Pauline Ferrand-Prévot Dominates the Madeleine | Tour de France 2025 Stage 8 | THEMOVE Femmes

Summary

THEMOVE Podcast Episode Summary Title: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot Dominates the Madeleine | Tour de France 2025 Stage 8 | THEMOVE Femmes
Host: Lance Armstrong
Release Date: August 2, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of THEMOVE, host Lance Armstrong, alongside co-hosts Mari and Ally, dives deep into the thrilling events of Stage 8 of the Tour de France 2025 Femmes. The focus is on the remarkable performance of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (PfP) as she conquers the challenging Col de la Madeleine, displaying tactical brilliance and exceptional endurance.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's Stellar Performance

The episode opens with Lance expressing his admiration for Pauline's performance:

Mari: "Pure masterclass."
[00:59]

Pauline's dominance on the Col de la Madeleine was nothing short of spectacular. The hosts emphasize her meticulous preparation and strategic execution throughout the stage.

Lance Armstrong: "She did this, and I think today she showed once again, what we knew is she is a true professional at what she does."
[07:04]

Pauline’s ability to maintain her lead, even when faced with challenging climbs and tactical maneuvers from other competitors, underscores her status as a top contender in the race.

Race Tactics and Team Strategies

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around the tactical decisions made by Pauline and her team. The hosts analyze how her team, Vanderburgen, supported her throughout the climb, allowing her to conserve energy for a decisive push.

Mari: "How Pauline can pre-prepare... Pauline bought a house in Endora. So she trained at altitude."
[06:22]

Lance highlights the seamless coordination within Pauline’s team and how their strategies mirrored those of the men's teams, showcasing a unified approach to tackling the race’s challenges.

Lance Armstrong: "These are the tactics that the men's team was going into their tour, was hoping to do. I mean, had her up there and, you know, she doesn't have to stay there long and she wasn't there long. Right."
[10:12]

Insights on Competitors and Peloton Dynamics

The episode delves into the performances of other key riders, notably Sarah Gigante and Kim Lacourt. The hosts discuss Gigante's tactics and her unexpected shoulder dislocation, which added unpredictability to the race dynamics.

Lance Armstrong: "Sarah Gigante is 237 behind, especially with the big downhill. That's right."
[20:46]

Mari and Ally explore how these incidents influenced the overall race, including the strategies employed by different teams to either support their leaders or seize emerging opportunities.

Ally: "She didn't, she did more to help Anna by trying to get it back in after the descent than waiting for her where she couldn't help her at all, essentially."
[12:47]

Impact of Experience and Versatility

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's diverse background in multiple cycling disciplines is highlighted as a key factor in her success. Her experience in mountain biking, cyclocross, and road racing provides her with a unique edge in navigating the complexities of the Tour de France Femmes.

Mari: "She's a pro through and through. 10-time elite world champion in multiple disciplines from road, mountain bike, obviously, gold medals in that as well, and cyclocross."
[07:04]

Community and Personal Anecdotes

The episode also touches on Pauline's personal journey and her connections within the cycling community. A touching moment is shared when Mari recounts how Pauline expressed her admiration for Lance Armstrong years ago and how their relationship has evolved.

Mari: "She shared a memory that she told her mom when she was a little girl that she wished she was born a boy so she could race the Tour de France. And here she is wearing the yellow jersey..."
[17:47]

Lance reacts warmly to this story, highlighting the mutual respect and friendship that has developed over the years.

Lance Armstrong: "That took guts. Right? That's a young lady that just says, you know what? This is what I think."
[18:36]

Future Stage Preview

Looking ahead to the final stage, the hosts speculate on whether Pauline can maintain her lead and what challenges await her. The upcoming downhill sections and technical climbs are expected to test her resilience and tactical acumen.

Lance Armstrong: "Tomorrow, she has to stay on her toes unlike today... This is a very difficult climb."
[21:09]

Ally anticipates intense competition for the podium spots, forecasting potential shifts in rankings based on the stage’s demanding terrain.

Ally: "It's gonna be pretty crazy to watch."
[22:01]

Listener Engagement and Community Feedback

Throughout the episode, listener interactions and comments are featured, showcasing the strong community support for the podcast. Highlights include heartfelt messages from listeners, such as a fan who listened while in labor, underscoring the podcast’s impact beyond the cycling community.

