The XL Tour de France 2026 Preview | Part Three | Seixas, Remco, the sprinters et al

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If you'd like to check out My Wush, there's a link in the show notes and maybe you've even got time to think about entering the 2026 My Wush Championship, which run from the 7th to the 14th of July with a massive million dollar prize pool split equally between men and women across six different race categories. Check out My Wush dot com to see what it's all about and maybe by the end of the day you'll have jumped on your indoor bike and joined a ride. Now it's on with the show. This is a cycling podcast at the Tour de France with Lionel Burrini, Grimm Wilgos and Friends. Welcome to the cycling podcast third of our Tour de France preview episodes with me, Grimm Wilgos and Lionel Burrini. Hello. Hello, hello, we've gone head to head with the heavyweight already. We've run the rule over the route. Now it's time for what are we going to call this one the best of the rest? Oh, I don't like that actually the best of the rest because it gives the impression that everyone else is just trailing in the wake of Poghattar and Vingigor which of course they are. But there's more to it than that. Of course there is. Of course there is. There's a lot more to the Tour de France. There's 21 days of racing. Not everyone can win in this game, Grimm. There's not enough prizes really to go round, is there? That's always the beauty of the Tour de France and everyone goes into the tour off the back of a different six months of the season. You know, there are teams who have had a great start to the year and are going into the Tour boyant and there are some in sort of desperation corner, last chance saloon who really need a result at the Tour and of course them. The spotlight is so intense at the Tour de France isn't it? Everybody is, you know, at the top of their game or should be at the top of their game. And I think we feel as the week builds up to the team presentation which will take place in Barcelona later this week and then the opening stage. There's an awful lot of activities isn't there. The teams have been announcing their line-ups, they've been unveiling their new jerseys. Everything is just galloping towards the moment when the clock starts to count down and the first team rolls down the start ramp. We of course named our, well we didn't name maybe, we certainly picked our Tour de France team back in November. Me and you are going to pick it. I'm very pleased to have made the squad. We were almost certainly the earliest to have named our team. There's one or two teams who haven't yet but we are in the spirit of things. We've got one or two little details that we need to clear up before we are Barcelona bound. But this episode we're going to go over who will feature in the race for the green jersey, the King of the Mountains classification, stage hunters, other GC contenders, as well as a few other bits and pieces. Shall we start with the big news? Well yes, certainly from the point of view of our British listeners, Oscar-on-leave Scottish rider, the revelation of last year's Tour de France was only with that fourth place finish. Fighting for the final step on the podium until very late in the race just came up a bit short but a really good performance for team picnic post-NL. And really it seemed inevitable from that point that Ineos Grenadiers, as they were then, would be trying to wriggle him out of his picnic post-NL contract and get him across to what is ostensibly a British squad renamed of course, net company Ineos now. But Oscar-on-leave had that really bad crash during stage six of the Tour de Verneron Alps, a bad shoulder injury. I think we all kind of knew when we read the list of injuries that he wouldn't make the Tour de France and that has been proven to be the case. Newsbroke was confirmed last week that he won't start. Ineos Team Sky, they've often been one of the last teams to name their final roster for the Tour in previous years but this year you can completely understand why they're leaving it until by the looks of it Wednesday evening. We're recording on Tuesday for full transparency and disclosure. We may drop in the odd stop press here in their mind we grab. As promised here is the stop press confirming the net company Ineos lineup for the Tour de France. They confirm their roster on Wednesday morning and the eight riders going to the Tour de France are Kevin Voccola as expected. He is joined by Simon Aronsman and Egan Bernal who finished fourth and tenth overall respectively in the Giro d'Italia. Bernal has forced his way in there to fill a gap left by Oscar Onle who is injured of course. Those two riders are joined by another who did the Giro d'Italia. Philippe Ogana and he is one of three time trial specialists who really give them some horsepower for the opening team time trial in Barcelona. Multiple World Time Trial Champion Gana is joined by Norway's Tobias Fossus, also an ex-world time trial champion and young Welshman Josh Tarling riding his first Tour de France and fit to start after his crash at the Tour over and run out a couple of weeks ago completing the lineup. Gaurian Godon, French rider who will be hunting stages and the veteran versatile pole. Michal Kriakkovski at the age of 36 he'll be very much the road captain. So that's the net company Ineos lineup plenty of stage winning possibilities in that lineup I would suggest and maybe even an opportunity for somebody to finish very high up on the overall. But it's a big blow to their GC hopes I think, losing only. Big blow to their GC hopes when you really felt like they had built there or certainly built this summer around Oscar Onle and Kevin Valkylaan. It's a funny old year for your net company Ineos again with the new sponsor as much as anything else they sort of constantly feel like a team in flux and it might well be that time and arrangement ends up being their best bet for the King of the Mountains classification. We can't speculate on their goals until we know what their team is. No, but they've gone from having the possibility of a two-pronged assault on the top 10 top five