World Champion Van der Poel record hunting at Tour of Flanders – Domestique Cycling Podcast

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

It’s finally time for Flanders’ Finest, the Tour of Flanders! After several tough, but beautiful cobbled Classics as E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields, playtime is over. Who will be able to compete with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)? Can Lidl-Trek maintain its high level and place Mads Pedersen or Jasper Stuyven in the best possible position? Does Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) have some doubts about a head-to-head with the World Champion after what happened on Paterberg? Both Mathieu van der Poel and Lotte Kopecky are on the hunt for records in De Ronde! The Flying Dutchman can join the select group of record holders with three victories, whereas Kopecky could become the lonely record holder of the women’s race. Have a listen to this new Domestique Cycling Podcast episode and make sure there’ll be no surprises for you on Sunday, the day of Ronde van Vlaanderen!

0:00 Intro
0:33 E3 Review
10:40 Gent Wevelgem ME Review
26:22 Gent Wevelgem WE Review
31:11 Dwars door Vlaanderen Preview
37:00 Ronde van Vlaanderen ME Preview
1:05:25 Ronde van Vlaanderen WE Preview
1:13:30 Outro

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

I’ve Got The Spar the sickness there’s be twins in my brain the Holy Week of cycling is upon us we’ve had adri suo classic and gam now it’s time for D andin I’m keeping my intro short on purpose today so we have plenty of time

To dive into it I’m Brum and I’m joined today by E and Ethan hey guys hello hi well like I said we’re just going to dive straight into it uh with some E3 review I’ve got to be honest I did not see this race I was at work couldn’t

Watch it sorry so you guys are going to have to carry this part um I’ve seen the results so um I I think Eve I’m gonna have you start this off because we know that you’re a little bit of a mvdp fanboy no no first of all Bram how can

You miss the E3 it’s the mini of flandes it’s the the preparation race for the holy race in flandes and you missed it I know I’m so sorry it’s disgrace absolute disgrace work isn’t priority well I was at a Vineyard these two weeks yeah come on yeah never mind so Matthew Vanderpool

Uh I think we can say demolished the opposition in the E3 um he decided to to break yeah to attack the first time on the Tiber with 85 Cas to go um and at that point no one was able to follow um not vanard not valance not Peterson not

Steven literally no one then he went down for three four five kilometers but decided to sit up a little bit because yeah why doing 85 kilometers only Pacha um does such a solo effort but yeah it was yeah the race completely exploded from that moment on um the Pelon was completely shattered

And in between um dber and stonberg funpool went two times um on Flat Road because he didn’t want team Vima bike to come back um and then uh two bombs one on stonberg fard was able to follow and then on pober um his last um bomb vanard

Crashed and now I’m going to leave U the rest of it to eaten um because can vot or would vot have stayed in the wheel eaten oh I’m going to say it it it was it was ever so close it was like just literally a few seconds I found 15

Seconds but over the weekend for team visma Lisa bike I it was just a lot of bad luck you had van baller who had unfortunate rear puncture around 90 km to go before the couble sectors so he was basically messed up there and then W obviously crashed which is it’s kind of

The story of his Cobble career so far I’d say he just always so close yeah do you think he would have stayed in the wheel of vpol if he had not crashed yes I think just the you are going to say no but I’d like to say why he wouldn’t say why he

Says no I think B is one of his least favorite climbs I think there was an article in L the news earlier uh this week or last week uh about uh well basically all the the big Belgian writers they asked uh what are your your favorite and least favorite climbs in

The Flemish ens and I think uh PB was that of vanard so it’s a little bit his his black beast he says um so this definitely didn’t help with the the eyes on the um but considering he came back that close was it 10 or 15 seconds

Um I think he might have given him five and then came back afterwards I do think he would have closed the Gap after uh the batter B he was gonna say no I don’t know it was like yeah he crashed and then he had to hop on his

Bike on the steepest part of Potter that’s not easy at all um then on the old qu mon came right after pober W decided to go alone to go solo I don’t know if it was intended to be that way because was it the smartest idea to go

Solo towards V poool I have my doubts but still he came within 10 seconds at one point but then uh on the caral big Strat if I recall correctly um he completely exploded um and VPO was able to smooth smooth his effort till the line um so overall I think it’s yeah

Vanard will be very disappointed and his confidence will yeah be I don’t know about his confidence to be honest I didn’t read any interviews afterwards I didn’t know what he said was he happy about the race overall besides that crash or you guys don’t know either I don’t know even but the

Performance though to come back nearly I you can take some small positives from it in my opinion yeah he certain he certainly can but yeah he wasn’t able to follow on the Tyber 85 Cas to go um on stasion B he was able to um but

I I just think vpol has that little Edge over him on the uphill explosive Hills in flis and it’s going to be hard for him to win to of flers but we’re going to talk about it um later in this episode about that yeah of course um I

Think in the videos I’ve seen of both those efforts uh vanas was not straight on the wheel of thundero I do think that makes a big difference actually in all of the attacks from thundero f is never straight on his wheel um um yeah I I don’t know if that’s a tactical

Mistake uh his positioning the entire race in my opinion was a bit off um Team V Malisa P were poorly position that just a little bit in my opinion I don’t know if you’ve seen that as well you yeah the overall performance from vizar was quite disappointing for me

