Who is READY for the Tour de France? – Domestique Cycling Podcast

Support the show
https://ko-fi.com/domestique

One week after the end of Giro d’Italia, it’s time for the first Tour de France preparation race: Critérium du Dauphiné. Primoz Roglic (BORA – hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) return to racing after their bad crashes at Itzulia Basque Country and will be looking for their best legs with the eyes on Tour de France. Learn all about the course of the eight stages and the favorites for the overall victory in this new Domestique Cycling Podcast episode!

Follow us on Twitter
Tweets by Domestique___
Follow us on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/ @domestique___
Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/domestique___/

I’ve got the SP the sickness there’s be twins in my brain welcome to the Criterium do preview willco evu be able to battle with the best on the uphill finishes what is Team visma Lisa bikes plan without yonas vineard and can s Bennett show his great form in the French preparation race on to the France discover all about it in a new episode of the domestic cycling podcast one week after the jro Italia I’m joined by the domestic OG welcome eeve hi homas it’s been a long time since the two of us had a an podcast episode together yeah it is but we’re here uh the road to to the France starts with the doin but the question is are you recovered from the first ground tour of the Season jro Italia I’m recovered I’m ready for the next grand tour of the Season already uh I hope the legs from Pacha are giving him the same Sensations but he’s probably going to be fatig uh the Slovenian but it’s still four weeks a little bit less to go till the start in Italy for the G for the the tour so yeah I’m ready and I’m pumped for the do that starts pretty soon which Grand Tour do you prefer jro or to the France uh that’s difficult question to be honest D the France is better scheduled in everyone’s agenda diary because it’s uh in the holiday period so you can watch more stages from the T of France and the name t of France is still bigger than the jro is the T of France after all but purely looking at parkour Etc and the way it’s raised the Jito and felda are always entertaining uh in my opinion this year maybe a little bit less because the dominance of Pacha was yeah no one could match him but still the teams aren’t bringing the super squads to the jro orela normally and that creates a more open race in comparison to the Tour of France which is more important for team sponsors where they line up all the best Riders of their team um it’s more controlled in a certain way in my opinion we have stacked a lineup for Criterium the doin as well but that’s uh something we’ll talk about later I gotta I got to show you something first this arrives at my house this week do you know what that is it’s our trophy from the the name game from Vima liik uh we won that uh surprisingly um well surprisingly we did everything we could to say Vima Ley bike and remove Jimbo from our heads but still and yet here it is it’s a nice achievement and I think we can be proud that we got the trophy proud vimala bike name game winners all right if let’s dive right into the action at Criterium do starting with the course maybe can you tell us what does it look like the parkour is very tough uh if you link up with the start list we see that fast men don’t want to start uh in the do and I think we both understand why um there isn’t a single flat St I think this is the the the toughest course I’ve ever seen for Doof yes it’s perfect as a preparation for the GC man for the tour um if you are a sprinter who needs some climbing in the legs to be able to survive um the T the France the first week of to France uh then you can go to the doof but you’re not going as a fastman um to the do to win a stage there is one one and a half chance uh for a sprinter uh to get a stage win I think we’re talking about stages one and five yeah in that case for sprinters yeah it’s but stage one has 1,800 altitude meters so it’s not like a pen flat stage that we see in UAE and then stage five is 2,300 stage meters where yeah a uphill uh opening half of the stage that’s yeah Bennett for example is one of the fastman at the start he will be dropped after a kilometer or 10 or yeah in that stage and then it’s up to the team to bring him back and important both Sprint stages have a kicker within the final 20 kilm yeah so I think it’s more Advantage the The Punchy sprinters we have a couple of them at the start um but the bunch printers don’t really have a chance their only real chance is stage one because when I look at the stage five profile again it’s hard the first half it’s more of a transition stage isn’t it yeah it’s if you if you see such sort of profiles in a grand tour then immediately Mich Pops in my in my head it’s a b a boror stage people get away and battle