Tour de France Special with Geraint Thomas, Luke Rowe & James Haskell

Hask heads to Monaco to delve into the secrets of the Tour de France, the pinnacle of cycling. Joining forces with 2018 Tour champion Geraint Thomas and ex-Ineos Grenadiers captain Luke Rowe, they delve into topics like mental toughness, proper nutrition, flicking, and the dreaded saddle sores. This podcast covers all the bases!

Thank you to Amu Restaurant at the Fairmont Hotel, Monte Carlo for hosting us! You can find out more about them here: www.fairmont-montecarlo.com/en/dining/amu-monte-carlo/

Enter the competition to join the final stage of the Tour de France: https://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/sponsoring/tour-de-france/competition/

Season 4 of The Good, The Bad & The Rugby is sponsored by Continental Tyres.

#TourdeFrance #Rugby #GeraintThomas #LukeRowe

tour to France is is happening how excited are you about it it all depends how the legs are really why just go and win it I’d love to but Continental tars Continental tars only work with winners so I don’t know I don’t know if you didn’t get the memo all right then yeah I’ll just go win it I’ll go and win it I’m I imagine if I wasn’t the tour I’d be a bit like you know Bowser in Mario Kart nobody get around me if there is a bit where you could just be a bit slow bit overweight and just be slightly violent can we do that your biggest enemy going to be gravity as soon as it goes uphill 120 kilos like lead balloon type scenario um I thought I had bigger enemies I thought I’d bigger enemies than gravity I’ve got a few other enemies I’ll add that to the list gravity is your [Music] Nemesis and welcome to The Good The Bad and The rugby in partnership with our good friends at Continental Tires I’m James hll in case you’re in any doubt poo and tins they’re not here because they’re not as committed I am when asked to go to Monaco I was like God if I have to um but I’m with two absolute Legends uh two two t of France Heroes we got former winner Gite Torres how are you good thanks mate yeah good to see you and we’ve got inas uh Grenadier Captain Luke row how are you Luke cracking boy nice mate Cutler Welsh’s in the house well look we’re at the top of the the Fairmont Hotel obviously very famous in Monaco but we’re also at the very very new and plush uh AMU Monte Carlo restaurant with beautiful views of the Mediterranean Sea and the the principality we’re here to talk about you guys Tour of France and with a smattering a veneer of of rugby you know you guys are are you B you you’re more of a big fan than than you are do you do you ever watch it do you watch it together ever I watch the big matches I think um so you’re a fair weather fan ESS ex I’m I’m not going to say I’m die hard because it’s not the truth but any big Welsh International um yeah or any yeah I go to some when I’m if I’m home I’ll watch them go to the Millennium Stadium watch a few Blues matches okay if you ask me the history and all that jazz I wouldn’t bit out of my depth but you’re but you’re a bit more of a big fan on you yeah I’ve been to a few games like obviously uh try and go to autum Internationals is the easiest for to go to because that’s the offseason like I’ve never been to a six nations game which I’m looking forward to you’ve never been to a six nations game never too busy winning is he do you know what we did say we’re going to do though is the um we’re going to do the Lions the Lions tour when we both retired we’re going to go do the Lions Mega boys are love that I I played in 2017 um in New Zealand and it was insane old rivalry to put to one side I quite enjoy it just looks like a good crack doesn’t it so and that’s where we said New Zealand that’s the place to go yeah I was going to ask you just quickly cuz I know you are a bit rugby fan would you swap one of your gold Olympic medals to win a world cup with Wales or for Wales to win World Cup I mean you can have it anywhere you can be playing for Wales and they win a World Cup or you could swap a gold medal just for Wales to win a World Cup um no selfishly but um oh if I was part of it yeah that would be pretty cool yeah I’d see myself I’ve always said I’d be make a good 10 you know I’d take it to the line keep them guessing you reckon playmaker yeah I can like bit of vision bit of bit of vision got good Left Foot Right Foot both feet you know oh really distribute well he’s modest I was about to say really under playing it okay what what about you it’d be a flanker he would that’s what I was about to say he’s a bit taller cuz you I reckon if we if we got you in the gym and off off the cardio yeah you’d be quite quite tall quite big I reckon you can do a bit I’ll take that where’s flanker back oh yeah just mess up one year don’t yeah yeah okay me I didn’t mess any up any years I just looked this bad to start with I didn’t get any better um I want to talk a little bit about you guys kind of um the different types of training as well that you do for the tour fronts because I didn’t realize stupidly um that obviously there’s so many types of different riders in that you know there you’ve obviously got the mountain guys youv got the sprinters you’ve got kind of the the the Pace Setters I mean I’ll start with you Luke do you want to talk a little bit about kind of what it what your requirements have been and what you what you do yeah I think yeah first of all you’re you’re in the the same position as a lot of people when you turn on a bike race there’s so many moveing pieces and so many tax tactics that the naked eye would miss and it is it’s you know it’s like any sport when you really get into it and in the small little details it’s yeah fine details and fine margins of the difference between winning and losing so there’s a lot of different roles um so G would be kind of your leader you know if you think of a triangle the hierarchy say number one all for him he’s there he’s got to and he’s got to go out and he’s got to deliver the goods and when it comes to the final Moun he’s got to get from A to