Tour de France Femmes 2024 Route Reaction | Lanterne Rouge Cycling Podcast

In this episode Patrick Broe and Benji Naesen analyse the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift route.

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Credits:
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:18 Route overview
06:18 Stage-by-stage analyses
38:11 Overall thoughts and rating

Welcome back to the lon R cycling podcast for the Tour of France F A 2024 route reaction half of which is not in France so already there’s a foreign Grand DEA for this race starting in Luke’s neck of the woods in the Netherlands and estd works neck of the

Woods too wait is estd Works a Dutch team right now Belgian team correct okay anyway Andy Val and Len Vias will be happy to see that because of the Olympics this race is after the Olympics and not directly after the men’s tour of France there’s I think keki said the

Omnium on the track is the day before the first stage of this race so can Riders get from Paris to to Rotterdam uh in in a day I say yes but actually that might be difficult with signon I don’t know so that’s something to bear in mind if there’s track Riders

And many many women especially sprinters are in their respective Nations track squads at the upcoming Olympics so that’s something to bear in mind what do you think about the Grande P Benji being foreign and and also you got a Belgian one honestly I don’t really care too much that it

Doesn’t start in France I also don’t really care too much that over 50% of the cities like the starting and ending spots in this to Def f are not in France but I don’t I’m not really bothered by that too much I understand how Netherlands would be the perfect place

For this to do because let’s be honest about it the Dutch women have kind of dominated the scene a few years and I would argue that it’s probably then one of the best countries to do in also because I feel like when it comes to women’s cycling Netherlands is really on

Top when it comes to fandom and stuff as well so I’d expect quite a bit of support for that grand the bar yes it’s not completely to the fs but I’ll get over it that’s for sure and hey they’re visiting Belgium so won’t see me complain and it’s also like it’s

Understandable from a root building perspective in the last years they’ve backloaded this race and they’re trying to do that again in 2024 and starting in a a flat ass country like the Netherlands is a a pretty logical start for a backloaded on tour yeah exactly where it’s the same

Design as Benji alluded to it begins flat although there is a d stage with two a day sorry with two stages the second of which is a very short time trial like a short prologue and then it effectively increases in intensity with some Hill stages including one in

Belgium as Benji said a liage light classic uh building up with a softer Mountain Stage on seven and then a proper difficult double uh HC climb Mountain Stage to finish off like we have well no we had a TT to finish off this year but that’s the uh that’s the

Toray stage that we have again the route effectively goes north like starting in the uh in Rotterdam or uh start in rdam no starts yeah starts in Rotterdam and goes to the ha and goes north through Belgium through the alas region on the on the German border and then all the

Way down to the Alps at Alp so not the mini Booker or or grand Booker more a point to point uh north to south uh in France on the west uh the east side of the uh the country so they are basically using the same formula formula as last year Benji the only

Thing is the TT I don’t know cuz it’s a day shorter right the the overall race is actually a day shorter because of the two stages on one day why why is there a ttk’s low is it because they didn’t really want to do a TT but they felt obliged to have some

Sort of TT cuz last year there was a proper TT that Roy won in the last stage you’re right but how I see it is that maybe they thought about oh we want to do a double stage day so two stages in one day on the second day and maybe that

Led to the conclusion that they would do a flat stage and the time TR would be shorter because there’s already a flat stage in the legs of the Riders whether that’s the exact theory that led to the the Brewing of the situation I don’t know but that’s how I perceive it I’m

Not as bothered by their being only 6.3 km of it in this race as many other people are I I don’t think it’s I like it because I feel like the less TT kilometers the more of a chance people have to beat dami Ving in this race and

Not that I’m against d Bing but I want the I want the fight we’re again we’re against her our official position um STD Works went one two last year this year in GC with wering and keki coming second on the same time as nioda coming third V luron in fourth has retired

Obviously riini didn’t start the race but they were big gaps three minutes from varing to her teammate keki and four minutes to van verton uh and and 3 minutes to the viod so wering obviously will whatever route they put down frankly as long as it has some sort of

Mountain uh would start the hot favorite although keki I really think keeps improving but we’ll see with the track so it’s uh it’s really up to Noma and others to to step up and and do so but yeah if the route was good in the men of vard just is a route which

