Carapaz Delivers & Pedersen Strikes Back | TdF 2026 Stage 18 | THEMOVE

Summary

THEMOVE Podcast Summary

Episode: "Carapaz Delivers & Pedersen Strikes Back | TdF 2026 Stage 18"

Date: July 23, 2026
Cast: Lance Armstrong (host), George Hincapie, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Spencer Martin, Liz Crutz

Episode Overview

This episode of THEMOVE dissects Stage 18 of the 2026 Tour de France, focusing on the long-awaited stage victory of Richard Carapaz and Mats Pedersen’s dramatic fight in the green jersey competition. The cast debates stage tactics, GC (general classification) dynamics, and the impact of the much-talked-about 2am anti-doping control controversy. They weigh in on the current (arguably lackluster) state of GC battles, speculate on what’s to come on the iconic Alpe d’Huez, and respond to listener questions about life in the peloton and famous Tour de France moments.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Richard Carapaz’s Victory: Persistence Pays Off (03:17—04:44)

• Johan Bruyneel called Carapaz's stage win in advance; the group agrees Carapaz “deserved the win” for his relentless attempts (03:17).
• Carapaz’s third-week strength and “calculated” approach get high praise.
  • Wiggins: “Carapaz is a beast. Every year we see the same thing. In the third week of the Tour de France...he deserved that win more than anyone today.” (03:36)
  • Armstrong: Highlights tactical discipline of Carapaz and his team, planning for today’s break. (03:54)
• Discussion on how hard it is to make the early break and Carapaz’s “confidence” in his abilities. (04:18)

2. Mats Pedersen Fights Back for Green (07:49—09:06)

• The panel is split between Carapaz’s and Pedersen’s rides for “move of the day.”
  • Wiggins: “I’m gonna go with Mads Pedersen...to go up a Cat 1 climb today and make the break...he may have just sealed the green jersey there.” (07:49)
  • Martin: Echoes Pedersen’s unexpected ability to stay with top climbers despite team tactics against him. (08:41)
  • Hincapie: “It was a lot harder for Mads Pedersen to do that than it was for Richard Carapaz to do what he did...” (09:06)
• The cast recounts Pedersen’s emotional rebound after a “defeated and deflated” interview the previous day.

3. Tour de France General Classification: A Stale Battle? (13:36—16:45)

• Cast laments the lack of late-stage GC drama, especially during summit finishes.
  • Armstrong: “We did not see the yellow jersey group until Carapaz had finished...Is anybody attacking Pogacar? Is anybody trying to unseat Remco for second?” (13:36)
• Discussion on why the racing is conservative:
  • The demanding starts to stages are making riders less aggressive later (“The first two hours are over the top hard” – Armstrong, 15:26).
  • Current GC standings provide little incentive for big attacks (16:16).
  • A weakened UAE team could open doors, but most rivals seem content with their placings. (16:25)

4. The 2am Doping Control Controversy (14:21—20:44)

• The panel is united in their distaste for the infamous 2am anti-doping raids and how it has “overshadowed” the third week.
  • Wiggins: “It’s all that’s been in the news the last four or five days since that happened.” (14:39)
  • Armstrong: Calls the situation “not fair,” describing the negative impact on rider performance and sleep. (18:36)
  • The ridiculousness of the situation is summed up by George comparing cycling's self-flagellation to “a dog chasing its tail for 30 years.” (20:20)
• Adam Hansen (CPA) gets praise for his sensible defense of riders’ rights and clarification that the controls were not mandatory. (15:09)

5. Alpe d’Huez Preview and Records (22:26—26:56)

• Cast discusses the significance of Alpe d’Huez and the mystique of Pantani's ascent record (23:42—24:28).
  • Hincapie: “These are the most sacred finishing climbs in the tour.” (22:26)
  • Nostalgia over past record chases (Pantani, Armstrong, Ulrich), and speculation if Pogacar will attempt to break the record.
• Debate whether Pogacar will push for time records or play it conservatively due to team illness. (25:49)
• Call for a GC showdown, not a breakaway—even though the previous Alpe d’Huez stage finished with a break. (26:31)

6. Listener Call-Ins: Living the Tour’s Intensities (29:33—35:36)

Riding Through the Crowds (29:33—34:16)

• Wiggins & Hincapie share memories of riding amidst massive, often chaotic crowds on mountain stages: a mix of focus, adrenaline, and the unexpected.
  • “You always spot someone you know in the crowd... just interesting.” – Wiggins (29:53)
  • “It’s never scary... all of the riders actually enjoy it. It is so intense.” – Hincapie (31:56)
  • Humorous moments, like fans dressed in costumes, are recalled. (30:46)

Security Concerns & Political Tension (33:05—34:55)

• Armstrong recounts the extra security precautions during the 2004 Alpe d’Huez time trial when US foreign policy made American riders unpopular.
  • “That Alpez time trial, I never had an experience like that where the State Department gets involved.” (34:16)
• Despite credible threats, Armstrong insists he remained focused on racing.

