Has João Almeida Shifted the Momentum in the GC Battle? | Vuelta a España Stage 13 Analysis & Stage 14 Preview | THEMOVE+

Summary

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THEMOVE Podcast Summary

Episode: Has João Almeida Shifted the Momentum in the GC Battle? | Vuelta a España Stage 13 Analysis & Stage 14 Preview | THEMOVE+
Date: September 5, 2025
Hosts: Lance Armstrong (absent in this episode), Spencer Martin, Johan Bruyneel

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Overview

This episode offers an in-depth breakdown of Stage 13 of the 2025 Vuelta a España, focusing especially on Joao Almeida’s dramatic victory atop the brutal La Angliru climb and its implications for the General Classification (GC) battle. Hosts Spencer Martin and Johan Bruyneel parse the stage tactics, performances, and team strategies, then preview the critical Stage 14. The conversation includes technical analysis, insights into team dynamics—particularly UAE Team Emirates’ GC ambitions—and a candid discussion of the growing political controversy involving Israel Premier Tech.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stage 13 Recap: La Angliru Drama

• Breakaway and Race Context

  • Broadcast only began with about 65km to go; the breakaway had no real chance given the savage terrain.
  • UAE Team Emirates took control on the second to last climb, setting up Almeida.
  • The breakaway was delayed by a protest, which the commentators felt was handled too casually by race officials.
  • UAE’s domestiques, especially Felix Großschartner, laid a brutal pace, fracturing the group before the final climb.

• Almeida’s Winning Move

  • Joao Almeida rode away with Jonas Vingegaard on the final steeps, never looking back or asking for help.
  • "He just keeps pushing all the way to the finish line… Everyone was waiting for an attack from Jonas, it never comes and it’s kind of an awkward finish" — Spencer Martin [02:52]
  • Almeida claimed a 10s time bonus for the win, Vingegaard six seconds in second; Jai Hindley and Sepp Kuss finished over 28s back.
  • Almeida’s relentless rhythm and capacity to ride his pace without aid impressed both analysts.

"My takeaway of the day is of course Joao Almeida is impressive...riding his own tempo, not looking back. That was impressive."
— Johan Bruyneel [03:59]

2. The GC Battle – Is Momentum Shifting?

• Almeida vs. Vingegaard

  • Almeida’s consistent and determined riding signals a possible shift in GC momentum.
  • Vingegaard could not drop Almeida and seemed "a little rattled" after the finish (Spencer, [10:10])
  • "This Vuelta is not won yet for Jonas. He definitely cannot permit himself to have a bad day." — Johan [06:47]
  • The performance of both was slightly below their top numbers from past Grand Tours, but still extraordinarily high. Almeida’s ascent was among the fastest ever.
  • Almeida may have the psychological upper hand following today’s display:

    "Today's ride, man, it's going to give him a huge morale boost...you could see the pain on Almeida's face." — Johan [10:53]

• Other GC Riders

  • Tom Pidcock, although fading on Angliru, managed his losses well and “finished pretty good” considering the circumstances.
  • "Pidcock was 13th fastest time of all time up Angliru…not a bad ride," — Spencer [08:28]
  • Sepp Kuss lost time but remains in contention.
  • Egan Bernal’s drop in performance is noted as a possibly recurring pattern post-injury.

3. UAE’s Tactics and Team Dynamics

• Team Commitment to Almeida
  • UAE's pre-stage interview confirmed full support for Almeida, with no more riders sent into breakaways—barring rare exceptions.
  • Internal dynamics are complex: Juan Ayuso and Marc Soler performed independently, sometimes ignoring team instructions.
  • Ayuso’s pattern of only performing when the stage win is on offer, not for Almeida, is troubling the hosts.
  • "It's not normal…a guy like Ayuso, even Soler, not there anymore when Novak is still there. That’s not normal." — Johan [17:12]
  • "If I was Almeida, I'd be frustrated…margins are tight at this race." — Spencer [17:45]
• Future Tactics
  • Expect full team efforts for Almeida in coming stages; riders like Ayuso in breakaways could signal internal cohesion issues.

4. Secondary Competitions and Notable Performances

• Mads Pedersen’s Green Jersey Hunt
  • Pedersen, seemingly tireless, extended his points lead with another breakaway, now clearly ahead in the green jersey competition.
  • "He wins the intermediate sprint, gets 20 more points…looking good for the points jersey." — Spencer [19:37]
• Best Young Rider Battle (White Jersey)
  • Julio Pellizari and Matthew Riccitello are tightly matched; Pellizari took time on Riccitello in the last kilometer.
  • Riccitello, who nearly wasn’t selected for the Vuelta, is now seventh in GC.