Mari: "She says, I love your podcast so much. I listened to it while in labor at the hospital... Sebastian was born July 17."
[25:55]

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a sense of anticipation for the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes. The hosts reaffirm their confidence in Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's ability to clinch the yellow jersey and congratulate her on her outstanding performance thus far.

Mari: "Obviously. Pauline, you are our boomstick of the day. Congratulations on being just master class of a cyclist."
[30:22]

Lance invites listeners to return for the next episode, promising an in-depth analysis of the concluding stage and Pauline’s prospects.

Lance Armstrong: "It's a bike race tomorrow... So come back and join us tomorrow. We'll talk all about it."
[30:35]

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Key Takeaways

• Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's Dominance: Her exceptional performance on the Col de la Madeleine exemplifies her strategic prowess and physical endurance.
• Team Coordination: Vanderburgen's support was pivotal in enabling Pauline to conserve energy and execute her race plan effectively.
• Competitive Dynamics: Incidents involving key riders like Sarah Gigante added layers of complexity to the race, influencing team strategies and race outcomes.
• Versatility and Experience: Pauline’s multi-disciplinary background equips her with the skills necessary to excel in various race conditions.
• Community and Personal Stories: The podcast highlights the personal connections and community support that enrich the cycling experience.

This episode of THEMOVE offers a comprehensive and insightful analysis of Stage 8 of the Tour de France Femmes, celebrating Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's remarkable achievements and setting the stage for an exhilarating finale.

Transcript

[Lance Armstrong]

Pauline, you know, she's. She's a friend of the show, which is, of course, you know, we love her. I was just starting to say we stay neutral on this, but we do love her. And she's just. Wow, that's. You know, it's interesting. She's on visa. Melissa bike, the tactics that they rode today in the Tour de France. Fam of Vague. Zwift is the tactics that they were wanting to ride in the men's Tour de France. To the gentleman on the team. That's the way you do it. All right, everybody, welcome back to the Move podcast. Of course, I'm joined by Mari and Ally Allie in her polka dot jersey, mountain hair, talking about stage eight. Pauline Prevost. Wow.

[Ally]

Impressive.

[Mari]

Pure masterclass.

[Lance Armstrong]

Unbelievable. Unbelievable. We're going to get into all the action. Mel Hincapi, tell us what we did.

[Mari]

Stage 8, Chambery, St Francois Longchamp de la Madeleine. Chambery to St Francois Longchamp, Col de la Madeleine.

[Lance Armstrong]

Wow.

[Mari]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

That is a yellow jersey.

[Mari]

That is a yellow jersey. And the Madeleine was no Cookie.

[Lance Armstrong]

No. Pauline, you know, she's. She's a friend of the show, which is, of course, you know, we.

[Ally]

We love her.

[Lance Armstrong]

I was just starting to say we stay neutral on this, but we do love her. And she's just. Wow, that's. You know, it's interesting. She's. She's on visa. Melissa bike. The tactics that they rode today in the Tour de France Fam of Exwift is the tactics that they were wanting to ride in the men's Tour de France. To the gentleman on the team. That's the way you do it.

[Ally]

That's the way you do it.

[Lance Armstrong]

It was impressive.

[Mari]

I know. I haven't seen you garnered so speechless in a race in a long time. I mean, and we are a huge fan of PfP for sure. She said it right here on the show. Last year, she was coming to win the Tour de France Bonavex with. She called in on our show, and look at that, she delivered. She has one more hard day coming up. But before we dive into all those details, obviously we need to talk about Zwift business. Right? Title sponsor, the Tour de France Foam and back. Zwift invest a lot in women's cycling and title sponsor of the Move here. I'm a big fan of Zwift. We all are. Mari leads Zwift rides. Lance has to be an indoor kitty every once in a while, but Zwift rolled out this cog and click. So it's super easy. Don't to change your Cassette. No bike drama. Just put it on any sort of Zwift ready trainer you have from all the big names. Wahoos. What I used Garmin Jet Black Elite Decathlon. Comes fully equipped. Just plug, clip in and go. Prices start at $299, which I love. Good price. Entry point there, more people on bikes. And you can pair your bike computer with the Zwift companion app and get credit for Zwift fitness score. So I'm big on keeping my fitness score above yours, but I'm not having that much of a problem.

[Lance Armstrong]

No, it's not. No, no. I rode two days in a row. Not today, the two previous days. But. So I felt like I was catching up.