George’s “Move of the Day”: Meeting His Wife (36:04—38:48)

• Listener asks how George met his wife during the Tour de France; a story involving podium ceremonies, persistence, and a helpful driver is told, highlighted by “her driver slid me the number.” (36:14)
• The note with her number is now framed at their home as a memento. (37:21)
• “It’s a love story, and it’s a great story.” – Hincapie (38:10)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Carapaz is a beast. Every year we see the same thing. In the third week of the Tour de France."
  — Sir Bradley Wiggins, (03:37)

• "For a guy like [Pedersen], I mean, and with it all on the line... He wanted it, wanted more. But at the same time, Carapaz, exceptional. I'm happy for him."
  — George Hincapie, (09:06)

• "We love this event, right? This event has to figure out a way to make it exciting and not become newsworthy because of a 2am doping control."
  — Lance Armstrong, (13:36)

• "This sport has been that dog [chasing its own tail] for 30 years. They have tried more and done more and been more aggressive than any other sport in the world."
  — George Hincapie, (20:20)

• "These are the most sacred finishing climbs in the tour...Alpe d’Huez and Mont Ventoux."
  — George Hincapie, (22:26)

• "You always spot someone you know in the crowd... That was Dave from Preston..."
  — Sir Bradley Wiggins, (29:53)

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Key Timestamps for Segments

• Carapaz’s win & analysis: 03:17–04:44
• Pedersen’s green jersey move: 07:49–09:06
• GC battle debate: 13:36–16:45
• 2am doping control discussion: 14:21–20:44
• Alpe d’Huez preview & records: 22:26–26:56
• Listener Qs—Crowds & Security: 29:33–35:36
• Listener Qs—George’s love story: 36:04–38:48

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Tone & Style

The cast maintains their trademark candidness and humor, blending heated debate, cycling insight, and irreverent banter. Stories are shared with a sense of camaraderie, nostalgia, and some exasperation at the state of the sport, while keeping listeners engaged and informed.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode celebrates Carapaz’s perseverance and the tactical brilliance that led to his victory, while also shining a light on the grit (and heart) of Mads Pedersen. The panel’s hopes for late-race GC battles remain on pause as the riders and viewers alike look toward Alpe d’Huez for possible fireworks. The episode is peppered with listener interaction, personal anecdotes, and sharp commentary on cycling’s self-inflicted controversies, making it essential listening for Tour de France fans seeking both expertise and entertainment.

Transcript

[Lance Armstrong]

Toddy's won the Tour de France pretty much. Is he gonna go all in for Del Toro's third place or second place?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Well.

[Spencer Martin]

Or is he gonna try to set the record on Apple or is he

[Lance Armstrong]

gonna try to set the record? He's gonna go for another stage win. I mean, that's the question. And that's gonna make it, I think, I believe, really exciting.

[George Hincapie]

I mean, if he wants to set the record slash destroy the record, he can do that, yeah, very easily. Welcome back to the Move podcast. I'm Lance Armstrong, joined by Sir Bradley Wiggins, who just fair warning, everybody, you know, woke up early, had a lot of hater tots, couple sips of Haterade, he's ready today. And by the way, I love it. I love it. I'm just teeing it up. Sir Bradley and looks like the man is on the men, Mr. George and Kepi. Also the professor, Spencer Martin. And while she's not on the video, you don't see her. We are staring right at her. Liz Cruz, she's sitting on her, as we said at the top of the tour, her gift of an ottoman. Here in Aspen, people give away nice furniture items. She took it from this guy. But Liz Crutz is here on set. And I only bring that up because, you know, this is Aspen, right? It's a summertime. There's a lot of wildlife right out there. We've seen bears, obviously, bears walking around town. I see bears. When you're out mountain biking or hiking, mountain lions. But you never kind of know what you're going to see in Aspen. Like, it's just a lot of these cowboy hat. Like, people go down and buy these, these. These starter kit cowboy hats. You've seen these, Bradley. Anyhow, I'm riding to this dinner party last night, and lo and behold, I said, jesus, look at this wild animal riding through the streets. The mean streets. I mean, what the. Honestly, what? Liz, you're terrible.

[Lance Armstrong]

What?

[George Hincapie]

She's driving. That's the way she gets around. That is embarrassing. To make matters worse, it has a WEDO sticker on it. A couple. And to make matters even worse, worse, I actually drove that thing up here and I literally did. I told. Turned the corner. I was like, look at this freak. Oh, no, it's Liz. We are in the third week of the Tour de France. Not a lot happening. We're going to get into all that before. Before we do. Speaking of wild animals, how's our French wild animal, Alain doing?

[Spencer Martin]

Alain.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

What.

[George Hincapie]

What do we do Today on stage 18? Stage 18 from Voiron to. This is so good from.

[Spencer Martin]

To

[George Hincapie]

see that never gets old to me. Okay, let's get. Let's get into it. I need everybody to wake up today because a lot. Not a lot happening. But excuse me. I will say, Richard Carapazi, you got to give it to him.

[Spencer Martin]

Right?

[George Hincapie]

Johan called it on the move. Plus yesterday with you, he has been trying and trying and trying. This guy's a good rider. He's won the Olympics. He's won a Giro. He deserved the win. I am happy for him today. I thought that was really the only. That's not true. There were really two exciting things in today's stage. His performance was.

[Spencer Martin]

I got to give it to him.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah. Carapaz is a beast.

[George Hincapie]

He's a beast.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah. And every year we see the same thing. In the third week of the Tour de France. For Carapaz, he's a class act, and he deserved that win more than anyone today, clearly. And I don't think he's done yet. As George was saying when we were watching, he gets on a roll like this, there's no stopping him.

[Lance Armstrong]

And real calculated, too. You saw yesterday clearly he couldn't have been in that final move as well. I was probably hanging back just for today. The team controlled it from kilometer zero just for him to go up on that first category climb. So they had a plan, and he just pulled it off, and it was really impressive win.

