Tils: Well, we finally have some answers to this year's G C quest, and we cannot wait for the Vaughn to raid that is now in the mirror ball. Welcome to the Domestiques podcast and welcome. To all our new listeners, my name is Matilda Reynolds. This daily Tour de France Fams Avex With podcast is brought to you by Black Sheep Apparel and Jordan Cycling. My day, I wind up the giant Sarah Gigante: Yeah. Tils: of Provence, Lat Mont Le Mont my god, that's how cooked I am after. Sarah Gigante: Yeah. Tils: Mont Bontou. It was wonderful and very difficult. I just can't fathom. How spicy and hellish it will be on the day for the GC riders have who who are gonna be racing in the hottest part of the day with already two thousand meters in their legs. We are joined by two time Australian individual time trial national champion with two top tens in the past two years at Latour Fams. Sarah Gigante, I know today would have been hard to watch, but how was your Tuesday? Sarah Gigante: actually it was quite relaxing watching everyone else get heat stripped while I just sat in my lounge and did some physio. So yeah, I I think the FOMO is hitting but today it didn't hit its hardest. Wait for Friday. Tils: we are also joined and roped you in as a regular, the head of the women's cycling fan club, Verita Stewart. Now, V, I want you to tell the domestiques about that time that you did a team's time trial. Verita: Okay, well that's really embarrassing. And thanks for bringing that up. but yes, tour of goldfields. I can't remember exactly what year, but maybe 2016 or thereabouts. yeah, we were doing the team's time trial and I am quite a small person, very small. I look like Pauline probably on a time trial bike, but probably worse. And we're going, I was I was on the front. I pulled off. You know how it is, you're all in a line. I pulled off and we were in Ballarat. It's really windy out there in the paddocks and the plains. And what happened? A gust of wind Sarah Gigante: And that's the thing. Verita: pushed me straight into my four or five riders that were behind me. And I skittled the lot of them. And I tell you what, that was thousands and thousands of time trial gear damage. and Kimberly Wells, who was on the back, she was like, the best bike handler of them all. She bunny hopped all of us, landed on the front, and then snapped her handlebars off. She had a she was on a road bike, Sarah Gigante: I think so. Verita: snapped her handlebars off on both sides, still held it up and she was fine, but all of us were all on the ground and you know I've got a little bit of a bung elbow to to show for it. But yeah, that's my one time trial you know. I'm Sarah Gigante: So you're good at bowling, is that what you're saying? Verita: I'm excellent at bowling, but I did redeem myself a few years later at at Canberra Tour when I came second in a time or or maybe fourth, I can't remember. But I did really well in a time trial and Tils: Let's go second. Verita: I was like I was like, yes, I can redeem myself a few years later. But yeah, my embarrassing one. Sorry about that, guys. Tils: sorry V. Had to had to w needed to share. Verita: sauce Tils: Just all out. Yeah, I have like zero time trialing stories, thank God. but that was what today was. Stage four, the time trial to Dijon, twenty-one kilometers. we're just gonna get ripped straight into it. There's no sort of t the tail of the la tap today. What I do want to do though is I just want to remind everyone about Marlon Roos' history. She went she underwent as a young woman, she actually had multiple ankle operations when she was much, much younger. It's what put her into got her into cycling. she fractured her pelvis in 2018. She actually came into cycling quite late because she is a trained doctor. then she fractured her sacrum in 2019. In 2024, after a horrific crash at the Tour of Flanders, she had a broken jaw, fractures to both ear canals, and extensive dental injuries and surgeries were required. She then battled repeated illness due to post-long COVID syndrome, which cost her both the Paris Olympics Sarah Gigante: Well too much of the parents. Tils: and the World Championships on home roads in Zurich, Switzerland. And I think we've all got that image of her. Sitting in the field mid-race, which cannot be forgotten. In 2026, this season began with another huge crash at the UAE Tour. Her helmet shattered, her bike frame broke in two, and her knee required stitches. She returned two months later and immediately beat Demi Volering in a two-up sprint to win Dwarzdor Flandering. Then just days later, she crashed again at the Tour of Flanders this year and fractured her lumbar vertebrae. Forcing another long rehab. And then two and a half months after breaking her back, she returned to win the tour Tour de Suisse overall. And now it was even just on the opening stage Verita: That's where I have to go here. Tils: of this Tour de France, Fams Avex Whit. She has already gone over the handlebars. somehow she escaped serious injury without losing time. As I mentioned, she's a qualified medical doctor, a world champion, time trialist, and perhaps the most Repeatedly rebuilt rider in the Peloton. Marlon Russa took stage four and the leaders jersey at the Tour de France Fam Avex Wift. let's quickly hear from her now. We will then hear from her which all she says is something. Project Dijon. that was Sarah Gigante: Yeah. Tils: a very short interview because the first part of it was all in French, so I won't I won't pretend to know what we sh she said before that. but says it's not always easy to have the favourite get the dub. Sarah Gigante: Yeah, no, a really impressive ride. It was a little bit scary how she said, this was the first year that she's really come into a tour with it being one of her really big goals for the season. First time she's coming wanting to win yellow. so a little bit menacing really when you consider how well she's done in grand tours in the past and that she has come to the tour and if she's done that well, we saw her win a stage was it that Gravel