for the stage win of course in a doof um it’s only one we stage race it’s not I don’t know if breakway will get a lot of freedom purely because the the strength of the of the teams at the starting you know what the problem is as there aren’t a lot of sprinters on the start list there aren’t a lot of teams who will control those stages which opens up opportunities for for guys for barers um you were talking about mahic for that stage five this was a prime thas the stage as well but unfortunately the guy is sick yeah um but next to those two stages we also have one individual time trial 34 uh kilometers with 420 altitude meters so that’s a tough one as well who want to go for GC will have to perform um on that stage and then if I counted it correctly we have two hilly stages and three pure Mountain stages which is absolutely Bonkers yeah it immediate immediately starts uh on Monday uh stage two with an uphill finish it’s not the hardest but still yeah it it goes up for quite a while the last last what is it um 25 30 km 25 30 K go uphill with a little flat section in between so will we see GC action already in stage two I have my doubt it’s going to be a Sprint For A reduced in a reduced group uh for me I don’t think it’s smart for uh and I use for example to go I think stage two is a perfect stage for uh for instance buo to to attack close to the line or or Sprint to the Finish maybe it’s perfect for a r glitch as well a St like that so if Bora we’re going to talk about the squad later but if they have the strength in their squad if they can control that last 10K after that flat flat part then Rish is one of the fastest to the Finish Line still um and he has to show some form already which because in four weeks is it main goal so I I I expect rogich to be close and maybe B already to make a statement in that stage stage three is yeah more or same the Le uh more or less the same um hilly stage not really pure Mountain Stage but I think the first Mountain finish will be stage six the one to L dalv that’s 11.2 km at 8 .5% average um that’s tough and I think yeah stage seven the same 9.9 km at 9% and stage eight Plateau deer 9.3 at 7.3% so um why do you think this is the perfect preparation for to the France well there’s a lot first of all a lot of climbing of course um and I think most of our listeners know uh how the opening weekend of through the France looks like it’s already um tough right from the gun you have to be ready so it’s not like you can yeah Peak towards uh second or third week in the to the France you have to be um fully prepared at the opening um in the opening weekend and if you have three uphill finishes finishes like this in the doin um it’s perfect to see where am I where do I have to put my effort in for the last three to four weeks um am I yeah am I not explosive enough yet do I have to do some intervals or am I suffering too much when there is a a high Pace if that’s the case then you’re going to have a big problem um for the tour so in my opinion if you’re not good in those final three stages as a GC man then you’re going to suffer in in the Tour of France because because it’s only three and a half four weeks till the start of the tour how much more can you improve so it’s crunch time already for the GC man and that final weekend of doin doin is most of the time the race in which we get answers on a lot of questions we have going to to the France um which are the the biggest questions you have at this point before the start of this year’s to well first of all I think that’s the the main question for a lot of cycling followers how good Isam um they I think k pelgrim um coach at sud quickstep said they are purly going to see how good he is um he’s at a decent level he’s far from his best level REM considered himself it’s his first time on the individual time tral bike as well after his crash so how is it in that position because it’s completely different position so yeah that final three stages are going to be in point important for rco first of all to see yeah how good am I really and is it possible to be ready um for the tour to France uh do you believe he’s not going for GC because that’s what he said well I don’t think he’s going to lose time in opening three stage and then you have the the fourth stage individual time Trail um if AOL feels slightly good um even 85% he’s going to be one of the best in that time trail and I wouldn’t be surprised if you see him in the yellow Jersey at the end of stage four to be honest those are big words um do you do you disagree yeah it’s perfectly possible depending on what happens in that hilly stage um if other um yeah if other time trial Specialists lose time there it’s possible Remco takes yellow um after the individual time trial but you know I I don’t know how good he is um I got the feeling that sudal quickstep is keeping the pressure away from him um he’s not going for GC he’s not feeling uh good