Pogačar Makes History on Alpe d'Huez | TdF 2026 Stage 19 | THEMOVE

Summary

THEMOVE Podcast Episode Summary
Episode: Pogačar Makes History on Alpe d’Huez | TdF 2026 Stage 19
Date: July 24, 2026
Panel: Lance Armstrong (host), Sir Bradley Wiggins, George Hincapie, Spencer Martin

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on Tadej Pogačar’s historic, dominating victory up the legendary Alpe d’Huez on Stage 19 of the 2026 Tour de France. The panel (Armstrong, Wiggins, Hincapie, Martin) provides expert breakdowns of the race dynamics, contextualizes Pogačar’s achievement with past performances, debates the meaning of such dominance, and discusses implications for the GC, standout riders, and the state of pro cycling. The group also provides an in-depth preview of the demanding Queen Stage ahead.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Pogačar’s Alpe d’Huez Masterclass

• Dominance and Context

  • Armstrong: “The fucking guy ripped the pavement off Alpe d’Huez. I mean, literally, the local municipality is probably out there now repaving pieces of it.” (00:00)
  • The hosts immediately frame Pogačar’s ride as not just a win, but an obliteration of the field.
  • Wiggins: “Is this the Pogačar era? When in the history of cycling do you have 40 guys over four minutes up the road with some of the best climbers in the world and they don't make it?” (00:18)
  • All panelists agree – this result was unprecedented.

• How He Did It

  • Pogačar bridged to a strong breakaway, calmly rode off the front, and crushed the field without ever appearing near his limit.
  • Spencer: “Even when he went, he didn't go... It wasn't. He didn't stand up. He just kind of noodled off the front. He catches Yates, works, has him work for 2K… wasn't ever going too deep.” (02:35)
  • Teams like EF pushed all-in to help Carapaz, but couldn’t withstand Pogačar.
  • George: “That was a mean tattoo at the finish... We've been waiting to see that today for a couple of days now.” (03:38)

2. Record-breaking Performance Metrics

• Shattering Pantani’s Mark

  • Armstrong: “He smashes Marco Pantani’s record by a minute twenty-five.” (06:06)
  • Spencer: “Seven watts per kilo. Is that the best ever?... we know he broke the record by a minute twenty-five.” (04:37)

• Historic Metrics and Tech

  • Panel debates how modern equipment changes affect performances, noting lighter bikes, better clothing, and improved traction compared to Pantani’s day.
  • Armstrong: “For all you 150 pounders out there... go out there, eat a big breakfast, have a lot of coffee, go out there... Just start at 455W. Let us know how long you go.” (07:11)

• Pro/Amateur Gap

  • Discussion on the irrelevance of Zwift or Strava bragging when compared to real-world Tour de France racing in the heat and chaos of a true mountain stage. (07:30)

3. American Riders in the Break

• Wiggins: “Five Americans out of six in the entire race in the breakaway. I mean, how cool is that?” (08:28)
• Armstrong, Wiggins, and Spencer balance pride in the US presence with the reality that the bar for making the Tour’s breakaways as an American is now extremely high.

4. Secondary Standouts & Tactical Analysis

• Richard Carapaz: Earned praise for his aggression, mountain jersey pursuit, and race-smarts despite being hunted down by Pogačar. “Super aggressive throughout the day. The whole team was backing him.” (12:25 – Wiggins)
• Adam Yates: Armstrong’s “move of the day” for his resilience; overcoming severe illness to become crucial for UAE. (13:41)
• Mads Pedersen: Lauded for his relentless pursuit (and likely clinch) of the green jersey through breakaways and toughness. “This guy is like hall of fame linebacker, heavyweight champ.” (15:40 – Armstrong)

5. GC, French Riders, and ‘Hope’

• Discussed the dire statistic of (at this point) zero French stage wins, with only two prior editions in history sharing this fate—“1926, 99, and 1999.” (19:53)
• The panel weighs whether achieving podium spots outweighs stage wins for home fans, suggesting French cycling’s struggle is both grassroots and team-based (lack of strong French teams, changing priorities).
• Paul Seychas (French GC hope): At 19 years old, riding for the podium/top five, with just 20 seconds to make up for third. “If a 19-year-old gets 4th in the Tour de France... but it’s a different thing standing on that podium in Paris.” (28:29 – Armstrong)

6. The Broader Era: Rider Ages & Generational Change

• Noted the top 10 is shockingly young—“Is it the youngest top 10 we’ve ever?” (24:20 – George)
• Carapaz is likely the only rider over 30 in the top 10.
• Further context: Seychas, 19, is “for sure the fastest 19-year-old ever up Alpe d’Huez.” (27:30 – George)

7. Preview & Predictions for the Queen Stage (Stage 20)

• Stage features Col Croix de Fer, Télégraphe/Galibier double, massive altitude, and “18,000 feet of climbing.” (31:37 – Armstrong)
• Wiggins: “It's gonna be an interesting stage tomorrow... at altitude we've not raced at yet this Tour.” (33:57)
• Armstrong: “This is a very strange Tour... this particular stage, I would have loved to have seen this a week ago.” (32:47)
• Anticipate that tactics will revolve around the battle for third/fourth, KOM points, and who has anything left in the legs after three brutal weeks.
• Carapaz and Martinez expected to animate the KOM battle; UAE’s fatigue may mean a breakaway survives, but no one predicts Pogačar will be threatened.

8. Listener Calls & Community Q&A

• Caller asks if the Tour should add a gravel mountain stage due to gravel’s popularity. Mixed panel responses:
  • Armstrong: “The Tour should acknowledge industry trends... But they gave gravel a run and it was not viewed positively by the pros.” (40:44)
  • Hincapie & Wiggins oppose it, citing added risk and tradition.
  • Spencer points to the randomness and mechanical risk, referencing past examples.
• Next call: What happens to all the LCL lion mascots given to yellow jersey holders? Panel relates team traditions, giving them to kids or teammates; Armstrong laments not saving more memorabilia (“...when you're there in the moment, you just don't think about these things.” 46:20), but concludes that the memories are what last.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “The fucking guy ripped the pavement off Alpe d’Huez.” – Armstrong [00:00]
• “Is this the Pogačar era?” – Wiggins [00:18]
• “You had 40 guys over four minutes up the road... and they don't make it?” – Wiggins [00:18]
• “He smashes Marco Pantani’s record by a minute twenty-five.” – Armstrong [06:06]
• “For all you 150 pounders out there... Jump on. Just start at 455. Let us know how long you go.” – Armstrong [07:11]
• “Five Americans out of six in the breakaway... How cool is that?” – Wiggins [08:28]
• “If a 19-year-old gets 4th in the tour de France… But standing on the podium in Paris – that’s worth…. Where do I find 20 seconds?” – Armstrong [28:29]
• “The queen stage.” – Armstrong [38:39]
• “The Tour is hard enough as is. It’s dangerous enough as is. Why add to it?” – Wiggins (on gravel stages) [42:32]
• “The one thing that never leaves is your memories… and those stay forever.” – Armstrong [47:07]

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Important Timestamps

• [00:00–04:00] — Pogačar’s performance, immediate reaction
• [04:30–07:30] — Historical context, shattered records, performance metrics
• [08:28–09:11] — American breakaway, pride and reality
• [12:04–16:19] — Move of the day selections, rider praise (Carapaz, Yates, Pedersen)
• [19:18–21:50] — French cycling crisis and performance
• [24:20–27:30] — Analysis of the GC, focus on youth and Seychas
• [31:35–38:39] — Queen Stage preview and tactical speculations
• [39:09–41:14] — Listener questions: Gravel, tradition, and risk
• [44:59–48:38] — LCL lion mascot tradition, cycling keepsakes, memories

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Tone & Style

• Camaraderie and Banter: The chemistry and gentle ribbing between Armstrong, Wiggins, Hincapie, and Martin provide an insider’s, sometimes irreverent, always passionate tone.
• Critical, But Appreciative: Unflinching in their praise for exceptional riders and quick to point out bogus fan claims, amateur/pro differences, and the changing landscape of pro cycling.
• Expert, Accessible Analysis: Technical terms are explained (e.g., VAM), history contextualized, and the impact of equipment and team tactics are demystified for the audience.
• Nostalgic: The end-of-episode memories section gives a reflective, heartfelt turn, connecting listeners to the deep emotional core of the Tour.