5. Political Protests and Israel Premier Tech Controversy

• Protests Affecting the Race
  • Stage was interrupted by anti-Israel protest targeting Israel Premier Tech.
  • Debate on whether organizers are managing protests and course safety effectively.
  • "It feels quite different from the Tour de France in terms of crowd control." — Spencer [28:49]
• Team’s Future in the Race
  • Following a tweet from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praising the team, hosts speculate it may presage their withdrawal due to mounting political pressure.
  • "That tweet, I think, is the end of the participation of this team in this Vuelta." — Johan [26:11]
  • None of the riders/staff are personally involved with the ongoing conflict, but the controversy now directly affects the team’s standing.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Almeida’s Grit and Upset Win:

  “Almeida takes over, eventually drops Jai Hindley…never looks back, never asks Vingegaard for anything, just keeps pushing all the way to the finish line.” — Spencer Martin [02:52]

• On UAE’s Internal Drama:

  “They've won half the stages. They look like they're all on a different program. They have a rider who might win the overall and it feels like it could fall apart at any second. It is a delightful situation to watch, at least from the outside.” — Spencer Martin [38:51]

• Comparing Vingegaard and Almeida’s Form:

  “This is not like a sparkling gold Jonas Vingegaard. And to me, after this stage, it feels like it’s been cracked a little bit more open.” — Spencer Martin [09:10]

• Regarding Political Protests:

  “If you look at this through American glasses...that didn’t look good.” — Johan [14:46]
  "That tweet, I think, is the end of the participation of this team in this Vuelta." — Johan [26:11]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:52] Detailed play-by-play of final climb and Almeida’s tactical execution
• [03:59] Johan’s initial reaction and analysis of Almeida/UAE tactics
• [06:47] Analysis of UAE’s strategy and mental edge in the GC contest
• [08:28] Pidcock’s performance put into historical context
• [10:53] Discussion of Almeida’s psychological momentum after the stage
• [13:00] Egan Bernal’s declining performance and possible causes
• [14:36] Almeida’s year-on-year improvement highlighted
• [15:32] Analysis of Ayuso’s drop before the final climb and team dynamics
• [17:35] Criticism of Soler and Ayuso’s support for Almeida and UAE tactics
• [19:37] Mads Pedersen’s breakaway and green jersey contest
• [20:59] Pellizari vs. Riccitello for the white jersey
• [22:02] Riccitello’s surprise strong GC ride after nearly missing Vuelta selection
• [23:46] Deep dive into the Israel Premier Tech controversy and organizer response
• [26:11] Speculation on the likely team withdrawal after political developments
• [28:49] Critique of Spanish organizers’ protest response compared to Tour de France
• [33:03] Stage 14 preview: profile, GC significance, and betting odds
• [35:35] Johan and Spencer’s winner predictions for Stage 14
• [38:51] Discussion on UAE’s unpredictable team tactics and the entertainment it provides

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Stage 14 Preview & Predictions

• Stage Profile: Short (136km), steep—including a Cat 1 (10km at nearly 10%) and a final, punishing climb with a sharp last 7km at ~9%.
• Analysis: Likely a GC battle; difficult for breakaway to survive given UAE’s drive for Almeida.
  • Johan’s Pick: Jonas Vingegaard — “The specialist in stage races…he’s solid.” [34:21]
  • Spencer’s Pick: Joao Almeida — “I’m going Joao Almeida... This could be a more interesting stage than today.” [35:35]
  • Wildcards: Javier Romo (Movistar, breakaway candidate; Johan); Juan Ayuso (Spencer — possibly as a rogue in the break, defying team orders).

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Conclusion

• Almeida’s stage win and potent performance have unsettled the GC narrative, making the ongoing battle highly unpredictable.
• UAE must unify around Almeida or risk losing their edge; internal team dynamics remain unstable.
• Political unrest surrounding Israel Premier Tech may escalate, possibly forcing the team out of the race.
• Listeners can expect further fireworks, drama, and high-speed tactics as the final mountain stages approach.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

I would say this Vuelta is not won us. He definitely cannot permit himself to have a bad day. Of course it can also happen to Almeida, right? We've seen already from Almeida sometimes great performances and then the day after, two days later a bit less. It can happen to anybody. But yeah, those two guys are the two strongest climbers.