possibly even the podium. You know, Onle and Valkylaan we're kind of having a quiet arm wrestle for superiority and supremacy in the net company Ineos lineup at the Tour over and around Alps weren't there. There was that whole contract on in the team time trial where Onle dropped his chain and Valkylaan really wanted to get on with it and keep racing, didn't want to wait for Onle and then there were his comments to the media afterwards understandable but perhaps slightly unrealistic given Onle is a British rider in a what is still a British team. We've gone from the situation where they might have had quite a big say in the way the GC was raised to potentially just being on the fringe of it. So a big blow for net company Ineos. They've gone from that to much more stage hunting I suspect and like you say maybe, yeah, King of the Mountain Jersey why not but a real shame for Onle especially to miss out. Not the only star name who won't be at the Tour this summer is he if we look elsewhere and I'm talking of course about team Visma Lisa bike who are missing out of Anarch. Yeah, well we've known that for a little while now haven't we? He won that stage in the Tour of Ineos. He was suffering with the elbow injury from a crash prior to that race. He won the stage and I thought well that boats well then he pulled out and I thought well maybe they're just being precautionary. Make sure he's absolutely spot on for the start of the tour but very soon after that they announced that Van Art wouldn't ride. We talked in an episode last week or week before about what a whole lot leaves in their team. They have subsequently chosen Davide Paganzole who had a really impressive Giro d'Italia for them in support of Jonas Vingigore. A tough race for him I think. You know he really rode hard and he was trying to chase a GC position. He ended up finishing eighth and then he came out of that and he won the Root Doxitani in the south of France. A race I still think of as the Root do sood. One stage in the Pyrenees to wrap up the GC there. Only a short race but it's very mountainous and now he's going to go to the Tour de France and the big question for Visma Lisa bike is well they've got quite a few riders who've ridden the Giro and now we'll be going to the Tour and they were probably worrying about Eduardo Affini the Italian timetrile special who will be a key figure for that team time trial in Barcelona on Saturday, he crashed only six kilometres into the Italian time trial championship, bashed himself up pretty badly and they have confirmed today that Affini will start the tour in Barcelona. They presumably had somebody on standby. I think it was probably going to be Bart Lemmon. But Affini makes it, the big question is, is he fit enough, you know, what kind of condition is he going to be in for that team time trial, which is such a key day that for them. And he's one of their key time trial riders who will be expected to do a big job. But ideally, I guess would have wanted to have a relatively gentle start to the tour and ride himself in and make sure he doesn't aggravate any of those lingering injuries, but he's not going to get a chance to do that. It's going to be straight off the bat for Vizmalee-Sobaiic on day one. You feel like it's more important for Vizmalee-Sobaiic that opening day team time trial than it is for Tadeh Pogaccia and UAE team Emirates, given that everything that we've seen to this point, certainly in the past, to Tour de France, it's a case of Vingigua needing all the help he can get. Well, we've covered Pogaccia and Vingigua and they're, you know, anticipated head-to-head battle in our heavyweight episode at the start of this little pre-tour mini-series. I'm a sort of Criterium International, if you remember that, there's three stages of the Criterium International of race held at the end of March, usually sort of a sprint stage, a mountain stage and a time trial. We compared them to heavy weights in boxing. I'm sure the listeners are still basking in the memory of hearing us as ring announcers, not a role that I think will be repeating too soon, but a little mini-correction. A mini-correction. A mini-correction corner here. Vingigua would be a lightweight in boxing, according to his weight on pro cycling stats. Pogaccia would be a welterweight, so quite, quite, quite, quite, she physiques these guys. The real flyweight, of course, is Lenny Martinez of Bahrain, victorious. He's a tiny little climber. Let's get into it in the next part and talk about the other riders who are likely to feature in the top 10 overall. Perhaps going for stage wins, but from the GC race. I mean, looking at last year's top 10, Graham, I think, other than only Felix Gal, who had that great jury detail, and finished second overall in Italy, and Primoz Roglic, who's not riding the tour, the other riders who finished in the top 10 last year are all on the start line in Barcelona. So let's run the rule over the other overall contenders. What's the point of the race? Samie Fixas is just. Samie Hu! He's a talented star. Sujuu Kuin Sato, the leading coach of the team, Sato Pisteffi. So, Lionel, the GC contenders, I was going to say barring the likely top two, but I'm going to start us off by throwing Isaac Del Toro into the mix because I'm sticking by my early season prediction of saying you a- You can have a one-two at the tour. I think it's a big question, isn't it, before the race, who is going to take that third place on the podium? And it's not just in the pure sense of having the honour of standing on the third step in Paris. It's the person who's going to be in the mix with Vingigord and Pogaccia, that who else is going to get dragged into this huge fight for the yellow jersey? Who else is going to be able to stick with them? You know, your prediction, fair play, you made it back in January, Isaac Del Toro, making his tour to France debut, very, very exciting Mexican rider. I mean, he's becoming the sort of mini-pog, isn't he, in the sense that he races in a similar way. Maybe a little bit more calculating even than Pogaccia at times, you know, he rides quite conservatively, but then picks his moment and goes. And