Actually because besides jurgenson who was very very good who was riding a very good season already from um the start um of the cycling season but besides that and the bad luck they had uh and the positioning yeah they were always a little behind they were like yeah

Following the moves of Vanderpool but too late because like we have to be honest when they came up to the Tiber we all knew we all knew vpol would drop his first bomb there it’s the ding back it’s the the gate um for the final to the E3

So you have to be right on the wheel of Vanderpool or have a strategy um yourself being vizal bik in my opinion and surely with the strength of the team they have or had um not looking at bad luck this time they should have played it differently I think yeah I 100% agree

With that um we’ve mainly focused this review so far on our our two big writers FP and vanat but of course uh there was another writer who finished in between the two uh y per s wrote a particularly uh strong race as well uh he followed

That that up on on Sunday as well um he said himself he’s in the best Classics shapes he’s ever been um what can we like can we expect more from him in in Thea you think he’s a dark horse for the the runner for me he’s within little track that’s

Arguably has was been has been the best Classics steam this weekend um even better than Vima bike um just to mention they had four Riders within the first 11 um in the E3 that’s yeah that’s hella impressive um even Alex Kish who is yeah mainly known as a a loyal

Domestique who can go deep into the races um finished T and Tim the clar wasn’t even on the team yet so impressive as well is the hold of little TR they could play five or six cards for a win at the minute which is incredible really for some a team

Like that already to show that um the little money is really paid off already and it’s just one year just imagine a few years down the line you know yeah definitely and I still and I remember vanard dangling uh 10 seconds in front of the chasing group with yur Sten Val

Narv in there and they were all um yeah empty their tanks were empty and then Sten just rode away from them very controlled towards V vanard and was immediately um able to to take the front and keep the Gap towards the others so it was very impressive and

He was very strong so deep into the race which means the rander in tour of Rus is a longer race that he still has that volume to yeah to peak in the tour of Ras and we know Sten is very good in hard long races um he was good in Len in

The world championships as well um so yeah he’s ready and he’s like you already mentioned in the shape of his life and to get together with a PED in a team um that’s a Leal du and they can play play it out perfectly let’s maybe bring it to to the

Sunday race ham of course the sort of the domestic home race with even H uh hailing from uh EP uh I still find it a little bit weird that h g starts in eish um but it is what it is these days uh screw logic

Um it’s cycling but it’s a it makes for a beautiful start location that’s for sure um on the M um bring it straight back to to little Trek and and steeven and their tactics um obviously we saw a little bit of a different tactic played out in that race

With um Milan getting sent ahead I think that was uh very honestly the race-winning tactic of course went on to to win it later on um but forcing thpo in a break to to ride that hard after uh Milan and basically Sheltering Peterson that’s the race winning decision in my

Opin Milan as well did he didn’t even like get out the sadder or anything it’s just you just see him and is what he’s an a massive Enigma really for me in cycling where you see someone like that just just keep performing yeah it all started with the first Ascend of the

Cber from the belad site VP launched it first his first attack and then there were let’s maybe play it back a little bit further because of course we do have some some echelons before that in the mood which does form the race a little bit um with 29 Riders getting away um

Some some efforts were already spent there true but uh I was on the side of the road um for the majority of the day and I have to say I was quite disappointed about the echelon Echelon action in the moodin uh am I the only one was I the only one or

Because I expected more from it to be honest the gaps weren’t that big and the the cooperation in the first group wasn’t perfect which means at the end of the right we had quite a big paltin um sprinting for that um third position in werham so that means quite a lot of

People were able to come back after the echelon action and there was enough wind so I don’t know on television you guys probably have seen it I it wasn’t it wasn’t even televised yeah it’s like five kilometers before I think which is pretty stupid but yeah yeah I was quite

Disappointed about the action but yeah I get what you mean though was there were a lot of people that came came back which yeah yeah and then yeah then they started the The Hil Zone with three times camber two times belad there and one time

Osare and I to be honest I didn’t expect I had to say it but vpol was the strongest in only one of those three ascents the other two were dominated by um Danish Dynamite met spon he was super impressive and that’s what you want to see you want to see someone

Actually take on Vanderpool you know yeah well yeah like V vpol said in wam at the finish I suff he suffered so hard and he was almost dropped on that Second Ascent and we saw it on television as well that he yeah he gave me some uh pogacha vpol Vibes where

He was able to crawl back um to the Wheel from pracha in the first time the first years the Slovenian started in a tour of Ras then he had to use all his force from his back and right now he had to really yeah use the force in his back

To crawl to that Peterson wheel yeah I mean Super impressive on Peterson uh but I think like I said before really a team effort this time around um um but putting someone like vpol under pressure on kelbe I I’ve never seen it before um that being said of course Thunder

Poool had quite a bit of a solo in his legs from Friday he definitely will have felt that um so we probably didn’t see the the 100% Thunder pool um after that extensive effort um but I think it was also it says a lot that in the interview uh

Afterwards he said well I was kind of cracked but I kept writing anyway because as a world champion that’s expected uh just that sense of honor of like I’m wearing the rainbow jersey I’m not just going to sit on I’m just going to work with you and probably lose you

In the Sprint um that is an amazing thing to do what do you think of that BR because knowing he has flips in the Burch Sprint uh right behind he’s maybe the fastest Sprinter on Earth he didn’t win the Sprint for third but knowing he’s there do you have to do

