THEMOVE - Did We Just See Pro Cycling's Future? | UAE Tour, Algarve & Ruta del Sol | THEMOVE

Episode Date: February 23, 2026

Spencer Martin and Johan Bruyneel break down the past weekend of racing action, from Isaac del Toro's impressive win at the UAE Tour to Juan Ayuso's duel with Paul Seixas at Volta ao Algarve, and what we learned from the action. They discuss what to make of Del Toro's record-breaking ascent of Jebel Hafeet, Remco's disappointing final GC result, Jonas Vingegaard's revised spring schedule, and whether Decathlon should send Paul Seixas to the Tour de France at just 19 years old. Become a WEDŪ Member Today to Unlock VIP Access & Benefits: https://access.wedu.team Square: Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/themove! #squarepod Hollow Socks: For a limited time Hollow Socks is having a Buy 2, Get 2 Free Sale. Head to https://Hollowsocks.com today to check it out. #Hollow Sockspod

Now, Yuso really played it cool. You know, he just, you know, was there with Seychas, and then Little Freck was amazing. They had three guys coming back. And then basically that, as soon as these four guys were together, the three Freck riders plus Little Freck Riders plus Ayuso, everything was under control. And the only thing that could happen potentially

was that Seishas had an amazing climb in the last two kilometers of the last climb, and Ayuso collapsed. but I guess, you know, he knew very well how he was feeling. And, you know, there was nothing to do against that year. So he was super strong on the last stage. Everybody, welcome back to the move. I'm Spencer Martin.

I'm here with Johan Bernille. We are breaking down the past weekend of racing. The UAE tour, Isaac D'Oro, taking a pretty clinical overall win, Johan. Pretty impressive. I can't wait to talk to you about that. as well as the battle between Juso and Paul Seishas at the tour, at the Volta at the tour, the Volta, Argarve, and then the Routta del Sol we have Ivana Romeo,

breaking Moves stars longer than you would expect stage race drought over there in southern Spain. But Johan, you're in the Costa Blanca. You're getting some rides in. Hope that's going well. But let's just tackle the UAE tour first. What was Isaac D'Otooro, I think the last time we talked, It was we talked after the first summit finish, very difficult climb. Del Toro was out of position going into it.

Actually lost time to Antonio Tiberi was in second place. I believe you said he would probably win the overall. And you were correct. He just went up to Jabal Hafeet, the final climb, 25 minute climb, broke the record on it, 2530, attacked, whittled the group down with around 2.5K to go. He dropped Teabury, who was holding on. and then kind of interestingly, Luke Plap stormed out of the group behind, ended up passing Tiberi and so did Felix Gall.

Plap was second by about 12 seconds behind him. But Del Toro, just for reference, did about 6.3 watts per kilo, assuming he's 64 kilograms, got the record on the climb. These days, though, that might be just like a training. That's like a little zone two training ride for a lot of these guys at this point. But, Yohan, what was your impression of this overall win? Oh, and Remko, Evanapole finished 10th, a little over two minutes back. He was an additional 52 seconds back on the stage 6 summit finish.

Yeah. I mean, you know, impressive, impressive attack of del Toro super confident. He was actually, and, you know, he was, so he basically, he was fighting his, I mean, they're not going to say his roommate, flatmate, but you know that they live in the same building, him and Antonio Tiberi, they go train almost every day together. The third guy, by the way, we talked about the third guy who lives in the same. So there's three riders living in one building.

It's Del Toro, Tiberi and Pelijari. These two guys live in the same building in San Marino. So they know each other perfectly. They're good friends. But yeah, it was impressive. I mean, I haven't checked it with a stopwatch. His attack with about 3K to go, I think he must have been like 35, 40 seconds out of the saddle

on a lot bigger gear than Tiberi. Tiberi initially could respond. Everybody else was dropped. And then finally, you know, he went again and it broke, you know. Tiberi just had to sit down and didn't finish even second, didn't finish third. So, yeah, I mean, amazing win of Deltoro. And you just said, Spencer, 44 seconds faster than the record, which, I mean, 44 seconds

faster in Pogaccio's fastest time up that climb. It's not bad. And Jabal Hafeet has been featured typically always as the in the tour of UAE. But, you know, I mean, I think records, especially when it's, you know, the times, you know, I always want to see it, put it in a proper context. You know, we don't know. if it was tailwind, I've seen comments on social media, oh, you know, 44 seconds faster than Pogachar, you know, he's going to do this, he's going to do that, you know, then if you really

look at the results, I just checked the first eight of that stage broke Pugachar's record. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And Remko, Avenapu, who finished, I don't know, between 10th and 15, he was only eight seconds slower than Pulitzer's best time. So everything is relative, right? You need to put it in a proper context. So I just want to, you know, make sure that people understand, like, breaking records. It's not, I mean, it's not unusual. It does, however, prove that the level of the overall level of the pro peloton keeps going

higher and higher and higher. They go faster every year. and Pulacha, it's been a while, no, since Pugabas, it three years ago, four years ago, since Pugacha raged. I thought he raised it last year on the, on the new bike. Remember the Y1 RS? Yeah, he did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he had a lead.