you couldn't watch the tour over and around Alps, especially that final weekend. There's back-to-back mounting stages and the way he won those to take the overall. Okay, Vingigord and Pogaccia weren't a Remco even before wasn't there, but he nevertheless won the race. You can only beat what's in front of you or in his case, what's behind you. And he's definitely in the mix. The question is, how much will he have to work for Pogaccia? He's going to be their last man, isn't he? And it's a case of will he, will he be able to do the job he needs to do for the team and for his team leader and then still have enough left to kind of conserve his own overall position? I think he's going to be right up there. Your prediction annoyingly might well come true. I don't know about second, but certainly third to fifth is a good shout. I think he bumps Vingigord to third place on the podium. UE just ridiculously strong. Adam Yates, Brandon McNulty, Tim Wellens, Florent, Vermeer, Nils Pollett, how many times have we seen him do that job in the mountains and Felix Groschartner? So, you know, yes, he of course he is going to have to work for Pogaccia, but he's going to have plenty of room to conserve his energy as well. Yeah. And I mean, when you compare with Vizemelisa Bike, they haven't got anyone as dynamic as Del Toro. Jorgensen and Cus, the American pair, that's my Terry Jorgensen set Cus. They will dedicate themselves to Jonas Vingigord, but I don't think they're going to have quite the same opportunities that Del Toro might get. So we'll see, I mean, it really isn't just a battle between the two men, is it? It's a battle between them and their teams as well. There's going to be all sorts of wrestling for control of the peloton key points, particularly in the mountain stages. It's a pretty mouthwatering battle. And as we sort of alluded to in the heavyweight episode, it probably is the first time that we've seen them both come into the tour as good as they are, at the best that they can possibly be. So I don't want to kind of write off the Tour de France and say, well, it's all decided because it certainly isn't. But I do think those two are just ahead of the rest. So the big question, Graham, is who in your mind is going to be fourth and in my mind third? I think it's going to be, it's got to be Florian Lippowitz, given the form that he's shown winning the Tourist Slovenia, given how consistent he was to be able to make the podium at last year's tour. I think he becomes, the road decides he becomes the main man as early as week two ahead of Remco Evinepal, despite that time trial coming in week two. So individual time trial, I mean, yeah, I can't see beyond Lippowitz. Interesting. That battle at Red Bull Borough, Hansgrove is just fascinating. And I think a lot of people will have their eyes on that. Remco Evinepal, to me, is starting to look like a bit of a reluctant Tour de France rider in a way. And he's wonderfully gifted, fantastically talented rider. Best time trial is in the world. One of the best classics riders in the world, a good climber, a really good climber. But it clipped by both Pogaccia and Vingigoor. I mean, look, he had a very strong spring, but he won the kind of, I don't want to call the Amsterdam Gold Race a consolation prize, but it's not as big as the Tour Flanders and the age based on the age, each of which he was third in. And then we haven't seen him race. Oh, yeah, he says a reluctant rider. He's a reluctant Tour de France rider. He's been a reluctant rider full stop. That puts pressure on in a way, because he was, again, signed by Red Bull Borough, Hansgrove, under, well, if you remember this time last year, when we got to the Tour de France, it was kind of the first big rumour, transfer story straight out of the blocks, wasn't it? Oh, have you heard? Remco's going to Red Bull and a whole specialized angle as well. So he's there as the leader, and then Florian Lippe of it comes along and, you know, finish his third in last year's Tour de France and is a quieter rider in, you know, he's not just kind of flamboyant, he's not as noticeable. And I think the battle for leadership there will be really interesting. And as you say, the individual time trial being at the very start of the third week isn't helpful for Ivna Paul, because it doesn't give him quite the same opportunity to lay down his marker and say, look, I'm going to be the team leader. But we shall see. I mean, it's a strong team as well. And they have been racing well, I think, in recent weeks at Red Bull Borough, Hansgrove. They had a pretty good June backed up by Jai Hindley, Maxine Van Heel, who won that fantastic stage at the Tour over and around Alps as well. You know, they're going to be a force to be reckoned with. But I don't think even though they're two great riders, I don't think they quite got enough to really upset the order of things at the very top. Shall we hear from Hugo Courivitz? He's sent in a lengthy dispatch for our Tour de France preview. It's more of a sort of Courivitz cul-de-sac than Courivitz corner. But here are the highlights of Hugo's analysis of Remco Ivna Paul ahead of the Tour de France. Pay attention, Bernie. And a grand tour featuring Pujacar. And Vingigar, the Iro-Bullet from Scabdal has never proven he can go two to two with the unbeatable Slovenian or with the man and who during the recent zero became only the eight riders in history to complete the Grand Tour trilogy. Even a poor Finnish third overall, his tour debut in 2024. He had previously won the World 10 2022, but opponents like Annie Mars and the very young Juan Ayuso were small fry compared to the big lobsters like Pajacar and Vingiga. Last Friday, Averpool spoke to the Belgian media. In it he said that he had already felt wrung out at the start of the Tour last summer and that things are completely different this year. In fact, it's even more than that. There is even a 69-day gap without racing between Lijese, Bastone, Lijese and Barcelona. That should be enough time to make a bit for the yellow jersey, especially in the opening days when riders like Pajacar and Vingiga might not yet wish to wear it. Barcelona could well