enough but you know this is the first of June um to the France is one month away you you already need to have a certain level you know if you want to be competitive at two the front yeah if I recall correctly you talked about it in chat earlier this week um about even Po and his Fitness level after his crash in the bus country he was able to hop back on his bike pretty fast it’s not like he has been off the bike for a very long time in comparison to vinegar who yeah a week a week and a half that’s long so he yeah he he has lost uh quite a bit of Fitness in that period that he wasn’t able to bike properly but still I think he’s going to be on a more than decent level in this doof and they are just using the crash the unfortunate crash to keep the pressure low because it’s the first participation to the France as well uh later in June um for the Belgian they always always are very careful about um yeah the the schedule from eveno and they wanted him to start through France when he was fully ready now he was so this is the the perfect opportunity for sudal to keep it under the yeah but I I think that’s that’s a smart thing for the team to do um it’s rco iapu and I truly believe the team has has questions themselves at this point um AO hasn’t raced yet so um imagine the situation in which aapo isn’t able to follow the best during the mountain stages what consequences will that have for to France in your opinion it’s a difficult question I I mentioned to you earlier this week if if you drop in that opening stages in the heler stages um I don’t see it as a big issue because we can see it as gaining race Rhythm um getting that yeah that special feeling in the lungs again like what vanard mentioned in the tour of nor Norway you can simulate that on training you can only do it in races so that’s going to be the same for eveno so if he drops in that first two three stages um I don’t think it’s a big problem it’s going to be maybe a bigger problem um if it’s in the final weekend the real mountain stages because then it’s only um we the the E of June so then it’s three weeks a little bit less for the tour so if you drop then it’s going to be difficult I don’t know how fast he can gain um Fitness how good he can Peak we all know you already mentioned it the biggest problem with this year tour the France is the fact that it’s money time right from the gun you don’t have the time to grow into the race you have to be there from the very first stages yeah indeed um but you you asked me what are the main questions um so we only talked about eveno I have another one that I’m very yeah a question about te gagen Hart it’s a a very strong team um alongside Chone um he went to little track to be um GC leader in grand Tours he left in his grenades what do you expect expect from he gay heart in this doof and then further on in the tour um I think Gigan Hart will start the race with some questions about himself as well um he has been looking in several stage races to get some confirmation about I will be able to compete with the best in in the ground tours in tour the France and I don’t think he has found an answer on that question yet um to RI he ended up ninth in GC which is not terrible but that’s also not yeah the result you hope for um despite the fact that Gigan Hart had a a really bad injury um last season the guy was barely able to walk um but I think we had that discussion this week um about how little Tre will will race this doof with chicone I don’t think gigart will be the the main leader um I think that’s always been the plan that gig hardt would be leader at tour the France so this is the perfect race to to get to know uh the team to get to know the team tactics so I don’t think there will be much freedom for chicone but at the same time I think you thought he would be co-leader is that right yeah yeah if you’re a little track I would start them yeah as co-leaders because Chone is strong in in one we stage race for me his yeah his problem is going to be that quite long individual time tral for Chone it’s it’s an uphill drag um for the majority of that time trial so the powerhouses um among the time trial is will do pretty good there it’s just about power about Watts shikon will lose quite a bit of time there but how is gagen hard going to do in that time trial I have no clue at all so I would yeah give them some Freedom see how it goes they have Peterson as well um who’s always um there for the stage win um if he’s at the start line we know pedan is going to be close to a stage win um or get a stage win so that’s something have in mind um for the race and then is to see how the the climbing team with fona as well how they are going to work together how it’s going to be so I think would giving freedom to chicone could be really smart in my opinion um because you know all the big guys all the big GC guys at the start they have some questions about themselves uh rogich