What mat did and as team DS would you be happy with the way um vpol approached the final of kry uh I think in retrospect and if vonderpool was was honest to his DS then probably they would have had him stop writing um I’m not saying that he lied about his

Legs but it’s just you know philipsson didn’t win the the Sprint for third either um right now they had definitely second place locked in they could have gotten first place um if if they let it come to a Sprint you know philipson gets boxed in then what happens then you have nothing well

If he went to a sprinter and vandero was leading out Phillipson the philipson probably would have won but yeah potentially yeah um definitely would my opinion but uh mayor to get third as well to be Phillipson I want to mention that that’s very nice very impressive from it’s his first

One day Podium um in the world tour classic so yeah it’s a building on his building on his sham win from last year yeah yeah indeed this year I me was last year it was last un the T already happened this year you never told us maybe procycling manager game yeah he

Wins put your house on it don’t yeah definitely um one of those results that you have to see for a rer like him um constantly underrated um although D keeps telling us don’t underrate that guy um as well um another team I was very impressed by as well who always on

The offensive again T the pro CCL Trenton was super good in um the cobal sectors that’s what I was noticing on the TV yeah he was he’s in a in a very good shape and he’s a good leader for a young team um that getting to know the roads

In in flers ETC so yeah him and Marius May wrote for making a nice deal I think yeah yeah Mayer H finished 18 as well so pretty impressive um but most impressive for me besides those two being pish and VPO is Lawrence py course yeah 21 years old

Development come on that’s so impressive it’s his first year as a professional second year as a professional definitely second second second yeah indeed um yeah 21 years old to do this in head wam AAS from 250k out following vanderpol on the first Ascent of the camel then able to

Stick with pedition on the second time to crack uh on the last Ascent but still and he kept on rating as well like he was completely done but still he still he tried to keep up the pace and was able to finish how much in 26 at the end

So it’s not like he completely gave up um what is it for the years come coming is just so many positive for him just imagine what he needs is that extra 10% in the tank and he’s probably going to win these types of races gen G he

Definitely will win it in my opinion but is uh group on fdj going to be able to keep him I think he’s going to be I think he has a he doesn’t have a contract yet for next year um so he’s he’s going to be so sought after interesting um information I I

Heard about him um four or five years ago ago when he still was a Youngster um he wanted to ride for the um Vima liik youth team team but the team was full so they weren’t able to recruit any Riders so he decided to go to the to the

Academy team ofup fdg so maybe there is some sort of connection still there within the Vima Ley bike Squad and will we see him in the yellow colors um after this season and then the question is do we want to see him in that Yow colors I

Mean last season we we had Jorgenson is sort of the the revelation of the SE of the classic season uh now we have and then of course v m bike took him on now we have py uh will we see the same thing happen two years in a row I’d make a

Prediction yeah I have a feeling someone like inos would go for him I seen um Jim Radcliffe podcast on G tma’s podcast and he was saying and buying my talent and stuff like that so Lawrence piffy to inos if they wanted him would he go there but I wouldn’t go there that was

Him my opinion don’t kill me Josh but yeah but I think he would go there yeah where do you think he should go come on PCM manager it’s your if I was if I was the PCM manager a team that’s on put in the pressure uh please don’t

Say you know X Bora up Bora there we go Bora Red Bull where next year if they go is it to go to Red Bull the name they’re gonna do something at the tour yeah the tour already yeah I think it go there all right well we were

Doing the the G review um so let’s maybe switch back to that uh I do want to mention two uh rather significant crashes for what is coming up um that is Yan tratnik uh who went down hit his head but is apparently fing to start

Future races uh and then we have uh nvz who also hit his head but has a concussion and basically has to drop out for uh the rest of the Holy Week um due to that concussion um considering the form that he showed at E3 I think that’s a massive

Disappointment yeah it definitely is naar is a guy with in my opinion a lot of bad luck he always like a crash or something like that but his level he was performing in E3 he was inane really for me he probably could have Podium think I agree yeah or again yeah because

Um yeah and then I I want to talk about one writer that we didn’t get to see really um but we had a lot of high hopes for AR Dee he was nowhere in in both E3 and and Canam um clearly something is up with him um Eve can definitely blame it on

The team uh I’m sure he will um but I think just from a physique standpoint you don’t just go from jumping between aelon solo to just being nowhere uh simply the team’s not good enough to help him in my opinion is every single time is isolated so he not got much help

But the team has quite a bit of bad luck as well not only the classics team but burlin crashed as well and has some knee pain um the leag crashed in um what was the race again yeah but I think it’s I think it’s a mental game a mental issue like we

Saw things in L that were weird just flipped out basically just literally yeah flipped out I think the pressure is really building on him yeah and he’s he needs I need and the Belgian media is calling him already two or three years the new Tom bonan but the guy is still so young

And he has so much pressure on his shoulders that yeah I think it’s more of a mental issue of course his um his form just isn’t good enough that’s why they removed B of London from his schedule but there was something fundamental fundamentally wrong I think yeah it’s sad really I think as

Well a guy with so much talent just getting so much pressure on him and then being able to cop really yeah it’s very sad to see I mean I saw an interview with um DS Nicholas Mass um they were going to have uh well do some investigations into like also his health

See if there was nothing going wrong there um I’m personally very interested in in that because um I think OD is mentally very strong um he might have shown a little bit of cracks on camera um but like again to a him like that he should have been there uh even if he