[C]

Everybody, welcome back to the move. I'm Spencer Martin. I'm here with Johan Berniel. We are breaking down stage 13 of the Volta Espana won by Joao Almeida over Jonas Vinaard, who still has the GC lead but has lost four seconds to Almeida due to time bonuses. Jai Henley in third, Sepkus fourth, Felix Gall fifth. On probably, as Joao Almeida said, the hardest climb in pro cycling, La Angrelu. And at the end we will predict tomorrow's stage 14. But before we get Johan's thoughts on how this shapes the gc, what, what he thought of, of all the, all the, the moves of the day, I'll briefly catch us up. We don't see the first 2/3 of the race on TV. It comes live, live images with like 65k to go. And really the. There's a breakaway away but you immediately know they're not going to make it. They don't have enough time because there's two super hard climbs before going into the even harder final climb. UAE hits the front, I believe on this at near the end of the second to last climb. And then they take it. They take the lead into final climb. Breakaway is still out there, stopped by protesters. Actually I thought the organizers were a little nonchalant about that. They're just kind of like, yeah, we'll get them out of the way, we'll get you moving. And they like aren't credited with the time or anything like that. I, I'm curious how, how they plan to, if they plan to change that in the future. But UAE's on the front. They have the. The three guys really good lead out riders. Doman Novak works first, then Jay vine and then Felix Groschatna who is extremely strong today was 6k to go. Groschat was on the front like pushing so hard he's actually gapping off Joalameda and who's in second wheel. There's a, there's quite a bit of space there. Andy's dropping Tom Pidcock really at that point it's just Jonas Vinegaard, Sepkus, Angelameda Almeida takes over, eventually drops Jai Hinley who then comes around Pitcock to get to Kuss. Drops J. Henley and Sepkus. He's alone within the guard. It's super impressive. This is steep pitches, this 4k takes a long time, never looks back, never asks Vinegar for anything. Just keeps pushing all the way to the finish line. Every. I think everyone was waiting for an attack from Jonas Vaard. It never comes and it's kind of an awkward finish. Do you always forget it's a really awkward finish to this climb. It kind of descends down and it's really twisty turning into the finish. I think Jonas would like to have out sprinted him but just couldn't A, couldn't get around him and B, he was even struggling to hold the wheel once they were sped up into the finish line. So really impressive From Jameda wins on this climb, gets a 10 second time bonus. Jonas Finnegaard gets a 6 second time bonus in second place. Jai Hindley finishes 28 seconds back, Sep Kuss 30 seconds back and then Tom Pickock finishes 1:16 back, still holds on to third place. He has a 52 second lead on Jai Hindley who moved up into fourth, is looking incredibly strong. But Johan, what was your takeaway of the day?

[B]

Well you, you summed it up, summed it up really well, Spencer. My takeaway of the day is of course Jawal Medas impressive, right. I think it's the first time we see him in this Vuelta on, on such a high level and really determined, riding his own tempo, not looking back. That was impressive. UAE did, did a really good race today. I saw this interview from Machin just before the stage and you know he, the, the, the interviewer asked, you know, if they were going to send people in breakaways straight away he said no, like very, very like firm. No, straight away he said from now on forward, all the team works for Jawah Almeida. So if that's true what he said and they keep that philosophy, I don't think we're going to see many UAE riders in breakaways anymore and they shouldn't, you know, hey, six stage wins already. I think they have to purely focus now on Almeida and surround him as much as possible with the whole team. I think Almeida deserves that. But yeah, I mean, the ride from Almeida was impressive. And then, you know, I wouldn't say this disappointment, but, you know, I was expecting an attack from Jonas. I think he himself was expecting a stage win today. Before the stage he said that this was definitely an important, important stage and an important climb. And he did repeat that. This was the climb where first, the first time he found out that he could be a really good ground Tour rider in 2020. We talked about it when he was doing that pulling for Remus Roglich and the attack never came. So it's difficult to see at the style of Jonas. Right. I think he was not. I mean, he was on the limit, but he was not on the point of getting dropped. But he also hadn't anything left to. To. To accelerate. That makes the performance of. Of Almeida even, Even more impressive. You know, like the. I think that Almeida was totally expecting an attack from. From Jonas and definitely a sprint from him. The fact that he was pulling all. I mean, he did more than 10 kilometers of pulling, I think. Or maybe not. Maybe, maybe seven.

[C]

It felt like 10 kilometers. I think it was like seven. Between six and seven.

[B]

Yeah. But still. Okay. Angliru is also. It's a climb. Does it really matter if you're on the wheel? I would say not that much.

[C]

It's.

[B]

I think it's more a mental advantage than anything else because the speeds are so low that, you know, the drafting is, you know, really negligible, you know, but yeah, I mean, after seeing, seeing what I saw today, I would say this Vuelta is not won yet for Jonas. He definitely cannot permit himself to have a bad day. Of course, it can also happen to Almeida. Right? We've seen already from Almeida sometimes great performances and then the day after, two days later, a bit less. It can happen to anybody. But yeah, those two guys are the two strongest climbers. Then also Tom Pitcock, I would say, you know, bit tiny disappointment. I would say. We. We are discovering Tom Pidcock. He himself is discovering himself in this terrain. We're now, you know, almost two weeks into the race. He's never done this for gc and today it was not a great day for him, but he managed to limit the losses and still in third and was able to finish pretty good. I would say it was. There was a moment there that it Looked not so good. Looked pretty grim for Tom Pidcock when he had to let all these guys go. Even he had to let Belizari and Felix Gal and Matthew Ricatello go. But he kind of recovered and finished strongly. So. So yeah, I think that's, that's a bit my, my, my takes of the day.

