Back-to-Back Sprint Victories for Lorena Wiebes | Tour de France 2025 Stage 4 | THEMOVE Femmes

Summary

THEMOVE Podcast Summary: "Back-to-Back Sprint Victories for Lorena Wiebes | Tour de France 2025 Stage 4 | THEMOVE Femmes"

Release Date: July 29, 2025

Lance Armstrong hosts the THEMOVE podcast episode focusing on Stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes, shedding light on the exhilarating sprint victories of Lorena Wiebes. Joined by Mari Holden and Allison Tetrick, the trio delves deep into race dynamics, standout performances, strategic maneuvers, and broader discussions on women's cycling metrics.

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1. Stage 4 Overview and Highlights

The episode kicks off with Armstrong expressing excitement about Stage 4, emphasizing the vibrant atmosphere of Saumur du Poitier. The hosts commend Lorena Wiebes as the standout performer, describing her dominance in the sprint stages.

• Armstrong (00:42): "Lorena Wiebes. I loved. I mean, clearly the fastest rider in the race."

2. Lorena Wiebes’ Dominant Performance

Wiebes' ability to control the race and execute strategic sprints is a focal point. The discussion highlights her efficient team’s lead-out and her nickname "the Hulk" for her powerful sprinting style.

• Holden (02:07): "She dominated, made that spot and won. But that was an incredible stage."
• Tetrick (02:16): "Her team did a great job in the lead out. We got a little nervous there for them towards the end, though."

3. Strategic Race Dynamics and Lead-Out Challenges

The conversation delves into the intricacies of lead-out strategies, particularly around the critical 2-kilometer mark. Armstrong and Holden analyze how Wiebes navigated potential obstacles, ensuring her sprint remained uncontested.

• Armstrong (02:22): "You know, if you watch that overhead shot, she owned it and send it."

4. Podium Predictions and Contenders

The hosts speculate on potential podium finishers, acknowledging Marianne Voss and Anna Meek's consistent performances. They also discuss Sarah Gigante's resilience and climbing prowess as a factor in her potential podium placement.

• Tetrick (07:08): "Sarah Gigante… she's making the time cuts, and she's a pure climber. We're going to be ending on two climbing stages, so the race continues."

5. Impact of Crashes and Team Dynamics

A significant portion addresses Demi Ballerin's crash, examining its repercussions on her performance and the broader race dynamics. The discussion touches on the importance of respect within the peloton and the challenges teams face during such incidents.

• Holden (13:14): "The crash wasn't so much Aso's fault. It was the riders. It all comes down to respect."

6. Comparative Analysis: Men's vs. Women's Peloton Metrics

A deep dive into the "watts per kilo" metric showcases the differences between male and female cyclists. The hosts discuss how these metrics influence race strategies and training, highlighting that while watts per kilo is crucial, it isn't the sole determinant of success.

• Armstrong (25:43): "It's not all watts per kilo pending on the course."

7. Audience Engagement: Listener Questions

Listeners pose questions ranging from Chloe Dygert’s choice of shorter shorts to aspiring cyclists seeking professional paths. The hosts provide thoughtful responses, blending technical insights with personal anecdotes.

• Tetrick (22:12): "I think it's a fashion statement. She wants to look like a girl on her bike. I think it looks good too."

8. Future of Women’s Cycling and Inspiration

Closing the episode, Armstrong, Holden, and Tetrick discuss the inspirational impact of the Tour de France Femmes on young women. They share stories of young fans and emphasize the growing visibility and respect for women's cycling.

• Tetrick (29:19): "This is doing great things for the young women. If you see it, you can believe it."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Armstrong (00:31): "When is the last time a Frenchman won the Tour de France? When's the next time a Frenchman could win the Tour de France? Well, it's been a long time, and it's gonna be a long time."

• Holden (04:16): "Liz was up there. She can definitely witness. But I finished getting the leader's jersey and the sprinter's jersey."

• Armstrong (10:23): "I was kind of blown away. These wattage, these watts per kilo, I was like, damn."

• Tetrick (22:58): "Chris, but I think it's a fashion statement."

Conclusion

This episode of THEMOVE offers an in-depth analysis of Stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes, spotlighting Lorena Wiebes' exceptional sprinting prowess and exploring broader themes in women's cycling. Through engaging discussions, strategic insights, and listener interactions, Armstrong and his co-hosts provide listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the race's pivotal moments and the evolving landscape of women's endurance sports.

