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- [00:02]
Spencer Martin
The move is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. We're lost. I'm gonna pull over and ask that man for directions. Hi there. We're looking to get to the campground. Well, you're gonna take a left at the old oak tree end of this road. No, I'm just kidding. Let me get my phone out. How are you getting a signal out here? T Mobile and US Cellular decided to merge. So the network out here is huge. We're getting the same great signal as the city and saving a boatload with all the benefits. Oh, and a five year price guarantee. Okay, here's those directions. Actually, can you point us in the direction of a T Mobile store?
- [00:51]
Johan Berniel
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Spencer Martin
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Johan Berniel
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- [01:00]
Spencer Martin
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Johan Berniel
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Spencer Martin
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- [01:21]
Johan Berniel
Now you also really played it cool. You know, he just, he just know was there with, with Seychelles and then little Frack was amazing. They had three guys coming back and then basically that as soon as these four guys were together, the three track riders plus little track riders plus Ayusu, it was, you know, everything was under control and the only thing that could happen potentially was that Seshas had an amazing climb in the last 2km of the last climb and Ayuso collapsed. But I guess you know he knew very well how he was feeling and you know there was no, there was nothing to do against that. You. So he was, he was super strong on the last stage.
- [02:08]
Spencer Martin
Everybody, welcome back to the move. I'm Spencer Martin, I'm here with Johan Berniel. We are breaking down the past weekend of racing the UAE Tour. Isaac Del Toro taking in pretty clinical overall win. Johan, pretty impressive. Can't wait to talk to you about that. As well as the battle between Juana USO and Paul Seychas at the Tour. At the Volta. At the Tour, the Volta Algarve and Then the Root Adel Soul, we have Ivana Romeo breaking mov stars longer than you would expect. Stage race drought over there in southern Spain. But Johan, you're, you're in the Costa Blanca, you're getting some rides in hope that's going well. But, but let's just tackle the UA Tour first. What was Isaac Del Toro? I think the last time we talked it was. We talked after the first summit finish. Very difficult climb. Del Toro was out of position going into it. Actually lost time to Antonio Tiberi was in second place. I believe you said he would probably win the overall and you were correct. He just went up to Jabel Hafit. The final climb. 25 minute climb, broke the record on it. 25:30 attacked, whittled the group down with around 2 1/2 k to go. He dropped TB, who was holding on. And then kind of interestingly, Luke Plapp stormed out of the group behind, ended up passing TB and so did Felix G. Plapp was second by about 12 seconds behind him. But Del Toro, just for reference, did about 6.3 watts per kilo, assuming he's 64 kilograms. Got the record on the climb. These days, though, that might be just like a training. That's like a little Zone 2 training ride for a lot of these guys at this point. But Johan, what was your impression of this overall win? Oh, in remco, Evanopol finished 10th, a little over two minutes back. He was 52. An additional 52 seconds back on the stage six summit finish.
- [03:58]
Johan Berniel
Yeah, I mean, yo. Impressive, impressive attack of Del Toro. Super confident. He was actually. And you know, he was. So he basically, he was fighting his. I mean, I'm not going to say his, his roommate flatmate, but you know that they live in the same building, him and Antonio Tiberi, they go training almost every day together. The third guy, by the way, we talked about the third guy who lives in the same. So there's three riders living in one building.
- [04:24]
Spencer Martin
It's.
- [04:24]
Johan Berniel
It's Del Toro, Tiberi and Pelari.
- [04:32]
Spencer Martin
Oh, yeah.
- [04:32]
Johan Berniel
These two guys live in the same building in, in San Marino, so they know each other perfectly. They're good, they're good friends. But yeah, it was impressive. I mean, I've. I haven't checked it with a stopwatch, but his attack with about 3k to go, I think he must have been like 35, 40 seconds out of the saddle on a lot bigger gear than Tiberi. Tiberi initially could respond. Everybody else was dropped. And then finally he went again. And it Broke, you know, Tibeti just had to sit down and didn't finish even second, didn't finish third. So, yeah, I mean, amazing win of Del Toro. And you just said Spencer, 44 seconds faster than the record, which, I mean, 44 seconds faster than Pogacha's fastest time up that climb.
- [05:26]
Spencer Martin
It's not bad.
- [05:27]
Johan Berniel
And Jebel Hafeet has been. Has been featured in, typically always as the.
- [05:32]
Spencer Martin
Yeah.
- [05:32]
Johan Berniel
In. In the tour of uae. But, you know, I mean, I think records, especially when it's, you know, the times, you know, I. I always want to see it, put it in a proper context. You know, we don't know if it was tailwind. I've seen comments on. On social media. Oh, you know, 44 seconds faster than Pogachar. You know, he's gonna. Gonna do this, he's gonna do that. You know, then if. If you really look at the results I just checked, the first eight of that stage broke Pogacha's record.
- [06:07]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
- [06:08]
Johan Berniel
And. And Remco, even the pool, who finished, I don't know, between 10th and 15th, he was only eight seconds slower than Puglatcher's best time. So everything is relative, right? You need to put it in a proper context. So I, I just want to, you know, make sure that people understand, like, breaking records. It's. It's. It's not. I mean, it's not unusual. It does, however, prove that the level of. The overall level of the pro peloton keeps getting up, going higher and higher and higher. They go faster every year. And Pugach. It's been a while. No, since three years ago. Four years ago. Since Bugacha raced uae.
- [06:47]
Spencer Martin
I thought he raced it last year on. On the new bike. Remember the Y1RS?