Struggles mentally um just I don’t think he had a physique even when the groups came together um and then the new attacks went you know then it’s just how strong are you physically and then he just wasn’t there um yeah um all right that was it for the men’s

Review yeah all right uh let’s move on to H for women then um of course there we did see a much larger Bunch Sprint uh although we did also see some really strong attacks on kelbe uh with a very strong L keki um but in the end it all

Came back together um with an amazing keki lead out uh and honestly a Sprint that was a lot closer than I expected between Isa balimo and Lorena Weis um could you guys see on the line who won or did you have to wait for the uh the

Photo finish I had to wait on the photo finish um it was quite close from the front view but when we saw the the photo finish um it was like yeah a bit less than half a wheel um difference between the two so yeah but Elisa balamo is in

The shape of her life she has she’s back where she was in 2021 when she was world champion um she’s even stronger she’s able to compete with the fastest sprinters um on flat finishes um if someone would say it to me two years ago that someone would

Challenge weebus um and it’s not coal I would say impossible but still balamo has very high top speed and she finished second in gam but on wed Wednesday or Thursday she won classic BR dep against Cole and the weekend before that Alfredo binda she won as well so she’s in a St

For and she’s ready for what’s coming up definitely um go ahead I want to say um some of the fan behavior on that again where again women’s dishing race was absolutely appalling from what I’ve seen I don’t know if both any of you seen that what one of the um fans actually

Did yeah yeah um it was on the cber o when they touched Kopi um yeah was yeah I don’t know why you would do it uh what’s in your mind to even think about doing that but it’s it’s unacceptable but I think it’s it’s very difficult as well

For race organizers to do something about that to be honest um besid looking at footage and try to get the identity of them of the man pretty clear as well who did it so I hope that the the the guy who did it is swiftly prosecuted really what he did yeah yeah yeah

Completely agree um interesting fact as well again wam was for wom was 171 kilom and that’s the longest ever uh one day race uh woman World Tour one day race um at this point so they added some extra kilometers again this year so 170k is already yeah a pretty long effort they

Did four hours in more than 15 minutes for that race it’s still um over 40 days an hour average um so I’m not doing that ever in my life but it’s it’s nice to see the upwards trends in raise distance for the women as well they claim already for several years

That they are able to do that long distances as well and that they wanted to do that Lo long distances and it’s good to see that wam is doing some effort to make it happen as like what is it as well if they don’t try you know you don’t know

What’s going to happen so I think gradually it should BRS a lot fatigue as well so yeah it was the same with the camber o side the first time can’t we for women they didn’t climb it from that side because they thought it was too steep uh for women but they’ve added

This year and last year so and it’s great action if we see how lopi attacks uh on that side of the C back with webis in the wheel very impressive climbing by Weis as well and and can’t again um yeah it’s only a big plus that they are making those making

Those changes to the parkour 100% agree um all right we were about half an hour into this uh let’s maybe dive into some previews um let’s perhaps keep it short for for the first one um it’s D blin uh of course a very important race uh but I mainly want to

Focus on what comes after that of course um D randin we have um we don’t have the world champion there we do have w f um and in general a pretty strong visma bike Team uh they planned again bot Jorgenson tnik and v b um that of course

Well in any other classic we would say that’s that’s a race winning team um but we’re we’re also seeing very strong uh teams from from Little Tre again um yeah little Tre insane team that’s their a beautiful beautiful team but they added they added Tim the

Cler and yeah that team it’s so much quality in little let me just list the names for a sec um so that we currently have matz bon yasper St Tim de cler Jonathan Milan tomen Edward turns and Alex k um yeah that that’s in Sly

Stacked team um is that a team you bring to D landron though or should you not give some of the the guys arrest for what’s coming up on Sunday more preparation is better in my opinion you can eek out your um for example your bad performance and just work on it and my

Opinion right um I personally think that m VP is skipping this race so he can rest up a little bit more towards dond uh that’s probably a bigger goal of his they of course bring uh yper philipson who is probably able to also win this race um but of course if you

Can put a m vpol as a as a domestic to yasper philson he will definitely win this race um so you have basically a a v versus little TR battle planned out for Wason or do you see others uh interrupting that party no one interrupting that him I think but what does you

Think I don’t know actually D vanderin is always a strange race yeah uh for me um there are a lot of people who are not going um all in this race knowing what’s um on the menu on Sunday uh but normally would it’s going to be a little track um against fisma

Bike fight but we have um sud quick who brings Paul man um yeah I was going to actually mention that that’s uh that guy can produce some whats serious serious watchs which it yeah as uh I think DEA in January was mentioned to me his performances in the training camp of how

Good he’s been yeah we have Joshua darling as well who’s making his debut this this season in flamish races in a flamish classic uh but yeah it’s it’s such a difficult race for me and W fart and P are clear favorite but I’m not going to be surprised if someone else some surprise

Um takes the win and I think it’s surprise one would take the win as well like uh Kaden Groves is on a provisional list for Al in theing um I don’t know why or how but didn’t the guy have issues with his knee and why do you restart your season in

D uh I have some question marks on the provisional list but yeah it’s going to be an entertaining race it’s an unexpect it’s going to be unexpected but it’s always entertaining in D of Lon so yeah can surprise we haven’t actually spoken about this yes yet in this episode but

Of course leaport is out for this race and for donda uh with uh well leftovers of a stomach flu and um a saddle sore um obviously that is a major let down for visal Lisa bike um and probably for for what has what is usually his his last domestic um