Transcript

[Lance Armstrong]

The Pauline. Boy, she looks good. And let's not forget, right? I mean, we talked a lot in the men's race. Gosh, when is the last time a Frenchman won the Tour de France? When's the next time a Frenchman could win the Tour de France? Well, it's been a long time and it's gonna be a long time. This would be a hell of a story. French woman winning the Tour de France. Let's go. Welcome back to the Mood podcast. I. I know I'm talking now. I can hear myself. That's it. Helps to plug it in.

[Allison Tetrick]

I thought I was last.

[Lance Armstrong]

Gosh, I am so sorry. Welcome back to the Move. We are talking about stage four of the Tour de France. Fam of Ex Swift, of course. I'm joined by Mari Holden.

[Allison Tetrick]

Good morning.

[Lance Armstrong]

Allison Tetrick down there.

[Allison Tetrick]

Hi.

[Lance Armstrong]

You've been behaving this year. This is. This is. I tell you, you know, I don't say a lot of prayers, but.

[Allison Tetrick]

I'm.

[Mari Holden]

Just hoping you let me bring my cat.

[Lance Armstrong]

Anyhow, if you've been watching, this has been a kind of a running theme for about a week now. Ali's cat that was trying to make an appearance on the move. Not happening. Instead, we got beavers, Scotty the squirrel. Mel, what did we do here today on stage four? Talk to us.

[Mari Holden]

Stage four.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean, Saumur du Poitier. I mean, that's so good. And I. And I can't help myself. I've been jumping ahead, looking at the start and finish towns and just waiting for these pronunciations. It's just. I don't know, just so groovy. Um, Lorena Webis. I. I loved. I mean, clearly the fastest rider in the race. And. And she was in this position where, I mean, she just kind of goes where she wants to go, right? Yeah. Chloe Dygert there. You had Voss there, and she's like, yeah, I'm gonna slide on over here and then just step on the gas. What a. I mean, they called her the Hulk on. On tv.

[Mari Holden]

Every woman's dream is to call it the green jersey.

[Lance Armstrong]

Look, she's in the green jersey.

[Allison Tetrick]

But it was a Hulk move.

[Lance Armstrong]

It was a Hulk move. And it was. It was incredible.

[Mari Holden]

She dominated, made that spot and won. But that was an incredible stage. We did call the winner, but I don't think most people did not call that winner.

[Allison Tetrick]

Her team did do a great job in the lead out. We got a little nervous there for them towards the end, though.

[Lance Armstrong]

You know, we said it the other day. This was first stage you know these lead outs are many times it's just about timing. Obviously it worked out for her. She had lot of Kopecki there but lot of Capeki found herself essentially stuck on the front two point. It was over 2k to go. So then you're thinking, hmm, you gotta. But when you're Laurie and Webis and you get kind of boxed in a little bit, you just. And if you watch that overhead shot.

[Mari Holden]

She own it and send it. But we'll, we'll talk about that finish in a little bit here. But I mean come on, we're watching the Tour de France. Vomibeck Zwift.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's right.

[Mari Holden]

Title sponsor of the race and our show. And actually yesterday I've been talking about their new rollout of the cog and click setup. And so I was telling you guys yesterday that Colton, I were going to go up in the gym and I was going to put it on my bike. So Bolch, Colton and I super easy put it on my bike. And we're, we're testing out this cog and click. So it's basically you can put it on any bike. There's no cassette changes and you can use it on any bike you've got. I put it on my Specialized Roubaix and put it on the Wahoo kicker there or Sorry. Yeah. And then I rode the trainer upstairs and I know I'm sitting here in beautiful Aspen, Colorado and then I just stayed on the trainer for a couple hours because I was having so much fun and making friends up there in the gym and Aspen Mountain Fitness. But with this cog and click, it's a Zwift ready trainer from all the big names. Wahoo, my personal favorite which we used yesterday, Garmin Jet Black Elite Decathlon. Comes fully equipped. You just plug it in, clip and go. It's got a little dial so you, you can dial up your resistance or down starts at just $299. So entry pretty easy. And I know we've been talking about how you can put your outdoor rise now count towards your Zwift fitness score if you link your bike computer to the Zwift companion app. I didn't need to do that cause I only rode indoors. Yesterday I did the Chantelize course.

[Lance Armstrong]

Oh really?

[Mari Holden]

Liz was up there. She can definitely witness. But I finished getting the leader's jersey and the sprinter's jersey.

