What Was UAE Doing Today? | TdF 2026 Stage 9 | THEMOVE+

Summary

THEMOVE Podcast Summary

Episode: What Was UAE Doing Today? | TdF 2026 Stage 9 | THEMOVE+
Host: Spencer Martin (w/ Johan Bruyneel)
Date: July 12, 2026
Theme: In-depth analysis of Tour de France Stage 9 (2026), focusing on strategy, standout performances, and team tactics—especially the puzzling approach of Team UAE and a thrilling breakaway win by Mathieu van der Poel.

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Episode Overview

This episode offers a deep breakdown of Stage 9 of the 2026 Tour de France, notable for its shortened length due to heat, tactical complexities, and a dramatic breakaway victory by Mathieu van der Poel. The main focus is on analyzing UAE Team Emirates' controversial pacing and strategy, the dynamics within key breakaways, and outstanding performances from classic specialists. The episode also previews Stage 10 and responds to listener questions on technology and history, blending tactical insight and personal anecdotes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stage Recap & General Impressions

[01:44] Spencer Martin:

• Stage 9 cut to 154km due to extreme heat; sprint point unusually early (at 12km).
• Trek controlled the early pace; Mads Pedersen took max points at the first sprint.
• Attacking started post-sprint, leading to a prolonged, intense battle for the breakaway.
• The decisive break included top riders: Mathieu van der Poel, Tobias Halland Johannessen, Tom Pidcock, and Alex Baudin.
• Van der Poel attacked on a tough climb, eventually winning the stage ahead of Johannessen and Pidcock, with Filippo Ganna claiming the reduced-bunch sprint for fourth.

2. Move of the Day: Van der Poel's Mastery

[03:30] Johan Bruyneel:

• Praises Van der Poel’s all-in effort: “He was basically in all the moves… He made it back on a really hard climb—you could see, okay, this guy, it’s going to be difficult to beat this guy today.”
• Points out how Van der Poel excelled despite the heat—historically not his forte.
• “When he wins, he does it in unbelievable fashion. That was a great win today.” [22:20] Bruyneel

3. Team UAE’s Baffling Tactics

[04:33, 07:18] Bruyneel & Martin:

• UAE controlled the gap to the break (hovering just over a minute), hinting they wanted to win the stage.

• “My takeaway—the question of the day—is what was UAE doing?… They started to ride really fast… That’s riding to win the stage.” [04:33] Bruyneel

• UAE later stated they hoped Del Toro or even Pogacar could win if it came to a punchy, reduced finish—but with so many top sprinters and classics riders present, this logic was questioned.

• Bruyneel concludes UAE are racing aggressively by default due to their team depth: “They want to win as many stages as possible… but I wouldn’t have done it that way.” [07:18]

• Conspiracy Theory:
  Martin posits whether UAE’s hard pace was a deliberate act to wear down rivals in the heat; Bruyneel doubts they have such worries given their clear superiority:

  “Man for man, they’re stronger on every single position than Visma and any other team.” [10:19] Bruyneel

4. Intra-Team & Rival Tactics

Little Trek's Decisions:

• Critique of Little Trek’s split priorities: Quinn Simmons and Derek Gee made the break but were dropped, then fell back to help Mads Pedersen in the chase group, who went on to finish sixth.
• [17:25] Bruyneel: “First rule—don’t get dropped from the break!… If you’re not on Van der Poel’s wheel when the climb comes, you’re done.”
• Both panelists highlight the lack of tactical alignment within Trek:

  “It doesn’t feel like they’re ever on the same page or even a team—it’s just a collection of riders all riding.” [20:13] Martin

Ineos Tactics:

• Ineos unexpectedly helped set the pace in the chase for apparent tactical reasons: To protect Egan Bernal’s top-10 on GC and to give Filippo Ganna a shot at a sprint win.
• Bruyneel ridicules Ineos’ focus on top-10 placement (“Come far that a team like INEOS… rides in Stage 9 for a potential top 10…” [12:09]), but notes the exceptionally strong quality of this year’s top-10.

5. Breakaway Dynamics and Individual Performances

Tom Pidcock:

• Pidcock’s bridge to the break was highlighted as a standout: “He bridged 20 seconds by himself… only three or four riders in the peloton could do this.” [15:24] Bruyneel

Van der Poel’s Tour History:

• Surprisingly, this is only his third Tour de France stage win—despite his stature.
• “He’s not really contended for a stage in the Tours he finished… But man, when he wins, he does it in unbelievable fashion.” [22:21] Bruyneel
• Alpecin has now won at least one stage in every Tour they’ve entered (six in a row). [22:53]

6. Sprint & Green Jersey Competition

• Mads Pedersen solidified his lead by winning the intermediate sprint and placing sixth for 40 points.
• Girmay remains within reach (45 points down), but the consensus is it would take a flawless run plus mishaps for Pedersen for anyone to catch him.
• Tim Merlier not contesting for green acknowledges needing “to change his whole training… [he’s] not interested in doing that.” [25:13]

7. Listener Question: Classified Rear Hub

[31:00]

• Johan confirms the Classified rear hub (virtual front chainring tech) is around, but says unless “SRAM or Shimano buys it, no pro teams will go all-in.”
• New drivetrains (13 and 14 gears) may make such tech obsolete.

8. Stage 10 (Preview): The Massif Central GC Battle

[33:38]

• 166km, 4,000m climbing, seven categorized climbs.

• Reminiscent of 2024’s Stage 11, infamous for Pogačar’s attack on Puy Mary and being reeled in by Vingegaard.

