Can this team be stopped at the Tour de France? – Domestique Cycling Podcast

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The last preparation stage race before Tour de France is over. Tour de Suisse showed us how dominant UAE Team Emirates really is, even without Tadej Pogacar. Adam Yates & João Almeida obliterated the competition. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) survived a bad day and finished on the final podium spot, while Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) was disappointed after his ITT on the last day. We haven’t even talked about Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), and Torstein Traeen (Bahrain Victorious), who honored Gino Mäder by dedicating his first pro win to him. Let’s dive right into the Tour de Suisse Review, by Domestique.

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I’ve Got The Spar the sickness there’s be twins in my brain we’re in the middle of June we all know what it means the tour to France is getting closer and closer after an eventful doin some tour participants wanted to test their legs as well this time in the Swiss mountains who’s ready for the biggest grand tour of the Season who has up their game to be ready for the Grande par within two weeks a lot to talk about in this to the Swiss review I’m here once again just like last week joined by Ean how are you yeah very good it’s been a very fun week hasn’t it a lot of sporting action we’ve had a lot of cycling obviously we free of races I think and then the Euros as well so it’s been great fun just like massive Marathon sitting down going yeah the life one question about the Euros who’s going to win it I’m not Cur it I’m not saying England you bringing it home are you bringing I’m not saying I’m not saying it because it will we lose on penalties as usual it’s the same stuff every time and but the Netherlands today the Netherlands was a good game Belgium a lot of our was obviously on Belgium I don’t know about Belgium to be fair well their defense is crap but a bunch of 40y olds and like what all right let’s dive into Cy action and forget about uh football um let’s start with to the Swiss of course um the G Podium um Adam Yates won it um after all right in front of his own teammate Jaa and in Matias k mo who was able to take that final Podium spot in the Mountain Time Trail uh earlier today um he yeah he caught benal at the exactly right moment but let’s dive into the form of Adam Yates first we saw an interview from pogacha a couple of weeks ago saying Yates is going to be the rightand man um for today is he ready 100% ready I think especially after that performance we seen today as well and Al maer as well is ready as well which is the weapons is like weapons of mass destruction isn’t it oh this might not be popular but Almeida was stronger than Yates in this through the SS what would the what would the Gap have been if it Al made W stage yesterday um it’s right now it was 22 seconds um so if he has won it it would be less than 20 seconds and if you see the amount of time Al almea was pushing it at the front um it was incredible I remember that stage where he did practically from the bottom and just the the full peleton was gone and then he was able to drop benal and M was it in that stage Jo so he’s in a in a stellar form it’s crazy I just don’t understand we’ seen last year where he used to do his uh drop back thing where he drop back and then pce himself back and then keep going and going and going what it’s like playing actually actually like playing proy manager that’s what I compare it to on a Mountain Stage he Paces himself to his own Tempo yeah he’s so extraordinary so dangerous just put him in the front let him do his his power output that he’s able to and that pace that he can climb is is incredible and to have that as a domestique because we have to be honest ala in every other team is team leader or co-leader for the T France so to have that besides an ad and huo who’s yeah I I have no words for it for the team strength from UA really Indescribable isn’t it really and then do have a leader like today yeah but it’s important for Yates that he takes this overall win um because you never know what’s going to happen with Pacha in the tour there can always be a crash or an abandon and then it’s going to be a big battle for who’s second in the picking order within UAE like Yates can mention now I’ve won um to the Swiss I Uso had a troubled preparation race into do ala yeah he’ll say I domestique for yat but I might have been stronger than him in Swiss so yeah remove T out of her heads who second in line for UAE in the tour I so I’d say I think D like got in my head there and said it but I definitely think I you so I was I wasn’t going to mention it it’s is d right in front of me or is it eatan right in front of me because I mean you could randomly pick couldn’t you really just