- [06:52]
Johan Berniel
Yeah, he did. Yeah.
- [06:53]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, yeah. But he had a lead. The thing is, too, he always, I believe, always had a lead going into it.
- [06:59]
Johan Berniel
He defended.
- [07:00]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, so.
- [07:01]
Johan Berniel
He defended.
- [07:01]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Del Toro had to go as hard as he could.
- [07:05]
Johan Berniel
Yeah. So, yeah, And. And already, you know, the majority of the work of that record is not even due to UAE Alder Toro. It was decathlon who was putting the temple. It was decathlon who was leading it out from. From very, very far ahead. So, yeah, he did break the record, but, you know, the next seven writers also did. So, no, I wouldn't read too much into that.
- [07:38]
Spencer Martin
And what do you think of Felix Galler getting third? I guess that's who decathlon was going for. Luke Plapp in second, 12 seconds back. Super impressive ride. Super impressive. I mean, two to, to pace himself to catch on. Also with Del Toro, the, the numbers are the numbers, right? He looked, he was good, he was fast, he was in a big gear, which I like to see old school big gear. He's not spinning these teacup size gears like everybody else these days. But the thing is, if you noticed he, he got rid of TB right before it was very steep and then it was flatter and he made sure to dump him right before then so he could keep pressing. Because if you're on the limit, usually you're, maybe you can go on the steep parts roughly the same speed, but you start to get bigger gaps when you get to. It's counterintuitive. You wouldn't think it was this way, but when you get to the flatter section, you can actually go quite a bit faster if you're a little bit stronger. Yeah, yeah.
- [08:32]
Johan Berniel
If you're strong, I think it shows that is just an amazing strong bike rider. I think very underestimated in terms of, I mean, within the peloton, everybody knows Luke Plapp is crazy strong. It also shows that you need and I think the UAE Tour is the ideal environment for a guy like Luke Plapp because he has this big power. And on those climbs you don't necessarily need to be very savvy in the bunch as, as long when you get to the bottom of that climb. These climbs are steep and they're basically on highways, so there's no fighting for position needed. And Lut Plab can start in 30th, 40th position. He is going to be at the front no matter what on those climbs. It's not the same like having to, you know, like fight for position to the bottom of a climb in France or wherever in Italy. And then it's narrow and when you're 30th or 40, forget about it. It's not, it was never strung out.
- [09:33]
Spencer Martin
It's.
- [09:33]
Johan Berniel
It was always a pack which just keeps losing riders. Yeah, this, this kind of races is, that's ideal for Luke Blup. I mean, I think he is kind of known to have some trouble with positioning in, in the bunch and you know, the races in Europe, it's that it's different, it's a different story. But you know, it shows that Blop has a big engine, a huge engine. You just said in the, in the pre show that he already finished second one year. No, in the UAE 2023, the year
- [10:04]
Spencer Martin
that Rimco Evanopole won, I believe he was second, did a great time trial
- [10:10]
Johan Berniel
and then Defended that position on those clients this year. You know, third spot definitely. He must be in amazing shape.
- [10:22]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, and it shows you. I mean this is no shade at Luke Plapp. Guy's incredible. He's very strong, but it shows you. He's probably 15, 20 minute power. He's up there with the best, but his results aren't, at least in Europe when it gets technical, like are not on par with the best riders.
- [10:40]
Johan Berniel
So you could compare this Spencer with, you know, with basically a huge performance on Zwift. You know, I mean this is what the UAE Tour is. You don't, I mean you just get on that bike and just go up that climb. There's not that much other, other things involved that just go as hard as you can. Especially on those climbs that are pretty steep. You know, drafting is not that much of a, an advantage and you just get automatically to the front and it's
- [11:11]
Spencer Martin
like a little laboratory actually. But if we look at for a little further down, I thought this was kind of interesting because this is a deep field. We look a little further down. You have seventh place. I don't think we mentioned this man's name once all year. Derek G. West, out of his exile. He's back in seventh place, 36 seconds down. That's not bad for his first race with little trick. Yeah.
- [11:34]
Johan Berniel
Trouble after a troublesome winter.
- [11:36]
Spencer Martin
Very troublesome. Very. You got it. Must have been very stressful for him.
- [11:39]
Johan Berniel
But.
- [11:40]
Spencer Martin
So that's impressive. He's recovered, putting up decent results. Remco Evanopole, 52 seconds back. What do you make of this performance? Not. I thought he would either be winning the stage or like 10 minutes back,
- [11:52]
Johan Berniel
but no, I didn't.
- [11:53]
Spencer Martin
Pretty good climb. But what does this tell us?
- [11:57]
Johan Berniel
Well, it, I mean, you know that it tells, it tells us that, you know, he's obviously he, he showed big power in, in Mallorca and Valencia. If you then have a week where it turns out to not be 100% usually, you know, after that defeat on, on that first client, I remember, I don't remember the name now. On that hard, super hard climb. Yeah, it was almost impossible to, to for him to be. He tried and you know, he, he, he was better. Didn't really crack or break down completely like the other day, but if you're off, you're off, you know, and it, it does happen. He's not in bad shape, but he's not in. And, and it also shows Spencer that World Tour races are a different level than anything we have seen until now. Mallorca Valencia, Some good writers are there, but it's not the same level. So Remco is in good shape, but he has work to do. And I'm pretty sure that he's going to be able, he's going to be able to, to, to improve. The question is, however, I don't know if we talked about that the other day, is, is Remco, does he really have the, the talent? I mean, he obviously has a lot of talent, the qualities of being a climber, a good enough climber to be with the best guys in the Grand Tours. Logic. Logic would say yes, because he already finished third in the, in the Tour de France. You know, not, not a lot of riders can say that in today's peloton, but they finished third in the Tour and he won the Vuelta. Right. Now, then the other question is, was that the best Remco we've ever seen two years ago? Is he, Is he at this level? Is he not at the same level? I don't know. It's still very early in the season, so I think it's way too early to draw conclusions and to judge whether he can be there or not. But to me, it is a fact that when it's super steep, saying 10 to 12% and longer than 3 kilometers, I have not seen Remco, even a pool, be with the best climbers for now on climbs like that.