• Both hosts expect UAE/Pogačar to ride for the win:

  “If they wanted to win today, I can’t see any reason why they won’t want to win on Tuesday… Gotcha [Pogačar] wins.” [36:16] Bruyneel

• Historical time gaps from this type of stage can be dramatic—with potential for significant overall GC changes.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On UAE’s superiority:

  “Man for man, they’re stronger on every single position than Visma and any other of the other teams… their best rider is the best, their second rider is the best second rider.”
  [10:19] Johan Bruyneel

• On Van der Poel’s breakaway:

  “He was in the breakaway straight away… once he’s in the breakaway, everybody looks at him, and they don’t give it 100%.”
  [04:33] Bruyneel

• On Little Trek’s tactics:

  “The number one rule of bike racing: don’t get dropped from the breakaway!”
  [17:25] Martin

• On Pidcock’s solo bridge:

  “Bridged 20 seconds by himself—only three or four riders in the peloton can do this. Pitcock is one of them.”
  [15:24] Bruyneel

• On Alpecin’s Tour record:

  “It’s the sixth time that Alpecin participates in the Tour and every single year they’ve won at least one stage.”
  [22:53] Bruyneel

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Stage 9 Recap & Van der Poel’s Win: 01:44–04:36
• Analyzing UAE's Strategy: 04:33–09:20
• Trek’s Tactics & Breakaway Dynamics: 16:45–22:20
• Debate over Team Objectives & Sprint Points: 23:01–26:18
• Listener Q&A (Classified Hub): 31:00–33:38
• Stage 10 Preview & Tactical Predictions: 33:38–36:51
• Historical Anecdotes: 41:13–47:17

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Tone & Style

The conversation is candid, lively, and thick with inside references and banter. Martin is inquisitive; Bruyneel provides punchy, sometimes critical insights delivered as observations from decades inside pro cycling.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

You'll come away with an appreciation for:

• Why Van der Poel’s win was both predictable and remarkable
• Team UAE’s confidence—and how it shapes entire race dynamics
• The frustrations and failures of rivals like Little Trek and Ineos
• A sense of the unpredictable chess match that is the modern Tour de France, where every elite team is forced into increasingly creative (or questionable) moves
• How even historic anecdotes (Bruyneel in the 1990 Tour) and the tech under riders’ wheels matter in today’s racing

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Next Up

Rest day, and then a deep-dive post-Stage 10 episode—expected to be a pivotal GC battle in the Massif Central.
Questions for the show? Email [e-mail]!

Transcript

[Spencer Martin]

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[Johan Berniel]

mobile.com I think Pidcock definitely thought that he had a chance against van der Poel. There was cohesion. You know, the only guy who kind of skipped a few turns now and then was Alex Bodin, which was his right. But the other three were riding for a purpose, you know. And so, so yeah, once, once Derek G and Quinn Simmons were back in the. In the main group already. Tobias, Voss and Vocala. And they were toast because they had been doing it for a while. It would only have been if UAE joint that they had a chance. But no, there was no coming back. V Pool had this, had this in the bag, man. He was not going to lose this stage.

[Spencer Martin]

Everybody, welcome back to the Move Plus I'm Spencer Martin. I'm here with Johan Berniel. We are breaking down Stage nine, Matthew Vanderpoel's incredible stage win out of the breakaway. I would say early breakaway, but it wasn't really early. It took a long time to get going and then we will go through tomorrow. Not Tomorrow's Tuesday's Stage 10, which rehashes an iconic stage from 2024. But Johan just. I'll quick, quickly recap the stage, then we'll get your takeaway. The stage started, it was shortened due to the heat. So 154km. It meant that the sprint point was really pulled close to the start line, like maybe even 12k in little Trek controls it no problem, but does make the pace quite hard because the sprint point is on a climb. Mads Pedersen takes max points with Ben Grai coming in second, Jasper Phillips in third. And the attacking started right after that happened and continued for what felt like an hour, an hour and a half. Some of the hardest racing I've seen at this Tour. Finally a move gets away. Extremely strong move. Then Matthew Voel Tack attacks at a move. He's followed by Tobias Holland, Johansson, Tom Pick and Alex Bon. Those are four of the strongest riders in the race. Quinn Simmons was up in that move with him. Was dropped. He drops back to pace. Little Trek, who is not far back or pace. Mads Pedersen, his little track teammate, who's not far back because of some odd pacing from UAE throughout the day that kept the gap really close. We get this thrilling race into the finish where Vanderpoel is just a few seconds ahead of the chasing peloton, which is reduced down to around 30 riders. He doesn't panic though. He wins the sprint with ease over Hunter Holland, Johansson and Pitcock. And Filippo Ghana wins the bunch sprint ahead of Mads Petterson and Michael Matthews behind. Kind of an interesting twist there. But Johan, what was your takeaway, your move of the day?

[Johan Berniel]

Move of the day? I mean, listen, move of the day has to be Matthew van der Poel in the way he had this stage in his control. You know, he was basically in all the moves tried a few times at the beginning already. He was, you know, he was in the breakaway straight away. Then he made, he made it back to. Because I think initially, if I'm not mistaken, was Quinn Simmons and Johanneson, who went away pretty early actually with about 80k to go. They went away from that 16 man breakaway, which I thought was a bit early. But then Vanderpoel came back on a climb which was really hard. So there you could see, okay, this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy. It's going to be difficult to beat this guy today because, you know, I mean, 3,000 meters over 150 kilometers, that's not Van der Poel's favorite terrain. Also, you know, reportedly doesn't like the heat. Couldn't see that today. He did pretty well in the heat today, so.