let it play Rock Paper Scissors yeah it’s it’s insane the final Podium spots um a little guy from Little track Matias kelos um he was able to finish on the last Podium spot after um one off day um on Friday if I recall correctly um what did does that say that he had that of day is it a problem for the tour to France or you have to be on top level for three weeks or is Kos going to the tour as stage Hunter let’s be honest does he get a top five I don’t think so really so should I think look at like this if you can’t get a top five you should always go stage hunting really top 10 do you want a top 10 I don’t know he’s still young um to be clear he isn’t confirmed yet to start um the T of France a little track didn’t um publish a squat yet so we don’t know he’s not on the provisional list as well as of yet but still does he wants to go does he want to go for a top 10 no chance you want go for a stage win or something like that rather than going the top 10 I think yeah and he has uh de Gart next to him as well he had some trouble as well but that’s probably the main leader for the team they brought him into the team to be a GC leader but with Kel MOS it’s yes Kos is a wonderful stage Hunter for me he’s explosive he can climb extremely well and um if you picks the right stage for his profile then especially with some of those stages around stage 12 like around there after that all those stages are perfect for him I think and even stage one as well stage one is very very like a u pun kind of thing isn’t it yeah it’s uh was a up and down to the Swiss for um little track um the up was of course the stage win from tibon incredible Sprint the guy has panash punch like yeah in the order of AOL and a vanard yes I mentioned it but he’s so strong and his acceleration is incredible no the only way is up him isn’t it tremendous talent and if he goes to the Welter then I think he’d flipping wipe the floor someone know his finishes my opinion there are a lot of yeah a lot of stages that are perfect in the vaa for him is he going to the to the VTA because I saw I’ve seen an interview and I’ve posted on X um with his father Sven n that yeah they were doubting if he would go to the VTA because he would have a lot of race days at the end of the season maybe too much um for his young AG so they might do another um end of the season um schedule but in my opinion he should go for debut should it definitely because if if the parkour suits him then he definitely should go because it’s like a tremendous opportunity for him as well to really showcase himself again how do you see his future do you see him as a a Punchy classic Rider like competing with a Vanderpool vanard on the Belgian cobbles or more the yeah the hiler classics like fles won Le Baston Le how do you see his future that’s the good point isn’t it he can pick and choose I think he can definitely pick and choose oh a lot of difficult questions it’s hard to think isn’t it really I don’t know what the viewers would say but should would say typ like Vander yeah I’m asking you because svan nce his father mentioned it that and he’s they are going to experiment next year um in the hilly Classics so fles won and Le they’re gonna try and see how it goes there but yeah he has the the cyle cross background the cross background as well as a [ __ ] has but Pitcock goes to the hly classics then and then you have a vpol and vanard who goes to the flamish cobbles so it’s it’s interesting to see the difference within the the Cy cross guys we have the yeah there is there are two ways in there as well of course we have Sprinter that’s there all Pathways they’re going to take it’s just crazy yeah um the downside of little track for me uh was b m unfortunately he had to withdraw um the race he’s always there in a grand tour he always shows himself in the in the breaks he has the experience so to drop out of to the SS the final preparation race towards the tour I don’t think it’s good for the confidence and I don’t know the reason why he dropped out I if I recall correctly he was sick but yeah it’s not ideal two weeks before the tour you don’t want to get weeks before the tour as well literally everything is like booked in isn’t it as well yeah so that just completely messes up your preparation because we had two teammates on the podium um I added the Ford in the general classification as well in our GC review why because I’m in love with igam benal the guy his story the life story he has is exceptional it’s a bit similar to Fabio yakobson of course but it’s phenomenal what he’s achieving um sadly he missed out on the final Podium spot in the in the Mountain Time Trail but still he is growing towards his best ever form maybe he’s already in his best ever form but the competition is strong yeah that’s what I think I definitely believe that and I think uh many of us have agreed on that point as well that he’s at his best