[Spencer Martin]

Well, he missed the move and had

[George Hincapie]

to bridge the stove.

[Spencer Martin]

And not. Not easy. Then when you bridge up and everyone knows that you're the favorite to win, and he still wins.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

It's funny, isn't it? Because I started watching the race at half five this morning, and as underwhelming as the second half of every stage has been, the starts are actually the best part of the day because it is just on. And just to make those moves. I don't think a lot of people, if you're just switching on the Tour and watching that final 20, 30K, you. You don't realize how hard it is to make the break. And for Carapace to finish off the stage like that, what it took for him this morning to make it into that move is quite something.

[Lance Armstrong]

At the same time, a day like today, Carapaz is looking at the profile. He's one of the Giro d', Italia, like, one of the best climbers in the world. He knows he can make the break on a day like today. He knows it's not a for sure. It's not a lucky break. It's not a panic. Cooking break, a TV attack break. It's one of those hard man breaks, selective breaks. And he, he went into today, I'm sure very confident that he'd make that breakaway.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

The Tour has taken its toll. It has been hot. Guys are getting sick. Brandon McNulty, another one of. Looks like Adam Yates did recover today. As we sort of talked about yesterday, Brandon McNulty, I suspect that's just going around in the team. He did not finish, but it's been. It's been tough. So for. Yeah, for these dudes in the third week, a guy like him, it's easier for him to do that. It's never easy, but still got to go do it.

[Lance Armstrong]

Still a question at the end. Why was Red Bull pulling? I still didn't.

[Spencer Martin]

Why? Yeah, why was any of that happening? Why was Q36.5 pulling?

[Lance Armstrong]

I could see they probably scared of Carapaz creeping ahead of them in the GC right now.

[Spencer Martin]

Caraz is. He is 12 minutes. No. Oh, he's yeah. Like 13 minutes behind Tom Pidcock.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, but they, they know this. Once this guy gets on a roll, they can't stop, I guess, getting the breakaways. I'm guessing that's why they were pulling. But it was strange tactics and. And there was a couple of interviews after the race where there's. They're saying UA is not looking as strong as they have this in the beginning of the race. Like, obviously Brandon McNulty gone. Who knows if it was from the. The car accident two days ago or is getting with Adam Yates. Got a couple other guys apparently didn't look great, but Del Toro and Tare of course still look good.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, I think for. For Red Bull, you know, it's a lot easier for them to set a pace like that when they're riding to nullify the attacks because UAE ain't going to ride because you don't have the numbers anymore. And it's easier to ride a tempo like that than it all back off and people start firing up the road.

[George Hincapie]

I want to save. I want to save the. That I want to go there on that conversation here in a sec because I'm just. I'm just sort of concerned and I have questions about what we just watched.

[Spencer Martin]

Right.

[George Hincapie]

We are three days from the finish. This was a summit finish in the Tour de France heading into the final, final few days. Head scratcher for me. I'm not sure this is that interesting, frankly. But before we get into it, let's talk about the move of the day because I think we're going to have some. I actually do think we will not agree on this today. Of course. The move of the day brought to you by eight Sleep. Eight Sleep is a smart mattress cover that easily goes on top of any existing mattress, heats or cools each side anywhere from 55 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Head on over to 8sleep.com themove to get 500 off. I felt like it was, wow, has it gone up anyways, 500 off a smart mattress cover until the end of the Tour. This might be an old read anyways.

[Spencer Martin]

It might be 350.

[George Hincapie]

So we don't. No, that's right. It's because this is just whatever. You get a nice discount. It is a game changer. So, Bradley, your move of the day.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, I'm gonna go with Muds Pedersen, the disappointment yesterday in his interview. He was very straight talking yesterday, very honest. And to go up a Cat 1 climb today and make the break and do what he did, that was quite a ride. He's well and true. He may have just sealed the green jersey there with that.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna go with. I think for me, the obvious gonna be the day of Carapace. Like I mentioned a couple times, he was in the breakaway. He had UAE not wanted to chase it down or the tactics were different from uae, he probably would have won those stages as well. But what a fighter. Just kept. Kept believing the team, the whole team was behind him. And I thought it was exciting. I mean, you know, he came to that final climb with some of the best climbers in the world and just kind of double attacked them. First one was just kind of like a. A test attack, I believe, and then looked over and said, seeing the doshes, 4k to go, 3k to 3.5k to go.

[Spencer Martin]

Carapaz was great, but I'm going with Pedersen. I mean, the race started on a Cat 1 climb and I had a strategy for a team in this race. Said last night, no way he can make it in it.

[Lance Armstrong]

No way.

[Spencer Martin]

And some of the best climbers in the race can't get in that move. And Pedersen goes up there and even though his little Trek team is chasing as hard as they can to keep him out of that breakaway, he's up there pulling as hard as he can. It was unbelievable. I couldn't. It was. I was speechless. It's crazy.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. In terms of. I mean, look, it's. It's a toss up for me in terms of, you know, in terms of difficulty. I think it was A lot harder for Mats Peterson to do that than it was for Richard Carapas to do what he did. They were both exceptional. But for, for a guy like that, I mean, and with it's all on the line like we were kicking around before the show. Does this shore up his green jersey? I mean, in theory, yes, but things can happen. You could get a flat. I mean, Phillipson could get some intermediate points that you just get no points, right? That starts to get close. Who knows what happens on those final circuits in Paris. But this is, I mean you and I'm with you. Like his interview at, at, at the finish yesterday, he was completely defeated and deflated and he admitted on in the interview that, hey, I think this comes down to Paris. And he must have gone to sleep last night or before he went to sleep, said, no, actually, let's try this. It's so hard for. He's a big guy, man. Yeah, he wanted it. He wanted it, wanted more. But at the same time, care. Pass. Exceptional. I'm happy for him. I'm happy and I know I'm not a big fan of that team. I'm happy that that team is now in the press for other reasons than their obnoxious team director who just. Who runs to microphones when there's any sort of doping related thing coming in the news. That's been the press for that team up till now. So thank you.