stage was the first edition maybe in twenty twenty two? so this is the first time she's come in with it as a big target. Or she looked like a shark out there, you could just every time the camera pants her, I just like heard the Jaws theme song in my head. Like Amazing Ride by the world champion Maryland Russa. And a really yeah, scary prospect for a lot of the G C riders. Tils: V what did you think of did you feel like Russa straight away looked like the best on course? Verita: girl loves a comeback. Based on Tils: Mm. Verita: that description, I didn't know that she had that deep bloody medical history, but she looks amazing on a time trial Tils: Mm. Verita: bike. Let's just say it. She like she must have the body proportions like Remco to just like fold in half. Her helmet was perfectly tucked in. She was she was just a slippery shark through the through the air. She just looked great from the start. She rolled down that ramp and she was on. I loved Tils: Mm. Verita: every minute of it. She she looked really good. And you know, when she finished the race, you saw the footage of her. She just like stopped, stepped off the bike, walked calmly over to the curb and sat down like nothing had happened. She wasn't puffing and panting. Demi was like lying sprawled out on the ground, unable to move. And it just shows that she's got some strength and maybe a little bit underestimated. What do you think? Sarah Gigante: Were you a bit nervous when you saw her coming into the last couple of kilometers, almost looking like she had a puncture or some kind of bag? Tils: yes, exactly. I actually did think she did have a puncher because she was moving so awkwardly on her bike and she was going so fast in her skis, it was close to 70 kilometers an hour, and it looked like the wind between the buildings was whipping Verita: Mm. Tils: her. So because she came out of her skis, went back on her handlebars to try to control her bike, but while she was doing that, the bike looked very awkward and I Because of all of her like all the things I'd just rattle off then, my my hands were over my mouth. I was just my heart was sinking thinking that she had an issue. And so I I just I actually love Marlon Russo. Like she's one of my I'd say top three fans, like riders in the Peloton that I love because she just has such a quirky fun attitude as well. She you never know what you're gonna get Verita: Yeah, she's super fun. Tils: in her commentary and look says like, you know I know you've had to rebuild rebuild yourself a few times, but you don't need to look far with how much Marlon Russa has done over the years and has come back and back again with such an amazing attitude and you know, she now wears yellow. Sarah Gigante: Yeah, absolutely. Such resilience. Although I was a little bit sad not to see Likta Noyen take the stage win today. Did you see her in the pot seat? It was so close. She had to look on sadly as Malin came by and won by just four seconds. But an amazing ride by Noyen. She rides for Visma Lisa Black. So it would have been their first stage win of the week. And yeah, this twenty five years old, having a breakout season, having just won the Dutch national road race championships. So yeah, really exciting. Even if she didn't get the win today, hats off to her as well for a great second place. Tils: I might rattle off the top ten just or a few more after like say top fifteen ish. because just to give everyone a reminder of what happened on the stage. And what I love about time trials is that, you know, you might see one ride and be they're gonna be disappointed with that. But none of nothing means anything until everyone crosses the line. and I think there were some riders that we thought potentially hadn't had their best day actually ended up in the top ten. So just on the stage Last names we had Rusa Newman that you just mentioned there says Volering in third, Backstead fourth, Braderworld, which is fantastic form from her. I've got her marked down for a later stage. Faulkner comes back. she should be good at this. She was in sixth. Kabul in seventh. Klass in eighth. Marcus in ninth. Longo Borghini in tenth. And her teammate Blassi one second behind in eleventh. we then had some of the other GC writers, Cashier in thirteenth, Anna Vanderbreggen fourteenth, Dominica Vorticek eighteenth, and then where was Sarah Gigante: Game for thought. Tils: Yeah, Kim Lakote and also Nidemeyer twenty Verita: Thirty ninth, she was. Tils: ninth. so Nidemeyer twenty fourth, thirty ninth, yeah. Sarah Gigante: Yeah. But now it yeah, times matter now more. So when we're talking Bolm Grimm was two minutes down, following Ferantravo two minutes thirteen. Kim two minutes twenty three. So a really disappointing day for her, I'd say, having come into the States in second place. Yesterday they had the close opportunity to wear yellow. I mean obviously she would have lost it again today, but yeah, it it sucks 'cause it come so close yesterday and now be quite a way off. But I mean the week is still very young. we saw what happened in the Jira, we saw what happened last year. Times can just absolutely explode and even though two minutes seems like you know, a mountain of time now, actually after having done Vuntu today tills, I'm sure you can say two minutes in the heat too is not that much to play with. So it's not over. Tils: Yeah, well and I thought I thought the the commentators potentially being, you know, like there was a you know, that it was all over. And I think I think it's absolutely not over for Pauline Fran Provot. keen to get your thoughts, Yards on around I guess the surprises for today first before we break down what it means for the G C. good or bad says some of the surpr what surprised you today? Sarah Gigante: Okay. I think maybe one of the rides of the day has to go to Cassian New Doma. He said thirteenth place, but to be just one minute, eight seconds off Marlon on a you know, how long are we talking? That's she took twenty eight and a half minutes. So I think that's pretty impressive. She lost a lot more