THEMOVE - The Tour Saves Its Best for Last | TdF 2026 Stage 21 | THEMOVE

Episode Date: July 26, 2026

Lance, Johan, George, Sir Bradley, and Spencer Martin (aka The Professor) break down Mathieu van der Poel's stage win on the Tour's final stage in Paris, with the Dutch superstar ripping clear with overall winner Tadej Pogačar on the Butte Montmartre before holding off the chasing sprinters on the Champs-Élysées. The crew gives their thoughts on the stage and the Tour as a whole, as well as where they see the health of the race going into the future. They also take their last batch of listener questions and reveal the winner of Ventum trivia with a new question to close. Become a WEDŪ Member Today to Unlock VIP Access & Benefits: https://access.wedu.team DraftKings: New DraftKings customers, sign up with code THEMOVE spend five bucks to get two hundred in rewards within 21 days. That's code THEMOVE. In Partnership with DraftKings. Roka: The Move listeners get 20% off. Just go to https://ROKA.com and enter code THEMOVE at checkout.  LMNT: Get a free 8-count Sample Pack of LMNT's most popular drink mix flavors with any purchase at https://DrinkLMNT.com/TheMove Ventum: Use code TheMove10 for 10% off anything at: https://ventumracing.com/ Eight Sleep: Use code THEMOVE at https://eightsleep.com/themove for up to $350 off. 30 days to try it at home. Free returns if it's not for you. Hyperice: Get 15% off Hyperice products now with code THEMOVE15 https://Hyperice.com  

This kid is the greatest of all time. You go back as far as you want to go. He can do it all. You saw it all the way up until today. You put the numbers on his back. It doesn't matter if it's flat and cobbled. Doesn't matter if it's in the mountains. It doesn't matter what time of year it is.

It doesn't matter if it's on the white roads of Strata Bianchi. He wants to race. He is simply the greatest of all time. People, not always, but oftentimes people will want to talk to me about my career and my history with the tour and where I stand there. it doesn't matter. This guy is the goat, right? He is, and I said this, as we were watching the race today and watching him just be so dominant and so in control.

I said, listen, let's stop with all this. I said, this guy would mop the floor with Lance Armstrong. Mop it. And I mean it. And so it may not be the most entertaining thing when it comes to watching a three-week event, but it's a fact. He's the best of all time. and I would even say he is the most dominant athlete in the entire world. All right, everybody.

Welcome back to the Move podcast. It is the last day. Stage 21. I'm Lance Armstrong, joined by Sir Bradley Wiggins, Mr. George Hinkapie, the professor, Spencer Martin. And today, Johann Bruniel. By the way, I don't know why. We should have had Johan on more.

But, Yohan, are you there? Yeah, I'm here. I'm here. He's riding so much these days that he doesn't have time to be able to play with us. Might have ridden more this month than the guys at the tutor fronts. I don't know about that. I don't know about that. No, no, no.

I've been injured, guys. I've been injured. So, you know, my back is, my back is giving me problems. So, uh, but I've been riding quite a bit. Well, how are you? I'm good, good. Excited to talk with you guys about this, you know, incredible finish of the tour. Oh, yeah.

We're going to get, get into that. Alain. Stage 21, what would we do? Stage 21 from Toari to Paris Chanzelizier. From Tuari to Paris Chanzelizier. Merci. Merci, meauch, absolutely. Incredible.

I thought that was an incredible stage. By the way, when they changed this stage from the traditional finish on the Chams Lise that seemingly had forever, which was last January. I mean, I thought it was incredible. But this, I mean, Matthew Vanderpull, what a legend. What a legend. Yeah, that was absolutely insane. I think one of the most exciting Tour de France last stage finishes we've ever wished.

Yeah. And, you know, I think it's, we were sort of riffing pound for pound. I mean, Matthew Vanderb, I think we can all agree that he's probably the second best spike racer in the world. I thought it was great, too. You know, I mean, of course, Taday, and we're going to talk a lot about Taday and today's show. But he just forget all the all of his accomplishments which speak for themselves. The fact that he just rocks up and he just always races. He made an attack, the first serious attack of the race and then he's just always there. You got to, so impressive. Yeah. Incredible.

