Should Jonas Vingegaard race the 2024 Tour de France? | Beyond the Podium | NBC Sports

Brent Bookwalter and Tejay Van Garderen review the first two stages of the 2024 Critérium du Dauphiné, discuss Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic’s progress as they return from injury, as well as whether or not Jonas Vingegaard will be ready to race in this year’s Tour de France. #nbcsports #cycling
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Should Jonas Vingegaard race the 2024 Tour de France? | Beyond the Podium | NBC Sports
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he’s like that guy I know I said it in the past he’s the kind of guy that paper cuts you to death like you might think like you’re holding this wheel you’re kind of keeping him under control but he’s always going to go for those time bonuses he’s always going to Sprint for this intermediate or go for this like three or sixc time bonus and next thing you know you’re a minute down on the dude and you’re like I’ve stuck with him the whole time how does he got a minute on me I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again I couldn’t believe seeing a young American Rider come across the line in a winning Breakaway a close third or fourth and so frustrated with himself of distraught that he couldn’t get it across the line but the mountain stages certainly like with the form that he’s on and uh you know he was looking good out there today um I I wouldn’t put it past him to win the dolphinite we got over at UAE we got we got the today pater’s director saying oh yonas is still still the clear race favorite it’s like well the dude had a hole in his lung a few weeks ago if he was super confident the video that he would have put out would have just been like I’ll show you in [Music] July welcome back to this edition of beyond the podium we got a good show coming up today we’re two stages in to the doph and we have Danish domination there so far two Danish winners two stages underway but still plenty of racing to go there we’re going to talk about the rest of the do and then where everyone’s eyes are turning to quickly we are now into June the tour to France is fast approaching we’re going to hash out the contenders for the tour to France uh the progress and Rehab of yonis vingo and then uh Primo rogich Remco Evo both at the dolphin a we haven’t seen a lot of them in the first two stages but we’re going to talk about them their progression into their leadership roles at the tour and can they truly challenge so before we get going I want to welcome back my uh host for today TJ vardin TJ it’s good to see you again looks like once again your your uh digs behind you have changed up you’re in a new place so uh where are you at and how have you been since the jro uh been good since the jro but uh it’d be nice to get back into my own bed getting a little work done on the place so I’m in an Airbnb only like 500 meters from my normal spot but uh H we’re making it work it’s it’s fine it just feels like it’s it’s five weeks into this grand tour now I hear that man I’m I’m uh shacking up at an Airbnb myself right now out in Oregon um doing some family happenings before the big month in July so uh yeah fingers cross our rental internet holds holds for both of us uh and we can uh we can lift our standard a little bit there with our internet connection but that that is out of our control um out of our control just like this this uh continually continuously exciting racing is that we’re watching uh we’re two stages into the dolphin atj um I assume that you’ve caught up with a little bit of the first two stages uh Matt’s Peterson uh with the big stage win uh stage one and then today just a few hours ago Magnus Court uh who uh I think you worked with a little bit last year there at EF so so what what are your thoughts as we’re two stages into the dolphin a we haven’t seen the GC Riders come to the four but we still have had h two good fin two good stage finishes to start us off yeah well first of all super happy for Magnus Court uh was teammates with him worked with him on EF and I know him and mods Peterson they have a little bit of a rivalry going so when I saw mods Peters win I know that it would have kind of irked Magnus a little bit and uh so that would have motivated him to get that win today um but man like these these Danish guys they’re just like they’re just dominating all over the place I mean you got Magnus you got mads you got skel mosa and of course yonis vingo it’s like it’s like the new wave of of cycling it’s coming out of Denmark yeah they’re they’re impressive yeah going back to that the Danish Grand apart of the two a few years ago I think Magnus um yeah really really probably came to the four to a lot of the American audience that we have on this show then and uh that mustache is a familiar site flying out of the Mist today I got to admit I I had to sort of remind myself and jolt myself that um that he was on a new team but but what a another masterclass ride by Magnus we’ve seen him time and time again just sort of surviving lasting using that just a tactical race Savvy he talked about after the stage using his teammates they’d pull him into position uh before the Steep sections of that and then he’d kind of sag back