[Mari]

Yeah. Well, I know you're looking at your tea time when Pauline was climbing there. You're like, hurry up, girl.

[Lance Armstrong]

I know what time my tea time is.

[Mari]

And we have a new title sponsor. Not, sorry, a new sponsor. We have Hyperice and Lance, you love hyperice. You have a.

[Lance Armstrong]

Love it.

[Mari]

Sorry, my ear thing came out.

[Lance Armstrong]

Jim, who's run the company for years, they've just done a heck of a job. Right. We were talking about normatex yesterday. I was an early adopter of normatech and just all the other gadgets. I mean you've got the, the, you know, the ball over there. That sounds weird. Game changer. The other cool thing is if you watch it, really a sport, you know, American sport, football or especially basketball where you can really see the, the bench. I mean the, the prominence of, of hyperice gear on the bench when guys are, you know, in between rotations is they've changed the game.

[Mari]

Yeah. Faux show, definitely gold standard and compression. They also have this hyper boot which is pretty cool. You can wear it. Yeah, it's new. You can wear it. Like I could have them on right now. Breakfast on your way to training. But I love their stuff. And the move listeners use the code the move for 15% off all hyperice tech and hundred dollars off the new hyper boot. So you're gonna. There's a lot of ladies out there in this peloton today that are gonna need some, some hyper ice. The compression boots need to be coming out now. The hyper boot needs to be in those bus. Ladies use the move for 15 off.

[Lance Armstrong]

By the way, Pauline's gonna need all that stuff. I mean she was so, and we have been saying this for days. She, she looked so good for the first week. Effortless.

[Ally]

Yeah. And she was hiding out. You could, you could see she was really concerned.

[Lance Armstrong]

She was hiding that when Gigante attacked. She let her go.

[Ally]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

And, but my, what was evident at the end is she gave it her all she was. I mean, she, she budgeted her effort, but she was tapped at the top. That, that was all she had.

[Ally]

Yeah, she definitely knew she wanted to get as much time as possible before tomorrow's stage. Even though she was able to ride away today, she wanted to just pad that lead as much as possible. But she did look spent at the end.

[Mari]

Yeah, I think it was so well calculated. And this is something that we talked about in our preview show and how, how Pauline can pre prepare. And even Weavis talked about it this morning. They're like, who do you think's gonna win? She's got Vanderburgen on her team. And Weavis is like, I am so impressed with how much Pauline can prepare to win. I'm just worried about time cut. And so I told you, like, Pauline bought a house in Endora. So she trained at altitude. I calculated this was her 23rd race day this year. And Lance, we were talking about this, but the interviews, pre race, you know, to all these GC favorites, how did you, how many, like, rec. You do, you know, everyone's like, once, once. Ask Colleen. She goes, I treated the Tour de France Vomibs Zwift like a mountain bike race. I want to know every single corner, every single detail of this course because I'm going to win on it.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, look, I, I, I was up early as well because the start of the stage was exciting, so you didn't want to miss that. But I saw these interviews and I, and I kept, and I was just alone at home watching. And all the answers were, yeah, I wrote it once. And I wrote it once. I mean, we're talking about Casia, Demi. I mean, these, I'm like, hang on a second. Like, this is the race.

[Ally]

Yeah. And it's the only ones, right.

[Lance Armstrong]

This is, you know, Pauline, 33 years old. She's, she's not, I mean, she's been around and I do think mountain biking might uniquely prepare her for that. You, those you truly have to know every single inch of the course. Races are much shorter. She's just a pro.

[Mari]

She's a pro through and through. 10 time elite world champion in multiple disciplines from road, mountain bike, obviously, gold medals in that as well, and cyclocross. But yeah, in mountain biking, you session, you know, you see them out with their directors and they're walking the course and they run the course and they're, you know, keep trying it and so she did this, and I think today she showed once again, what we knew is she is a true professional at what she does. And I did wear my hair like this, knowing that this was going to happen and I was ready. Yeah.

[Ally]

And I mean, I think, like, we need to mention also like, that she really led the French women in this. You know, the French women have been dominating here, and it's been really impressive. Haven't seen it in years. The fact that, I mean, she's already a French hero, was over there at the Paris Olympics when she won her medal was incredible. The crowds that she brought out and the crowds towards the end of this course were. Were unbelievable, too.

[Lance Armstrong]

Not to mention she won Perry Roubaix.