[C]

I mean, Pitcock was 13th fastest time of all time and that's like double counting. So Sepkus is twice above him. You know, like, that's, that's not a bad ride. And just to give people a feeling for how fast they were going Today, SEPCOS went 21 seconds faster today that he did when he went up here in 2023 and won the Vuelta Espana. So they were absolutely flying. I mean, this is hands down, jaw made his best performance of his career. Like, this is unbelievable. Just these are some calculations I was doing. Like, the ascent, the Official ascent is 50, 41, 57. One second slower than the new rider, Roberto Harras. Pretty impressive. He still has it since he couldn't even stand up because it was that rainy. And I have ometa at around 6.3 watts per kilo. Vindergaard would of course be right around there as well because he went the same time. Maybe he got a little bit of draft. But it shows you that the thing about that, that's just impressive straight up. But the thing that shows you is Vindergaard not nearly as strong as he was at the Tour because when he was on MONVANTU the last 45 minutes, he was probably six and a half watts per kilo. So this is not like a sparkling gold Jonas Vindergaard. And to me, after this stage, it feels like it's been cracked a little bit more open.

[B]

I don't know if you can call it cracked, Spencer. What for sure is that we kind of expected that today could be a decisive stage already, that Jonas would probably decide the Vuelta today. And that has not happened. And it's good. It's great. Yeah.

[C]

I mean, if we assume if today we're like, oh, Joa looks a little stronger than Jonas. I actually, my theory, and I hope this isn't right, is I kind of wonder if they're stuck together for the rest of these mountain stages. Like, neither can drops the other. They go into the time trial, Almeida takes 20 seconds and then loses the overall by like 20 seconds. You know, you could, you could kind of imagine that happening. Like Jonas just holding on because that guy we saw today did not. And he looked a little rattled in the tent at the finish. Like, everyone was joking around. Jonas was by himself. I don't know if he's going to be able to drop Almeida. Almeida's been up and down, but, like, this is also a different Almeida that we've seen in races past.

[B]

Yeah, no, I think today's ride, man, it's going to give him a huge morale boost. You know, that was. That was something. And you could see the pain on the face of Almeida. I was really worried that because Jonas didn't show that much suffering, although he was suffering, but you couldn't really see in his facial expression. So I was expecting. I said, okay, you know, Almeida is going on the limit. Jonas will accelerate once and he'll lose 30 seconds. Turned out that Jonas was also on the limit.

[C]

That mean that what tells you is that he was on the limit is, you know, they get to like, 500 meters to go and they kind of go into the chute. Like, if. If Jonas could have. He would have passed. Because whoever is leading there is probably going to win the stage. All it took was like a little acceleration knee. He didn't even have that.

[B]

So, yeah, I think there was a tiny gap at some moment, at some point. Yeah, with like 300 meters to go.

[C]

Yeah. He was like struggling even to hold on his wheel. Unfortunate for Almeida, the winner of his stage often does not go on to win the Walter.

[B]

No, no, no. It has never happened.

[C]

I. Well, I don't know if that's true because. What about Contador in 2000?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, sorry. It's different. The. The one who was in the lead today has never won this stage. The rider with the leader's jersey today for this stage has really won on the Angliru. No, never. They talked about it on Eurosport. There's a guy there who has some good stats on Belgian. And so. Yeah, that has never happened.

[C]

Also, another interesting thing about today. So there's four Grand Tour winners in this race. Vindergaard, Henley, Kuss, Bernal. Three of those four finished top four on the stage. Almeida is the only one in the top four. That's not a Grand Tour winner, but it shows you the cream is coming to the top.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

Of this race at this point. Yeah. I mean, we don't want to talk about them too much, but I. I would say Egan Murnal is the guy. The missing guy there.

[B]

Yeah, for sure.

[C]

Four and a half minutes down. To me, this is a little deflating for maybe the Bernal mafia, because this might be what.

[B]

It's a bit of a repeat from the Giro? No, it was Spencer. He started really, really good, looking good, attacking, being up there, and then kind of faded away a bit in the second part of the Giro. And it looks like the story is repeating itself.

[C]

Yeah. And this is like. Yeah, once you start seeing that repeat, it's like. I don't know if. What do you think is that? Just complications from the injury, just not being able to bounce back to the level he was before that.

[B]

He is. He is at his best level ever. He was, I don't know, in this. In this Vuelta. But Bernal got back to his numbers and even better numbers than when he won the tour in 2019. But we're six years later. Those numbers mean nothing. Yeah. I even saw today that Pitcock published some comments saying that he's. He's breaking his records even today, and. Yeah, his best numbers ever. And, you know, he's. What is he, seventh in the stage or eighth?