time at Swiss just a month ago. She said she's really worked on her time trailing. In twenty twenty four, the year that she actually won the Tour de France, she lost thirty one seconds in a eight kilometer time trailer. This was twenty one kilometers, so to be at sixty eight seconds is really impressive. And that's sixty eight seconds to Marlon. I mean, then you can you know take away another eighteen to Debbie and then the next best G C rider was Elisa five seconds ahead. So really impressive. On that note, bad luck to Elisa Longo Borghini today. You said she was only one second ahead of Blasi, but we have to consider she had a bike change due to a a stuck. dropped chain in the last two kilometres, which is also when they're going pretty fast, so it makes stopping to change bats even worse. So yeah, I think that's a good sign though. Like it's sad, but it's a good sign that Longo Borghini has come in with really good form, potentially better than at the Jiro. We know that she was sick before the Jiro, working her way back up. So hopefully that extra month of training and an altitude camp has really helped her for this week. I think I'm Tils: Mm, it's a lot of time. Verita: Yeah, Sarah Gigante: I'm really keen to see what happens in the UAE camp now. Wordichik the the yeah, first leader coming into the tour. She wasn't actually that far off, about yeah, fifteen seconds Tils: Okay. Sarah Gigante: behind the other two from her team, but she said she had really awful heat stroke, so still an impressive ride considering that. I think a few riders out there had heat stroke though. It looked pretty brutal. Then imagine you're wearing like a really, really enclosed bucket on your head, tight. Hard cl yeah, tight clothing. I I it was good that no one was time tight. I'm just checking now. Hannah Ludwig made it with thirty seconds to spare, so the parathon goes on. Tils: Yeah, I did. V, what were your standouts, good and bad from today? Verita: I think a really interesting thing is Anna van der Bregen where she finished. I kind of in my head thought she might finish a little bit higher based on her past, Tils: Mm. Verita: but it's interesting, like you've got Elisa Longo Borghini, you've got Anna Vanderbreggen, you've got Casia and Blassie. You know, they're all pretty close to each other now in the G C. I'm sure we'll talk about it later, but that will be a real interesting battle. And I'm gonna put my popcorn on because I'm ready for the next few stages to get aggressive. another little thought is Puck. Puck lost quite a bit of time, and I think this opens up tomorrow to be a really fun stage for us to watch. I think those popcorn buckets need to be filled up because it's gonna be fun. Sarah Gigante: Why do you think Lorena Weavis went so hard that she ended up one minute forty five down, which is ahead of G C competitors like Isabelle Holmgren, Monica Trink and Tunnel, Pauline for Amperebo. Like she went hard. Surely that's not her, you know, just gonna make time cut pay. So I'm just curious. We should just testing the legs. Tomorrow's not for her anything. Verita: Yeah. Openers. Maybe she doesn't want to detrain. She doesn't need a rest day. She needs a couple of hard days. Get her CTL Sarah Gigante: Yeah. Verita: steady, you know, don't wanna don't wanna detrain during a grand tour. Sarah Gigante: Yeah, because I know my teammate Mireia, she's a Spanish national champion, Maria Benito, and she was told not to try today in order to save up her energy to help Kim as much as possible in the days to come, especially tomorrow. And same thing I saw an interview with Stefan is it Delcourt from F D J, the manager. Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: And he said both Avita Music and Juliet Bertet were not allowed to go hard today, so Two really strong riders of Ita's Podium to Grand Tour. Juliet was seventh on the G C last year here at the tour. So interesting to not, you know, keep them in the mix even for Demi's benefit. I think sometimes having a second rider up there on G C even if the plan is a hundred and ten percent for Demi, which it should be, sometimes it can be handy almost as like a way to bluff with or play with the other teams just to have Juliet. Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: still up there for example, but i I really respect that they're all in for demi. They do not care about a plan B. Verita: Yeah. Tils: for me, Sodrinkabool. It wasn't so much a surprise. She isn't she has had some great time trial results, but I thought she did particularly well here and it's pushed her up to third position on GC overall. And EF will be thrilled with that. Now I think her biggest test will not be these classic style stages that are coming up. It will be, of course, Montbon 2, but you know, they're going all in on on her and have a lot of faith in her as well. I think we've got to call talk about Pauline Franvo. We were talking more around the one minute mark or less. at one point it was around forty seconds that we thought she may lose to Marlon Russa, but I think if you think about says you found in the archives the last time that Pauline was on a time trial bike last decade. when she won the French championships, probably just picked it back up in October. to lose only two minutes to the world champion. I think Visma would have known that. Visma would have been very, very like they would have been ver they would have known not been surprised, I don't think, with where her form was at. And I think they would still be extremely confident in what she can do on Mont Vonto. Sarah Gigante: Yeah, I mean I did look back at the archives as you said and she won the French nationals in two thousand twelve, two thousand thirteen and thousand fourteen. So when I saw that before the stage started, I thought, yeah, maybe she won't lose too much time after all. She has some time trial history. But then I saw a photo of her position back then when she won and it was like aerodynamics did not exist. So she has the watts we have the watts, but maybe yeah, I think