And honestly also a little bit of a co-leader um yeah I think it’s more of a disant disadvantage than people think because um he was the fast guy in the team next to W fard like if the group comes back together of if a group or 10 to 15 Rider

Comes back together and you have aort in there he can Sprint for the win and right now it’s only on vanard who has to follow an attack from Vanderpool as well if he goes so it’s not like they can gamble on a group behind to come back

Because everyone in the team has to go solo um to the Finish um if laort isn’t on the squat so yeah yeah I think they’ll definitely miss him um because D is so difficult to to preview let’s maybe go to something that should be a little bit easier to preview

Something that we all know um D Vanden um for many people the highlight of the classic season um I don’t know how you guys feel about that I definitely find this to be the highlight of the classic season um if you say uh buy R I won’t

Blame you uh but to me this is it uh Eve I see you shaking your head I think I like kbe half a percent more um but I don’t know why but there was some new news um that came in very recently I know the Lee isn’t starting the tour of

Flandes and he isn’t starting p as well and the team decided it’s better for him to not participate in those two races so yeah we all know what that means Lotto Destiny will be anonymous in those races um and it’s um time for anod to rega reather himself and for their

Grand Tours um later this season yeah all right I’m just reading the is reading the article yeah I’m reading the press release right now um yeah there’s there’s no exact reason given uh just said several s back several setbacks um it’s better it’s better though I think just looking after him

More I think as well and going back to uh the r flandin and Parry R uh I’m gonna have to say I’ll have a judge after on next podcast after I’ve seen the ROV on Flander in person I can’t wait for that this weekend I’m going to

Be at the comment I think or the finish line so yeah if anyone is there come and say hello I’ll be there I can’t wait for it yeah and bring a a six pack of beer for eating yeah would uh I don’t know what beer is

Some one at Hann has told me to try it’s 8% so yeah I’ll be having that was it Dil or something yeah yeah that’s yeah yeah she is nice um all right well um what can we say about the Ronda it’s it’s beautiful uh it’s going to be a massive battle again between

Uh mat VPO Peterson and well basically every name we’ve talked about in this entire podcast um honestly I do just want to start off how big of a shame is it that Pacha is not here after what he’s shown in Catalonia massive shame he if he was

There would he win 85% sure he’d win because that guy is in poof H you know he definitely would J he’s in in% M 85% what are you saying bro if you’re listening to the audio version of this I implore you to stop and go watch on YouTube because absolutely annihilate everyone

As usual because and then everyone will say oh it’s boring he wins too much oh no what a shame yeah you’re disrespecting so much riders with saying thisam e he would win unless you will not get in Belgium if you keep on saying such things mate

Everyone likes Poker CH so you know but Everyone likes it but it’s not going to win 85% 85% you see St bian him going 80 kilometer 81 kilm to be precise Soo Catalonia just and I know what are the best climbers there no but still the performances he beat you just it’s just

Like vanpool Pederson vanard those are are guys who are just filling the peltin they you get they you get last year yet you see what he did and he literally did that’s not even Peak pogach so yeah no no no no all right with that R

Over let’s SM actually review the r um of course we we have the the long start from is it it’s anwp is here is it uh so that is 100 km of nothingness uh pure dribble and uh just a breakaway getting probably just two minutes uh because people want to make

This a hard race um so let’s maybe talk about like we already know what f on Pon they’re going to be really good here let’s maybe talk about some other names um can we expect anything from mohoric who said you know this race is what I’m working for this

Year y Mor is always a guy you have to watch out for because you don’t want to give him um 50 meters he’s motoring home if he get that Gap but I’m quite doubtful because he didn’t really convince me yet um during this classic campaign he he’s always there but um

Yeah like I mention him because I I think he’s sort of hiding a little bit like he’s he’s done this in the past where like he’s good but he’s not like really writing in the picture and I think he said with him saying that you know donda is what he’s writing for this

Year that will’ll suddenly see him like really going for it and I don’t think he’s done that E3 or uh or fa again yeah and together with fat wri who shown very good form yeah um recently he’s um in shape at the exact right moment uh so

Together um yeah that’s nice yeah it’s a very nice du um bahin and the others are just just domesti for those two going over to another one I think laso especially after his E3 performance I he was he was a monster really genuinely but as as someone can he can he stay with

Vandero he’s no but I don’t I don’t think we have to ask that question because if we um only count in Rider who are able to follow Vanderpool no one then yeah no one or maybe one is able to follow that wheel but it’s up to the

Other team other teams because Alon has to carry this race they it’s a big loss for them that Bacha isn’t starting because if Bacha is there there UA will work together with Alon and now it’s all on Alon maybe a little track will will help them out because they have a lot of

Confidence but still it’s going to be all against fpol because everybody knows if we wait till thpo decides how the race will play out then we’re gonna suffer so they have basically he going to be sitting and waiting aren’t they just literally everyone is going to be

Like oh vander’s gone let’s go yeah I think last year we we saw a very interesting tactic play out with quite a significant group I think they they went on the first time of the qu mon um where like you just had a lot of writers anticipating uh which I thought was a

Very clever move at the time and honestly if you have a a pacher there and a vpol and a van it it’s what you have to do uh do you think we’ll see a similar move again on the first time quadal which is what is it some 120 kilm to