- [14:21]
Spencer Martin
Yeah. The weirdest thing though, about this, the Remco situation that's happening is if you think back to that Tour, so he wasn't with the best guys, he wasn't with Pagachar, but he was beating everybody else who would have been at the level of Plap or Tiberi or Gall. He was beating Felix Gall. And then it's. On those types of climbs, and then what. What's with this regression?
- [14:46]
Johan Berniel
I don't know, Spencer. It's not the same climbs, the two. For me personally, the Tour de France is the best terrain for Remco. It's better than the Giro and better than the Vuelta, because the climbs typically, I mean, overall, you will even. There are some steep climbs sometimes, but, you know, usually the Alps and the Pyrenees, it's long climbs. It's not 10, 12, 15 kilometers and usually between 7 and 9%. And that's ideal terrain for Remco because that's a time trial of those climbs. He will not respond to attacks. He should not respond to attacks. And if he, if he has its power output on those climbs where you can have some speed, because, you know, on 7 to 9% climbs, the speed is higher, which is an advantage for a rider like Remco, who's a time trialist. So I think, for the, for that reason, I think the Tour is the best terrain of the three ground tours for Remco, even a pool for the moment. As long as today and Jonas are at their top, I don't think he can get there for the moment, but he can deterred well.
- [15:52]
Spencer Martin
And if you think about Teddy and Jonas we're talking about, climbs are good for. Some climbs are good, sometimes they're bad. There's no. Would there be any climb that they would ever face that you'd say that's not good for them? Every climb's good for them. So you can't really compete with them if you're a situational climber. You've got to be good all the time or you're not gonna be able to beat them. Yeah, yeah. Well, then we'll get.
- [16:13]
Johan Berniel
And then let's see. I mean, if so if we talk about. I mean, and I'm reading a lot about this because obviously the Belgian media is all over it. Right. And so they constantly keep saying, yeah, you know, okay, you know, he already, he was third already. If you look at Remco's situation, I mean, it's really fucked up his situation because he, you know, he, he could try to get closer to Jonas, but then there's still that gap between Jonas and today between. There's a gap there which for the moment Vingard hasn't been able to close and I doubt he can still close it because this. They're still improving both. But I personally expect Bacha to be. We will see soon when he starts racing. But I personally mean since the level keeps going up of, of all the riders, Pugach is going to be on a higher level than last year, in my opinion. So it's quite frustrating for everybody else who has to race against it.
- [17:08]
Spencer Martin
And not only is that his problem, so he's not. He's got to close the gap to Jonas and he's got to close the gap between Jonas and Tade. But while this is all happening, you have guys like Isaac del Toro getting back like they're leapfrogging him. So that's, that's a problem as well. Tough out there for himco. Did you see this? He talked about. He thought he was bad on that first climb because he put too much load on his knees with the big chain ring in the time trial.
- [17:37]
Johan Berniel
Yeah, I mean, it's ex. It's trying to Find explanation I I understand you know I mean obviously he
- [17:42]
Spencer Martin
was in I have, I have wondered about this with These through the 2
- [17:46]
Johan Berniel
of UAE thinks he is the favorite you know together with Del Toro wins the time trial then doesn't perform the day after as he expects and then you try to look for explanations. I mean every single writer does that. I I, I don't think it's something specific. It's just you know this week was he was a few percent off which can happen because he says that he wasn't completely satisfied with his time cloud performance either that his feelings were not as he expected it to be. I mean luckily for everybody else because he did he went 6056 point something kilometers average. You know.
- [18:33]
Spencer Martin
Yeah I believe it was the fastest time trial he's ever done. So yeah so sensation were sensations weren't
- [18:39]
Johan Berniel
good though feel like he expected but he does the fastest time trial he's ever done. I I, I you know I wouldn't read too much into it. You know it's, it's. He hasn't gone to altitude yet. Now he's going to take a month A month of racing goes to altitude even the pool. Is a guy who responds really well to altitude and responds very well to training camps which for the moment he has I think he has done training camps with the team but not a specific training camp on in order to prepare. His next race is Catalunya, right?
- [19:15]
Spencer Martin
Catalunya, Yep. And Amstel Gold. No San Remo. That was on there. Now it's not on there.
- [19:20]
Johan Berniel
Oh it's that's not a surprise. I mean I would, I would definitely not go to San over and he can there's nothing to gain there for him. It's you know there's nothing to gain unless you you want to get a training ride of 300 km in the legs.
- [19:33]
Spencer Martin
That's you think do you think he could win? S I, I, I I don't I wouldn't rule him out.
- [19:39]
Johan Berniel
No, he can't.
- [19:40]
Spencer Martin
Attacking getting over the the poo and then attacking
- [19:47]
Johan Berniel
with against today and, and, and Val.
- [19:50]
Spencer Martin
The thing you would have the thing that would have to happen is he attacks and then those guys are staring at each other.
- [19:56]
Johan Berniel
Yeah.