[C]

I think he was sixth. Seventh. No, you're right. Yeah. Seventh, seventh, 14th. Fastest time of all time. Think about that. That's crazy. But Almeida, I mean, the. The wild thing to me about a. So 2023, we don't remember it, but he was here. He got sixth on the stage behind the. The Visma fiasco. Like, it just shows how much he's improved.

[B]

Spencer, can you call it the fiasco? 1, 2, 3.

[C]

That was a fiasco, dude.

[B]

An internal. Internal fiasco.

[C]

Like that was PR Fiasco.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you. If you look at it. If you look at this through an American glasses, then I would say, yeah, that. That. That didn't look good.

[C]

There was. It was almost more uproar about Visma in that volta than there is about the Israel Premier Tech in this volta, if you can believe it. But, yeah, it just shows you how much better Almeida's gotten since then. Like, it's really impressive.

[B]

Yeah, Yeah.

[C]

I mean, also, do you know who was ninth on that stage in 2023? They're in this race.

[B]

In this race. No.

[C]

Nowhere in gc.

[B]

No.

[C]

Juana, you. So.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[C]

But that's concerning to me. That's. That's clear. Regression, right? It's like you were ninth on the stage. And now I would say the. Not surprise of the day, but the notable thing of the day was Ayuso dropped before the final climb after winning yesterday, after dropping the day before. It's like, this is clear. He has no intention of helping.

[B]

Not interested. He's absolutely not interested. Listen, I mean, you can say what you want. I also, I mean, I Kind of think it's also probably a mental thing for Ayuso. He's still not used to suffering through the pain at some moment when it's not for him.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, like as a teammate, there are moments you have to suffer through the pain and then at some point you kind of get through it and it slows down a bit and you. You go to the front and you start to set your own tempo and all of a sudden you feel not gonna see great, but you feel okay. With Ayuso, it's either. It's. He suffers 100% when it's for him and the stage win. And then I was surprised to see that happen because I repeat what, you know, what Machin said, you know, today nobody goes in the break and it's all for Joao Almeida. Turns out that they had somebody in the break anyway. Oliveira was his birthday, by the way, today. But, you know, he was in the break and then finally, I think it was a good move because he was there at the bottom of Angli Ru and did an amazing pool for. For. Was it before Jay Vine? I think before Jay Vine. Yeah. But, you know, I mean, listen, it's not normal. It's not normal. And the same, by the way, today goes for Mark Soler.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, yesterday both of these guys were in the break. Okay, great. They won the stage. Fifth stage win. Amazing. They were super strong, both of them. But today those two guys were not there. And it's not normal that a guy, especially a guy like Ayuso and even Solaire is not there anymore when, for example, Domin Novak is still there. That's not normal. That's.

[C]

How much work has Solaire done for Almeida at this race? I mean, he's often not at the front when he needs them.

[B]

Maybe he's leaving with him to.

[C]

But if I was on Maida, I'd be frustrated because it's like, well, you were off the front two days in a row, so clearly you're strong. And then when we need you, your mia, at least when we need you for this, your mia, like just something to keep an eye on. Like, maybe they circle the wagons. But the margins are tight at this race. There's a 46 second gap between first and second. Like they need all hands on deck from here.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. I mean, normally, Normally tomorrow. I mean, especially the way Almeida has proven himself today. Normally tomorrow. No UAE can be in the break tomorrow. Unless it's again somebody like, you know, like Oliveira, that actually made sense because he was actually there when normally he would have not been there. And, you know, a guy like Oliveira today, the way UAE rode, would have not been able to do anything. Except, of course, everything we don't see on tv. Right. Because let's not forget, you know, guys like Oliveira and Michael Bjork and Novak, they do a lot of stuff before the TVs, the cameras come on on the flats. You know, they keep in position. That's also obviously a big job to do. But, but yeah. And tomorrow, UAE should not have anybody in a breakaway. Let's see if that's going to be true or not.

[C]

I'm, I'm dying to see. I cannot wait. But just to tie up a few odds and ends, Mateo Jorgensen finishes 17th, four and a half down. Pretty deflating for his mini GC run that he's been putting together. Now he's third on Visma. You'd have to imagine he gets slotted in into a full team support role, for sure. You think that's true?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And the man, the myth, the legend, Mads Pederson in the break again today. Just, it seems like he's endless power. I, I don't get it. And he wins the intermediate sprint point, gets 20 more points. Now he's leading 192 to Vindegaard's 122. So he can start to feel somewhat comfortable here.

[B]

Jonas would need to win four more stages, I guess, to be, to be up there.

[C]

Yeah, that's assuming that Pedersen gets no more intermediate sprints.