B as quick as possible and hopefully win the stage and then beneath that you’ll have a couple of mountain domestiques so the guys who will stay for him as long as stay with him for as long as possible on the mountain and then you get middle Mountain guys which is the you know these guys are can help a bit on the flat these are your Swiss Army knives they’re a bit allterrain and then beneath that you got the last level which is which I would be in which would be flat helper flat helper so yeah it’s quite self-explanatory um for the more flat lands smaller mountains um and that’s that’s pretty much the buildup of a team is it ever frustrating because I when I’ve watched the Tour of France and when I’ve talked seen about the different roles you have in cycling obviously it’s a very selfless sport as you talk about you have to deliver but so much of it is about the team just talking from a man as humble as I am I think I’d struggle to you know someone said you got to do this and let them win I’d be like H probably no but I mean it’s not letting them win though cuz you just can’t win no fine um so it’s easier to take it away about to say it yeah like yeah that’s my role because I can’t do that yeah but is that because you you you genuinely can’t do it or the team says you can’t do it im a day one someone said to me listen here’s your glass ceiling you just aren’t good enough most people go I’ll show you or someone goes maybe you have to serve your time and then when you moved out your time will come you explain that to me it’s basically kind of saying like you go and play 15 yeah you know and like oh God exact like running you know running around like all this type of jazz and it’s just different like in cycling this kind of um like boxing in a way but all the weight categories are together you got the sprinters and then you’ve got the climbers and then everything else in between okay and you’re all in the same race it’s not separate races but there’s always there’s different races within the race as well okay but and there’s also it’s not just a tour you know there’s a hundred other races in that year um like Luke for instance he he plays that rolling the tour but then in the one day Classics in Belgium which are flat short little climbs like no more than like a kilometer long then he’s like one of the leaders or you know at least a lot closer to top of that pyramid than in the tour so it’s just horses for courses really and um you kind of cuz I kind of came through the system almost you know I was started at the the bottom of the pyramid and work my way up um these days young little bastards just step in and start winning straight away it doesn’t matter what sport you do everyone’s always looking down at the younger the academ play as the apprentices or or when there’s a young BL that comes through and blasts everyone you’re like what a [ __ ] nobody likes do they but now it’s more than ever in why is that though why what do you think yeah I think it’s the nutrition the training everything is out there now was in the past you just didn’t know like as Juniors we just Jam sandwich in your pocket and you just ride and you you had a jam sandwich in your pocket yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah that’s that was what we ate brought and uh we we’d go out with the local like I don’t know to me they seem like 50 60 but they probably only 30 or something but it was just like it’s a different time like there’s like power cranks where they tell you the power you’re doing yeah we didn’t have them till well till I was professional or even a year or two into professional but they were just essentially they’re just when we turned Pro and we were 18 19 20 at that point we went from amateur to professional and everything the whole package everything around it went yeah better at this better at this better at this where now they got the accessibility the availability for whole package when they’re 14 15 everyone’s got the tech as well like access to it find anything online lactate testing and stuff like I’ve only done it a few times my whole career but I imagine now like we talked about you making the rules for yourself if they said g can we do a lactate test like no probably not probably not by the end of I wasn’t doing a lot of Fitness testing he’s quite good at Towing the line would you yeah I would I I kind of like I’ve learned to adapt as well over the years I don’t think I’d still be racing now if I didn’t really okay I’ve had done 18 years as a pro that’s I think that’s the difference with cycling it’s a bit sadistic in that way it’s all it’s just pushing yourself like you won’t win a race if you don’t have the legs to you know at least in rugby or football there’s tactics involved or the tactics play more important role we’re all just a bit sick in the head aren’t we like if you think a lot of sports if you want to stop or or give less you can get away with it a lot of sports if you’re you know or especially in team sports people can carry basically you can carry you and with boxing yeah if you go boxing just seems like you know if it ends it ends like that you get smacked in the face you go down knocked out where with cycling it’s just like a slow burn you’re holding your hand over a match and it’s just a slow burn it hurts more and more and more it’s a bit like torture and you give in when when you mentally give in more than anything it’s it’s you’re putting yourself through it like the jro recently that I did um I finished third overall and last stage big stage there a 50 minute climb we have to do it twice go up it descend go back up the same bastard climb really yeah and the start was raining I had have hidden in a bush it was like peeing down and um I just felt terrible I was like geez like I was third at the time I was like I might drop out the top five here the way I’m feeling but then you just have to try and stay strong in your head we start the climb and they say really high Pace I’m thinking it’s all right they’ll slow down at some point 50 minutes