[Ally]

Yeah, Perry Roubaix.

[Lance Armstrong]

You start to. I mean, we talked at the beginning of the Tour about Marianne Voss and how she is, by all accounts, the goat. I mean, let's just back up a sec here, right? And when you consider cycling as a sport and then you break it down with all the disciplines, I mean, Pauline looks like she's going to win this Tour de France, a Paris Roubaix, a world championship cyclocross, world championship in mountain bike, Olympic medal in mountain bike. Whoa.

[Ally]

And the fact that she's done a lot of them in her home country is pretty impressive, too.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Mari]

Well, and then I think that we did.

[Lance Armstrong]

Attention all you BMXers out there. Exactly. If this girl decides to go race little BMX about bad news, watch out.

[Mari]

I know, I know, Lance. We've talked about it. But we do. She is wearing the number 51, which. That has some interesting histories of this mythical number. It started mainly in the. Between 1969 and 1978. So Eddie Merckx won his first tour wearing 51. And then in 1979. Hino. Bernard Hino. But I did learn this. It's dubbed the Dossard and Nice. And it's after a nice flavored drink marketed in 1951. So that's why it's kind of like a French aperitif. And I thought that is fun.

[Lance Armstrong]

I love this.

[Mari]

Given to prominent French writers. And Pauline is wearing number 51.

[Ally]

All the gossip ot.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, that's.

[Mari]

I didn't know it was named after, like, an aperitifo.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, and Phil Liggett, who reappeared today on the Tour de France, Femme Swift. Where was I going with that? He did allude to it now and that she can't pick that number. The teams cannot pick look. So that must have meant it works in a way that that Vis. Melissa bike Must have finished sixth last year. Was somehow coming in sort of ranked sixth. So the teams. The number one team wears number one. Obviously, the defending champion wears number one. But you can pick your number within that team or the team can pick that number for you. So there's no world where she was going to be 52 or 56. Right. I'm sure she was psyched. Like, oh, our team members start in the 50s. Well, I'll take 51.

[Mari]

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And we. You were pretty impressed with her, her satellite teammate there.

[Lance Armstrong]

Amazing.

[Mari]

Oh, man. 20 years old, Mary Marianne Bunnell.

[Ally]

Yeah, she was impressive.

[Lance Armstrong]

This is what I was saying. I mean, for. This is the tactics that the men's team was going into their tour, was hoping to do. I mean, had her up there and, you know, she doesn't have to stay there long and she wasn't there long. Right.

[Ally]

Long enough, though.

[Lance Armstrong]

Long enough. I mean, k and a half, 2k. That's plenty.

[Ally]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Right. Just be there, set the tempo, put Gigante on the limit. I mean, the way Pauline just. There was no attack.

[Mari]

Nope.

[Lance Armstrong]

There was no look back. There was no games, nothing. She just rode her race. And we were. I mean, I think we knew.

[Mari]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Before she knew. And you see a rider start to swing, stir the body out of the saddle, and then you can see the distancing even from the. The camera, from the front angle. And then she finally looked back, is like, oh, I'm gone. And then, boom.

[Mari]

You thought it was too soon, Lance.

[Lance Armstrong]

You did.

[Mari]

You were like, oh, oh, I thought.

[Lance Armstrong]

Gigante went too soon. I mean, I think. I think there's a lot of curious things. Not curious, but interesting things for me. And I think Kim Lacourt was pretty transparent about this. She had the crash in the yellow jersey. We talked about this yesterday of how or why maybe Gigante didn't wait for her. Then we speculate. Well, sounds like she's their. Their GC threat for this Tour de France femmegswift. But you saw as soon as Kim Lacourt kind of got regrouped and came back to the. She was turned into a super domestique in the yellow jersey. I think if you're Gigante, I think 11 and a half K to go on a climb like Madeleine is too far. Right. And you saw Pauline, she was relaxed, she let her go. She came across easily.

[Ally]

Yeah. But you could also tell that, you know, she was looking around and nobody else was going with Sarah, so she knew they were already kind of on the limit and she could just. I mean, she could just ride across. It wasn't even like she was making a huge attack or effort to do this.

[Lance Armstrong]

Katya tried there for Kasia.