[Spencer Martin]

I would love to complain about Richard Carapaz and how much he makes, which is so inappropriate in my opinion. You probably should not be publicly torching your own writer, especially in a Netflix series. So it's great to see K today's

[George Hincapie]

show also brought to you by Kineon. We're excited for this year's show to be partnered with them. They got the Move plus of course that's not to be confused with Spencer and Johan show. After decades of racing and training, aches and pains are just part of it. Knees, joints, all of it. That's the price of admission for all the time on the bike. The thing I really like about it, it's not some surface level fix it. It uses a targeted light therapy to get deep into the muscles and joints right where the pain actually lives. I'm on Vanna and since it's so easy to carry around. Not feeling the van today?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, we hadn't unzipped it.

[George Hincapie]

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[Spencer Martin]

Right.

[George Hincapie]

If two guys got off their bikes and started fist fighting in the middle of a stage, that would make the COVID If somebody had a really bad accident, that would make the COVID And a 2am Control made the COVID This is not how the event ought to be known. And so it's just.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah. And it's all that's been, you know, it's all that's been in the news the last four or five days since that happened. You know, every. Everything that comes up on my social media feed is someone commenting on this 2:00am Dope. Control. And obviously more information has come out about it now. And the only person I've seen who's talked any sense about it is the head of the cpa, Adam Hansen, who did a great interview with someone yesterday who spoke a lot of. Lot of sense in that and was actually very defensive of the riders. But it's.

[Spencer Martin]

He also said they didn't have to do the 2A.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

No, exactly. Which. Which trumps someone else who, who decided to pipe up and, and. And make a comment, you know, that people dine out on and love.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

So, yeah, it's. It's overshadowed this third week of the race, I think.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, back to your point about maybe not being as exciting for the GC paddle today. I mean, a lot of us, or I'm not, but I'm waking up early watching the starts. Spencer's. I mean, the ship is absolutely ridiculous at the start. I mean, these guys are going so hard to make green jersey points to make the breakaways the first two hours or over the top part. And I think it's actually nullifying a lot of the action at the end. Like, they're getting close to the finish. They're like, we had to go so hard to push. And. And that's completely shaping the way these finals are going right now.

[Spencer Martin]

I think too many summit finishes, too, because who in their right mind would attack Pagatra because he's going to whack you. And also you have Pagato first. He's pretty happy with that. Remco second. That's like winning for Rimco. He's not going to do anything. Del Toro's third. He's pumped. Success is fourth. He's the only one with any grievance. But he's only 20 seconds back, so he's thinking, I'll wait for.

[George Hincapie]

Up to us.

[Spencer Martin]

Juana, you. So is, is might as well be on the moon. He's nine and a half minutes back. Skelmos is six. He's fine. Like there's no incentive for it.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, but they're really happy with fifth and six. I'm sure that's a really great result for them. The good battle is for third. I mean, and the, and the potential dent in the armor of UAE right now with Brandon McNulty gone, Adam Yates still recovering from this illness. Who knows if it's going through the team? I mean, there's rumors circulating, so perhaps the next three days are going to be exciting.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, but I guess so. Pagatro's in black shorts today, which would suggest maybe he has the poops and I, I don't think anyone should have attacked him. But if you think he's sick, would you not attack him on the final climb today?

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, like I said, I think they were just all dead there at the end. I mean, the first two hours.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, I mean, you said that. You mentioned that. Speculation. And as we were watching, did you when they finally went to that group. Are you kidding me? This guy was pedaling one legged. He, he might have been wearing black shorts. Who care, by the way? I think he should always wear black shorts. Yeah, this whole thing of like getting all dressed up and all the different things that, matching this and that, that's stupid. Wear black. Eddie Merckx wears black shorts.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Fact.

[George Hincapie]

Just do that. So I, I, I, I don't, I don't read anything into that. All I read into or saw, he was noodling. There's nothing wrong with Tadde poker, but,

[Lance Armstrong]

but what is going to happen? Is Tati going to go all in? Toddy's won the Tour de France pretty much. Is he gonna go all in for Del Toro's third place or second place?

[Spencer Martin]

Or is he going to try to set the record on Apple or is

[Lance Armstrong]

he going to try to set the record? He's gonna go for another stage win. I mean, that's the question. And that's going to make it, I think, I believe, really exciting.

[George Hincapie]

I mean, if he wants to set the record, slash destroy the record, he can do that. Yeah, very easily.

[Spencer Martin]

That's, which would explain why, you know, he doesn't, he's not trying really in these stages.

[George Hincapie]

I hope he does. Yeah, I hope he does. Just go fly up that thing, rip the Pavement right off it. Honestly at this point, like go for it, man.

[Spencer Martin]

Well, Red Bull leads him out perfectly.