has questions rco has questions pogach isn’t there vinard isn’t there that might open up some freedom for guys like chicone uh during stage two for instance on on C de la if they attack with 5 kilometers to go and gain a small um time advantage that could be beneficial for the rest of the race there’s no team that will I don’t know if there will there be a team that might fully control the race I don’t know maybe UA te emor but it could be very very interesting um the way little track will be be racing here yeah it’s the parkour for the dofini and the start list the combination of it is it’s made for entertaining racing um like we said in the Sprint Hill stages who’s going to control in the mountain stages yeah we don’t have that yeah it’s maybe a little bit disrespectful we don’t have that top level of grand tour riders with Pacha and vinard um not present so yeah it opens up opportunities for um a lot of guys on the start L of this year’s do absolutely um maybe going back to sud quickstep one more time um I had one more question on my sheet Mika if the team if the team says that rco eveno isn’t going for GC does that mean Manda will be I was going to ask exact exactly the same question to you um you were first so yeah like I mentioned with chikon that time TR might be a problem for Londa um the name under L on the start list Elon velder he has that time trial it’s possible that Von Wilder is the best sudall quickstep Rider after stage four um if AOL drops time somewhere in the first three stages um and then what is sudal quickstep going to do and are they going to give the opportunity to Von Wilder because Von Wilder is yeah aims high as well he wants to win races himself he’s not purely a domestique he doesn’t want to be purely a domestique um he already mentioned that last year um so yeah if he’s there if he’s in the main position within the team I think Von Wilder might try to stay close to an nauzo AIT the big favorites for the doin to try to try and get that um good GC result but Londa yeah it would be I think we I think we can both agree that Londa won’t be the GC leader uh yeah because of that time trial in my opinion if that time tral isn’t there um then I would say yes um he’s GNA he can be a GC leader if iol doesn’t perform on top GC level but right now I have my doubts and if it happens then I hope L gets some freedom to go for for a stage win in that last weekend the same question goes for team Vima liike um without Yas Vino being at doof we don’t really know who will be their leader will it be seus will it be jurgenson what do you think I think the the main question for Vima bike is when does their bad luck stop um we the start of June uh the amount of bad luck they had through the season um starting with the classics then the The Grand Tour the Jito was pretty horrendous for them as well due to crashes illnesses Etc vinigar is a question mark for the Tour of France he’s a big question mark for me um in comparison to um musin in the interview yesterday and say vineard is the the main favorite but who’s going to be the big guy in the doin I expect a lot from yuron to be honest um I think they’re GNA try and see how good juson can perform again um as a a GC leader he won earlier this year so but there is a difference between a one we stage race and a ground tour um so my next question would be what what does this do tell about the T France approach of team visal eike will will they be looking for someone to be the the second leader in case vinard doesn’t perform it’s probably it has to be on their mind because yeah VGA is just two weeks two weeks and a half back on his bike after a severe crash uh but there is only one vinegar of course and I have my doubts if someone is able to fill Jonas’s shoes within that Squad they have a a super strong Squad don’t understand me wrong but to be a GC leader in a grand tour there are quite a bit of question marks yeah have cous one Thea but we think we can both agree if Fina and Rit um weren’t in his team he wouldn’t win um he wouldn’t have won that and C still has that problem with um individual time triling um there’s only one flat individ flattish individual time tral in the tour and one hilly uh one mountain time tril but yeah if vard doesn’t start um the T of France at 100% for Vima Le bike then I think yeah Vima isn’t going to play a major role and for GC for GC so we can conclude that in this do seus and jurgenson will start as co-leaders and then they will see what happens okay um onto UAE team Emirates who has in my opinion the big favorite for this race whoan IU I assume is that a surprise to you um no AO is yeah probably a little bit of listeners are going to be angry saying that but IU is the most talented writer on this start list um in the doin he’s still so young um but I expect him to go Rogue I want to see in nauzo for the first time um I have a lot of expectations about the the young Spaniard