smile upon Averpool. Saturday features a team time trial where each rider's individual time counts and Sunday's stage finishes on one week. It is simple, after the Pyrenees, including a Thursday stage with over 4,000 meters of elevation gain and the Turmalet, Averpool will know exactly where he stands. Redbull Bora Hanskroge may have assembled a team with the general classification in mind, but he has to share leadership duties with Florian Lipovic. At Sudol Quickstep, it was always all about Averpool. Now with Lipovic who finished third last year in the mix, the situation is different. Averpool is a champion, but he has the misfortune of coming up against the slightly older Pajacar and Vingiga, meanwhile there is also rising pressure from the younger generation with debutant Paul Saitsas and Isak Deltoro standing out as the biggest names of the new wave. In principle, the Olympic champion should be able to strike in the time trial from Iviolaba to Tonoleba, though that alone will not satisfy him. We cannot shake the impression that this might be the most important to the frows of Averpool's career. If he can close the gap to the Slovenian and the Dane, he can keep his hopes alive. If the final ranking turns out to be a fiasco, Averpool and his staff would do well to thoroughly reevaluate everything. So Lionel, we didn't quite nail you down to a third podium finisher there before we had Corvette's colder sack on Remco. Well, you know me Graham, I'm not a big fan of the sort of speculation, the predictions of finishing positions. I'm much more interested in seeing how the race plays out and following the stories as they unfold. But I'll do what the crowd is demanding and I will say I think Paul Saitsas, the 19-year-old debutant for de Cathlon, CMA CGM will finish third in the Tour de France. debut Tour de France at the age of 19, the French sensation. I mean, it didn't go to plan at the Tour de Véron, Ron Alpes did it in the end. Perhaps he should have pulled out rather than battling on and starting the day after his crash. No harm done apparently, he's posted a few monster training rides again. I think he's going to be ready. The whole of France expects. I anticipate him winning the White Jersey as best young rider. He's going to get full debut Tour de France experience, isn't he? I mean, depending on how de Cathlon do in the team time trial, Saitsas is going to be clocking up a lot of podium time and interview time. And all of the protocol that goes around being a big star in the Tour de France, he's going to experience that as soon as he pulls on the White Jersey, if he does, it could well be that that's going to be as much of a key part of his learning of what the Tour de France is all about as what he learns in the actual race itself because it will be everything else that goes with it that will be something new that he's getting exposed to and how he copes with that and soaks all that pressure up, will determine how he develops as a rider, but I'm expecting him to be exciting to watch attentive in the early mountain stages in contention until, you know, maybe it will be too much for him at the end, but maybe it won't. I mean, that's the beauty of watching a young rider go into the unknown. It's the unknown for him. It's the unknown for all of us. And I think de Cathlon have been smart in that they have slightly hedged their bets. They picked O'Lev Coi, their Dutch sprinter, also making his tour debut and they've given Coi caseball to work for and lead out for the sprints. They've got riders like Tess Bernout and Dan Hula who are going to be great on the flat. It's quite a well rounded team for de Cathlon and I think sex ass and rickatello, Matthew Rickatello. I mean, here we go. It's here from Seb Pique, who was in car number two at the Tour Overn, Ron Alps, the voice of Radio Tour, of course. He had a front row seat for that race a few weeks ago. Let's hear from him on Paul Sexass and the impact he's already having on the French cycling public. What's the kind of profile of Paul Sexass in France at the moment? Has the public, the general sports watching public cotton on yet? They've worked out that they've got someone quite special that's coming along. I think so. You hear his name more and more on TV and not only on sports channels. There are more and more reports about him who he is, what he does, what a sensational rider he is. Obviously, everyone is talking about Bernout. He knows the last French rider. We are talking a lot more about him in general news, in sports news and not only in cycling news. There are more and more front pages of Le Kipp on him. It was a case during the Belgium, the Ardenne week. It was the case just before the start of the Duffiné, sorry, Tour Overn, Ron Alp. We're talking more about him and in cycling, of course, that's a massive hype. It was pretty touching because I was walking on the team time trial. Going to the start of the team time trial of the Tour Overn, Ron Alp. There was this 12-year-old boy who was walking right next to me and he was holding a decafon black and I heard him saying, "I just saw the person of my dreams today." It was bold success, 19 years of age. I was astonished to hear that. That 12-year-old kid, if he's got any talent, he could end up riding in the peloton with poor success. When success is towards the end of his career, this kid might be a 20-year-old prodigy. Who knows? When poor success wins his sixth tour. Now who's getting carried away? It's been a long wait for a French rider to really contend. We've had French riders on the podium. Of course, there was the era of Roman Bardet and Tibal Pino. Julian Allefelib had a long spell in the yellow jersey, but there was not the sense that they were going to win. No, there was not the sense really. No, honestly, there were always contenders for a podium spot. Top 10, top 5 podium. Bardet managed that, Piro managed that. But never had we imagined that Bardet could win the Tour de France because against him, we did have a massive hope with Tibal Pino. That year he had when he had to retire and he was on fire. I think that year there was a real hope that he was going to win the tour, not