level but the competition just keeps getting crazy and crazy and crazyer will he be able to fight for an overall win in a grand tour in the future yes i’ say yeah I say like a Welter or Shiro depending on who goes there as well yeah my my heart say says yes as well but my mind is doubting purely because the time trial capabilities um if you think about it you have a well here is finger guard is supposedly not going to go isn’t it du to like uh uh family stuff POG if is he going to go Bernell who who’s going to go then to the Welter can and can Bernell compete with that who has per potentially go into the Welter oh imagine him picking that red jersey at the end that would be it’s like a Netflix should 100% pick that up or something like that that would be a very nice story well it is a nice story next to beral we had Tom Pitcock um finishing sixth um I’ve seen to the France Unchained uh last week where we saw the the drama between oh drama the D internal fight between Carlos Rodriguez and Tom Pitcock Pitcock was a bit of a douche let’s be honest the the team decided to work for car Rodriguez and yeah Pitcock decided not to and he didn’t wait in that stage that Carlos Rodriguez lost a bit of time what’s pitco gonna do in the upcoming tour def France uh if it’s not going as he wants because I’m not a non-believer in GC Pitcock I don’t believe he’s able to compete for a GC and a grand tour you can I got absolute clue jender and what he the biggest Enigma ever and for example we seen on the stage yesterday in pacing all day chasing the break for what reason like no but it was for Pitcock it actually Pitcock at one point like what I don’t know but Pitcock will he ever win the Tour to France no or Podium no I’ll be straightly honest and say no but then him and when he was lone wolf in the to of France it’s kind of a British way I’d say I think yeah but why isn’t he just going rogue and Stage hunting as a Madman he has the perfect profile for it he’s explosive as hell he can just go for it it’s fun because I have the feeling Pitcock is a guy who’s bored pretty fast that proves that he’s on the mot bike as well that he’s a bit of Cy cross he’s doing everything because he’s bored so why not stage hunt and wait in the GC group and then try not to drop for three weeks no he has to use his capabilities as they are and in my opinion it’s more stage hunting and attacking than sticking to a GC group I believe personally does he have a chance in stage one pro I’m tell is a nice descent you know not could just flip and send it off can it be in yellow Jersey on stage one I don’t know but I know we’ll be in yellow Jersey and I’m not going to say it it’s too easy before we before you enter GC review and go over to the stage winners an honorable mention for Matthew richello the young guy from Israel Premier Tech um was able to get um in fifth um on the final podium in to the Swiss the guy is pretty young as well he’s yeah an upcoming Talent 22 years old um he’s not riding to the France he’s going to CBU cycling tour okay is Premier Tech I think yeah he had to leave his place for Chris F never mind so uh yeah richell strong performance by the guy he showed in the in the mountain stages that he’s a St climber yeah my friend is a big fan of him as well which is nice to see but yeah if it was him would you be pissed off that Chris SW is going to to the front if richell is the first reserve on the list I would I would be yeah yeah because would he be the first you think I don’t know I I haven’t seen But if he’s the first deserve then yeah yeah we all I think all our listeners know or my IDE about FR he has to call it the day and hop in the the DS car I said it last year last week I think it’s uh like the Jamie car thing on Mond Night Football I don’t know if you ever seen it before quit the cycling before get you thing but yeah like the future for Richard T is promising isn’t it really I think as well his climbing ability is flipping insane and uh I want to also give a special mention to Lenny Martinez today as well Lenny Martinez was putting a super impressive performance and if you can get that right for the toour of France in the future yeah completely agree then you hop over to the stage winners um first stage winner after two years if I recall correctly Eve lomart was able to win a professional bike race again phenomenal to see and I think we all are happy that Eve Lampard certainly the belgians um that he was able to grab another stage wi right in front of Stan biger and Ethan hater Ethan hater third um a lot of talks about him in our groups chat um um to you he’s a Brit so what’s your opinion and thought about eeden hater I mean I think he gets a lot of unfair um what do you call it unfair reputation I think as well a lot of unnecessary hate and that’s a quotation marks to one person in particular um but yeah he domestic duting in duties in this toward the