Vuelta a España 2024 Route Reaction | Lanterne Rouge Cycling Podcast

In this episode Patrick Broe and Benji Naesen analyse the 2024 Vuelta a España route.

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Credits:
Photos | Cor Vos (unless stated otherwise)
Profiles | La Flamme Rouge
Thumbnail | Unipublic/Sprint Cycling Agency

Timestamps:
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:19 Race overview
00:06:30 Stage-by-stage analyses
00:52:00 Rating the route
00:55:30 Which GC rider suits the route?
00:58:56 Outro

Welcome back to Ln recycling podcast for La ESP preview of the route or recap of the route reveal it was in Madrid uh this week thanks to I’m glad they did it because usually they actually do it in January so it’s out even earlier we’re starting in Portugal in Lisbon going

Into the middle of Portugal before a decent transfer on stage after stage three into the extra Madura which is like the West Madrid kind of not I think the B which is B it’s difficult one to pronounce it was like Peninsular War had a big battle there in the 1800s head

South towards Sevilla and Corda and andalia and then Granada up to Santi CA before another big transfer after Stage Nine to uh Galicia which there’s so many stages in the north of Spain Galia and the aorus and the castill Leon vertigos not so much in in the bass country

Actually only Victoria Gast which I think is like on the border of the bass country is is the only stage really in the bass country mostly near like zarag gotha the last couple of stages so a different route it changes every year like odds and evens has a conspiracy

Theory that like even years has a bad route nothing in Catalonia not much in bass country nothing in valenci Alicante uh nothing in the Pyrenees first reaction Benji I feel like the organization last year must have felt okay this this star Barcelona completely cursed we also met Patrick and Andora

Completely cursed we’re going to stay away five and a kilometers from that place for the entire VTA because you look at the map that’s exactly what they’re doing they’re staying away from from Barcelona area and from the UR area this time around and that’s not necessarily bad that they switch around

So I’m enjoying it than I do like the the pick on Blanco Burgos era and so forth so that H that whole Space fits in a VTA very well and when it comes to the the parkour I’m not necessarily blown away because I feel like there’s no real

Climb where I’m like oh boom that’s the kind of Epic climb that I’m always looking forward to but there’s some interesting ones I already mentioned pck on Blanc where I was like oo I like that climb I just feel like there’s only a few stages where you can

Really go from far out and we’ll go into that in the exact stages I think if my name was a sprinter if I’m a pure Sprinter I’m probably not willing to start this VTA hello spr that’s one thing hello sprin thank you yeah the Welter have Gillan legit said damn

Sprinters like this is not a good route for sprinters it is a good route for versatile sprinters and it Kaden Gro I think can get around a fair few of these too or or pison or vanard so it is T there’s not there’s not nothing for them

Yeah ton just did a little track preview and we’re like his schedule doesn’t match up with the the races he should do uh but yeah I think it’s an interesting I initially looked at it I was like ah like that toay stage last year was so

Good like attacks on the the the obes before spandel in action there that was a really good stage the angaro was always delivers but and nothing here really jumps out quite like that but there’s a lot of climbing and and I think it’s a sneaky hard route and I think there are

Actually some very pivotal stages I I really do like there’s so many uphill finishes that they kind of all blend into one but if you really look into the gradients of of a lot of them or some of them especially the the uh the angaro substitute and there’s some fake news CL

They brought the fake news climbs back this year uh who do you think it oh ttks how many ttks like two TTS two TTS the first stage and the last stage in total 23 km the first stage is 12 km it2 we’ll jump into it in a second and the last

Stage is I think 21 km and they’re both flat let’s be clear about that there’s no mountain TT there’s no hilly TTS it’s a purely flat time TR and that makes it so that the TT actually matters when there’s actually TTS cuz for example the

The time TR the T FR last year obviously the gaps were gigantic but it wasn’t that a flat TT specialist could benefit overly compared to a climber necessarily is that a valid assessment as in here it’s yeah pure flatty that you need to be able to do

So MRI one actually has 1K 4% roller in it uh it’s a bit rolly if if you’re a professional then you should be able to get over that I might Str yeah maresco is getting dropped there even the TT uh I didn’t know Madrid was at 660 M elevation things you

Learn uh I just assumed all capital cities were at sea level that’s just like I thought that was the rule they to be really low but um maybe Luke told me that I me that’s just the Netherlands uh they’re under Netherlands first thinking is that it really suits pagat as most

Welter parkour do uh second is that it really really suits RIT as most Welter parkour do and particularly this one over last year like I wouldn’t say Han on heart that the tolay stage is the best for RIT but there isn’t a Tom stages like Mon and even his maybe my

Favorite road stage of his ever that finale returns in this year which we’ll get into in the second so there are some climbs you be familiar with and some new ones as well but yeah a lot of uphill so without much further Ado Benji do you want to get into the stage-by-stage

Analysis with some picks yes sir let’s start off with stage one Lisboa to uh OAS so we’re starting in Portugal which I think that’s pretty fun I hope that Al made is the tour to France’s well double then because you’d want to see almea or any Portuguese big Rider to start here

Even kosa still I want to to see him starting Morgado I want to see right his first ground tour here for UAE which that might not happen but would beia’s hilly no this Lisbon’s hilly well the tomw isn’t so hey I don’t know if lond hilly I’ve never been