The thing is, too, he always, I believe, always had a lead going into it. He defended. He didn't have to defend it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, Del Toro had to go as far as he could. Yeah. So, yeah, and already. You know, the majority of the work of that record is not even due to UAE Alder Toro.

It was Decathlon who was putting the temple. It was Decladone who was leading it out from very, very far ahead. So, yeah, he did break the record, but, you know, the next seven writers also did. So, no, I wouldn't read too much into that. And what did you think of Felix Gall getting third? I guess that's who DeKathlon was going for. Luke Plap in second,

12 seconds back. Super impressive ride. Super impressive. I mean, to pace himself to catch on. Also with Del Toro, the numbers of the numbers, right?

He was good. He was fast. He was in a big gear, which I like to see. Old school big gear. He's not spinning these teacup size gears like everybody else these days. But the thing is, if you noticed he got rid of Tibery right before it was very steep and then it was flatter and he made sure to dump him right before then so he could keep pressing because if you're on the limit usually you're maybe you can go on the steep parts roughly the same speed but you start to get bigger gaps when you get to it's counterintuitive you wouldn't think it was this way but when you get to the flatter section you can actually go quite a bit faster if you're a little bit stronger yeah yeah if you're strong I think it shows that Luke

Luke Plap is just an amazing, strong bike rider. I think very underestimated in terms of, I mean, within the Peloton, everybody knows Luke Plap is crazy strong. It also shows that you need, and I think the UAE tour is the ideal environment for a guy like Luke Plop because he has this big power. And on those climbs, you don't necessarily need to be very savvy in the bunch. as when you get to the bottom of that climb, these climbs are steep and they're basically on highways.

So there's no fighting for position needed. And Lut Blab can start in 30th, 40th position. He is going to be at the front no matter what on those climbs. It's not the same like having to, you know, like fight for position to the bottom of a climb in France or wherever in Italy. And then it's narrow. And when you're 30 to 40, forget about it. It's not, it was never strung out.

It was always a pack. which just keeps losing riders. Yeah, this kind of races is that's ideal for Luke Plop. I mean, I think he is kind of known to have some trouble with positioning in the bunch. And the races in Europe, it's a different story. But, you know, it shows that Plop has a big engine, a huge engine. You just said in the pre-show that he already finished second one year, no, in the UAE tour? 2023, the year that Rimcoe Evanopol won, I believe.

He was second behind Evan. He did a great time trial and then defend that position on those clients. This year, you know, third spot. Definitely means you must be an amazing shape. Yeah, and it shows you. I mean, this is no shade at Luke Plap. Guys, incredible. He's very strong.

But it shows you he's probably 15, 20 minute power. He's up there with the best. But his results aren't, at least in Europe, when it gets technical, like are not on par with the best riders. So, yeah, I think you could compare this Spencer with, you know, with basically a huge performance on Zwift. You know, I mean, this is what the UAE tour is. You don't mean, you just get on that bike and just go up that climb. There's not that much other, other things involved that just go as hard as you can. Especially on those climbs that are pretty steep, you know, drafting is not.

that much of an advantage and you just get automatically to the front. And it's like a little laboratory, actually. But if we look at for a little further down, I thought this was kind of interesting because this is a deep field. We look a little further down. You have seventh place. I don't think we mentioned this man's name once all year. Derek G. West, out of his exile.

He's back in. Seventh place, 36 seconds down. That's not bad for his first race with a little trick. Yeah. Trouble after a troublesome winter. Very troublesome. Very, God, it must have been very stressful for him. But so that's impressive.

He's recovered. Putting up decent results. Remko Evanapult, 52 seconds back. What do you make of this performance? Not, I thought he would either be winning the stage or like 10 minutes back. No, I didn't. Pretty good climb, but what does this tell us? Well, you know, that it tells, it tells us that, you know, he's, uh, obviously he,

he showed big power in, in Mallorca and Valencia. If you then have a week where it turns out to not be 100%, usually, you know, after that defeat on that first client, I don't remember the name now, on that hard, super hard client. Yeah. It was almost impossible for him to be, he tried. And, you know, he was better.