Barring incident or drafting behind a car illegally it’s another one where Ving will be like the $110 favorite at least in my opinion if she retains that level but hopefully realini steps up or or NOA continues to step up that would be lovely to see uh why don’t we get

Into it Benji um stage one Rotterdam to the ha 124k obviously pancake flat uh they’re going towards the coast I think might have 5 Mees of ele elevation gain this stage uh finishing where all the the UN Etc is This is Lorena vas uh charlota Co who I don’t know if

She gets on the track this is a big sprint to start it off and vas probably takes yellow in in our country weas or charlot call or a different Sprinter that might level up but it’s clear it’s clear that it’s between those two on paper right now and we is in my opinion

Like you said also the one that is lightly above cold at the moment so I’m also looking at that there is potential in these fast few days for echelons and the Netherlands but I feel like I don’t know the actual terrain enough around the area it looks close to the Border

Close to the coast which is something that indicates potentially there will be wind but on the other end didn’t you also like say that a lot of this is happening in cities or is that more stage two I think that’s more St stage two this is uh actually going from between

Two cities but yeah stage two well 2 a rather I’ve not we’ve never previewed a day like this is from dord to Rotterdam but here this is I think a glorified City Criterium uh it’s mostly doing a lot of laps or or in and out of Rotterdam which is obviously very very

Built up uh even we were speaking before the show about cross cross wins potential of Crosswinds of course that would be something that would spice up the first two stages if there were Crosswinds but you don’t need skyscrapers even to stop Crosswinds having an effect even a three

Story four-story building in a builtup environment means that the wind is not going to be able to create echelons so I can’t see that happening you need you need an open plane with not even any trees um so maybe well this is strange oh sry on maybe in the starting point of

The stage like the first 20 km there’s options where they’re actually going from D to rdam to then eventually have the the Rotterdam crd but I agree that within Rotterdam it’s going to be hard to create those ones the thing with these Sprints as well is the first stage

In the ha final straight on an Avenue last 5 kilometers on pretty wide roads so that’s pretty straightforward so no like no like Bend with 200 Meers to go based on the description of mar which is the uh president of the Twitter f f she’s the tter f f

PR s perom if we have to compare it between the two races when it comes to that second stage also a wide finish so I would argue we won’t see anything spectacular when it comes to technicalities hopefully so we should see a proper head- up Sprint but what

Are you going to say oh just some Dutch history this is called in French on the profiles Holland mer mer meral D not Italian but meridianal Holland I think this is South Holland um the Rotterdam area so that’s some geography for you one of the most densely populated areas in the world

Apparently uh and I think there’s going to be fans all along the road like everywhere I think this is going to be like we mentioned before the Stage Preview Benji there’s a reason this race is coming here I think this going to be absolutely packed particularly if the

Dutch women have had success at the Olympics they’re going to be you know there or thereabouts for the road race or TT as well so people will be lining up to see their gold medal or whatever Heroes here the strange part is this this TT what is this

R pardon first of all I think we need to start talking about the fact of the two stages on one day what the effect will have before we dive into the second stage because like I reckon I’ve seen this before in some of the what is it the Sim lady St

That does it I think some of the Dutch the Dutch one one we races heing yeah has done that before if I recall as well so we we see those like combinations of two stages on one day we’ve seen it back in the day in men cycling as well but

That has kind of disappeared from the top levels of of men cycling I kind of like it it’s like a full day of activities I don’t know and like the first Sprint stage also 67 km a 2 a stage so then to have a 6.3 km it afterwards from rdam to rdam so

Basically a route around rdam that is going to be very minimal differences I reckon yeah I mean six they I think there can be though like poor old riini is looking at this geez you know this ain’t the best thing for me a power flat TTI 7 Minute

Effort whereas someone like uh I’m looking at the simac ladyes T as you mentioned they had a 7K TT someone like keki can win this she can win this TT and blow everyone away and she had gaps like toering she had 15 seconds and to probably I don’t know there weren’t too

Many climbing GC contenders at that race but I dare say someone like keki could put 20 plus seconds into AIA doer on this so I think it’s a good cause for keki to Podi him again but should still be probably the best of the GC contenders it’s almost a bit too short

For someone like Royer um and it’ll be interesting to see if vbus has yellow after the first two sprints will she be able to hold on to that against probably her teammate keki if she is there uh I don’t might be back too yeah true that’s also a factor that we haven’t considered

