The guys are back after a short break with plenty to unpack. Matt takes the family to DC for spring break and walks them into the ground. Lance survives the week from hell after a root canal goes sideways (seven days of Strava zeros, zero sleep, maximum misery). Ian is quietly cooking up race fitness for Barton Park despite some nagging knee pain.

Then it is classics season. Pogačar just took Flanders for the third time and the guys break down who wins Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. Van der Poel going for four in a row? Pogačar going for history? Mathieu the safe money? Everyone locks in a pick.

Hot Seat gets spicy. Do shallow climbing rims have any place on a modern road bike when the pros are racing mountain stages on 60mm deep sections? Then the guys dig into the new 500-gram airbag vest that is being pitched for the pro peloton. Safety innovation or another thing waiting to malfunction at 40 mph?

Big question of the week: are Pogačar, Van der Poel, Van Aert, and Remco really that much better than every generation before them, or does it just look that way? The guys get into genetics, talent scouting, Zwift racing as a recruiting pipeline, and why the best cyclists in the world are probably playing soccer.

Plus: a deep dive on AI in cycling. Coach Kat, LLM's for race nutrition plans, Strava's famously useless AI summaries, and whether Ian is going to be replaced by a chatbot.

Ian is promoting his Barton Park Road Race on May 9th. Sign up, show up, support local racing.

Dialed Cycling Lab. Vancouver, WA. dialedcycling.com

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