- [19:56]
Spencer Martin
And then yeah.
- [19:58]
Johan Berniel
How many times does that happen nowadays in this in, in today's cycling sponsor that they staring at.
- [20:03]
Spencer Martin
It's also not clear that he is the positioning that's very hard would be the Chipresa.
- [20:09]
Johan Berniel
You know I mean it's, that's madness. And then okay he would probably even with A great team around him. This is. This is war. The entrance to the Tiprasa. It's crazy. You know, everybody who has been there. I've been there as a writer, I've been there as a director. It's madness. And it gotten a lot worse in the last few years because everybody goes a lot faster. You know, before you had. You had three teams who had a strong leader. So it was kind of strung out nowadays. They're, you know, all over the road and all the teams are there together. And I could perfectly see a situation where Remco loses position, starts in 50th 60 position and then has move up. By the time you're in front, you're done, you're. It's. It's over. I would not recommend. I would not recommend for m A pool not do Milan Sao and not do Tour of Flanders. He's not that kind of rider.
- [21:04]
Spencer Martin
All right, you heard it here first. I mean, I kind of agree now. Now. Now that you say it, I think about it like even Del Toro, who think how good Isaac del Toro is. He can never. He's never in the right position. The bottom of the chessa. Yeah, it's like, it's really hard. We also should say Jonathan Milan wins three stages. He sweeps every sprint finish. Looking pretty good. Any thoughts on Milan? I mean, it was not. He was sprinting at Sam Wellsford, who's one of the best early season sprinters we have. So pretty impressive.
- [21:33]
Johan Berniel
Other sprinters were definitely not there, but, you know, great team, focused on him. I saw the power numbers. Just impressive. Like what was 1800, 1900 watches.
- [21:45]
Spencer Martin
And this, like you said about the climbs, this is equally good. Yeah, it's a very straightforward type of sprinting. Very hard to beat someone like Jonathan Milan.
- [21:55]
Johan Berniel
Yeah, so. So, yeah, I mean, he won three stages as expected. He's, you know, he's one of the top three best sprinters in the world. And if the other two are not there, who's going to beat him? Plus his lead out was. Was perfect.
- [22:14]
Spencer Martin
And so the seven stages, five stages won by. No, four stages won by Italians.
- [22:20]
Johan Berniel
Then Alber. Yeah.
- [22:22]
Spencer Martin
Yep. So pretty, pretty good for Italian cycling. But.
- [22:26]
Johan Berniel
So four Italians, two Mexican. No, one Belgian and one Bel.
- [22:31]
Spencer Martin
Yeah.
- [22:31]
Johan Berniel
Because Delor won stage one.
- [22:32]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, Stage one. Yeah, we forgot about. Already looked pretty impressive. But a little trek then. So I believe off the top of my head. World Tour win standings currently are Jonathan Milan and Isaac Del Toro. Both have three World Tour wins, so little trek off to a pretty good start. And we haven't even got to Algarve yet. But any, any other thoughts about UAE Tour before you move on?
- [22:58]
Johan Berniel
You know, I mean, definitely an important race for uae. They win with somebody who's not great for the team. The shake is going to be super happy. You know, Marcin and Janetti obviously delivered what. Because you know what, if you're in UAE shoes, the team, uae, it may sound okay, you could say, oh, he's only 2 of UAE, you know, but the pressure that is on the team is so high. They have to win.
- [23:31]
Spencer Martin
Yeah.
- [23:31]
Johan Berniel
You know, even if it's just the two of you, either they have to win and their sponsors, their backers don't understand if they don't win, they don't understand it. So I mean, it's, it's stressful, man. Let me tell you. So anyways, you know, that's also why they brought Del Caro right to win and they delivered. So once again, UAE off to an amazing start of the season. It promises to be a repeat of 20, 25, if not more dominance.
- [24:04]
Spencer Martin
I don't know if that, that's, that's scary to think about. It is impressive when he can go because you're right, you got to win ua Tour. Don't send Pagachar and you can still get it done with another guy. That's, that's imper. That's, that shows the depth right there. I also was just parting thought on this race. Del Toro goes into the final stage not leading and I was just not surprised, but I was impressed by. It just seems so cool headed and clinical. Like I've, I've got to drop him. Got to take time back and it never really looked in doubt. He just took care of business, won, won the overall. Made it look easy. If I, if I say so.
- [24:44]
Johan Berniel
He was suffering. I mean he, that was, that, I mean that was, that was a suffering face. But yeah, I mean he, he had confidence and obviously Tiberi also, I think, you know, once, once he broke once he had to let that wheel go, he kind of, you know, collapsed, still finished fourth. But usually normally he, what we have seen in, in the other stage, he should have finished second. Yeah, I think he maybe, maybe 15 seconds down. So something like that. Like, like Plop. Because plop finished 12 seconds down. So I mean Tiberi should definitely be able to do that based on his level right now. So if he finishes 12 seconds down in second, Del Toro doesn't win.
- [25:30]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, I mean it's never easy to go in and drop someone that dropped you like because remember, del Toro got dropped on stage three.
- [25:37]
Johan Berniel
No.
- [25:39]
Spencer Martin
Well, he'd finished behind in the climb.
- [25:41]
Johan Berniel
Like, no, he didn't get propped. He, he started in the back and you know, calculated and said he looked at his power output and then.
- [25:50]
Spencer Martin
Well, he rode the climb slower than Antonio and then he had to go ride a climb faster than him. Well, I guess, yeah.
- [25:59]
Johan Berniel
If you, if you look at he also, I mean, he lost time in the time trial to Tibet.