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Conclusion

Stage 19 of the 2026 Tour de France, made legendary by Tadej Pogačar’s record-breaking solo, prompts the THEMOVE team to dig into what makes a performance transcendent, how cycling’s traditions and tactics are evolving, and the critical stories unfolding behind the headlines. Their blend of inside-the-peloton insight, historical scope, and fan interaction make this episode a must-listen for anyone who wants to understand both the meaning and mechanics of today’s greatest cycling spectacle.

Transcript

[Lance Armstrong]

What else didn't disappoint today is Taday. Pokochar. We got our wish. The fucking guy ripped the pavement off. Alp the West. I mean, literally, the local municipality is probably out there now repaving pieces of it.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah. This is. Is this the Poguchar era? I mean, when in the history of cycling do you have 40 guys over four minutes up the road with some of the best climbers in the world and they don't make it?

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

And you don't make it to the finish line.

[Spencer Martins]

Top tier climbers.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

It's unreal.

[Lance Armstrong]

I'm Lance Armstrong, joined by Sir Bradley Wiggins. Mr. George Hincappy. On the fully on the mend. Proud of you, man.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I'm back.

[Lance Armstrong]

The professor, Spencer Martins. The professor has been hard at work today. A lot of data to crunch, a lot of times to look at and compare. A lot of watts to think about. We, of course, are talking about stage 19. Alan, our good friend. What do we do?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Stage 19.

[Lance Armstrong]

From Gap to Alpe Du. From Gap to Alpe d'.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Youz.

[Lance Armstrong]

Alain is gonna make a drop in tomorrow. We're gonna have a live reading.

[Spencer Martins]

It's exciting.

[Lance Armstrong]

It is exciting. Of the stage. Alan will be here. He's gonna take your seat for about a minute.

[Spencer Martins]

He might not give it up.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I saw him yesterday at the bottom of Ashcroft.

[Lance Armstrong]

Oh, biking.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, biking. Full. We do kid on.

[Lance Armstrong]

That a boy.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Good.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, he is on the team. I mean, he's on the show every day.

[George Hincapie]

Wow.

[Lance Armstrong]

Alpe d'. Wez. This is. This is the. You know, I. I love the setting. Obviously, all of us have been there so many times that you kind of. You kind of have to. I mean, you. You get the sense if you just went there and wrote it on a. On a day where there were just cars driving by you. But to ride that race with those people, I mean, it's a sanctuary. And it didn't disappoint today. And what else didn't disappoint today is Daddy Poker. We got our wish. The fucking guy ripped the pavement off. Alp the West. I mean, literally, the local municipality is probably out there now repaving pieces of it.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah. Is this the Poguchar era? I mean, when in the history of cycling do you have 40 guys over four minutes up the road with some of the best climbers in the world and they don't make it?

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

And you're.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

They don't make it to the finish line.

[Spencer Martins]

Top tier climbers.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

It's unreal.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

Lenny Martinez Richard Carapaz Sepkus mows him down. Four minutes. I was impressed by how he was going fast. He was ripping the road up. Almost in control emotionally.

[George Hincapie]

He seemed.

[Spencer Martins]

Even when he went, he didn't go. It wasn't. He didn't stand up. He just kind of noodled off the front. He catches Yates works, has him work for 2k, like you said, George. And then even when those guys were right out there, he wasn't going. He was never going too deep. Just always.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Not only that, but teams like EF like, their whole mission was to keep Carapaz as far up the road as possible. All in team time.

[Spencer Martins]

Pulling as hard as they can.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Pulling as hard as they can before Alpe d'. Huez.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, Never a doubt.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

UAE wasn't even pulling the other teams.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean, a team who's on the ropes, as has been well publicized, all forms of illnesses and aches and issues running rampant through that team played it perfectly. Yeah, let the other team. I mean, the Guy's riding for 10th or 7th or team, whatever their writing points classified. He just. No, it was. They just teed him up.

[George Hincapie]

Bradley was beautiful to watch. It was. That was a mean tattoo at the finish.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, Good.

[George Hincapie]

The. The celebration. Like, how'd you like that? Yeah, and we've been waiting to see that today for a couple of days now. I'm glad he didn't remain with Del Toro and try and nurse him to get third. You know, he played his own card and left him to. To do his thing. So it was. It was a classic Alp d'. Huez. I think it went down in. In the history books as. As. As a classic Alp d'.

[Spencer Martins]

Huez.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah. He said declines before Alp d' Huez were. Were full gas. Yeah, Poker Char said that. So I think when he got to Al D's, he realized it's going to be mono and mono anyway.

[George Hincapie]

I mean, the group was so small, wasn't it?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, so, so small. And. Yeah, he just went 1k in.

[Spencer Martins]

Well, it was Johan's theory that him attacking at the bottom was the best thing for Del Toro because it locks everybody.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

So in some ways, it, you know, he could attack, and it didn't really hurt Del Toro.

[Lance Armstrong]

Just sit there in the group.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

So is that the best climbing performance ever?

[George Hincapie]

Yes.

[Lance Armstrong]

Climbing performance or Alpo s performance?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Climbing performance.

[Spencer Martins]

Oh, that's a good question, because we

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

know he broke the record by a minute and 25. Right.

[Spencer Martins]

Seven watts per kilo.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Is that the best ever or probably.

[Lance Armstrong]

How are we I mean, it's a good question. How do you measure that? Do you measure it in watts per kilo? Do you measure it vam?

[Spencer Martins]

Probably not the best vam, I would

[Lance Armstrong]

assume the best vam, I probably still goes back, you know, to set or sort of break the record for VAM you have, I mean Optoz is steep. I think it averages 8 or 9% to break a VAM record, which for those at home, that's the total vert climb per I think hour you have to have a really steep climb. Right. So I believe up until this point, just like Alto has up until today, Marco Pontani had the best time up Alpe d'. Oez. He also, I think some of the climbs in the Giro from that era, he, he was smashing VAM records well over 2000 meters. VAM. But in terms of time. Gotta talk about the time. Right. And Spencer, you brought up an interesting point. I this is kind of a head scratcher for me and living in 2026, you know, even if there isn't an official start line and there's not an official finish line of Alpe d', Huez, I mean they're really sort of. This is easy. I mean if, if I were the, the town of Alpe d', Huez, I would have it permanently marked on the road so that every Tom, Dick or Harry could go over there and compare themselves. But we can get close.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Right.

[Lance Armstrong]

And, and by all accounts, and, and by the way, the time wasn't close, so it really doesn't matter. He smashes Marco Pontani's record by a minute 25.

[George Hincapie]

Wow.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah, that's. I did not expect that more than

[Lance Armstrong]

I thought I expected that.

[Spencer Martins]

I expected by that much.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah. Minute plus.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I did not.