The return of Alan vonc and so forth but it’s also a short so there might be some spicy uh spicy results by the end but stage four is really where the where the race kicks off in my opinion which is basically if we call these stages 2 a

And to B then technically the next stage is stage three and not stage four which sorry but this is this is playing with my head how is that that how can you have because normally to have a TT that’s uh under 10 kilm AKA prologue it

Has to be the first stage I don’t there’s obviously an exception in the rules that if you have two stages on one day you can have the second stage as a TT that’s you can so short you can have any TT as that short but it is just

Classified as a prologue when it is at the start of the race so it’s not that it blocks the race organizers from having a two Kil to at the end if they want question if this is still the rules why do so many riders participate in the prologue agreed I don’t understand when

There the rule for people oh so I think the rule is luk will correct me if I’m wrong that you the reason it’s called a prologue not a time trial is because there is no time cut and so if you don’t participate in the prologue or if you

Don’t finish you are just put on the last time uh of the last the time of the last Rider so if you’re a sprinter at a to a romendy with ton 2000 coming up and and two mountain stages you could effectively just not do the prologue it doesn’t matter because you’re not there

For GC and I don’t we rarely see Riders not doing the prologue at all I understand it’s good to test the equipment get data Etc I do not believe that all eight riders in every prologue in this year are testing data and the equipment uh so yeah I don’t know why

They all do it I don’t remember the rule specifically I perceived it as you don’t need to finish it but you do need to start it but I’m not 100% certain there but anyway same story why do they all finish it well there’s no time cut the

Bik one meter in 30 km an hour on a road bike would be gimmick just getting off the the starting ramp and jumping in a car yeah anyway I do it we won’t see that in the in the TT on stage yeah stage three we’re not allowed to call it

Stage 2B uh but yeah this this Classic Stage Benji which is stage four run us through this cuz there could be huge GC gaps already on this stage yeah the name at the start and the name at the Finish already declares what kind of stage will

Be venberg is the start and leage is the finish so venberg we know from uh from from the amst gold race and then Le we know from Le best on Le and that’s exactly what this race is it’s combination of both of these two races the first 30 kilm of amsel gold range

With a combination of the uh let me just put my laptop vertically here the bamler B the cber the HH be the bamer be so those are the first four climbs in the first 24 kilm which the thing about that is that it could be something to form a

Braak away but I often feel like I often feel like in women’s cycling we might ride over these first two climbs unhindered and maybe there’ll be a few attacks I hope that last year the actions of Phoenix which was one of the best teams in that race to look at

Because they were so active and so forth I hope that triggers other people to also get into breakaways more to also try to get more from the race than just sitting in the pelaton and hoping that you can compete at the Finish Line even when you’re far from the favorite but

The second half of the race after like a a 40 km of just transitioning terrain we get towards the climbs which are towards uh towards liage and we’ve got the Monte with roughly 50 km to go 2.8 km 5.9% that probably won’t be the one where

People go on but then it arrives at 88 km into the stage so about 34 km from the Finish Line the Kut which is the one from lbl where people tend to launch 1.6 km at 9.4% then we’ve got the cor Mo which is a unclassified climb just behind that

Which is like a few kilms later three kilm later C de forche also in the race with 23 km to go 1.3 km at 7.8% and the final kicker is the h f 1.3 at 11% which lands with 13 km to go so it’s a final of it’s a final of lbl

Right and there’s a r of the to the and triple this year who also won this race overall Dam Bing so she will have seen this stage with absolute Glee I think it’s so difficult and it’s so it’s so clearly it literally is L AG finish

That there’s no ah we go for lot today we give the stage to L keki to me it’s very obvious that this would you would go for Ving or you’d play both of them uh as cards you could maybe play keki early like they didn’t in strata Bianca uh as well but

If I was her I would really Target this stage probably she’s a little bit behind keki so in terms of if I’m just going to assume K is here because it’s more fun I’m going to assume she’s not here because I think she prioritizes Olympics right I mean yeah maybe Olympic gold we

Want her to be there if you’re voling you got to take time back on your teammate here so you got to you got to go for this stage yeah anap py from the pro from the TT so I think she’s got to go for it on this stage um love to see