Swiss was also very nice see he did some tremendous turns on the mountains yesterday um should he be winning more time trials and prologs for example like this to 4.9 kilm effort the competition is tough so e Lampard um I don’t know if he’s going to the Tour of France I I guess so yes he’s going to the tour to France most likely um it was in general a preparation race for Even’s domestics in this the Swiss um they were pretty anonymous um in this race verak ler isn’t going to the tour if I recall correctly so yeah are they ready or is the team around even ready for the two def front to Aid their leader yes I think so but it’s about rco as well I think as well because uh his Fitness does it doesn’t have to be there in the first week I think no no it’s hard it’s a hard if he gets past those stages then he’s chill I think until second midc week yeah I have to agree so yeah pretty Anonymous performance from the team to the quickstep overall except the the lumat stage win then we move over to the second stage um towards reagens dorf um Brian kak was able to grab the stage WI after an unfortunate mechanical problem for AR Dee because I’m sure he would have won that stage with other ease if his chain didn’t drop for three or four seconds but still cof this uh last year they had um more than decent toour the France with the stage wi from Victor laf in the opening weekend if I recall correctly um can they redo it can they do it again in this year’s tour oh we had I know that’s a difficult question we had the Bram CSE where he said CID this they’re just going to be anonymous some like that along the thing I’m not going to say that because it always backfires um can kard do anything in the tour I mean who knows what happen green jersey is it can it be a goal for him uh put the house on it I think he’s not going to move but um is a crashed hard didn’t he P off this I think as well it looked n it was with lamput as well I think yeah it was and like the bikes were like mangled together it was very strange yeah and then we have herada as well who was Anonymous as well in this two this but he’s yeah one of the the better stage Hunters within the cof this squad but it was probably just a an eight stages training C camp for her because if I recall correctly I haven’t seen him at the front of the race there was I probably say maybe every Riders apart from 10 were Anonymous in the race yeah like stage three we already talked about tibo n so let’s skip that um one little side note in second Steven Williams in third Alberto betol betol showed he was in an exceptional shapee but sadly he crashed pretty hot on his own um he was all bruised up and wounded he with Drew the ray as well um but he will be caraz as well wasn’t it as well crush with them yeah I think he fractur I think he fractured his hand no Quintana as well yeah yeah yeah I mean that was it yeah then we move move over to stage four may be uh one of the most emotional victories um in this year to the Swiss for multiple reasons um first of all who won it was toron TRON um from bahin Victorious um former yoix writer he defeated he beat cancer two years or three years ago um and he fought his way back in the iner cycling now he was able to win a stage in one of the most yeah in one of the most beautiful onewe stage races of the year um on the godart pass um yeah beautiful to see and I think we all are happy that he was able to grab that win there was not many people I think in Pro cycling who deserve that win more than him in my opinion he uh he’s a very nice guy you can see he’s a very nice guy in The Paton always smiling and things like that has been for a lot of challenges in life so yeah I deserve winner it’s for him and bar Victorious after everything they been through yeah he dedicated the stage win to Gino maer as well um the the mother from maer was at the Finish um during that stage so it was emotional and he said um in the post eras interview that they all are writing for jino every single stage um so it was yeah lovely to see um and a pretty very strong performance from the from the young lad still he’s still very young yeah he’s still very young um a tremendous Talent from Norway isn’t he as well and um if he carries that I don’t know if he’s going to the total France but yeah if he went there then potential yeah uh within the Bahrain Squad there was also W pools who was yeah Anonymous as well it’s the is a trending word in this episode um I don’t remember ever seen him on the camera in Hest G he was in the race I yeah he was he finished 16th in the final stage that’s crazy and 13th in the general classification so he was pretty mad that he wasn’t selected for the the jeto because he could have um won the the triple um there he’s probably going to the tour um but yeah his form doesn’t seem that good although he finished 11th um in stage SE seven but besides that I think with the capabilities