and they’d encourage him to hang on um so yeah really really exciting uh also heartbreak for Bruno amiral uh so so close um and I gotta admit I you know I kind of bumped head heads with Bruno um when we were racing together but I think that’s because we were often in the same group we were these guys that we didn’t get to win a lot we were always working for our leaders um and and he’s a french guy at the dolphin with his first first world tour win so another heartbreaking uh uh Breakaway um yeah just being being snatched away there how many more of these stages coming up TJ for for the sprinters for the Breakaway artists uh obviously those last three days at the do as we classically see our like three Queen stages in a row what what do you see breaking down in terms of um who we have coming to the four in the stages coming up this next week yeah well as far as Bruno goes I mean that’s uh you know as well as anyone Brent there’s no gifts in this sport I mean no one gives anything away and little bit of heartbreak but you know just got to fight another day uh yeah I mean as far as the rest of the dolphin we got that TT coming up those three big mountain days um I don’t know there’s not a whole lot for the sprinters or Breakaway guys I mean maybe maybe one or two more chances but uh I mean I think everyone’s really they’re just looking for that big showdown between Evan a and Rit and I think ra RIT showed today that uh you know he’s like that guy I know I said it in the past he’s the kind of guy that paper cuts you to death like you might think like you’re holding this wheel you’re kind of keeping him under control but he’s always going to go for those time bonuses he’s always going to Sprint for this intermediate or go for this like three or six second time bonus and next thing you know you’re a minute down on the dude and you’re like I’ve stuck with him the whole time how does he got a minute on me um that’s kind of his style I think he’s showing that uh we haven’t yet seen him in the high mountains but you can kind of see like he’s he’s itching to show that you know he’s back yeah I thought it was that was an interesting sort of analysis on today’s stage too at the doph was you did see his team his Bor team come to the front on that last climb try to bring that break back uh Remco evol’s team was was not they were sort of hidden in the Mist back there uh we won’t read too much into that but yeah we saw Alexander off doing some big pulls for rogich which is interesting to me you know there’s been been a couple uh critics or pundits that have said oh I think Blass off’s actually gonna ride GC at the doph a I think that answer is pretty clear for us today if he’s on the front uh you know doing full full full pull for rogich and then rogich was he was he was not you know soft pedaling into that finish he was going for it and I could almost see to that clouded shrouded Mist the sort of frustration in his face like oh like I wanted it I could he could sense it he could feel it and uh he has that Killer Instinct he loves those small Bunch Sprints uh and it’s I think it’s a good confirmation for him probably after that crash after the comeback that okay we had a hard uphill drag kick to the line the form is there and you know looking at him up against Remco evole we we see evole Sprint and go for situations like this as well and he was not he was not up there punch you today surfing around he wasn’t you know arm in-arm with um with Primos over the line there so let’s not get ahead of our ourselves we can’t can’t draw too many conclusions off just two stages um but I think I think we will we will see a lot of it play out in those last three days of the do TJ you know plenty about that you’ve had some really good does in your career you’ve had some challenging does let’s talk about let’s talk about how the do fits into this picture of tour to France prep so we all like to draw these conclusions we all like to say if you’re not good here you can’t be good at the tour but tell us about your own experience of having success or having struggle at the do and then going into the tour I mean honestly I think the biggest tool that the doofan is is to play head games with your Rivals if you you can like show them show up and show how lean you are show how fit you are and kind of like Mad Dog the other guy um but really in terms of how you’re going to go in July I’ve seen guys flying at the doofan and then creep at the tour myself included I’ve had some really good Dolan where I was going toe-to-toe with Chris FR and um and then I show up at the tour and I’m just like I I I’m like going home in the third week and uh and and vice versa I’ve had some really bad doanes and some good tours and I I’ve seen that so many times people they try to peel so much away from the doofan as to like how that’s going to be a foreshadowing of the tour and it’s just not the case a lot can happen in between clearly A lot’s happened before a lot of these guys are building back up from injury um they’re still going to go to altitude afterwards they’re going to have another training block afterwards and it’s everyone’s clock at the tour starts at zero um and the Dolan is good when we’re in the middle of July the Dolan is going to seem like ages ago