There all I see is people say saying it’s really Healy and there’s cobbles and pav and stuff that being said the Tom Charles flat so who’s winning it who’s winning it let’s take a look at the the year schedule for a second we’ve got worlds after the VTA again yep right light

Worlds y back in normal Olympics after Twitter FR tour who will write the wela that could be good in time trials in between the Olympics and the worlds depends like is Gana or Remco or van going to do it any I’ll go with Van to win this TT okay I’ll allow

It your turn for stage stage two stage two is from uh Kasai so yeah we don’t don’t go to the alav region where we’re familiar with maybe because we see Mal and for enough uh but from kazai Inland to ur it is a sort of Light mini Mount stage this is a

Sprint stage this is as good as you’re going to get little uphill finish Alto de batala is there like 6K is 3.4% but there’s loads of climbing all day actually going to be a very very difficult stage to control unless there’s two strong teams wanting a Sprint this could be a breakaway stage

Uh I’m going to go with ah ruy Kosta ruy Kosta wins go for by the way I’m saying skelos win stage one the time TR why not it’s one of the names that’s on the board so I might as well say it but when it comes to stage

Two it is curious e cuz like it is the kind of hilly parkour but I also feel like the gradians aren’t necessarily shouting that it’s super difficult is it the kind of Parkour where you feel like it’s it’s hidden difficulty I think I think there’s a lot of accumulated climbing in it

Yeah I’m going to go with I’m going to go with Peterson for this one ah it’s a nice stage him too he’ll have no he should have no problem with the with those uh stage three is actually much of a muchness uh sorry I always do this you

You got to do odds sorry laa to Castell Branco 191 kilm the um the last stage that is in Portugal really and I feel like these Portuguese starter stages are a bit underwhelming I I agree I’m a little bit disappointed actually quite a bit disappointed there’s some hills at the

Start here but it’s like 3% 4% so it’s just for break formation Midway to Stage is a 17 km clb at 3% bit of a a fake news climb because there’s a few descents in there but it’s not crazy when it comes to gradians either that probably won’t be making a difference

Cuz it’s still like 120 km from the finish line and then there’s another small hill of 5.8 km 3% about 50 km from the line so this is a this is a reduced Sprint for me and I I might even say that this is a more pure Sprint than

Stage two to me so what sprinters are going to the VTA probably not the greatest sprinters of humankind is caleban going to the vaa true it makes sense for them to send yeah okay you’re going you and I’m going Groves then yeah exactly the Australians are sharing this

Like this year didn’t they do St three finished on Aon we saw Remco against Garden Co he won uh like there was supposed to be a puncher stage on Mon but the weather didn’t play ball but yeah like a flat short TT and two kind of MK stages there’s nothing

Iconic yeah it would have been great to have a yeah like just an iconic clim it can become an iconic Portuguese clim but uh that’s not the case but stage four we do get into some pretty serious territory as we go down to picas which is yeah we I think this is

In the extra Madura so we’re into Spain now this is even like a cous haval lumbre style stage where you have two proper climbs at the start where could kick off 99.7k is 5.2% then P null which was in the wela with the Remco one where

As a finishing climb I think is better in its position here 14k is 5 a half% you know it could stuff could kick off there and it can because it’s it’s just the right amount of difficult where domestiques can jump and it’s annoying to chase then there’s a valley of 40ks

Before it picks up again another Valley of 40ks so it’s essentially a valley of 100ks more or less with a couple of climbs in there before the start of the pick up thecast which is a fake news climb it says 15.3k 6.22% but the first uh 10ks are are

Nothing you know 5% 4% before you hit hit the ramp the co de bosteros se baleros 3K 132% on my sheet three case 132% that’s Liz prz after climbing already for 10ks I looked at the stage and I had some difficulty figuring out which side

Of the Pak we were climbing but it is the north side we’re coming from the north from uh is that I don’t remember it being this irregular the um the you’ve got the north you got North East the Eastern side is more gradual but still steep

And the north side is really where it has that ramp that 3 kilm ramp that you’re talking about so that’s a side we have this time around and it kind of reminds me of is the mini fidia mini fed it is kind of similar isn’t it that doesn’t have the High

Altitude obviously uh but how much difference can a human make on a three kilm 13.5 roughly percent gradient with some some shallower SE sections afterwards like two km at 6% roughly until the Finish Line I reckon you could put time into people and yeah yeah I think this is a serious

Stage the gaps won’t be 5 minutes but it could be a minute between some Riders I think it could be big gaps here and a minute in the Welter is is like a 2 and 1/2 minute tour Gap you know or like a 3 minute jro Gap like a minute in

The wealth is a lot particularly with only a 20K TT at the end I think this is a really big stage and uh I think it really could kick off here early and so uh I think I think the Breakaway wins and I think a GC Rider wins from the

Breakaway I’m going to go with J hinley oo a GC Rider wins from the Breakaway SE gyle J hindley I’m liking that I’m liking that idea I’m going to go for for Um The Return of the defending Eagle GC c g just does it again he does it again why don’t change a winning formula imagine though Yambo and Bora they got R and vingard say in the well and they just sit in the GC group and they’re like actually we’re going to let

Our GC Cru and hinley fight it out who who’s happier in that situation I don’t know I feel like it if I got to be honest I feel like Ritch schedule will will be lbl to the frvta and this might be the situation where you have a breakaway Rider winning