but still I’m waiting on that final thing to prove he’s so talented as you want to see fireworks yeah I want to see him yeah dominate a race I I often recall him um when I think about races as huzu the hardworking climber yeah who’s trying to hold on to a group and who drops off comes back a little bit it’s and now you want to see him on the other side of the group controlling setting the pace attacking yeah dominate um I think the individual time trial is a huge Advantage for him um the guy has clearly improved this year on his time traling the and also the whole Squad inde uh yeah the stage profiles are are a dream uh for the team but maybe start with the lineup of U memores First with Igor arietta Juan auso Neil spit pav zakov Mark Soler Michael Vin and Tim wellin and this is a a damn strong team but do you think the guys lining up here still need to earn their spot in the in the to the France team uh a couple of them half I think auu is certain for his spot Valance is certain for his spot sakov probably as well if I recall correctly then you have uh yeah Soler we always had our doubts about Soler as a teammate but I think last season he proved that he’s a capable teammate to teammate to work for a leader being Pacha um so have a is a certainty as well but it’s done yeah Michael V is not going to the tour uh I think if you see what’s on the bench for UAE um if you can use some football terms so yeah I just opened up the provisional start list for the to of France from UAE and compare it to the the start list for dolini that I know it’s a a do preview we recording but that provisional start squads for UAE pachar AO ala Yates COV Soler W poit had off don’t start that’s and and yet M says pachar isn’t the favorite like pachar is a leader in a team AO if he leaves the team he’s a absolute leader ala same Yates same sakov if a French Squad picks him up certainly going SGC leader as well um for example going to to go this um replace gu Martin GC leader um and yeah that squat um is insane but you see that UAE isn’t using doof as a preparation race for the tour because not a lot of riders um at the start list of the doof are lining up or probably lining up at the tour the approach will be different yeah I think the the other half of the to the France Squad will go to Swiss and despite the fact that I think um in in a certain scenario AO can win to the France as well he can but in a certain scenario Adam Yates can win the to the FR as well I think the chances of AO are way bigger to be honest I see Yates as the super domestic um give some freedom to AO in the tour and the guy might take too much time yeah but this this is doin preview something we’ll talk about in a in a couple of weeks but it’s gonna be important for AO to show um to the management of UAE that he’s ready um it’s less than a month to go to the tour it’s now up to auu to prove that he’s a very good backup option for Pacha if the fatig hits the Slovenian so it’s crunch time for AO to show him to show his level absolutely um it’s not only uat members who has a really strong Squad here there’s borans grow as well um Primos RIT um he’s approaching his big goal of the season um his to the France win um what do you expect from rugit after his his crash because his body looked yeah horrendous well we discussed it this week as well um I expect big things from Rish I have to say um yeah he was yeah battered up quite badly um after his multiple crashes in the Bas country but still he he didn’t break any bones he didn’t have fractur so he was able to keep on training um he didn’t really um had to St of the bike for a couple of days so purely looking at Fitness he should be where he he wanted to be um if he didn’t reach his level he wants um right now at doof then there is something wrong with the approach within the B team because now rugit has to show that he’s ready and he had a mediocre season so far um due to the crash in B country of course he could he couldn’t prove me otherwise because he was wearing the leader Jersey leader Jersey there but yeah it’s crunch time and that’s why I say in the the first stage um or the second stage that b might go for it already um to give Rog that confidence that he needs to build up towards his big goal of the season to the France and when you have a hindley a vazov and next to you is the same story as UAE they both can be leader in another team then yeah you have to prove in this doof yeah Rish has to prove in this doof that he’s needs to be leader in the tour if he wants to be competitive for the win at to France what do you want to see him the next week uh win or be very close to the to the overall win and if he loses to Uso with 12 seconds for example in the overall standings yeah he can be happy um but I want to see him battle um and yeah getting the yellow Jersey at the end of the dofini is the best possible way um to end it but if it doesn’t happen then yeah I