Pretty in Pink S2E31

Today on the show, history has repeated itself in a big, big way. Last week, we discussed Jonas Vingegaard’s dominant win in the Men’s Giro d’Italia, and along with it, his entry into an elite club in the history of Men’s pro cycling: the riders who have won all three grand tours over the course of their careers. Notably, Jonas beat Tadej Pogacar to this accomplishment, though few would bet against Pogacar not joining the club sometime in the near future. Nonetheless, it was a huge moment for the Dane, and we loved every minute of it. And now here we are, one calendar week later, and we’ve witnessed the most dominant rider in the Women’s pro peloton accomplish the very same thing: Demi Vollering has won the Women’s Giro d’Italia and joins an even more elite group of now just TWO women to have ever won all three grand tours in their career. And while her win didn’t come with quite the level of ease that Vingegaard displayed last month, in the end, her power, her smarts, and her class left no doubt in anyone’s mind of her place atop women’s cycling at this moment, and her place in the history books forever. We’ll dig into all of that and more today, plus update you on some other news from around the world of pro cycling, we’ll do a tightening Fantasy league update, and as always, we’ll finish out with a ride to the TOP of the Colle della Finestre 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. To jump in the saddle and tighten up those shoes, the road awaits.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Last week we discussed Jonas Vingegaard's dominant win in the men's Jared Italy, and along with it, his entry into an elite club in the history of men's pro cycling. The riders who have won all three grand tours over the course of their careers. Notably, Jonas beat Tade Pagashar to this accomplishment, though few would bet against Pagashar not joining the club sometime in the near future. But nonetheless, it was a huge moment for the Dane, and we loved every minute of it. And now here we are, one calendar week later, and we've witnessed the most dominant rider in the women's pro Peloton accomplish the very same thing. Demi Vollering has won the Women's Jiret Italia and joins an even more elite group of now just two women to have ever won all three grand tours in their career. And while her win didn't come with quite the level of ease that Vinkegaard displayed last month, in the end, her power, her smart, and her class left no doubt in anyone's mind of her place atop women's cycling at this moment, and her place in the history books of forever. We'll dig into all of that and more today. Plus, an update you on some other news from around the world of pro cycling. We'll do a tightening Fantasy League update. And as always, we'll finish out with a ride to the top of the Cola de Fenestra in the broomwagon. What a big week in cycling we had. A lot to get into. We will jump right into it. Um, I just want to point out that I'm wearing all black for Anna Von de Bregen because she was literally buried yesterday.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

I thought you were gonna say you were wearing all black in solidarity in solidarity with team uh FDJ United Suez and their all-black jerseys, feeling like a teammate of Dami's today. Well, I'm once again wearing my pink hat, and I have my my pink jersey displayed back here as we finish up what has been an absolutely brutal Jiro in terms of my fantasy cycling team. But we're gonna be getting into that. But good God, the Jiro the Jiro has later the Jiro has made me its bitch for the past month.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

It's alright. I needed it, I needed it. All right. So uh obviously, if if you are unawares, Demi Vollering won the Jiard Italia uh with a extremely dominant performance yesterday. Uh putting Ana Vonda Bregan to the wheel and uh securing the pink jersey on the final day with just an absolute master class on uh you know how to take control of a race. I mean, she did such a wonderful job. You know, she she got the separation at the exact right time, she descended well, you know, she got into a breakaway, you know, with the with the front group, you know, was able to bridge over and um make a just absolute stellar run all the way to the finish, never letting Anna Vanabreag and get back into it. And in the meantime, literally dragging uh uh uh Niedermeyer to a podium, you know, victory or you know, podium place. Uh it was a amazing final stage of the women's gyro. A great race overall, but what a just a stunning finish, you know, to a a race that had been great throughout the week, might maybe minus the the ice fall situation on on the second to last stage where we kind of got a truncated finish. But uh, I mean, other than that, it was a great week of racing, you know, marred with a little bit of controversy, but we'll get into that later.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

Uh yeah, she takes uh two stage wins and the blue jersey en route to her uh overall leaders' jersey win, and uh with it joins the history books. We'll we'll get into that later. Um, but the race overall, I thought was um really exciting, um, with some pretty unexpected shit. Now, the the obviously last week we discussed the first really big unexpected thing, which was the the uh against her will departure of uh Lorena Vebas. Um uh a uh an ejection, a disqualification, which I I think is universally agreed upon from what I've been reading this week, uh, that was complete and utter bullshit. So um I absolutely feel for her. You know, I can separate my my fantasy league manager uh from my real person and understand that like it was an absolute travesty, um what happened. But as cycling often goes, one one woman's downfall led to another woman's, you know, just dream scenario. And while, as we discussed last week, it kind of sucks for her to have taken over the lead of that race in the second stage through a disqualification. Um, and that, you know, there's a big giant asterisk on it, I would say that Alisa Balsamo's week nonetheless still pretty damn great.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Absolutely. I I don't want to, you know, and and despite my personal feelings on the person on the situation, I don't want to take away from what she was able to accomplish. I think it, you know, for an Italian rider to dominate that, you know, the points race and you know, basically win all the sprints that that there were. I you know, I think it's a great thing for her. I really do. Um, you know, I do I think it would have happened if Weebus had stayed in the race, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

But you know I mean Weavis probably would have won all of those. Every literally uh uh Balsamo's race would have been that would have been Weebus' race. I 100% agree. Exactly like that.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

Uh at the same time, I well I just think that there's like I I don't know. I for me this it just feels it feels it feels too too perfect that they eliminate the only competition to the Italian rider on day one.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Again, we we already litigated this last week. I don't I don't but I don't make that I don't make that Balsamo's fault. No, that's I don't think she was she was she was making phone calls saying we gotta get her disqualified. So um and I and I and I guarantee you that on at least one occasion in Elisa Balsamo's career, she exited a race for whatever reason, be it a crash, a DQ, a whatever, and somebody else won a subsequent stage of that race because she wasn't there. So it is cycling, and I so that's why I I I I can't take it away from her, you know.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

No, I and I don't want to. I just I agree with what I agree with what you said that I think that the the punishment did not fit the crime. And I think I think the UCI could have handled it better, I think they could have weighed, you know, weighed the bike more, whatever. It doesn't matter. It's it it's got done, it's dusted, it's gone, you know, it it's what could have been, but what did happen is Elisa Bausmo was able to come away with the Chicklamino and had you know probably the best grand tour of her career, and I don't and I want her to have that. I do.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Yeah, yeah, and I mean her the wins that she did have, every one of them was completely dominant. I mean, like yes, she she crushed everybody.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