finish on the podium, but actually win the tour. Even that, I don't think we'd never really had a victory contender. For 2026, there'll be a lot more French people and talking to the organizers, we will have to be very careful, or they will have to be very careful with the French spectators that might get a little bit over excited with Pulitzer's success. I hope it won't have a bad effect on the race if Pogachars is better than success and he probably will be. But it's also 40 years, of course, since then I'd do no angreglomond, cross the line side by side. So maybe you'll have maybe you'll have Pulitzer's success hand in hand with Riccatello, an American his teammate. Oh, that would be something. That would be beautiful, wouldn't it? Yes. Lionel, I don't think I've mentioned to this to you before. I have met the one on any time I met Matthew Riccatello when he was training a few years ago out on Albuquerque's and I was there with a couple of pals for the Marmot and he was out with his dad just doing a bit of work in the mountains. So very pleased to see his inclusion. Last minute really inclusion, he impressed at the Tour de Suisse but went home before the first stage was finished. I certainly didn't finish the first stage at the Tour de Vern, thrown out. what it's worth I think a million. mixture of the Catholic sort of hedging their bets between Koi and sex ass. That will be one of the things that means sex ass will finish top 10 maybe. I've no doubt, I agree with you on everything you said before we heard from Seb. Apart from the most important part and that is that sex ass is going to be top 10 at best, but I think it's going to be a bit of a bridge too far for him on this tour. I've no doubt to Catholic on doing the right thing and getting the most out of him while they still have him. I can't wait to see the fanfare that greets him with each stage in each town, in each city as we follow them around France. But I just think hold your horses. It's a year too early. Well very possibly. I mean, there's another young rider who's making his tour debut, Kian Ut de Bricks of Morvistar. I think it will be interesting to weigh those two up. That's almost a race within a race, isn't it? Two very promising climbers. Ut de Bricks journey to this point has been a relatively slow burn compared to the sensation of poor sex ass. But Ut de Bricks is still only 23 and he's moved around, he started out at Borough, Hanna Square, then went to Vizm Elisabite. So it hasn't really settled anywhere. And now he seems to have found a home at Morvistar where he's going to get a chance for himself. After that welter, his first grand tour in 2023 when he finished eighth, he hasn't finished the Giro or the welter synths there in 2024 and hasn't ridden a grand tour for a couple of years. So it's as much of a baptism of fire for him as it is for success. So a couple of debutants, very young riders still to keep our eyes on. I mean the other GC contenders, I mean who else are we looking to fill places in the top 10? I mean, little trek, for example, have gone with an extremely strong line up. Hanna Uso was impressive in the tour over and out again. Mateus Vachek was one of the few people who could at any point hold onto the coattails of Tade Pogaccia in the Tour de Swiss. Derek G West is more of a diesel, but he has ridden the Giro d'Italia already this season and finished a very good fifth. And Mateus Gellmosa, I mean I've absolutely packed for sort of climbers, GC riders. And then when you add that they've also got Mads Pederson who we'll talk about in the next part when we talk about the sprinters and riders who may be targeting specific stages of fearsome line up there from little trek I think. I also have said that his stated goal is to make the podium, to make the overall podium. Gellmosa will be their second protected rider, but they've got some real, as you say, real strength in the mountains. I would back him to bother the podium contenders. I certainly think he'll finish higher than sex ass. Who else need we mentioned? Antonio Taberi for Bahrain Victorious. He's been named as their leader by the team and not Lenny Martinez who is listed in their press release or certainly on their social media channels as a climber, not a leader or a protected rider. Does that feel about right to you? Well, it does when you consider Lenny Martinez as had a rough time in all of the grand tours he's done. I mean, he's ridden the tour to France the last two years and has finished 124th and 79th. But he's an excellent climber. I think it would be smart to let him go and chase the King of the Mountain Jersey on a stage win or two rather than put the pressure on him to ride a sort of solid, consistent GC. And having Taberi there really gives him the almost a protection and the freedom to go about that and have a quiet race and not worry too much about the scrapping for position and bumping and boring for in run-ins and so forth. And on those tricky stages, don't suit the real fly-weight climbers that Martinez is. He doesn't have to ride a GC race if they've got Taberi there and Taberi can stay sort of in contention. So yeah, I think that's a smart move. Richard Carapaz for EF Education Easy Posts. He said that we'll see how the race goes. We'll see how the race unfolds. I want to go after stage wins and could try to repeat winning the King of the Mountains Jersey. But for GC, let's see what happens, kind of things. And trying not to put too much pressure on there. EF Education Easy Posts enjoyable old-fashioned sort of TV style announcement for their tour lineup. But no Harry Sweeney this year as he continues to recover for an op on his knee. We saw how powerful and important he was to them last year. No Nielsen Paulis either who's been out with also with knee issues. We've barely seen him race at all this season apart from the tour of Provence. Interesting lineup they've got including and we'll come onto this. Another debut in to mention Max Walker, 24 year old Brit from the Island man as well as York Steen house. He's also making his Tour de France debut. Steen house I can remember being very impressive at the Giro a couple of