[George Hincapie]

So and, but I just to go back and I think this maybe ought to be and should be and will be the last time we talk about the, this 2:00am thing is it, it's just been too much, right? It never should have happened. Let me just be really clear. That never should have happened and should never happen in the future. This is the hardest sporting event in the world. No other sport would tolerate it. But if you want to do stupid shit like that, how about we just say okay. I was thinking, I was like, all right, well if we have to do that, then I get the day off. Right?

[Spencer Martin]

Right.

[George Hincapie]

And I said this as we were chatting about it. You know, these guys are also tired, the rooms are hot. You're not always guaranteed good sleep. What if a guy, a lot of these guys can't sleep so they're taking small doses of some sleep aid? Well, you take a sleep. Imagine everybody listening or watching has taken some sort of a sleeping pill in the past. Somebody comes and knocks on your door at 2am and you've had a sleeping pill and you've got to, you get disrupted, you got to go back to bed. There is no way you can get up the next day and be clear headed and have be laser focused on an incredibly dangerous sport. It's not fair. So give me the day off. How do we like that? George didn't necessarily love that idea entirely. He said, well, you know what, you still have to ride the stage, but we give you the time of the winner.

[Spencer Martin]

I love that idea, by the way, George.

[George Hincapie]

I mean these are all. If you're going to do that, then you have to also offer up something else. I mean, but again, all of these ideas are dumb. It just shouldn't happen. I don't care. Fact.

[Spencer Martin]

Well, the tour shouldn't have, as you say, if this is on espn.com, go there now, then the tour should not have let it happen. Like protect your brand a little bit better. But then it's pretty infuriating when Adam Hansen, smartest guy probably any of us know, is saying, well, we actually don't even have to do that.

[George Hincapie]

You, this, this the last. Spencer, have you ever seen a dog chase his tail? You ever seen it?

[Spencer Martin]

I have.

[George Hincapie]

It's sad. It's sad.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

You're watching the dog and you're like, wow, that's, that's not good. This sport has been that dog for 30 years. They have tried more and done more. And been more aggressive than any other sport in the world. And this is what I said the day that this came out. You will not get credit for this.

[Spencer Martin]

Right.

[George Hincapie]

And it doesn't matter that Jonathan Vodder says, I would rather lose a night of sleep than lose credibility. Yeah, you're right. They dine out on that one. Bradley, that is a great line. You're not going to get any credit for that. So don't do it. We will be back in 3 minutes and 32 seconds. Today's episode brought to you by DraftKings. This summer, whatever you're watching, baseball, golf, soccer, car racing, or even the Tour de France, DraftKings has you covered for every single moment of it. The DraftKings sports app is now available in all 50 states, bringing the game straight to your fingertips wherever you are. New DraftKings customers sign up with the code the Move. Spend five bucks to get 150 in rewards within 14 days. Includes all markets. That's the code the Move in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours.

[Spencer Martin]

Bet with DK Sportsbook gambling problem. Call 1-800- GAMBLER-1-800, my reset Connecticut. Call 888-789-7777. Visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas. Bet tax pass through may apply in Illinois. 21 plus voiding Canada event contract. Trading with DraftKings. Predictions involves availability varies Predictions offer void in New York. Bet to get bonus bets that expire in seven days. Trade to get predictions dollars that expire in one year. $50 in rewards issued every seven days via click to claim for 14 days. One non withdrawable reward redeemable terms at DKNG Co offer limited time offer and we are back.

[George Hincapie]

Everybody chilled out. That was slightly longer break. So Bradley did go number one. Everybody just. We just did. We did a little team meditation. Just kind of recenter everything reset. Yeah, reset. Namaste Recenter all that. We did it all down dog child's pose. Let's. I mean we're just going to talk about tomorrow's stage. I think if you get bored, go look at Saturday stage two. Quite interesting. But let's look at tomorrow's stage. I mean, look, we got to be real. I mean this is Alpez. This is. I can only think of for my mind when I think of sort of the Lambeau fields of cycling in France. I mean you have Alpe d' Huez and you have malfunction. To me, those are the two. The, the most sacred finishing climbs in the tour that you could possibly have and we get it tomorrow we get out to west and we're going to see. We touched on it a second ago. What does Tade do, by the way? I was, when, when you mentioned that. Does Pantani still have the record?

[Spencer Martin]

Yes, I think it's considered unbreakable. So really I would love to see Tada go for it.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

And that that record's from 95, isn't it? 97. Yes, 97.

[George Hincapie]

It was an interesting stage. I wasn't there, but it was a very short stage. Didn't they, I believe they started in Grenoble. Yeah, they started in Grenoble. Short stage. It was basically a team time trial. They got. You had quite the lead out, Alpes. You can also, you know, you could have a team riding for you. The first, I don't know, Few K. But I, I, I would wholeheartedly disagree that it's unbreakable. I mean, I, I think I, when the teaching, I think I got within a few seconds.

[Spencer Martin]

They're saying, this list is saying the records from 97 and it says Lance was a second behind.

[George Hincapie]

It was close.

[Spencer Martin]

You would think, though, that's the best conditions you would ever do it.

[George Hincapie]

Time trial.

[Spencer Martin]

Time trial.

[George Hincapie]

No stage before you had elite. This is why I was saying you can still, you can. If that's all you're doing and it's an individual time trial, you can go very fast. But if you have a team with you, like Pantani did for the first 2, 3, 4 kilometers of the climb, setting pace, that can be beneficial nonetheless. I mean, I think even with this stage at 4. No, sorry. 3,500 meters. So call that just over 11, 000ft and it's short and it's, yeah, 127K. I, I think Toddy Pogachar, if he wants, can break that record.