anyone we're we're not wind tunnels Like our eyes cannot see C D A, but just from looking at her, she didn't look very efficient aerodynamically. So thinking about it more tonight, maybe that's scarier because she actually didn't lose too much time from the intermediate split to the finish, which was largely downhill. So that's when you'd expect a small rider like her to actually lose a lot more time. So she must have had pretty good watts. I think she was just, you know, throwing a few out in the wind. Tils: Mm. Verita: It's time. Sarah Gigante: So Yeah, if you take a watts per kilo for the Hillier stages rather than, you know, what's per C D A, it could still be really good and I mean she won up the Madeline last year by about two minutes anyway, and that's just one of the three really hard stages to come. So I am not counting her out. I don't think that I'd be super, super confident that I could beat Demi if I were her or if I were Gizma, especially with Demi's team around her, but Then again, this one is also really strong and as I said, yeah, we saw what Pauline did last year and you know, given her time trial position, just as how she looks by the human Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: eye, I think that she's still super strong. Verita: I think that Tils: V Verita: yeah, I think that she has been optimized. I think that position that was she was in was going to be the best for her. Like I when I Sarah Gigante: Yeah, for her. Yeah. Verita: when I look at her on a bike, like on a road bike, she has a relatively small saddle height, kind of like myself. I have short legs. And so I think getting into a TT position, like you know, where you kind of fold it in half is probably a little bit more difficult. And I'm not an expert, but she had her hands up high. She had a really big stack on the front underneath her Tils: Mm. Verita: bars. So she did have her hands up in that puppy pause position. I think that she just it's just her. And you know, she had her big helmet on that looked all skew if by the end of it. And I don't know. I think her position's her position. Yeah, it did. Sarah Gigante: He was giving drogwitch vibes. Do you remember that time talking? Tils: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Verita: Yeah, yeah. Exactly. It's Roglich vibes. It was like all skew and she look like looked like she was pushing hard. But at the end, she said it's she laughed and was like, This is my best TT of the year. So had a good laugh about it. She seemed really like chipper in the sense that she, you know, it wasn't a funeral. And I think she just tried her best, and and that's what she kind of said in an interview afterwards. So I think she knew that she's got the watts. She's probably giggling in the back. going, hey, I know that I'm gonna put three minutes on all Tils: Mm. Verita: of you up Von too, so you just wait, you know, I'm gonna come for you. And maybe it's not a big maybe it's not a big deal. Exactly. Sarah Gigante: Yeah. Enjoy your yellow jersey for now. Yeah. Tils: Yeah, I agree, V, 'cause I think she's done Mont Von Two like twenty times. she hasn't put a time up on Strava. She knows exactly what some other writers who've done the write up there what the times that they're doing. And I think I don't think she looked bad yesterday when she got caught out on stage three. I think her and Anna Vanderbregen at that moment, they just sort of show their maturity a little bit. They're like, All right, you children go off the front and Have your games and play with one another and lose energy. and I think she was just sort of chilling and then in that moment she got caught out with an attack that she just would have known in her head, why would you attack here? There's no point, like it's not going to work. So I think they really show their composure, but for us fans, it sets up the next few stages, says just tanks like absolutely cannot wait. Sarah Gigante: Yeah, I think I I saw a comment online today. I hope it's true. Maybe Kim and Pauline can team up together to, you know, have some raid stages incoming. Like can you just imagine tomorrow some of the riders that have lost time? I can already see Trek on the move. Like they really need to do something now. They've lost so much time on G C. so yeah, on a hard stage like that. Holmbrun and Fisher Black will just be licking their lips. trying to get into a breakaway. But before we move on from the time trial, I do have a listener question. someone is keen to know how much time the average rider spends actually training on the T T black, given sadly the women's Peloton doesn't get many chances to time trial. I mean we already Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: heard from you Tills the most time trialing you really did was at St Kilda Crits when you'd lap us. Verita: Mm-hmm. Tils: yeah, good days. Sarah Gigante: Mm-hmm. Tils: Still late. Keep going, yeah. Sarah Gigante: Yeah, I I mean, I think it really depends on the individual rider. It's hard to say what the Tils: Yeah. Sarah Gigante: app is rider does. I know a lot of my teammates that don't do a lot of time trailing and then it like if it it's not their specialty. So say Maria Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: Benito, she loves time trailing. She'll have it in her program regularly. She's not like going for G C's with time trails that often. Like I said today she couldn't even try in the time trail. She's definitely not going for G C but She'll she just likes having that skill to develop on it's a long term thing, so even if you're thinking of the Olympics in two years, you can't just rock up a few months before and be like, okay, now I need to start working on it. So that's something Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: you can do throughout the whole year, like in the off season, like throughout the year, even when you're racing. I if you don't have time to do your key sess key sessions on the time trail bike, you can even just do two recovery rides a week on it. One recovery ride a week is