[George Hincapie]

Well, every other climb they've been breaking records by at least that two minutes.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Let's not forget we're three weeks into the Tour de France too.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, but I don't think that matters anymore. Look how they're racing the first.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I know, that's my point. It doesn't matter.

[George Hincapie]

And we are Pentani's record. We are talking 30 years ago.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah. On think of the rolling resistance of his tires. Probably terrible bike, probably a little bit heavier.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

Clothes not as good. I mean, but yeah, he probably did 455 watts for 35 minutes. I mean that's 7 watts per kilo is, mind you.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah. A body weight of 60.

[Spencer Martins]

I the reporting we have, this is inside reporting was 64.5 kilos which is

[Lance Armstrong]

pounds wise is 140.

[George Hincapie]

150 pounds. Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

So for all you 150 pounders out there that have a peloton or some other little thing in their garage, go on out there, eat a big breakfast, have a lot of coffee, go out there. 160 pounders, jump on. Just start at 455. Let us know how long you go.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, we already have enough of those people that think they can do good watts and they could be pro cyclists and they're all these influencers, but it. It's you. You can't say that unless you ride in the peloton or the Tour de France in Europe. Small roads, corners. This is. It's only 50% of it. You know what?

[Lance Armstrong]

I appreciate the snark. I love the snark. That's not like you.

[Spencer Martins]

It's funny, I know a guy who. He just got on Zwift and he did 500 watts for an hour just on Zwift. It was just hard to do.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

And then he's a good example because he's not a professional cyclist. And everything kind of falls apart when you get in the heat of the battle.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, everybody's £185.

[Spencer Martins]

There was a. Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

There was a British amateur last year who was breaking all the Strava records on these climbs.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Canadian guy.

[George Hincapie]

Canadian. Yeah, I'm sure he did outdoors, didn't he?

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah, he is the. Well, we should see if his Travis segment got beat.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, we should look it up.

[Spencer Martins]

TADA isn't uploaded yet, though.

[Lance Armstrong]

Go ahead. While you're looking that up, professor, can

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I point to that?

[Lance Armstrong]

Sure, of course.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

And the snark that you have today,

[Lance Armstrong]

I hope you talk more.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Five Americans out of six in the entire race in the breakaway. I mean, how cool is that to watch? I mean, these guys, a lot of them trained together at times, have gone through the junior ranks at times, race American races, growing up. And just to be in one of the most iconic breakaways of the Tour de France. They didn't win. Sepkus got fourth, I think. But still, it's incredible to watch these Americans, third week of the Tour, making the hardest breakaways.

[Spencer Martins]

Still almost a negative, though, if you think about it, because you have to be so good to be an American in the World Tour that you'd be in the breakaway on the Alpe to S stage. That's the bar. Just to get in. Yeah. No panic hookins.

[Lance Armstrong]

No, zero panicookins. Also, honorable mention Richard Carapas.

[Spencer Martins]

Oh, yeah, yeah. You gotta get.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean, the guy's tough. The guy is tough, you know, won the stage yesterday, I mean there was a second what he. I mean he had three plus minutes at the bottom. Worth noting, Tye Pogaar went with just under 12km to go. That's a long ways from the finish. I can't imagine who would ever do that.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, and then you factor in his attack, his attacks. I mean he does these 10 seconds full gas sprints and yeah, we're looking at today's average watch. But like how do you even factor in these sprints? Yeah, full gas of 40 minutes.

[Spencer Martins]

He'd be anaerobic the entire class, entire time.

[George Hincapie]

Not just that. He was sprinting for everything in the mountains during the stage as well.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah, he's.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, we said yesterday he was on a roll.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

You know, you, you almost could question because as Tade was was bridging a 3ish minute gap. You had to know, I mean if you're Richard Carapaz or his team director, you had to know he was coming. You had to know he was going to close it. Maybe not, maybe not. Attack, continue to attack. You're not going to stay away from him.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, he was trying to get rid of Martinez.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, but that wasn't his problem.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah, that's a good point.

[Lance Armstrong]

If you'd have just. And who knows, right. There's a lot of. It'd be very hard even if you were rode the best race tactically you could. It's very hard to stay with Tade even today. I mean, when he surged there the hardest he tried or the most that it looked like he was trying, was he. You could tell he put in the surge when he was in the saddle, the gap opened up. He looked back and saw the gap. And then you saw that. Then he really accelerated. You saw him. I mean his cadence went up 10, 20 revs.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah. So if you're thinking he averaged 450 watts that in the saddle acceleration, what, 650, 700. Probably almost 40 minutes after 40 minutes

[Spencer Martins]

faster than those guys. But you're right if they almost should struck a truce of let's just work together and then we'll sprint it out

[Lance Armstrong]

and we'll see who has the. The legs to stay with this guy. And then we'll all cross our finger. I'll cross my fingers and see if I can beat him in the sprint. Highly unlikely, but a better chance that nonetheless. Hell of a ride by him. Uh, let's do our eight sleep move of the day. The pod by eight sleep is a smart mattress cover that easily codes on top of any existing mattress heats or cools each side independently from either from 55 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. I. I've talked about it. Game changer. Love this thing. Traveled with it up to Aspen for the summer. Also the official sleep sponsor of UAE team emirates8sleep.com the move. Get your. Get your sleepover there, sir Bradley.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Move of the day.

[George Hincapie]

Taddy Picacho.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah. I mean, it goes without saying. Quite some ride, by the way.

[Lance Armstrong]

5th stage win of this tour. 26th stage win of his career in the Tour.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

And we're not done.

[Spencer Martins]

Probably could have had more at this. At this Tour. I think he gave one away.

[George Hincapie]

What's his total victory in professional cycling? Do you know what that is?

[Spencer Martins]

It was over 100.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

His hundredth victory, I think, last year,

[Spencer Martins]

but I think it's 125.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, something like that.

[Spencer Martins]

Let me look it up. It is 1. 26. 126 today. Yeah. Wow.

[Lance Armstrong]

George. Move of the day.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I mean, obviously today, move a day. But I'm going to have to go with Carapatz making the breakaway again, getting the mountain jersey. Super aggressive throughout the day. The whole team was backing him. I mean, like Spencer mentioned, I mean, they have a really solid plan in this Tour de France. Back in one of the best climbers race to get in the breakaway, get him as far up the road as they possibly can, and 99.9% of the time that breakaways make it to the finish line. Unless you factor out Tade Poga.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, right, but when he's in the race, then you have a 0.1 chance.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

Especially when all the other teams say we got to get Tade to the base of this climb with them in reach. Yeah, I mean, that was. It warmed my heart to see that.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Well, I mean, and I mentioned that earlier, I'm. I wouldn't be surprised if, you know, they're. They not let Lenny Martinez go, but maybe encouraged him to go, or once he went, they're like, thank God. Because that just puts all the pressure off of uae. Then you got three or four teams that have to chase Lenny Martinez down, which we saw happen today. Uh, so that was actually master class tactical race for them today.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Spencer, it's Pagachar.

[Spencer Martins]

I mean, that was incredible. Also. I'm. I know Jack Burke's probably watching. I'm sorry, Jack, he hasn't uploaded yet. But you're going to lose the kom by about three minutes. Wow.

[Lance Armstrong]

Dang.

[Spencer Martins]

Dang.

[Lance Armstrong]

My move of the day. The obvious one is poker chart. I'm Going to. I'm going to pivot a little bit here. I'm going to give it to Adam Yates. Think back to two or three days ago. I think it was three days ago. This guy was so sick, and we're watching him and they. They showed him. They, they.