[Ally]

Tried, yeah, yeah. But I think the other team's tactics were pretty interesting. We were talking about, you know, Kim's crash, the fact that, you know, people were saying, oh, should she be, you know, the team? Why aren't they waiting for Kim? And that kind of question. But it almost was like Sarah neutralized the, you know, the group ahead by getting to them, because when she got to them, that group sat up, and then that's when Kim and the rest of them were able to come back. So I think Sarah actually did more to help Kim by trying to get it back in after the descent than waiting for her where she couldn't help her at all, essentially.

[Mari]

Yeah, we bis was second wheel when the court crashed and she just kept drilling it. The peloton was definitely not waiting for.

[Lance Armstrong]

The yellow jersey there.

[Mari]

But Gigante was in trouble on the descent, so why not keep drilling it, I guess?

[Ally]

Well, I mean, the thing is, is what's. What's she going to be able to do if she goes back to help her? She wasn't going to be able to do anything. And the. And they were pushing the pace because they thought that Gigante wasn't there. So, you know, so by Gigante getting back like that neutralized that group, and that's when Kim and the rest could come back. So she actually helped her team more by getting there than, you know, trying to go back and help. Because then they would have kept drilling the pace on the front or I would have.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean, we got to mention our Mavis Squibbins. I mean, she just. There was a hot second. I was like, oh, no. This girl got in the break, looked as good as she has looked the last two days. I'm like, wow, she gonna try to win another one.

[Ally]

She looked good all the way up until she blew. I mean, that was the thing, though. You couldn't tell she was suffering that bad. And then all of a sudden, she was just done.

[Lance Armstrong]

This is the interesting thing with cycling. Like, people just have. It's like any sport, right? It's. You can look at running, you could look at swimming, you could look at a lot of sports, Right. People just have certain styles and they have certain expressions. Like, Mavis Squibbins was getting dropped and looked like she did yesterday when she was riding away.

[Mari]

Yeah. But she had a little resurgent going, helping her teammate on there, too. So there are a lot of satellite riders out there that I think FDJ actually was one of the bigger losers. Well, SD works, of course, but fdj, not like their riders were pretty cooked by the time that Damie reached them.

[Ally]

But, I mean, we. This sure put in an effort for Anna Vanderburg, and the fact that Anna came off so early was surprising to me. But, you know, we. This. She really. She did more than what I was expecting her to be able to do. And really, really helping out Anna as long as she could. It was pretty impressive.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Mari]

I guess Anna wasn't playing any games, though.

[Ally]

I know.

[Lance Armstrong]

No, no. Well, she didn't.

[Ally]

Have a good day.

[Lance Armstrong]

Today's today. The. You got to show it. You got to show the real thing today. I did get back to Mavis Squibbins right quick, just because I want to mention Dr. Peter Tia sent me a text halfway through the stage, and clearly he's watching the Tour de France family, which I think is amazing.

[Mari]

Very cool. Thank you, doctor.

[Lance Armstrong]

He's. He's become fan of Mavis Squibbin. So I was like, get in line, pal.

[Ally]

All of us have French women.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, it just, it just, It. It just falls in line. I mean, this, this is. And again, just to compare and contrast to the men's peloton. I mean, that country, if you think of France and you think of the sport on the men's side, they don't know what they're doing, rather, they don't know where they're going. They don't know who's going to lead. They don't. They are looking everywhere for the next great talent. And then fast forward to the Tour de France. Femme by Zwift. And it is. It's all bleu, blanc, rouge.

[Ally]

But I mean, I think a big part of that too is like this, you know, the effort for behind the women's Tour de France. You know, I mean, this race has really brought France and the women back into popularity again and really kind of driving the sport. And we're seeing it in France. We need to get some big races in the U.S.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, that's. That's. We have them. We just can't keep them sometimes. Today's show also brought to you by our friends at Peak. All right, Peaks, Re Fountain, fellow cycling and Susan. I do this every time. Fellow cycling enthusiasts, as we witness the incredible feats of endurance at the Tutor Friends, Fam of Exwif, let's talk about what powers those athletes and what can power you now. I used to think that more hours in Bed was the answer. But then I discovered Peaks Re Fountain Electrolyte. This has been a game changer. One sashay at night and I'm super chill. I don't care what anybody says, believes.

[Mari]

It or not, I don't think anyone's ever called you chill.

[Lance Armstrong]

Anna's at home. Like he is so full of it.

[Mari]

It's like somebody telling me I'm chill.