[Spencer Martin]

You guys want to be cool? 5 fastest times. Marco Bentani. Lance Armstrong. Marco Pentani. Lance Armstrong. Marco Pentani. And then Jan Ulrichs, the sixth.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

So have we done Albue since Tom Pidcott won?

[Spencer Martin]

I was just gonna ask you guys, who's the last rider to win?

[George Hincapie]

It was Tom Pidcock.

[Spencer Martin]

Yep. That was 2022.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martin]

Do you know who won before that?

[Lance Armstrong]

Before that?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I do, actually, yeah.

[Spencer Martin]

You know this person very well.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah. Groin Garrett.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah. Yeah. So the last two winners are British.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martin]

But I, yeah, I think he could, I think he probably does want to go for the record. I don't, I'm not, I don't know him, but I would imagine that would be, especially on a stage like this. That's short, not overly hard.

[Lance Armstrong]

And before that, does he want to go for the record, or is he nervous about his guys being sick and just playing defense?

[Spencer Martin]

Now, why would he be nervous about that if he's setting the record, though?

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, well, he's going to need his guys to get him to the bottom of the climb. He's going to go for the record, just for the record and get to the stage.

[Spencer Martin]

Right. Well, I mean, Q 36.5. Total energy. You have all these teams.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, well, they were chasing.

[George Hincapie]

I mean, look, it is a day where. I mean, you could. There can be a. And there's a long ways between. There's a long ways that. The first category one climb is at 25 kilometers. Bottom of Altoz is at 116. There's a lot. There's a lot of. There's a lot of time for the. Now, see, I think. I just think that would.

[Spencer Martin]

Look.

[George Hincapie]

I love breakaways. I think in the third week, guys should go for those and be rewarded for those. But not on Alpe d'.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Wez.

[George Hincapie]

Alpe d'. Wez. We need to see the big dogs up there, everybody at the front, start at the bottom together and fucking let it rip. That's what we need to see. If there's a break out there that gets 15 minutes, and we're not even seeing the yellow jersey group on Alpez. I just said three minutes ago.

[Lance Armstrong]

This is. This.

[George Hincapie]

This is hallowed ground. We need to see them duking it out here.

[Spencer Martin]

It was a breakaway the last time. We should.

[George Hincapie]

It was a breakaway.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martin]

We should be prepared that a breakaway.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

And it went over the Galibier.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, that day.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Well.

[Spencer Martin]

And Pitcock missed the move and went in on the descent.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I was behind him on the motorbike

[Lance Armstrong]

then with Chris Froome. Right.

[Spencer Martin]

No, he blew by from.

[Lance Armstrong]

And made him look like he made that breakaway, though.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[George Hincapie]

I just realized something. It's been incredibly hot and sunny summer up here in Aspen.

[Lance Armstrong]

Right.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Every day.

[George Hincapie]

And in fact, maybe too much sun and too much heat, not enough rain. We did. We woke up today, first time this summer. Woke up just pouring rain. Dark, dark clouds, gloomy, rainy, wet cold.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yep.

[George Hincapie]

I feel like that we just absorbed that.

[Spencer Martin]

Maybe that.

[George Hincapie]

That could. It wasn't the hater tots. It could be the weather.

[Spencer Martin]

We're also in a windowless basement. It's probably.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

You never know.

[George Hincapie]

What are you talking about?

[Spencer Martin]

I have a beautiful.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

What are you talking about?

[George Hincapie]

These are beautiful views. You don't see these Views. Oh, yeah, look, I see you're on some lake. What are you talking about?

[Spencer Martin]

Lake Geneva right now.

[George Hincapie]

Nice.

[Lance Armstrong]

Speaking of lake. Oh, never mind. We'll tackle that later.

[George Hincapie]

Oh, here he comes. That isn't. That's not happening.

[Spencer Martin]

It's.

[Lance Armstrong]

It's still up for debate.

[George Hincapie]

It's not. That's not.

[Lance Armstrong]

The team has spoken, and the team wants this to be a discussion.

[George Hincapie]

Right, Right.

[Lance Armstrong]

Right.

[George Hincapie]

Well, I'll tell you a funny story. One time I was. Of course, I obviously have quite a history with Oprah Winfrey. Everybody knows. But before the. Before the history that everybody knows about, we'd done some other episodes, other stuff together, and we did a thing at her. Her property in Santa Barbara one year, and one of her producers or something wanted me to. Wanted me to do something kind of corny. And I was like, God, I don't want to do this. And. And I went over to Oprah and I said, you know what? I don't want to do this. And she goes, don't do it. I go, really? I don't have to do it. And she goes, no, don't do it. And she goes, you know why? Because this is the oh Pro Winfrey Show. So just keep that in mind when you're thinking about moving locations in 2027. I like that.

[Spencer Martin]

It's like.

[George Hincapie]

I was like, I love you. All right, let's. We're running out of time. You got two or three days to call us. Leave us a message. That phone number, 970-718-2736. Colin, caller number one.

[Spencer Martin]

Hey, guys, Craig Lemke here from Denver, Colorado.

[George Hincapie]

Can you guys walk us through what

[Spencer Martin]

it's like riding through those insane crowds in the mountain stages? What do you hear when you're in

[George Hincapie]

the middle of it all? How do you stay focused with so

[Spencer Martin]

much going on around you? And despite the chaos, Is it actually fun?

[Lance Armstrong]

Thanks, guys.