[B]

Yeah, for sure. No, it's, it looks, it looks amazingly good for, for Patterson for the points jersey. That would mean that he wins the points jersey in the two big, the two grand tours that he's participated in this year in the Giro and in the, in the Vuelta stage win would be nice to, you know, to put the cherry on the cake for him. That's definitely something he's still gonna want to try. But of course, the way this course is designed, it's not gonna be easy for Mats to win a stage.

[C]

Might have to win the time trial or even like stage 16. The final climb is 5 and A. That's probably too hard for him, but yeah, yeah, something like that. But yeah, you would be in the break with people who are better climbers is the downside.

[B]

And then another, another thing we saw today, race within the race, is Julio Pelizari and Matthew Riccatello for the white jersey. Right. So initially I, I, it looked like Riccitello Was in the best position. Belligeri had to back off a bit and lost a bit of time. Not much, I think, you know, 15 seconds maximum. And. And then, you know, he managed that climb really well and, you know, rode his own tempo, came back and even took more time in the last 500 meters on material Ricatello. So, yeah, that's. I will see. We'll see. But the fact that Belizari today is able to take time on Riccatello is. Is definitely a good sign for the Italian.

[C]

Yeah, I'm nervous now.

[B]

At the same time, you know, Riccatello moved up. He's in seventh now. No, in gc. So he moved up really nicely and.

[C]

He had to fight to get at the start of this race. The team didn't want to bring him. And.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, this seems like that information that he. Initially, he was told, like, last moment that he wouldn't be going to the Vuelta because somehow somebody decided that the climbs were not good for him. I don't know what kind of background that person has, but if there's anything that's suited for him, it's this Vuelta.

[C]

You do see that sometimes where people will be like, you know, that climb just wasn't good for me. It was too explosive. I'm like, well, yeah, but just. But calling Mass uphill.

[B]

Yeah, but then, yeah, with the late. How would I say it? Abandoned. Abandoned, but delayed, not participation of Derek. Yeah, he got brought back in and. Yeah, looks. It looks quite good. I mean, listen, he's seventh now, and I mean, I think he's probably gonna stay there. He's definitely staying in the top 10. Needs to do a decent time trial at least. But we still, you know, we still have. We still have some really hard stages to come which suit him very well.

[C]

I mean, it's kind of funny because you think he's probably doing better than Derek G. Would be. This is the worst possible Grand Tour for Derek G. To do.

[B]

Yeah, this. This is not a good. This is not a good course for.

[C]

Derek G. Before we go to the prediction. So we did see. Didn't really matter. But the protesters also listener reached out to me, said I was incorrect. I probably phrased it incorrectly too, but so also we did. Johanna, we were wrong. Like, we thought that Israel was not on the Israel Premier Tech jerseys. It is. It's not on the. But apparently the protesters are explicitly protesting Israel Premier Tech being in the race.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, I hadn't picked up on that neither, but apparently it is. And you know, there is more and more pressure On Israel, Premier Tech to leave the race from riders from other teams. I've seen an interview of one of the directors, a Spanish writer, a Spanish guy who's there already for a long time, and he explained a little bit his experience and says, it's horrible, it's scary. At the end of the day, if we look, nobody on this team, in this Vuelta has anything to do with the problematic situation we're seeing. But at the end of the day, you know, you can say, oh, yeah, you know, well, this is. This has nothing to do with politics. Right? Well, it turns out. It turns out it does, because. And let me see if I find this. Yeah, it does, because there. There's a tweet. When was it? Yeah, today, actually, from the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin. What's. How do you pronounce it?

[C]

Benjamin. Benjamin Netanyahu. Potentially the most, you know, divisive person on the planet.

[B]

The guy. The guy at the core of the problem. Yeah. Tweets, great job to Sylvan Adams and Israel's cycling team for not giving in to hate and intimidation. You make Israel proud. That tweet, I think, is the end of the participation of this team in this Vuelta, I think, after this. And also the fact that Adams publicly said, you know, because there were some rumors, there were some reports saying that from next year on, the team would change, would leave Israel off the team name and just call it Premier Tech. Adams came in to correct that and said that never that's going to happen. Israel is always going to be in the name of the team. So I. I don't think it looks good for their continuation in the Vuelta. Spencer, you know, today we saw a small protest, but it's not over. It's not over. And I think there's going to be so much pressure that they. They will have to leave the vulta.

[C]

I mean, yeah, I think today didn't. Didn't help. That does not help. Anytime Netanyahu is tweeting.

[B]

No.

[C]

About you. It's not good. And I kind of thought, like, well, maybe on the rest day they could. They could just move forward the name change. Their Premier Tech, they have new jerseys. You know, Adams would never do it because it's seen. It would be seen as, like, appeasement. And I'm like, I don't know, you could massage it here. Like, it's not about politics. And then after today, it's like, well, there's no. That. That doesn't really work anymore because it is.