no one’s going to be thinking about whatever happened in June so what what is it like what what makes a good Doan or a bad doofan and how does that that affects the tour I mean we talk about these days we continuously talk about cycling’s changed everyone’s preparation is super super meticulous it’s analyzed you have the nutritionist the sports scientist everyone’s factoring out every calorie and kilog Jewel and aerodynamic drag like how can how can a guy get it wrong these days or like where what was it for you is it too lean too soon training too hard before get sick after the dolphin a what are the difference makers I don’t know sometimes uh sometimes you could be on really good form in the dolphan and you think like oh if only I could just get that little bit better rather than thinking like oh I have good form maybe I should just simmer on it there’s like that there’s kind of just enough time in the doofan between the Dolan and the tour to screw it up um if you do say tour a Swiss that’s a little bit closer you basically just have to rest until the tour um so sometimes you just the doet can be a really good prep and it can it can kind of show you what you need to work on like okay there’s a good TT in there uh maybe the TT didn’t go well I’m going to train a bit more on the TT bike okay there’s some high mountains all right like maybe we need to lose an extra kilo there’s time to do that but there’s also time to screw it up yeah I got you that as you’re saying that I’m having this flashback to the story of or this this experience I had with you you had a stellar do one year I forget what year it was I was not at the do with you what you’re talking about when we went to dolomites yeah we went to the dolomites to train and you you had just gotten second at the Doan you were flying and you’re there and you’re like man I gotta keep pushing I gotta get better like I I’m gonna do more more more more and more like we’re gonna go we were out training in the snow we were yeah peeling snow Jack ski jackets out of our rain bag so we could go down the downhills it was nuts I was thinking like TJ man you’re already you’re literally the second best guy in the world right now like W calm down man uh but that I mean that it goes to show like what you just said that yeah you you get some momentum you think you got it good and you’re just going to get better uh and that even for the the best it is a fine line so what do we need to see from Primos rogich from Remco Evan pole we know that they’re going to have a very Stout formidable someone to argue you unbeatable competitor in today Pacha at the tour what do we need to see from from Remco Evo PRS Rog glitch at the do to know that they are on track to know that they’re competitive at the tour that’s a really good question because I I’m almost thinking that the way Evan AOL was riding a little bit more back a little bit more koi that’s probably the right path to go because they’re both coming back from injury right and I think Evan AOL he’s probably been a bit more methodical knowing that okay we’re using the Del FES prep and now we have time and the way that uh the way that RIT was using his team almost makes me think that he was trying to cram train and he’s trying to prove his hierarchy within the team and he’s trying to do too much too soon and he might just be like showing us a house of cards and might be like fall apart in the tour that this is all just speculation I have no clue um but I mean I think more of a steady build through the dolphan into the tour kind of streak into the tour might be better than you know CU Ro you could see he was going for it he was from pulling some faces there at the finish line and I’m like what do you have to prove man like you you’re the leader of the team you don’t have to prove anything to anyone follow your training uh do what you need to do make sure you even if you grouped and then you just show it on one Mountain Stage that like guys I’m here I’m ready and I’m gonna be there in July that’s all you need to see man I don’t know if I was if I was um if I was Primos in that team getting the big bucks I I wouldn’t be guetto man I’d have to be uh I got to be up there fight fighting the line every stage um you I’m thinking of a name right now though a name that we used a guy we used to race with is Andreas Clen I remember he would show up to tourist twis and he would gretto every single Mountain Stage except for he would have one hit out in the TT and then maybe one hit out and a breakaway and then he’d be like I’m ready you know same with Andy schl Andy schle was the same way he would gretto gretto gretto and he get in a breakaway one day and win a stage and he’d be like guys just wait I’m Gonna Be Ready in July everyone has their different methods but if you’re trying to cram too much in too soon rather than following in like ticking all the boxes the way you should I don’t know these guys just came back from injury if they’re if they’re trying too hard to prove it they might just fall apart in July I don’t know I can see what you’re saying you got to keep some in the tank for sure but that said said you know rogich has lined up with he’s he’s tasked a other former Grand Tour winner ji Henley who’s won the jro he’s supposed to be working