Nioda also active I mean Canyon Shram are the team who I think improved they were the most improved team of women cycling in 2023 yeah probably in correct I’m sure if you look at the numbers this probably SD works but boring um I think canyon stram really impressed me they even won

A stage of this race with Balon F who was at the rude presentation I would love if their Classics team their are Classics team with newa with Roy aers with Bal and find if they stepped up another little step and now they’ve got backer Benji yes back transferred from correct

From EF cuz it folded um I’d love to see them do something uh I go Ving winning the stage though hard to see past her to be honest yeah I think that’s a a viable winner on your on your spreadsheet here and that’s really like the the first

Kicker of the stage and the thing is this is still 122 km but it’s going to be hard throughout if we go to the next two stages those are the ones that are longer the F next three stages are longer the next ones are 150 km from Bostonia to Anville so we’re entering

France about 50 km into the stage we enter the French region and I don’t know there are Hills in the last half of this race we’ve got with roughly 30k to go the the how of how do you pronounce that Bri Bri something like that oh you know I can’t do the I

Can’t do the El Len ones I’ve always struggled four years in I can’t do them Cod debris Cod debris the cheese 1.1k 4.4% so I don’t see that doing most then with 16k to go as 1.7 km at 6% so that’s a that’s a bit rougher and that’s really the last pure

Challenge but I feel the last col of the stage going uphill did Mar R say anything about that or I think it’s like a false fat drag maybe like 2 3% it looks really really good for keki but or liard or not hard enough liard is so

Good on those but I think she likes 5 6% um or it to be like I’m gold race where it’s like 2K is 8% and then a flat 500 M afterwards yeah this is screaming keki to me but also to be honest Vias can make this in her new form um I think

It’s going to be but I think this is Breakaway I think this is a breakaway winning because it is really quite rly with some decent Hills and one 165 case from the finish this reminds me of the norgard stage uh that she won where Royer and lipet on the final Hill

Randomly went clear the chase wasn’t that good and nors guard won I think that’s viable I think um who would I expect to see make that move though as in Vos would probably be the candidate for yumble for a stage like this but might we see some reverse lead

Out where Marcus goes on the attack tries to use her TT skills like that we uh we see Grace Brown in Opportunities like this all the time there there’s so many riders that could be doing this that it’s impossible to predict it from a year out but it should be a good stage

But I reckon I reckon the next two will be harder stages than people perceive as in I feel like stage what number are we at oh dear Jesus Christ we’re six the morto stage is stage six yeah okay the morto stage I I’ll let you introduce it

But the length is really going to do something on that one I reckon I think so and I’m just reminding myself you know cuz I keep say well lot of cap will clean that one up and then St Works will share it around you know there were

Three Breakaway wins in about four days in this year’s race because the chase was no one everyone decided quite rightly we are not going to help SD works anymore and cast a line one after vanera nearly won two days before and then there was bound find and then there

Was norgard it might have been it might have been the baline stage where Roy and Lippard went clip but you get my point like I think breakaways even in the leage stage frankly are possible and I think Canyon sham will Target that but yeah stage six Christian prom was

Talking about MTO Saucy s so apparently the sausage is Good from MTO thege region it is hilly as well hilly for the first 106k but not too severe and then intensifies with 5.5k 5.6% but the categorization effectively cuts off the second third of that climb that I can see so that’s

Basically a 9 km climb with a short descent and then a 2K 7% steep section so that’s actually basically M it’s 17 K of climbing with a short descent in it it’s a mountain before a uh what is it maybe 10K to sent into M Toe with a flat

Section at the end you can make differences here like we know in the women’s Pell as well 5 and 6% is enough if the big guns go to make differences my question is though with this stage and with the future stages we’re going into B Von was really the

Orchestrator and the Catalyst of early action in a lot of the stage we had in the to of h f in previous years as in she would launch from the bottom of like what the ground balone two years ago if I reckon or um or P balone whatever that

Clent was Bal yeah and um and then I always felt like she was the the one that attacked early and I wonder if Ving might be a a bit more defensive to the point that it have to come from an a canyon Rider here or there to attacks is

K AIA n ad it’s got to be her right yeah but I I feel like maybe the other Riders can be early action like Barn fine might go first and nether me goes and then maybe niad is the final hit because she’s the largest chance for them to