[Spencer Martins]

The.

[Lance Armstrong]

The coverage kept showing him just. Just barely able to pedal, had a teammate with him, whether or not he could finish the stage, sick as a dog. You know, we've all been there, right? It's so easy to climb off and just say, hey, nobody's going to fault you and nobody's going to criticize you. Say, I can't even. I'm so sick, I can't pedal. He stayed in the race. I think it's the ultimate look of a professional. I mean, he knew that the team was going to need him. And look at him today. What he was, you know, this guy is, while he may not be back to the legs of a normal Adam Yates, but he certainly wasn't swinging off the back. And I just think it shows his class and his dedication to the team, his dedication to poker. He wasn't getting off and just Class. Class.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah. That's not. There's nothing easy about recovering from a stomach illness in the middle of this third week of the Tour de France. So you're right.

[Spencer Martins]

And the average person could have watched that and said, why is he even doing that? Just get off the bike. But he knew two days later, like,

[Lance Armstrong]

they're gonna pay me.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Even just the optics of it. Right. Just even. Even if, you know that if I finish, I stay in the race, I probably won't be able to impact or help the team that much. But the, the, the. Just the optics of them losing a rider like him gives the other teams a little bit of juice. And. And I just think it's an incredibly professional thing he did on his part. Unreal. I would have got off, maybe. Gotta talk about Matt's Peters. Talk about professionals. Holy Mads Paterson. Yeah, this guy, dude, this guy is like hall of fame linebacker, heavyweight champ.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Like, this guy fights, gets in the break, makes it over these climbs. Yeah. Two days ago, he was. This finish line interview was like, he was defeated. He was basically said, it's going to come down to Paris. He had another plan. This guy making the moves. Dude. It's over. He's got the green jersey locked up.

[Spencer Martins]

Third straight day in the breakaway.

[Lance Armstrong]

Unreal.

[George Hincapie]

But you think how much effort he's putting since the start of this race. Yeah. There's not been a day that You've not seen him as part of the race. Somewhere along the road. Yeah, it's. It's quite a commitment.

[Spencer Martins]

Those guys are key. These guys like Carapaz and Pedersen, they are key to the race. Without them, it would be far less interesting.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Right.

[George Hincapie]

These are. This is.

[Lance Armstrong]

We said it a week ago. These are the stories that the third week always gives us.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Which is great. Today's show also brought to you by Kenion. Excited to have them partner with us. The Move plus, which of course we got right here, had a little issue yesterday. Apparently we ran out of juice, so Bradley charged it up. After decades of racing and training, aches and pains are just part of the deal. Knees, joints, all of it. That's the price of admission for the time spent in the saddle. The thing I really love about it, it's not some surface level fix. It uses targeted light therapy, which you can see right there to get deep into the muscles and joints, right where the pain actually lives. And it's easy to carry around. You can use it anywhere. Whether you're just chilling at home, checking emails, traveling makes it easy to do. You don't have to make any appointments. There is no hassle. Use the code. The move for $50 off or go to Kenion IO themove. Also, our good friends Element been hanging with these guys for a long time. Our favorite drink for long rides. Speaking of long hot days in the summer. Really doesn't matter. Element is a zero sugar electrolyte drink. Mix with everything you need and none of the junk. If you've ever had cramps, headaches, fatigue, or you're just sweating buckets on the bike, hydration isn't optional. Most sports drinks out there loaded with sugar and artificial garbage. Element has none of that. No sugar, no dyes, no fillers. Just sodium, potassium, magnesium and the stuff that actually works. But wait, there's more. Element isn't just for the bike. We also now have the 12 ounce sparkling cans available in multiple delicious flavors can be enjoyed throughout the day to keep you hydrated and sharp. And right now, they're giving the Move listeners a free eight count sample pack with any purchase. Just head on over to drinklmnt.comtheMove that's drinklmnt.comthemove team has been. Look at Spencer's hammer. I mean, team has been. Every time I walk in, people just, oh yeah, just jamming these sparkling cans here. We got the helmet on. Georgie Rock and I wear decoy. No, you no used to.

[George Hincapie]

They are great helmets.

[Lance Armstrong]

You don't ride your bike Anymore. I do, I do, I do. Occasionally.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, I do.

[Lance Armstrong]

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[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Today

[Lance Armstrong]

we are getting down to if you're French. It's been the. It's been interesting. You know, there's so much. And we have spent a lot of time and. And rightfully so, talking about Paul Seychas. We're going to talk about him even more in the second part of the show. He's the great white hope for France. But we got two days to go. We're coming up against kind of a historic thing here for the country of France. Still no stage wins for the country of France. That has only happened twice in history.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

1926, 99 and 1999.

[George Hincapie]

They do have two or three in the top 10, though, don't they?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

They got.

[Spencer Martins]

They have two in the top five.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Fourth, fifth and 10th.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

Well, it does raise an interesting question. Would you rather have two in the top five, potentially one on the podium?

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

Or a stage win?

[Lance Armstrong]

No, that. I mean, if you can get. And we're going to. Again, second half of the show because this is. We are going to talk about tomorrow stage. We are going to talk about. We have to talk about this fight for third place because it's tight, right. And that. I think that's, you know, Paul Seychelles is in fourth and I think some

[Spencer Martins]

of this is France. It's growing pains because it's just like, oh, there's so much pressure. We got to win a stage. And you'd have guys that probably should have been the GC dropping out of the GC to get a stage win, where it's like, no, let's just function like a normal country. It's like, maybe we don't get a stage win, but we're going to try to get a podium. And I think they are progressing, but this is A temporary growing pain they're having. Like Lenny Martinez today. In a normal Tour, maybe he's going for stage wins, but he's in the top five overall.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, yeah. You've also got Lenny Martinez, who's. Who's on Bahrain. There's not a French team, obviously a French team in decathlon who are very international now, but the. The absence of, you know, is it. But not what they called now Total Energies Cofitises La Francis. You know, in the past, those. Those French dominated teams always had riders that would potentially try and win us. They were factors in every day, and they've been absent in this Tour from start to finish. Group Palmer. I mean, there was a time when, you know, you had Thibaut Pino and the sprinter they used to have. I forget his name now.

[Spencer Martins]

Demar.

[George Hincapie]

Demar. You know, and those guys challenging for stages. But yeah, I think those. That. That. That they're struggling, those teams that sort of base level, grassroots level of French cycling.

[Spencer Martins]

I mean, could you tell me if Kofedis has been in this race or not?

[George Hincapie]

No.

[Lance Armstrong]

Or Francis de Jou.

[Spencer Martins]

At least they did have Roman Gregoire bridge up to the break.

[George Hincapie]

Well, total energy. Total energy.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

They got the guy in top 10 at least. They're funny.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. True story.

[Spencer Martins]

It's also just harder to get stage ones than it used to be.

[Lance Armstrong]

All right, we're gonna be back in 2 minutes and 32 seconds. Welcome back to the move. I kind of, you know, y' all wouldn't believe what gets said in the 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

[George Hincapie]

Let's tell them. Let's tell them.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's what George got mad at us for. Somebody even just mentioned a word that's not politically correct and. Oh, he can't say that anymore. You can't say that. I was a. We didn't say it. We said that somebody else said it.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

True.

[Lance Armstrong]

Right. And that somebody else was Juana. You.