later they’re still doing the same I was just like but luckily I did start to feel better as it went on but you break the climb into chunks and but it like Luke says it’s it’s massively just it’s the head as much as the legs you know those dark moments it’s so easy to give into that voice because everybody has that voice in their head and like you can’t ignore that voice that voice just goes like just have a rest or just don’t need to youve don’t like you know I I I’m trying to have the ability to switch that off I think for most top athletes is is is the is the way I mean how do you deal with that yeah I think like going back to that J stage I think a lot of it was like I’m not letting this these Pricks drop me right okay you I just can’t that sounds quite like thing but in my head that is what I was like I’m not letting this like it was some young kid and like I’m just like n you hate the young kids I love I like the guy in second place as well he’d ridden for our team before it was good good mates with him but that race I just I didn’t really like him that as an example like using you at the jro there if you if you [ __ ] out on stage 20 and you went from third to 10th in the course of your career what impact does it have not a lot won the tour second in the tour second in the second in the jro last year so if you’re third in the jro this year doesn’t make a whole lot of difference no but why didn’t you drop out cuz to be an athlete at the top level you have to have a bit of that [ __ ] you inside don’t and also like the fact when you’re a leader and you’ve got like Lads like Luke and you know seven of guys who’ve sacrificed their race or a lot of their race for you yeah you can’t just give upil yeah it’s just like and the whole team as well behind that you know all the staff they really willing you on and you know it’s uh a big responsibility and like without going back to the old psychology thing about belittling what Luke did cuz he’s retired now but it’s when you’re the leader compared to like one of the guys grafting the uh how you measure how they do is so different so for Luke like um oh yeah he did well he rode and then he got dropped at this point kilometer whatever for me you either win or you don’t yeah you know or you’re out of the top 10 or whatever you know and it’s a lot more harsh I guess have you yet to work on that kind of that leadership does it come naturally to you or did you just go I’m really good at this I’m going to work and everyone else follows by example or have you turned around and gone [ __ ] I actually need to take a bit more responsibility because some leaders do it through actions but are awful at talking are they like do as I say not as I do he just not it yeah like I think it’s like a leadership group you know like in R like for us it’s the same like me and Luke um when you think back to the tour like I guess through me would be involved in that I just do what I do and leave by example and you either take it or you don’t um you were a bit more of a talker at chat Kathy you can tell you a bit chatty Kathy yeah but you need that you need that balance that do you do you feel um within within the Dynamics of a team that because sometimes captains feel like they have to take responsibility all of themselves and obviously as someone that can either win or lose as you said I can imagine that’s quite hard but actually more often not the most successful teams everyone taking responsibility for everything and people knowing what to do at the right times is that is that the same translation in in cycling you know cuz obviously I you got the final word before maybe the race starts listen this is what we’re trying to do everyone’s very clear but maybe an emotional bit or do you not say anything and now you to to to take over to I mean how does it work with you boys yeah it’s not quite the same like you know when you watch the lions from like was it 97 like the big famous first one and it’s nothing like that on the bus like there cuz you know for you boys when you get out there it’s it’s like boom in it it’s like you saying it’s short intense you know effort and whatever like you’re smashing each other for us it’s you could start and you got a six- hour stage in front so don’t shoot your B too early actually the more relaxed you are it’s the opposite if you go out and you’re more relaxed and you don’t need to be fired up cuz it’s a slow burner isn’t it where you guys you’re going to go out and within the first minute you get you you want to smash someone they want to smash you for us it’s have you ever got it wrong though like where you like over egged it and gone right out like balls out and then gone halfway through oh Christ I more the opposite way like we’ve gone out a bit too chilled and then it might be a bit late for race or something like that haven missed the start one too did you but yeah like back in the day um when I was in a Italian team we there was like a village a start Village and all the Riders would go there so we’d all go as meet the other Brits there hang about on the bus cuz it’s full of Italians and like just so we’ meet all the other Brits we have a coffee you know flicking through the paper like it’s all in Italian but whatever you look at the pictures yeah and then uh we’re were all sat there just chatting and then we’re kind of like looking around it’s like there’s no other bike riders here and then like kind of don’t have a watch or anything you don’t know the time why would you not have a watch hadn’t been invented you that old he your how old are you oh we just done racing watches you know you not no no wait dead wait no seriously yeah was that just we said you wouldn’t wear a watch because it weighs but yeah the weight of it my God right okay so uh but yeah B you if yeah we’ll go into it after wait honestly mad go on finish your toy no it’s basically like yeah so we rush onto our bikes ride and then yeah they’ve already started but luckily there’s a neutral zone so they go quite slow and by that time we managed to just