Podium that’s a great Point yeah if you’re Canyon Shram you try get in the break if you don’t get in the break you launch early with your second tier Climbers on this climb and put ner in a seat and that’s the thing I think I think SD Works got to take Fisher black

To this race if keki doesn’t do the race if she doesn’t do it and they don’t take Fisher black who will chase a canyon Shram Rider if they do what you said Benji on this climb they might just put Royer in that group and react with

Royer and just put her in that wheel but but if you have Royer in that wheel if you’re or F and Royer is in your wheel would you be more willing to have nether Meer or bar fight fighted out with Royer absolutely yeah so I don’t think that’s

A scenario I would hate because like as dewor sending their domestiques forward was always the weakness this year or well in the little amount of races that it mattered yeah yeah it would always have been better just you put Royce on the front and then make the race as hard

As possible and voling does the business but it’s difficult often to get someone to do that as a domestique who’s also could be Olympic champion in the TT won the the stage you can top five GC in this race as well Roa herself she eventually she did Pace on the the tolay

This year but keki did not pace for voling really on the tolay from my if my memory serves me correctly yes but I feel like that was tactical from the team and not necessarily egotistical or something no no I’m just saying like probably before the race to manage and

It’s we saw in the Welter it is borderline impossible to manage so many top riders in one team because Vias wants to win points in multiple stages Royer wants to win the TT and do her best in GC and try and maybe win one of

The mix stages Capi wants to do her best on GC win the well win whatever Olympics yeah yeah maybe that’s exactly maybe she’s like oh it’s too much of a mess I’ll go the Olympics Ving wants to win GC so it’s very very difficult to manage all that but yeah what do you

What do you see from this stage then I think G fight I actually think it’s a breakway again and I with someone like a good climber like a b findind winning I don’t see it for me it’s GC fight and maybe B find can win from that group but

Maybe an early action can lead to the victory if IFD Works doesn’t want to control it entirely but it would have to be riders that are not dangerous for GC as well which after the stage we had I don’t expect Baron fine to be on 20

Minutes either so true kind of like I don’t know but it is 160 km I think the LA last year last year the longest stage I think ever in women’s cycling was 177 km in that uh in that year which was toes if my memory SES me right won

That fall ring I think I think castaline castaline oh that was a break stage yeah you’re right but the difference here for me is that the there’s a medium mountain in the last 20 km which I think GC can can really ramp it up on so I don’t know

I see it like that maybe I’m wrong maybe I’m right we’ll see eventually but stage of course if es works just put someone on the front to Pace the break does not win so it’s in their hands uh and Tre as well but yeah the next stage Benji now

We’re going actually to the H SEO in the Alps chol to B 167 km and I just said it that stage last year 177 km rers afterwards were like ooh that was a long stage was difficult to make difference at the end of a 177 km uh range this is

167 so it’s shorter but I think this is harder because we’ve got a medium Mountain 50 km in it’s the the ca uh the lasa 12 km at 5.1% that’s proper attrition and is a launching pad if you want to do something crazy who knows then there’s so many like smaller

Hills in between a 2.4 km at 4.5% 4 km at 4.5% but there’s so many unclassified Hills in there as well that it’s ups and downs throughout the day I’d be curious to know the exact elevation while you’re while you’re staring at a computer hopefully you can find it uh and this is

All in a running towards the final climb which is the climb to uh lron B which this is also one of those like two stepped climbs so we first have the uh K sanan the six which is 5.4 km 5.1% but it has like a 1 km descent and

Then goes straight into the next Mountain which is Monte Des the sh 7 km at 5.1% so the grain is are 5% but it is 12 km of climbing with a kilm of descend in between so this is going to be a GC winner this is by far the hardest second

Hardest stage we’ve seen in any of the three editions we have not seen ASO put in basically a second Mountain Stage before and I think they’ve probably really like like the tomay stage I thought was really good last year of course Ving smoked everybody in the end

But I thought it was I mean that was great n kicked it off and I thought it was unbelievable stage so yeah konga in love welta feminina unbelievable stage as well their Big Mountain Stage so they’ve gone with the second Mountain Stage as Beni said this is a lot of

Climbing there’s not much flat in this at all I think think I think there can be big big differences uh on this stage I worry about riini staying close in GC basically at up to this point and I also don’t think it’s the best climb for her I think it’s still good but