[Allison Tetrick]

Moving up the leaderboard.

[Mari Holden]

Yes. So I basically raced the Tour de France foam of exwift with the cog and click.

[Lance Armstrong]

It's awesome how Zwift is.

[Allison Tetrick]

I'm sure Demi is scared.

[Mari Holden]

Oh, and that's really cool because in the app they have all the women's names painted on the road. So it's like Damie Cassia. So you're riding in the app. I've got my watch, the femme cap on, and I'm in the women's race.

[Lance Armstrong]

That cap's been a hit. That cap's been a hit.

[Mari Holden]

Are you going to wear it another day?

[Lance Armstrong]

I will. I was thinking about rocking it today, but, you know, I was going all black and I didn't wear a hoodie.

[Mari Holden]

Okay.

[Lance Armstrong]

You know, but maybe tomorrow. It's cool how Zwift is really leaned into women's cycling and I think it's just so strong. So strong. Speaking of strong, Marion Voss, just not a true sprinter. I don't think anybody in this race is going to be Lorena Webis in a straight up field sprint. But getting second, getting the time bonuses, like, she's just, she's one of those. We see it in all disciplines in cycling. You put the numbers on people's back and they just turn into a different person. Like, oh, I felt that number go on. I think we're racing like I'm racing today. She's just always there. It's 38 years old.

[Allison Tetrick]

Yeah, it's really impressive, especially when you look at the other sprinters who were expecting to be up there. Like Balsamo, she was, you know, farther down, I think maybe around 15th or something like that. So, you know, she's sprinting and the sprinters aren't sprinting. And Weavis is ahead of everyone.

[Mari Holden]

Yeah, Weebus is obviously the quickest. Like we're looking at her power and how fast she can sprint. I did want to dive into that, that. The lead out situation around go for it. 3k to go. So I. She was second wheel, right? Like, I mean, almost 5k to go. AM I right?

[Lance Armstrong]

Kopecki?

[Mari Holden]

Yeah, she's behind Kapeki. And I was going, whoa, whoa, whoa. And Lance, you were worried about her getting stuck there. And then van der Briggen just comes back in like the Energizer Bunny. Kopecki fades, Anna comes in and she pulls that lead out for three kilometers.

[Allison Tetrick]

Yeah, that was really impressive, especially for her to be pulling that way and then, you know, come off and then come back again and come to the front again. It was. That was really impressive. And she looked good. Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

And selection behind. I mean, if you watched the finish line and there were bodies everywhere, it was really spread out and we know.

[Mari Holden]

Anna's coming back from 2021, but a gold medalist, world champion, and not only in the road race, but also the time trial. So she's just up there and she's been quiet this year, but I'm thinking. I'm thinking she's waking up.

[Allison Tetrick]

The other quiet one is Pauline. I mean, we haven't really. She was there on the first day, did that incredible finish, but she's been really quiet and hidden and saving energy, which is something we were talking about yesterday with, you know, who's saving energy, who isn't. Pauline's riding a really smart race right now.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yep.

[Mari Holden]

And, Lance, for you to give her the A plus plus on her lead out on day one, we did get some heart emojis.

[Lance Armstrong]

I was, I was nerding out on that. She listens and like that. Look, I, if you, If, If I was a betting person, which I guess I am sometimes, she's my. She's my favorite. Right. I mean, I think it's her and Demi and Cassia. Right. And so the Pauline, she looks good. And let's not forget. Right. I mean, we talked a lot in the men's race. Gosh. When is the last time a Frenchman won the Tour de France? When's the next time a Frenchman could win the Tour de France? Well, it's been a long time, and it's going to be a long time. This will be a hell of a story. A French woman winning the Tour de France. Let's go.

[Mari Holden]

Oh, and by the way, yesterday was a year to the day that she won gold in the Olympics in the mountain bike race.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yep.

[Mari Holden]

I was like, whoa. Come on.

[Allison Tetrick]

Incredible.

[Mari Holden]

And I do have to do a little shout out to our friend Will. I think that's his first name. He did a nice comment on YouTube correcting me on my geography. I said we were going into the Massif Central. We were not. He wrote a very long explanation, which I can't. We need mel to pronounce what regions we were going through. And then he did give me a nice thing. He said, or you could just go with the Tour de France from. Is still in the relatively flat west of France, heading south towards the Massif Central.

[Lance Armstrong]

Huh.