get get into the pon before they like wave the flag to start you’re sitting around looking at the pictures in Italian newspaper chatting [ __ ] little coffee on the go have a little cof a little cough in the goat you’ve all turned around [ __ ] your pants and gone like nipped on your bikes and just gone rasing and just gone straight in sorry boys yeah yeah yeah it was like me Brad um Wiggins yeah Cav um Dave Miller um so yeah and we’re all just like [ __ ] oh my God so and then to get out of the village you know that there’s random people in as well so you’re kind of trying to get through them and yeah it was a it I been I still have recurrent dreams that I get got selected and I’ve left my boots like I it’s always Warren Gatlin who’s picking me and it’s always like I’ve always turned out and missed the game it’s like you always think you got exams like I still panic I got exams but obviously what would happen you have a spare pair of boots there um no well it was I got but things I had to borrow like props one that had like those 25 in studs you know like I’m I would it’s like when you forget your school uniform for PE they give you horrible shorts horrible shorts yeah s yeah well props do think of piss I wouldn’t borrow I’d rather train naked than borrow a pair of props clothing but but studs I had and everyone and actually when we we had a scrummaging session and the ofz we’ve never seen you pushing so well has great to see your commitment with your long studs normally I was wearing like molded studs so I [ __ ] slide all over the place all the props go you don’t care about scrum like yeah I don’t um so that was a good that was a good day but what about you have you have you ever had nightmare Moes missed anything late I was on time really you’re professional very professional you know like I said before is that cuz you didn’t get invited out for the cool boys with the coffee feel like Ry Wiggins and that like you were was Pro long before me um I don’t I’ve had any freakout moments not really no I mean I’ve I’ve done some yeah we’ve all made mistakes in a career and there’s some things you regret and but nothing what do you regret um what do I regret probably that Tony Martin incident because it kep keeps getting brought up no I had a I had a ding-dong like a bit of a argument it wasn’t even a fight and it’s just pathetic that even it got escalated as far as it did but he got thrown out of the tour to France and disqualified as well yeah on stage 16 out of 21 well so okay so I’ve missed this um even though I’m a dedicated to France fan um do you want to just just give a quick like tell me what happened from your version briefly there’s a uh there’s a guy in another team yeah doing the same role as I’m doing so we we’re always logging heads oh really and he’s so I’ve got my role in my team he’s got his role his team his role basically is to keep me or the leader close to the front sa place it was me and Egan you and Ean yeah and uh so you know it’s always like you want to be as close to friends as you can without being in the wind you kind of shelter a bit to save your legs a bit but you’re always just boxing on with everyone you he’s got to make room for me if you got to go for a gap it’s not really there he’s got to make the Gap and he follows me and if if this is amazing just says I’m just following Luke right like no worries and how Scrappy does it get in there well it got to qualify from the yeah okay okay tell no no no not it’s it’s it’s pathetic really like elbows out like little knees hit his contact for sure but it’s not it’s not like you you never take your hands off the bars but just little elbow yeah yeah so so so he’s marking you you’re marking him he’s trying to block him if you’re going to have a dingdong first thing you do is you look up if you’re under tree cover you can do what the [ __ ] you want because there’s no helicopter footage if you’re not under tree cover then be careful what you’re doing and this time I I wasn’t under tree cover right but we’d been bouncing off each other for a couple of weeks and then it escalated he flicked me I flicked him flicked what you mean flicked he’s there I’m here we just went into a bit Yeah Yeah like when you got on your hip so when you’re riding a bike like if you’re half a bike in front you can basically like take this guy wherever you want as soon as you’re in front of them they’re at your mercy because their handle bar if someone hits your handlebars that’s what you so once you get past someone you can do what you want I did not if they’re past you they’ve got the advantage I love this um and it and we just escalated and then he flicked me and then I I grabbed it I you trying to play it down he flicked me I I I strangled him no it wasn’t grabbed him just a little like oh don’t do that and then yeah and then we got to the finish and we were like oh no like what’s going to happen here we were right at the front of the Pelton it was right on footage and we both got disqualified kicked out the toour to France like it’s the biggest bike race in in the world and to get kicked out from that was just I can laugh and joke about it but actually I was [ __ ] gutted and and embarrassed for months did you apologize to him after did you put hand up and say it was me or or like do you get on cuz if I I imagine if that finished oh you got on yeah oh fine cuz if you did that I’d be like right I think we probably just have a little chat away from the cameras just go one of the porter cabins and just deal with it and then no because it was yeah six one after doz the other it was him as much as it was well it sounds like you you grabbed him and you sounds like it’s kind of more your fault G’s fault was it yeah it was both of you exactly okay you just got grabby that’s I don’t want to say I the evidence if I was if it was a court law and I was I youve kind of incriminated I’ll show you the YouTube video after and you’ll go [ __ ] that’s a hell of a flick gave me he had you were on the side of the road as well right yeah he