[Spencer Martin]

And he did a great time, Charlie, in the heat just a few weeks ago too, so.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe, maybe he should ride. He said that a few, few days like the last three days start, he has started to feel better that initially, the first week, he didn't really feel that great. So I think we're going to see more of him in stages like this. You know, probably not the next stage, because that's really hard. But other transition stages, it's not the last thing we've seen about from. From Matthew van der Poel. It's, of course, and it's also, it's not easy to. For him to win from a breakaway, because once he's in the breakaway, of course, everybody looks at him and they don't give it their 100%. Other than that, Spencer, my takeaway of the question of the day actually is what was UAE doing? You know, there was this 16 riders, then it went down to eight or nine. Looked strong guys. It looked like, you know, nobody was in there, that there was a threat for the yellow jersey. And yet, you know, they started to ride really fast. Tim Wellens was going crazy fast, and they kept it always around a minute, 15, 20, then one minute. So, you know, that's not controlling the breakaway. That's riding to win the stage. So I found that a strange observation. And then I, after the stage, I listened to Adam Yates. Adam Yates said, initially, you know, we were kind of thinking that there could be a chance that it could be a small group and that today or del Toro could win the sprint. You know, when. When you see that Max Peterson's there, Ghana's there, I mean, still, it's today. I mean, he could have won, right? My question is, is it worth it? You know, then I saw Tim Wellens had a quote and said before the start, we had discussed that Isaac Del Toro might be able to sprint. If it came down to a small group, I mean, yes, of course, in my opinion, there would be like 10 or 15 riders of the climbers. If it's because I think there was probably like 40 guys there. And if you see that, at least Pedersen is there and Michael Matthews is there, and then other guys like Aramburu and, you know, like other riders that are punchers, they did definitely have a chance Del Toro and even more so Pulachar. But my question is, is that really worth it? Is that really worth it? Yes. Tomorrow is a rest day. Again, you know, I criticized them after stage. Was the stage three or four. I don't remember which stage it was.

[Spencer Martin]

It was the Picacho stage.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah, yeah, but. And yes, then afterwards, they gave the jersey away and they had a few days off. But still they are in a Position, let's say that they can actually take the luxury to make these decisions because if you look today, at some point when Tim Wallens was still there, they had six riders of UAE where Visma was already down to four. So, you know, nobody else was even close to. I mean, little track had a few riders, but they're not a threat to UAE and to the classification, I think not to. Not to Pogacha's position at least. So, yeah, I mean, we should not be surprised because that's how they race and they want to win as many stages as possible. But yeah, I mean, I have another opinion. I wouldn't have done it that way. But anyways, luckily they don't think like me because it makes the. It makes the racing very, very interesting and very, very entertaining.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, well, the people we were watching with, like Bradley was saying, oh, this is so boring. I'm thinking like, this is way more interesting than I remember your tours being. Because now we have this thrilling, unnecessary battle between the breakaway and the chasing peloton. And just to give a little more context on this, Johan. So, like, on it not being a Vanderpoel day or the climbs not being good for him. That's true. But also the harder climbs were earlier in the stage, the final third of the stage. You know, one climb is 1k long, the other climb is 2k long. That sounds like a classic to me, which helps Vanderpoel. But also I didn't understand the plan for uae. So you pull this move back and then how do you win? Because it's not great terrain. You're with some of the best classics writers in the world. What was like, what was the path to winning? I was a little confused by that.

[Johan Berniel]

I think winning that uphill sprint, that's the only. That's the only thing I could have. Could think of. I mean, he did already beat Vanderpool in. In a sprint like this last year. He did beat him.

[Spencer Martin]

That was a.

[Johan Berniel]

It was not. It was not much harder than this. It was probably not as hard as this.

[Spencer Martin]

What is he going to beat? Mads Pedersen, Michael Matthews and flipping.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah, that.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, those guys are fast. Like, really fast. But. But here's a theory from me. Let's say this. Let's say that's a bluff. They didn't want to win the stage. Do they have data or do they have a theory that, like, it's hot. It's hot. As it's a hard day, we're the strongest. Let's pummel our competition so they can't attack us later. Like is that, does that even make sense where you could just ride your. Ride Jonas into the ground so he cannot attack or at least ride Jonas's team into the ground so Visma can't bother you later in the race.

[Johan Berniel]

I don't, I don't think they're worried about that, Spencer.

[Spencer Martin]

Then I don't really have.

[Johan Berniel]

I think, I think, I mean, I don't really have. If you look at them, they're man for men. They're stronger on every single position than, than Visma and any other of the other teams. Man for men. I mean, their best rider is the best. Their second rider is the best second rider of all teams. Their third best rider is probably the third best rider of all teams, you know?

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

Yes.

[Johan Berniel]

They don't have much to worry about, you know.

[Spencer Martin]

Yes, that's, that's a good point. But I don't know. I don't get it. I felt like it probably wasn't like, are the other teams happy about this or.

[Johan Berniel]

No, there's not. I mean, listen, that's. It's the race, you know, it's their right to do that. They're not getting any gifts. You know, I mean it's, it's like, okay, as a GC team, for example, you're trying to control a race, you know, and then. And you kind of try to get into a situation where you let the break go. After an hour of super hard racing, everybody's saying, okay, and then whenever you decide, okay, this is the good break, then there's still going to be teams who are attacking. That also pisses them off, you know, the team that is controlling the jersey so there's no gifts, you know, I mean, it's like. Or sometimes they want to let the break go and another team doesn't agree and they bring the brake back and then they have to start all over again. So that also sucks if you have to control the race. So. No, I don't think, I don't think anyways, it was going to be difficult, but I mean what I don't understand is that what they did and then finally they gave up, you know, if they really wanted to win the stage. When. And also, for example, Ineos. Ineos. That was also a question,

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

you know,

[Johan Berniel]

initially because Inea started to pull right with Vocalin and Tobias Voss. Yeah, I was, during the stage, I was questioning also, okay, why are they doing this? Is this to protect the 10th place of Egon Bernal? Because Johanneson and Pidcock could come in the top 10, I wrote down here, I said, well, it's come far that a team like Net Company in nails with a budget of 50 million rides in stage nine for a potential top 10. But then at the end we saw that people, Ghana was in there, which I hadn't seen, and he won the sprint against Mats Pedersen. But yeah, I mean, it's also.