still far better than nothing. Tils: But says for you, so I can understand, say, Sarah Gigante: but for me, yeah. Tils: like, say you have one time trial a year. Like let's j let's just take take nationals out of it and you've just got say something as important as the Tour de France femme, how much time trialling would you be doing for this one event? Sarah Gigante: Yeah. It's it's pretty hard to say because my last few years have been so disrupted, particularly in the time trial position. I mean Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: with the iliac artery thing, which also we should mention, Pauline for Ampavo, we say she does look like just very upright. I'm sure as you said, V, that's the best position for her, but compared to other riders, she doesn't look quite so bent Verita: no, I just Sarah Gigante: over. When I had all the iliac artery problems, I could hardly touch my time trial bars. Like it was so uncomfortable. I didn't know why. I didn't know I had iliac artery problems, but it was just so unbearable to get in the time trial bar. So then wipe out a couple years there where I just really hated using the bars. And then coming back from that I I had to recover quite upright. I was actually on a gravel bike for a few months. Then yeah dislocated my shoulder twice so again couldn't bend over. Then broke my femur. And actually I found bending over again quite difficult. So for me I haven't really had a a good chunk of time where I could train on the T T bars again, but say I found out tomorrow that there's a a twenty K time train next year's tour and that I was going for the G C there, then I'd already want to be doing at least a time trail ride every week, try to. Even if it's just a recovery ride. Yes. Tils: Hmm. Such a big investment. It's such a big investment. But you see here, I guess how it pays off, but it is it is just such a big investment for thirty minutes of work. Sarah Gigante: Yeah, for sure. And that's just like already a year out, I'd say a a ride a week would be like not not a ton, not too little. But then you're coming into it. I mean, someone like Cassia is probably on the T T bike a few times a week. Maybe a way to help balance that with the roadback ambitions is to do double days. I know I've often done that when I had to do, you know, split my focus between a time trial and also road prep because as you said Yeah, you can't spend all your time just on a stage that's gonna take thirty seconds thirty minutes and yeah, it's important not to lose two minutes today ideally, but you might lose minutes and minutes more on Funtu or something. So yeah, l maybe you do time trial efforts in the morning, come back, swap bikes, go out for a road ride after something like that. But it is really hard and it's also yeah, pretty tough for the riders that puts too much effort into it and then barely get the opportunity to race. Tils: Mm. Verita: Even Sigrid said after her interview yesterday that she hadn't really focused on the time trial and that it was going to be a recovery ride for her and then all of a sudden she's kind Tils: Yeah. Verita: of in yellow. And you could Sarah Gigante: Mm-hmm. Verita: you can kind of imagine a few of those, you know, smaller teams, maybe they don't focus so much on it because they have other priorities for the race. You know, they want riders to be in breakaways or or have, you know, other opportunities within it. And so it would be really difficult. Yeah, it is. Sarah Gigante: Look, it's also an arms race. Yeah. It's a bit pointless. If I haven't having well not even me, if if I was like a smaller team especially with less resources, like trying to go against riders like Marlon Rusa who are not just incredibly strong humans, but they've also spent so many hours in the wind tunnels. So so much money has gone into that position. All the Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: equipment there some skin suits cost thousands of euros. Whereas Verita: Mm. Sarah Gigante: all the teams we just have, you know, normal skin suits. So I yeah, it's not all about the skin suits or all about what helmet you have or the time trail bars, whether they're custom or not. But it does make it even yeah, harder for a rider that doesn't have access to all that to really think, is it you know, is it worth it to spend months and months preparing and potentially sacrificing road bike training when one, you barely get any chance to show it off. barely any time drive on the calendar. And two, you're just going against people in a different league. not just physically, but also yeah, with the position optimization. Although at least we didn't have any overly padded bras today. So le leveling the playing field a bit. Tils: Wow, didn't that kick off overnight? The expensive, yeah, crop top. Verita: They were They were all wearing those arm things, those you know, the under the under garment, long arrow under garment. Yeah, they were Sarah Gigante: It could Verita: wearing those instead. Yeah, the crop tops. But it's funny because Tils: They go for about seven hundred euro. Verita: Jesus. it's funny, you can see them all rolling down the start line. Half of them were wobbling and even Sigrid was like, Stop touching me because one, you know, one of the people were trying to like Tils: that's happened to me before. Verita: prop her up. And I'm thinking, shit, one of these people are gonna plummet to their death, you know, down this ramp, Sarah Gigante: Mm-hmm. Verita: like scary. And it's like, Tils: Mm. Verita: you know, it's just it's just they don't you know, some just don't focus on it. And that's fine because Sarah Gigante: I think it was the holder B. I think that guy was holding it to the side. I've had that happen too. Yes. Tils: Yeah, yeah, it was the holder. Yeah, it's such I've had that says as well. It's such a bad feeling and I actually think I just always used to make it so much worse because I'd be really tense and you meant to just be on there and r if you relax, the person that's holding you can just hold the bike, but