She only had one competitor in this race, and she was eliminated on the first day.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Yeah, I mean, and and not only did she crush everybody, but good lord, the Lucinda brand leadout is one of like the choicest pieces of cycling in all of pro cycling right now. A Lucinda brand leadout. That woman is amazing. I love, I love just seeing what like just seeing her operating in on in road cycling after having like drilled so much of her um in in cyclocross into my head over the winter months. You know, it's like my my my concept of her as a writer sort of changed, and so now it just seems crazy, you know, even though my first awareness of her was as a road cyclist, and you know, it's just it's it's just weird, but man, she's good.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

Yeah, she's very, very good.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

She's very she could collect it on, she's a great interview, too. Um so it's okay. It's a good last thing on Balsam, I just wanted to get that out of the way, I guess. You know, because that's not the real story of this gyro by any means. But um, love that she got she got photographs of uh three different three different uh jersey setups with wins in this race. She she won. Um no no. Oh no, no, she did not get her first win in the team kit. No. I thought she had gotten her first win in the team kit. No, she's gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

She technically did. She technically did. She just didn't not on the line. So technically, technically she wore her regular jersey and she did win the regular the first stage. So yes. She technically won in her in her team kit.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

Well, except that I'm I'm uh I'm I'm thinking in terms of the actual photographs that she gets to hang on the wall.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

Yeah, so she didn't she's not hanging that photograph on the wall.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

She had four she had four wins. Um two of the photos are her in pink and one of them is her in red. So still good. Still pretty sick. Um so should we get into the the T?

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um, you know, I I assumed that Marlon Roysa was gonna dominate this, and turned out it was Anna Vanderbreken.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

Well, it looked it looked for a long time like it was gonna be Marlon Roysa.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

Yes, it was. Yes, it did.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

She went a fair bit earlier than uh Vanderbreken, then then Demi, then Elisa. They all came after her, so she sort of she sort of snatched the early marker. That she is. Um notably, uh sh when she went into the hot seat, she took it from someone who had been in it for a little while before that. Um Erska Ziegart.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

Yes, who had a great race, top ten, by the way, for Erska.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Um so yeah, Marlon was looking pretty comfortable, and I was feeling like, well, thank goodness, I finally got something going on in a giro d'Italia. And then old Anna Vanderbreken came through and was like, what? What'd you think you're doing, little girl? Step aside because I'm gonna be I'm I'm taking a full minute and what six seconds out of you.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

I don't think any of us expected what we saw out of Anna von der Bregen on that time trial. I mean, it's at least I certainly didn't. I didn't expect her to put a what was it like a minute and a half into the into the into the GC group.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

I mean, that's that that's like a Filippo Ghana type, you know, domination of a time trial. I mean, who who's nobody could have predicted her having that day.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

And if you looked at the profile of that T T, it was 100% uphill. It went downhill for like for like a half a kilometer, and then you were climbing the entire rest of the way climbing. And it was interesting to see like the various riders and like what kind of choices they made in terms of their um setups because uh Roysa set that early mark on a road bike. Um, Damie, Damie went T T bike, von de Bregen went T T bike, um slightly modified, but they both had like skis on the front and they just had the low profile uh wheels. Um longer Borghini went with the road bike. And like, yeah, Von de Bregen just just turned that engine on and got things rolling. She never ever got out of the skis the entire way up. Um master class from a master, you know.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

That is absolutely the truth. I mean, she man, I just you know, I mean she's look, she's a great rider. I just I I up until that moment, I was like, I would not have put her, I would not have put her in in you know, possibility to actually win this race. You know what I mean? I really assumed it would come down to Roysa volering in Longa Morgini with her, you know, maybe a fourth, maybe a fifth. And the fact that she was able to, you know, move into the pink, hold the pink for multiple days, and you know, still you know, be there in the end definitely surprised me. I mean, she her form this year is way better than it was last year.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

Yeah, and the fact that she did do that just made the race so so so much more interesting, I feel like. You know what I mean? Because suddenly it was like it was like it was a big enough margin that there was some question as to whether Damie could get it back. And that that whole dynamic took on even more like interest because of what happened with the Colo della Fernestra. Um so yeah, I just I loved it.

SPEAKER_02 14:43

I am convinced that they uh that you know that FDJ had to change their plan. The truncated stage on what is that, stage seven, stage eight, I guess stage eight. Stage seven or stage eight. I think it's I think it's eight. Oh no, eight, you're right. Yeah. So the truncated stage on on stage eight, changing the finish of it, I think, completely changed how FDJ was going to attack that race, because I think that they were going to attack towards the end of that climb, and they never got a chance to. So essentially it it comes down to her, you know, to just demi, you know, putting in the the little turn at the end to take the win. And so she wasn't able to really, you know, take any time back on a on a spot where I would assume that they had planned on taking a lot or at least a chunk of that time back, which means that they had to change their race tactic moving into you know, moving into the final day. And if you saw um Demi's interview, I mean she absolutely alluded to the fact that like they she knew she had to throw everything at it, and you know, that was the only way that she was gonna win. And when she when she separated, so she you know, it it's really I had to go back and watch it, but she separates from from Vhonda Bragan, but then there's like a point where she kind of backs off on one of the the the flat parts of that climb, and then she took off again right before the end. And then when she hits the descent, I mean she tucks down into that arrow position and she bombed that descent. I mean, she absolutely bombed that descent and move makes the move to then bridge the gap to the to the front group. And I I mean, I'm telling you, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have said there's no chance that she can grab that front group. But she put like, I want to say 20 seconds in the Von de Bregen, you know, by the time she ended up getting to the top, and then you know, she was halfway to bridging that gap by the time she got to the bottom of the descent, and it seemed like she was just cranking. I mean, you know, because they were showing the splits of the of the speed, and I thought it was interesting. Von de Bregen was like 4748 K per hour, but Demi was like 5152, and I mean sustained, and it was not changing. And so I don't know if she was just gassed from the climb or what, but you know, Demi was like a rider possessed, man. And when she got to that group, I thought she was gonna, I honest to God, thought when she caught that group, she was gonna blow right through them and just keep on going. But she ended up kind of like she went through and then took a turn real quick and then flicked her elbow and was like, Come on, let's go.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

And yeah, she said she said in her interview.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

Yeah, Niedermeyer had all of the incentive to continue to work with her.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

She said in her interview that when she got up, when she got to that group, she was she literally said to them, like, Okay, I need to take a little break and then I'll pull.