[Mari Holden]

So there we go.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah. I've always wanted on. On all these shows. I've always thought it'd be cool to have a weather person. Right. You know, come in every day and just give a. Give, like a forecast. I didn't know we'd ever need a geography person just to, like, explain to us. You're right. Like, but you're right. I mean, it is different. And it. And it. Of course, we. I think we're correct in saying that tomorrow and the day after we do head into the Massif Central, we got some questions about what that means and what. And we sort of reference the pavement type and the chip seal. Maybe we'll get to that question at the end, but. Thank you, Will.

[Mari Holden]

Yeah.

[Allison Tetrick]

I do think it's interesting, though, what you were saying about the podium. You know, your picks here. And I mean, I'm in agreement about, like, the first two, I think, are fighting it out if Demi is well from her crash. But I do think that, like, a possible person to be there for the podium, too, is Sarah Gigante. And I know that we've been going back and forth about that, but it's something I've been watching every day. And she's just sliding in there, not losing time. And I think on something where you don't have a time to trial, if you're conserving energy, which is questionable if you're in the back all the time, but, you know, she's making the time cuts, and she's a pure climber. And we're going to be ending on two climbing stages, so the race continues. I mean, it's. It's very different than, like, a pure climber being able to go up those climbs. She may be able to. To be not losing time or gaining time on some of those. So depends on who's having a good day. But she's one to watch, I think, after seeing what she did at the Giro.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, in talking about those days. And we got some questions, and we got even more questions overnight about the difference between the men's peloton and the women's peloton in terms of watts per kilo. We've got answers on that so that we'll get to those questions and answers in the second half of the show. It's pretty. I was kind of blown away. These wattage, these watts per kilo, I was like, damn.

[Allison Tetrick]

Yeah. I think the other thing, though, I.

[Lance Armstrong]

Always told the boys, I was like, I think I could finish the Tour. If you gave me six months, I could finish the Tour de France. Now, I now thought the men's or.

[Allison Tetrick]

The men's, well, I'm gonna get to that.

[Lance Armstrong]

So. But the original sort of idea or challenge or thought was the men's. But after hearing those. Those watts per kilo numbers I heard for the women's peloton, I'm now not sure I could finish the Tour de France, fame of ex. I'm not kidding. These are real numbers.

[Allison Tetrick]

They're real numbers.

[Lance Armstrong]

Dude. Dude, dudettes.

[Mari Holden]

You can start training on that. But, you know, last night we were.

[Lance Armstrong]

I don't know. I'm not gonna.

[Mari Holden]

No, we should go on a ride.

[Allison Tetrick]

But before we get away from the time gap thing, I. We were Talking about the 5k rule the other day. And I do think that, you know, it's really helping out in a race like this where you don't have a time trial, the finishes become less important on losing distance in the finishes. Because yesterday, if that crash had happened in years before the 5k rule, we would have had huge time gaps after. After that. But because of the rule, you're someone like. You know, Sarah, as I've been saying, is managing to keep her time the same as everyone else in these finishes. Not losing 10 seconds here, 20 seconds there.

[Mari Holden]

It's.

[Allison Tetrick]

It changes kind of how the outcome of a race, which is really interesting, I think.

[Lance Armstrong]

Did she. But today, I mean, there was. Whoever lost time today, lost time. Yeah, there's no. There was no crash. There was no crash yesterday. And you know, it's funny, even back in our day when it was 1k, guys would. Weren't necessarily in the crash, but they got stuck in or near or behind the crash. There were all kinds of hacks.

[Allison Tetrick]

Yeah. Because they knew.

[Lance Armstrong]

Or you just pull your shorts up like you make it appear as if you were in the crash.

[Allison Tetrick]

It's like a free lap in a crit.

[Mari Holden]

I heard Spencer on the show a lot about the crits and I have. Yeah, I have some opinions. But we were waiting and on our group text with Lance and Mari and we were just checking in on how Damie was doing. What does this look like? Did she go to the hospital? What are the injuries? Chloe looked like she bounced up fine. I saw her shaking hands and hugging fans at the end. So we felt good about that. And I was talking to my husband, Blaze, and he was just, you know, worried about Damie, and we're friends and. But he's like, man, Damie doesn't win. I'm gonna go for Puck. That is the name of our cat, by the way. But we do need to keep talking. I mean, she was the best young rider last year, Olympic, I mean, world champion, the mountain bike. But I mean, she's another rider to watch. She's sitting up there in 6 GC. The Long Mountains might not be good, but the next two days, thinking how she won flush. She's podium in all these classics. I Think we can look for on a podium the next couple of days and she's not going to lose time in cross wins. I mean, this is a exciting rider. She's so fun to watch.