- [26:06]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, he did. Yeah. This is this one of the best, this is one of the best races I've seen ridden and not one like he actually Tiberi didn't really put a foot wrong and that maybe he shouldn't have followed so closely I guess on the final stage, but, or the final climbing stage. But he rode pretty, pretty good race.
- [26:24]
Johan Berniel
But you know, I mean, Tiberi on the other hand was, you know, courageous enough on stage three to go with and then drop him and basically he was gone before del Toro made it back to the front and started his pursuit.
- [26:40]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, and that's, yeah, if he's not, there's probably a different story. So it was by the Doors sword by the Spencer.
- [26:48]
Johan Berniel
You know, a little, a little, you know, a little side note, a little rant from, from me, you know, the old grumpy guy, man. Some of these commentators, you know, and I, I, I listen to, I, so I sometimes I have to switch, I, I watch on hbo. Right. And so you report. So I, I switch languages because one commentator starts to annoy me with the comments and I mean, I don't know, some of these, I mean, especially, especially the non cyclists. Right. So there's usually an ex, a cyclist. An ex cyclist and then a narrator. Right. You know, I mean, these clams are so hard. I mean there's not much tactics involved, guys. It's, it's, it's, it's everybody, I mean, it's just go as fast as you can to the top and they make, they, they come up with these theories.
- [27:37]
Spencer Martin
Yeah.
- [27:37]
Johan Berniel
Now this and now this. I said, did you guys look at the profile? Have you ever written a bike of a client like this? It's not that complicated. You know, if you have the legs, you go, you, I mean, anyways, little side note, I, I, I, I, I got nervous with two of UAE comments in, in several languages. I'm not going to specify which languages, but I speak five languages. So I went through all five and some of them were really on my nerves.
- [28:08]
Spencer Martin
That's good. We can anonymize the which ones you're directly criticizing. But let's take a quick ad break and then we'll talk about Algarve and then a little bit about Ruta del Sol. But I thought Algarve was maybe the most interesting race of the weekend. Everybody. This episode is brought to you by Square. They have some genuinely big updates at their latest releases. Eventually, Square rolled out a wave of new tools built to help local businesses run smarter, faster and more profitably. And I was just at a local coffee shop here in town that used to square check out with Seamless, tap to pay text receipt instantly. Super clean setup. I'm not getting stacks of paper to sign. I'm not doing long division trying to leave a tip. I'm getting stressed. If there's no pen, what do I do? I can't stand that. But with Square it just tap and go. And as a small business owner myself, running beyond the peloton, I noticed that stuff. When systems work, everything feels tighter and more professional. And for other business owners out there, what's interesting now is Square AI. You can literally ask questions like what are my top sellers last month? Which day is my fastest or slowest? And it gives you instant charts and answers right from the dashboard. That's like having a built in data analyst next to you all the time. They've also made it easier to track costs, set aside savings, automatically manage payroll, and even accept Bitcoin with zero processing fees through 2026. It's all integrated, one platform, no chaos. And so if you're ready to sell smarter, run faster and stress less, right now you can get up to 200 off square hardware at square.com go/themove. That's s q u a r e.com g o/ themove. Run your business smarter with Square. Get started today, everybody. This episode is brought to you by Holo Socks. I'm getting ready to fly to Austin, Texas tomorrow morning. And one thing I have not packed but ready to wear on the flight are my hollow socks. They're right here. I'm going to be wearing these on that flight because they keep my legs from feeling heavy upon arrival, keeps the swelling down. I, I sometimes you're sitting on these airplane seats, you're pooling up, you're pulling up in those ankles. The hollow socks just keep the blood flowing, keep that from happening. And as a result, these are a complete game changer. When I land, I feel fine and go for a run, go for a ride. When you got a ride with Lance Armstrong scheduled upon arrival, you're going to need all the edge you can get. And the hollow socks provides that. They're the first compression sock that does not force you to choose between comfort and functional. And as a result, they're the only compression socks I've been able to wear for these long travel days. Like, if I go to Europe, I have a connection. When I arrive, I might be wearing them for a full day. And they're super comfortable and I get there and I feel great. And they have ultra soft baby alpaca fibers. Compression socks this comfortable, I'm going to say it, they should be illegal, should be against the water code, because whoever has them has an unfair advantage. They're also made in the USA, trusted by doctors, and over 2 million pairs have already been sold. So no matter what your day looks like, traveling, training, or just trying to recover while you're sitting at your desk, there's a hollow sock for it. And for a limited time, Hollow Socks is having a buy two, get two free sale. Head to Hollow Socks.com today to check it out. That's Hollow Socks.com for up to 50% off your order. And after you purchase, they're going to ask you where you heard about them. Tell them you heard about them at the Move so you can support the show while getting some comfy socks. All right, let's get back into it. All right, Johan. So Volta agar. I believe the last time we spoke, it was the first uphill finish. Paul Seas beat W USO impressively. Joal was kind of the odd man out behind. And then the time trial happened. We. We hadn't talked since then, but AO ripped that time trial. Felipe won. AO was very fast, though, was closer than I would have thought.
- [31:46]
Johan Berniel
Seven seconds. Right.
- [31:47]
Spencer Martin
Seven seconds back.
- [31:48]
Johan Berniel
And then pulse no. Five seconds down, I think. And then Seychelles was 12 seconds down, if I'm not mistaken. So he took seven seconds on seas.