Didn't really crack or break down completely like the other day. But if you're off, you're off, you know. And it does happen. He's not in bad shape, but he's not in top shape either. And it also shows Spencer that world two races are at different level and anything we have seen until now. Majorca Valencia, some good riders are there, but it's not the same level. So Remko's in good shape, but he has work to do. And I'm pretty sure that he's going to be able to, he's going to be able to improve.

The question is, however, I don't know if we talked about that the other day is, is Remko, does he really have the talent? I mean, he obviously has a lot of talent, the qualities of being a climber, a good enough climber to be with the best guys in the ground tours. logic would say yes because he already finished third in the tour of France not a lot of writers can say that in today's peloton but they finished third in the tour and he won the Vuelta right now then the other question is was that the best remco we've ever seen two years ago is he is he at this level is he not at the same level I don't No. It's still very early in the season. So I think it's way too early to draw conclusions and to judge whether he can be there or not.

But to me, it is a fact that when it's super steep, saying 10 to 12% and longer than three kilometers, I have not seen Remko even if it will be with the best climbers for now on clients like that. Yeah. Now, the weirdest thing, though, about this, the Remco situation that's happening is, if you think back to that tour, so he wasn't with the best guys, he wasn't with Pagachar, but he was beating everybody else who would have been at the level of Plap or Tiberi or Gaul. He was beating Phyllis Gaul. And then it's on those types of climbs.

And then what's with this regression? I don't. No, Spencer, it's not the same climbs. For me, personally, the Tour de France is the best train. for Remko. It's better than the Giro and better than the Vuelta. Because the climbs typically, I mean, overall, you will even there are some steep climbs sometimes, but you know, usually the Alps and the Pyrenees, it's long climbs. It's not 10, 12, 15 kilometers and usually between 7 and 9 percent. And that's ideal terrain for Remko because that's a time trial. Yeah, he can crawl up

those climbs. He will not respond to attack. He should not respond to attacks. And if he, if he has his power output on those climbs where you can have some speed because, you know, on 7 to 9% climbs, the speed is higher, which is an advantage for a rider like Remko is a time trialist. So I think for that reason, I think the tour is the best terrain of the three ground tours for Renco, even a pool. For the moment, as long as Taday and Jonas are at their top, I don't think he can get there for the moment, but he can deter it. Well, and if you think about Ted and Jonas, we're talking about climbs are good for some climbs are good, sometimes are bad.

Would there be any climb that they would ever face that you'd say that's not good for them? Every climb is good for them. So you can't really compete with them if you're a situational climber. You've got to be good all the time or you're not going to be able to beat them. Yeah. And then we'll get. And then let's see. I mean, if so, if we talk about it, I mean, I'm reading a lot about this because obviously the Belgian media is all over it.

And so they constantly keep saying, yeah, you know, okay, you know, he already, he was third already. If you look at Remko's situation, I mean, it's really fucked up his situation because he, you know, he could try to get closer to Jonas. But then there's still that gap between Jonas and today. Well. There's a gap there, which for the moment, Wingergaard hasn't been able to close. And I doubt he can still close it because they're, there's. still improving both, but I personally expect Bogachar to be, we'll see soon when he starts racing. I personally, since the level keeps going up of all the riders,

Bogachar is going to be on a higher level than last year, in my opinion. So it's quite frustrating for everybody else who has to race a guy. And not only is that his problem. So he's got to close the gap to Jonas. And he's got to close the gap between Jonas and Ted. But while this is all happening, you have guys like Isaac Deltora. getting back, like they're leapfrogging them. So that's a problem as well.

Tough out there for Rinkgo. Did you see this? He talked about, he thought he was bad on that first climb because he put too much load on his knees with the big chain ring in the time trial. Yeah. I mean, it's trying to find explain. I understand, you know, I mean, obviously he wasn't.

I have wondered about this with these chain rings. He goes through the two of UAE. He thinks he is the favorite, you know, together with Delcoro, wins the time trial, then doesn't perform the day after, as he expects. And then you try to look for explanations. I mean, every single writer does that.