As a consequence of RIT already being close in GC playing it rather defensive as a team here because he knows he can make a difference regardless of winning the stage on that three kilm Ram towards the end we know that pogach is doing jeto tour so he’s probably not adding

The V onto that depending on whether he has a death wish or something so he might do well no no he’s doing can classic but Henley will want to Henley surely if he’s doing the tour as a domestique will want to say hey okay but the Welter I

Get you know half a chance right Ro glitch is better he is but anyway I think this is a really this could be a cracker I’m really looking forward to this stage why are we trying to predict a grand tour that has no ST lists a year way to do it

Yeah because what if we get if we get one of the 21 right a year in advance you just clip that one and say oh they’re profits they get the other 20 stages of riders who aren’t even going to race it all right you hit me with stage five

Benji stage five f m to S Sprint like they it’s undulating for the first 130 km but this is a Sprint stage pure Sprint stage so comes back for the second year in a row winning a Sprint stage at L welta so yeah Joffrey super is my

Pick yeah Sprint severe it is going to be cooking down there at that time of year uh next stage from from it says from the car car frona uh and they’re going to Yuna there it’s a medium Mountain Stage shall it’s tough to know because I haven’t looked into every single climb

Uh you know but a lot of these are probably a little bit more difficult in Parts definitely more difficult in Parts than the average grade but it’s rolly all day 181 can’t really see but it doesn’t have that big finish yeah that big horrible climb to really

Make yeah it’s a breakaway stage has a s or something like that yeah that’s actually that’s actually a really good pick I applaud that I will go with Mark Solair oh nice yeah why not there stage seven archidona Arona to Cordoba 179 km it’s completely FL roughly except for

The the last 30 km that has a hill of um 7 km at 6% which I like this kind of because it looks like the last portion of the climb is a bit steeper than the first few kilometers so this might ramp up to this is the alto of 14%

So there has to be a 14% section somewhere the title says it so I’m guessing there’s a 14% every CL should be called like that the alto Del 14% who the that what the f what is it bizar uh this looks like the this is the

Rish no risk no glory stage right yeah exactly he should no he probably won’t it looks like that’s sort of stage profile uh CA has the beautiful Ms in there so if you do want to go uh I really like that it’s like a cathedral

And a and a Mosk built on top of each other is it too difficult for pon I think yes if it’s called Al 14% if it’s if something in the Welter has a is called an altoo 14% I’ll just take their word for it that is serious business I

Think this is break again uh I would said Michael stora but I’m going with Carona get the out of here Alex aramburu the theing guru is winning this stage he’ll lead someone out for sure uh and uh yeah maybe someone else will win the return of

F i love to see this is the sort of stage Garcia CA should be should be winning but a better version of Garcia Cortina so no he’s he can’t Sprint man Garcia CA can’t can’t climb he can’t descend he CLS okay he climbs okay aramburu climbs better of course he

Climbs much much better buta gets dropped here listen put them both in see what happens stage eight but yeah marar got to go all in for the break I think on that stage stage eight from ubera to Five Star week foot Santi cazola catha no it’s cazola uh it is another Hazel

Sado stage it’s like a 160k medium Mountain a lot 100ks to control 7K 5% climb again medium Mountain rolling before yeah it’s a fake news climb again there steep sections but we saw this on Stage Nine it got neutralized even if it hadn’t been neutralized the Riders

Didn’t know that at the time this year at the start that it was going to be neutralized they have let that break go and uh who won no cron got Dro has herado won ahead of cron and Thomas yes or camna I can’t remember camna won this the version of

This stage this year ahead of Soo yes the one where the neutralization of GC was halfway in the last clim because there was some road to end the weirdest first week ever the winner of this stages R oh you yeah I think that makes sense cuz like bonies baby yes three bonies

Exactly and if you see the setup it’s looking like it’s going to be RIT versus vingar in this VTA and then I think Rish will need these bonus seconds to um fight against vingo in the larger mountains that are to come and then we look at stage N9 which is Mill to

Granada 178 km I love this stage 17 78 km slightly undering for the first 80 km but nothing too notable then we start the that sounds like why 8.8 km 7.8% that is the kind of climb you want in a medium Mountain Stage in a raid

Stage I must say you C this same is this medium Mountain this is a medium Mountain Stage my dude I don’t know Stage Nine we’re looking at the same stage ELP plus twice elaz alanas can you call it is is it’s not being Mountain they’re in Granada

They’re going to 1700 M it’s got like 4 and a half th000 M elevation gain in like Oh you mean it’s a Mountain Stage I thought you were saying it’s a hill stage I think it’s a high Mountain Stage Hill stage stage yeah yeah I think

Put of Welter maybe yeah for this Welter it definitely is the J would be pissing on these altitude meters no the jro G us of wter R next year that’s true that’s true that’s true that being said this is the raid stage it’s a right

Stage I agree with you sorry did you run us through hazanas I did not so like I said ELP has midwe to Stage 8.8 K 7.8% but then after that it’s basically uh a small hill before we run into Alto haalan which is 7.5 K 9.2% descent same climb again 7.5 km

9.2% descent to the finish so this is going to be that’s a fake news climb hasas I think they’re doing the same direction they did in 2021 this is where rogich or no Remco attacked R Rog attack Remco I don’t know anymore yeah Yambo full sent it and Rit