flipped me twice my I almost crashed almost into like the people and stuff it’s bad that could have hurt in bystanding disgusting disgusting whoever you are bad man bad man um I can remember cutle of training sessions a c of things a c of games where I had to go to that dark place I I forgot to kind of ask you earlier there must be a moment moment in each one of your careers where you were like this is the most ranked thing whether it was training or in a race that you’ve ever done that still stands by you now where you just go oh my God I don’t know how I ever did that that kind of set the bar of like how deep you can go oh for me it was for sure the first tour I ever did I was um was in 2007 I was the youngest in the race and I was I was expected to maybe do seven days like try and do one Mountain Stage um and every day was a bonus got to the first rest day after nine days ended up finishing it but there was days I’d finish and be like there’s absolutely no way that I’m getting on that bike tomorrow but then you you’d go back to the hotel you’d have a massage you have dinner you wake up in the morning you’re like well I’m here I might as well start and then you just go through the same like thing and like the whole four five six hours whatever it is you just swing in you’re just getting your ass handed to you every day there was even a Time on the flat cuz at that point I was a track Rider like the flat was like my terrain you know I had that power I wasn’t very light but I was good for quick but and it’s splitting the cross winds on the flat so the winds coming from the side and it’s all one line and then there’s people just getting and I was in the back group of like maybe 10 and there was like all climbers they’re all like 60 kilos you know super light I’m thinking what am I doing with these guys like this is embarrassing you know and then like I’m just hanging to hold their wheel and then I stopped pedaling for a Split Second Twice like just give up just stopped and I was like no like and you lose like a bike or two and like no I can’t I can’t and you just get back on got through that day and um yeah finished the tour and that always stuck with me I never suffer as much as that mentally and physically as how rank because how ranked would it be I mean I remember again we you know we are comparing chalk and cheese in some degree but waking up after kind of say pre-season where it’s consistent work and training and you’ve put your body through five hours of work which something I’ve never I’ve never done obviously had Long training days but you have a rest you’ve been on a bike for that period of time you wake up that next day and you open your eyes just a level of like muscle soreness is is it mental is it full body rankness is it your guc is on fire you know like what what’s the GU like leather now is it a leather high no not an issue really doesn’t even bother you you I convinced like people winge about the bum and G and S I don’t really have an issue now after 12 years that just like just Te You varnished it up like just a wooden Gran Granite gu doesn’t matter no we got gues on us really yeah yeah yeah just like an old leathery kind of hide like yeah talking about the kids again yeah he he’s like the leader he’s 24 25 he pulled out of tour Britain cuz he had a big saddle saw it was literally like a tennis ball there like it was horrific but surely the technology is just you know do you need that sort of plastic blade digging in I mean is there not a better solution I think he just needs to shower mate is that what it was filthy bastard that guy really I hate that I mean I there’s a couple of players I played with I yeah that hygiene around that area as well especially if you’re a flanker I’m second rows how they did it but I’ve put my head near a few few areas like that and you’re like you wonder what they’re I mean I’ve seen them in the shower they don’t shower with um shower gel they just wash the water around them C no no sponge awful but you but that’s what would set it off like sweaty just rank or just not rubbing oh it’s bit of everything really is it like time in the saddle yeah yeah like if you’re sweating all day as well and if you don’t have a proper shower definitely doesn’t help it can get infected you can get a little cut sometimes like different shamies like you know what when you do get a bad saddle teric no I said guc like Lea we’ve got pretty solid Gucci but inevitably you are going to get saddles saws and you get however you want to describe it a boil it gets infected and then it can happen after a week 10 days and you just got it when you first sit on the saddle the next how’ you how did you manage that iMac down there tal it up like what what’s what’s the order shami cream shami is it Shi cream V it up yeah pretty much when I was like back in the day in B world again I had this like cut on my gu it was so sore I had this ital um Swan who gives you the massage he must have been 70 and he uses all this oil it’s like I’m bloody salad on my legs and then you flip over and he just like whips a towel away and I’m like M you have to pay a lot of money for this normally yeah give me a bit of decency next thing he’s got this spray out and he’s spraying like oh the pain for those like two three seconds it must have been antiseptic or something he didn’t tell me he was going to do it I was on the bed just like H you get get air to it is a big thing in it like just air it but then you room you’re rooming with someone so you kind of walk in and completely poo like one leg up and what on on [ __ ] airing out yeah you got to wear it man I’d be the same if I have a bit of a saddle saw whoever you’re rooming with sorry mate what just like yeah just pick your you get a hotel fan on it yeah calm it down open the window bit of Breeze really yeah spread them baby dad I did not know that I okay fine all right we’ve clear this podcast gone everywhere I’ve we cleared up much decency is there no you’re good to share room though you right you good habits you bring room