have my then yeah doubts uh another question muchin the manager of you at memores mentioned Alexander vazov as one of the big favorites for to France as well he talked about rogich a uh Vino and then he put vazov in that same list was that a surprise to you uh no because first of all matchin just wants UAE to be in the underdog position and mentions every possible GC man G yeah to be a favorite for the tour but vazov is good he’s a good Grand Tour Rider um yeah consistent top five finisher in Grand TS but yeah I wouldn’t have mentioned flov to be honest being much in but still yeah it’s uh I see one big issue with this doin lineup for Bora um there was quite a lot of pressure on the shoulders of rugit because if it happens that a hindley or the vazov shows to be better during the do then there’s going to be a problem exactly if RIT fails um I think the mindset of those uh guys like hindley and vaza will change going to to the France because those guys will think yeah you know I’m feeling good but still I have to work for a leader who doesn’t perform um that ruins my own chance for to the France which isn’t ideal so yeah this is a very important week for Primos rage definitely high stakes okay um we talked about a couple of uh GC favorites now you already mentioned that there isn’t a lot of um sprinters at the start of do we talked about mat Peterson who is I think the the biggest uh candidate for stage wins in stage one and five but there is a certain Irishman who yeah Rose Like a Phoenix from his ashes Sam Bennett well yeah I J I joked about him on our ex account during uh the the stage race in dunker dunker Kirk after his win in stage two um I made the joke um s Bennett wins a Sprint for once um he proved me wrong and just did the same for the majority of the stages afterwards he won four of them and GC but still it’s it’s only uh two. Pro uh race in dunker Kirk with all respect although his performance on the castle was a impressive to be honest um but no what are you doing here Sam please go on attitude camp or something but don’t go to I think this is uph training surviving the mountains yeah it’s maybe training the the the squad to to drag into the line within the the time cut no still and even a flat Sprint um in the tour I don’t see him winning stage in the tour to France um so I certainly don’t see him winning stage in the they have one yeah maybe for you two really in names um in their lineup for do for me that’s Dorian goon um he is a yeah he has a big engine he has a decent Sprint at the end of a tough stage so in case Bennett drops in one of those two stages stage one or five he will be the one going for the win and I think he might be close yeah he might be close we we mentioned it pre-recording that the the lack of fast really fast men um creates space for Punchy uh finishers Punchy sprinters and godon is certainly one of them um he’s very strong and he will he will certainly get close to Stage wi if the the race situation turns out perfectly of course the guy won two stages at T RI if I Rec correctly so yeah um yeah the legs are there is there another Sprinter you would like to mention a sprinter uh Milan Manon for lot of Destiny uh if you purely look at speed he’s maybe the the third fastest uh on the start list after Bennett and ption um yeah but it’s going to be the same problem as Bennett I think and just training to reach the time cut um you know that says a lot um I was asking you for Sprinter names um we dropped three of them three of them four of them yeah that tells everything about the course this isn’t a race for sprinters but then we have a layer underneath that false sprinters I listed them we have mnus C we have Fred Wright Garcia CA font l Boven all those guys have a fast finish um they aren’t able to compete in real Bunch Sprints but that’s there are a couple of opportunities for those guys if there are Sprints for reduced groups that they can I can’t see them beat M Peterson to be honest yeah me neither but then you don’t have to line up and just stay in your sofa and wait till till the race is over um a lot can happen um so yeah it’s going to be it’s an opportunity for them they get they will probably get Freedom like an Alon an Anon ma um a movie star they don’t really bring a GC man so it’s up to them to bring some some bring the team some stage Glory we owe it to caros Rodriguez to mention him as one of the GC favorites as well I think he won to the cly certainly he was second at best country um and he will be the main leader for in grenades at do I think igon Bernell is going to to the Swiss and the plan is to get them both into to the France so Carlos Rodriguez am I right that he needs a top five in this doof yes to be to be relaxed for the tour yeah it’s and do you think that’s possible yeah actually yes uh I don’t know why but I have a good feeling about the the Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez is a a guy I like to see um how he races he races attractively it’s not like he’s ra racing very defensively he tries to yeah do things um and attacks if it’s possible uh he if I recall correctly he was unlucky last year in the T front that he crashed um close to the the final stages and then lost a final spot in GC yeah um I hope he he’s able to perform 100% for the three weeks in the tour and the doin is the perfect uh Lounge spot for that um so getting a top five would be a perfect outcome um for him and for the team and if benal can do the same in Swiss um the week uh the week after do then I think anyos can be happy and grow towards um the tour but still yeah it’s not the Inus we remember from the F Wiggins days where they were the main favorites it’s already a couple of years that they had to step down um but yeah lining up with a good Ben and Rodriguez it’s not a bad thing for the squad they might be close to a stage one as well in as grenades with h Joshua Tarling in the individual time trial um the the course of the time trial is kind of similar to the one at the World Championships um do you think he will consider this as the perfect test for that World Championships I don’t think he will consider it as a test I don’t just think he he wants to win it he’s in the lineup yeah for that individual time trout to get that win um and he’s for me the main favorite to take the win there um that guy is so young still and so powerful it’s extremely nice to see um so yeah and it’s going to be a good race to get some yeah to get some hard racing again because he’s still young he is is n that experiened now he gets into a doof with a very tough parkour with a lot of mounted up finishes so up to talling now to get and gain the experience there um and see how it goes um but he’s the main chance for Inus to get at least a stage win one stage win in this toini there’s something striking about the team of bahin Victorious Antonio tberry is back in action one week after the finish of J Italia how smart is that I don’t understand it at all it’s Deb is battling for the u25 for the white jersey so he’s still very young um a grand tour on its own uh is an attack on the body um we have a lot of stories um from ryers saying you have to recover after a grand tour um even muchin said it um yesterday there were days pachar burned 8,000 calories so if pachar burned 8,000 calories the opposition burned over 10K calories I assume and then a week later you have to line up uh in a doin um it’s a doin it’s not um the Sai tour or something where you write race five or six stages in a desert um with less than 100 altitude meters no you go to one of the hardest one we stage races on the calendar yeah insane decision it’s not like bahin has a bad squat has a bad bench they can line up so much Riders but they still have to choose yeah someone who performed three weeks in a grand tour it’s it’s stupid it doesn’t make sense and the only thing I can only thing why is Maybe because he asked it himself but then I would like to sit in front of theber and just ask the question why mate don’t you want to be home for are are you feeling good are you feeling good because yeah I your opinion about it to be honest yeah that’s it’s extremely stupid um in my opinion um according to his schedule he’s going to the Vela as well um VTA starts at the 17th of August I would recommend tiberi to take some rest to take some time off the bike and then start building up again towards lava but as you say CR to is extremely hard this season so yeah being 22 years old this is not necessary at all but um what do you expect from him domestic or is he is he leader um in the bahin team in my opinion that’s Santiago Bago um he’s proved this season that he’s is worth it being the leader and he’s going to to the France as a team leader as well so um yeah no Tiber won’t be the leader absolutely not um I don’t think he’ll be competitive as well and you can’t blame the guy um two more teams I would like to mention EF education easy post he is back neelson pus finally and finally American champion Sean Quinn yeah um paus was going to Target the classics but then injuries ruined that plan the guy got back uh at ashborne Frankfurt at 22nd place and then he went to the states for the Championships there two bronze medals um he’s going to to the France so yeah you know what the problem is we we’ve had this discussion like 10 times already uh the past couple of years do you see pois as a GC Rider or do you see him as a stage Hunter stage Hunter 100% so you want him to attack at this do yeah I think we we see the most of bis when he’s free and he’s able to do what he wants and I remember him two years ago three years ago um that he was 10 or close to a GC top 10 in the tour um that he just tried to hang on um to get that good CC result but it wasn’t fun to see because we both know um the capabilities he has and how good he how good he