[Allison Tetrick]

Exciting, yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

And we have some. A little bit. It feels like a little bit of tea.

[Mari Holden]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

When it comes to Demi Ballerin, that was obvious. She was in the crash yesterday. She did get up and get moving again. Didn't you know? Was given same time because of this rule. The director, her director sportif, came out, issued a statement about the crash, which I. Yeah, it's got a little. It's got a little juice to it, I think.

[Mari Holden]

So I was constantly hitting refresh. You know, I'm trying not to WhatsApp her too much or anything. You know, the rider needs to recover and I. I can see that she's got contusion, is going through concussion protocols and then I keep updating it. And her director, Stephane Delcour has a. He comes out with a statement and it says the mentality of some teams is unbelievable. Truly disrespectful. They're playing with people's lives like this Damie wants to ride at the front, but they keep cutting her off. That crash wasn't aso's fault. It was the riders. It all comes down to respect.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Allison Tetrick]

I mean, that is like. I don't know. I don't think that's making any friends out there.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean, that's got some heat on it.

[Allison Tetrick]

That's got some heat.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Allison Tetrick]

I don't know. I wouldn't think that you'd be wanting to have, you know, get the peloton against you, essentially. But that kind of talk is.

[Mari Holden]

But Lance, I've heard this in. As a theme in the men's tour.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's right.

[Mari Holden]

These young guns don't, like, we don't have the patron of the peloton where there's respect and like. What do you guys think about that?

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. Well, I. I would think it's the same. Yeah, I think it's kind of everybody for themselves and everybody breaks late and has their elbows out and. But that in that statement speaks to that.

[Allison Tetrick]

Well, and Marion Voss came out after seeing that, or I don't know if she saw his statement, but it was a question about respect. And Voss said that she didn't think it was. That the athletes were being disrespectful. It's just that everyone's trying to get into that corner at the same time. So, you know, it's just people racing because they're trying to get their team and get their person up there who's supposed to. So it's supposed to be. It had nothing to do with respect.

[Mari Holden]

But this is Voss who is going to disrespect Voss, right? Well, she might feel a lot more respect than most, but I don't know.

[Allison Tetrick]

Well, it doesn't help that our director is saying that kind of stuff or her manager.

[Lance Armstrong]

So I want to just keep that in and start to see on the Madeline. And actually even tomorrow, I mean, tomorrow's a day where we'll show. We'll get into that in a little bit. But that. Tomorrow's a day where you can assert yourself. I would just wait. Well, but you know what? For us, a little bit of tea is good. Spill the tea.

[Mari Holden]

I never knew, by the way.

[Lance Armstrong]

I never. I have these young kids. I was like, oh, you want me to spill the tea? I was like, what are you talking about? I never knew what it meant for years.

[Allison Tetrick]

And I'm like, ah, yeah, last year you told me.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, it was. It was. And kids are probably off that now. Talking about other things, using other expressions.

[Mari Holden]

We hadn't actually looked at one writer. I mean, just. We haven't talked about the young riders jersey. I know we're only on stage four, but I poked around. It's Julie Bago. She's on Kofi Disney. So a French rider, and she's been in the best young rider Jersey since stage one. And I just. She's the 2023 U23 world race champion.

[Lance Armstrong]

Okay, that's.

[Mari Holden]

But you know, a French rider in the best young rider jersey. That's kind of cool.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah. 22, second lead. And then after that, it's a big jump. Right? Third place, 449.

[Mari Holden]

That's cool. French. It's good.

[Lance Armstrong]

It is cool. And on co vitis on a French team.

[Mari Holden]

Yeah, she needs that.

[Lance Armstrong]

Also today, brought to you by Honey Stinger. Many of you guys and gals know I've been a fan of Honey Stinger since the very early days. Had a relationship with them since 2008. How about that? I don't know. Y' all do the math. It's a long time. They completely invented this energy waffle category. Of course, Droopwafels been around forever as they've been made now with energy waffles. I particularly personally think the perfect fuel source when you're out there on the bike. And it is no, no surprise that Honey Stinger is the first and only energy waffle to launch new peanut butter flavors. Peanut butter Peanut butter chocolate and peanut butter strawberry that deliver both the fuel and the delicious taste you've come to expect from our waffles. So whether you're out there grinding on the bike or preparing for a club championship, the delicious taste of honey stingers energy waffles, chews, gels and bars are a great fit for any activity. Head on over to honeystinger.com themove that's honeystinger.com themove Also, the code, if you need it, is the move 25% off.