Go it’s yeah it’s certainly possible and I think funpool is very lucky that kerson um is on a very high level um as well um he’s doing a lot of work he has very good legs so if that moves goes then certainly one of the Alon guys

Maybe two together with Johnny Fier have to be in that move as well and alerson just can’t let a group go away without one of them um in that group so that’s going to be a major factor um all the teams have seen gam and have seen little

Track um yeah a little bit exposed vpol a little bit how you can make it hard for him so it’s up to the other teams to do it because there are teams who have yeah the advantage in the amount of good Riders they have in the team beating

Visma bikes little track um bahin can play with the the two so they have make they have to make it hard for Al if it was to go down to like a dual Sprint or a trio Sprint I think everyone’s going to be looking at the finish of match

Pedon yesterday definitely as a textbook maneuver what you do yeah it’s it’s a textbook maneuver but also difficult to to do because M peders made that Sprint so long that you yeah he he kept the pace high on himself and then started launched his Sprint very early

So yeah it is what you have to do to beat Thunder poool but you have need to have so yeah very good legs to do it that way could you imagine as well if there mat Pon VPO again in that situation that is that would

Be I would love it because he knows what he’s going to do Vander and knows what P’s going to do to be precise I think just in recent years it’s become quite obvious that if you are in a 1 V one against mat vpol for a Sprint and after a long classic

Starting early and keeping up speed before the Sprint is is the key um I’m not sure if if Thunder pool is has got a a response to that um obviously starting even earlier is not really a solution um so yeah like his power is really his explosiveness and I think we’ve just

Seen well some very clever writers and DS’s counter that um but of course like this is the classic that is the most perfect for for VP it’s it’s yeah if you think of a writer with all the attributes that you need to win Ronda and you design him well you design mat Vanderpool

Um so to me he he still is the favorite um but he also brings a a strong team with with Phillips in there as well uh who can who he can play out a little bit more tactically um if it does happen that philipson is in a group to

Does he sit up this time and potentially save some legs for himself um after what happened at Kent again I personally think so but of course philipson does have to be in a group too for that pH to I don’t see philipson even being in a group

Two don’t know borderline yeah I want to go back to last year as well really as well um neelson powless he finished fifth last year yeah but this year he start of the season has been uh it’s been inj to crashed into you know Grand Camino

Yeah but um I think uh we go back last year I think we interviewed nilson Po and he was saying is one of his big goals to the classics and yeah if he can improve on the fifth last year and with the EF tactics what he can do there’s

Potential there but him poet on not being there is a is a limitation I think of powless we don’t know how good p is at this point because didn’t didn’t race anymore after his injury his knee issue um we know it’s his big Target that he wants to discover himself more and Peak

Towards the classics um but with Alberto betol in the team as well um who won Milan Milano Torino who finished fifth and Milan Sano I don’t know what happened in the E3 he dnf um he got dropped very early on the Beto did very early on I think maybe 90

Kilom out I think I think I remember Adam BL saying is that bet or bet yeah it was so that’s quite worrying um he wasn’t in great shape um let’s hope he’s able to gather himself um for the tour of runers he’s riding d as well bet so

He was in a crash in E3 oh okay so let’s hope we see some glimpses of good form in ofon um from the Italian and then he certainly want to watch for the later this week I would like to mention U team members as well um then W

Um Hy who was pretty good in E3 at one point as well he showed himself and Antonio margado with his 180th race day of the season I think the guy just doesn’t take a rest um he’s just straight like it’s like on PCM he’d be on minus five form you’re just

Straight up like straight up nearly abuse of the poor guy man just give him a rest but like I want someone to like actually interview and ask him the question why is he actually racing so many race dayses that’s what I want to know it’s confusing the season ends in in May or

Something then he’s just going to take the rest of the year off like the guy he started his season in down under classic the 13th of May and then he didn’t re he didn’t have a proper break till now he did everything from omope news blood through L to

Sprinters races being BR Co and classic to then yeah it’s weird the guy is only 20 years old um he’s scheduled to do par and the brael um as well so um eat in his face once again audio listeners go and watch on YouTube I don’t like you you would it’s like you

Would not expect Mor to do these things I always thought he’s like a like climbing really it’s like more he like um I’m going to mention unx fighter Abraham in yeah climber last year a surpr and all all of a sudden no his performance in E3 po it was good did you

Did you see how far it was from or not uh I think he went 150k um in the break yeah but he’s going to be riding red this year and that brings me on to Juda versus um unox in the battle for the UCI points that is an

Almighty scrap they are proper battling with each other Jen it’s a good battle to watch out only March it’s still a good battle to watch because where are they going to get the points from now you know uh yeah but I I think in general unox has the edge there because

They have some Grand Tour Riders being johanneson Etc and Tor doesn’t really yeah can’t really Farm a lot of points in grand Tours is two racing tun is racing the year uh I believe so yes yeah so it’s going to I’m very happy you’re not staring about Alexander Kristoff

Winning dur ofas otherwise I was just he is a I I love I loved the sentence Brum used um about some sort of dishwasher and BR it’s up to you no I’m not going to repeat that on Mike come on saying it’s time to empty the dishwash

Cuz he’s washed as [ __ ] who’s br’s rer I need to say who is Tim CL no I’m all about Remco and he’s not there so shut up maybe what would you actually think if Remco want to do a tour of Flanders that would