can be when he goes stage hunting um and with the capabilities he has um he has to use it to his advantage and go for stages and not waste um energy for a GC top 10 because there is caras in the squad as well for the tour um he’s probably doming there together with a free role in a couple of stages so in this doof I wouldn’t bother about the GC and would just pick my stages and go for it make it attractive I think the same goes for Israel Premier Tech next to GC leader Chris FR is f is on a very high level the team has the perfect squad for stage hunting with Derek G Hugo hul Kristen Island and Dylan Tunes those are extremely good stage Hunters yeah it’s uh a pretty good squad uh if you remove the first two names from that list Chris and Jacob philen that’s uh still the the remainings of the the retirement home within Israel Premier Tech but this is the last I saw an interview from F this is the the last chance for him to prove his word of participation in tour France and in 2024 and I don’t want to be disrespectful at all what the guy achieved in his career don’t take came to France is mental he won four times the tour two times the the VTA three times the do where he lines up this year again but it’s time to retire Chris if you hear it uh you finished the amican tour in 47 um you would say 47s it’s in the first half um if there are 100 um participants but they only finished 63 uh Riders um so no I wouldn’t invest um any more than going to Grand Tour um yeah do whatever you have to do to get that sponsor money um you receive but yeah I don’t know if he still has a contract for 2025 actually no please yep still going strong yeah actually exactly the same story for for Fang that they are both done it’s time they both 39 um but the difference is that Fang don’t have a contract doesn’t have a contract for next year H Chris room does but apart from that Israel Premier de has a really strong team and an interesting team as well so um kudos for that is there anyone else if you would like to mention before we end up this do preview well I have three names uh written down uh Derek G from Israel I expect quite a bit big things from him um he’s finally back there sharp again what’s his nickname again yeah um the dark I the dark I junko from Ottawa he is back yeah yeah yeah he’s back and then I I wrote down Clon and Luca verito why Clon berte he performed very strong in American tour ear this week won by Lenny Martinez um the wats there were were pretty strong it was I think estimated 6.9 uh watt per kilo um on the final Ascent so that’s a pretty good numbers um he was able to stick with martinez for quite a bit um side note that merican tour was an incredibly tough race with over 5,000 altitud metes um yeah only 168 kilom so yeah ber stage Hunter um another GC man um he can go for it he gets Freeman dlon dlon is flying in general this season and those fun raso bikes are giving wings um maybe it’s time for Bora to change to Van Rasel um to make the giving Wings Red Bull and another dimension and then Luca ver galito um why Luca ver galito well because you’re his biggest Fanboy that’s why no that’s not true I don’t get the I don’t really get the hype to be honest well I learned to know him with the Swift Academy but I already knew him before because he was in a gcn video I if I remember correctly his um straa name is il bandito um but yeah it’s he’s the only climber uh within the Alon team so if he gets in a break uh he can do something and I’m just interested to see interested to see how he performs okay then I think that’s it I have a question for you actually still have a question two questions um first question um if you’re um GC leader for a team um for the to of France so you’re if you don’t gr you participate do you line up in the doin or do you start Swiss uh name what about you Swiss yeah as a sprinter I definitely go to Swiss there’s not there’s nothing to there’s nothing going on here for sprinters yeah agree the same the doin is for me the perfect preparation for do not only the parkour but the I think for schedule as well because Swiss is even one week later so when Swiss ends it’s a little less than two weeks to go to the tour um and I’m pretty sure with the lineup we have here there will be hard racing there will be good racing it will be attractive to watch so make sure you don’t miss out on it um if I already re revealed my uh favorite for GC being huan AO who do you think um will beat them it’s probably boring to say the same name I know Prim uh you’re going for Prim uh yeah probably going for the for Rish indeed good old Primos all right um that’s the wrap for today’s domistic cycling podcast episode if you enjoyed H don’t hesitate to subscribe and click the like button don’t miss out on Criterium D do because these eight stages will be fireworks and we will be back next week byebye bye I’ve got the SP the sickness there’s the twins in my brain [Music]