I don't think it's something specific. It's just, you know, this week was a few percent off, which can happen. He says that he wasn't completely satisfied with his time plan performance either. That his feelings were not as he expected it to be. I mean, luckily for everybody else,

because he went 56. 56.5 something kilometers average, you know? Yeah, I believe it was the fastest time trial he's ever done. Yeah. Sensations weren't good though. He didn't feel like he's expected,

but he does the fastest time trial he's ever done. You know, I wouldn't read too much into it. You know, it's, he hasn't gone to altitude yet. Now he's going to take a month, a month of racing, goes to altitude. Evenapool is a guy who responds really well to altitude and responds very well to training camps,

which for the moment he has, I think he has done training camps with the team, but not a specific training camp in order to prepare. His next race is Catalonia, right? Catalonia, yep, and Amstow gold. No San Remo. That was on there and now it's not on there. that's not a surprise. I mean, I would, I would definitely not go to Zendremovar.

I mean, he can, there's nothing to gain there for him. It's, you know, there's nothing to gain, unless you want to get a training ride of 300 kilometers in the legs. Do you think he could win, Sam? I, I don't, I wouldn't rule him out. No, he can't. Like attacking, getting over the, the, the, Pogio and then attacking? With, against Tade and, and, and, and, and, well, what?

The thing you would have to happen is he attacks and then those guys are staring at each other. Yeah. And then, yeah. How many tap does that happen nowadays in this, in today's cycling, but they're staring at. It's also not clear that he is the positioning to, you know, that's very hard. What would be the chippresa, you know, I mean, that's madness. And then, okay, he would probably, even with a great team around him, this is, this is war, the entrance to the chepress. crazy.

You know, everybody who has been there, I've been there as a writer, I've been there as a director, it's madness. And it's gotten a lot worse in the last few years because everybody goes a lot faster.

You know, before you had, you had three teams who had a strong leader, so it was kind of strong. Nowadays, they're, you know, all over the road

and all the teams are there together. And I could perfectly see a situation where Ramcoe loses position, uh, starts in 50th, 60 position and then has to move up. by the time you're in front, you're done. You're, it's over.

I would not recommend, I would not recommend for Encoa Poole, not do Milanzarimo and not do two of lenders. He's not that kind of rider. All right. You heard it here first? I mean, I kind of agree. Now that you say it, I think about it. Like even Del Toro, who think how good Isaac Del Toro is, he can never, he's never in

the right position, the bottom of the Chippresa. It's like, it's really hard. we also should say Jonathan Milan wins three stages he sweeps every sprint finish looking pretty good any thoughts on Milan i mean it was not he was sprinting at sam wellsford who is one of the best early season sprinters we have so pretty impressive other sprinters were definitely not there but you know great team focused on him i saw the power numbers just impressive like what i was 1800 1900 once in this like you said about the climbs, this is equally good. Yeah.

It's a very straightforward type of sprinting, very hard to beat someone like Jonathan Milan at the UAE tour. Yeah. So, so yeah, I mean, he won three stages as expected. He's, you know, he's one of the top three best sprinters in the world. And if the other two are not there, who's going to beat him? Plus, his lead out was, was perfect. Yeah.

And so the seven stages, five, stages won by, no, four stages won by Italians. Then two del. Atiberia. Yep. So pretty, pretty good for Italian cycling. But, so four Italians, two Mexican, no. One Belgian.

And one Belgrade. Yeah, because Del Dodo won stage one. Stage one. Yeah. We forgot about already. It looked pretty impressive. But a little, little trek then. And so I believe off the top of my head,

World Tour wins standings currently are Jonathan Milan and he's, Del Toro both have three World Tour wins. So Little Trek off to a pretty good start. And we haven't even got to Al Garve yet. But any other thoughts about UAE tour before you move on? You know, I mean, definitely an important race for UAE. They win with somebody who is not a lot shot.

Great for the team. The Shaikh is going to be super happy. You know, Machin and Gianetti obviously delivered. What because you know, if you're in UAE shoes, the team UAE, it may sound, okay, you could say, oh, he's only two of UAE. Yeah. But the pressure that is on the team is so high. They have to win. Yeah.

You know, even if it's just the tour of UE, but they have to win. And their sponsors, their backers don't understand if they don't win. They don't understand it. So, I mean, it's stressful, man. Let me tell you. So anyways, you know, that's also why they brought Delcoto, right, to win and they delivered. So once again, UAE off to an amazing start of the season. It promises to be a repeat of 2025, if not more dominance.