[Lance Armstrong]

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[Mari]

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[Lance Armstrong]

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[Mari]

I know you don't like like the shirt and it is a little Minnie Mouse, but I was really trying to do the polka dot jersey in the honor of our cookie climb today at the cold.

[Ally]

But you got the hair right.

[Mari]

I got the hair right. And I wanted to bring up one more thing about Pauline because I just cannot stop talking about her.

[Lance Armstrong]

Unbelievable.

[Mari]

You know, this is just showing the power of, you know, Zwift's investment in women's cycling and the power of the Tour de France. Vomibeck Swift is, you know, Pauline was growing up and she had this childhood memory also her dad was on the Today, which was really cool. And Squibbin actually stopped when she won her first stage. And her dad was on a camper van on the side of the road and gave him a big hug. It was cute too. So I love the family out there, but she shared a memory that she told her mom when she was a little girl that she wished she was born a boy so she could race the Tour de France. And here she is wearing the yellow jersey at the Tour de France fame of Ex wift. And another thing, not only was she on her show last year, but she also had this about nine years ago. Lance, she had this. She said they asked her, who would you like to ride with anyone in the world. And she said, people might not like this, but I want to ride with Lance Armstrong. And you replied to her and said you were in shape enough and then you should be a copyright.

[Lance Armstrong]

I was. Look, this nine years ago. Right. There was not many people that would have said that. Right. And that's not lost on me. I saw that, that quote or that tweet or if it came out of an article or something, but I was touched by that. Right. I mean here. And fast forward to now. And of course, she has become a friend of the show and I love the way she prepares. But, but by the way, to have the guts, I mean, that just, look, let's not get into my history. But that took guts. Right? That's, that's a young lady that just says, you know what? This is what I think. And I certainly appreciated it. And, and for the record, we've not gone for that bike ride yet. And after. I need to happen after what I saw today, Pauline is not even going to be a coffee ride.

[Mari]

Okay, you guys can play golf.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, Pauline, you better start heading to the range and playing golf. That's all we're gonna do.

[Ally]

Sounds like she's good at everything she does at Lance, so you better watch out.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, that's, that's Fair point.

[Mari]

We don't know if she golfs.

[Lance Armstrong]

Fair point.

[Mari]

Well, the last French individual to wear a yellow jersey at the Tour was all asleep in 2019. And what better person than Pauline to be donning the, the yellow jersey tomorrow for the last stage? Very excited about that.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, I think she's. And we'll look at tomorrow stage here in a second, but boy, she looked good. I think she's in control. She has experience too. She has a great team. Like, I don't see any world or any scenario where she gets in trouble.

[Ally]

No, no. I mean, she's, she's got a great team. She's very good at taking care of herself in the race and, and such a nice lead.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, and what is going to heat up is this race for second and third. Right. This, this is almost like an echo from the men's race. There's going to be some competition here, right. Sarah Gigante is 237 behind, especially with the big downhill. That's right. I mean, the descent, Technical Demi Vol. 318 and Casa Neodoma 340. This, this and even Kerbal, if you throw her in 411 that. There's going to be some, certainly some fights for the third spot on the on the podium maybe for the second spot.

[Mari]

And Johan was texting Amare that this descent is actually really gnarly. So I'm thinking her ball was climbing really well today. Like I was pretty impressed and well.

[Lance Armstrong]

She'S sitting in fourth and she's sitting in fourth. Yeah.

[Mari]

And I, I kind of came up with this. She's going to curve ball. Have you seen her descend? Like, remember that? I mean, Lance, she puts you on the edge of the seat when she descends. So I think she's going to do some, some cabrawling tomorrow.

[Ally]

I think the descent, pull up the pro.

[Lance Armstrong]

This, this is a climb. So this the hc, the horse category climb in the middle. This is the story of tomorrow, the col de jou plan. And this is the downhill that we're talking about. It is incredibly dangerous, right? Especially the further down you get, the closer to Morzine you get. It is a nail biter. So to your point, Ally, but this is a real day, right? 2800 meters of climbing. Call that? That's well over 10,000ft of climbing. 124k. I mean Pauline's got to stay on her toes unlike today. Look at this here. Nice little. If I'm in that peloton, I'm like, well, cool. The first 15k doesn't count because we're going downhill. Break it down here from. We can have the other climbs, but.

[Ally]

We do have a few people who are going to be scared at the very beginning, right? I mean Sarah Gigante start like going for this second or third like right from the gun attacking these descents. It's going to be pretty crazy to watch.