[B]

It is political. I mean, if you. If you see this, this, this. Yeah, that's, you know, for sure.

[C]

Now you. Now if you are really against them being in the race, you have a pretty strong position.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, you know, the, the sad part is that none of these riders and none of these staff members have asked for this. That's not why they are in this race. Right. They're. They're contracted by a team, happens to have the name of Israel. But yeah, man, I mean, today I heard a very strong rumor. I mean, I think it's kind of almost confirmed that they signed Binyam Gai, Israel Premier Tech. I don't know if that's a smart move from Binyam.

[C]

You know, given that.

[B]

Given this climate and.

[C]

Yeah, I don't really get it. And then you. But I don't know. We, we've heard other writers are leaving the team and getting pay raises. One of them disputed Derek G. And then so it seems like are, are they, are they going to overpay Binium? I don't quite understand how they convinced him to do that. I mean, well, I mean, you know.

[B]

There was also reports that he was, he was on his way to uae. I don't, I, I didn't really see that because that means that there's obviously no. To the front rounds for him. If he's on Israel Premier Tech, that's definitely two to the France for him. Yeah, but that, that needs to be. Then if the team keeps existing, which could become an issue at some point.

[C]

I, I agree. I think it could become a serious issue. We saw the protest today. They stopped the break. Didn't really matter. Break would have gotten caught anyway. But it's kind of, I feel like the Spanish organizers, it's a little like laissez faire. You're like, oh, sorry you got stopped. And you're like, yeah, well, I just lose all that time now. And like they kind of pulled this guy off the road and then the guy was back on the road. It feels quite different from the Tour de France in terms of crowd control.

[B]

I mean, yeah, there's obviously, yeah, it's different. But, yeah, I, I, you know, normally the rules. Because they did say before that going forward, they would treat these protests the same way as if the peloton would be held up by a railway by train.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Which means, you know, you stop the brake and then you stop the peloton for the same amount of time here. I kind of felt straight away said that there's no way they're going to keep. They're going to stop the peloton you know, one kilometer into the Angi Roo. That's that, you know, it didn't matter. It didn't matter. That's true. And it wouldn't have mattered. But still, you know, it's another. Another. Yeah. Interpretation of a situation where, you know, if you apply the rules, you would have to have stopped the peloton, too.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, I guess it would have screwed up UA's whole thing because that's when they were rolling on the front. But, yeah, I've. It sat weird with me where I'm like, well, they just lose that time and then it's not credited back at all. Like, it just makes it feel like. I kind of felt like. Like our colleague Lance Armstrong, you know, he's often quite negative about how well some of these races are organized. And I was like, this feels like a joke. Like, what are we. What are we doing here? Like, you got to keep the course clean. Number, number one rule of the race. But it could get.

[B]

I was, I was surprised to see that it took so much effort and manpower because it didn't look that there was a lot of people there. Like three people. Yeah. And it took a lot of policeman. And they had to. Yeah, they had to be really, I mean, kind of violent to. To get the guy off the road. That's kind of scary. You know, this going forward, if there's more people, how are they going to handle this, you know?

[C]

Yeah. It doesn't seem like they have a great plan, at least so far. Other than pressure Israel Premier Tech to leave, which could happen. We'll see what happens. I know, I know pressure is growing, but let's take a quick ad break and then we will preview tomorrow's stage 14. Let's map out this week's amazing destinations and travel tips.

[B]

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[C]

That's not the itinerary we're following.

[B]

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[A]

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[C]

Let's map out this week's amazing destinations and travel tips.

[B]

Honestly, Will, I didn't plan any trips, but I did switch to T Mobile with their new Family Freedom offer.

[C]

That's not the itinerary we're following.

[B]

Well, I'm departing from ATT and embarking on a new journey with T Mobile. They paid off my family's four phones up to $3200 and gave us four new phones on the house. Bon voyage.

[A]

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[C]

All right, Johan, stage 14 tomorrow. This is a really hard stage right after a really hard stage, but unlike today, it's very short. 136 kilometers. 2. There's three categorized climbs, but the first one is a cat 3.

[B]

Not.

[C]

I mean, I wouldn't want to go ride a Cat 3 right now, but hard. But they'll. They'll cruise over it. The. The second to last climb, cat 1.10k long at almost 10% average. That's very difficult going into a final climb that's 6.17k long at 6.6percent average doesn't sound that hard. Right? Well, that's. That's kind of fake because it's really a climb in two parts. The first, let's say 10K is rolling like a power climb. The second, the last 7K is almost 9% average, so. Or 8 1/2% average. That's very steep. I think it will be very hard for Breakaway to stay away. I think it's going to be GC day. I'll list the odds and then we'll talk about who's going to win. This is on FanDuel in the US just because it's easier for me to look at this and the prices tend to be good. Jonas Vagard plus 150. Joao Meda plus 500. Juan Uso plus 600 Jvon plus 1100 Tom Pickock plus 2000 Mark Solaire plus 2200 Jai Hindley plus 2200 Santiago Butrago plus 3300 Javier Rombo plus 3500 it goes on and on and if you want to bet, go to nxtbets.com BET outcomes and it will show you where you can bet where you live and the best prices and signup bonuses. Johan, how do you think this is going to play out? Breakaway or GC and who's going to win?