I don't know if that's, that's scary to think about it. It is impressive when he can go, because you're right, you got to win UA tour. Don't send Pagachar and you can still get it done with another guy. that's that's that's that shows the depth right there i also was just parting thought on this race del toro goes into the final stage not leading and i was just so not surprised but i was impressed by it just seemed so cool headed and clinical like i've got to drop them got to take time back and it never really looked in doubt he just took care of business won one the overall made it look easy if i if i say so he was suffering i mean he that was that was i mean that was that was that was a suffering face um

but yeah i mean he he had confidence and um obviously tiberi also i think you know once once he once he had to let that wheel go he kind of you know collapsed still finished fourth but usually normally he what we have seen in in the other stage he should have finished second yeah i think he over extent of himself. Maybe 15 seconds down, something like that. Like Plop. Because Plop finished 12 seconds down. So, I mean, Tiberi should definitely be able to do that based on his level right now.

So if he finished 12 seconds down and second, Del Toto doesn't win. Yeah. I mean, it's never easy to go in and drop someone that dropped you. Like, because remember, Del Toro got dropped on stage three. No. Well, he'd finished behind in the. climb like no he didn't get up he he he started in the back and you know calculated and said they looked at his power output and then well he rode the climb slower than Antonio

he did he did and then he had to go ride a climb faster than him yeah well I guess yeah if if you look at RICO he also he also I mean he lost time in the time trial to Tbedi yeah he did this is this one of the best this is one of the best races I've seen ridden and not one. Like he actually, Tiberi didn't really put a foot wrong. And that maybe he shouldn't have followed so closely, I guess on the final stage,

but or the final climbing stage, but he rode pretty pretty good race. But you know, I mean, Tiberi on the other hand was, you know, courageous enough on stage three to go with, uh,

and then drop him and basically he was gone before Del Toto made it back to the front and started his pursuit. Yeah. And that's, Yeah. If he's not, there's probably a different story. So it was, uh, lived by the door sword by the, Spencer, you know, a little, a little, you know, a little side note, a little rant from,

from me, you know, the old grumpy guy. Man, some of these commentators, you know, and I, I, I, I, I, sometimes I have to switch. I, I, I watch on HBO, right? And so you were, of it. So I, I switched languages because one commentator starts to annoy me with the commentator. with the comments and I mean, I don't know some of these

I mean especially the non-cyclists right so there's usually an ex-cyclist a next cyclist and then a narrator right? You know, I mean, these claims are so hard. I mean, there's not much tactics involved, guys. It's everybody, I mean, it's just go as fast as you can to the top

and they make, they come up with these theories. Yeah, now this and now this. I said, did you guys look at the profile? Have you ever ridden a bike of a climb like this? It's not that complicated. You know, if you have the legs, you've got, you, I mean, anyways, little side note. I got nervous with two of you A.E comments in several languages. I'm not going to specify which languages, but I speak five languages.

So I went through all five. And some of them will be on my nerves. That's good. We can anonymize which ones you're directly criticizing. But let's take a quick ad break. And then we'll talk about Algarv and then a little bit about Routa Del Sol. But I thought Algarv was maybe the most interesting race of the weekend. Everybody this episode is brought to by Square. They have some genuinely big updates at their latest releases event. Square rolled out a wave of new tools built to help local businesses run smarter, faster, and more profitably. And I was just at a local coffee shop here in town that used to Square. Check out with seamless. Tap to pay, text receipt instantly, super clean setup. I'm not getting stacks of paper to sign. I'm not doing long division trying to leave a tip. I'm getting stressed if there's no pen.

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That's hollowsox.com for up to 50% off your order. And after you purchased, they're going to ask you where I heard about them. Tell them you heard about them at the move. So you can support the show while getting some comfy socks. All right, let's get back into it. All right, Johan, so Volta Agarv. I believe the last time we spoke, it was the first uphill finish. Paul Seishas beat Juan Euso impressively.

Juval Ameta was kind of the odd man. out behind and then the time trial happened we we didn't talk since then but iuso ripped that time trial philippa gunna won iuso was very fast though was closer than i would have thought seven seconds right seven seconds back and then no no five seconds down i think and then uh six seconds down and then uh seychas was 12 seconds down if i'm not mistaken so he took seven seconds on Seychas. So I think it's actually it this is a big a big this is a pet peeve of mine. These timing on the time trial, it's so confusing because they'll give it they'll give you

the stage timing sometimes in decimals. It's like just tell me what the what is the number going to be. So Ieuso technically was six seconds behind Ghana between six and seven. Seishas was technically 13 seconds behind Ghana. So an additional seven behind Ieuso. So super impressive from Ayuso. I was also from Seza Spencer. I was just going to say,

maybe it was even, he's kind of a tall, gangly guy too. You know what's, I just, I was thinking, you know, like you,

in our last podcast, you said, you know, is this the most polished 19 year old writer, right? We forgot about Juan Ayuso, man. When he was 19,

he finished third in the Vuelta. Let's not forget this. He got third in the Valta, but I don't remember him looking this good. He was pretty, I mean, he was also three years younger or four years younger. He's 22 now, right?