[Spencer Martin]

That's super, super impressive for Ghana, by the way, to survive that stage and then win that bunch sprint. And I mean, you are right. I think it was a twofer. I think they were controlling for Ghana, but also they don't want to let Tobias Holland Johansson and Tom Pidcock get

[Johan Berniel]

here on the race. The director, I think it's Impy who said, you know, we are losing time on the GC guys in the front, which obviously means that they're concerned about trying to get in the top 10. So, yeah, you know, listen, if Bernal, if Bernal is good enough to be in the top 10, he's not going to lose the top 10 in a stage like this.

[Spencer Martin]

That's a pretty good point.

[Johan Berniel]

On the other side, maybe, maybe he's not good enough and he has to take advantages to get into breakaways like this to get in the top 10.

[Spencer Martin]

It's also not obvious. I mean, you look at this top 10, you know, like you would be like, wow, trying to get in the top 10. That's. That's kind of sad. It's a lot of good riders in the top 10. It's. It's maybe the most stacked top 10 I've ever seen. So finishing in the top 10.

[Johan Berniel]

It's not top 10 in the tour. Spencer is this. It's very difficult. You have to be a very good rider to be in the top 10 in the tour de France, no matter what they say.

[Spencer Martin]

Like right now. Yeah, like you have Florian Lipowitz sitting seventh and Florian Lipowitz is one of the best stage racers in the sport. You know, Lenny Martinez, huge, huge talent. Scalmo is a ninth, Bernal 10th. Like, he's amongst the best riders. So the top 10 is important. I was a little confused about the pacing, but when we saw Ghana sprint, you know, why, why not pace? Because if you have a chance to win the stage with Ghana, you should probably do it and you get to pull back. I mean, the thing is, these aren't. These are no panicookens like Tobias Holland Johansson. That guy is a really good. You might not get back the time you give to him. Same thing with Pitcock. Who knows where his head Is at. At any point, but he's really good podium.

[Johan Berniel]

Speaking of Pitcock, by the way, I wanted to mention, you know, impressive. When the 15, 16 man breakaway was getting together, he. He was not there and he attacked from the, from the peloton and on the moment that they were trying to get create the gap, he bridged 20 seconds by himself on all these good riders by himself. That was an impressive move. There's not. There's this.

[Spencer Martin]

And there was guys trying to follow his wheel.

[Johan Berniel]

Three, just three or four riders in the whole peloton who can do this. And Pitcock is one of them.

[Spencer Martin]

Well, we need you to be men because Lance keeps saying I don't understand the. But that like right there, it's like he. Well, he can do stuff that you know, unfortunately conical.

[Johan Berniel]

At the. At the finish, you know, we. The question is what would have changed? Was it. So basically it was the normal shifters didn't work, but the ones on the top of the brake lever worked. That's what I can make out of his interview because. Yeah, I mean they didn't work. And then I had a hard time understanding because he kicked his rear derailleur with his foot and all of a sudden it starts working. That doesn't really make a lot of sense. So must there must be a short circuit there in the. On the shifters? I don't know.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, in the actual shifter. So he was using the button on the top. The button. I mean, maybe keep your hands on the hoods if you know that well, you can shift. He seemed to forget. He said.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah, I mean he was definitely sprinting. He was sprinting on the, on the, on the hoods instead of in the drops. But, but yeah, I mean that was unfortunate. He did a great stage. Pitcock did a great stage

[Spencer Martin]

and it was a great stage. I, I do want to ask you about Little Track. So they get. Quinn Simmons is up the road in this move with their. With Derek G. So it's a good situation. But the number one rule of bike racing, don't get dropped from the breakaway. What happens? He gets dropped from the breakaway when Vanderpoel attacks. I didn't honestly didn't think he was in great position. I, I maybe would park myself right on Vanderpoel's wheel if we were going into that climb. Cause you know the attack's coming. He gets dropped with G. They fall back. They're pacing for Mads Pedersen. Should they not have gone in the. Should they just have focused on that, Johan? Because I think they potentially win That. I mean, do they win the stage or do they lose to Ghana? Maybe being in the break was the right difference.

[Johan Berniel]

Spencer, you can. You cannot judge because Ghana won the sprint of the first group. I mean, if it's for the win, it's a different story. It's a different story. I think Patterson would have gotten it. Yeah. I have questions about the tactics today of little Trekker. Honestly, it was okay to be in the break, but then when you see the composition of the breakaway and you see that Van der Poel and Pidcock are there, I mean, how are you going to win from Van der Poel and Pitcock if you have Derek G. And Quinn Simmons, at least for starters, don't collaborate. You have the excuse that Mats Petersen is going through hell to stay with those 35 riders, which is impressive, by the way. Impressive performance of Mads Petersen to be with all these GC riders. That means that he's really in good shape. And then, at least the first of all, if you're there, don't collaborate. You have the excuse that you have your leader in the back. And they did. They did ride. I didn't see them skip turns in the front when they were with these 12 riders or anyone.

[Spencer Martin]

They were pulling hard.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah. So. And then. Yeah, I mean, listen, the moment. The moment. The moment they drop back, that's too late, Spencer. It's very simple. You know, the four guys who were in front drop these other guys. So Derek G. And Quinn Simmons were dropped. So a guy who gets dropped from the break is not going to bring that breakaway back later on. You know, it's not that complicated, you know, so.

[Spencer Martin]

Well, it's a. There's always this thought of, like, well, there's numbers behind. It's like, well, if they're all weaker than the person in front, they're not going to catch them because they can't go as fast.

[Johan Berniel]

These four riders. Yeah. And the fact that, you know, the fact that it was 1 minute, 50 seconds, 40 seconds, they had to keep going until the end, and the fact that also, I think Pitcock definitely thought that he had a chance against Van der Poel. There was cohesion. You know, the only guy who kind of skipped a few turns now and then was Alex Bodin, which was his right. But the other three were riding for a purpose, you know, and so. So, yeah, I mean, once. Once Derek G. And Quinn Simmons were back in the. In the main group already, Tobias Foss and Vocal A, they were toast because they had been doing it for a while. It would Only have been if UAE joined that they had a chance. But no, there was no coming back. Vanderpool had this. Had this in the bag, man. He was not going to lose this stage.