Attacked Remco I think ohanas was the first portion of the sier sier Nevada so yeah so basically the Welter is I think they’ve given up on Sierra Nevada because you can’t go above 2500 M and there’s like a lot of uh like ecological issues with holding the race in the

National park at Nevada so like originally they wanted to go to 28 or 2900 met for a stage so they’re just doing reps of that initial Haz Lanas which is a fake news climb really really steep at the start in particular remember IO and Al dropped early on this

I don’t know how technical The Descent is off it uh towards Granada but this should be a crack this is as you said this is a RAID stage like this is this is throw multiple guys there’s there’s essentially five climbs because the uh thear Sierra climb before hazal she can

Also go there and um I really I’m really looking forward to this it’s uh 7.5k is not 2% it’s like a 25in a clim like I actually don’t know who I like this is GC to me and the only two names that I’ve written down are RIT and

Thing go for GC you’ve got hindley written down as well from the from the first few days and who’s willing to do a raid I feel like Ro glitch is willing to do that but I feel like it might not be in his best interest necessarily because he might get counted by

Yas um is there a third competitor that likes rates is copos writing this for example because something copos would do is REM Remco is not in the world no I’m going to go with RIT RIT wins the uh group little small reduced Sprint n’s

Able to drop him on it uh that’s my pick I’ll allow it I’ll go uh I’ll let you go to the next stage because I’ve got no clue first rest dat then we go to Stage 10 uh ponas to biona this is another medium Mountain Stage but the climbs are all at

6% although they are the three quite long put together I really don’t see it’s so hard that no Sprinter team can or will have the appetite to control it it’s not hard enough with the last major climb 30ks from the Finish only being 6% I really don’t this is Breakaway I

Think again and this one I’m going with Alex AR and baru I think this is a nicer one for him I won’t say no to that so I’m going to accept it and I’m going to copy paste that into my schedule as well Adam Buu is winning today as well and

Now is a is winning this one for me ah yeah true that’s always so good uh meni yes it’s going from campus technological cortisol to campus technological cortisol so they’re let’s hope it’s got nothing to do with cortisol or something is that medication or no it’s just a place okay it’s spelled

Differently stage 11 163 km it’s got a Hills throughout but it’s so odd of a stage it’s like it reminds me of it’s an aluminium company I think hey I can’t even make a joke about aluminium techn dream move over holy there’s Hills to but it’s all 4%

Hills and the last Hill is the one that matters which is it’s in the last 10 km the Puerta Keras 2.8 k at 9.2% this is for me Ben Healey wins from the Breakaway with RIT taking the state taking the GC Reigns wins solid T but he might be stuck

In yeah I like the break the break winning again uh again this is the poor old sprinters don’t have much to go with the next 83.8 K from uren to assass De Mon de Mana it is a uni Puerto stage with some rolling uncategorized medium mountains

Beforehand there is a 3K 8% climb out of the neutral zone for the break to form so a strong break can form imediately despite it being a short stage uh they won’t be allowed to get much leash if GC wants to win you would think this would be again rly RIT bonus

Territory uh but I’m going to go with uh carapaz I think he’s fallen out of GC for some strange reason and he does his 2022 Welter and this is him RIT wins 16 km at 4.7% at the Finish Line I seen no one else winning this in Ro glitch and I think that

Changes yeah true I think that changed on stage 14 171 km from Lugo to Puerto anaras which is this just not a mini anglu it’s not the same no no we got that that’s no but look at the gradients too it’s like the last 5 kilm is 12%

Average it’s not the same as angu but what can I what can I compare that to isar steep at the Finish yeah and that’s hard is that a mini mini luari it’s kind of like FIA yeah I don’t know what to compare it to but basically

This entire stage has some hills to it but it will all be fought out on the final climb has a runin climb to it of 6.7 km 5.8% but then basically with about 8 km to go we start de to anaras which the first three km is pretty easy like 2.8

3% 6% but then the last 5 KS is 12 12.5 11.3 12.2 11.5% and those have grad in up to 177% in there so yeah 5K 12% this got to be hard is this hard enough for vingo to make a difference on rogl it might that it’s difficult for

Me I feel like there’s no real vingo climb in this race so far yeah I’m not sure it’s that I’m not sure it’s hard enough I’m not sure sure it is it is difficult or long enough if it was 11 K is at 9% maybe but talking

About K we’re talking about ybo RIT here we don’t know if RIT is going to be at the same level at Bora we don’t know that let’s be honest about when R to switch teams they can be different so RIT anglu style should be able to

Hang on to Von on this climb in my head yeah I think so I think I I would go with r probably to win this uh on this climb uh stage 14 it is like the sort of the the longest climb of the race almost it’s

Very it’s the longest stage of the race uh it’s 199 k because we’re not allowed stages over 200ks in the welta from Villa Franco Del beero to Vino uh it is basically soft like false it’s false flight uphill for like 100ks apart from like a 4% climb and then a

Long false light descent and then a shallow 23k 4 and a half% clim this is like Breakaway all day uh and I’m going to double down with Carlos Verona uh from the break on that because I think it’s a climb that suits him quite a lot I’ve mentioned someone like Santiago