And then, you know, those two years we've had on the Chonsalise there, last year's was just as exciting in the rain, Walt Van Art winning. And then today, again, it's lived up to last year's race. So a fantastic way to finish the tour. And as you say, Taday, I mean, there's not a day or a race. He doesn't contest or take part. That's right. Yeah.

One thing, like last year you saw him going for it. This year you see him going for it. I think it's a testament to the amount of respect he actually has for that race because most people, when you're leading by seven minutes, you're not going to take those kinds of risks, a battle for a position and potentially put your Tour de France victory at risk. but he loves a tour de France. Yeah, I mean, and I think we should also discuss the decision to stop the clock before they entered into those climbing circuits.

If we can call them climbing circuits in Paris, they are hard, right? It is cobbled. It is technical. The small roads, Peloton's tired. Stopping the time just gives him a green light to just chill. Yeah, exactly. And I oftentimes think about my, I know exactly. what I would have done.

I never would have a race that day. I would have just I would have just sat in the bunch and got to the finish line. He can't, it's amazing that they put the numbers on his back and he just races.

But with regards to Vanderpul, I'm just, you know, Spencer and I were sort of chatting. That has to be the hardest effort he's ever made in his entire career. Now,

that Amstill Gold race a few years ago was something that I had never seen before. in the classics. But that effort today, I mean, he was, and you saw him after the finish, this man was dead. Yeah, well,

you just mentioned number two rider in the world. Well, he was toe-to-to-heavyweight boxing match with Pogochart today. And he still had 500 meters sprint where Pogochard had nothing left. He just sat up. So, I mean, it gives you the indication

of how strong Vanderpull was today, but how motivated he was for the victory. He said in the finish line, he had been thinking about that stage already since watching it, last year. But to be able to sprint like that one, you got a guy like Matt's Peterson coming at you, Phillipsing coming at you hard, and holding them off is, I think, one of the most exciting finishes we've ever watched in any racing. And Johan, you'll remember this. I was in Paris. Luke was there

at school. We came to visit. You came up and hung out with us. We actually, this was before the Olympics of 2024, which of course, this was part of the Olympic circuit. We wrote up, we went up there to sort of preview the route. I had never been, honestly, to that part of Paris. I was like, wow, I didn't know this was here. But your thoughts on what you saw? Yeah, I mean, you will remember, Lance, when you go up there two years ago. It's a lot steeper than it looks on TV.

It's a lot harder. To see these guys fly up there is incredible. But, I mean, what a way for Vanderpoul, especially for Alpacin, to finish. this tour de France. In the beginning, nothing worked out. They did all these leadouts for Philipson. Nothing worked out.

Then finally, Vanderpoul wins this incredible stage, stage nine, I think. Then finally, Philipson wins state 17. And today they are first and second. And what a way to finish. I think Van der Poole's interview was interesting. He was quite emotional. Yes.

First of all, he was completely empty. You know, he had trouble responding and thinking clearly. but as George says, you know, he said he was watching this stage last year from the couch. I think he abandoned because of illness last year. And, yeah, I mean, listen, if you look at the way this stage developed after the first attack, we had the four best riders, the four biggest names, I would say. Vondra Pogacchar, Ramco and Pedersen, the top four of Tour of Flanders. on a way

and the last stage of the tour. So, yeah, I loved it. I loved it. It was, and today, I think, I think the change in the course also with the finish a little bit further of Montmartre than last year makes it, there's a doubt whether it's going to be the other sports or the sprinters. Yeah. Yeah.

We were not a fan of that, Johan, just so you know, as we're watching. I know. But it definitely leaves, it opens up the race. If you have a guy like Tholtson getting second, and obviously it opened up the race and they were able to come back. It looked like they were going to come back at one point and then coffee just got on the front. And they slowed it. And they slowed it.

Did we see where Kofa just ended up on the stage? Like they were, they kind of took up the running and then slowed it down. I don't fully. Not on purpose. I mean, it's just, they need to get ninth. So I guess, I guess you have to. And, you know, we've gotten, we're supposed to be very nice today. We are being nice.

Oh. I'm just stating the fact, this is an observation that I saw. I know, and I was just kind of mess with me. I'm always nice. You are always nice. That is true. Take the about the Americans. Exactly.