[Spencer Martin]

Well, do you feel like this speaks to little tracks issues sometimes? So you have riders open the breakaway polling. You have Mads Pedersen back in the peloton wanting the breakaway to get caught. And instead of leveraging that where. That's a great situation. Right. Because the guys in the breakaway can use Pederson as an excuse to skip turns, sit on, gives him a greater, greater probability of winning in the sprint against Vanderpoel because they've done less work. Do you feel like sometimes a little check. They just don't. There's. Doesn't feel like they're ever on the same page or it doesn't even feel like it's a team. It's just a collection of writers they're riding.

[Johan Berniel]

I mean. No, that they. I mean, I don't want to be too critical. I have the impression. And is this just as outside observation? I don't know if it's true or not, but my take would be that today, since the other day, Quinn Simmons and Vachek killed for Mats Pedersen in the breakaway, and they gave up their own chances today. They wanted to let them have their chance in the breakaway. Quinn Sims, at least Quinn has been quite outspoken about his own ambitions, and I think that's probably the reason why they didn't hold them back. They let them collaborate to at least, you know, nurture the ambition of the writers of Lily Trek in the break.

[Spencer Martin]

But you don't have. Yeah, you don't have to collaborate.

[Johan Berniel]

No. Yeah, right. And then Quinn Simmons was in the worst possible position when they. I mean, I would have to look back, but if there were eight riders, I think he was in sixth or seventh position when they turned, and that was a short climb. And that was, you know, Mathieu van der Poel terrain. He dropped everybody. Nobody could stay on his wheel. You know, if you're not on his wheel there.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, you're done.

[Johan Berniel]

You know, I mean, okay, these three guys came back. But if you're in. If you're too far behind, behind that, you're not going to close that gap.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, I didn't really understand that. But anything else. I mean, were you surprised that this is Vanderpoel's. It's just his third stage win at the Tour of his career.

[Johan Berniel]

Well, we said it the other day, he only won two stages. I mean, Matthew van der Poel is not this is not his favorite race, Spencer. Sometimes it looks like he's there because he has to be there, but doesn't really want to be there. But man, when he wins, he does it in unbelievable fashion. That was a great win today. Also. Another interesting, impressive stat, Spencer, is that it's the sixth time that Alpecin participates in the Tour and every single year they've won at least one stage. They've always won stages.

[Spencer Martin]

That's pretty impressive.

[Johan Berniel]

They always won stages.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah. I believe their first non. Vanderpool win was Tim earlier, I think. Wait, who won a stage for them in 2020 at the Tour de France? Let's look at it. I don't know if they wanted to.

[Johan Berniel]

Well, I heard that on Belgian TV today, so.

[Spencer Martin]

Well, we'll call in with that. But do you know. Little quiz for you. Do you know the last race that Vanderpoel won before this? E3.e3. Oh, yeah. So it's been a minute, actually.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah, I think he won. So he won. He won a stage in tyreno. He won E3 and he won at least blood, I think.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah. Yep. That's. That. That's the hardest one to remember. The first one. I always blocked that one out. Does. He has a funny history with the Tour where he's only finished it twice, but the Tours that he's finished are his worst Tours. He's not really contended for a stage in them. Like he's done better on the Tours where he doesn't finish. Do you think he's going to finish this?

[Johan Berniel]

I think.

[Spencer Martin]

Is he going to go home?

[Johan Berniel]

I think he's going to finish. Yeah, I think he's going to finish and.

[Spencer Martin]

Interesting.

[Johan Berniel]

I think he's going to win in Paris.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah. Yeah. I think that's like. I think that's quite a good prediction. I could totally see that happening. Anything else on today's stage?

[Johan Berniel]

I think that's it. Yeah. Green jersey. I mean, good day for. Not. I mean, not a huge win for. For Peterson at least. He won the intermediate sprint and then he got. He got fifth. Now six. He got six. Right.

[Spencer Martin]

He got sixth, so sixth on the stage. So he gets 40 points today.

[Johan Berniel]

40 points where the others got 20.

[Spencer Martin]

The best scoring one was Binyam.

[Johan Berniel]

20 points, another 20.

[Spencer Martin]

And Tim earlier got zero. So.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah, well, Tim has never been a candidate for. Neither has he. I mean, he said. He stated publicly also that he has no chance to win the green jersey, that. That, you know, he. He would need to change his whole training and he's not interested in doing That,

[Spencer Martin]

I guess. So let's pencil him in for two more wins.

[Johan Berniel]

Bunch prints.

[Spencer Martin]

Then he would be 40. Yeah. Two more bunch print wins would be like 45 points up on Pederson. But Pederson can, you know, today he just got four.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah, I think, you know, he probably

[Spencer Martin]

pull 45 points out of somebody.

[Johan Berniel]

Say one more. I would say one more. This, I mean, bunch prints are obviously something can go wrong. Something can happen, you know.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah. Oh, I'm just saying if he won all the available bunch prints remaining, he still probably would not have enough to.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah, because another, another guy who will score points on in Paris is Pedersen. You know, he could win. He could, he can win there.

[Spencer Martin]

He could win. And then Binium's 45 points back. What do we think about him?

[Johan Berniel]

Listen, I mean, I'm surprised. I'm surpr about Binyam's shape. Did not see that coming.

[Spencer Martin]

I mean, that was not an easy start to the day. And he was right there. Yeah.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah, it was. Yeah, definitely.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martin]

You can never count this guy out. You know, he can look as bad as.

[Johan Berniel]

Hang on a second. Spencer wants to say hi to the. To our audience who's really, really, really asking for attention. Bobby. Bobby wants to come say hi to everybody. Bobby.