sweets room treats like I think I’m a pretty good roommate I I I’m not like ADHD lining things up but I’m quite neat uh if I first thing I say is what time do you want to go to bed whatever time they go to bed I’ll go yeah I’m a good roommate oh nice were you a good roommate I think so I think we’re both good room just like I just not into these early Rises like I like to stay in bed as long as possible yeah we’re the same like that though aren’t we we go down as late as possible but what time do the races nor we start day oh it’s like 9:00 you know you’re not waking up at the start line you got it well he was he woke up after after the startline he didn’t know what time he going to watch um you you can often you have to go down eat but then you can have a transfer quite far so if you imagine you finish right you’re in the middle of nowhere our races aren’t in big stadiums they’re in a small village in the middle of France that’s your start yeah and then you’ve got to accommodate a thous people so to find accommodation for thousand people in this small village some of them are actually quite far away from the village and in terrible accommodation like whatever Glitz and Glam you think there is involved in cycling yeah I me yeah I don’t know I don’t know why I got that impression from lad I kind I can only imagine why I would think there was any sort of Glitz and Glam you both tax avoiding bastards living in Monica I don’t know where I I don’t where I got that from anyway um I just on the road on the on the road yeah God stay humble yeah stay humble if you tell people enough about staying humble apparently you’re humble I try stay humble bro just stay humble um I just want to ask you about your your retirement cuz I originally when we did the research did the notes I thought you were retiring at the end of the season it turns out you you’ve kind of already can we talk about that you already retired sure yeah yeah I think um you know would have been nice to come back and do a race uh just to kind of go out on your own terms rather than go out with the last race being in Belgium in March lad on my back not knowing where I am uh so I think there’s a lot to be said for that to retire on your own terms is something always wanted to do and you know I’m halfway house I’ve I’ve made the decision to stop because of well actually no I didn’t the injury put me on my ass so but I wanted to come back and just do one more race whatever it was Big Race small race in the UK Bel wherever it was but it’s just it’s just not going to happen because of the way you ride and because of your position the risk just wouldn’t be yeah you’re kind of in the danger zone quite a lot and the chance of crashing again is quite high but you know I’m still kind of getting headaches uh haven’t fully recovered from that crash and you know essentially it’s not just me now I got responsibilities got a wife two kids I have to be there for them in the years to come and going back to the UK got to pay tax yeah you know you know we got to buy nappies and milk and stuff like this you can’t have live to your door servants are going to go we’re going to have to buy coats cuz we don’t need coats while we’re here Wellies and stuff oh awful it’s it’s going to be tough you know I honestly I feel sorry I don’t know what’s worth retiring or having to go back to Wales I don’t know it’s a it’s a toss up in it no God’s country man is it grass is green and grills are pretty oh nice you wouldn’t know much about that I would I wouldn’t know about I wouldn’t know do you know what you want to do next um no I’m not 100% sure what’s in the pipeline there’s a few options I’m weighing things up now uh so decide in the next few months any like nerves about it are you are you right are you um not really not really no I think actually the last 6 weeks two months have been potentially some of the most enjoyable in my life uh just being there and present you’re there with the kid and you’re there with the wife but you always got half a mind on something else you I got to train I got to do this I got to you’re trying to do everything to be as good as you can in your sport where now I just feel I’m I’m present I’m there I’m and I’m giving them everything I got which you can take a lot of satisfaction of so not really just looking forward to it excited well I’m excited to see what the next chapter I mean I don’t talk about retirement yet but you know you’re 38 you’re giving it a good go really squeezing out every bit of last bit of juice in it what what’s your plan you got an idea when you want to finish what you want to achieve still itches to scratch or scratches to itch no itches no scratches to it at all um I’d never thought I’d still be racing now honestly um but I’ve got a contract at the end of next year so I’m pretty confident that’ll be my last year I don’t want to be 40 in this pelaton I think it’s just like that’s just too old were you still ride were you both still ride when you think retire or will you just put the bikes when that’s the end of it I’ll still ride a little bit but uh I’m looking forward to trying another Sports and one thing I was going to say on that is throughout the past well 15 16 years you just you’re constantly saying no to people hey do you want to do this do you want to go for here do you want to go and watch that sporting events and you’re constantly saying I can’t I can’t I can’t I got this i got this and you’re con just for 15 years no I can’t you’ve G out for dinner is it you’re always thinking like H I want to have a burger I’ll go for the SE bass or yeah me the last two months I’ve just I’ve done more can tell say we eating yeah you want to feel my love handles that what you’re because you said I walked in I thought it was a gray shape and you went oh I have it I you’re so precious I tell you therapist over your weight problems cuz you both got them that’s a massive thing in cycl mate once people retire yeah mental weight all the body body is small Foria that’s the problem you you know massive encycl yeah