SPEAKER_02 17:59

Um Well, they were like they were like touching and communicating all through that bit.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

Yeah, um, I mean, yeah, they not only did they have to change their plans on the fly on stage eight when this when the stage was shortened, and as you said, they they realized, okay, we are not going to be able to roll into day nine uh with the narrower margin that we thought we would have. We're gonna have more time to make up on day nine. It's like it's like it's like on on stage eight, they their their calculation had to had to be, okay, how can we get any time uh at all today? We were planning on getting a significant amount of time. Now we need to figure out how to get any time. And the it was so short that the the lag time between when the race made the decision to when the new finish line was coming was not very long because they're not.

SPEAKER_02 18:58

They were basically riders that didn't know that they had finished the race.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Yeah, I mean, they they were it was just before they got to the gravel section of the climb. Um, so they were still in the tarmac, but the gravel section was only it was it was eight kilometers tarmac and eight kilometers gravel, if I believe, or maybe it was nine and nine um for that climb. Um so maximum of like 10 kilometers before the end of the race is when the announcement was made. And they're basically climbing right there. And so really the only decision the team has to make is okay, Demi, you're gonna have to go sometime way sooner than we were planning. And let's figure out when that's gonna happen, you know. And as it turns out, it unfortunately for her was was only with the last 500, you know, meters to go, it seemed like she kind of tacked off the front. And yes, she secured bonies, I think, with that, but um not a whole lot of distance from Von de Bregen uh with that attack, which meant that going into day uh onto into Sunday on stage nine, she she was still had 49 seconds to make up.

SPEAKER_02 20:08

Which is a lot. I mean, these both of these girl ladies can climb, man. Like, you know, uh she you know, if Van de Bregen had been able to hold the wheel, I mean, she would have won. And it just when she decided to go, that's what I mean, man. She was she was just on another level, dude. And I don't know if she had been holding that in reserve the whole time, or if that's you know, she'd you know, I I don't know. I don't know, but I can tell you this that I don't think that there's another rider in the Pro Peloton that could have hung with her yesterday.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

I mean No, I and I mean I think all I think it's I think the the appearance of dominance is exacerbated a little bit because like Von de Bregen just didn't have legs that day as well. Um so um did Demi Demi didn't did Demi no Demi did not ride the Vuelta, right? No. So so Anna also is you know conceivably has a lot more um tiredness in her legs than Demi would have because Bonda Bregen just podiumed the Vuelta three weeks ago and uh won a stage. So can be forgiven for perhaps not having the legs on the final day of nine straight days of racing. Um but you are certainly not wrong when you say that that Demi was, you know, just dropped the hammer. I don't think anybody else would have been able to to hang with her either, certainly not not Marlin Roysa or Eliza Longa Borghini. Fortunately, one of those two was already ahead when when Demi was putting on that power.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

ELB had a great last day.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

She looked very, very strong.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Big stage win and uh she was quite determined. Um but yeah, I mean the fact that the fact that the team had to change the plans um on the last day that Demi had to perhaps attack a bit earlier than per than she she may have been planning. Um credit to the team. And I mean, great work from the team along the way, including uh getting one more stage win from Celia Jury, the very young and the and the very French-speaking Celia Jury. Um I thought that was interesting. Did you notice that in the interview? It was like question in English, response in French. So it's it was almost like she under she can understand the question in English, but she she's not confident enough in her in her speaking. But um Yeah, really uh incredible work from that team.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

It was, and we get two Jiros and two triples. So I uh I which is which is which is neat. We were talking before um before the before we started recording about, you know, you and I both heard the announcer say that she was the first person to have all three, and obviously I immediately was like, wait a minute, you know, uh Anamique von Luton won all three and twenty-two. So it is now down to just Demi and Anamique as the only two riders in women's cycling to ever have won all three grand tours. And then while I was looking up Anamique, Anna Meek almost did it two years in a row. She was fifth, so she won the Jiro and the Welta the next year and was fifth on the tour and fifth on the in the world championship. So and remember, in in 22 when she won all three, she also won the world championship. On a broken on a broken hand or shoulder or something.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

It's absolutely crazy. Um yeah, I mean Demi Demi's palmaras are just insane. I mean, she sh not only has she got the triple crown now, she's won the Vuelta twice. Um she now has won the Tour de France and the Giro once, but I cannot imagine a world in which she doesn't won, she doesn't win each of those races again. Um she is 29 years old. She's got several more good years in front of her, and as demonstrated by Anamique von Bluten, like like female riders can do more in the tail end of their career, it seems like, than than men.

SPEAKER_02 24:46

Um so well and she seems she seems to be getting better. That's the thing. She she she does not seem like she is plateaued in the least. If anything, she's got she's gotten better. And I think that you know the the team, the strength of her team and their resilience, and then uh, you know, her mental you know strength is a testament to what they're able to accomplish. And I think that she has a team of people that believe in her and believe in in the goal. And I think that makes a huge difference. We've talked about it many, many times. That you know, the you know, when you we look at um the success that Unibet Rose Rockets has had this year, um Little Trek in general, you know, across across the board, you know, those guys all seem to be, you know, very much in tune with the goal. And and you could definitely say the same with um this Melissa bike.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Yeah, I I mean Demi, she she kind of wears her heart on her sleeve, but like in a good way, and um seems to have certainly found a incredible situation for her there at FDJ. Um, we've spoken many times about the the the quality vibes that are happening on that squad, how last year was the year for them to sort of kind of get to know each other and to kind of gel, and she didn't have you know quite the season that we perhaps may have been expecting for her or thought she was capable of.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

Especially off of what she the the season she was coming off of.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

Yeah. Um, but yeah, very traumatic end to her career with SD work. So um now it's like everything's been ironed out, and that team is is is now just perfectly balanced and it's contributing to a whole lot of success for that woman.

SPEAKER_02 26:46

What do you make of, you know, obviously on the run-up to the men's gyro, there was a lot of talk about Jonas getting the triple. What do you make about basically nobody talking about the fact that she was going for the triple, like being part of the discussion? Because is you know, I I just don't feel like anybody was really talking about it.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Yeah, especially when like it had such a an air of inevitability inevitability, the way that Jonas's is. The only thing I can think of is that because Yonis, well, number one, it's men's cycling versus women's cycling, so there's that, but because Jonas was not only going to like, you know, accomplish this incredibly rare accomplishment, but that he was going to be beating Pogachar to it was another sort of element to the story that I think may have may have heightened it or sensationalized it a little bit more. But I feel like I didn't even hear about I I didn't even kind of put together that Demi was on the cusp of doing this until the race had already started. You know, I was like, oh right, yeah, she she could be doing that this time, right? Okay, you know. Um, so that was kind of wild. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:55

Um, do you have do you have any like other parts of the Giro that you want to discuss that you thought were cool?