aul has and already shown showed uh previous years that we yeah I expected more from him mean I expect more from as well if you want to try and prove a point you have to like for missing out on the Z you have to go and show you do something cly but and then the the the next four stage winners are pretty boring it’s first Adam Yates um in stage four uh no stage five in stage six it’s ja ala in seven it’s again Adam Yates and in eight to finish it off it’s Madea again we already talked about UAE I don’t know if you want to add anything more to that this is literally a super team isn’t it let’s be honest it’s a super team and I feel sorry for Vima Lisa bik because the tactics that UA team members are going to play the tour are going to be is potentially they can do anything can’t they yeah they can do everything they can yeah let a teammate have the yellow Jersey and then Vima has to do something and then Pacha can just write defensively on the wheel of of VGA but yeah a lot can happen in a ground tour we all know how nervous the opening weekend opening week and the three weeks in general are so crashes Etc um yeah can always happen will happen we all know it will happen at some point but yeah before we end to the Swiss review maybe a mention to uh the Brooks as well who was pretty mediocre for me he finished eight in general another anonymous person I think really as well yeah like he had to leave the jeto due to lung infection um then he came back to racing into the Swiss but the parkour was made for him um he said it in pre-race interviews um in the early stages as well that he was looking forward to the four Mountain stages at the end of Swiss to the Swiss so yeah I expected more from him teammate Calderon in comparison was in a good shape we all know K yeah yeah Calon isn’t the guy who’s yeah winning a lot of races he’s winning none but he’s always on a more than decent level and then it was nice to see Oscar only back as well after his um a lot of misfor June and the last couple of months yeah um AR only is one for me who is I really really really like him really really like him yeah me too anything you want to add about to the Swiss before we move over to some other racing seem it’s pretty boring other than that really would you agree I agree all right then it’s your time to shine um there was a certain stage race in the Baza Belgium Tour um as well um I’m going to mention the GC 123 Festival s Wen skild won it from unox mobility in front of Matias fek from Little Tre and Alex aramburu I haven’t seen a lot of this race so Ethan take us through the stages and how did ween kill win um the general classification well waren Scher has basically won the time trial by bonus not I mean he won the time trial obviously by a few seconds and then um he picked up some very important bonus seconds as well which made him win over vashek very very close I actually still have not seen what the Gap is when I was watching it the Gap must be like proof maybe a second or two seconds because uh vashek in today’s 4 seconds uh vashek was I think one finished fourth didn’t he on today’s stage yeah um if he got those bonus seconds it would have been very close but um we had Tim moia walking his dog philipson um dominating philipsson stage two that was the uphill Sprint kind of thing it’s like on a ramp isn’t it that finish I thought was very Str in knocker Heist something like that it’s always an interesting finish there it’s always you have to time it perfectly as a sprinter because that uphill drag yeah it’s surprising if you don’t know it properly I want to maybe talk about the stage four the queen stage in derb um the performance there from Wen skill was unseen for me the guy is how much kilos does he is he 90 something around to do that in a stage there um multiple asense of the of m for me that was yeah something we haven’t seen before from him abrahamson as well did a terrific job in the Breakaway in that stage as well and also working for Von SCH the entire team uh throughout the race defending the um General classification Jersey did tremendous job especially today I don’t know if you have seen the postr interview from ween kill after stage four in DB but the guy was nered he was yeah dead he was just gone this like the parkour of that is perfectly designed I think as well is a beautiful parkour just like with no rest just go full gas full gas full gas he was coughing and and and stuff like oh that would have hurt so much but a very strong performance in the stage from yasper Phillipson as well he finished third in a stage like that that shows he’s ready for another attempt for the green jersey and Miss he’ll win it but I I was not my particular favorite I’ll be honest after Unchained or before Unchained sorry before Unchained because I I didn’t like him before and because I think he is dirty let’s be honest and that’s the only thing I don’t