years ago. Yeah, and of course Ben Healey. I mean, what a sensational tour he had last year. He won a stage in Normandy. He took the yellow jersey after getting into that break at L'Amandore. And you know, was second on Monvon 2 after being in the break. That was to Valentine Perry Pantra on Monvon 2. A sensational tour finishing ninth overall. We haven't seen the best of him this season. It hasn't been all plain sailing for Healey. He didn't finish the tour over on Ron Alps recently. So maybe a bit much to expect him to repeat another top 10. But between them, EF education easy post have got they've got a team that is more than capable of mixing it for stage wins. I mean, Michael Valgrin as well. His stage win at the Giro was a sensation, wasn't it? And he pulled out and avoided the last couple of big mountain stages, keeping an eye on this Tour de France. So I wouldn't have thought it will be a repeat for Ben Healey, but that doesn't mean he couldn't go out looking for stage wins and carapage. I mean, he's quite an enigmatic rider, isn't he? I mean, second overall, the Tour de Swiss. Okay, it's a shorter race than it has been in the past, perhaps not as hard. But on the flip side, it punchy and explosive race where, you know, normally I think of carapage as quite a sort of diesel of a climber. Somebody who gets into that rhythm and just grinds away. So it'd be interesting to see what they come up with, but they always come up with something, don't they? Indeed. Two more to mention on the possible GC contenders to bias Johanison for Uno X mobility and our own Tom Pidcock, of course. Johanison was sixth last year on GC a real solid Tour de France, a road that, you know, the way sometimes GC riders do, you got himself into in and around the cusp of the top 10, around midway through the race and then just stayed there and just gradually clawed his way up, tensed to eighth and then eighth to sixth, solid, solid performance, whether he can repeat that or whether he would rather go out and try and win a stage, that's the sort of balancing act that Uno X mobility have got a strike. I think Tom Pidcock probably will go more in favour of looking for stage wins and making impact rather than just riding round for a high GC position. I mean, obviously would take it if he's sitting there in the top 10 and he's not going to give it away, but I would have thought that Pinarello Q36.5 will, they would value a stage win above anything. And featuring a new light grey and blue jersey for the Tour as well. Fred Wright, of course, won't be wearing that jersey for the most part. He'll be wearing the British champions jersey for the first time in three years having won it in 2023 and then taking it again this week. But another stage hunter which will come to. Fred Wright is the sort of profile of rider that if he gets in a break of sort of six to eight riders, very, very dangerous indeed on the right to a rain. He'll be in the National Champs jersey as you say. I'm not sure the Pinarello Q36.5 light grey is different enough to the net company in here. I was going to say they're all doing it, aren't they? It seems to be very good. Maybe you and I need to get down to Marx and Spencer's and see what they've got. It's sort of light grey. I think in terms of the special jersey or the new jerseys for the Tour, seen a few of them now. I think Moby Stars blew away kit. I think that looks good. They've done a number there. That's nice. But there we are. That's, well, pick the bones out of that. If see how many of those riders we managed to make it into the top 10. But sex ass, just making the top 10, you're going against the script of international sporting fairy tale stories here. Well, yeah, someone has to and it's a bit of a role reversal in the one being the emerging. [Laughter] sekä myydän verkossa, vaivatta, jos Shopify olisi pyöräilyvaruste, se olisi mielestäni itse polkupyörä. Sillä asiat hoidetaan ja meidän liiketoimintamme hoituu Shopify'ssa. Aloita ilmainen kokeilu, Shopify piste komsi vustolla. Mennäänkin huomena korkeasaareen. 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On joten on kokoriekkoja, joten on kokoriekkoja, joten on kokoriekkoja, joten on kokoriekkoja, joten on kokoriekkoja. Mutta jaa, joten on kokoriekkoja, joten on kokoriekkoja, joten on kokoriekkoja. Including THE LIICS of Soran. Waren schools, who no, X mobility, he hasn't won all season. Should we leave it there for the musical chairs? Wow. I was going to say, I think you're probably right. I mean, yes, but Filippisen, last year's tour started off. Couldn't of been better, could it? One, the opening stage took the yellow jersey but then crashed out two days later and it was. A Colourbone wasn't it, I think, for Filippisen. And so he was out of the tour but consistent. And, well, he wins stages, sometimes, you know, clutches of stages. I mean, he's got ten tour stages in totally one of the green jersey in 2023. I think he'll be the fastest guy. I think Tim Malia, you know, he won twice last year, once in Dunkirk and he was the man who won in Shatto Ru, the day that Vanderpool did that madness, going away with his teammate and almost holding them all off. I think you're right about the top end of the pecking order. I think there's a few guys in the middle who, you know, if everything went their way, they might get very lucky and win something honor-de-lie feels like a rider who we're just waiting to deliver a really big result. He's doing his third tour to France but he hasn't so far finished better than third in a stage and of course, he was out of the giro fairly early on because he got an upset stomach after riding through some muck in a Belgian race. I mean, you know, occupational hazard riding through muck in Belgian races, isn't it? Pascal Ackerman for J. Co. Allula. You know, he's won before at the giro and of Welter. Could complete the set but I don't see quite enough from him. He might be sort of standing there looking at the chairs all occupied when we get to Paris. He always launches early, doesn't he? Ackerman. You always feel like he launches early and could feature and then just ends up sort of, you know, the wrong end of the