fuck, I was always on a lean, slightly freaking out, and then you do see those riders, you're like I remember at Twilight Suisse that like they do go off over the edge and it's just Verita: god. Sarah Gigante: tell you what it reminds me of. When I was a kid my mum would take me to school and back via a trailer bike and and then later attend. But the trailer bike we could never get it to well, I say we, I was like five or six years old, so I wasn't involved in the bike mechanics. But the trailer bike was at such a lean, it was honestly quite unpleasant like riding along it like forty degrees. I'm sure it felt bad for my mum too. She really threw out her back but I just remember feeling like I was permanently toppling off my bike. Yeah, that's that's your kind of Tils: Hmm. Verita: That's why you're so good at time trials, Sarah, 'cause you've had the practice of the dodgy start ramp. Sarah Gigante: Yeah. Yeah. Tils: just two more I wanted to mention. Nidemeyer I thought might be further up. She was fourth at World Champs last year. this puts the the sort of conversation white back on how well, you know, Cashier being at the forefront of the G C for Canyon Shram in that team as well. But when I when I said I I thought she did, you know, really bad. She actually is still in the top ten though. So you know, it's not an absolute disaster for her. and also I thought there was a lot of conversation around Puck Petersay. but they have Phoenix have come out strongly and Puck has said that herself that she's not going for G C. she was fairly relaxed in well she wasn't flying out of the gate. they are going for Yara Castelline though, and Puck actually still beat her in this T T. So I think for them now it really goes to stage wins for Phoenix and potentially for Puck chasing that polka dot jersey. Sarah Gigante: Yeah, and shout out to the Aussie I I think we need to have an Aussie Cup so that we can mention them Tils: True. Sarah Gigante: as a day. So today's Aussie Cup winner was Mackenzie Cupland. She came thirty eighth, but two minutes twenty three down, so a respectable time. Well done, Mackenzie. Tils: Speaking of time, now I said that it was gonna be twenty seven and a half minutes and then you said and then you said it would be twenty seven fifteen. Sarah Gigante: Well, today you take the win. But I'm winning the backbeats. Tils: And then I so I changed I changed my fantasy team because you said fifteen, goddammit. Sarah Gigante: Yeah, that's Speaking of grandpies, I'm getting that up right now. I hear from Tils: I've got receipts. Yes. Just Sarah Gigante: a little birdie who someone is doing particularly well. Well Tils: Well, while you get that up, Black Sheep Cycling has launched their new La Femme's WMN range. Purple is in. you can shop at Black Sheep Cycling. They have an amazing running range as well, with twenty percent off using the code Domestiques. We those speaking of receipts, while you get up that up, says, we all sort of were saying Rusa, there was a a lot of we were saying A V B. would be higher up, that she would come in the top three and of course Zoe Backstead. I think Zoe still did a fantastic job. She was fourth in the stage and still so so young to be doing that. She would have come in with a lot of focus on the stage, but says, Where are you in the Black Sheep Fums Fantasy League? Sarah Gigante: Well, actually Verita: Yeah, but Sarah Gigante: I'm super disappointed because the little birdie was not very accurate and I opened the leaderboard to see not just me not at the top, but my brother first. Like that is not okay. I had to live in his shadow my whole childhood. All the teachers, your Scott sister. Like every everyone, your Scott sister. And now look, I open it up and in first place it's Scott's S Tier Squad. So well done to my brother Verita: that's the nice one. Sarah Gigante: on his birthday. He is winning But it won't be forever. Tils: the other thing that just really got me today while I was riding up Mont Vantu, I could not get that free Paula Blassie song out of my head. it's an absolute banger. where do you think what what do you think this does for the team V? you know, obviously Longo Borghini showing great form, having such a devastating mechanical but still beating Blassie by one second. Verita: Yeah, it's gonna be an interesting one because Her and Blassie are not that far away from each other on GC. So it's kind of one of those things that we've said it before, you know, it's the road might decide what happens here. a stage like tomorrow kind of suits both of them. I think that they're, you know, got characteristics that would get them both through it. And so, you know, are they gonna just be finishing next to each other for the next couple of days and it it's gonna be this? kind of battle on who edges first. So it's going to be an interesting one for the GC in the sense that it's the UAE G C. Like who will be the who will be the lead? Yeah. Who will be the top in that? Tils: Yeah, I want two there's two races that I'm I'm following at the moment. I've got the the G set the the G C Cup of UAE, but says I actually think Blassie needed to put them away today, and she didn't. And because she didn't, and that they're both Vorticek, if she was struggling elsewhere, you know, she can still show that she's got good form and Alongo Borghini, the Mont Von Two still really suits her and she is obviously a classics queen. and she has an enormous amount of experience and Blassie has actually mentioned a few times now Sarah Gigante: Actually. Tils: in interviews that she is struggling with positioning and some of the race the stages that are coming up positioning will be key. I think she's gonna have to work for them, says. Sarah Gigante: Yes, but I just remember at a at the tour of Swiss, remember seeing Elisa Longo Borghini just explode so badly and same thing happened at the Jiro. I I wouldn't count Power out. I didn't think that she would beat them in the time trail today, so I'm actually I was gonna say secretly on her side, but I'm I don't think it's very