for rogich you have blof who top five uh GC finisher he’s a leader in his own right too so there’s got to be some of that listen guys like I am the big dog I’m the headliner that was brought into this team it’s still a new team for him like he he’s fairly untested with this team and this organization in in a competition setting we got the big headline news of Red Bull um coming on with them so I think all their ears are sort of perked up thinking like oh yeah now we’re we’re entering the four we’re going to be one of these super teams if we’re not already and uh yeah I I would maintain that rogich for him to finish the dolphan with anything but a Podium ride overall I think there’s going to be nervousness and insecurity rolling through that organization yeah no I for sure the organization’s going to react teams react they uh everyone’s so reactionary about like what is your latest results but if he knows and if he’s confident he’ll know that he can just keep his Steady Hand and be like guys I’m the man I won three welas I won a jro I finished second in the tour before we all know who the man is like I don’t know yeah I hear you all right well time will tell again we’re only two stages in we’ve got that backto backto back massive Mountain Stage block coming at the end of the DOL like we always see before we leave the do we got to touch on quick our our USA homeboys sep cus Mato Jorgenson they’re both at the Doan you know sort of in a unique unique position I mean we we know sep cous he’s won the welta but winning the VTA as a sort of co-leader with his two teammates rogich and vingo that he had is different than showing up pre-tour to France at the Doan with sort of a free card to play at the GC uh same sort of with Mato Jorgenson uh he’s had a storming storming spring he he R did ratchet it back a little bit I loved it I saw the photos he was sending out he took his sort of early season break he was ski touring I love that Mato thank you um little soul for the kids at home but yeah these guys they’re they’re both in good form by all accounts the teams have said we don’t know if yonas is going to be at the tour but we have two other very capable guys in sep cous Mao yenson so talk to us about what these guys what do you truly believe they think they’re capable of how is their approach to the doph is it they have to be in the top 10 or it’s a bust are they winning a stage uh what is success for our two American Riders having done success at the Dolphin yourself no I mean I think Seth cous uh I mean I would love to see him win the dolphan the TT might be a little bit of a something that gets in his way we he hasn’t shown a a super strong TT performance in the past but the Mountain stages certainly like with the form that he’s on and uh you know he was looking good out there today um I I wouldn’t put it past him to win the dolphan A and then you know depending on how Jonas is in the tour he might just have one of the greenest lights of his career to to just hey go go ride top five or even podium in the tour um I mean M Jorgenson he was third today um would have been nice to see him get that Victory but uh I don’t know as far as the doofan goes I don’t know how many more opportunities he’s gonna have but uh in terms of the tour I don’t know if he’s going to try to depending on what yonas is doing ride GC ride in a support of sep or just try to win stages I if I were to like hope he would choose one route I’d say go in the breakway and I bet he can win three stages I would much rather see him win three stages than get a like a seventh or eighth on GC or and he could do a great job for Seth if or or Jonas if there if that’s what is is called for him to do but if he has that green light if Jonas just can’t quite recover from the injuries in time I bet Matteo Jorgenson he goes in every single break way that makes it to the line and he can win just about any of them so you’re we’re talking about Jorgenson going in breakaways he is the pelaton do they view him now as a guy who they’re happy to let go and breaks are we talking these like second third week breaks where yeah the GC GC guys who are now out of it are are going up the road and fighting for the win when the break does go to the line in some of these big mountain stages I mean I I would say you’re going to need to lose time in order to give yourself a leas to go up the road but like when he goes into those uh kind of M mahic kind of breakaways he can win those kind of days um and there’s there’s going to be plenty of them in the tour I’m I’m thinking like four or five opportunities and I’m thinking he could take advantage of all five and maybe you get three of them or two of them but like win win a few stages and like that’s I think that would just be like an awesome awesome ride for Mato yeah and I mean we’ve seen him close to winning two to France stages you know back in his his debut tour a couple years ago he was already so close and I’ve said before but I’ll say it again I couldn’t believe seeing a young American Rider come across the line in a winning Breakaway a close third or fourth and so frustrated with himself and distraught that he couldn’t get it across the line so yeah I love that that Killer Instinct has been in Mato from the beginning um and