[Spencer Martin]

Bobby needs a dog food sponsor. Reach out. But let's take a Bobby break and then we'll be right back on the other side of these ads, everybody. This episode is brought to you by hims. When thinning starts, it's not just your hair that takes a hit. It can change how you feel day in and day out. HIMS makes it simple to take control of hair regrowth with personalized care. Hair that fits your life. HIMSS offers convenient access to a range of prescription hair loss treatments with ingredients that work, including chews, oral medication, serums and sprays. HIMS can help since Dr. Trusted ingredients like finasteride and minoxidil can stop further hair loss and regrow hair in as little as three to six months. And HIMS thinks you shouldn't have to go out of your way to feel like yourself, which is why they bring expert care straight to you. With 100 online access to personalized treatment plans that put your your goals first. No hidden fees, no surprise costs. Think of HIMS as your digital front door that gets you back to your old self. With simple 100% online access to trusted treatments for real health concerns all in one place. So for simple online access to personalized and affordable care for hair loss, ED, weight loss and more, visit hims.com the Move that's hims.com the Move for your free online visit hims.com the Move featured products include compounded drug products which the FDA does not approve or verify for safety, effectiveness or quality. Prescription required. See website for full details, restrictions and important safety information. Individual results may vary based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil and finasteride. Everybody this episode is brought to you by Lagoon Sleep. Everyone is obsessed with buying speed, expensive wheel sets, ultra arrow bikes tested and wind tunnels. And then they sleep on a pillow they've had since college. Come on, that's absurd. And the thing about endurance athletes is they understand compounding better than anyone. You don't get fitter from from one ride, you get fitter from consistent training over time. Sleep works exactly the same way. One bad night is not the problem. A training block where you're chronically under recovering is. And that starts with what your head is on for eight hours a night or more. Lagoon is a small company built by athletes for athletes. A former Olympic trial swimmer who tested over 60 pillows and couldn't find one built with recovery in mind, so he built it himself. All you have to do to get yours is you start a two minute quiz with a two minute quiz that matches you to the right pillow for your sleep position and body type. It has fully adjustable fill so you can dial in the exact height and support you need. The result? You're going to fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer and start training days feeling better. And the data on this is real. Athletes sleeping under seven hours a night are 50% more likely to get injured mid block. That's not a small number and I've been loving my Lagoon sleep up here in Aspen in a in a hotel in a strange bed. I'm not might not sleep as well, but I have my Lagoon sleep pillow and I took the quiz. They matched me with the otter and as a hot sleeper I love its temperature regulating gel memory foam. Since switching I've noticed waking up more refreshed and that it's easier to jump out of bed at 4:30am to catch the start of these stages. And just think about the riders at the Tour right now racing all day day after day and then being expected to show up and follow Taday's crazy pace. And next for them, recovery is not a nice to have. It's a critical piece of their arsenal and they could use a lagoon as well. So get yours today. Go to lagoonsleep.com themove and take a two minute quiz. Use code MOVE M O V E for 15 off Lagoon, the marginal gain you've been sleeping on. All right, we're back. Johan's back, Bobby's back. We're ready to go. We're going to preview stage 10. But before we do that, Johan, I wanted to ask you a question from the listeners. Okay, so we want to add this into the rest of the episodes for the tour. So if you have questions for Johan, email them at wedo. It's sorry, infoedoo team and if we can, we'll put it on the show. I thought this was a good one. This is from Mike. I'd forgotten about this. This was in. In response to us talking about the one by. He says, are there any teams or riders using the classified rear hub? I believe Ineos was testing it a few years ago. I do vividly remember this or vaguely remember this. What happened to this?

[Johan Berniel]

It's still around. It's still around, but it's not getting the. Yeah, I think mainly it's around because some ex writers are investors in the company. I think. I think Tom Boonen, Philippe Gilbert and if I'm not mistaken, Marcel Kittel are investors in the company. So I mean, I think it's a great system, but the only way that they can stay around if it gets bought by one of the big manufacturers, I think because that's the only way that professional teams are going to be allowed to use it, you know, if. If SRAM or Shimano buys it. Other than that, how are you gonna. How are you gonna justify using it? I mean, the components manufacturer, the sponsor is not gonna agree to. For the riders to use it.

[Spencer Martin]

That's a very good point. And I guess the hub, the design was it allows you to run a one by, but then you switch, you basically change the gear.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah. You have like a virtual second chainring.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, yeah. It feel. I mean, I kind of like the idea, but again, it's like then you're introducing a lot of.

[Johan Berniel]

Well, I mean the thing is also I think the problem with. The problem with that system will be. And we see it, you know, and it's. I think it's unavoidable that it. The tendency is going towards a one by with no 13 gears in the back. I've seen a new manufacturer lately, new Chinese components manufacturer. They have 14 gears in the back. Then you can start thinking about a one by. Right. And so that makes basically the classified system obsolete, I think.

[Spencer Martin]

Very sad. Too bad. But it's a very good point. Yeah. The more you can add to the one by there has to be a limit there, right? We can't just keep adding like, let's just go straight to 25:1 by 25:14

[Johan Berniel]

gears already starts to be interesting. You know, like two for a one. By then these gaps are becoming. By the way, my. My take on the one buy of Jonas on the Tour Molest stage was identical to Tom Dumoulin. He had the same questions about it and the same reservations about using. Using that. So that was. I mean, this year's a guy who's been recently in the peloton and thinks that it's also not the smartest, especially for a big mountain stage.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, well, if Tom Dumoulin says it, I support it. So he's our new mascot at the move. We love Tom Dumoulin, but that is interesting because he would know. I mean he raced and he's raced in a Tour de France that Tade has a one so recently been competing. If he has doubts about it, then it's probably legitimate questions. But should we preview stage 10, Yohan? Yeah, let's do that after the rest day. So it's 166km and it's through the Massif Central. It is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 categorized climbs and a little bit of an uphill finish goes over Puy Marie finishes at La Lorraine. If this sounds familiar, it's because this was stage 11 of the 2024 Tour de France, which was the famous stage where Pagachar attacks on Pui Marie, gets reeled in by Jonas Finnegaard and then loses in like a bike throw to Jonas. And I think that's the last time Jonas has beaten.