[Spencer Martin]

Love the show.

[George Hincapie]

It's a good question.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

R. Yeah.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I mean, the. The thing I remember most about going through the crowds at certain times, particularly when I was. When we were on the col. Dude. Parasaur in 2012, which is a. Lucian, is a big hangout for British people, certainly in the summer. And lots of people come to Lucian to watch the Tour de France in. In all that kind of chaos, riding up these climbs and the effort you're making. You would always spot someone, you know, in the crowd who. Who just stepped down the road and goes, go, Bread. You go. That was Dave from Preston. You know, it's just. Yeah. Just interesting.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

It really just depends too, if it's a final climb, if you're in the first group, if you're in the. In the groupetto, like, there's all different scenarios when you're going through these people. If you're in the groupetto, it could be a lot more fun. Like you said, you see people, you know, but like, when you're going for it, like, it doesn't really even affect you. You hear the noise, but you're so focused that you're not letting any of that stuff, like, mess up your focus.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, there's always something that makes you laugh as well. Like some guy will run next to you dressed as a giant penis.

[George Hincapie]

He's got the thong like Borat. I get that question a lot. I mean, I think it. For the, for the layperson that watches the race. They watch and they think, wow, that must be scary. Or you must be sort of worried that the people aren't going to get out of the way. It's never scary. It's never, it's, it's never. It's not always pleasant. I mean, there are times that there. People are more animated and they are not your fans, but they're not going to do. It's just not going to do anything to you. Now, over the course of 100 years, have they done stuff to certain writers? Yes. Was Eddie Merckx punched and had to withdraw from the tour? Yes, that. But that just doesn't happen. Of course, now we live. People could be very difficult to, to get away with that now. Everything is filmed, everything is on tv. You would be caught immediately. They're not all respectful, they're not all fans, but that's okay. And I, And I think most of those, if not, no, I think all of the writers actually enjoy it. Like it. It is so intense. They're right on top of you. You have this sort of subtle just knowing that they're going to get out of the way.

[Lance Armstrong]

Right.

[George Hincapie]

Also, too keep in mind, especially when it's a small group, there are cars right behind. So the people aren't stupid. They see, they see the riders, but they also see the cars and the motos. They know that they have to get out of the way, but it's, it's, it's very special. I mean, and I think most guys really, really look forward to it.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

It's what makes our sport unique, isn't it? Is the crowds. If you took the crowds away, we wouldn't have a race, would we?

[George Hincapie]

No, no.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

Well, and you see it. I mean, you See this? And. And for whatever reason, I guess just to kind of make things a little cleaner and a little safer towards the finish, two or three kilometers from the summit or from the top of the climb, they start barricading the road. And then you see, I mean, you're going from what looks like a million people to 50 people, because nobody wants to be behind the barriers. They want to be on the road touching the riders and yelling in their face. But the second they put those barriers up, which, which, which. Which sort of flies in the face of what you just said, that the people don't want to be there.

[Lance Armstrong]

In your. In your heyday, were you ever. Did you ever have fear? I think we didn't sometimes one year or two years. You had security, right?

[George Hincapie]

I mean, we. There was. Yeah, I mean, there was. There was a couple of years there that were a little. But I never.

[Lance Armstrong]

You wouldn't. You didn't worry about it, like in the race, you wouldn't think about it?

[George Hincapie]

No, no, no. I was given 2004 Optiwez. A lot of lot going on. That was the year. Trying to break a record.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

Say it again. Trying to break a record. But it was also an interesting time globally, politically, geopolitically.

[Lance Armstrong]

Right.

[George Hincapie]

2004. We had just invaded Iraq. It was wildly unpopular in France and mainland Europe. It was unpopular all over the world. I had a very close relationship with President Bush. People knew that that was well publicized. I just assumed I was riding around the country in a debated. We were riding around the country in a jersey that said the United States Postal Service. So, I mean, you just kind of keep adding them up. Plus, I wasn't doing myself any favors to endear myself to the public. And that. That Alpez time trial, that was. I never had an experience like that where the State Department gets involved.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

And says, do you really want to do this? I said, what are you talking about? I said. And then they say the threats are credible.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

Do you really want to go out there? So of course I'm going out there. There was no doubt in my mind. I said, where I'll go. I'm going to go start my warm up now because I'm going out there. I'll be fine. But yeah. And it was.

[Spencer Martin]

The US Was not as popular as it is now in Europe.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Didn't Johan have someone in the car?

[George Hincapie]

I didn't want to get to that part. There were people stationed on the climb. There were people in the car. It was. But I just didn't think about it all Right.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Bring that. Them days.

[George Hincapie]

And then it was so nice to. It wasn't nice to catch Basso because I really liked him, but I thought, boy, at least I'm with somebody who I know really likes me. I'm good with this guy. All these other people, I'm not so

[Spencer Martin]

sure I think they'll ever do.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Flowing though, doesn't it?

[Spencer Martin]

That ever do another time trial or is it too crazy?

[George Hincapie]

No, it was beautiful. I mean, that's what I think. There was upwards of a million people on the roadside.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

Amazing. Amazing. I don't know. I'm not picking the route. I think the bus boys of France are picking the route. This is not an exciting. I mean, I do think we're going

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

to see big crowds tomorrow, though, because

[George Hincapie]

they're going to get two days, so they know that they don't have to. They don't have to go anywhere to get two days of action. It's gonna be huge crowds.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

And south duos, especially in, like the certain corners or certain countries, like the Dutch corner, the Danish corner. It's. It's really cool.