How they go today? Good tall. Today was not great. I think Jorgensen might have crashed there in the final. Was that him that crashed? We think it might have been per strong. He was chasing. You don't want it to finish the Tour de France with a crash.

I've done that. It's not fun. Do we think the result would have been different if it was the old finish? Like the last year's finish? I don't think so. I think probably Vanderpil was. I think more of a gap. Yeah.

I think Vanderpull does, well, Johan would be a good one to ask. I mean, look, Tadi Pogachar is also very fast. But, Johan, if those two guys... I think Van der Pondra Pondra Pondra still wins, I think. That's right. Yeah. You know, it was a bit of a deja vu of last year, right? So the first two times Pogacar attacks, and then on the last time up,

Monarch, it was actually Vondra, who passed Pogacar. A little bit the same style as Walt Von Art with Pugachar last year. So, Van der Pondrault was never... in doubt that he would not be able to follow Pugachar today, which I think also makes a lot of sense because, you know, Fonderpool has been saving himself the last three days for this, and Pogacha has been racing full gas. Yo, and I have two questions for you.

One, why did they take the time away with 40K to go before the race even started? And two, how would have that affected the race, I think pretty drastically, if the time was still a factor? Well, I mean, first of all, I mean, I heard that it was the last minute decision at the petition of the riders. The riders have asked for it and ASO has basically, you know, said, okay, we'll, we'll do this. It definitely had nothing to do with the weather.

I think last year made sense today. I mean, it kind of a bit of a bummer, but then on the other hand, you see Nel Toro Platz, if this is a real race, he could have potentially lost his second, his third, the third spot. Yeah, and then we're seeing, which also something came back pretty easy. But we're seeing Pogetriot not attacking as hard because Deltore was off the back. Yes. I'm just thinking it would have been a big effect if there was still time. Well, it didn't look, I think it's a good question.

I don't think it nullified the racing. I mean, if you didn't know that they had agreed to stop the overall time before the circuits, kind of wouldn't know that. I mean, it's still great racing. Oh, for sure. It's interesting that. And last year did make sense with the rainy road. I mean, these are cobbled streets.

You know, Johan and I were up there. I mean, it's, it's, I wouldn't want to send those cobbled, no, narrow roads in the middle of an urban environment in the rain. But, uh, yeah, look, I mean, and props to ASO and we'll get in, you know, we're going to have to talk about this route and, and just some reflections on the route. But this innovation, let's just call it an innovation on a very, very traditional finish has been a plus plus. I think it's been unbelievable. And we're all talking about how great it was. And then, of course, Debbie Downer over here, Yohan, actually back to help us here. This might not actually be true.

I question Spencer whether or not he read the article on April 1st. But in the future, there are plans in the not so distant future that they are going to convert the Chamzilezay into an urban park. Hmm. I have not. I don't know about this. I don't know about this. It's like a 300 million euro project where they're redesigning the Champsouet. Maybe they keep a road.

Lance brought up a good point. What do they do with all the traffic? Yeah, a lot of, there is a lot of, that is the main artery. Well, you mentioned going underneath, but the subways underneath that already aren't there. Yeah. So that could be really expensive and complicated. Elon. We could be getting out of our lane here.

Or it could be a gravel finish on the Johnson Zadol. The gravel road next to the grass. Did you guys, Yohan, did you catch this all world championships breakaway? All world champions, where it was Pedersen, Vanderpull, Pagachar. Wow. Remco. Remco. What a time we're living in. Yeah.

And the four guys from the Flanders break. Yes. I mean, we might get a little negative in the second half of this, but I think the racing, like the top level racing's never been better. Well, I wouldn't call it negative. We're not supposed to be, we're not supposed to be negative today. I'm going all positive today, baby. We are in time out. All of you. I think it was just you.

What is the move of the day? Of course, the move of the day is brought you by 8Sleep, the smart mattress cover that easily goes on top of any existing mattress, heats or cools each side of the bed independently from 55 degrees Fahrenheit to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. And 8Sleep is the official sleep partner of Anna Armstrong. And team UAE, 8Sleep.com slash the move, Bradley. Much vendible. Yeah.