[Johan Berniel]

Last time Jonas has, I mean, like beaten. I mean he's been in front of a few times, but yeah, because just decided. Decided to stay on his wheel. But yeah, that, that stage, Spencer, I remember that stage. That was. That's a hard stage, man. And very important. Stage 10, the day after the rest day is always, always comes with some surprises. It's a super. On stage 4,000 meters right of elevation.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, 4,000. I was just going to say that. 4,000 meters of elevation and there's only one two stages left in this race after this that have more elevation gain. So it might not. I think the crew over here looked at it like, yeah, that's pretty hard. But I don't think they fully digested the. The profile doesn't do it justice about how much climbing there is in here. And the climbs are not very long. So that means if the climbs aren't long and there's a lot of elevation gain. It means you're always climbing, right. Because you've got to make that elevation up somewhere. The finish is. Is really tricky. It's this. People will remember. There's a descent and then climb. Primos Rugo crashed and there's technically a climb up to the finish. But he was given the same time as the. I believe he was with Brento Evanopole, even though it was an uphill finish because it was classified as a flat finish. And they changed the rule actually, because of this. But it's a really tricky finish. I would not be shocked if we have multiple GC guys going to the line. Do you think this is going to be GC or breakaway day? Yeah, I think so too. Do you think Tadapagucho? Go out and win it.

[Johan Berniel]

Go for it. I mean, if you see how dominant they are and how, you know, I can't imagine if they wanted to win today, which didn't make much sense to me. I cannot see any reason why they wouldn't want to win on Tuesday. It's a lot easier to control if you have the strongest team. Maybe Bugachar wants to make a statement because of what happened in 2024. I'm just thinking out loud, so I. I think Gotcha wins.

[Spencer Martin]

I think you're right because I think he's going to want to make a statement. I think he's sick of hearing about that. That gets brought up every time he. It might be the last time he did a. No, no. It's at least in a stage race, it's the last time he did a breakaway and was caught because Amstel gold. He was also reeled in. It doesn't happen very often. I think he's going to want to win. Put this to rest. Get this question over with. I don't know if gaps are going to be big, but the gaps were. If you remember 2024, the gaps were not insignificant that day. It was, you know, there was people pretty far behind, like here. I'm just going to look up right now. Stage 11, 2024. How far back? Rim kobanopole, 25 seconds back. Primo, 25 seconds back. But then everybody else was two minutes back. So it, you know, this could be bigger time gaps than we're going to see on some of the summit finishes later in the race because it's more dynamic racing, thus more basically more surface area for the. For the favorites to put time into the others. If you want to bet on it, though, we have a partnership with Next Bets. So go to nxtbets.combet outcomes and it will show you exactly where you can bet how to bet. And Johan, I have a question for you. Our next bets question of the day. So there's one of the bets on net spec. Next and nets bet. Sorry. On Next bets, you can then look at the best prices and then go to that book and bet on it so it shops for you. But here's one of the bets they have up here. This is a margin of victory. So just anyone first to second. So the options are less than one minute. That's plus 1800, basically. That's crazy. So if you bet $1, or, sorry, 100 on it, you would win $1800 in profit. One to three minutes, plus 499. Three to five minutes, plus 228. Five to seven minutes, plus 108. More than seven minutes, minus 122. Which one of these would you pick for the margin of victory at this race?

[Johan Berniel]

Either between three and five or over five.

[Spencer Martin]

And this is for the overall, not for the stage on stage 11. 3 and 5.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martin]

Well, let's just see right now. So right now, Pagacha's 242 up after. How. How much do you think he's gonna be?

[Johan Berniel]

I think he's gonna win the board on five.

[Spencer Martin]

By five minutes. More than five minutes tomorrow or on Tuesday?

[Johan Berniel]

No. At the. In Paris. Overall, more than five minutes?

[Spencer Martin]

I think he could be. Yeah, I think he could be up by almost four minutes after stage 10. So, yes, I think by more than five minutes would be the safe bet. Plus 108 probably is. The only way it's less, I guess, would be if Pagatra crashes out.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah.

[Spencer Martin]

And then Del Toro and Vinegar aren't separated by very much. So that would be your. If you think that's going to happen, you should start fishing for the lower ones. But probably won't happen because favorites don't crash out as much as people think they do, especially after the first few days. Are you ready for the Ventum trivia? Go hunt. So you think. I think we're both picking pga. I think this is GC day. Pugach our wins. I would be shocked if anybody else won. So, Phantom trivia. If you want to answer the question and if you want to answer and get it right, you were entered into a chance to win $5,000 worth of Ventum bike of your choice. The winner of this will be announced on the Tour's final stage. On the move on July 26. Yesterday's question was and if you can't wait for that and you want to get a ventum, go to ventum.com venture sorry ventumracing.com the move use code the move 10 for 10% off. Yesterday's question. In 1990 Greg LeMond won his third Tour de France. Which rider dropped him to win at lose arti. Then on stage 16 the answer is Miguel Linderain. And we picked this question because we think people forget how good of a climber Miguel Inderain was. Today's question.

[Johan Berniel]

I have a story about this.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah. And then we can. Yeah, I've budgeted in for the story. We're good on the story. So Paul 6oz, the 19 year old French rider could still wear yellow at this race in theory. Who's the last French rider to wear the yellow jersey in their tour debut? If you want to answer, if you know the answer to it, you want to answer it, go to ventumracing.com themove Put your answer in there and you'll be entered to win $5,000 toward a Ventum bike of your choice. Okay, what is your story about the 1990 Tour de France?