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Had she won a stage um of the Giro before this Giro? I don't know. She's got so many Palmares that like when you look at her top results on on uh pro cycling stats, like they don't even show um stages of grand tours and stuff like that because there's there's too many like GCs and like one-day race wins. She's a real Poga Char type, um, or is proving to be. I mean, you know, when you when you look at the stuff on her palmarez, it is it is very pogar-like. She's won LBL three times. Um, she's won Strata Bianchi twice, she's won Flesh Wallone twice, she's won Amstel Gold, she's won the Rondevan Vlander, and um, she's won La Course by Tour de France. All of these are huge one-day races. But then mixed in with that, there are one, two, three, four, five wins in six different um stage races, and a total of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten stage race wins.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

So according to the cool, these were her, the these two wins that she had this year are the only two wins that she has in the Jira.

SPEAKER_00 29:19

Um, so then she also joins that little club of writers who have wins in all three, you know, individual wins in all three grand tours. Um, as we saw, as we saw Sep Coos do alongside of Dionis last last year, or last week in the men's. Um other stuff from from the Giro, uh there was it was another one of those kind of kind of feast or famine um Giros, as we talked about on the men's side. It's a handful of teams with winning most of the spoils. I mean, if you look at the if you look at the Jersey competition in this race, it was it's two teams, F Day, FDJ and Letl Track, who took points and the Young Rider and Isabel Holmgren. Um you had uh wins for Demi and her teammate. You had you know all those wins for Balsamo, and then uh just the one for Von der Bregen, right? And I don't think anybody else, anybody else had any or no, and then the the last one for for you know, so you uh you UAE.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

Um but still a super team.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Yeah, all big teams and not a whole lot for a whole lot of other teams.

SPEAKER_02 30:35

Well, and and unlike the men's gyro, because obviously the men's gyro, we have uh you know, uh 11 more stages, the you know, the there are I guess 12 more stages, the possibility for smaller teams to win. I mean, because we've got to remember in the men's in the men's we had multiple stage wins from Mostana, we had Uno X, we had EF, you know. Um I'm trying to think if we had any other small teams that had wins, but either way, that's three small teams that had wins in the men's gyro that we definitely did not see that in the women's.

SPEAKER_00 31:12

Right, right. Um, a couple of other things I wanted to mention. Uh, did you know did you did you cat did you catch at any point any notable presence presences on the side of the road?

SPEAKER_02 31:24

Besides Weebus and Milan?

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Yes. How cool was that that Lorena was like, you know what, fuck it. I like this blows, but I'm still gonna go out and cheer all my teammates. Of course, she's out there and and she's instantly recognizable because she's wearing her Dutch national champs jersey just out on her training ride with her teammate. Um, also, though, on stage three, old Johnny Milan was out there uh beside the road, and they uh I saw a shot of him like holding up his phone, like recording riders as they go by him. Like even Johnny Milan's out there with his iPhone, catching video of riders going past. Pretty uh pretty cool. So um, other than that, I I don't know that there's m much that I I haven't gotten the chance to talk about.

SPEAKER_02 32:09

Yeah, no, like I said, the you know, for me it's I'm I'm gonna the what could have been with the fantasy stuff will, you know, definitely remain in my uh in my mind, but you know, like I said, I I definitely don't want to take away from from what Balsmo accomplished because I'm sure that it will be a defining moment in her career, and I want her to be able to have that.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

Yeah, for sure. Um I I uh I was bummed, not just because of fantasy, but just in general, bummed to see the the fairly lackluster performance from Marlon Roysa. Um she just just wasn't just didn't have it this week, seemed like at all.

SPEAKER_02 32:54

I just I think that I think it has to do with the fact that she's just been so scattered with the the wrecks and the injuries and and she crashed twice in this race.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Yeah, she crashed twice on one day in this race. That same crash. That's something we didn't mention was the day that uh Von De Bregan had that crash. I mean, that looked like it could have been nasty, but um she she did manage to get back on. That was one of those occasions where it was like you use the cars all you want, like no one is going to get in trouble for using cars there. I mean, there was like nine riders alongside of her, all behind the the uh the the team car that was just like dragging them.

SPEAKER_02 33:30

So um I was so glad that she when we get to talking about the the Tor Walonie, we'll definitely talk about wrecks, man, because that one the wreck in the Tora Walonie was unreal.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

You're talking about the stage five wreck at the end or a different one?

SPEAKER_02 33:48

Uh I think it was like no, it was earlier. I want to say it was like maybe stage two. I'll have to roll down in my notes, but there was a with like 1.8 to go, there was a wreck that just took out the entire Peloton.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

Um the last thing then that I'll I'll cap it out with is is I must, must shout out the class of demivolering for sitting up at the end of stage nine and letting the other writers battle it out. Um, because one can argue that she would have been just as likely to win that sprint at the end of that stage as anyone else. She's pure class, she already had two stage wins, she already had two jerseys sewn up, she's achieving the biggest milestone of her career to date without question. Um, joining Anamique von Valluten in a group of two. Um, so for her to sit up and be like, all right, ladies, you know, I know how much this would mean to any of the three of you that are with me right now, fight it out. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 34:54

I would have I would have enjoyed some offsetting points, but I wasn't upset with that either.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

You have no right at all to even use the word offsetting for God's sake. All right, shut up. Um that's uh that that deck that's all for my Jiro talk.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

All right. Well, on that note, let's take a break. We'll come back, we'll talk the rest of the racing from this week, and then we will eventually take a ride up the coal, the finestra in the broomwagon. Stay with us, we'll be right back.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

Please check out our other show, Inglorious Brothers, a pop culture show with Cult Classics Swagger. Search and subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube, or click the link in the show notes.

SPEAKER_02 35:58

We are gonna get into the rest of the this week in cycling. Um, so the other kind of big race of the week was the Tour de Walony, um, other than the the new uh I'll get this right. Tour auverge Rhone Alp. Previously the Criterium Dauphinet.

SPEAKER_00 36:24

I would say that's the other big race of the week, and then there was also the Tour de Wallinie.

SPEAKER_02 36:30

That's I would I would say you are you are correct. Um, but the the Tour de Wallinie had an unexpected finish, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 36:40

It sure did. It was it was it was there was a lot to lot to chew on in that race.