- [32:01]
Spencer Martin
So I think it's actually it. This is a big. A big. This is a pet peeve of mine, these timing on the time trial. It's so confusing because they'll give it. They'll give you the stage timing sometimes in decimals. It's like, just tell me what the. What is the number going to be? So AO technically was 6 seconds behind Ghana. Between 6 and 7. Seychas was technically 13 seconds behind Ghana. So an additional 7 behind Ayuso. Super impressive from a I. I was.
- [32:32]
Johan Berniel
But also from Sesas Spencer, because I
- [32:35]
Spencer Martin
was just gonna say maybe was even. He's kind of a tall, gangly guy too. You know what I just, I was
- [32:42]
Johan Berniel
thinking you know, like you in our last podcast you said, you know, is. Is this the most polished 19 year old writer? Right. We forgot about Juana. You show man. When he was 19, he finished third in the Vuelta. Let's not forget this.
- [32:59]
Spencer Martin
He got third in the Vuelta, but I don't remember him looking this good.
- [33:05]
Johan Berniel
He was pretty. I mean, he was also three years younger or four years younger. He's 22 now. Right. So.
- [33:15]
Spencer Martin
Wait, no, no, he's 23 now. So he was, he was four years younger. Four years younger than he is now. But I don't remember him looking as polished. His policy shots, I mean that, you know.
- [33:27]
Johan Berniel
Yeah, okay. Yeah, listen, Sey knows how to. I mean, not saying I usually didn't know how to race, but let's not forget this guy finished third in his first in his maiden year as a 19 year old in the Tour of Spain. So pretty good also really pretty good. Pretty good start from. Of your professional career, man.
- [33:51]
Spencer Martin
Actually I'm looking at this. Yeah. And he's never done better in a Grand Tour since then, so. But man, he was flying in this time trial. Did a great time trial. Paul Seychelles, also great time trial. Schwalameda, not as good as was. Was off the pace quite a bit. Was 43 seconds behind Ghana. So she was kind, kind of out of the GC here. And then we go to stage four. So the stage after that was a sprint. Paul Monier wins his second. We have so many talent, good, talented youngsters that we're not even going to talk about. Paul Manier, 21 years old, wins two stages Al Carve. Super impressive. And then stage five. Yesterday was the final stage. Multiple climbs there. There was technically a chance for someone to unseat Juana Uso, but Juana USO wins a stage in an uphill sprint over Oscar Onley with Paul Se Chass right behind them. On the same time, joa made a four seconds back. Matthew Brigatello, 14 seconds back. Thomas Glog Glog 5, fifth place, six seconds back. Little bit of a glog aon there. Coming back.
- [34:55]
Johan Berniel
This guy comes back from a big injury. I think he was on Visma, right?
- [35:00]
Spencer Martin
Yeah. And he was good as a neo pro.
- [35:03]
Johan Berniel
He was really good two years ago and then I don't know what happened. He. I know he did have a problem, I think a big crash, if I'm not mistaken. And was basically out for the whole season.
- [35:17]
Spencer Martin
Okay, that would make sense.
- [35:18]
Johan Berniel
Yeah. And now he's back. Is a super talented writer. Very talented writer. You know, it's.
- [35:27]
Spencer Martin
And we'll get to. They had a big win with Tom Pickock, but that, that team's actually looking really good. Better than I would have thought. But the big notes from this stage for about 44k to go. It's a, it's a hard climb. 9% average climb. Hardest climb of the day. UA is at the front, UAE setting pace. UA is attacking, but it's not domestiques, it's. Jabal made himself attacking that far out. He doesn't get away. But Kevin Vuklan and Florian Lipowitz clip off the front. They never really, it had a chance, but it kind of looked, you know, they were about maybe a minute in front at the most, which technically would have put Kevin Vauclan winning the race. Super aggressive mood. They get pulled in though, and Ayuso wins the stage. What did you think about, what did you think about Almeida's decision and then their decision to, to push on?
- [36:16]
Johan Berniel
I, I, I was wondering what Almeida's plan was. I guess what he wanted to accomplish was that nobody had teammates left and then said that all the leaders were alone and then that he probably could take advantage on the last climb of these guys looking at each other. That's my only explanation because otherwise, you know, going with 44k to go, it's not really how you can win this stage. Right. I think Almeida was going, his plan was to try to win the stage. He knew that he would not win the overall, it was too far back. But, you know, he, he really, I mean, I uso really played it cool. You know, he, he just, you know, was there with, with Seychelles and then little frack was amazing. They had three guys coming back and then basically that as soon as these four guys were together, the three track riders plus little track riders plus I uso, it was, you know, everything was under control and the only thing that could happen potentially was that Seychelles had an amazing climb in the last 2 km of the last climb, and I USO collapsed. But I guess, you know, he knew very well how he was feeling and, you know, there was no, there was nothing to do against that. You, so he was, he was super strong on the last stage.
- [37:37]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, there was, you weren't gonna defeat him. I, I was a little, I was left a little maybe cold by this Almeida performance. I thought, man, Joa Meta not good start to the year. Do you know what I said last year at this time about Almeida? He went on, he had almost had identical results to this and then went on to win three straight World Tour stage races.
- [38:02]
Johan Berniel
He's building up towards the Giro, Spencer. So I think I listened to an interview. He said, you know, I'm happy with the way things are going. You know, I, I have to improve, but I will improve. I think he has it all figured out, man.
- [38:16]
Spencer Martin
Yeah. And I definitely would not question, I would let him prove. I mean last year he looked exactly like this and then had one of the best springs I've ever seen from a stage racer. So let's give him, give him a little bit of time here. I thought you said the big takeaway here is looked really happy and comfortable with the team built around him. So as you said, he waited for the teammates and then.