Bago either maybe he could win from the like maybe someone quality could win from the break you forgot about the Narwhal liser okay no maybe not I wish I never picked the Bahrain Riders but they win like three stages of every Grand Tour like yeah but bil would

Be so good on this you’re looking at a 4% clim man like yeah yeah I guess you got to play numbers and what Bill b The Descent is good and he’s got a good Sprint he’s a good pick for this A reduced Sprinter that can get over this 23 km 4% can’t be

That hard right I can get over this if you give me a few hour yeah you can’t yeah but they’re going to race it going to attack each other it’s basically five times the podo uh more than that yeah you’re right who you got actually don’t know what’s going to

Happen on this stage I could not tell you this I’ll tell you that I’ll tell you that guarantee Quinn Simmons there we go uh I can’t remember who I went with uh I’m gonna stick with I’m gonna go with Bill b and change my P or uh n Den the Enemy

No as if he’ll be allowed to win breaks with rit in the team yeah that that’s the only thing that spoils my thing but just forget about it Stage 15 infiesto togu which is 142 km and this is basically the last Mountain that will matter and the last mountain in this

Stage in this 140 km stage is 25 km long if you take in every kilometer but let’s let’s be honest it’s only really the last 19 km that are are really climbing the first five are 1% 2% so flat but the last 199 gon of this climb is really bloody steep this climbs

Say 7% over over like 19 km but there’s 10% segments already in the first two kilom kilometers that are 7% and 4% 7% 8% 8% 4% 4% 4% 6.5 7 uh 8 11 but that kilometer which is about 7 km from the top is like 15% 15% 12% all

Throughout that kilometer which this is just before they reach the Puerto the pajares and then we’ve got a bit of a moment where it switches from the Puerto the pajares climb to the actual quu climb where the last half which is the last three colums of the stage basically is

Super steep 14% 12% 15% and I don’t know if this is the one you’re pointing at when it comes to anglu I don’t see it as the same but I also don’t know what to compare it to well it’s next to the anglero pretty sure yeah I didn’t know

That um could you making that up but I’m pretty sure it’s nearby uh I got vinger gu winning this that 3K 133% ramp to the highest point of the race in a 1 hour climb if he’s not going to win here where is he going to win in this race I

Do think there’s enough beforehand that there’s a lot of climbing in this stage in such a short package like that Valley looks long and it is a reasonable length it’s like 35k but in such a short stage I think yeah I think vingard wins this

One I think so as well but the question that we have we we can answer it after we go through the stages that comes in my head is is this enough for vagar to outweigh the time that RIT has made throughout all the stage wins we’ve given him cuz there’s seconds available

No I don’t know I can’t tell you cuz if second on stages then he’s not going to gain 10 seconds every stage so I don’t know I have to think about it but anyway on to Loos you give you got to give R the TT Edge I think as

Well depends on the day I would on those flat ones and that that’s a really be very very exciting Stage 15 and that marks the second rest day uh we then have stage 16 from Lano to Lagos de konga which is one of rog’s best ever uh

Victories where he sealed the Welter in emphatic fashion in 2021 one of his highest level performances with back-to-back uh 30 minute climbs 25 minute climbs starting they go through gon uh which is on the North Coast still on the North Coast by the way and and great area for like

Tourism I think personally uh underrated uh they got a 7K 8% climb midor Deo there’s loads of other uncategorized medium mountains climbs and then the COA y this oh yeah heels heill things there’s a difference we got we got to get the categories right my friend you’ve got uncategorized uphill

Things which I consider as Hills between 500 M and and 5 km medium mountains to me is 5 to 10 km in length and proper mountains is above 10 Kon for me what’s your description like uh depends on the gradient I wouldn’t call the Puerto Dan cares medium Mountain

Um and that’s shorter than 10 no okay well it’s a hard medium Mountain we didn’t have the y Mana where Bernal attacked in 2021 in the rain with B RIT on his wheel they sent the Descent vlasov crashed Bahrain were chasing with tratnik and PS in the valley for Jack

Hag’s GC position I think great stage and then RIT done cooked everybody on konga very very strong performance that climb is 12K 7% it’s fake news because there’s literally two Des cents in it uh it’s like 9k is 9% uh and we get we can get

Rain in this region really nice stage uh and it was fireworks then and they’re hoping for fireworks again because yeah inos I think were pacing very hard before then and you can do that on this stage who have you got well it’s it’s Ry Shing guy I I

Don’t know who’s going to win this man like could be could be a Break N this is GC not it this is not having it I have no clue who wins this this is cuz like 9 km 9% is like in between the two of me Mel Lando wins

This one baby are we underrating vinal shorter climent performances in this podcast yeah of course vingard I would I would actually pick vingard for this but I want to be a bit different so I’m just going with Lander even though yeah of course like

He’s but yeah I would take fing out I think so as well next stage stage 17 bloody Sprint stage there’s two hills in the middle of it but they don’t matter CU we don’t care about them cuz their gradians there’s actually one with decent gradian 6 km at 8.9 8.8% but it’s

Like it’s so far from the Finish though it’s 100k from the finish so good luck so yeah Sprint stage for whoever the still in the race when it comes to the sprinters because pick I don’t see much incentive for to stay after off the stage well let me check

Let me check what team is pasal araman on Israel yeah I’ll go with him mate if you’re a sprinter I’m not staying past day seven yeah this is a long time to wait we haven’t said sprint for a long time H Jesus and it’s the last opportunity as