[George Hincapie]

So

[Spencer Martins]

if you watch the Dofana, you'll know.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Tough. Tough day for. For old one. Interesting guy. A lot of folks think he was raised mostly here in the US Spent. Spent some time here, but not as much as people think. His English is very good. Of course, he made the big transfer from UAE to Trek, but bad day off day for one I use. So. Lost quite a bit of time. Lost a couple places on gc, Not. Not the Tour he wanted. And they were riding. Right, they were riding in support of that. And now his teammate Scalmosa, who we all agree is kind of having to a five Star surprise of a Tour. But, Juana, you so is a guy this. This who can. Has so much. There was so much promise behind him. Yeah, yeah. And. And. And he's a believer of that.

[Spencer Martins]

And like, when we, like we're not. When we say promise, it almost doesn't do it justice. He was at uae, the best team in the world with the best writer, maybe of all time. And he was the management's preferred writer. Like that. He was untouchable. They didn't want to get rid of him. They were trying to figure out, how do we fit this guy into the team with Pagacha. They don't get along. They won't race together. And there was considerations of, like, do we keep I uso. That's how much they like this guy. And they only let him go because a team paid them 9 million euros for a transfer fee. It's a lot of.

[George Hincapie]

How old is ayuso now?

[Spencer Martins]

He's 23.

[George Hincapie]

23.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

You know, still young. I mean, the problem is he's racing against it's, you know, generational young guys.

[Spencer Martins]

Well, well, yes, you could say that. But also, he's. He's losing to his teammate, Matias Galmoza.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

So it's not like, oh, he's only losing to the best writers. Like, he's not the best GC writer in his team at this Tour.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Well, he's only one place behind him,

[Spencer Martins]

but he's minutes back.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Two minutes back.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah, but Scumoza wasn't even a GC thought coming into this race.

[George Hincapie]

I had some homework for you as well, Spencer, for tomorrow.

[Spencer Martins]

What's that?

[George Hincapie]

What is the average age of this year's top 10?

[Lance Armstrong]

Wow.

[George Hincapie]

And how does it compare to. All right, is it. Is it the youngest top 10 we've ever.

[Spencer Martins]

Let me write that down.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, I think that's easy to figure out.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

And that's pretty easy. We could do that while we're sitting here.

[Spencer Martins]

I think you're overestimating the record keeping and professional cycling.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, that's a good point.

[Lance Armstrong]

I have a joke for you. You can create a new database.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Easy to do. Nonetheless. Tough day for him.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

Great day for scale Moser.

[Spencer Martins]

Well, it's not just a bad day, though. Think of the time trial. He was terrible in the time trial. And you know, this is the second bad day he's had in the third week is. It's just who he is in the third week.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

And he went to the VTA last year as their g. As a GC leader for uae.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

And he kind of was uninterested in racing for them or listening to them. It just, it starts to become a bad look when it's like, well, I didn't like uae, I left and now I'm all in. Like, you know, if you add in his salary plus his transfer fee, you could be looking at a 14, 15 million euro investment on this guy.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

So he's making more than LeBron next year.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah. And I can't imagine this is what they had in mind. I actually don't even fully understand the transfer.

[Lance Armstrong]

If I don't, they good. I just got to think of it equally. Equally overrated, those two guys.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Ouch.

[Spencer Martins]

Would you have taken.

[Lance Armstrong]

It's funny, it's just, huh.

[Spencer Martins]

LeBron on 4 million a year. Do you think that's a good deal or no?

[Lance Armstrong]

No, no, Never. I mean, we're here talking about the tour of France. What do we possibly know about basketball? But what I do think is interesting, and maybe this was with every sport, you know, my. I grew up. Maybe you. You did too, George. In the air. MJ is the best of all time as far as I'm concerned. But you get these younger kids like my, like my son Max, 17. I mean, he, he's laughs at me.

[Spencer Martins]

This is concerning to me.

[Lance Armstrong]

He laughs, he's like, are you crazy? LeBron, he starts all the stats. He's like, no, it's not even close. So like generationally, I mean, but MJ,

[Spencer Martins]

come on, he's never lost the Finals. I think LeBron's lost more Finals than LeBron, than Jordan one.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

There you go.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah, undefeated in the finals is pretty good. Six, six.

[Lance Armstrong]

They won't have it. Anybody listening or watching and you know, got kids at home that follow basketball, you understand, if they're under the age of say 25, you got no chance. They will swear up and down that that LeBron is the goat. Why are we talking about this?

[Spencer Martins]

This is. This is crazy.

[Lance Armstrong]

I am curious about this average age. It could take about a minute to do if you look at the things there. It's young. Yeah, right.

[George Hincapie]

Very young.

[Lance Armstrong]

And who would be the oldest guy in this group of top 10? It's character Tom Pidcock.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah, I guess Carapaz, the only rider over the age of 30, probably because Tom Pickock would be the next oldest rider at 26.

[George Hincapie]

You know, again, we haven't spoke about it for a couple a good week or so now as to how Seycharz was going to hold up in this third week. Another strong day today. Yeah, let's don't forget he's still. We almost forget because we're getting used to seeing him in the race now and his talent. He's still 19.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

And you know, if you talk about today breaking the record is sage ass was for sure will be the fastest 19 year old that has ever been up alp duress.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's for sure.

[Spencer Martins]

Oh yeah, yeah. I mean he's probably one of the fastest riders of all time about.

[George Hincapie]

We keep talking about the podium as well and that's the expectation in France of him getting on the podium. But fourth place in this Tour, if he finishes fourth, if it remains the same tomorrow is a hell of a performance for a 19 year old.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

No doubt. Great to see rigatello with him there to finish.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Really helping minimize that gap to Del Toro. So we'll see tomorrow.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean this is, this is the, this is a fun story to watch tomorrow. It's. I mean I never thought I would find myself talking about the intensity or the excitement about third place in the Tour de France, but when you factor in two young riders, one incredibly young one. Who's the hope of France? Paul Seychas. He's, he's. Am I looking at this?

[George Hincapie]

20 seconds.

[Lance Armstrong]

20 seconds.

[Spencer Martins]

He's stronger in the third week than he did the first, by the way.

[Lance Armstrong]

I mean it a hell of a ride if a 19 year old gets 4th in the tour de France. But it's a different thing standing on that podium in Paris. Like that's worth. He's. Tonight he's going, where do I find 20 seconds? Isaac Del Toro is obviously writing great, an incredible talent. But Paul Seychelles is like, I have to find 20 seconds. I have to be on that step.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, that's gonna be a tough one. Up until now, every mountaintop finish Del Toro has been slightly stronger than him just by a few seconds.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, but Spencer brought up a good point. I mean he's got a nice buffer which is. It's over two minutes to fifth place. So he, he has enough buffer where he can be a little bit, he can gamble a little bit and I, I would encourage him to gamble. Like don't gamble so much that you. By the way, I guess having said this, I mean if you're going to get fourth, you may as well get fifth as far as I'm concerned. Well, it doesn't matter what I think, but if you're going to.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Well, no, he's not going to want to be the second Frenchman. He's going to want to be the first Frenchman.

[Lance Armstrong]

True, true.

[Spencer Martins]

I mean, if it's 20 seconds, let's say they finish on the same time tomorrow. It could go down to Paris.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yep.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah, it'd be thrilling.

[Lance Armstrong]

Could do. Unless they stop the time.

[Spencer Martins]

I hope they don't.

[George Hincapie]

And shout out to Remco today as well. I thought, yeah, solid ride.

[Lance Armstrong]

We didn't. Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

He slowly answered all his critics over these. These three weeks.

[Spencer Martins]

We don't know who they are.