Um yeah this is a really good climb for wering who’s heavier than riini but also you know the world’s best climber and yeah I think I think it’s also a good finish for keki I think it’s a really good climb for her and Roa with

That 5% for a long time if the race had finished at the end of this stage and keki keki wins GC I I don’t believe so I think voling still wins it but she won’t be three minutes behind no certainly not uh but yeah she would certainly be on the

Podium I think if it finishes here I think maybe the next stage might not be the case but yeah I think that’s the thing Benji if wering does the business here she’s also probably going to have well not probably she will beat realini and say the TT and

Noma in the TT say she takes some bonies even if they’re passive takes bonies here or there in in leage in in some of the other stages and then also just does like a last a RIT rides up to this point like Rog glit and and on the gron also

Does that CU she did that on the stage where she G vanon last this year and you know takes maybe 10 plus 10 here goes into the last stage on a a minute in in the lead what do they do well they got to try and attack her

Somehow but like it looks you have to look at the kind of Rider you are like first of all let’s go over this profile yeah you can do it the gr which is sorry not aonor it’s where pagat basically ended the Twitter France in 2021 when

You had the ROM combo um they start there some Rolling Hills at the start it’s 150k stage before 40 or 50k Valley before this it’s the same stage as the Mountain Stage this year effectively but I think I don’t know if it’s more difficult or not I don’t think so CU

They do the cold do GL glandon 20K is at 7.2% that’s the hardest climb in the stage up to 1942 descent another 15K value before alz the famous aldez so Dutch Corner there it’s I mean does this count as a Dutch finish as well did the Netherlands pay for this finish 14ks

8% up to 18 St that corner no so no it’s not a Dutch finish not a Dutch finish um Double Mountain this year as a reminder they had uh finishing on the Talay but there was action beforehand uh that was uh only a 90k stage so that was

Much shorter and the cold dust span was not as difficult as the Finish finish and on the 12K 6.6% on the call that span it completely kicked off there with the with Van Von launching so this has a like the excuse me the cold Spar compared to the cold glandor are not

Comparable the cold du glandor is it is harder than the is similar to the Toray itself and then you got up to this is much much harder Y and it’s also 60k longer with heels at the start I think this this is going to be monster

Gaps I think I’ve said so much about SD works I I really believe if realini improves which is possible for how old is she you know a 20 something year old 20 22 years old I think Rini could win the Tour on this stage that is possible

But I’ve got one issue with realini and my issue with really realini is that the descend of the glor is a a problem yes as in she’s a pretty light Rider and I think that’s an understatement to the point that it’s such massive weakness for her in descend that she just loses

Ground she’s been dropped in so many descents in 2023 so and it I believe it’s not just technicality it’s it’s literally just her way catching up with her yeah yeah it’s just she’s 40 kilos like it’s it’s so difficult for her to just she has to Pedal out of a corner

Say they they go down a corner there two hair pins you know voling kicks out of it at 600 watts really needs 40 kilos she’s kicking out of it at like 350 400 watts maybe maybe less and so it’s also tiring for her to just stay on the wheel

Yep so that’s my issue there if she can get to the bottom of alz in the same group and still has energy left then it’s possible but it’s also like she might still be in the group but she might be completely destroyed from the actual descent to the point that she

Might not be able to go all out on the final on the final climb then but I I I want to see it I also want to see nether my rather Prime I want to see all those kind ofers I want to see niad maybe Nia goes on glandor because

She has that descent quality it’s honestly 19 km at 7% the gaps could already be there on glor this is not a small climb this is not like the no we’ve got this hill of his called the RO which is about 15 m in altitude it’s not that it’s a big climb

The highest point in the Netherlands I think that’s not true is it this looks like a men stage this is for the first time as well you look at this and you’re like this is a proper Tor France Mountain Stage I thought last year’s was good as well and listen whether the

Valley’s if the Valley’s 50 K or 20ks it means the stage is 30ks longer it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s more exciting or really more attritional if they’re just cruising along a valley anyway so uh but this has Hills and proper climbs at the start with a break might

Form I agree like C is insanely hard as the first climb followed by up the W and the thing is one of the First Reactions I got on Twitter when I when I was like giving my opinion on this on this profile was oh the stage is too short no