I mean, it's. Might be the one day where we all have to agree. Yeah. And the weight did it, of course. Phenomenal. Phenomenal. Gee? Yeah, Vanderpull, incredible.

Been thinking about it for a year and pulls it off, set is one of his biggest wins ever. And he's won about everything you can imagine winning. So super impressive. Vanderpull. He can pick his spots better than anybody. He goes into hibernation, comes out, boom, just gets the win that he wants. Go on? Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I found a pool yesterday to win the stage. the way he won it. And, you know, especially how much it means to him. I mean, this is a guy who's won everything you can imagine. And, you know, to win that last stage in Paris, the way he did it, definitely for me is vulnerable too. Yeah. I'm not going to disagree with that.

Four for four. Five for five. My bad. Five for five. We all agreed. That is the first time. Yeah. He also has an upcoming World Mountain Bike Championship.

I know. competing, isn't he? He shows his versatility. Against Tom Pitcock, I believe. Ooh, I'll tune into that. Yeah. Also today brought to you by Roka. I've been wearing Roka for years.

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Woo! UAE, first and third? Not bad. Not bad. It's hard for a team to get two riders on the podium. Yeah. Yeah. It changes, well, it didn't change the tactics that much.

for them this year maybe a couple of stages but yeah first and third tour de france two young riders del toronto got second last year in the gyro is showing that he is you know the next perhaps great on coming upcoming stage racer uh we'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future yeah he's only done two grand tours isn't he yes finished on but poit him in both of them yeah yeah it's not bad is it it's it's really good and i get and i guess should have won the Giro. Yeah, he just punted it on the reasons still unknown to us. Johan, you've directed a team with two riders on the podium.

Not easy to do. Not easy to do. I think several times, actually. Yeah. I think 2009 and 2007, if I'm not mistaken. But, no, it's not easy, but this definitely looked a lot easier than my experience. because these guys really get along really well. I mean, Pogacar was the ideal teammate.

I think that's what sets Pagacra apart. You know, I mean, he's the strongest guy. He could have won, in my opinion, he could have won eight stages if he really decides to go for it. He decided to win five. Today could have been a sixth. But, and then, you know, being in the leader's jersey, being the ideal teammate, I mean,

what he did yesterday, for example. is something you've never seen. You know, 60K to go. He goes to the front and starts to be the luxury Gregario of del Toro with only one thing in mind. Keep him on the podium. That's unbelievable. Yeah. You're a fan of that.

Well, I liked yesterday. Yesterday I liked what he did. How long was that pole, Johan? It was like a 45 kilometer long pole. 60K. Well, he got on the front. at 65, right? And then got off at 20.

Crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. He was still pacing the El Toro at the end. So. But just to sit on the front of a GC group.

No, it's crazy. It's insane. Still pull up the clouds. It's mine. Well, Johan, I don't know if you watched yesterday's show. It wasn't, my, my, my, my boys here didn't love it. I thought it was. I, I, I liked it.

And I said, but today you know. You guys can confirm. I mean, what he did yesterday, for example, I mean, the downhill after the Galibia, you go down the Galibia, and then it's the Lothare, basically. To drive the group there, it's a 4% downhill in the wheel.

You're not peddling. And it's, what is it like, 20K or something? 17K. He just went and didn't matter. Then they got to the cold of Saren, and he was still. still the boss basically deciding whatever was going to happen. So that's just impressive.

I mean, we've never witnessed this domination. No, and we get to talk about that. We are going to take a break here in a second. The second half of the show, we're going to devote it to really our reflections, our thoughts about the 2026 tour. There's a lot to talk about. A lot of it good, some of it not so good. but we got to just kind of talk about the things that we're leaving here that are in our heads.

So we're going to break that down. I mean, this is obviously we are seeing something that has never been done before. Fact. Yeah. So we've got to talk about it. But we will be back in three minutes and 32 seconds. Today's episode brought to you by Draft Kings. This summer, whatever you're watching, baseball, golf, soccer, car racing, or even the Tour to France.

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I had a question before we get to a couple of other things. I do want to talk about Paul Seychas. I mean, we've said it many, many times. I just want to remind everybody this rider, he's 19 years old. He is the great French hope. We have not seen a rider this young since 1937. He finished fourth in the Tour de France. There is a lot there was before and always will be a lot of expectation of him.