really like about him and I think he has a bit of arrogance but the arrogance for a good Sprinter you need the arrogance don’t you yeah yeah Kevin was a bit of the same he was arrogant as well um he wasn’t that loved by some um fans but yeah I think philipsson is main favorite for the green jersey and he showed in this ball wasi tour his ready but mer showed he’s able to beat philipsson on top speed as well in Sprints and M isn’t going to the tour but still I think merer gained a lot of confidence that he was able to beat philipson twice yeah and um it gives him confidence as well for the national championships as well which is obviously this forthcoming week well uh to talk about that National Championship that parkour is rough it’s I think Mia could do it I don’t know hus um reckoned it two weeks ago or one week ago and it’s with the Cobble section Pat and lepen hrat so that are two Cobble sections right after each other that’s like almost four kilometers of cob cobbles so that should suit merer um but then that that hilly stuff in there it’s like yeah the light version of the derbo stage in uh in the baz Belgium Tour so so who who do you think is the favorite for that even [Music] [Laughter] I mean I’m guess I’m doing the live on that I think as well which is going to be great to watch yeah we were on we were on the road that day so I will give you some roadside footage it’s going to be cool um as well the Belgium Tour though is actually a very good race and I enjoyed it from start to finish I think as well um because like the GC is just separated by basically it’s a millimeter isn’t all the time one mistake and you’re out see yeah and KY as well KY uh crashed day in the finale of stage five um he crashed yeah um with his one of the Van Dyke twins right near the ending once again bad luck for Vima because I I think KY was on the provisional list or the reserve list for the T to France and I saw an interview with Ki that he said it’s possible that he go to the tour but this crash once again Vima no it didn’t it didn’t look that bad but like he was being checked out by the medic yeah still hitting the deck isn’t it takes it to isn’t it anything more you want to add about the Baza Belgian tour my friend uh there unex winning the general classification who’s a better team Uno or lot of you know X yeah was lot to win this race in this race yeah was there yeah yeah yeah Alex zart finished ninth in the general classification come on all right to finish off this episode let’s take a quick look at the tour of Slovenia um it’s a GC win for Giovani alotti it’s first uh ever General classification win if I recall correctly maybe he did win um the CBU tour um in the past I don’t know if he won the general classification there but still yeah nice performance from the lad I saw his decisive attack in the downhill um where he took the lead in Jersey and he didn’t give it away anymore then you have the second P bilau from Bahrain Victorious and the third on the last Podium spot Julio pelari from VF group bani CF fan um let’s start off with pelari a young Italian I expected a lot from him in the Jito already maybe I expected a bit too much um for such a young guy but yeah bani has gold in their hands and it’s a matter of time before he before before he’s gone yeah everyone’s going to be snooping around him let’s be honest aren’t they uh his performance in the Slovenia race was impressive as well for such a young guy with the load that he’s been through already as well it’s nice let’s look at the future which team should suit him and don’t think about money because we all know UAE is going to pay the most money but who inos inos inos I’d say you do well at inos I think because you can build around in my fing as well yeah I have I don’t know B is too Bora is too over is saturated uh Quick Step is obviously Remco all nothing isn’t it UAE too many people uh but yeah I’d say anyos is or Bahrain Bahrain would not be a bad sh Little D uh that could work well with Shone and that one be bad as well but Bora no Bora is too over saturated with too many riders I think of the similar sty I agree um to end this episode there was an emotional emotional stage win for po bilau as well um during the tour of Slovenia um after the tragic loss of maer um this time today last year um it’s still so unreal to realize what happened and we will never forget him I think the peleton never forgets him they and we when we were on the bike are still riding for him so rest in peace and we all think about you g that’s a wrap for today’s domestic cycling podcast a big thank you to our audience for tuning in if you enjoyed the episode consider supporting us on kofile Kofi and if you’re on sub YouTube hit subscribe and turn on notifications we appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you next time see you later adios got the spars the sickness there’s be twins in my brain