[George Hincapie]

I mean, and, and Red Bull, they rode most of the day as well. Combined with of course, one or two guys from UAE and Remco. Great ride. I'm pleased for him.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah, he's kind of entered a new. He got third at the Tour. Now he's probably going to get second.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

And you'd say how? The question I. I walk around with my head all day, every day, who are the best GC riders below Pugach are. And he's probably starting to enter that conversation.

[George Hincapie]

He's lived up to the price tag.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah. That's funny you say that, Spencer, because in the beginning of the Tour you said he couldn't climb.

[Spencer Martins]

Well, now he can climb. He could not climb and now he can't.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Now you can climb.

[Lance Armstrong]

By the way, it's between Del Toro and Seychelles on the classification. It's actually, we were looking at yesterday's GC. It's 24 seconds and the difference between him and Martinez from fourth and fifth is three minutes. A little more wiggle room there. I. You got it. You got to go for it somehow, some way.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah. Did we mention there's a one point difference in the KOM jersey?

[Lance Armstrong]

No, that's between.

[Spencer Martins]

That's gonna. It's gonna influence the race tomorrow for sure.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, we know who the best climber is in the race and he doesn't have money.

[Spencer Martins]

Martinez.

[Lance Armstrong]

He doesn't have the polka dot jersey. Uh, but let's look at tomorrow's stage Hyperice presented by. Is presenting the next stage preview. This is a hell of a stage, Hyperice. Everybody knows the brand. Everybody. I'm huge fan of the brand. The Normatech elite legs. It's funny, I have old images of me wearing the very first versions of NormaTec back 15 years ago. Since we're like dinosaurs, still have them to this day. You get 15% off all Hyperice products now with the code the move [e-mail] discount/the move 15. Now I. Let's pull it up. Pull up this graphic.

[George Hincapie]

This is, this is what we've been waiting for.

[Lance Armstrong]

This is not a tropical delusion. This Is this is the day before Paris. This is hitting a peloton that is completely devastated and fatigued. This is 18,000, I'll say it again, 18,000 vertical feet of climbing on the day before Paris.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

That's with the race cycle.

[Spencer Martins]

And it's only like 106 miles.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah. It's a relatively short stage.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

And we know, we know these climbs like the back of our hands. This is like the quintessential ALP stage

[Lance Armstrong]

and these climbs, this is what we should be doing actually. Yeah. This squad affair tell Telegraph the Libya, you know, the sort of hybrid version of Alpe d'. Wez. But this leading up to that, this is what you see images of when you're growing up.

[Spencer Martins]

Look at the height of the glitter. That's basically where Bradley and I are sleeping. Yeah, that's true. But they start from this valley is not that high above sea level. Like that's a huge. This is crazy ascent. And then I should. Is the stage misplaced? Should they have just done this at stage nine?

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, but this goes back to the, to the, the design of this route. I said it three weeks ago. I think I was proven right. Honestly. I think this is a, it's a very strange tour. This particular stage. I would have loved to have seen this a week ago. And I also go to sleep at night. Maybe not, but I think about just going back to a classic tour. What happens, you know, it's interesting. They, they, they design these. Whether Tadi Pogatar wants to think about this or not or anybody else wants to think about. They are designed these routes to defend against him. They did that to defend against me. That never works. The best guy is always going to win. But I kind of, I kind of cross my fingers and hope. But let's go back to a traditional tour, like a 20 year old tour, 30 year old tour. Long time trials, Pyrenees on each weekend or Pyrenees one weekend, Alps the next weekend. Like bunch of stages for field sprinters. Let these guys have 10 opportunities to win field sprints.

[George Hincapie]

What do we think is going to happen tomorrow? Great question because we haven't been this high in the Tour de France this year, have we?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

No.

[George Hincapie]

This kind of altitude which you know, again racing as hard as they have been at those altitudes, you know, it's very unpredictable and particularly on the Galibier, I mean that last 3400 meters of elevation, your guys are cracking and yeah, you know, guys are coming to the fall that we haven't seen before because they're better at altitude. Yeah, it's Going to be an interesting stage tomorrow.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, I think it's, it's, it's interesting for the folks at home because if you watch the race on tv, you see these huge mountains and here the guys are. But the high mountain, the altitude must be terrible. You know, we're sitting here In Aspen, it's 8,000ft. We're as we sit today, we can go up to 12,4. If you went over Independence Pass, you can go up to Ashcroft and be it up over 10. That's real elevation. You know, if you look at the profile, yes, they're going to spend some time up there and yes, they're going to feel it. But most of it is not sea level, but just above sea level. So most of that time is spent at lower elevations. But to your point, what is definitely going to happen tomorrow is Richard Carapass is going on the attack again. Because I also do think, to your point, Bradley, there's a guy who grew up at an incredibly high elevation, still lives there still. I mean, this is nothing to him. And he did it yesterday, he did it again today, he is going to

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

do it again tomorrow, and he's on a roll. But Pantry said after the finish that he sat up is to save for tomorrow stage. And he's so far been beating him in every sprint in the early climbs. So it's still tight as the race isn't over. And I think it's going to be a small, selective group at the top of this mountain. First mountain going for the KOM sprints. They'll probably stay away, but really, ultimately, like we've seen this whole Tour de France, it all depends on what Pogacharov wants to do at the end of the race.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah, I, I tend to think not a GC day because UAE has no team left. Yeah, the team is on their knees,

[Lance Armstrong]

but they're going to get help. Yeah, I mean, you can see a Matthew Riccatello riding, doing something perhaps aggressively, for Seshaw to finish on the podium. You could see, yeah, I mean, you

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

can see a couple guys in the top, like lower half of the top 10. Sneaking into the breakaway like we saw today takes the pressure off uae, which then in turn give Patadi a chance to win another stage.

[Spencer Martins]

Here's where it gets really weird. So 3 HD climbs. When you get over the last one, the Cul de saran, it's. There's two more climbs, it's like rolling. There's two more climbs left that are around 1k to 4k each. That's going to be Hard to control.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

So you could see like a GC group with Carapaz go over like if. If yesterday is repeated tomorrow or, sorry, today is repeated tomorrow. It could be hard for Bhagat Chart because he's gonna have to nail everybody back on these attacks after the final big climb. I don't really know how it's going to play out.

[Lance Armstrong]

The thing to keep in mind too, and keep the profile up the climb, it really looks like one climb in the middle with the Telegraph and the Glibria. You guys know this, you've done it dozens of times. They're two separate climbs, Right. Telegraph is a category one. Glibria is a horse category. There is a small downhill in the middle, by the way, you don't even feel the downhill. That is one climb. They may as well just have it categorized as one climb. It feels like one climb. And if you total it up, it's 35 kilometers of climbing.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Right.

[Lance Armstrong]

From the 80s. I mean, it's 3K of a downhill. These guys do that in less than three minutes, probably two and a half minutes. That's not. I mean, there's no recovery there. This is one long climb, is a beast.

[Spencer Martins]

If Pagatra, let's say he had a disaster a few days ago, a breakaway went away. He was 10 minutes down. How much time do you think he could make up on the others on this stage if he had to go all out from the beginning?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Well, we saw him take out three minutes. Some of the best climbers in the

[Lance Armstrong]

world today, it's two and a half. Two or two and a half on Remco. So there's.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, the way he's going, he can go solo on the Colibia and nobody

[Lance Armstrong]

will see him again or before.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Go on the Telegraph.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

And we've seen. This is like the world's European Championships. Like, he's done that before. If he wants to do it, he can do it.

[Lance Armstrong]

He's not gonna have to do that.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

Do you think he's gonna go for the stage win? No, I don't think so either.

[Lance Armstrong]

No. No.