So, um, wait, no, no, he's 23 now. So he was, he was four years younger than he is now.

Four years younger than he is now, but I don't remember him looking as polished, his palsy shots. I mean, that, you know, yeah, Yeah, Seychas, okay, listen, Seychas knows how to, I mean, not saying I usually didn't know how the race, but let's not forget this guy finished third in his first, in his maiden year as a 19 year old in the tour of Spain.

So pretty good also. Really, pretty good start from of your professional career. Man, actually, I'm looking at this. Yeah. And he's never done better in a grand tour since then. So, but, man, he was flying. in this time trial. Did a great time trial.

Paul Sey Shas also great time trial. Shalameda not as good. Was off the pace quite a bit. It was 43 seconds behind Ghana. Not usual. He was kind of out of the G.C. here. And then we go to stage four. So the stage after that was a sprint.

Paul Monnier wins a second. We have so many talented, good, talented youngsters that we're not even going to talk about Paul Monnier. 21 years old wins two stages. Al Garve, super impressive. And then stage five yesterday was the final stage. Multiple climbs. There was technically a chance for someone to unseat Wana Yuso, but Wanda Yuso wins a stage

and uphill sprint over Oscar Onley with Paul Seychas right behind them on the same time. Joel made a four seconds back. Matthew Rickettello, 14 seconds back. Thomas Glog. Glog? Five, fifth place, six seconds back. A little bit of a glogsance there coming back. This guy comes back from a big injury, I think.

he was on Visma, right? Yeah, and he was good as a Neo-Pro. He was really good two years ago, and then I don't know what happened. I know he did have a problem. I think a big crash, if I'm not mistaken, and was basically out for the whole season. Okay, that would make sense.

Yeah, and now he's back. He's a super talented writer, very talented writer. And I would... Norello, Pute 36.5. And we'll get to, they had a big win with Tom Pickock, but that team's actually looking really good, better than I would have thought. But the big notes from this stage for about 44K to go,

it's a hard climb, 9% average climb, hardest climb of the day. UA's at the front, UA's setting pace, UA's attacking, but it's not Domestique's. It's Shabal made it himself attacking that far out. He doesn't get away,

but Kevin Vucklon and Florin Lipowitz clip off the front. They never really had a chance, but it kind of looked, you know, they were about maybe a minute in front at the most, which technically would have put Kevin Valklon winning the race, super aggressive mood. They get pulled in, though, and Iuso wins the stage. What did you think about, what did you think about Amade's decision and then their decision to push on? I was wondering what Alameda's plan was. I guess what he wanted to accomplish was that nobody had teammates left and then said that all the leaders, were alone and then that he probably could take advantage on the last climb of these guys looking at each other. That's my only explanation because otherwise, you know, going with 44K to go,

it's not really how you can win this stage, right? I think Amadeh was going, his plan was to try to win the stage. He knew that he would not win the overall. It was too far back. But, you know, he really, I mean, Yusel really played it cool, you know, he just, you know, was there with Seychas and then Little Freck was amazing. They had three guys coming back. And then basically that as soon as these four guys were together, the three Freck riders plus Little Freck riders plus Ayuso, it was, you know, everything was under control.

And the only thing that could happen potentially was that Seishas had an amazing climb in the last two kilometers of the last climb and Ayuso collapsed. But I guess, you know, he knew. very well how he was feeling. And, you know, there was no, there was nothing to do against that year. So he was, he was super strong on the last stage. Yeah. There was, you weren't going to defeat him.

I was a little, I was left a little, maybe cold by this Al-Meda performance. I thought, man, Jua Ameta, and I could start to the year. Do you know what I said last year at this time? We were worried about Al-Meda. about my he went on he almost had identical results to this and then went on to win three straight world tour stage races he's building up towards the gero spencer so i think i listened to an interview he said you know i'm happy with the way things are going you know i i have to improve but i would improve i think he has it all figured out man yeah and i definitely uh would not question i would let him prove i mean last year he looked exactly like this and then had one of the best springs I've ever seen from a stage racer. So let's give him a little bit of time here. I thought I used to the big takeaway here is looked really happy and comfortable with the team built around him.