- [38:41]
Johan Berniel
Yeah. And also Spencer, I think for Ayuso, it's a super important win. Same as, you know, when Remco did his first races with Red Bull. You know, he comes in this team, they made a huge effort to get him out of his UAE contract and get him to the team, paid a lot of money. It's super important to make that statement and say, okay guys, I'm here, I deliver, I win. And everybody is reeling around him and, and ready to, you know, go through help to help him win races. So as, as a leader, as a leader of a team, I think this is a very important statement of you. So. And also within, within his team and
- [39:21]
Spencer Martin
I was not to pour cold water on this, but I thought, man, Juana, you. So he's proven that he's a winner in stage races one week. Do you know who won Torno Adaratico last year? Juana USO did and then he won Bass country the year before. So he kind of didn't show us anything. We didn't know about him. But I thought he looked comfortable.
- [39:40]
Johan Berniel
It's so easy to forget Spencer. I mean these, listen, still very young, already having, I mean already winning Tirreno and Basque Country. Those two races are really hard races to win.
- [39:53]
Spencer Martin
It's.
- [39:53]
Johan Berniel
I mean the level's super high. You know, it's. That's two of the seven, right. The, the. You have the three grand tours and you have the seven big one.
- [40:01]
Spencer Martin
It's to it.
- [40:01]
Johan Berniel
If you look, Remco doesn't have a single one.
- [40:03]
Spencer Martin
Yep, yep. So he's very good. Like potentially one of the best, if not the best. He's very hard to beat in these one week stage races, especially ones with straightforward climbs like these sub alpine.
- [40:18]
Johan Berniel
Amazing time trial also.
- [40:20]
Spencer Martin
Yeah.
- [40:21]
Johan Berniel
Didn't he beat Ghana.
- [40:23]
Spencer Martin
Ghana at the Toronto time trial? Yeah. Which, you know. Yeah. And that's a really fast Hot dog course. So there's no.
- [40:32]
Johan Berniel
And now here in Algarve, six seconds of Ghana also. Yeah, he had a better, a better intermediate time than Ghana and then lost six seconds in the final. But still on a 19 kilometer time trial, you know, being so close to one of the two best time trialists in the world to we could say Ghana and Darling and definitely Remco is the best one. But you know, to be that close to a specialist like this and then on top of that being with the best in the hilly stages, that's the recipe of being a stage racer and win those races. It is.
- [41:12]
Spencer Martin
And then our last, the last one we'll highlight of the weekend. Ruta del Sol Volta Andalusia. As we predicted. Ivan Romeo and Movistar. No one could pull him back. He was just too far ahead in the GC after that breakaway. And Andreas Lechnicsson who was with him in the breakaway, second overall. Tom Pickock tried though. It was actually quite an interesting final stage. There was a steep climb before descent and then a little bit of flat before the finish. Pitcock, his team lines it up. He attacks. Romeo was kind of caught out in this little echelon. Pitcock strongest guy in the race. It looked like just, just rode away. They couldn't reel him in. But they get close enough that Romeo preserves the overall lead. Pick Hawk climbs into the podium. So it's Romeo, Romeo, Romeo first. Let, let Nick can second at plus at seven seconds back and then pick 27, 27 seconds back. Let's talk about Clabo. Let's get some more names in here that we can't say. But so Pitcock gets, gets on the podium. I thought pretty impressive ride from him. We. We saw him get what second at high end. He's kind of been building, looked, looked like Tom Pickax back after that third. What was he? Third, third place at the fault of last year on the podium. Yeah, it's kind of building on that.
- [42:32]
Johan Berniel
I thought very good start, very good start of Pitcock. You know, did they did this training camp in this altitude camp in Chile. Strange.
- [42:43]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, I didn't understand that.
- [42:45]
Johan Berniel
I think it was because of the zero and also especially because the. The hotel on top of the Taylor is fully booked already like I don't know, years ahead now. I don't know, I don't know how it works but definitely great start for Pitcock. You know, kind of gets back into the, into it where he left it off with the Vuelta and on the last stage I think he really demonstrated that he has. How would I call it, the pedigree of a real exquisite thoroughbred racehorse. He's that kind of rider. There's not that many riders with that specific incredible talent. And Pitcock shows sometimes those flashes and that attack he did and especially also the preparation of his team the way they. Yeah, the team was impressive, but man, that attack was impressive. There's. You can count them on the fingers of one hand and you have too many fingers on your hand to, to, to pick riders who are able to do that. You know, he got cut out with. With Romeo and, and Lechnessund going away and so third place was the best he could get and, and he delivered. So I think it was nice to see Romeo also really the next step into this guy's development of his career. Really strong rider, great time trialist. If he's in great good shape, can get over the climbs and defend and. And wins the overall. As you said, Spencer for Movistar it's an important victory. I think that. I think the last Spanish rider who to win this race was Alejandro Valverde.
- [44:43]
Spencer Martin
Whoa.
- [44:44]
Johan Berniel
In 2016 or 17. So it's been a while.
- [44:49]
Spencer Martin
Wow.
- [44:50]
Johan Berniel
Yeah. And then also special mention again, Spencer for Belgian rider Tom Krabbe wins again. A bunch print. He already did same in Etoile de Visage. Second win for him, second win for the team Flanders Baloise. Small team. You know, they're not used to win. And so I, I in my notes here, I said is this once again the, the dirt. The mole effect. Take them all went to him. I did speak to Dirk and he said that this guy is really super, super fast. We haven't seen the last win of this young rider, Tom Crawa.