SPEAKER_02 36:44

Yes, there was, yes, there was. Um the overall was taken by one Ben Oliver from Modern Adventure Pro Cycling.

SPEAKER_00 36:57

They done they done did it.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

They done did it. Like not only did they win multiple stages, they ended up taking their very first GC as a pro cycling team.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

Um first two uh first two European stage witch wins, by the way, too. So I for a second I thought it was their first win, but they got something earlier in some some place. Yeah, something like that. So um, but yeah, first European win. Um, they got a second one to go with it on the last day. Uh and then, of course, their first big GC, their first orange jersey. Boy, that had me screwed up.

SPEAKER_02 37:37

Like Orange for the orange for the leader, yellow for the points. They also got the points jersey, right?

SPEAKER_00 37:42

And it's just weird. And it's like then you're trying to look it up on PCS, but PCS is like lead GC, it's yellow. Like on PCS, GC is yellow, you know. So it's yeah, it's that was that was a lot, but um, to keep track of. Um, but yeah, that's really wild to see that team uh have some success like that. I mean, I guess we gotta be excited. It's a big new American team, right? Yeah, it's an American team. And and notably their team boss was on uh was on the uh Eurosport coverage last week, looking looking bizarre. That's a bizarre looking dude. He is thick.

SPEAKER_02 38:19

First off, he's he's so big.

SPEAKER_00 38:22

He's like nine feet tall and yeah, he's just a monster.

SPEAKER_02 38:26

Like, like he must have been just uh I because obviously he he rode before my time. He must have just been an imposing presence on the bike.

SPEAKER_00 38:35

Yeah, I don't know if we've talked about it. I would be down to get into it one day, maybe during the offseason, but like there was an epic, epic uh edition of Perry Roubaix, um, where um he figured in big time um alongside of Tom Bonin.

SPEAKER_02 38:52

Uh and by the way, for those who don't know who we're talking about, we're talking about George Hencappy.

SPEAKER_00 38:58

Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 38:59

Yeah, sorry. We should we should we should state that we are we are talking about George Hencappy. And the bizarre look that we're referring to is his um like Joe Pesci-esque uh casino look that he has.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

Well, no, it was just the glasses that are giving you that because the rest of his outfit that day he was like wearing like a suit jacket and a pair of jeans or something like that. But uh Yeah. Nah, he it was so, anyways. I don't know. I I don't know how I feel about George Hin Cappy and the guys that are remnants of that team back then. I mean, I feel better about some of them than others. Um, I feel like Hin Cappy is kind of in the Armstrong camp, and you know, it it I don't know. What what are your what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_02 39:43

I don't know. So, like, it's funny, it you know, because obviously I we've we have expounded at length on our feelings about uh about Lance Armstrong. I did, however, hear something this week that gave me a slight amount of perspective into the because again, I wasn't watching cycling at the time. I'm not nearly as invested as you were, you know, at that time, so I I can't speak to it. Most of most of my opinion comes from based on what's going on now, and then just the facts from the history of you know what happened. And I saw somebody this week I really wish I had hit save on Instagram, but it was a very, very good point, which was despite all of the bullshit, all right, the doping, the you know, all all the the infighting, the you know, the lance of it all, the lent the Lloyd Floyd Landis of it all, taking all of that off the table and just putting it to the era and what you know what happened, which is that, you know, A, you know, I think it is widely accepted that it was a very dark time in the sport where many teams, not just their team, were doing the exact same thing, and they are the ones that were caught. All right. Now, my personal feelings are is that you know Lance Armstrong is an asshole in the way that he comported himself after that all happened, and the and the fact that he continued to lie and continued to double down on it until he literally couldn't. That speaks to his character, and his character is is pretty you know friggin' low. However, this guy posited that he still had to control a peloton of a hundred plus riders for seven years in a row, and dominate that Peloton and still had to win those races. And, you know, despite the fact that his wins have been vacated and those races basically don't exist and no one talks about it anymore, they still happened. They still, you know, it it it all you know is there for the record if we if you want to go back and look. And you know, it it it it has to be said that yeah, yes, it happened, and he was dominant, and him Cappy was part of that team. Does that mean that he hasn't grown, that he hasn't um, you know, made, you know, I mean it's like how do you make amends for something like that? I don't think he really can, but I will say this he is somebody that is involved in trying to bring cycling back to the United States, and as far as that mission, I can get behind it. And I'm glad to see an American team competing and and winning in pro cycling because it just means good things for cycling in the US. Period.

SPEAKER_00 42:58

So does this mean you're okay with Ben Oliver? I'm okay with Ben Oliver. How we got off on the Lance Armstrong tangent there. Um it was the hencappy tangent. Yeah, but like half that time I couldn't tell whether you're talking about hen copy or armstrong or whatever, but um nonetheless, uh he was involved.

SPEAKER_02 43:19

And and but that's what I mean. It's like I have to separate the two to and say, is what's happening now good for cycling and good for cycling in the US? Yes, and I'm for it.

SPEAKER_00 43:32

Yeah, no, it's it's I'm I'm there with you as well. Um, so this race, you can you can sort of divide it into sort of three things that happened. Um two stage wins by two dominant teams in this race. Those would be adventure pro cycling. It just sounds weird uh saying that right after I call it map. Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_02 43:51

I always map map map in my in my notes.

SPEAKER_00 43:53

Mapsey or mapse. Um and the other being Red Bull uh Bora Hansgroa, which got Wins out of two different writers, Jordy Mayus and uh Lawrence Pithy. And then the third thing was the incredible stage four. Oh my god. It's my boy. Arnold Delee, baby. Arnold De Lee was in Narnia with one kilometer to go. Like how he won that race. And the way, I mean, you know, we've seen many our cyclists collapse on the ground after winning a stage. Uh, that one is right up there with Vanderpoel in 2019. Like, he was just dead on the side of the road after that. Really, really incredible. Uh, if you haven't seen it, go watch the end of stage four. Watch like the last three kilometers of stage four of the Tour of Walloney 2026. You will not be disappointed.

SPEAKER_02 44:46

Um, I mean, it it was it was brutal. And poor, poor Riley Sheehan. I mean, poor Riley Sheehan, dude. Riley Sheehan, American Riley Sheehan, had a great race.

SPEAKER_00 44:57

He sure did.

SPEAKER_02 44:58

Okay. Um, he rides for NSN, and he absolutely had a wonderful race. And him getting pipped by Arno Delee. I mean, of all people at the end, getting pipped by Arnold Delee at the very, very end of that race was.