Well maybe depends on the next stage how you see that uh from V Victoria Gast to uh the Mau Park natural de is isi it is a hilly sort of medium Mountain Stage 17 k i you’re using you’re using medium Mountain Stage very very quickly I think it’s a light light

Medium Mountain Stage uh we have categorizations within now a light Mountain Stage a light me a heavy Mountain St heavy medium Mountain Stage we’re expanding our [Laughter] vocabulary this a Michael Matthew stage so I’m going to go bling this is Michael Matthew stages haven’t existed for the last three years

My friend this is Corbin strong stage oh yeah I wish I mentioned him but yeah it’s Michael Matthews he wins Corbin strong other New Zeal New Zealander yeah yeah you’re right nearly set Australian there stage 19 Lono to Alto monal it’s a basically uni paral stage

Because the climb in the middle is 5.3 km 4.9% so i’ look at the monal vi climb as 8.5 km at 9% it is relatively even in gradient I believe it’s not like there’s suddenly a 20% segment in there so this was car against Ro glitch right in

2020 oh yes that is true that that VTA was actually really good yeah it was good it was actually much better than it’s being credited as kapus has made some good ground tours my friend and people like oh this isn’t that credit rout but all these climbs and

Stages that we used before had good they were good yes but it’s also I think this race will be declared depending on how competitive vinga RIT will be against each other going into this race probably yeah I mean if it’s it doesn’t matter what the parkour is

Everyone if those two are in good form everyone’s going to be salivating to watch them go head-to-head Day to you know day in day out if they’re in sort of equal so uh I’m going to go with W pools from the break who you got I’m going to go with yonas because the

Likelihood of me getting GC Riders right versus getting a random breakway Rider right is bigger thank you so Yas it is for me on the stage but uh that brings us towards the the queen stage right the best Stage yeah oh I think a couple of the other stages

Being slept on by people but this is got 5,000 is what what do you mean are you saying that no no not by you no no not by you I I mean the cuz we’re doing this late I mean the like reaction I saw on Twitter

Yeah yeah a day ago I think um no I agree with you on the stages but this stage I think is a cracker 5,000 m elevation 171 K from uh vardo to Pon Blanco it is there is no flat there is no flat it is uh yeah medium

Mountain all day some would say High Mountain uh with the there even is two category one climbs in there which by definition would suggest time Mountain no it’s a it’s a big medium Mountain it’s a it’s a it’s a heavy medium m and then the hardest clb there but

They’re all 5.8% they are irregular they’re Jagged so there are steeper sections in there you can make this stage unbelievably hard if you have a strong team and then the the hardest climb is the final one pick on Blanco you’ll know it well it was in the Welter in uh 2020 uh

One when Balor was pulling for enri and summer one from the breakway tar rout one uh it’s 7.6 gug 99.1% it’s in the W bur offs every year it’s uh can be really foggy 1500 M steep I think it’s but I think I think you can

Lose like ah how much time can you lose it’s only six seven and a half k n rage quits midstage Lopez style that’s my prediction are they going to send him and enri to the W you reckon come on you got to you got to do it if Don’s going

To the jro and Maz is going to the tour then they’re both going to the VTA is how I see it and this stag is is a medium Mountain raid stage once again and those are the ones we love in love welta this is the we want to see

The only thing I’m slightly worried about is that the gradiance of each climb is 5 to 6% on paper I haven’t seen the individual climbs but they don’t necessarily seem to me like the climbs that suddenly have a a very steep segment in it that I’m currently not

Seeing so let’s hope that is the case because that gives a because the worry that I have is that I remember was the Welco won the stage 20 that we had a lot of mountain we had a lot of hills in there terrible and last year we had the

Same with Stage 20 but the grading weren’t serious enough to the point that there was no no jumping point in a medium Mountain raid stage you want to have attrition climbs initially for the Breakaway to form you want to have multiple climbs afterwards where one of

Them is like or multiple of them or like a a jumping point where you can really go so the Steep enough sections to really hurt others and make gaps on others and the last portion not necessarily have the it be the hardest part of the stage because you want

People to want to have satellite Riders ahead going into the final segment then there’s no real value for the satellite Riders to be valuable here and Pon Blanco is the hardest climb of them all and comes at the end which that’s my one downfall of the stage that I fear that

Pck on Blanco might be so hard we might not see people attack 70 km from the Finish Line it depends on the GC positions obviously but I’m looking going to attack yeah yeah of course or R probably like you can’t wait but I think I’m just looking into so the alto Del Caracol

Which is in the middle of the stage that’s got uh it’s a fake news client it’s got 3ks in the middle averaging averaging 8% then there’s 2ks at 8% at the end of it uh the in my head that’s too early but then you got the poro de

Lunara and the last there’s three k at the end of that which average 8.8% uh I think that’s the one so so there is and you know if you get even more maybe it’s even more irregular so the reason if I take that lunata is the

One for me is that you want to be able to form the breakway initially in this stage and want the Gap to be able to expand to the point you have satellite Riders ahead and that one attack might not catch him yet so you can’t go on the

Kacal in my head yet because the Gap might not be big enough yet and then on the Lunada the Gap might still expand a bit before you hammer it with your team behind and then if if you bridge it might take until the start of the