asteroid field. Milan Fretta, Tour de France debut. A second place in the giro last year when he was riding his first grand tour but you know, you could imagine him being up there in the mix but I don't see him winning one. And then you've got Pavel Bittner, the Czech sprinter, who is, well, I think the one chance that picnic post NL have got of rescuing what has been a pretty torrid season so far but he crashed not that long ago at the classic Dunkirk and Injides ankle and then wow, blast from the past, Fernando Gaviria. Could you imagine him winning for Cahararaal? I mean, he won the stage on the first day of his Tour de France career in Vonde in 2018, pulled on the yellow jersey and then won again a few days later. But he hasn't won a race since the Tour of Columbia in 2024. He doesn't finish races and it's a long, long time, you know, that's two world cups ago, Graham 2018. It does feel like a different era, doesn't it, for Gaviria? It totally does for Gaviria but he's in Cahararaal, a team that's got a chance as one of the wild cards. So they'll be keen to impress him in some way and then I think another rider who won't win a stage, I mean, Phil Bauer's, lots of seconds and thirds but he can finish second or third to anyone and probably will. Well, shall we head to Courivitz Corner, like a pair of naughty school children and listen to what the master who go Courivitz former ace reporter for the Belgian newspaper, "Head NewsBlad", of course. Let's hear what he has to say about the big Belgian heavyweight sprinters, Jasper Phillips and T.C. Petanchen, Bernie, on paper the stages finishing in Po, Bordeaux, Bergerac, Nevech and Shalom Sûch Saoune look like sprint finishes. The band sprints are shaping up to be a duel between former teammates Timmelier and Jasper Philippsen or the rocket from Wartajan versus the flame from Ham. The leaving supporting roles seen distant for Benjamin Hirmaim at Spaders in Andolá Fcoy. The most notable absentee is the newly crowned Italian champion, Jonathan Milan, who won the Green Jersey last summer. Jasper Philippsen, this tour represents a chance for redemption after last year's edition. Although he won the opening stage in Lille, he crashed heavily during the third stage following an incident with Brian Cocar and was forced to abandon the race while wearing the Green Jersey with injuries including a broken collarbone. Master Jasper had churned into Jasper disaster. Philippsen is the only top sprinter who, for years, has had the team built exclusively around targeting branched sprints with Machiavonderpouliff necessary serving as the ultimate luxury leadout man. Lille is a different type of sprinter than the combative Philippsen. He prefers having a full leadout train ahead of him. Thanks to even a push departure for Red Bullbora Hans Grover, Miler has more teammates at his disposal this time than in previous years. Giniam Hirmae, the 2024 Green Jersey winner, has also a full leadout train at his disposal with his new and as an encycling team. The Eritrean demonstrated during the Balvaz-e-Balgent tour that he is heading for just in time for the Tour de France. However, Merleer, Coy, Aramburu and Philippsen, who won both stages and the overall classification, also claimed their share of victories. Yet, Tour sprints are in a league of their own. The rocket from Wartajan knows this just as well as the flame from Ham, who is chasing a lonely chase, who wins, but also the Green Jersey. By increasing the points awarded for flat stages, raising the winners' whole from 50 to 70, the Tour de France and sponsor Scoda aimed to boost the likelihood that a genuine sprinter, rather than Poyacar, will stand on the podium in Paris wearing green, all in all that is a positive development for a tour, otherwise tailored to the legs of climbers. Philippsen still needs five more stage wins to catch up with Freddie Martin's, the best Belgian sprinter in Tour de France history, who also won the Green Jersey three times. So there is still some work ahead for the flame of Ham. Shall we move on to the King of the Mountains and just try to figure out who might not quite make it in terms of the GC conversation early enough that they decide to focus on the Polka.Jersey and those riders who are not to put too fine points on it, who are there for it from the start. We've mentioned a couple already. I think it's far more likely that Richard Carapaz, for example, if he might well go for an early yellow jersey, but his more realistic goal is surely the Polka.Jersey. Yeah, but I think Carapaz is one of those riders who will switch late in the race and then go hunting points on really big mountain stages. He won't go out and chisel away early on. I think the Tour's organisers will be keen that the jersey doesn't just end up by default on the shoulders of whoever's second overall. Ends up being worn by someone who's not leading the classification as has happened in recent years because Pogaccia and Vingigord have won it in the recent past. Before that, it's been almost the French consolation prize, hasn't it, at the Tour de France? I'm thinking Romain Bardet and Julian Allefelipe and Warren Barguille won it. We're talking six, seven, eight years ago. And before that, Thomas Vocleur and even further back, Rysha Vironk. So I do think the French will go out for it. The likes of Guillaume Martaume, Romain Gregois, the new French champion, plenty of incentive to go out and hunt for Polka.Jersey points Lenny Martinez as well. Who wins it? Will it come down to one of the GC riders inheriting it just because they're hoovering up the points or will somebody be able to hold off those GC riders and actually win it because they've gone and targeted it? I think that's one of the things that's quite interesting about the King of the Mountains competition some years. It's quite difficult to call because it's not necessarily on everybody's radar from the very start of the tour in the same way that the Green Jersey would be for the sprinters and the likes of Matt Pederson. We do have that early, well early stage six visit to the Pyrenees and the High Mountains. For me, I've said it already, but time and arrangement