So brutal. So brutal. Um, real quick, a little history. Though it was begun in 2006, it was called Dirty Kanza, 34 riders taking the start back then. Now they they're literally hundreds of people. Um, it was part of an endurance mountain biking racing series called Dirt Love and Good Times Tour. Um, it was real, real long back in the day, um, 300 plus miles. Uh it it came in the wake of a race called the Trans-Iowa race, which was like a long point-to-point race across Iowa, that they purposely made it really hard to keep the number of competitors down. They wanted to keep it grassroots and special and secret. And uh there was one year where it was like so bad that literally not one rider finished. No one. There's not a single finisher. Forget about a winner, there wasn't even a finisher. Um, but this area of Kansas is like a really cool place for this kind of racing. It's too hilly and bumpy to be farmland. It's like out on the edge of the prairie, and that makes for just like perfect environs for these for these kind of races, you know, rolling hills and you know, all kinds of dirt tracks all through the area, and it's just uh it's just a cool race. Um, another couple quick facts, they changed the name to Unbound in 2018 because Kanza is a somewhat derogatory name for the indigenous peoples of the area, the Kaw Nation. So they got rid of that. That's where the name Kansas comes from. Um, Lachlan Morton is kind of a famous pro writer that participated in this race. If anybody knows anything about him, he's like a real interesting guy. Um, events doing really well. It's on the come up, and uh, I suggest you look into it if it's something that interests you. That's going to be all for this week. Join us next week for full coverage of the rest of the Women's Year at Italia. More stories from around the world of professional road cycling. 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. Beyond the Slipstream is a part of the Harporama 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.