Descend of the sea which is the next climb to catch your satellite rder which will help on that descent and on the actual losos climb that runs you into picon Blanco I think that is the right spot no I agree with you like I think Caracol is

Too early and um it has to be one of these two so either the longer one and I put the filter step just then and you know apparently there’s 500 meters at like 177% at the end of Lunada correct it it might not be 100% correct but I think it is now we’re

Going to build it yeah we we will build we will build a wall um lrcp Community activity lrcp build a wall uh and then the fing [Laughter] statement uh yeah there needs to be more ramp pass in this in this race and then the end of that poro deia is average of

7% for 5 kilometers so uh not but without the ramp B so I think it’s a a beautiful stage of course if there’s a dominant team with the rider and a dominant GC position you know you can put the best parkour and nothing will happen if you have people

Who are behind and want to take risks you can have chaos like we saw in 2021 where uh Lopez rage quit you know that that was the end of his start of the end for him I think uh who have you got for the stage oh

God I’ve got the thinger go for this one I believe y will destroy this energy expenditure wise this might not be the satellite rder stage that I’m hoping it will be because Yambo might try and control it and push hard to benefit from Ro’s potential alleged weakness in high expenditure stages

Yes and uh yeah that brings us to your pick I don’t know L Leonard camner um we’ll take it yeah Leonard Leonard on Fed was pretty good pretty damn good so deu disrespect was he good on for D no that he’s gonna win the stage of course if R

Wins this stage I’ll look at him a whole different light be like why would they try to make him a sprinter he’s a GC Rider this whole time talking about adamu stage of stage 2 time trial yeah and then he and then he beat

SW and tling in the TT after when he M top finish this guy where’s he hiding it this whole time Starling at the r ah sure after the Olympics he might actually before worlds after the Olympics probably not I don’t know I think is a bit too difficult for him

They’ll do renew or something Bing a bongo sorry yeah you’re right disto telica sounds like a sponsor of the velta again to Madrid 22 kilm and uh well it’s a flat TT with a 1 km 4% segment according and AC cross me medium Mountain medium mountain time trial yeah uh I’m going

With it could it could be a weird one Chad Hager returns from the dead yeah I re can go go super weird on this one he isn’t he retired doesn’t he right for like Legion or something which is basically the same as retired uh he yeah he’s retiring at the end of this

Year officially okay so he’s not winning that’s itav what are you doing it’s look like looks like you’re singing I’m trying to think who uh TT bike who owns a TT bike oh my God Lorenzo Mesi he’s on love now yeah so do the jro had so many hispanophone reluctant to do

The jro after the cold weather this year they just had to draft in Italians so they could convince someone to do it they’re becoming a winter team now yeah well no they’re like ah Phils you’re going to go with um shandre to the jro uh it’s wild yeah

That’s it that’s it that’s the that’s the Welter I think how would you rate this that’s right would you give it a thumbs up uh would you give it a thumbs down Benji what’s your rating out of 10 I love how you’re trying to trigger the

The gestures of your of your of your Apple computer but nothing’s happening so congratulations my friend and oh there we go anyway I would give it a a 65 to 70% upwards time you’re giving it the fcking Phoenix Gladiator like no the the slightly upwards Hakim Phoenix Gladiator

Okay I give a seven I age the problem is ever since that dog attacked you when you try and give you a thumbs up it looks like you’re giving a thumbs down no it’s not my thumb no no no that’s my normal thumb dude the dog the

Pit pull the 80 Kil XL Bully that attacked me the dog every time you tell the story 80 80 kilos you how big that is UK now yeah okay actually no seriously they also have wolves in Spain so we don’t even know anyway my thumbs just can hyperextend I’m just I’m just

Build different um 7 out of 10 I I wish there was actually a hockey stick stage there’s no there’s no rampas hockey stick stage like Val penyen unless I miss something I really like those stages where you can just naap Siesta Siesta Siesta then bang a 3K 10%

Wall or even shorter uh we’re missing that which is I’m not saying they’re the most exciting stages but that is saying your score has been hit because it’s not boring enough so you can’t go to sleep no not predict well no it’s more like stage six for example that does nothing for

Me stage six does nothing for me I would rather that was a hockey stick and we got to see just a Rish SLE turb on stage eight oh true that is kind of it it’s that’s yeah true Caz all the stages like the be stage still not that is ramp pass uh I

Also there’s no high there’s nothing over like 18850 M there are hard climbs I would have lik to seen a yeah something in the Pyrenees I live there doesn’t have to come to Andora but I I would have liked to seen something in the Pyrenees uh I

Think some of the mountain stages are a little bit mid uh to be honest and they remind me of the 2022 Mountain stages like p n so like that 23k like there’s plenty of breakaway stages in this race but for example Benji what I’m referring to a stage 14 what is that

Oh 200 200ks of mid yeah that’s a stage that doesn’t know his identity yeah so change that out for a proper High Mountain Stage and then maybe just make oh I don’t know I mean then Stage 15 and 16 I think are harder than people think I think they’re really good so

They’re on other side of the rest day uh and also there was a super hard stage 14 this year when nothing happened are you s hard to send it uh who do you think now we’ve gone through it Benji I think it suits RIT a lot more than this year I

Think it’s a really good R for RIT the TTS are good for him particularly a power 12K TT he’s really good though Spanish opening TTS is really good at those there’s no high altitude there’s no super long stages there’s no super long climb finish is uh there’s clim