[Lance Armstrong]

Here's you plan. You plan is a very. This is the climb that I got in trouble with. Pantani attacked early in the stage. We, we definitely were caught off guard and panicked a little bit and, and Jan ended up dropping me on this climb and I got left alone towards the top. I was totally bonked. I didn't know what to do and I had to still do this downhill. But this is a, is a very difficult climb, right? So that's in the middle. Then boom. Next climb, another one right here. Six K at eight, another one at eight and a half percent. These are. There's going to be plenty of opportunities for these four or five ladies. Look, it matters, right? Getting second matters. Getting third matters. You know, the second's better than third and third's a hell of a lot better than fourth matters.

[Mari]

We're gonna see some cabaling. I swear.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's by the way, that's awesome.

[Ally]

It's gonna be exciting racing for sure.

[Lance Armstrong]

Oh, boy. Wow. I mean, what a. I'm still. I am. I'm. I'm speechless. And Pauline was. Although we shouldn't be surprised. She stated her goals a year ago. She, as we read about today, she did all the work.

[Ally]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

She has the talent, she has the team.

[Ally]

She studied the courses. Yeah. I mean, and by the way, that climb was different than the one the men's did. I love fact for people who are watching and didn't realize that, you know, the men did the Madeline this year too. And the. The courses were different. Even though they went up from the same side, they chose different routes up until the last 5k, which in one way it would have been nice to see, like, what the women's times would be versus the men's times. But it was really cool to see them on those little narrow roads. Like, I didn't even know that road existed, but it was sure beautiful.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah. I mean, so many of these iconic climbs, save for Alp d'. Wez. I mean, Alp d' Huez is really one way up. I guess there's maybe an. Slight. An alternate way up, but. But you know, a lot. I mean, Bonfone 2 has three ways up right now. At the end, they cross over and kind of have the last or the finals the same. But you know, this is France, right? You're in the Alps, there's roads. This is the thing I love about France and riding bikes in France. And if you haven't done it, folks, you should go give it a go. I mean, there's just a lot of roads, there's a lot of options. There's small options, medium options, big options. And you can. And clearly they. I loved the road, the approach they picked today or the climb because it was. It was like a. It was narrow.

[Ally]

And it's like what you like to ride when you're like a cyclist, cyclist.

[Lance Armstrong]

I see these things and I'm like, damn.

[Mari]

I don't know if we've ever seen such a great, like, climbing performance though today I thought that was just the. One of the most spectacular, just beautiful vision and sport here. But one thing to think about tomorrow, we did notice that. Oh, boy. Gigante, like, dislocated her shoulder in her sleep.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Ally]

That's crazy.

[Mari]

And then she had her teammate, like, she. Guess she dislocated in May and then and woke up screaming and her teammate helped her. My shoulder actually spontaneously dislocates. So I do know you can do that, but that might Even, like, play into tomorrow, though, because, I mean, when you're cornering, descending on technical things, you know, I mean, you need to, like, leverage the bike a bit. But anyway, I mean, as if the.

[Lance Armstrong]

Race is not hard enough, just wake.

[Mari]

Up with a dislocation.

[Lance Armstrong]

Like, something's all right. Excuse me. Waking up your roommate. This is cycling.

[Mari]

The roommate is totally normal to me.

[Lance Armstrong]

They were this super jank hotel. The bed was, like, two feet away. Gigante's got a separated shoulder, and the teammates just want to sleep. She's like, what? Like, so weird. Oh, Lord.

[Mari]

That's like, the first thing you do when you walk into those rooms. You see how far apart you can push those twin beds. You get, like, six inches away from each other.

[Lance Armstrong]

We. We. We got some good questions and. And a fun comment, too, for. For. I'll go with the comment first. That's super cute. I actually think we have some photos we had to. This one. This one, we had to have a team discussion. If we could show the photo.

[Mari]

It's not what it sounds like from Terracle.

[Lance Armstrong]

She says, I love your podcast so much. I listened to it while in labor at the hospital. You guys and gals feel like home to me. Sebastian was born July 17. I listened on every hike, too. How cute is this?

[Mari]

We love this.

[Lance Armstrong]

These guys little yellow hat on, huh? Sebastian for the win in 2050.