So as you said, he waited for the teammates and then. Yeah. And also, Spencer, I think for our use, so it's a super important win. Same as, you know, when Remko did his first race as at Red Bull. You know, he comes in this team. They made a huge effort to get him out of his U.A. contract and get him to the team. paid a lot of money. It's super important to make that statement.

Uh, say, okay, guys, I'm here. I deliver. I win and everybody is reeling around him and, and ready to, you know, go through, to help to help him, uh, win races. So as, as a leader, as a leader of a team, I think this is a very important statement of a use so and also within within his team. And I was not to pour cold water on this, but I think, I thought, man, Wana Yuso, he's proven that he's a winner in stage races one week.

Do you know who won Tereno Aderatico last year? Juan Yuso did. And then he won Bass Country the year before. So he kind of didn't show us anything we didn't know about him, but I thought he looked good. It looked comfortable. It's so easy to forget, Spencer. I mean, listen, still very young, already having, I mean, already winning Torino and Basque Country, those two races are really hard races to win.

It's, I mean, the level's super high. You know, that's two of the seven, right? You have the three ground tours and then you have the seven big one weeks. Yeah, it's to it. If you look, Remko has doesn't have a single one. Yep, yep. So he's very good, like potentially one of the best, if not the best, he's very hard to beat in these one week stage races, especially ones with straightforward climbs like these.

Yeah, also. Sob Alpine. Amazing tantra also. Yeah. Didn't he beat Ghana? Ghana at the Torano time trial, yeah. Which, yeah, and that's a really fast hot dog course. So there's no.

And now here in Algarva, six seconds of Ghana also. He had a better intermediate time than Ghana. And then lost six seconds in the final. But still, on a 19 kilometer time trial, you know, being so close to

one of the two best time trials in the world, too, we could say Ghana and Tarling and definitely Remko's the best one. But, you know, to be that close to a specialist like this. And then on top of that, being with the best in the hilly stages, that's the recipe of being a stage racer and win those races. It is. And then our last, the last one will highlight of the weekend. Routta del Sol, Volta and Aluccia.

As we predicted, Ivan Romeo and Movistar, no one could pull him back. he was just too far ahead in the GC after that breakaway and Andreas Lecknickson who was with him in the breakaway second overall Tom Pickock tried though it was actually quite an interesting final stage there was a steep climb

before descent and then a little bit of flat before the finish Piccock his team lines it up he attacks Romero was kind of caught out in this little echelon Pitcock strongest guy in the race it looked like just just rode away

they couldn't reel them in but they get close enough that Romeo preserves the overall lead. Pickock climbs under the podium. So it's Romeo, Romeo. First, Lechnik's second plus at seven seconds back and then Piccock 27 seconds back. Let's talk about Clabo. Let's get some more names in here that we can't say. So Pitcock gets on the podium.

I thought pretty impressive ride from him. We saw him get what second at Hyannes. in he's kind of been building looked look like tom pickock's back after that third what was he third third place at the fault of last year on the podium yeah yeah it's kind of building on that i thought very good start very good start of pitcock you know they did this training camp in that altitude camp in chile uh strange why yeah i didn't understand that i think it was because of the zero mountain bike and also especially because uh the the hotel on top of the day

it's fully booked already like I don't know years ahead now I don't know I don't know how it works but definitely a great start for Pitcock you know

kind of gets back into the into it where he left it off with the Vuelta and on on stage on the last stage I think you know he really demonstrated that

you know he has how would I call it the pedigree of a real exquisite thoroughbred racehorse. You know,

he's, he's that kind of rider. There's not that many riders with that specific, incredible talent.

And Pitcock shows sometimes those flashes. And that attack he did, and especially also the preparation of his team,

the way they felt the team was impressive. But man, Pitcock, that attack was impressive. There's,

you can count them on the fingers of one hand and you have too many fingers on your hand to pick writers who are able to do that. You know, he got caught out with Romeo and Lechnesund going away and so third place was the best he could get and he delivered. So I think it was nice to see. Romeo also really the next step into this guy's development

of his career. Really strong rider. Great time trialist. If he's in really good shape, can get over the clients and defend and wins the overall. As you said, Spencer, for Movistar, it's an important victory.

I think the last Spanish rider who to win this race was Alejandro Valverde. Whoa. In 2016 or 17. So it's been a while. Wow. Yeah.