I thought he performed incredibly well. My question, really for Bradley, not that you're not technical, George, but I'm going to point this one to Bradley and to Johann. The guy that you saw, the 19-year-old Paul Seishos you saw this year that finished fourth in the tour, what, how many minutes? would he have been a few minutes down I think like 11 minutes down okay but we shouldn't focus on that but there no he's there right and I'll start with you Bradley what for him to be in terms of percentage points percentage wise how far off tat is because you think a 19 year old they're just gonna improve improve improve so if you start to say you know from 19 to 20 obviously is that 1%

better is that 3% better I don't know but what I guess, first of all, what percentage points behind him is here? How much does he have to improve in order to be as good, if not better, than Pogachar? Well, I think I would say that that's a long way off to be better than Pogaccio. And I think the next Tour de France winner will be decided when Pogaccio decides to walk away from the sport. But in terms of how far he is away from Del Toro, who was third, and he was up till yesterday, He was only 20 seconds behind for most of the tour. And then to Remko, who wasn't that much further ahead until the time trial.

So he's not a million miles away from those guys, which I would say are going to be his big rivals in the next eight to ten years, by which time we would expect Taday to not be involved in the sport anymore. But at 19, to finish fourth in the Tour de France is quite some achievement. I mean, this guy was a junior at the World Championships that Vandapal won in Glasgow. Yeah. And he still rode the junior world championships into the year after as well in Zurich. And it's, it's, it's, we get used to young riders performing well at the Tour de France now

because of what Taday is done, Egan, Bernal, when he was 21, et cetera, et cetera. So it's become normalized to these age, the age of some of these guys and what they're doing. But you go back 10, 15 years. If a 19 year old was even in the tour, let alone challenge you for the podium, it would have been incomprehensible. So. So, Johan? Yeah. Well, first of all, I think what CESAS did is incredible, especially because he has been

racing always at every single moment when the favorites are racing. He has never taken advantage or tried to get the time with a breakaway. At every single point, he has taken his responsibility. I have never seen him complain. I've never seen him do something that he wasn't happy with a rival. He's always been riding whenever he had to ride. So to be fourth is incredible. In terms of improving, he will improve, but I don't think he will improve that much.

I think it's a junior that's already very optimized, which nowadays, when you want to be top of the world, you have to do everything you can. If you compare, for example, Pugachar's first year professional, he was winning a lot of races, and in his second year he won the tour, but Pogachars had an incredible margin of improvement still. He had a lot of runway. Yes, that's not the case with success,

but if he stays at this level in terms of power output, gets more endurance, which he will, because he will do more races, and gets more experience. he's going to be up there with del Toro and Remko, I think. So the question is now, you know, what does his future look like? You know, which decision will he make? We've heard a lot of rumors about changing teams.

I personally think he should stay at Decathlon. I think he should stay there as a French writer. This is a team that has the resources. They can build around him. And as Bradley says, I think as long as today he decides to go for the Tour de France, there is not going to be barring any unforeseen circumstances there is not going to be another tour de france winner well that's interesting uh it goes to it goes to the point of what we made yesterday that these young riders like enzo's age are already just i mean it is micromanaging

and six sigma across the board everything is analyzed everything is studied everything is thought through whether it's nutrition, whether it's aerodynamics, whether it's training, recovery, race schedule, teams. I guess I would throw it back at you, Johan, and say, okay, well, if you feel like a 19-year-old Paul Seychost is already pretty optimized, then what is a 22-year-old Isaac Del Toro? Is he also optimized, or does he have runway? Can I chime in before Johan does? Yeah, go.