He’s done well on in the past I think it’s a perfect route for R but vard’s also good at those clim I think vagar wins this VTA over rogl and the reason I think that is that RIT never really gains 30 seconds in the stage he gains 5

Seconds there 4 seconds there and so forth and I think the one time or the two times that V go will be able to take time on rit in this race will be enough to take him down uh and with all due respect to the man

But yeah like enrik M was some of the competition for those welters so like a peak finger guard or a peak Pacha were not there not saying Rish can’t win but uh he nearly lost yeah yeah sometimes he scraped across the line again against those guys so you got to be on against

Vard or or pogy but pogy won’t go and Remco probably won’t go which is a shame how do you think skelo will fair I strg I think they’re hard and steep those climbs seventh in GC yeah I think that’s about right fifth or seventh what about cous defending

Champ we haven’t mentioned him at all we didn’t pick him for a stage send him to Gangi no I’m just kidding just kidding was just kidding just kidding why you turning he I love SE I love him sorry SE I’m sorry um no I

Am I think it’s a good for him I think I think it’s a really good route for him yeah correct yeah I don’t think Janis will hold back two years in a row if he’s no he he won’t hold back vinga is going to be leader because he’s going to be

Better here yeah uh but I think it’s a cracker and hopefully hopefully there’s another third GC guy that puts the hand up or or fourth outside C vingard and R what if Gus tries the same thing and Bora puts hinley in there like who’s happy with it the two

Teams who’s happier of the two teams Yambo I think so too if it was a Jiro I would say hindley it’s close yeah but in Spain in the heat at the end of the season cous has been good and of Welter for years I think the reason that Yambo

Will be happier or vimma or yellow be is what they’re now going to be called apparently what a stupid name is that sounds like a a 45-year-old Boomer that decided to become a rapper halfway to his year in his midlife crisis is that confirmed and that’s what was being

Rumored as the the wolfback name of ybo from from Willer fletz which the league is going to come from Yambo because Willer fletz every article is a leak from Yambo like yellow be what’s your take on the name we sorry that I’m going off topic put me on the S yellow be

Ah yeah I wouldn’t have picked it myself like you can make so many jokes about it but but it’s the letter B know yeah the letter B yeah I would I don’t really get it I don’t really get it it’s it’s a bees but just go killer wasps scary you want

Your name to be like like Charlotte you know you got Detroit Pistons New York Jets the vismo yellow bees the yellow bees I go I’ll would go to the Wasps the wolf pack is better in my opinion people joke about it being cringe sometimes but it’s a good name like in the grand

Scheme of those type of names I would call them the hive if you want to keep with bees call The Hive yeah hive mind the hive or uh yeah the the Hornets Nest or yeah the hive the WF something a little bit more like I don’t

Know yeah this is literally like I don’t know who wrote it but like maybe’s Jour woke up one day was like let me think up a nickname for visma I I don’t know um that’s the first I heard of it but it makes sense though that they would do

Something like that because Yo’s always been internally to my to my view a team that is trying to like try and upset the way they make money in the sport and maybe having a brand name cuz they’re staying with yellow as their color according to the sock rumors as in

There’s been a sock reveal I think in in stone and mitt’s Instagram story that it’s still yellow what are we this podcast is going to go up after the team presentation so everybody knows what color it’s going to look like no but they’re trying to keep the

Colors consistent which I think is a good idea I think you want to keep your kids kids pretty similar yeah I think that’s a good idea um yeah I’d go with the hive that’s my that’s my view on it yeah Killer Bees I don’t care if don’t like

It yeah I’m not sure you going to have killer in your name yeah I agree the Killer Bees is what yeah people like Mii calls them the killer bees it’s good yeah so some other person said on my on my tweet about it the murder Hornets but that was a bridge too far

For me yeah I probably wouldn’t I probably wouldn’t put that in uh what was well hopefully the Welter is good it goes nowhere near me it’s it’s G the opposite direction uh the other side of the Iberian Peninsula for next year and a lot in the north I do

Want to get up there and and check some of that out don’t know if me and Benji will go to the start in Portugal uh I guess I would like to but it’s going to be difficult yeah depends how much travel we’ve been doing it’s if

I get a train easily but the train is really slow uh from I guess it’s going to be more likely that we might end up to get her and Endora again I think so yeah uh I think so especially that I can’t do the heat I’m already I’m I’m

Suffering here and then Portugal and in August is going to be super hot so I stay up in the mountains I uh I think but let us know what you think about the route uh did we miss anybody that’s it’s an obvious stage four I got a Michael

Matthew stage in do you think any sprinters will even turn up should they bother turning up uh perhaps I don’t know will Aaron Buu win a TT a high mountain stage a medium Mountain Stage a Sprint uh Allin one Welter single one high mountain stages so yeah exactly high mountains just what

You make of it is it’s the food the world’s your oyster but I hope you enjoyed it the medum mountain is the friends you make along the way dude every time I go up a little little Highway K or this medium Mountain it’s attritional KS right now A Highway over the

no a a bridge over the highway in Belgium in West flans in my area there it is out the West for us there is nothing else true yeah if you got a headwind as well you’re in trouble uh anyway imagine that’s that’s all from us we’ll see you with the team previews

Continuing on in the next one till then ciao