I’m sure that that is still an objective for him well the the huge huge question mark then is if yonis fingo is at the tour if he is if he’s capable to truly lead and I think like you just said that will really dictate uh the sort of the leash and the the role that our American Riders sep cus and Jorgenson can have so there’s a lot of hype coming out of the out of Jonas Figo team the team Camp there in terms of like is he on track is he not is this messaging that they’re putting out Jonas spingo is it is it sort of just like mind game setting up lowering the expectation raising the expectation we got over at UAE we got we got the today Pacha director saying oh yonas is still still the clear race favorite it’s like well the dude had a hole in his lung a few weeks ago so what what do we make of this you you’re a team director what do we what do we make of this sort of like already strategic mental game between these teams and this messaging and this potential propaganda if you will propaganda I love that um yeah look I I know I was texting with you earlier Brent and I I don’t care about any videos anyone puts out look I can I can put out a video of my seven-year-old daughter making look like she’s flying like I don’t care about the videos like I want to see you in action if you want if you line up in July you better be ready to go and if you’re not ready to go there’s no shame in that we all saw you on the ground and pay fast we want you to get 100% we want you to heal up properly we want you to um take care of your health and do it correctly and if you need a couple more weeks or months there’s no shame in like sitting out the tour and going and winning the welta and but if you want to show up in July you you don’t you’re not getting any excuses you know like you’re if you show up in July you better be ready to go because like there’s other people dropping at the bit guys like seus guys like mat oron who want their chance um so you’re defending Champion there’s going to be expectations and if you want to line up then yeah we’re going to expect to see yonis Bingo if you’re not yonis Bingo yet wait till the welta and take care of yourself take care of your health but uh yeah as far as these video games and the or the the videos and the head games that they’re putting out I don’t even pay attention to that stuff I just want to see what do you do between the start line and the Finish Line yeah I I hear you I’m in the same camp that these teams the communication it’s not conversational and always authentic they’re they’re not not accountable to the the media or the fans like they are to themselves within their own organization of their charged with winning and doing the best performance they can and they’ll say whatever they feel like saying or needing to say to to set themselves up the best for that that said so let’s talk about like who makes that decision um ultimately Jonas Figo at the tour yes or no we’ve got team directors we’ve got sponsors we’ve got managers we’ve got other teammates um doctors you know you’re in these management calls and meetings now for your team how how is this this decision made Who’s involved and um what give us a little glimpse of the inside behind the scenes into into what’s going on there in the War Room at uh viz molisa bike I would say that the team doctors would have the most say but like you said that the waters will get very muddied with uh oh but there’s the sponsors and there there’s this the management and then there’s this and then there’s this but so I think the ultimate decision is g to have to come down with the only person who knows is if he’s going to be ready and that’s Jonas fingo himself you know him and his family and his and how he’s feeling in the training and what his pain level is and uh I mean clearly if you give him an x-ray and there’s a broken bone like that’s something that you can just see but if he’s if he’s feeling like you know what I’m just I need a bit more time that’s going to have to come from him and I hope he’s mature enough to make that decision for himself and not have all these other outside influences uh you know have a not not have them influence them in a negative way or uh and I think the guys on on yumbo I know a lot of the the people there and I don’t think that they would try to rush him back or I don’t think they would try to compromise Jonas’s health I mean there’s a lot of really good people there I was actually I actually rode for Rabel Bank Continental back in 2008 and 2009 which is you know the same organization so they they’re going to take every precaution so if he shows up he’s gonna be ready whether or not his Fitness is there that’s another thing but uh I don’t think they would play I don’t think they’d play around with his health at all like that um but if his Fitness isn’t there and if he’s going to set himself back healthwise please Jonas just go win the welta like the welta is you’ve already won two tours it’s going to be there again next year I know I’ve said it already but that that’s my feeling yeah I think it’s a different situation Jonas spingo being a two-time tour to France winner already it’s a lot different than a rider who has been fifth and then third and then a close second if he’s in this situ if that Rider