SPEAKER_00 45:12

Yeah, I mean, at the very end of that race. Yeah, it was.

SPEAKER_02 45:16

But that that that stage four ending was so brutal. I mean, that thing it looked like it looked harder than it looked harder than the Cold of Ganon.

SPEAKER_00 45:26

I mean, it's you must have caught like uh fan views on Instagram or something because I didn't really see much of that crash at all. I saw the aftermath, I saw the idios guy laying there looking at the colour.

SPEAKER_02 45:36

No, no, no, not that crash. I'm talking the the crash I was talking about earlier happened on stage three. I'm talking about just the grueling end of that race. It that drag up on stage four looked just brutal. I mean, every single rider coming up that hill was gassed.

SPEAKER_00 45:53

Oh, yeah, yeah, that was bad. Yeah, it was it was wild.

SPEAKER_02 45:57

Um, yeah, no, on stage three with like 1.8 to go, somebody somebody touched wheels and like took out the entire group, and only like 20 riders went to the final, and you had uh um it was basically down to to Net Company and Red Bull and uh Danny Van Popel lead lead led out Pit Pithy and Pithy took the stage win.

SPEAKER_00 46:27

And right, and that Hydeck guy from uh Hyduk, yeah. Yeah, that dude from he's he's from Enios, right? He's from Net Company. Um, yeah, he's he's been looking good too. There's this whole crop of younger riders coming up that are, you know, they're they're literally showing us the future, uh, the the five years from now future of cycling, guys like Riley Sheehan, guys like unfortunately, who dropped out of the next thing that we're gonna be talking about, Roan Alps, uh Matthew Ricotello, like two very promising, like young American riders that I love seeing that are gonna, you know, Quinn Simmons is sort of somewhere in between those two guys and guys like um guys like um Seb Koos and uh and Mateo Jorgensen, who are sort of at the top the upper end now of the of American cycling. But it's nice to see that we got some troops coming behind that are gonna be filling in the those those roles for the for the US. Um yeah, yeah, good good race. Should we should we move on to uh let's let's talk about uh uh Tor Overn Roan Alps previously the Criterion de Dauphinet.

SPEAKER_02 47:36

Um so stage one on Sunday. Um so with the name change, the big the big uh the big statement from this race is like um we're gonna give you the hardest stage you've ever seen on stage one of this race. Like you want to talk like uh just a grueling mountain stage with multiple big climbs on it. Um and we now luckily we both have two GC possibilities in this race. So I have one of the.

SPEAKER_00 48:15

We basically have the top we have we have the top four like prospects for this race between you and I.

SPEAKER_02 48:20

Well, the top three and then Jow Almeida, because Jao Almeida's is not a prospect because his his form is still not on good.

SPEAKER_00 48:27

Not after stage one, but I would say going into it, like we we had the top four prospects. It was it was uh Seysha Sexas, yes, uh Del Toro. Sexas and Del Toro for me, and um Iuso and Almeida for me. And Almeida for you, right.

SPEAKER_02 48:42

Um and and Iuso looks good. So I am I'm I'm quite interested to see uh how it plays out. And it looks like this race is gonna be really, really tough.

SPEAKER_00 48:54

Well, unfortunately for you in terms of fantasy, it looks like your set your second guy in this race is gonna be working for my my second guy.

unknown 49:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 49:03

Unfortunately. If uh if he stays in the race at all after stage one. But um, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:09

Uh yeah, he's uh poor Jalameda's having a tough year. He really is. Uh it's it is uh it's it's I don't know. But I mean he's been sick. I mean it it he you know he had this I I guess it was like a flu or something. I don't know, whatever it was, but it's been lingering for for a really, really long time. And so I don't know. Hopefully we have not seen the best days of Jal Almeida. But I certainly in the retrospect, I certainly wouldn't have drafted him in my fantasy league. How did I know what he was gonna have this type of season?

SPEAKER_00 49:47

Dude, I can't wait until the end of the year when we do our post-mortem, which will be an entire episode. I realize that we're gonna be uh on air production meeting here. Um we're gonna be devoting an entire episode to like breaking down the year in fantasy sports and talking about like you know, what what are what our worst picks ended up being and who underperformed and who overperformed and what riders we should have taken instead of. And you know, that's gonna be a whole lot of fun. But um yeah, so so um I think we were both pretty pleased with with this stage uh as it as it played out. You want to walk us through it?

SPEAKER_02 50:24

Um, I mean, it's essentially very, very climy. So I think he had three or three or four categorized climbs, two first category climbs, and you know, it was kind of uh a you know, a a GC day. I mean, essentially a day where they had to had where the GC riders kind of had to maintain, but I mean there were riders scattered all over the course by the time you get to the end of the race.

SPEAKER_00 50:52

And um Well, there's a breakaway out for a long time.

SPEAKER_02 50:58

Yes, but it's I mean it didn't have like it, I mean it didn't have like a a a ton of time. It wasn't like a four or five minute breakaway, it was like a one and a half minute breakaway, and they took 30 seconds out of that breakaway like pretty easily, you know, you know, when they wanted to. So I mean they were keeping they were keeping those riders on a on a on a string for sure.

SPEAKER_00 51:19

Yeah, and it was like you said, I mean, a lot of GC action, like it was this was gonna be a t a true test of the teams um for GC, you know, and in in keeping their keeping their guys placed and stuff like that. I don't know that anybody was expecting necessarily a huge attack from one one team or the other, but all of the GC teams had to be on alert, and some did better than others, I would say. Yeah, no, I I totally agree with that.

SPEAKER_02 51:45

Some definitely fared better than others when it came to um you know what would happen. And then I, you know, ultimately, uh ultimately EF Educations, um God, I'm I'm blanking on his name right now. Alex Bodin. Alex Bodin uh was able to you know get off the the the front there and and hold them off and and take the room win, which French rider, French race, love to see it. Um, but for EF really is a statement win for a team that other than the Valgrin win in the Giro, you know, hasn't had a lot of success this year. So it was really nice to see them. A, they're gonna, you know, take the leaders' jersey at least for a day. Uh, you know, the you know, get a French rider, getting a fret a French win in a French race and an American team, and the F, you know, just the fact that they've got a win early on in this race, it speaks volumes to the perseverance of that team, and I'm really glad to see it.