[Mari Holden]

I'm just curious why peanut butter got a growl. Like, what do you actually do with peanut butter?

[Lance Armstrong]

You know, peanut butter is so obvious, and I know the team over there so well. I mean, peanut butter's like, you know, but you gotta be care. Peanut butter also got peanuts in general, especially, you know. Cause the waffles are so taste so good around kids. Some kids have a nut allergy. And so. But I mean, look, we love it. I love it where I. I got to be really sensitive about this one because I was watching most of the race and, you know, and I have a lot of. I'm friends with a lot of folks here in the U. S. From the Coke family. K O C H co and again, I gotta be real sensitive here, but there was Franzi. Coke was in the, in the breakaway most of the day, as she has been. And I'm not so sure. I, I. We need to request German national champion. Great. We need to request a pronunciation from her because the pronunciation on tv and if you watch the race, you're with. Don't, don't. If you didn't watch. I know you're making fun of me right now, but if you watch the race, you are crying with me. I'm not even gonna say it. All right? But I need help here. So. No, it was, it was troubling.

[Mari Holden]

Wonderful writer. She's been very aggressive.

[Lance Armstrong]

But clearly, I mean, I guess maybe in Germany they pronounce. And y' all know where I'm saying where I'm going with this. They. They pronounce it a different way. And in watching the tour de France fam of ex Swift, that's just something wasn't vibing.

[Mari Holden]

Oh, gosh. Let's talk about tomorrow.

[Lance Armstrong]

Let's talk. Let's look at tomorrow because I want, I do want to get these questions. They're so good. And, and we have another fun story that, that aligns with two of these questions. Hilarious. Tomorrow, you know, longer, 165 kilometers. Basically uneventful. But look at the end, the End really spices up three categorized climbs. I love the. In the women's race that these intermediate time bonuses do we know. Remind me, are those 20 or are those 10? 64.

[Mari Holden]

10, 6, 4 for.

[Lance Armstrong]

Okay, but on a climb.

[Mari Holden]

On a climb before the top.

[Lance Armstrong]

Middle of the middle of a climb.

[Allison Tetrick]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

So you're.

[Allison Tetrick]

I mean, that's going to make that climb crazy.

[Lance Armstrong]

So you wonder what like a Pauline does there, right? Or any of them, for that matter. I mean, that definitely spices things up. This is.

[Allison Tetrick]

This is a. I think Pauline goes for it, right?

[Lance Armstrong]

I think she does.

[Allison Tetrick]

Yeah.

[Mari Holden]

Kasia obviously will.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, then that's amazing. Like, that's. That's really spicy. But all those three categories climbs all come within the last 30, 40 kilometers. The. The finish is not. The actual sprint, is not uphill. But this is where this Tour de France fam of exwif starts to. These girls will start to reveal themselves tomorrow.

[Allison Tetrick]

It's going to be an exciting race, I think.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Mari Holden]

Yeah. So the last climb of the day is 7k and average is 5.4%, so. But it's 7. The top is 7k from the finish. And I have not had a chance to look at the descent, but you're gonna crest that climb. 7k to go. And it's all downhill to the finish, so. Pretty interesting.

[Allison Tetrick]

Marianne Voss, I was gonna say.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, I think it's a Voss. This one has Voss written all over it.

[Allison Tetrick]

I think Chloe could be another one. That's like a good finish for her. She looked good today.

[Lance Armstrong]

She did.

[Allison Tetrick]

Yeah.

[Mari Holden]

And this will be the only second time this town has been in the Tour. The first time Robbie McEwen won.

[Lance Armstrong]

Huh?

[Allison Tetrick]

There you go.

[Lance Armstrong]

I love where you put. Where do you get this stuff?

[Mari Holden]

Liz and I, we do our research also.

[Allison Tetrick]

We. Fun times.

[Mari Holden]

It was Caddyshack at the bunk house last night, so, you know, movie night.

[Lance Armstrong]

So we. We have some good questions. And I was in the gym this morning, and Mari got here early. The studio wasn't open, so you're in there. And. And I said as I was. And I don't even know. Chloe was on tv. And I thought, boy, she's. She always rocks the short shorts. I just said it was an observation. And then I kind of went down the rabbit. I was like, well, maybe that should just be the thing. Maybe everybody should rock. And I'm. I'm not being. Come on. I'm not. I'm not being skeezy here.