I can imagine you’re constantly you’re weighing weigh in your farts mad is it we didn’t actually touch any of that about the weight stuff I mean is it that is it that literally just you’re waiting all the time cuz it’s it’s basically power to wait is the key factor you know so it’s always like now you get your plan through the nutritionist CU your amount of grams of pasta to have and you’re wearing that all out well we ey but then you kind of know but then you see like the young kids again going on about like they’re measuring weighing out their broccoli and then they’re weighing out like pasta and it’s like boy like 10 grams here and there is not going to make a difference so I was that loser I used to have a little portable fix out scales that I used to put with me when I went um that amazes all year around no no I tell you what it was basically because nutrition in rugby was kind of quite behind for a while Matt level was one of the first guys that kind of got involved with it it was with England and they kind of really pioneered it around that kind of 20002 2003 Mark and I started 2003 2004 uh when I TI 2019 but I always went and spoke to different nutritionist but there was a big chunk of time where people talked about protein carbohydrates and fats but didn’t talk about calor intake it’s very it was very behind lots of people weren’t tracking their calories lots of people weren’t thinking about it and sort of Midway through my care I started doing that and I started weighing it I was weighing at home and I found um that ability to kind of measure and the stuff but I never had a problem with it cuz I I wanted to be big it wasn’t about being less it was like big and lean BLT plan big lean and tan that’s all that mattered 12 12 kilos of pasta six chickens yeah basic when I had I I had uh I had 380 kgs of 30 80 grams of of carbohydrates to eat a day I had 250 grams of protein to eat and then I had about 180 grams of fat see that’s not crazy is it during the course of a day that’s not crazy is it no well for us it’s changed a lot though haven’t it now it’s but when you think I don’t know how much is in 300 G of pasta it’s not a lot my chicken breast 20 grams of protein right and you’re trying to get to 280 so 20 so that’s a lot imagine that you know and then and that’s 4,000 I was eating 4,000 calories a day really is what I was but again bear in mind if I at if I 14 chicken breasts if I at four and a half if I at four uh 4 and a half thousand I’d start gaining if I get less than that I’d start losing so it was kind of quite a nice window my training I kind of knew what where my body was at um but I imagine you guys you probably eat more carbohydrates wouldn’t you because you’re going to burn through so much cuz what calories would you burn when you’re racing it’s it’s a crazy sport in that when you’re training and preparing for the race so like let’s say game for the tour to France so the phase R in now aiming for the tour to France is like you’re just trying to cut and everything is you’re running at a deficit so you’re burning X and you’re running at X really yeah you’re you’re trying to cut weight it’s like a boxer trying to cut weight what weight would you would you have had to mean to ride I would raise the tour at 72 73 kilos what would you race at about 68 and that’s 183 cm tall I’m 190 I’m 63 yeah 63 73 kilos oh my God but you’re constantly running at a deficit and then as soon as you go into the tour to France itself you just want to maintain you don’t want to put on you don’t want to take off but then how that’s insane that because because you obviously running a deficit but then the recovery you you you know when I play a when I play a game we go to a hard session cuz I was maintain size you would and being a surplus within reason because you’re refueling your body refueling your glycogen stores you’re trying to you know keep your energy up and you’re trying to sort of maintain that’s mad do do you ever just come off the bike and go Christ just give me something to eat or do you have to really maintain it when you’re absolutely hanging it used to be more like that one like we do like low carb rides basically and all this Jazz like you’d have a omelette three egg omelette do six hours on protein shake and eat nothing else but but you try and there was a time as well where you’d have breakfast go out wait a little bit and then go out so that when you got back you’d have missed lunch and it wasn’t that long till tea you know missing a meal intentionally being part of the plan remember that yeah but it’s changed a lot now where you you’re fueling a lot more like on the bike you’re eating a lot more and um yeah off it as well and it’s just the whole like we said about adapting like just to change to that was quite hard to start with because you’re so used to sort of restricting everything like I surely just got to be hungry and like hanging every time I get home yeah but umig deal with it yeah uh okay I want to this competion I just want to ask one more question about this you you retired what what was the first time you went out did you just go mental did you just go like like okay I’ll have this this this or or no no pretty much yeah I’m just eating what I want when I want and it’s so nice yeah it’s just Game Changer and like my wife says now you look so much better than when you did for the past 10 years I don’t know why she married me like I think of Third Leg yeah really tripod yeah um triod tripod um and you just actually feel a bit better for it and you know during the like pre-tour where you are running that deficit and I think your mood no disr but gee like the way you cut like you’re Moody as [ __ ] sometimes and that’s it’s not uh and he’s already Welsh as well Welsh and mood yeah that’s not a great combination at the best of s could be worse could be English and Moody but no like and that’s not a negative to you that’s just if you haven’t got energy you’re going to be mov that’s in you and uh yeah it’s not a nice what would you if I if i s you right