SPEAKER_00 52:51

Fingers crossed, this marks a turning point in their season uh between the Valgrin win in the Men's Giro and now the uh Bowdan win here at the uh first stage of uh Oval um bodes bodes very well. Um uh Seychas's uh sex sex's Vista uh uh decathlon team not looking super great on this stage. Um first of all, they lost Ricotello right off the bat. So they're they're they're down a man, as we saw like almost like at the beginning of the broadcast that we got a little Chiron. DNF, Matthew Ricotello. No exclamation, explanation. We did find out later that he was sick. Um but um yeah, he's like losing teammates left and right. Uh he on that final climb, he was down to one guy, um, Bissot. Uh VPP like managed to get back, like right at the top of the climb. VPP re-emerges. Um, and then they go down the descent, and right at the bottom of the descent, you see V Paripantra like holding on to his thigh, and he was done. So, like, you know, he basically didn't give sex any help. He joined him at the top of the climb for the descent, and then he was like, Okay, I'm done.

SPEAKER_02 54:15

Um, so I think that speaks to how hard of a day it was. I mean, there were riders struggling everywhere. Wout had didn't have a great day either. Um, but I just think that speaks to how hard yesterday was for them.

SPEAKER_00 54:29

Yeah, yeah, but I mean, m most recently we've just seen like nose breathing from sex ass in complete calm, and like the here they looked out of control and scrambling. So it's gonna be interesting to watch. You know, it wasn't the huge, huge climbs, and so I'm certainly not, you know, making any kind of pronouncements at this stage, but um it's at the very least looking interesting, you know. As far as fantasy goes, yeah, you're hobbled by a clearly not on form Joao Joao Almeida. Uh I'm already from day one hobbled with you know one important lieutenant for Paul Sex Ass down for the count. So I guess I use so and Del Toro might be fighting it out. We'll see. Um great stage though. Very exciting stage. Very stoked for Bodon. Very psyched to see EF grab a leader's jersey in a big race. Arguably the biggest race besides the Grand Tour, so Bodes well.

SPEAKER_02 55:33

Yeah, no, I totally agree. I totally agree.

unknown 55:38

Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 55:39

Um so the other so the other race that I that I at least I caught up with this week was the Mercantur Classic Alp Maratheme.

SPEAKER_00 55:51

Yeah, run us through that. What happened?

SPEAKER_02 55:53

Um, so this is just a beautiful climbers race. It's like very high altitude, um, a lot of uh just stunning vistas. Um came down to uh the team of Kern Pharma who are looking for a sponsor for next year. And so if anybody out there a Yvonne Ruiz and Yvonne Ramiro Sosa who took a one-two in this race for Kern Pharma, which was pretty crazy, yeah, it was crazy. And and and like it just it you might as well have just thought this whole race was uphill because that's what it sure as hell seemed like. It was crazy, um, in that sense. But it's just it's a really beautiful climbers race, and um, it was good to see. I we you know, I love it when small teams win and win big in this case, you know, a team that is in dire need of a sponsor, uh was able to pull out you know, two podium spots in this race and really be, you know, out front, which was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 57:04

Well, that's uh great great for them. Glad to hear it.

SPEAKER_02 57:08

So the the big news of the week is that um that this isn't necessarily race related, but this is just uh cycling related. Team Visma Lisa Bike's uh head of racing, uh uh Grisha Nearman has decided to leave the team. And this was like apparently nobody knew this was coming. Um they called a press conference like on Monday, and you know, it was nobody knew what they were gonna talk about, and they came out and said, you know, we want to thank you know Grisha for all his hard work and everything that he's done, but he's leaving, and you know, one of our other, you know, uh DSs is is gonna be taking his role, and they didn't say where he was going, but you know, pretty much after the story broke, it was reported that um it looks like he'll be going to Little Trek as their new director of racing, which um is pretty stunning. I mean, especially coming off the fact that they have just won back-to-back Giros and of Welta in the last, you know, in the last 12 months. And, you know, now the guy that is, you know, they call the architect and has been, you know, a part of all of these really, really big wins that they've had over the last few years is leaving the team.

SPEAKER_00 58:34

It's uh the palace intrigue amongst this team is just crazy. They like it, they maintain insane levels of success just just year after year, and yet it seemed to be imploding on the inside. And yet then you see you know Richard Pluga in a post-race interview with the Giro, and he's just calm as a cucumber and like, yeah, we're heading to the Tour de France, blah blah blah. And like the guy Mark Reef that they were inner that they interviewed multiple times, that you saw Hannah Walker interviewing multiple times throughout the Giro, he is now taking Nirman's uh place there. Um, as as what'd you say, head of head of racing? Yeah, head of racing.

SPEAKER_02 59:11

So here's my question. All right, is it something that we should be reading more into considering the fact that we have now at two different times in the same let's call it six months, all right. In the same six months, we have seen two surprise departures from this team.

SPEAKER_00 59:34

All right, yeah, one from one from the writers and then one from the management.

SPEAKER_02 59:38

And you know, uh do like do we read into that, you know, that you know, there was I see it makes me it makes me think this. All right, this is where I'm going with it. It makes me think that there is something to the Simon Yates uh very fast departure that nobody wants to talk about. And they rather than you know let it come out, it was let's bury this thing, you retire, bye-bye. And I wonder if Grisha didn't have something to do with it, and now you know it's it was like, you know, you can stay until you find a home, but then you gotta go.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:23

It's it's all very, very fascinating to me. Um, yeah. I love that team as you do. I want to see them keep winning, but at the same time, good lord, I'm loving the storylines that are just like just just because I mean, think about it. Like, is there an underlying culture situation? Because how many times, how many years have we stood around talking about like the culture at Vis Melisa Bike, you know, and the image of Wout Van Art in his green skin suit um at the end of the at the end of the TT when Jonas is coming across and he's out there by the finishing gantry, just like smile. I mean, like, you know, that team was like the the team. But then we get we get the the craziness at the at the Vuelta when SEP won and like Jonas and Primos are like ready to depart. Attacking the leader. Yeah, crazy. It's just the the I'm gonna love the documentary about this era of this team that we get like 10 years from now. I can't wait for that documentary.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:21

It's gonna be when they're all right, when they're all ready to talk about it, yeah. It's gonna be dying so good. Dying for it, dying for it so good. Um do you have so before I get on to on to my last news thing, do you have any news that you came across this week? Okay. Um there this this is a this is a sad weekend for pro cycling. Uh American cycling legend and original 7-Eleven team member Andy Bishop has passed away at the age of 61. He was a three-time Tour de France participant and the winner of the Herald Sun Tour in Australia. Uh, he passed away in his home in New Hampshire over the weekend.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:03

Part of the old 7-Eleven teams, huh? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:06