No no T was 89 km and the gaps were 5 minutes to the sixth Rider two minutes from 1 to two this is going to be huge gaps 150 km yeah konga was 90 K and the Gap from first to 10th was three 3 minutes 40 it’s going to be a huge difference

This is this is The All Out deciding stage are there tactics possible because I feel like this will just be won by the best Rider no I think Rin is going to kill everybody I think she’s going to kill everybody on this stage um you want to

See it huh I think she will she will draw well I think she was the strongest on on konga but she had a gearing problem uh which really cost her uh on that on that climb and I think this is much harder and also Kong is actually it’s pretty it’s pretty difficult that

Climb but yeah it’s I can’t wait to watch this it’s going to be brutal there’s going to be monster gaps the Gap from 1st to 10th is going to be like 5 minutes maybe um and yeah there’s it certainly could kick off on gland on and that’s the final stage

So yeah like whoever GC could be de side I think they why do they do it like that I think they I think that might be I know they do it in advance so it might not be from the previous year but yeah the the finish of konger i’ encourage you to go

Watch that this year it was the final stage of the Welter the uh women’s Welter GC was decided there by like a fraction by a few seconds cuz vanon held on you got a video on that on your channel I do yeah there we go people know where Pate cuz allegedly van Von

Attacked SD works when they were uh all decided they did a yeah they stopped for a nature break before a crosswind section so uh van W GC by 9 seconds despite losing uh a minute on konga but how would you rate the root Benji we’ve gone through all the stages I think it’s

Uh each year they seem to build it up in terms of length of stages and difficulty of stages bit by bit it’s still only eight stages and toana 7 and a half cuz that prologue is is not or not prologue that TT is is much shorter than this

Year what what would your overall assessment of the race and parkour be I think one small thing is that I I would have liked this year to have been the opportunity by the fact that they have two stages on one day to add an extra day to it because then it’s the same

Amount of days but one stage more that would already be a step in the direction of a a longer ground tour here uh I don’t care what kind of stage they would have added I do feel like the pacing in this ground tour is pretty good as in I

Like that it’s backloaded because otherwise we’d have a very decided race very early and I don’t mind it starting in the Netherlands that should create quite a bit of hype in the Netherlands that might create more hype than we saw last year with a Tut f farm to be honest

I reckon we’ve will have more hype at the start of Tut f farm in 2024 than the start in France in 2023 yeah probably probably I think it is going to be going to be Mayhem in those stages and that’s really good that’s probably why they wanted to have

It there as you said my score H H I’d say about I’d say about an eight and a half maybe as in one thing I would like to see more is kind of like the the Tactical medium Mountain Stage that makes sense as in one where you could

See some TCT it’s difficult to create it age isn’t it Ah that’s a hilly stage for me I want to see like a a tactical medium Mountain stage with like 5 kmers at 7% with like a valley afterwards and maybe a climb at the start to create a

Situation where people could send Riders forward I’m just thinking through those kind of things I want to see something like that yeah true I think it’s missing a a wall finish I don’t even think we had one we had some of them in the first

Year but uh when I look at this for lipet I’m like what stage can lipet win and maybe it’s that omni omn wait where is mudi isn’t that near Le why did they not finish the lbl stage and combine all three Hill classics by

Doing AMS at the start then L with r and finishing on M it’ll be too backload at that stage people would wait for yeah probably uh anding would be good too good on that anyway um but yeah I think it’s it’s kind of missing that but apart

From that it’s a pretty good route I’d give it a seven I do I give it a big tick for the final Mountain Stage I think that’s like yeah people don’t realize yet how hard that stage is going to be and I think it’s so

Hard that even if ferin goes in with a 130 lead she has a problem I think I think it’s possible that a pure clim lini can actually win GC on just that stage if you are Lorena Weis why would you stay longer than stage than the stage danani

Ville maybe if you’re in the points Jersey yeah true yeah like most sprinters could off then I guess they probably wanted to help control the Breakaway on the next stage yeah but yeah it’s the gron on and Al not looking good for her uh or the other sprinters and if you get dropped

If breakway formation on that final stage is aggressive on the opening two climbs in the first 30 km ah could even be an explosive start to that stage but yeah let us know what you think we Demi wering just clean it up again am I being