like that is in the situation of Jonas now he’s he’s going like yep I’m ready yep I’m ready and then you know to his personal team he’s like oh man guys can we get ready in time for this but he’s just got to give himself a chance because he’s been close he know he can do it but he hasn’t done it yet I’m thinking of um you know I was teammates with cadel Evans when when he did win the Tour Final in 2011 after a lot of close attempts you know there was a there was a lot at stake just to continue to keep himself um in the conversation in the leadership role um and he didn’t know how many more chances he was going to have so every one of those chances was really important whereas that’s a lot different yonas fingo he’s won the Tour twice he’s arguably got what are we talking he’s got five more if he wants to do 10 more he’s he’s a young Rider he could still do a lot of Tours so I agree I think I think it’d be prudent to to have some caution um I mean winning another grand tour or winning the vulta he’s never done that that sounds pretty sweet to me but uh clearly it’s a complicated um scenario a lot of cooks in the kitchen there I remember being H with these videos with these videos that they’re putting out I’m like why why are you doing that like I feel like if he’s super confident he’s usually not the kind of guy who goes and looks for the linelight he’s the kind of guy who gives these awkward interviews and and I love it I love that that’s that’s the Charming thing about him is he’s like he’s very conversational like his personality is one where he’s just like I’m this phenomenal bike racer and I’m just kind of this softspoken guy so putting out these videos that I’m like what what is he doing that for I I almost think that that’s a lack of confidence and he’s trying to like overcompensate for knowing that maybe his form’s a little bit behind um yeah I think so some of that though is definitely this this modern day system of like the teams um their press officers so we know every news Outlet in cycling is just hammering the vimal Lisa bike press officer with updates tell us how yonas is doing tell us how yonas is doing I mean they’re probably standing outside that press officers Health poking house poking their head into the window how’s yonas you got any updates on yonas so it’s like you Jonas will you please can we do a little video and just you know get all these journalists just to chill out a minute just give us a little nugget so we can get back to preparing for the tour yeah but you know if he if he was super confident the video that he would have put out would have just been like I’ll show you in July [Music] oh yeah fair fair enough yeah mik drop um so he’s at one of yonas is they said he’s at one of these training camps now uh you and I have taken part in some of these pre-tour to France training camps together and you know I read there’s there’s 10 Riders at this camp for eight spots on their tour Squad you know this is a situation I’ve been in I remember we had one particular camp training camp I believe it was in mine before the 2016 tour and it was similar in that there was Olympic selections at stake um we had multiple GC guys in our team and we had way more guys at this Camp than we had spots in the tour and I know granted visma Lisa bike is a lot different team but what we had going at BMC on that camp with more Riders than tour spots was not a productive healthy situation it it was tense and I had that same conversation granted in a lot different role than yonas but I remember our director pulling me aside quiet room sort of in the basement of the Chalet where we’re staying saying Brent tell me will you be ready for the tour can you do it yeah I’m just imagining I mean they they W van out there Jonas fing goes there you have these guys who are all superstars in their own right tasked with you know working for for Jonas and and and wow and the other superstars in their team so that I think we could only be a fly on the wall in in that camp but I hope and I I do think the culture in that team is a little different it’s a little different having a guy who he has won the Tour on two past occasions this isn’t going to be his last tour I’d like to think that everyone is is approaching it and there’s not a lot of Jabs and pokes and and stabs for the tour selection spots yeah well I don’t know there’s a lot of different factors I definitely remember that morine camp that you brought up man there was a there was some awkward moments at the breakfast table when uh when a couple of people found out they weren’t going and yeah that hopefully that’s not anything that anyone’s having a go through on yumbo I mean right now with the with like yonas and uh while B being kind of such a question mark after coming back from their injuries maybe that it’s a matter of the team deciding which direction they want to go you know they uh maybe they bring their the Rockstar Sprinter um uh or May and they think like okay we’re just going to go for stage wins and then we have like a different looking Squad but if we’re going to go for GC then we’re going to bring our climbers and we’re going to bring our uh our rulers to bring back breakaways and all that and um and so maybe like they’re they’re kind of bringing a few guys