Yes, he was.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:08

Yeah, I just pulled up uh pulled up some images of him looking resplendent in the 7-Eleven jersey. Yes, he was. Looks like he was uh he was had polka dots at King at the Tour de France at one point. Uh may he rest in peace?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:26

Absolutely. Absolutely. And so that brings us to the fantasy update, where June continued to roll for your boy. Um, bringing my so with you know wins all over the place this week, uh, I brought my June total to 64 uh to 10. So that that still gives me so May and June, where I have been um you know, been up. It brings our our total total to Matt at 787, me at 678. Um, so I'm almost back to the century mark. And had Lorena Weebus not been disqualified unjustly, I would have had another what uh 49 points. Good lord. So yes, you got a you got a major, major win out of the fact that Balsamo was or that she got disqualified because that would have been another 49 points for the Jersey and four stage wins that I'm sure she would have had.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:47

And your and one of your writers gifted the final stage to one of my riders, possibly. Yes, so but thank you, Eliza Longa Borghini, for getting me those 10 points and uh more on you momentarily.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:00

Well, tech technically it was Roysa and uh it was a second for Roysa and a first for ELB that got you the 10.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:14

That's right. So it looks like it looks like you were now down by just over a hundred points.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:20

Yes. But considering that I was down well over 200, almost 300 points, you know, a month and two weeks ago, like, yeah, I'll take it. I'm I'm back in it, baby.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:32

And so the pendulum swings.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:36

Yeah, until until the tour of the Alps. So I gotta I gotta hope I gotta hope for a stage win or you know, god forbid, a a GC. So I don't know. Uh all right. So what do you want to talk about in the broomwagon there, sir?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:55

I am going to shout out two terrific post-race interviews uh from stage nine, the final stage of the women's giro. Um, I will start actually with Anna von de Bregen. Um, I I just have so much respect for her. Um there there is something about her that is just so I can't put my finger on it. She's not like uh she's not like anybody else. She's she's wise and she is just insanely calm. You can you can see that like her analytics, her she's got this analytical mind that is always engaged and is always putting things in perspective like in real time. Um she her highs are not super high, but her lows are not low. Um, she's got a zen quality to her. You know what I mean? Um, just no bitterness towards Demi not pulling in the final stage. Understood the deal. You know, it didn't blame the crash, you know, not making excuses, like just just the the the the role model of how to sort of just like handle yourself emotionally with your public-facing self when you're at the top of the sport. Um she said it's sad to lose it here, but I fought with everything I had, so that's it. Uh I was not strong enough today, so that's how it is. Um but then she says, I got a lot more than I expected this week. I'm still really proud. I was there with the fight. I knew I can do it. Um, there are still some points where I can improve. Of course, I'm disappointed. I really wanted to win the jersey, but I'm really proud of the team, what we achieved this week, and the fight that I gave today. You know, like just putting everything in perspective from the jump. Certainly helps that she's already won the race four times in her career. But very, very much class. But the the one I really want to shout out is uh Eliza Longa Borghini. Once again, you know, we are both in love with this woman um and the the spirit that she brings to her racing, and uh she gives a great um post-race interview. She has been cursed uh with a really difficult uh first half of the season, we can agree on. Um, you know, plagued with some uh injury and or illness, I should say. Um she said that literally breathing was tough. Yeah. So um the interviewer asks her, you know, like what you put, you know, put this win in perspective. This is a pretty big one for you, isn't it? She's like, this is so much more than just a win. I've been vulnerable these months, both in my body and in my mind. There were days when I thought that everything probably would never come back, and I was done. Like she was like, done. Um, she says, but she says, today on the bus, like earlier that morning, I felt this anger coming inside of me. I have nothing to lose. I don't care about the GC, and I want to do it for my teammates that are simply amazing. I just wanted to win. That was the only thing I was thinking today, to win. And it's just like the eye of the tiger, you know what I mean? Like she gets in the bus. It's like she's she's sad and vulnerable, but the day of when it's the when it's do or die time, she summons the anger, you know what I mean? And she's just like, no, I'm just gonna win. I'm gonna get it no matter what. Um, then she says afterwards, this is a victory that goes to all the people that love me. And we celebrated a lot of riders that are finishing their career, but we never mentioned one of the riders that is one of the best domestiques in the world, Elena Amaliusic. This victory is also for her. It's her last euro. This is for you, Elena. So once again, just like WoW Van Art, like we called out WoW Van Art, just class. Um, and uh she says, when you don't have the legs, you have to use your head and your heart. The heart can do a lot, uh, the will can do a lot. In the end, we are humans. It's fine to lose, it's fine to be on your knees, but you get up and you put your chin up and fight with pride. I'm getting choked up.

unknown 1:09:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:15

ELB, you you are a class act, and that was an awesome win. So uh I salute you. What do you got?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:21

Uh so I wanted to share my Dauphinet memory. So uh it's stage we'll we'll set we'll set the the stage. It's it's stage seven, 2022, of the Dauphinet. It was a brutal mountainous stage ending on uh the Vaujanet while Van Art was wearing the yellow leader's jersey, but sacrificed his overall lead to play the ultimate domestique role. And below is how it unfolded. Setting the pace below the summit of the Cole de Croix Croix de Fur, Van Art took over at the front of the Peloton and set a punishing pace that dropped key rivals. He then helped control the final climb, leading his teammates into this decisive moments. His immense pacing allowed Roguelik and Vingigaard to attack and distance the rest of the field. Jonas paced Primos into position and launched Primos with one of the craziest attacks I ever saw from him. Rogelik came just short of the stage win, which went to Carlos Verona, but secured enough time to take the overall race lead from Van Art. This lead to one of the mo this led to one of the moments I fell in love with cycling. On stage eight, the pair of Primos and Jonas used their climbing skills to dominate the stage and coming to the finish line at that stage, hand in hand, with Primos giving the stage to Jonas, who buried himself just 24 hours earlier and took the general classification. Just 31 days later, Jonas and Primos would use the same tandem tactics like this to attack then two-time reigning Tour de France champion Tade Pagar at the base of the Call de Telegraph and completely crack him on the Col de Grenon, with Jonas ultimately winning the stage and eventually his first Tour de France victory. And that's all for this week. Join us next week for full coverage of the Tour of Armor Alps and lots of looking ahead to the men's and women's Tour de France, which are just around the corner. Until then, for my brother Matt, I'm Justin Harper. Thanks for listening. We hope you'll join us again soon for another ride Beyond the Slipstream. Ale.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:29

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.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:46

Alex