you retired today I can tell you out for dinner I said listen Lads I’ve got the good bad rubby card there’s no problem you have to wait and what would you eat where would we go oh we’d probably go Hotel Parry to start with probably one of the most expensive restaurants oh you want you just want to do me in on the expense it’s all about the food describe you hate young players and you’d want to [ __ ] me out of a load of cash not cuz you wanted the food just cuz you do me over the we’re talking about you can ask like don’t even like the food there you wouldn’t even eat it no I’d stick to just one spoonful of brown rice but I’d order everything have McDonald’s afterwards yeah but no but what would you like must something you want to you just psych but if I say that i’ derail you before the tour I get into your head so much you panic go off here put on a load of weight and you’re awful that could happen no no no you’re too strong but I think uh you just crave everything that you don’t eat like burgers curries you know Chinese I I go for curry I reckon a nice I had a curry yesterday actually sorry burger if I had to choose okay Curry or a Sunday roast Sunday roast Sunday roast you don’t get to have that anymore Sunday roast or a curry just cuz where we live like you know when I was a kid I had it every Sunday I’m not a massive fan of Sunday I’m going to say it’s controversial I had him every weekend as a kid i’ would rather not really not not my mom wasn’t a great cook just I can’t eat the same thing all the time you used to think you’re a good guy I that don’t lie nobody thought I was a good guy um listen i’ got to do a little ad for you guys here so it’s a competition time now as a main partner of Tour of France Continental tires are giving you and a friend a chance to win a trip and join the excitement at the final stage of the tour to France in nice this fantastic prize includes flights hotel and dinner as well as a boat transfer from nice to Monaco to see some of the starters and then a view of the Finish Line in nice later on to the competition will run from the 18th of June to the 7th of July ending at 11:59 p.m. we have to say that go click the link in the description box for all the details on how to enter it really is a great prize from the team at Continental tires so don’t miss out go and enter now your chance to win now last thing I want to ask you about toor of France is is happening what can we expect how exciting is it going to be how exciting are you about it for me it’s a really strange position to be in because I don’t know like cuz this hasn’t been my one goal because for the last few years the tour has been everything everything targeted towards that and I know I’m go there confident KN and I’ve done the work and I know I’m going to be there where they abouts whereas this time I did the jro just before so um yeah I don’t really know like I basically either go and try and win a stage help the other guys out in the mountain days have a few days not off but mentally not as cuz when you’re racing GC every day is like super crucial you got to be at the front on on it so maybe have a few day those days off but or could end up riding GC um it all depends how the legs are really can’t you just go and win it I’d love to but Continental TS Continental TS only work with winners so I don’t know you didn’t get the memo all right then yeah I’ll I’ll I’ll I’ll go and win it who’s your main competition well Pacha he’s just a freak really um him and yonas Vore who won the last two but he’s had a big accident so he’s everyone’s bit Unsure how he is okay they’re the big two why are they so good interesting what’s your opinion having been around for such a long time I don’t know I think they’re just freaks like I think they’ve just been good since they burst on the scene and as we said like they’ve been training like pros for a good few years and they’re just just unreal they can just he can just do everything um this Pacha dude um yeah well LZ I’m very excited gett good luck for it thank you I’ll be watching out and now I know there’s a bit like contacts and stuff as well now I quite like that I like a bit bit it’s too late for me to do cuz Adas I’m not sponsored by they say impossible is nothing I’m pretty certain me joining to the France team is impossible which oh sorry which I don’t think I can do it but we we’re going to you’re going to put me through a challenge on you at some point well yeah I think the challenge still to be set by G but in 24 hours time we’ll know how realistic it is but I think some things are impossible right I imagine if I was on the tour I’d be a bit like you know Bowser in Mario Kart nobody get around me unless you derail me with a red shell but I wouldn’t be going very fast very it’s like me go-karting like I I’m there I can take the corners I got a bit about me but on the straights absolutely dusted if there is a bit where you could just be a bit slow bit overweight and just be slightly violent can we do that I think you’d be good on zift like an indoor thing oh yeah where weight doesn’t come into it okay all right and you maybe lie about your weight online as well yeah but I don’t want to get into you boys got both got on the track yeah possibly Chris had big he’s quite small any but he’s he had massive but you’re biggest enemy is going to be gravity as soon as it goes uphill 120 kilos like lead balloon type scenario yeah um I thought I had bigger enemies I thought I had bigger enemies than gravity I’ve got a few other enemies I’ll add that to the list oh gravity is your Nemesis anyway listen thank you so much guys for tuning in um you guys have been amazing good luck all right good luck in whatever you do next I’ll I’ll be watching fondly if you ever need someone to come in motivational talk I I could probably do that if you need it um we’ve been The Good The Bad rugby in partnership with Continental Tires big thanks to the Fairmont uh hotel in Monte Carlo we’re a folding pocket production and this episode was produced by olle Hunter [Music]