Too bullish on riini is that just cope I’m sure St works is going to have a big plan for the Netherlands uh Grand DEA and I think it’s a it’s a pretty good route overall and as Benji said maybe an extra stage with the extra day would have been the

Way to go but to be honest they’re trying to work it around the Olympics in an unusual year uh and that’s also a good test to see without being directly attached to the men’s race what will viewership be like uh with it sort of stay on its own

Being in in a separate you know 2 weeks 3 weeks later rather than straight afterwards I’m not complaining because we get a little bit of a break uh between the two races but that will be very interesting to see the the viewership data on that uh which they’ve

Been forced to do so hope you enjoyed the episode we’ll be back with uh not not uh Team previews with Awards shows coming next week GC and then uh then we’ll get into the team previews in November any also started to announce a rider one Rider a day I’m not sure Oscar

Rodriguez package deal with Kos Rodriguez needs his own day to digest I think we all know what happened there um three years man yeah it’s it’s Amador package every time their agent aquadro combines both a rider that is less likely to get a deal like that with

A rider that is likely to get a deal like that to make sure both get a will through contract and I often wonder does that negatively impact the desire for the big Rider in any way does that impact that cuz then you’re not necessarily acting in their best interest

No but probably Carlos Rodriguez just got a lot more money from anyos than he was going to get out moar so he’s probably not complaining uh cuz they sign the pre-contract at mostar and that that leverage his price up but yeah you’re right it’s a bit strange I I also think it’s

Strange the teams professional teams allow that sort of uh thing to happen and uh but yeah anyway they’re being held hostage by agents basically yeah it’s not how I would approach it but maybe you don’t if you want the talent you want the talent if that’s indeed

What happened but yeah threeyear deal to anyos Oscar Rodriguez B surp he he is a fine right had bad crash in the jro but uh mid Dom but he won’t make the difference yeah I mean they’ve had success taking marar domestiques with Castro so he could be okay but yeah um I

Remember yeah I remember the day where Oscar Rodriguez won a VTA stage when he was riding for um green jersey what was that what was that Bloody team oyal tell green jersey were they still green back then it was yeah oh that VTA was that the Lopez Yates VTA

Painful I was 2018 yeah he won that five years ago he’s 28 now so um anyway we’ll see what other oh they announced AJ August I should do the positive as well so that’s a big coup they got inos got one of the most highly touted Juniors on

The market he sort of goes toe-to-toe with uh joran norhan who’s like Yambo Super Junior the Norwegian so they got August the young American GC Prospect so we’ll be seeing him uh well I’m looking forward to seeing him probably on their uh like setti Mana copy

Bar type program which the the Neo Pros normally do he signed for three years and uh yeah he’s a really really big Talent can’t wait to see how he goes he won the I’m trying to look also yeah if you want to see them go head to-head you

Can I think watch on YouTube cord Jor stage one uh where he and Nord haen go to the line and uh Sprint each other which is pretty cool and then he came second on GC behind Nord haogen Phillipson the Danish rider was also in that race as well highly taled Junior so

Being a josper the next guy skipping World Tour yeah skipping World Tour skipping skipping U23 sorry skipping U2 yeah just skip World Tour go to go to a universe [Laughter] touring in another dimension credit to to the Belgian y know wither come on he’s actually really good lot of got

Him signed up don’t they yeah they do in the de team still so he’s not skipping World T Luke just said skipping world just go just retire I’ve achieved all I need to in the sport I’m retiring that’s sad he’s really good man y know we want Phil La Philip sh Juniors

He’s won loads of other races good in lunana like Bren he’s very small isn’t he yeah he’s he’s Punchy he he tends to ride away on Hills um whether it’s Goble or non Cobble and then stays away until the line so pretty good yeah lot of exciting Junior chaleng

Coming through uh I can’t wait to uh can’t wait to see them in World Tour or U23 or retired in fact next year luk just said y wi is just like me for real or wait are we talking about y Wier or about retirement I think he’s talking

About retirement because Luke’s like 6’5 and Yana Widow is looks like [Laughter] me Jesus Christ that’s all from us we’ll be back maybe with more trans ah we probably won’t have another transfer pod to be honest because we’ll just get straight into team previews we’ve obviously got rer next Friday a week

From today Benji and I will be there in London uh in case you want to see us in person uh that evening on the 3rd of November but thanks is always for listening and we’ll see you uh start of next week ciao