at Net Company in Yos, I just, I can't figure how they will have a realistic chance at going for many other targets. Yes, they'll be stage hunting with Kevin Vockeland if he goes. I think Greg Watt is also a good shout for the King of the Mountains, but again, stages are possibly more realistic for him. I'm not sure that you can go toe to toe with the best climbers in the race. The other thing that Net Company and Yos may have in their favour is Dorian Godon who is a quick climber or a climbing sprinter. There's a lot of those rolling stages that would suit him perfectly would be a very dangerous rider in any breaks as well. So they've got other things that they can do. But yeah, I'm not sure. I just can't see time and arrangement going out looking for the King of the Mountains in Jersey. I don't know why. It's just not really in that team's DNA. They're so, so GC focused. I don't see it. I think this year they have to try for something different. But I don't, maybe AI will tell them. Maybe. I still think that the Polkadot jersey ends up on the back of Paul Sexes. It will still be the French consolation prize. Wow, big corn at Graham, big corn. I like it. I like it. OK, pick a random rider who you think will win a stage. What not Ben Healey. Can I say it? Can I still say Ben Healey? Can I say it? You can. This is kind of the Ben Healey award. Yes. I think that's a good one. but just shows you, doesn't it? Cycling's ability to rejuvenate itself. All of that nasty business totally forgotten by everyone and well good luck to Nicola Vinukarov, who will be riding his first Tour de France. I mean, I can't hold him responsible for what his dad did at all, but we can hold Alexander Vinukarov's responsibility for what he did. Glad you mentioned Jesper Stoyven there, because he is 9 for 9 on the active rider all-time list for most tours de France. So he started 9, finish 9. Would you like to hazard a guess at who is currently top of the pops in terms of riders who are going to this year's Tour with the most starts? Not necessarily the most finishes, but the most starts. I mentioned him already in conversation between you and me, not while we've been recording the pod. Oh, no idea. So I set it off the top of my head as Luke Derbridge, 35 years old, J. Cohen Luder. He will be, so he's third on the active riders list with 11 starts and 9 finishes. Warren Barghit also with 11 and 9 for starts and finishes along with, oh no, sorry, Ion It's a gear rate is 11 starts and 8 finishes. John Degenkall in there too, 10 starts, 9 finishes. Degenkall will be there for picnic post NL. Again, feels like a completely different era, doesn't it? Barghit for sure, but it's a record that I think Derbridge will be extending. And I know, no doubt he will finish this tour. I don't want to beat up on team picnic post NL, but they really do need something. Don't they? It's been a very difficult year for them. They've only won one race and that was a stage of the tour of Turkey, a catapult of Anud and won that, so they haven't made really any impression in World Tour level races. But they're not alone in that. I mean, Moby Starr still looking for their first World Tour race win of the season. And I think Gruparmer, FDJ are the other team still waiting for a top level victory. I mean, they've won, oh no, sorry, I'll take that back John, sorry. Because Greg, I won a stage in Switzerland, didn't he? Yeah, yeah, not not a World Tour race so is it? Everyone else is one one of them, I yes they have, yeah, yeah, yeah. So there, the only World Tour teams, not two of one, a World Tour race so far this season. I mean, Kahra Rural haven't either, but they're the next level down, so a little bit unfair to expect them to win World Tour level races. But just imagine what a victory for, I don't know, Abel Baldestone would do for them. Marco Huller is just to go back to that same list, he's 10 for 10, 10 starts, 10 finishes for, well, he'll be riding for Tudor, Tudor, pro cycling this year. Another team who didn't get what they wanted at the Giro and will be all out for a stage win. Shall we wrap it up Graham? Because first of all, we've got to load things into suitcases, get ourselves checked in for our flight. We're only a few days away from the Tour de France and we might be in danger of just listing all 184 riders on the start list, if we're not careful. Just before we go, a few thank yous to everyone who's helped us put together this mini series, the Tour de France XL Preview series. A big thank you to you Graham, of course, looking forward to working with you in France and Barcelona first when we kick off on Saturday. Big thank you to Andy McGraw and Brian Nygard for their contribution to our heavyweight episode, Seb Pique, who go cool of it and Francois Tomasau. And a big thank you to our fantastic production team of John Mooney, Tom Wally, Adam Bowie, and Hugh Owen, who will be editing all of our episodes, nightly, as we make our way where in France, we really couldn't do the cycling podcast without their fantastic work every day. They go above and beyond. So big thank you in advance to them. And a big thank you to all of our friends of the podcast supporters as well. There's going to be a host of kilometre zero episodes. We're again going to make them available for everyone to listen to on the free feed, but they will also go on the friends of the podcast feed ad free. And really a huge thank you to all of our friends of the podcast subscribers because we wouldn't be able to go off to the Tour de France and cover the race on the ground without your support. So thank you once again Graham, let's go and pack our cases. I was going to say line line, thank you to you too. The next time we shall see each other, we'll be at Stanzed Airport looking forward to it and looking forward to spending the next three weeks mostly in a car with you. Yes, my last full English breakfast of the well for a good deal of time. I imagine that the airport before we fly off. I will see you there. The cycling podcast was created in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Fried and Daniel Bern. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]