[Spencer Martin]

Are the buses at the top or do you have to ride back down up to us?

[George Hincapie]

I think they're staying on top. Yeah, There's a lot of space.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Space up there.

[Spencer Martin]

Finish there the next day, so.

[George Hincapie]

All right, caller number two.

[Spencer Martin]

Hello, this is Dale from Kingsport, Tennessee.

[George Hincapie]

I got a question for George.

[Spencer Martin]

How did he convince Melanie to leave the 2003 tour for him?

[George Hincapie]

What was his move of the day? Dale coming in strong.

[Lance Armstrong]

It's funny, we actually told that story last night. Met her in Paris. Well, we won the team classification. So we went up on the podium, she gave us a little lion.

[George Hincapie]

And at the start. Because the start of the tour, the prologue was in Paris.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, the prologue was in Paris. We had three guys in top 10, best team. The next day, she gave us the lion. I was like, how you doing? Went back to the bus. I go, guys, I met it. How you doing? They're like, you say that every day. I'm like, no, this time I really mean it. So I spent. I spent the next two weeks trying to get her number. She totally blew me off. Didn't want to give me her number. She was nice, but was not interested. But her driver was a big fan of ours, and her driver slid me the number. So I got the number and I started texting her. She's like, what in the f. How

[George Hincapie]

do you have my number? DMS, this is 2003, folks. Nobody's sliding in any DMS liter.

[Lance Armstrong]

A note. And she wrote back saying, I'm not interested. But underneath the note was a number in a different color ink from the driver. He gave me the number, obviously, so I started texting her. And here we are 20 years later.

[George Hincapie]

And Dale.

[Lance Armstrong]

And we still have the node frame.

[George Hincapie]

That's better. If I tell that story. Dale, if you ever get. Get to go to George H. George and Mel Hincapi's house in Greenville, the note is framed and on the wall. How does it warm your heart, Bradley? You do like that. And she got kicked out.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, I was gonna.

[George Hincapie]

She got kicked out. She got. They found out that there was some whatever and she got told to leave.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah. True story.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Really?

[Lance Armstrong]

Two days before the finish?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah. Is that a rule within aso?

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, no, I guess.

[Lance Armstrong]

You, like, they saw us talking, like at the starts too much and maybe at the finish too much. And then she's like. They were like, you got to stop talking to him. She's like, I'm going home. So she got fired.

[George Hincapie]

Oh, she went home.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

All right.

[George Hincapie]

She went home. Took her back to Greenville. First Toronto Drone of Philly and then Greenville. Well, listen, it's a love story and it's a great story. Three kids late, three beautiful kids later. Got a. Got a daughter in college, obviously. Enzo out getting kick ass results. Luca right behind. I have a feeling. Oh, yeah.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Lucas picking up bad habits. Watching his dad shout everyone on the

[Lance Armstrong]

bike path or getting shouted out. Yes, unfortunately, he has witnessed that this week.

[George Hincapie]

Get some good. See, I'm glad we did this call in line. This was a damn good idea. And they've been good. And I get. I understand we get to. We get to kind of call through them and pick the good ones, but they've all been good.

[Spencer Martin]

Yep.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

And Coltland, I. I feel sorry for you because you. You gotta listen to a lot of these. You got no telling what kind of. You got to listen to as well.

[Lance Armstrong]

How many were you getting a day, Coltland?

[Spencer Martin]

Hundreds.

[Lance Armstrong]

Hundreds? Really?

[Spencer Martin]

Probably. Probably not so fun going through this.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Hey.

[George Hincapie]

No. All right, let's do some trivia and then we're going to get out of here because we got to rest up. It's Alp d' wez tomorrow and the next day. Yesterday's question. The young riders have been a force in this year's tour. In what year was the best young rider competition, aka the white jersey, introduced into the race? Survey says 1975 was a great idea.

[Lance Armstrong]

I did.

[George Hincapie]

I didn't know that either. And I. And I also think too. It was last night I was thinking they're going to have to lower the age. I mean if Paul Seychelles is eligible for seven years, we got to lower it.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

Today's question. The finish here. I need a line for this. The finish at Orcier Merlet is legendary for a 1971 stage where a Spaniard crushed Eddie Merckx taking around eight minutes. Who was that Spaniard? Head on over to ventumracing.com themove gets enter to win $5,000 credit towards a favorite or the Venta bike of your choice. Could be the NS one, could be the GS one and our friend Dia over Ventum isn't done.

[Lance Armstrong]

He's.

[George Hincapie]

He's continued. I just want. I'm not allowed to say very much but he continues to innovate. Head on over to Ventham Racing.com the move see all tomorrow. This summer there are 250 reasons to join T Mobile Girls Trip booked and switching to T Mobile help make it happen with experience beyond switch and get $100 back plus $650 in value in built in plan benefits. That's $750 in your first year guaranteed. And honestly that hundred dollars back, I'm putting it towards the zipline now. That's how you do summer. Exactly. Best switch I ever made. This is just one reason to join T Mobile this summer. There are 250 reasons. Find yours.

[Spencer Martin]

Savings based on the value of benefits

[George Hincapie]

included with experience beyond like entertainment and one year of AAA Classic and DashPass on US benefits may require activation. C plan for details get 100 via virtual prepaid MasterCard with eligible ported no cash access and expires in six months. Issued by Sunrise Banks and a member FDIC. Allow eight weeks. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] switch upfront payment of 45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy see terms.