Be uh I would love to see it um what do you think he would finish in your opinion I want to hear this it’s impossible to say like I honestly need to see him in any Flemish race that is not beat Alexander Kristoff he’s beating Kristoff 100% has he r

No what about Michael Matthews Michael Matthews his g w g was he finished 62nd I think he got caught out in the echelons which basically messed him up is he able to do something in tour of flon if a second group comes back does he have more chance than philipson does to

Survive in group two for example yeah I think he has more fatigue assistance in my opinion but just as you’ve seen over the years he does have a absolute tank in him I think oh I I don’t know it’s it’s very close maybe but yeah yeah I have one more name

And then I’m going to I’m going to give back the host roll to to BR Ben Turner because the guy went the attack and against wam um showed some pretty good form and was able to yeah to drive up the pace quite a lot when they were

Riding from eer um towards wam when they were still in front of the bench he was certainly the best of that chasing group together with paj as well um I heard a lot of words jokes being Turner you got pass well as well with Ben turn that was nice to see as a

Second option for inter Mar gay does he have a chance in this do you think I don’t yes his e3e was so good he he just forgot to eat that was his problem he said that that’s something you learn in the Juniors though like come on yeah he

Forgot to eat and that’s why his tank was empty in the last 20 Cas um because he was too excited he was able to follow the big guys I assume he went altitude to in INR I think as well so maybe that partially helped he’s back to his to his best form yeah

But down I’m I’m really bothered by the team to be honest in in so many situations in ham they were in like numeric advantage and then they just don’t ride like for example the the the chase they have a GE who can who can probably win a Sprint or contest

For it and uh interm was there with four or five Riders and they don’t help I think I remember the first when the a was in the deor and yeah you just see like four five inter Mar guys in they did not take a single advantage of it so yeah but

It’s also I think they just have so many writers that probably can get quite far uh you have Lawrence Rex who really wants to prove himself as a classic star uh you have Mike dunis who’s proven that he’s able to get quite far in these

Races um and Hugo p as well like I just don’t see the team spirit there right now where they’re willing to sacrifice their chances to bring out one leader um and that’s really bother that team only T I think really has been play actually like properly working for

Gai I think going back to last year I think that’s when tun I really noticed him actually working gai so don’t know what he’s been doing this year I’ve not really seen much of turnis on the television really no I haven’t seen either it was um in the final in the grouping hand

With it was gai Rex madis mikels and Ugo were the F four men um for inter M um at the front of race strong performance by mes mikos overall he’s very young as well but like yeah Brum mentions the team doesn’t seem to work together properly um they don’t want to maybe I

Don’t know um but it’s yeah with the Rex and gay would think it’s a very strong Duo as well it should be but right now I don’t see it working out I want to say never as well what do you guys think about Stefan Kung because

I think I remember we had a c last week that we actually didn’t even mention Stephan Kung and then he kind of proved as wrong I think where I don’t think we believed he would get a good result first of all would really like him to change

Glasses because it’s not fancy at all um besides that he will be there at the front but he’s not explosive enough to uh get in the top five maybe yeah top 10 is possible but I don’t see him get into the top five for T of

Ras just a quite an iconic moment for me in in K again was him hitting his bars on top of KL because he missed the move with with fpol and py was was there so he basically couldn’t go chase uh just at the top just hit his bars uh very

Visibly on camera was like all right that’s a that’s a that’s an odd moment um but yeah um there was indeed a comment last week about us not mentioning him for the the E3 preview in the end he got 16th in K got 14th um yeah I expect him maybe 10th in in

Ronda I don’t expect him to be higher his six last year I mean I don’t I can’t remember Vis in my head what he actually did to get sick but I think the the Kung from last year and this year is not the same and a lot of other writers stepped up yeah

Definitely um we’re we’re quite far along in this R Lander and preview and we’ve not mentioned one team and I think that says a lot and that’s swall quick up we’re almost 45 minutes into Ron Landon preview and we have not mentioned sud quickup what does that say

A lot of who cares about the classic squad for from sudal quickstep at this point they just aren’t there yet and they’re not going to be there um on Sunday either it’s it’s yeah I I had a lot of expectations for oin this season I have to be honest kind

Of he’s always there his game his performance actually was he was actually during summer and what was it the group two chasing he actually was putting in a real shift but his E3 was very poor I must say it’s yeah o green all Philip lomard those guys just don’t have it anymore and

We we all know sud quickstep is making the shift towards a grand grand tour Squad it’s a reason they don’t really invest in their classic squads don’t say moscon is an investment because the guy is reading um writing almost for free and he’s doing very good this season and

I have to add and in comparison to last season where he did a record of abandons um but still the team no I don’t see it on Sunday I don’t see it for rub either um it’s waiting on Ru to be back in Lees I think the best

Analogy to describe how quick step oh a classic team just Patrick the he standing outside of his car just literally with his arms crossed just literally staring there this he did the he did give an interview or was it in his column where he said

You know that he’s made a mistake in his purchase and sales uh management um that the team is probably be become a bit too weak to to Really Matter um but so you have rer um cycling over the years it’s Quick Step into the classics it’s it’s like a

Duo but I don’t know to support Remco in his Grand efforts would he win I’m not going to talk about that I it’s I don’t know what they’ve actually looked at to decide to go all in on his Grand Tour efforts I don’t know but well we’ll we’ll see in July shall