[Allison Tetrick]

No, he said it in a way that was just like, you know, it stands out.

[Lance Armstrong]

It's the way that the. That the women's peloton looks. But anyway, that was just an idea. Nonetheless, we get actually two questions today, overnight regarding Chloe's short shorts, which was just so wild when, when I finally got the print out here. The question was, why does Chloe Dygart wear shorter shorts than everyone else? I mean, I guess it's because she wants to, but Chris says it just seems different to me. And then we had another question about ever since her leg injury at the World Time Draw Championships, Chloe Dygert has been wearing those short of those Eddie Merckx type throwback shorter shorts. Do you think it's for comfort or do you think it's due to the scar, et cetera, et cetera? That seems a little far fetched. That one's from Lewis, first one's from.

[Allison Tetrick]

Chris, but I think it's a fashion statement.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Allison Tetrick]

You know, trying to be feminine.

[Lance Armstrong]

She's the only one bike.

[Allison Tetrick]

Yeah. And I mean, I think it stands out more because her legs are so long, but I think she's just trying to do it because it. And wants to look like a girl on her bike. I think it looks good too, actually. And everybody always comments on it. So whatever she's doing, she's getting a lot of attention for it, which is. Which is a good thing.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mari Holden]

Speaking of Americans, did we talk about Faulkner already?

[Lance Armstrong]

We didn't touch on Kristen Faulkner, our Olympic champion. And this happens in cycling when, when you. When you start to have, you know, one bad day bleeds into another bad day, and then. And then your head gets involved and you're like, what? I don't know. We don't know what she's thinking. We've all been there. It's like there is that moment now. What am I doing here again? Another bad. Just. Just suffered in. In some of those early crosswinds. Small crash at the end. Well, your heart goes out to her.

[Allison Tetrick]

I mean, especially when you're just, you know, you expect something so different of yourself. And then you go out there and it's just like every day is worse.

[Mari Holden]

No, totally.

[Allison Tetrick]

Yeah. I mean, she's so.

[Mari Holden]

I almost win the stage of this Tour Britain once, and then I crash and like break something. And so I'm just going to keep doing worse and worse. And my team director says that he can see me by the vultures over me sharpening their claws, waiting, because I just kept getting worse as the stage race goes on.

[Lance Armstrong]

Getting up from that crash where it's just shaking, they're like just despondent I mean, we've, again, we've all been there.

[Mari Holden]

Definitely have been there, probably more than 100 times more than you guys.

[Allison Tetrick]

Well, I don't know about that. I think that anyone who's been in this sport, it's hard times. You're in those situations where you just know you have to get through it and you know, you have to just deal with it. Especially because maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow she.

[Mari Holden]

Starts feeling a little better and it's good. Stage four.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's right. On this watts per kilo issue, men versus women, the best of the best. The question from yesterday, everyone, it seems, pushes power to wait above all else in the men's and women's races. But my question is, since we look at the climber, sprinters, classic specialists, all rounders and others, which type of writer is most concerned about that power to weight? What other metrics are important? Climbers and classic specialists seem like endurance would mean as much, et cetera, et cetera. It's not, it's more than just a high watts per kilo number. And how do the trainers, coaches and sport directors hit the balance in that athlete? That's a, that's a more, that's, that's a in depth question. But was as Mario, you got the intel from some folks on just the, the actual power numbers these climbers are putting out. Watts per kilo. That's, that's kind of the magic ratio when it comes to.

[Allison Tetrick]

Yeah. Climbing the. I reached out to Dean Golit, who had coached Mara Abbott, who won the Giro, who was a pure climber and also in the Tokyo Olympics was almost got away on that climb. She was with Anna Meek and they figure, or she can do 6.1 for 40 minutes, which is unbelie.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean, that's.

[Allison Tetrick]

And in the Olympics, in the Tokyo climb, she did. I think they modeled it at 5.8, considering, you know, all the factors leading into it and stuff. And they were only three seconds off in their estimation. So I mean, Demi Pauline probably up there around 6 watts per kilo. Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

And you know, the men's winner, I mean, what, Tati Poguchar, if he's riding seven now, I think he's doing a little more 7.2 watts per kilo. That, that he knows he can win the Tour. That's not that far off. No, I mean, we, I would start the season, I know this because we would test this very early on and you'd have to look at the results and be like, oh, I shouldn't even go to a bike race, I mean I was like 5.5. I was like, all right, I better stay home. And it wasn't until you got into the sixes that you knew you could go to a race and not just get spit out the back.