- [45:34]
Spencer Martin
Tell Dirk you ruined my morning because my son's gotta be the world's biggest UNOX fan. No idea why this is the case. And we had a bit of a cry after they lost that sprint to Tim Crab. I was trying to explain second place. Not so bad. And Dirk, Dirk Moles, the director. So we got to be happy for him. I actually thought that attack from Pitcock kind of reminded me of the Volta attack where he briefly dropped Jonas and then probably would have won the stage. Yeah, super. I mean you got to do so much power to stay clear of a group like that over the. It's not a big climb. And then to push over the top, it's. It's not easy. Do you know the last time Movista. So this is Romeo's first GC win. Do you know the last time Movistar won A stage race? No, it was Mateo Jorgensen, 2023 Tour of Oman. Yeah. So this is big for them. Like, they kind of needed it. And then speaking of stage racing, Jonas Finnegaard, I was mentioning maybe it was the last time he spoke or the week before that. I was saying this is a. This is not a robust buildup to the Giro d'. Italia. He's going up to the zero. Just having done one stage race. How's that going to work? And then he's added a second stage race to his calendar. Perry Niece. He will do in addition to, I believe, Catalunia. I think it kind of makes sense.
- [47:03]
Johan Berniel
Spencer, let's not forget initially the plan was to do Tour of uae.
- [47:07]
Spencer Martin
Yeah.
- [47:08]
Johan Berniel
And Catalunia vineyard had to crash in training. Well documented, you know, had to cancel Tour of uae. And I guess they've just been waiting to see how he's, you know, got back into training where his form is now. And. And he added today, I think, or yesterday, Parinis. And I have heard rumors that he is in incredible shape. So that's gonna be interesting. But he's.
- [47:36]
Spencer Martin
I would have liked to have seen him at UAE Tour, but I'm excited he's going to Paris. I think this is. This is huge news. Huge. And it makes more sense. It's like now. Like now I can kind of see the path to the zero. I was a little confused why he was just going to do one stage race, but now he's added a second one. Better build up, I think.
- [47:56]
Johan Berniel
I hope. I mean, last year he also did it and he crashed and. Well, yeah, the fractured wrist.
- [48:01]
Spencer Martin
No, he did. And then his teammate went on to win it. Yeah. Yeah, that was. Yeah, that was a strange. I kind of forgot about that. Yeah, the fractured wrist at Paris and
- [48:13]
Johan Berniel
a concussion, I think.
- [48:14]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, and a concussion. And then. And then goes on to finish second of the Tour, first of the vta. So it seemed to recover okay from it. I think I'm just. I would guess he's going to win Paris. I'm quite curious now to see how this plays out.
- [48:33]
Johan Berniel
Is. Paul says, I guess so.
- [48:37]
Spencer Martin
I don't see him on the star list right now. Ivan Romeo is.
- [48:42]
Johan Berniel
That's big pressure for them for. So maybe would you get away from it? You know, give him some more time?
- [48:49]
Spencer Martin
Would you send him to the Tour de France, Seychelles?
- [48:52]
Johan Berniel
Yeah, no, probably.
- [48:55]
Spencer Martin
No, that's what I. No, I would not probably recommend anyone do the Tour as their first Grand Tour.
- [49:02]
Johan Berniel
He knows Bernard Hino gave. Gave an interview. Not so Long ago. And he said something really, really interesting and I kind of agree with him. And he said, okay, when should Paul Seychas go to the Tour? And he says, when he's ready to win it. That's his first time, he should go.
- [49:21]
Spencer Martin
Yeah, yeah. It's a good point. Yeah.
- [49:25]
Johan Berniel
So I guess they're gonna follow Eno's advice. It's good advice.
- [49:30]
Spencer Martin
You actually don't. Yeah, you, you rarely see Tour winners build into Tour winning. Like, they show up when they're ready.
- [49:38]
Johan Berniel
Actually, the guy that before, sometimes it's happened that, you know, guys started and they had a taste of the Tour and. But you see less and less. You know, for example, he won his first Tour de France.
- [49:51]
Spencer Martin
Yeah. Yeah.
- [49:52]
Johan Berniel
But since, since 85, no other French rider has won the Tour. Imagine that. Spencer, it's been 40 years. 41.
- [50:00]
Spencer Martin
I think it's too much pressure. I think that's. That is like suffocating pressure. I do think these. They should not send him this year.
- [50:12]
Johan Berniel
But maybe you have to add, I mean, Felix Gal, who was fifth at the Tour.
- [50:18]
Spencer Martin
Right.
- [50:19]
Johan Berniel
Is not going. He's going to the Giro. So who else are going to send for the Tour? We're not going for gc and we
- [50:29]
Spencer Martin
try to get, say, SPO for sprint stages. I don't know. Well, you hear like, Jonas, Jonas's first Tour, he finishes second. Yeah. You know, like, that's. You actually see that a lot. Egan Manal would be the one that pushes against it. Remember ineoscenum Team sky at the time, I believe. And he, he just got one under his belt and then he won the next year. But yeah, I, I think that is a lot to ask of policy shops right now. But it's good to talk to you and thanks for coming on.
- [50:57]
Johan Berniel
Okay, thanks. Bye.
- [50:58]
Spencer Martin
Okay, bye. Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements, or run a pre produced ad like this one across thousands of shows. To reach your target audience in their favorite podcasts with Libsyn ads, go to Libsynads.com that's L. I B S Y N ads.com today.