[Spencer Martins]

This is.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Bradley.

[Lance Armstrong]

What do you.

[George Hincapie]

I just. I mean, I'm hoping. I don't know. I mean, this. This tour is very difficult to predict, isn't it? But it'll be interesting. It'll be nice. If it lived up to the expectation again tomorrow that this is going to be a decisive stage, which is what they've planned the route to be. But it's not going to challenge Tada, is it? It's just whether he's going to want to win the stage or not. But the problem with these kind of things, you can't see a break. Getting as much time as they have been getting. Because on here, it's more climbing.

[Spencer Martins]

Because they can't climb that much faster than the peloton.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

No.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Queen stage. The queen stage.

[Spencer Martins]

Because if let's say Martinez or let's say Carapaz goes up the road, teams will want to peg him back because now he's becoming a danger in the gc. So that does set up a tad. I win. Potentially

[Lance Armstrong]

running out of time to give us a call. What do we got?

[Spencer Martins]

Jeez.

[Lance Armstrong]

Two more days.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Two more days.

[Lance Armstrong]

Two more days to call. Are we taking calls on the last day?

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah, we have to.

[Lance Armstrong]

Okay. We have to. Well, you got two more days to give us a call.

[George Hincapie]

Live calls.

[Lance Armstrong]

Not I'm down.

[Spencer Martins]

And I only say that I would

[Lance Armstrong]

love to have life calls. Imagine life calls in the shade. That could come in.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, that could. Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

970-718-2736. Goes right to Liz Cruz's phone. She picks up most of the time when she's not out riding around on that goofy ass scooter of hers. Do you see her taking hot laps in the west End Yesterday? Caller number one. Hey, Lance. I'm Carol from Orlando, Florida. I'm 78 years old and I love your show. Given the growing popularity of gravel racing, should a gravel mountain stage be added to the tour? Thanks, Carol. It's. That's cool. Carol. 78 in Orlando. Damn, we're reaching the people dog. There has been, you know, look, I mean, there's a lot of ways to think about this. I mean, I actually do think that events like the Tour should acknowledge the industry. The industry is a big funder of this sport. The teams, the athletes. And for the industry, gravel is. Is the shiny new thing. Right. If you think about this, the bicycle industries, certainly here in the United States, you've got the rise of gravel, you've got the rise of e bikes. I mean, you could almost make the argument why wouldn't we do a day where people have to manage battery life? Crosses my mind.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Now we're pushing here.

[Spencer Martins]

There's like carbon monoxide poisoning in the studio.

[Lance Armstrong]

What is?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Well, according to 60 Minutes, you had to manage battery life in 1999.

[George Hincapie]

Right?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

That's right.

[Lance Armstrong]

And that little tick that I had where I always grab my chamois. Yeah, that was the on, off, switch. The dirty little secret, literally, is that I was always trying to line up my ass and my Chamois and my seat, because if they were not lined up, it just didn't feel right. I digress.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

So why were they always coming out of line though? That was like a Nadal tick, I think, because you did always do that.

[Lance Armstrong]

Anyhow, Carol, it was a couple years ago. We had a gravel, some, some gravel stages. You can have a flat gravel stage. There's some of the summit finishes, some of the high mountains that had some, some stuff on gravel. I was sort of surprised they were not viewed positively by the teams and by the riders and by a lot of folks. And so you really haven't seen it in a couple of years. I've always speculated that the perfect bike for Perry Roubaix is a gravel bike. George always laughs at me. Having said that, he's done 10 plus Rubaix. I have done 0, 17 Rubais, like I said. Well, that's 17 is more than 10. But I always thought a gravel bike was perfect for Roubaix. It's a good question. I, I, they, they gave it a, they gave it a run. It was not viewed. The guys didn't like it.

[George Hincapie]

Well, back in the day, most of these roads, particularly the ones are climbing tomorrow, the quad fair. There's pictures of copy coming over the quad fair and it's dirt road, so it's not quite gravel, but it's dirt. Before they were all tarmacs, of course. But I've never been a fan of the gravel stages per se. I just think it's, it's, it's too much of a change. I mean, the cobbled stages are great in the Tour. I think they're, they're brilliant because Paris Bay is a big part of, of cycling, but which we haven't had for a few years. We had two years ago, don't, we had a cobble stage. But no, not the gravel for me.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I agree. I mean, the Tour is hard enough as is, it's dangerous enough as is. Like, why add to it?

[Spencer Martins]

I'm always surprised. It's definitely a European American split. I always think it's kind of cool. And then you remember Tadde's first tour win, 2020. They had a gravel. It was like they went over a

[George Hincapie]

climb and it was, it was 2km long, wasn't it? Yeah, but, and I remember Richie Port had a flat, didn't he?

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

And I think Roglic had a problem. And it would kind of be a shame if it feels kind of random. You're like, well, what if, what if tad a flats and loses the race? Cause there's a gravel section, but I. I don't know. I kind of like it. But you're right, Bradley, that everyone in the. In the race and around cycling in general hates them. So I don't think they'll be coming back.

[George Hincapie]

Can we go back to the E

[Lance Armstrong]

bike thing for just. Just humor me for just a second. You've lost interest. You're not even. You're thinking about leg day. I know you are.

[Spencer Martins]

No, no, no, no.

[George Hincapie]

I am.

[Lance Armstrong]

You had to manage battery life. You know, you've got. Let's just.

[George Hincapie]

Come on.

[Spencer Martins]

Tom Pickax did win the world champ. He did bike World championship.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Okay.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

You know what? Let's talk about it.

[Spencer Martins]

That's the best at managing battery life. That would be kind of. The stakes would be high. Can you imagine running out of battery the last.

[Lance Armstrong]

Then you're riding a heavy bike.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martins]

Are you getting paid from aso? What's going on here? Like, the Ejero has gotten in touch with you. Now you're going to be an ambassador for them.

[George Hincapie]

He was messaging Terry Gouverneux.

[Lance Armstrong]

I said to Terry, Terry Gouverneux is. Is what? The head of competition for aso. He's also the guy that jumped out of a car right in front of Richard Carapace at the end of a mountain stage today and nearly took him out. Believe it or not, that same guy actually raced in the Tour de France. Of course, he was never at the front of any fields to have to consider things like that. I don't know who picks the route, but he.

[George Hincapie]

He wants. Finished a couple of spots behind Georgia, Perry Bay, 2001. He was seventh. Wow.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

You wouldn't. Who would remember that?

[Spencer Martins]

Why would you remember.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I don't even remember 2001, Ferry Bay.

[Lance Armstrong]

You do.

[George Hincapie]

So that was the one you punched in Arenberg?

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Oh, okay. That's 2001.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah. Service. Carnarvon went away in the final and yeah, they had three Domo Feinstein's Missile and yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Roman Beinsteins.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

I got fourth.

[George Hincapie]

You got my tongue?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yep.

[Lance Armstrong]

All right, caller number two. Hi, gentlemen. This is Janice calling from Butler, Pennsylvania. What do you do with all the LCL stuffed lion mascots that you receive

[Spencer Martins]

after each yellow jersey stage win?

[Lance Armstrong]

You have to have a bunch of them at this point. My husband and I, Marty, love the show.

[Spencer Martins]

Bye now.

[Lance Armstrong]

Janice. Thank you. Bradley, go ahead. I hope I want you to go first because I hope you have a better answer than I do.