and they’re like depending on what kind of squad we’re going to bring to find the success this is this is what we’re going to choose um I don’t know but I yeah I don’t I don’t miss those days of uh those Collections and yeah I don’t either yeah those were tense times I hope I hope that we’re still friends with all of our uh our teammates at the time back in that day but yeah I think you know between W vanir and yonas Figo they’re both sort of these they’re both sort of in these unknown situations you have you also have the Paris Olympics which W has said could maybe might should shouldn’t factor into his uh decision to ride the tour um the team has even said if if wow thinks that the tour is the best prep for his Olympics then you know wow can be at the tour so it is a different situation when you have a couple of these riders with sort of cart blanch and that they can they can sort of side their fate uh within the T teams but yeah th those days will those days will come upon fast um you know you can’t go without saying too like between the doin and T to Swiss where they’re going to field teams in both of these races these are still you know wildly unpredictable and and let’s face it dangerous uh Affairs too so they still got to pull their their pre-tour riders that are at the Dolphin right now and potentially at T to Swiss they still got to get those guys out of those races healthy and into those final um post tour to France altitude camps as well yeah I mean that’s a good point I mean uh you’re doing like some hard heavy hitting World Tour Bike Racing in Swiss and doofan like to get everyone out of there healthy that’s uh that’s already the first task in of itself um you know like anything can happen uh it’s a good point you brought up about the Olympics though I mean I’m surprised actually that the trade teams would actually be so lenient on I mean I remember we had Greg van aat uh you know the Olympic champion back in in Rio and he was like the when on BMC they were basically like yeah but we’re we have nothing to do with the Olympics like that’s a federation thing you’re paid by us like you got a do our program you know I guess when you have a rider like wild Von ER who has a legit shot to actually take the gold medal and then you know wear the gold medal for uh Lisa bike um or visma Lisa bike yeah that that maybe that’s a different story but uh I would think if I was one of those trade teams I’m going to say like I’m not looking past July the tour is our thing uh if you have any goals Beyond this Beyond winning for us in July then I don’t want to hear about it yeah check your Ambitions at the door that that was the company line um when I went to Rio also is like I don’t know it’s risky I don’t I don’t think you should do it I wouldn’t they’re not paying you the feds aren’t paying you why would you do that and then I was teammates at BMC with Greg at the time and then then everyone was like he did it we won I can’t believe it best thing ever so yeah it’s a complicated time in the second world great everyone loves the winner well so much to unfold uh we got a full week at the dolphin a still to come uh tour to Swiss also on the horizon TJ where when are you back in the team car next uh you doing tour of slovania in June or are you off for a while now yeah I got Slovenia um that’s my last race for a while until I uh meet up with you guys in July then I’m in the booth I go straight from there to the Olympics and then after that it kind of slows down a little yeah nice all right well that’s a good block before while we have you in that director mindset real quick we have also another American favorite Neilon Palace he’s at the doofan he’s at a rocky road here you know he’s under your your tutelage and Leadership at EF um he’s he’s alluded to that he might ride try to ride GC at the Doan what what are all the American fans all Palace fans um what are we going to see out of him in the Doan and uh and where’s he at can can he do that can he be up there at the doph with the some of the tour to France contenders and favorites as well I mean I hope so I I really don’t know if we’ve seen the full limit of what Neilon Palace can do and I know had a lot of injuries this year but he’s uh he’s fully healthy now and he’s trained really well and he’s had a couple of good races he’s had a solid string of races and um and the like American tour and the US Nationals that just happened um so we have we have a small sample size to see from him but uh you know sometimes I think that is going to help him out because usually he comes into the season so hot hitting so hard that he Peters out a little bit by the time it it gets to like the spring or late spring so I think some of this rest might actually be a blessing in disguise and you might actually just be able to hit that form at the right time and um and you know maybe stay up there in the mountains with some of these guys all right we we’ll look forward to seeing them fly on the US flag and the EF flag at the rest of the do TJ good luck in uh Slovenia if I don’t talk to you before then uh and for everyone else we’ll see you back uh the next ition of beyond the podium take care Brent for all your cycling content year round subscribe to NBC Sports YouTube page we got it all