secret. I'm cheering for her every episode. So I was, yeah, quite happy with how Power wrote today and at just getting the results up now, but there was a race not too long ago, I think it was the Pyrenees, where she put in here we go. Sorry, just getting up the gap to Dominica. She beat Dominica by two minutes on the Tourmalet stage there. Dominica. Verita: Yeah. Sarah Gigante: So I still Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: think that the stage is to come really soup blasty. She won up the Angaro well sorry, she won the Volta because of her amazing ride up that Anglaroo. I shouldn't count out Petra Stiasny, who I believe it was a while ago now, but Petra won. but yeah, I I still think now that Pal has got through these early stages and she hasn't lost much time. i even considering that she had to pull on the front at multiple different times, had to go get biddens, including one Mobby Star bidden, as we thought. Verita: Ha ha Sarah Gigante: I I think yeah. The interview with her DS or her team manager, Sherry Pritham, actually seemed a little bit more open for Pala's chances than what I first thought. Like Sherry Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: said, the road will do the talking. Like she definitely doesn't say, Paula is going to have support. No, definitely not. But the the fact that she said the road will do some talking is already a sign in in favour of Power. And also Powell initially said she wouldn't have the freedom to go for the T. And she did. So maybe they are, you know, considering their options a little bit more open and we can get a Mobby Star style trident. How fun. Tils: That's never gone well for the men. Let's see if the women can pull it off. let's have a look then at stage five. she is hectic. 140 kilometers, Hilly 8 categorized climbs, approximately 2,900 meters of elevation. it we when we previewed this, we were calling it mini mini sort of liage baston liage. it is a pu a classics stage and it is a tough week. Like there are no rest days. It is one after the other after the other in this heat. we talked a lot about yesterday's podcast about the challenge of recovering after such a difficult time trial so late in the evening, the caffeine consumption. two of us had LaCourte, you and me says for this, and V you had your ever present Puck Peter say for stage five, which there is Sarah Gigante: Mm-hmm. Tils: G C bonus seconds. whether that six, four and two is really going to be contested if they're really going to play into it in the end of Mont Vontour twenty kilometre climb, but what are your thoughts on tomorrow, V? Verita: Ooh, I reckon I'm right with my pick on Puck. I think it's Puck's time to shine. She's in polka dots. If she wants to keep it, it's gotta be a raid. Sarah Gigante: I can write this. It's a classification. Verita: And so I'm hoping Puck finds some allies. Maybe she finds Le Corp Pinard. That's a really great ally to have who's lost a bit of time. Maybe Voss wants to go on a raid as well. And you know what? Sarah Gigante: I need that one. Verita: Maybe Demi wants to go hard and push it and drop, you know, all the people who are kind of dangling around her in the GC. So I think that you know, it's a really, really good opportunity for a bit of a hard raid style race. And it's gonna be really, really exciting and fun. And I hope Puck Puck gets up there. Tils: Say as your thoughts on tomorrow's stage. Sarah Gigante: Yeah, I don't know. Puck let herself lose enough time today. I would have preferred to see her i if she wasn't going to go for G C. Maybe a little bit more, but I mean she's three and a half minutes down. But someone like well, Evita's all in for Demi, but someone strong like Avita who has lost, you know, twelve minutes, that's really or thirteen minutes even, that that would be perfect person to put in the breakaway. How Spratty? Amanda Sprat six and a half minutes down. Justine, my own teammate. I think my team will be disappointed after today. And yeah, definitely looking for Kim for tomorrow, but I don't think Kim will be allowed in the breakaway. I think if Kim wins it has to come from a reduced well, it will be a reduced sprint. Kim could win from a bigger sprint, but looking at that parkour, I don't think it's s such a mini liege, I think it's a full liage. Tils: But you think says that it's gonna be a breakaway tomorrow for the win? Sarah Gigante: No, I'm going to stick with Kim. I think it would be the I think that some of the G C riders are are going to be a a little bit panicked after today. They have stage six to somewhat recover before Bontu. So they can afford to go hard tomorrow. Even if Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: someone like Pauline wants to start, you know, Verita: Okay. Sarah Gigante: pressing the legs and trying to start making up some time. It might be a little bit hard with the there's a downhill and then flat finish, but how about I kind of like the idea of Marlon not just banking on that smallish amount of time she's gained so far. So she has fourteen seconds on demi. I would not be feeling confident going into Tils: Mm-hmm. Sarah Gigante: Friday's mountaintop finish with only fourteen seconds on volering. So if I were Marlin and I was that good at time traveling as well as amazing at climbing, I would want to get away solo on a stage like tomorrow. Just bank some extra time. You don't it doesn't even have to be solo, just not with volering. Get away. perhaps you get away with Longo Borghini for instance or Vladichek or whoever it is, but do what you can, attack, win by another thirty seconds and then make it sound easy. But Bob's your uncle and suddenly you have forty five seconds rather than fifteen. So I I'm really keen to see some action from the G C writers. I think there will be a breakaway and for sure Puck will try and get in it and I'm hoping Justine will have some freedom too and spreading, but I don't think the break will say. I think we'll see some really hard G C rating. Tils: I think Volering's gonna be sleeping a bit easier