[Johan Berniel]

That stage, Spencer, that was my. 1990 was my first Tour de France. I was racing for lotto and yeah, I mean, I mean I had my leader, the leader of the team was Claude Crichleon who I think he finished sixth or seventh in that Tour de France, sadly passed away already and I was always kind of the last guy with him. So I remember that stage. I came to the bottom to get a width, to get a wit the main group and then I had to let them go. I think I finished like 14, 15, I don't remember exactly. But the day after was the famous stage which I showed the picture the other day where I lost to Konishev in Paul which. Yeah, so. And there was at that time there was a classification which I didn't know of but I only found out after the stage of. Of po. There was a classification for the pyrenee weekend. So the best placed rider in the two stages of the Pyrenees there was 100,000 French francs price which translated to back in those days it was kind of a substantial amount of money, at least for me back then it was. And so there was only. So I came to the finish in po, got second. There was I think the remainder of the breakaway came to the finish. I think we were like 12, 13 riders. And then the peloton, the main group came to the finish. Like today, for example. Like today the main group of favorites. And it was not an uphill finish. So it was a sprint. Right. And there was only one way for me to not win that prize. And if that. Miguel Inderijn won the sprint of the peloton and he sprinted and he won the sprint of the peloton and I didn't get a hundred thousand French franchise.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, devastating.

[Johan Berniel]

But anyways, you know, it's not, it's not a shame to. To lose from in the right.

[Spencer Martin]

Yeah, not a shame at all.

[Johan Berniel]

No shame. By the way, it's not. You know, the question is, is not. Is not. Who dropped Greg Lamont. He just kind of out sprinted him. And then there was a small gap, I think indirect, if I'm not mistaken. So it was the Tour de France that Capucci was in the lead and Lamont was chasing, trying to get time back day by day, which actually finally, he only took the yellow jersey in the last time trial, the second last day, because Capucci got a massive breakaway on stage one together with Steve Bauer and Roland Pansek. I do remember that. So. So yeah, Lamont was doing the majority of the work. Inderim was basically following him. And Lamont was just riding to get time. You know, he didn't write for the stage and so. And then Inderijn passed him at the end and took like three, four seconds. I don't know how many, but he didn't drop him. He was, he was sitting on the wheel. I mean, it was uphill. Was already not. Not easy to stay on the wheel. But I don't think he relayed on Lizardi then.

[Spencer Martin]

Well, like we, yeah, we debated this. So after the stage, he was. Lamond was five seconds behind Chiapucci. So then with a TT left, he must have felt pretty confident because LeMond finishes fifth in the final TT. I guess this is what people mean when they say, oh, these races were interesting. Like that is kind of interesting. The GC guy comes in, he's got to make up time. He doesn't win the time trial, but he puts enough time into Kia Pucci, but he puts like three minutes into Kia Pucci in the time trial. So you're right that he probably was just trying to take it was. Yeah. Which almost doesn't happen anymore that you get non GC guys winning the first trial.

[Johan Berniel]

I think Brooklyn third in gc.

[Spencer Martin]

Well, I should have said the guy like the guy that's not winning the race. Usually what happens now is the best GC guy is better in time trials. In climbing, you don't get this hodgepodge of, oh, I was the best time trialist, but I wasn't the best climber. Yeah. We debated whether we should say dropped or not. And we just said dropped because it sounded more impressive for Miguel and Grain that we thought we'd throw Miguel a bone on that one.

[Johan Berniel]

I mean, we must have done the tourmaline also then. Yeah, for sure. We must have done the turmale.

[Spencer Martin]

Yes. Because. Oh, actually, you know what?

[Johan Berniel]

Now I remember. I was actually in that stage. That's. I mean, I'll try to. Try to. I'll send a picture now so if Gabriel can put it up at the end of the show. Here I have a picture. Capuchi in yellow. We were actually in a breakaway that day with five or six guys with. And I was with Capuchi in a break. He was in yellow and he was. The whole stage escaped. We came, we got over the turmole with Capuchi and then we got caught in the. Just before Lusardidan.

[Spencer Martin]

This was on this stage.

[Johan Berniel]

I was away with Capuchi. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Spencer Martin]

Over. We. We got.

[Johan Berniel]

We got with four riders. Four riders over the turmale and the favorites were not there.

[Spencer Martin]

And this was your Tour debut.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah, yeah.

[Spencer Martin]

Big star breaking out there. Jesus.

[Johan Berniel]

Yeah, man.

[Spencer Martin]

Not easy to do on your first tour. Forget the winning the nine tours as a director. Jee. That's kind of crazy that Kia Pucci was in the breakaway as the race leader.

[Johan Berniel]

He did. I mean, he was not. He did not start the Tour de France as one of the favorites at all. At all. He just, you know, got that massive time gap, I think six, seven minutes on stage one. And he just kept it, you know.

[Spencer Martin]

What a wild man. That is crazy. Yeah, we got to see this picture. Johan away with the yellow jersey over the Tourmalet. I'm gonna have to go back and watch this race now, but anything else?

[Johan Berniel]

Johan, rest day and we'll be back on Tuesday for a very, very interesting stage. I'm looking forward to see that stage. That's going to be. I mean, that's. That's what you need to see from the beginning.

[Spencer Martin]

Yes. So, yeah, no, no show tomorrow. Sorry don't show up here ready to listen. But we'll be back on Tuesday to break down. Yeah. What should be a great stage. But enjoy your day off, Johan, and we'll talk. Awkward time to ask this, but. Hey, did you download the trail map?

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

Yeah, no, I don't need to.

[Spencer Martin]

I. I don't understand.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

You're trusting your signal out here.

I'm trusting T Mobile. They have the best network, and if we end up in bumtots nowhere, well, we've got T Satellite for backup.

[Johan Berniel]

Whoa.

[Spencer Martin]

I don't trust my carrier that much.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

We'll just use your phone as a flashlight.

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