And then also special mention again, Spencer, for Belgian writer Tom Krabbe, wins again a bunch print. He already did. Same in Itual de Bissej, second win for him, second win for the team, Flanders, Baudois. Small team, you know, they're not used to win. And so I, in my notes here, I said, is this, once again, the Dirk Demol effect? Dick DeMole went to him. I did speak to Dirk and he said that this guy is really super, super fast.

We haven't seen the last win of this young writer Tom Carabba. Tell Dirk he ruined my morning because my son's got to be the world's biggest UnoX fan. No idea why this is the case. And we had a bit of a cry after they lost that sprint to Tim Crabb. I was trying to explain second place, not so bad. And Dirk Dirk Daryl is the director, so we got to be happy for him. I actually thought that attack from Piccock kind of reminded me of the Vulta attack where he briefly dropped Yonis and then probably would have won the stage. Yeah.

Super. I mean, you got to do so much power to stay clear of a group like that over the, it's not a big climb and then to push over the top. It's not easy. Do you know the last time, obviously, so this is Rameo's first. G.C. win. Do you know the last time Movis Star won a stage race? It was Mateo Jorgensen, 2023 Tour of Oman. Yeah. So this is big for them. Like they kind of needed it.

And then speaking of stage racing, Jonas Vindigard, I was mentioning, maybe it was the last time he spoke or the week before that I was saying, this is not a robust buildup to this year to tell you. He's going to show up to the zero just having done one stage race, how's that going to work? And then he's added a second stage race to his calendar. Perry Nice, he will do in addition to, I believe, Catalonia? I think it kind of makes sense, Spencer.

Let's not forget initially the plan was to do tour of UAE and Catalonia. Vingegaard had the crash in training, well documented, you know, had to cancel tour of and I guess they've just been waiting to see how he's, you know, got back into training where his form is now. And he added today, I think, or yesterday, Barronis. And I have heard rumors that he is in incredible shape. So it's got to be interesting parties. I would have liked to have seen him at UAE tour,

but I'm excited he's going to Perrinis. I think this is, this is huge news, huge. And it makes more sense. It's like now, like now I can kind of see the path to the zero. I was a little confused why he was just going to do one stage race, but now he's added a second one, better buildup, I think. I hope, I mean, last year he also did it and he crashed and.

Well, yeah. The fractured wrist, no? He did. And then his teammate went on to win it. Yeah. Yeah. That way, yeah, that was a strange. I kind of forgot about that.

Yeah, the fractured wrist at Perrinisse. And a concussion, I think. Yeah, and a concussion. And then and then goes on to finish second of the tour First of the Volta. So it seemed to recover okay from it. I think I'm just,

I would guess he's going to win Peronis. I'm quite curious now to see how this plays out. Is Paul Seizas? I guess so. I don't see him on the star list right now. Ivan Romeo is. He said,

but Pyrini's that's a big pressure for Tom except for Paul Seychas. So maybe get away from it, you know, give him some more time. Would you send him to the tour of France? Seishas? Yeah. No. Probably not. That's what I know.

I would not probably recommend anyone do the tour as their first grand tour. Bernard Hino, Bernard Hino gave an interview not so long ago. And he said something really, really interesting. And I kind of agree with him. And he said, okay, when should Paul Seychas go to the tour? tour and he says when he's ready to win it. That's his first time he should go. Yeah.

Yeah. It's a good point. Yeah. So I guess they're going to follow it. He knows advice. It's good advice. You actually don't. Yeah.

You rarely see tour winners build into tour winning. Like they show up and they're ready. Actually, the guy that. Before, sometimes it's happened that, you know, guys started and they had a taste of the tour and but you see less and less. You know, for example, he won his first two to France. Yeah. Yeah.

But since, since 85, no other French writer has won the tour. Imagine that, Spencer. It's been 40 years, 40. I think it's too much pressure. I think that's, that is like suffocating a pressure. I do think these, they should not send them this year. But you have to add, I mean, Felix Gall, who was fifth at the tour, right, is not going.

He's going to the Giro. So who else are going to send for the tour? They're not going for G.C. And we try to get Seis Bowl for sprint stages. I don't know. Well, you hear like Jonas, Jonas's first tour, he finishes second. Yeah. You know, like you actually see that a lot.

Egan Minraal would be the one that pushes against it. member Ennio Senum Team Sky at the time, I believe. And he just got one under his belt and then he won the next year. But I think that is a lot to ask of policy shots right now. But it's good to talk to you. And thanks for coming on. Okay.

Thanks. Bye. Okay. Bye.