[B]

Yeah, I think GC short stage, 4,000 meters of elevation and only 136 kilometers. Yeah. And they start climbing. I mean it's the third cap but they start climbing at around 60k. So that means that the break will need to have a decent amount of time in the first 60k. So I think GC, especially also with UAE now with, you know, their, their motivation through the roof, they will also want to keep this together, I think because tomorrow could be a day where Almeida, you know, potentially could take some time on Jonas. But I'm gonna go for Jonas fingerguard at at 150. He is, you know, the still the specialist in stage races. 3 week stage races and, and he's solid. Whereas Almeida has been known in the past to have ups and downs a bit. Not saying it's going to happen here, but I'm going to play it safe and go for Jonas Fingergard to win the stage at 150.

[C]

Yeah, but Jonas Finnegard is like a bond. It's like getting a buying a bond and like a steady company and then Joa made is like a penny stock. You've got a tip on almeida. He was plus 700 and he won today. So I'm going to go back to the. Well, I have them at 6 plus 650. I got him at. I'm going Jabala Maa. I actually think this could be a more interesting stage than today because for all the talk of how steep the final climb was today, the gaps were not as big as stage nine when we didn't even. There was talk of Mads Pedersen potentially winning on stage nine. So I think these kind of higher speed climbs and this is still is steep. But yeah, I do think this is super important for GC, the climb we're going to see on stage 14. And I think Joalameda wins at plus 650.

[B]

Yeah, it's, it's, it's, I mean it's also, it's a hard, super hard climb. Alto De Farapona, they call it. I don't exactly know which one of the two, but I mean, I'm. Yeah, the Vuelta has been there in. In recent years. I don't remember who won there now.

[C]

But maybe like Lopez, like Miguel Angel Lopez.

[B]

I could be. Could be. I don't remember now. Lopez won on a climb called. Which is also incredible. Incredible steep climb in. In that area of Spain. I'm going. My second choice. Spencer is going to be some. I mean, just in case there is a breakaway and. And somebody stays up front. Javier Romo on unibut he's plus 2000. I don't know if you have him any anywhere better, but, you know, he was equally strong than Ayuso, I think on. On yesterday's climb. Movistar obviously is desperate for a stage when it won't be Castrillo anymore. Pablo Castillo, because today, for an unknown reason to me, he had to abandon the race. But Romo looks really strong, and if he's in a break, he definitely has the condition to stay away and win the stage so that he's my wild card for tomorrow.

[C]

It's actually plus 3500 on FanDuel US.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Almost interesting that it's that, but different. I might bet on him just because of that. I. Yeah, we were talking about this before the show. Like, breakaway sounds good, but you have to be so strong to stay away from the peloton on this day. But he stayed with Juana Uso was that yesterday? So he's clearly very good on the climbs. Powerful rider, a lot of talent. I like it. I'm gonna go with the OG that you're going want to use so light. I'm going want to use so heavy. I'm just going want to use so at plus 600. It makes no sense whatsoever. He should not be in the breakaway tomorrow. But as we saw today, I don't think he cares that much about what the team says. I think he's going in the break and I think he could win because he's so strong.

[B]

Yeah. Well, Martin said from now on forward, we're working for Almeida. But I don't know if Ayusho got that memo.

[C]

That's a completely reasonable thing to say as well. That makes complete sense. And that's what they should do. I would be surprised if Solaire's up there with them. I gotta say, this is one of the weirdest things I've ever seen from a team. They've won half the stages. They look like they are all on a different program. They have a writer who might win the overall and like, it all feels like it could fall apart at any second. So it is a delightful situation to watch, at least from the outside.

[B]

Is it stage? Is it stage win? 79 today.

[C]

It must have been, right? Because yesterday was 78, so it's 79 now. There's six away from the record. Yeah, yeah, maybe they'll send them up there to get that stage win. But this is a super. This will be a test, actually. Like, it's a super important GC day. They should not be in the breakaway unless it's someone like Oliviera that they're just trying to get up the road. But if Ayuso is up there, like, buckle up because this is not going to settle down for the rest of the race.

[B]

Yeah, for sure.

[C]

Anything else, Johan, before we take off?

[B]

No, I think we've covered everything, Spencer.

[C]

All right, thank you. And we will be back tomorrow to talk about how this plays out.

[B]

Okay, thanks.

[C]

All right, bye.

[A]

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