tonight. I think she'll be pretty happy with how today played out. Sarah Gigante: Yeah, I think yeah, to not lose much time on Marlon and to gain that much on Pauline, I think they were to the riders she was most worried about. I think the placement of the bonus sprint tomorrow is a little bit almost disappointing to me. It's at the bottom of the last steep climb. I would have loved to have seen it at the top. We're talking, you know, a couple kilometres at nine percent and it tops out with ten Ks to go. So it's a bit strange they put the sprint at the bottom. Hopefully we see some G C riders really going for it and then launch into the climb. I agree with you what you said before that a few seconds isn't going to really do much, but I don't I don't think that means they won't go for it. Like yesterday Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: they were sprinting like crazy for a few seconds left over in Tils: Mm. Sarah Gigante: third place. So I think we'll see the same thing tomorrow. Tils: I tell you who you won't see going for it, Pauline. She's not it's not her game. It's not her style. You won't see Pauline or Anna Sarah Gigante: Yeah, we never see those things. Tils: van der Bregen going for it. It's just not their style. Sarah Gigante: Yeah. Tils: I did get a listener note as well, which I loved. Nikki Stanley, she sent me a message to remember to mention Catherine Bertine, actually, who was also part of this Tour de France fam petition. she was also the Verita: I'm talking about some of the clock. Tils: woman who was behind the movie Half the Rose. that features a lot in the breakaway Verita: Yeah. Tils: for the femmes. so I have mentioned a lot Voss, Pooley, Chrissy Wellington, this group, which was also with Catherine. but it was actually and who petitioned the ASO. And the reason I bring that up, obviously with the coverage, we've got to remember where this race came from. Like the ASO did not think it was a good idea. Catherine actually wrote the ASO a business plan for this women's tour. Like just Sarah Gigante: Mm. Tils: ridiculous about how much they had to be convinced to watch it. And we also put up a few stories today on the domestiques that are the Tour of Poland. it has live coverage from the flag drop to the finished presentation and it gets far, far, far less views than the Tour of France farm. So yeah, just does not make sense. So Verita: I think that was a good idea. let's Tils: We've got to go back to it. Keep piti petitioning the ASO, keep asking for there to be better coverage. V yes. Verita: find out the back of the Sarah Gigante: On a positive note, tomorrow we have full coverage. So make sure everyone tune in a little bit earlier. It's one thirty PM on HBO Max here in Europe. That's local time. So I think that's nine thirty PM back home. So I mean, for sure let's complain when it's not there, but we can also celebrate when it's there. So thank you for the live coverage tomorrow. Tils: And it's also really important because I know that SBS in Australia, like it's a real challenge to get live people to watch it live if it doesn't come on early enough. So you're Sarah Gigante: Mm. Tils: able to grab them if it comes on early and they stay with the program. But when the you know, when the stages are starting at you know, one AM, then it's really difficult to get that live viewing and that's really where they you know, that's the most important. It's not so much the the catch up T V, though I know majority of Australians are watching that. V, anything else from today or tomorrow? Verita: Tomorrow I think will be a really interesting race and we touched on it a little bit, but I think, you know. Trek again, we've mentioned it a few times. I think they'll want a stage win. And looking down the result sheet, Lucinda Brand is quite far down. And I think based on her appetite for getting in a break a couple of days ago, I think she'll probably be keen to get in one too. So I think that'll be a fun, you know, the early break will be a fun one to kind of get our teeth stuck into. And this is a very classic style. kind of parkour and it'll be a really it'll be a really fun one to watch. So I'm really excited to kind of come back tomorrow and and talk about what happens here 'cause I think it's gonna be very, very spicy. Tils: Well it's a good one. massive thank you. I I wanted this podcast today to go for twenty minutes, you guys. So that's my fault. Thanks so much for sticking with us. somehow we made almost fifty minutes out of a time trial. but there is a lot to break down. Some huge moves, cards being dealt in all places on the G C a huge amount of shuffling going on. a big thank you to listen for every all the listeners back home and Obviously Black Sheep Cycling and Join Cycling. The best way to support us is to go support them. You can check out Black Sheep Cycling. Use our promo code Domestiques or check out join dot cc forward slash domestiques. Sarah Gigante: Two checking up the same sample slash line. Tils: All right you two, I will see you tomorrow. V We might be in the same room tomorrow. Verita: We will be in the same room tomorrow. How fun. Getting ready for La Tap. How good. You should come. Just come. It's fun. Just come. Tils: Ooh. Yeah. Yep. We're gonna be in the well I don't think you Sarah Gigante: I have telephone. Tils: want to join the twelve thousand cyclists that are going up Mod Bo two. Sarah Gigante: I do. Verita: No, it's thirteen. Did you not see the picture? The the the the allocation goes up to thirteen thousand people. How does that happen? Tils: Thirteen thousand people. Like that's insane. Sarah Gigante: surely I can just do some rider substitution. I mean surely Lotto would let me guest ride for the week, considering they're down to three riders. I'll just jump in the real telephone. Tils: just put that it that stab in the Verita: They ride the wrong bike, Sari. You can't do it. It's it's not specialised. Sarah Gigante: Mm. Tils: All right, team, big thank you. We will see you tomorrow. Have a great evening. Bye for now.