We no okay no don’t have that high high expectations but no I I expect I don’t want to see you cry um in July I just I want to you want to see me cry in June I want to see you I want to protect you from everything

Think like next year quickstep will sign more Classics Riders as they admit make a mistake no no no I think this is just how it is from now on they’ll fully focus on Remco po to win the T of France when he’s 38 years old until he leaves in two years to in

Grenad all right um honestly I do think that um if lamperti goes well in Classics of course he’s not there yet this year for DDA uh it’s probably a bit too long um then they could reinvest into that a little bit uh because of course the American

Market is important for a sponsor like specialized um but until that happens I I don’t think we’re going to see much more investment uh into that side of the squad um right that’s all for the let’s maybe talk about the women’s Ron as well um I think we’re I’m going to start off

With the same topic uh same question as I did last week when we switched to wom cycling um who from uh ASD Works Pro time is going to win me that this team Kopi Royer voling Weis who do you have to even webin can

Win the T of this if she gets the full support of the squad I mean you have to drop her and that’s the one thing that like it’s getting increasingly more difficult to drop Weis on a hill like her punchiness uphills it it’s honestly it’s blowing

Her mind cuz she’s always been that like well up until uh last season where she just whatever she did on on umel gold um she was a pure Sprinter and then suddenly she’s able to go uphills there are only two women who women who are able to drop her and it’s K and

Voling yeah but will they or will they hold back like 2% they will go all out because you never know like aasia ni adoma is always good is always there um at the top in the tour of lus and in all Races in general um so I don’t think

They will Gamble on um a Rebus because if Reus is able to survive then ball will be close as well um and they saw how close the Sprint was in Gant wam so um they’re not going to risk it and to go to a Sprint with we in two of ronds

Um and then to be beaten on the line by balamo so it will be a lot of K show um I’m almost sure of that we saw her puniness um in W already um she’s more than ready um so yeah it’s all against L keki

Um so the other teams know uh what to do yeah that’s I think that’s going to be a real spectacle for me to see in person I can’t wait to see that a nice beautiful attack I think well I I do think we have to mention Alisa Longo borghini as well

Uh after what she showed in s biani um I think she’s going to be a big competitor um and of course uh the goat is back uh Mariana f is is is back in the pelaton for this um so she’s also not just going to throw in the to the towel um

But it is a little bit difficult to preview this race without sort of concluding well ASD Works in it yeah is SD Works sort of I don’t know if I say it the correct way barel izes um this race because the lineup is so strong um I forgot to mention Misha bral

She’s European Champion but she’s an ordinary domestic within SD works that says it do uh and I don’t know how they can lose it they can only Lose It by complete mismanagement um on strategy side um and they showed they are capable to do that um previs is that they can

Screw it up they did some weird things and gam as well um while being with three or four in that front group and not writing um in that group so that was weird but yeah it’s going to be difficult to to beat as day works and that’s uh pretty boring uh for the

Non-mainstream guy as I have been mentioned a lot of been called a lot but it’s just the harsh reality and I think can we expect uh f for Georgie to to challenge her um because of course in can G she was with her over the camel be

Um so she’s ready yeah she’s going to be um yeah best of the rest she shows is’s in a very good form but yeah I’m GNA say it again she’s so strong Ki she’s yeah all right yeah I have no words for it anymore maybe voling can make it

Interesting it’s only her third race day this season um but still that’s in within the same team so it’s so weird yeah yeah she’s been on a lot of altitude camps if I remember correctly Ving yeah yeah she is she is um so definitely going to be interesting

And if it is a a one-on-one I hope they actually get to race it out for real and not just well take the men and women’s addition of the r on flans I I would like your guys picks for the entire Podium the entire Podium you have to ask this in advance

Women’s you have to think of it on the spot you think men and women’s is a good question you have to think mat Matthew Vanderpool uh wins uh second Pon second and uh jurgenson third that’s a good one okay I also had mpol Peterson and then I would have F boring

Why and then vanard V pis that’s mine in order no no my man no no I’ll be C with all the belgians here boom then L first um Longo borghini second newa third D can you stop like stealing my podiums I was gonna say the exact same thing no

No you’re got be boring again you got chees it yeah uh Ki sorry I am going to do that uh um sorry I was swearing uh Georgie and then fing e uh I think ay will win as well that’s what I think uh second and third

Um mate you have to on the spot mate on the spot you even thought of this question you’ve had like time to prepare this yeah I have actually thought the question I think AI will win uh look at him he’s scaning the start list help help help bini longer bini

Second and then weers third there you go there’s my pics I don’t know if it’s any good but I’ll be honest I need to get more in yeah I need to get more into women’s cycling I keep looking at it briefly when it’s on the TV but it’s

Never really shown really in much that’s the real shame of it yeah need to have more coverage but as far as I know R ofon is pretty good with that uh with a lot of coverage of it yeah I’m excited to see both races it should be good fun a good

Atmosphere well um Ethan I’m I’m going to wrap it up but first I want to wish you a lot of fun in Belgium uh we’ll probably see each other sometime this week so that’s going to be fun um and yeah for for the rest of you um enjoy

The Holy Week of cycling and uh 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 Kofi or X and if you’re on YouTube hit subscribe and turn on notifications we appreciate your

Support on the visal Lisa bike uh the name game and uh look forward to seeing you next time bye-bye goodbye I’ve Got The Spar the sickness there’s be twins in my brain