[George Hincapie]

Well, traditionally, I think. I don't know if it's always been the tradition, but in certainly in recent years, it's. It brings kudos to each team by putting them in the front of the bus, you know.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

In the windscreen.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

And it's a way of teams rocking up the stock game. We've done something in this race, you know, look at our lion, you know, and obviously, someone like Tad will have a lot so that you kind of run out of space for doing that. But I. I made sure I kept all mine together. But then, of course, teammates who have children, you'd give, you know, give. Michael Rogers had a couple of daughters, give him a couple for them, and you eventually start losing. But I kept about three or four of mine.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

And do they still do the daily small lion giveaway for the team, for Team gc. So we would have had a lot of the small ones. I would have had a lot of the big ones. There's one here. Can you. Am I. I'm covering him up every day. Janice, look. Wait, you see him back there? I should move him. I think I'm down to two. You know, it's interesting, you, when you're there in the moment, you just don't think about these things.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

You don't think about. And now as we sit here, as I sit here at 55 and Bradley at a few years younger. Quite a few years younger. Quite a few. Quite a few years younger. I mean, you look back on that stuff, right.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Wow.

[Lance Armstrong]

How did I not just keep it. Keep it all.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Right. And. And, you know, you get these little medals. At least in our generation, you got these cool glass medals for stage wins that had the town etched on the stage, etched on there. And you're. You're. When you're there and you're in it, you're like, who gives a. Yeah. Like, what am I? It's just another thing I gotta carry in this suitcase tonight. Oh, my God. And. And then, you know, you're on a team with a bunch of. A bunch of staff, a bunch of people, buses and. And trucks with equipment, and, you know, these are your. Your people. But it's shocking. Stuff goes missing, right. Over the years. And so you get 30 years down the road, and, yeah, you're left with two. But having said that, the one thing I will say that never leaves, right, you can lose. You can hand off lions to teammates, kids, and you can. You can not want to carry the. The medal for the stage win. But the one thing that never leaves is your memories. And so thank God, because I know I got a lot of them and I Know you folks out there listening and watching have a lot of them. And you're going to have memories of this performance today of Tadi Pogochar. You're going to have. You would have had memories of mine, Bradley's, of George's, and those stay. Those stay forever. And so that's great. How about that?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Love it. It's an amazing way to end the show.

[Spencer Martins]

We're not ending the show because we're going to do Ventum trivia.

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Oh, that's right.

[George Hincapie]

What was.

[Spencer Martins]

Terry. But I love the Lions. Before cycling, I love the lions. Great.

[Lance Armstrong]

Well, and, and if you don't. And the lions are, are a thing, not because it's the Tour, it's because of the title sponsor. Credit Leones has been the title sponsor for so many years. I mean, you can imagine a world where they say we've, we've fulfilled our initiatives, our goals, and, and we're going to move on to F1 or, or whatever. And then MasterCard comes in.

[George Hincapie]

Right.

[Lance Armstrong]

And then the law, I don't know, the line is no more. Right. But it's been the thing. And Credit Lyonnaise has been such a integral part of this Tour for, for so long that it's, you know, it makes it to the call in line.

[Spencer Martins]

The Tour is amazing at holding on to sponsors and making them a fabric of the race. Like growing up as a kid in the middle of nowhere, I loved Skodas because of the Tour sponsorship. And it's all I wanted to have was a Skoda that was like the coolest.

[George Hincapie]

And I think it's a shame when some races lose that. Yeah, like the, the Vuelta about 15 years ago, lost. We had a new sponsor and they wanted a red leader's jersey where it always used to be. The Amarillo.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, I know. And the only problem with Skoda is now, and we have taken exception to the. Exception to the fact that it's not. It's kind of a. I don't know. What is it? Dark green jersey.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah. Bring back.

[Lance Armstrong]

Let's make it green. Bright green. Real great.

[Spencer Martins]

I'll talk to Scot about it.

[George Hincapie]

Talk to him.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Getting down to the end, kids. Ventum Trivia Enter to win [e-mail] the move 5000 bucks credit towards the Ventum bike of your choice. Yesterday's question. The finish at Orca Merlet is legendary for a 1971 stage where a Spaniard crushed Eddie Merckx, taking around eight minutes out of him. Who was that? Answer? Luis Ocania, the Beast.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Eight minutes out of Eddie Merckx.

[Spencer Martins]

That's crazy.

[Lance Armstrong]

At dinner that night. Like yeah, what's up?

[Spencer Martins]

Then Eddie cursed him.

[Lance Armstrong]

Happens. Today's question. Stage 20 crosses the cold of Galibier which earns what distinction in the 2026 race 20 stage 20 crosses the Galibier which earns what distinction in the 2026 race. By the way, we alluded to it when we looked at the stage preview an enter to win@ventum racing.com the move.

[Spencer Martins]

The better question would be when does the glibiate. When is it included? And it does not earn this distinction. It's hard to think of climbs that.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. Would supersede it and not a climb that, that, that has. I mean that it's just, just a climb. Those ones that do, do do what the trivia question says that it does.

[Spencer Martins]

Yes. Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

The Glibier is a, is a top five. It's a monument right in the country of France.

[Spencer Martins]

When you think of what kind of. Because you go up and then there's this, there's a tunnel right. With these big doors and it kind of separates Italy from France. And you're like entering the Alps when you go through them. Of course the race goes above that, by the way.

[Lance Armstrong]

Does it though?

[George Hincapie]

Do I go?

[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

Yeah, I don't remember that.

[Lance Armstrong]

I think we go through the tunnel.

[Spencer Martins]

They go through the tunnel.

[George Hincapie]

No, they go over the tunnel.

[Lance Armstrong]

Because at times we would go to the tunnel depending on the weather.

[George Hincapie]

Cuz.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah. And I was always like thank God we're going to this. Thank God they made this tunnel. I'm sick of climbing.

[Spencer Martins]

I think they go over it tomorrow.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah, they go over the tunnel.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[George Hincapie]

It adds an extra 3, 300 meters

[Spencer Martins]

of altitude on there, which feels like a lot. Yeah, yeah.

[George Hincapie]

And the descent they go down tomorrow is actually the scariest side.

[Lance Armstrong]

Yes, it is a sketchy descent.

[George Hincapie]

Yeah. Well it's.

[Lance Armstrong]

It's just if there's an hour, isn't it? No guard rails bends.

[Spencer Martins]

Last time they did it T attacked off. Yeah.

[Lance Armstrong]

Spencer, we need you. This is going to take you 60 seconds but for tomorrow's show let's average. Let's get an average age of the top 10. Shockingly no low number.

[Spencer Martins]

Yeah. Okay.

[Lance Armstrong]

So all right everybody, thanks for tuning in. We will see you tomorrow for the Queen stage. Stage 20. Have your date. This summer. There are 250 reasons to join T mobile girls.

[Spencer Martins]

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[Lance Armstrong]

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[Spencer Martins]

And honestly, that hundred dollars back, I'm putting it towards the zipline now.

[Lance Armstrong]

That's how you do summer.

[Spencer Martins]

Exactly.

[Lance Armstrong]

Best switch I ever made. This is just one reason to join T Mobile this summer. There are 250 reasons. Find yours

[Spencer Martins]

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[Lance Armstrong]

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[Sir Bradley Wiggins]

entertainment and one year of AAA Classic

[Spencer Martins]

and DashPass on us. Benefits may require activation CPlan for details get $100 via virtual prepaid MasterCard with

[Lance Armstrong]

eligible ported no cash access and expires in six months.

[Spencer Martins]

Issued by Sunrise Banks and a member FDIC.

[Lance Armstrong]

Allow eight weeks hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile now. I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] switch upfront payment $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes me slow when network is busy see terms.