[Mari]

Oh, yeah, that seems like.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's right. Yeah. San Sebastian was today. Okay, question here. Why does it seem like the women's pellet? And we. And we. We saw this the last two days, so this is very relevant. Why does it seem like the women's peloton doesn't have respect for the yellow jersey? Does the limited number of stages have something to do with it?

[Mari]

Oh, I thought it wasn't very respectful today. Mari seemed like. Felt like it was okay because she says, well, of course they don't respect her.

[Ally]

Well, no, I only mean in the sense of. For the overall race, what they were trying to do. If you didn't have Sarah Gigante on the team, who you thought might be able to, you know, do well on this stage, then they probably should have helped her. But I do think that by being in that group, Sarah neutralized the front group, who was, you know, like, trying to make time, and Kim got back. So I don't think that was a disrespectful move. I think if. If she had gone back, they'd have a much harder chase than if.

[Mari]

Well, no, I'm talking about the whole peloton, though. I Think it's what the men's peloton is saying now. I think it's the same thing. It's just a younger generation is coming in. I think, you know, there's like a patron of the, of the peloton and both men and women, but with these younger generations, I mean, the women are saying the same thing. Like, if it's Voss, that group is sitting up and waiting. But, you know, and you can see it depends who it. But I think there's just, it is shorter stages, so there's only a certain amount of times that you can attack, but there's not like maybe one leader all the time that everyone's going to be like, oh, we'll wait for her. I mean, we watched Damie's own team not wait for her when she crashed last year. Right. So I think it's just a little different generation and it's how the race is changing. And you and George talk about it a lot.

[Lance Armstrong]

No, it's generational.

[Mari]

Yeah, it's generational.

[Lance Armstrong]

I don't know. And I don't know that I'm, I'm a big fan of this.

[Ally]

Of what?

[Lance Armstrong]

Just, just, I mean, the sort of dog eat dog, you know, every person for them. There is. I'm hedging because there are certain parts of the sport that are very traditional. Right. And, and, and I think we look at those and we had it in the men's race where we neutralize certain. Oh, it's dangerous. Let's not ever stop the time.

[Ally]

There's a difference though, I think, between being involved in a crash and taking yourself out first person into a dissent. You know, I mean, like, if you, if that had been a crash, you know, maybe then they might slow.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's fair.

[Ally]

Or if more people were involved in it or something like that. But I mean, I've never seen the yellow jersey crash on a first corner and do a descent, so.

[Lance Armstrong]

Oh, no. All right, another question. So it is agreed that Mavis Squibbin would not have had her stage wins if Elisa Longo Borghini had not abandoned the race. I'm not so sure that that's agreed, but let's assume so. There are several examples of this opportunity. Okay, we got the picture. Here's the glasses.

[Ally]

Look at her. She's so cute.

[Mari]

For those not watching, we have a beautiful picture of Mava and her cute glasses.

[Lance Armstrong]

This. Yes. There are several examples of this opportunistic success in the men's peloton, but I'm puzzled if this has ever happened to the extent in a women's Grand Tour. I cannot recall any. Yeah, I mean, I think. Look, I mean, and. And not that she was listening to strategy yesterday. I mean, she told her. Her director yesterday, I'm gonna go at kilometer zero. And she's like, no, you're not. You're like, watch. So she's.

[Ally]

When you have your leader there, you know, Felisa was there. She probably would have been coming in thinking a little differently. But, I mean, now she had the opportunity to go and try things.

[Mari]

I don't think she would have had those opportunities if Elisa was there until maybe yesterday, because I don't think Lambo would have hung, and I think the last rider would have been Squibbon. So then she would have gone, but she wouldn't have had those opportunities earlier on because she's not going to be going in break. She's going to be riding a protective zone and being saved for the stage, like today.

[Lance Armstrong]

Oh, boom. And I mean, look, it even kind of matches the team kit. We got black and gold, black and yellow. Boomstick of the day, obviously.

[Mari]

Obviously. Pauline, you are our boomstick of the day. Congratulations on being just master class of a cyclist.

[Lance Armstrong]

Master class.

[Mari]

That's it right here. Pure masterclass. Good luck tomorrow.

[Lance Armstrong]

All right, final stage tomorrow. We'll see if Pauline can hold on. We suspect so, and it's going to be exciting. It's a bike race tomorrow. This is not a prominade, this is not a procession. This is a bike race tomorrow. So come back and join us tomorrow. We'll talk all about it. Thanks for tuning in. And in 3, 2, 1.

[Mari]

Bye.