[Mari Holden]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean, incredible.

[Allison Tetrick]

Earlier this year Demi did and a Spanish race that she did eight, eight minute, almost nine minutes at 6.1 watts per kilo. So I mean, and consider now she's even in better form than she was, you know, in theory. So probably around six. Yeah.

[Mari Holden]

But it is different. Like that question did allude to as well for like a classic style rider. So if you look like a khaki, like I'd be more of a classic style rider. And then that's where actually absolute power comes. Like we would do testings when I go to the USOPC to test just like absolute power, like take your weight outside of like how much power can you hold for an hour? And I mean remember protecting GC rider and she's telling me what watch you did up the climb. I'm like, I literally did that for four hours at this race. Right. So absolute power for classics rider where the weight doesn't matter as much or you're looking at Flanders and it's higher rolling resistance. So there's a lot of things. It's not all watts per kilo pending on the course.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah.

[Allison Tetrick]

Well, it's impressive.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's. Thank you. I agree.

[Allison Tetrick]

And I think Pauline is going to be hitting that 6.1 too. Also.

[Lance Armstrong]

We're about to find out. Last question of the day here from Ashley. This one's I'm curious Yalls answer on this. That's why I didn't want to read it to you as we were watching. Ashley says, I'm a 27 year old woman who has been cycling for the last four years. I love watching the femme every year and always get inspired by them. Especially when I see people like Marianne Voss and Mavi Garcia win stages. Do you think if I started today I could go pro and be in the Tour de France fame of ex wift one day?

[Mari Holden]

I would say give it a shot.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean it happens. It happens in the inside.

[Mari Holden]

Kim Lacourt was in the yellow jersey. Her first World Tour team. She was 29 years old.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean Primoz Roglas started late. He came from another sport. Mavi Garcia was a runner and a two athlete.

[Mari Holden]

I played tennis in college.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yep, yep.

[Allison Tetrick]

I think you'd have to probably be coming from an elite level on another sport.

[Lance Armstrong]

You would have to.

[Allison Tetrick]

I Mean, you can't just make the change and all of a sudden develop an engine that's going to be doing something like that.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's right.

[Allison Tetrick]

It could be possible.

[Lance Armstrong]

But I guess if the question was, is, is the age alone a factor? The answer is no. If you, if, if, you know, if you've been sitting on the couch eating bon bons for 27 years, that might be a bigger factor. By the way, nothing wrong with sitting on the couch. I do that a lot.

[Mari Holden]

Doubt it.

[Lance Armstrong]

No, I do. I train a lot, but I also sit around and I'm gonna get off the set here and have a cinnamon roll.

[Allison Tetrick]

But I just wanted to, like.

[Lance Armstrong]

True story.

[Allison Tetrick]

Say that this is doing great things for the young women.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's right. Let's.

[Allison Tetrick]

And I want to, like, touch on that real quick before we. Super cute clip. So, yeah, we. We got a clip. I had a text conversation with my friend Jordan about his daughter Shai and just how. Let me read you. I know he basically said that this is, you know, the future, and if you see it, you can believe it. Right? So she's been watching the race every day, is super excited to see women out there succeeding the way they are. And this is her version of the Marianne boss salute in Truckee. So shy and Truckee. We're watching.

[Lance Armstrong]

And I love that. That tagline there. If you. If you see it, you can believe it. Yeah, like, that says it all. Like, this is. And by the way, too, I mean, we. We sort of every day. Remark. Like the crowds.

[Allison Tetrick]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean, kids. I mean, there's some crowds at the Tour de France. Fam.

[Allison Tetrick]

What Swift has done for. For women's cycling and women's sport in general. Like, if you see it, you can believe it in any sport. So, you know, we're watching it in cycling, but it's. It's happening. Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

All right, well, we'll be back tomorrow when we finally will be in the Massey Central.

[Mari Holden]

Sorry about geography, people. I try.

[Lance Armstrong]

Sorry. It'll be an exciting day, so make sure you tune in and we'll see you.

[Mari Holden]

Ask more questions and we'll see you tomorrow.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah. Send your questions info. WEDO team and I almost left before. Oh, God, you guys would kill me. All right, three, two, one.

[Mari Holden]

Bye.

[Lance Armstrong]

Sam.