Because, Johan, correct, I know the sports completely changed. The game has changed, but I think the one thing that has not. change. And correct me if I'm wrong, guys. When you do a grand tour, you step up another level. It changes you. So I'm kind of disagreeing with you in terms of him being totally optimized. I think now he has one grand tour. Not just a grand tour we just wrote around Packville, a grand tour we got fourth place with the pressure of entire country behind him. I think, personally, he's going to step up a game just from having this in his bank account now. Well, also a 19-year-old body is not as developed as a 23-year-old. I do think,

he'll probably improve just because he is a teenager currently yeah yeah he will not be a teenager in the future no i was surprised on yon i was surprised by your answer i that's uh i hear you loud and clear but i didn't expect you to say that yeah i said i said i said he will improve because of the experience yeah sorry somebody's calling here we go i'm sorry i fix us his agent calling you going yo han what the no it's it's another it's a young guy who wants to be a cyclist my son Is he home yet? My godson. By the way, my godson.

Yeah. Tell him not to do it. No, but in terms of success, I think, you know, what I agree with you, George, you know, grand tour does make you stronger. And, you know, by doing more races, he will obviously get more experience and more endurance. I'm just thinking in terms of, you know, what can he do more now to still improve? I don't think he can do much more because from what I gather, the guy's a super professional, obsessed cyclist

who wants everything to be at the maximum, which is obviously a great attitude. But I mean, yeah, I mean, listen, he's going to improve, but it's going to be a natural process. I don't think his power output, I mean, listen, when we see him going up, Lada Dut with Pogacar and Yas Bostonej, I don't think he can get much, much more strong. in terms of power output than that.

But we also, we all, that you can reproduce it over time. We also saw Porchard put two minutes into Roglitch win the Tour de France and we go, holy shit, that was the best performance we've ever seen. And he,

I think he's gotten maybe, I don't know what percentage points better, but. And he physically looks like a different person. You go look at those photos. I'm not saying this to be mean, but he has like baby fat on him. Yeah.

And now he looks totally different. So, and that's probably just natural, the body getting older and maturing. Do we also think that this route this year probably didn't suit SeigSas as much as an old school. I agree. Totally agree. Yeah. So he's had a very good performance on a route

that probably didn't suit him. Yeah. Well, we are, I have a feeling, going to talk about the route, the 2026 route. We have some thoughts on that. Before we jump into, I guess, kind of our send-off, our takeaways from the 2026 tour. We are for one last time. I'm going to go to the call in line. I'm not going to put the number up because, well, I actually can call. If you just want to talk to George, we can call that number. But last day of voicemails, I loved this little feature this year. Caller number one. Yes, my name is Nick. I'm from Nebraska. Longtime fan. I was just wondering why nobody

commented about Carapas passing up Puss from a crash. I remember like all of the the G. Riders waiting for their fellow competitors during crashes. Is that not the case for non-GC riders? Thanks. But man,

when it's 5K to go, it's game on. It doesn't matter. They both would have lost. Yeah, it doesn't matter who crashes. Even the G.C. guys,

well, potentially they would not have waited either. It's like, it's his responsibility to stay upright. Carver Paz was taking just as many risks as he was. And it was just a battle,

a mental battle of attrition. Apparently he missed a feed, with 20K to go and that shit happens man when you're all out, you make mistakes and it's it's easy to watch on TV and critique it, but as a rider you know that like, man, he was putting his heart and soul into that victory

and unfortunately it didn't work out. You're right. I mean, too close to the finish, the race is on, got to stay up right. And I do think, I mean, we got the news today that's up because my speculation yesterday was that he was balking a little bit and it's just, you know, you're cross-eyed. It's hard. Hard to descend full gas and we got the

the intel that he did miss a feed, whether or not all of that is true, we don't know. But to your question, I mean, it's just you got to race at that point. Yeah. Well,

like, let's say Lance is waiting for Jan Ulrich. Lance knows that there's no one's going to pass them. Like, Jan Orwick is the only variable in that equation. But if Carapaz waits for Coos, they both lose because the GC guys would have caught them and passed them. So it's a little bit different of a situation.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And not to keep harping on this, but even if Lance and Jan Rlerich were going for the finish, 3K to go, he's not going to wait and give him the win. Like you fall, it's part of cycling, you just keep going, I think.

Should Yon have kept going on Luzard Day? Yeah, well, that would open that debate up. I think that's different. They weren't actually going for the sprint right there. It was still at the bottom of the climb. It was early in the climate. Yeah. Caller number two.

Hey, guys. Jim from New Jersey. just curious if you guys think that the race directors or the people that make the route for the Tour de France will start looking to change that for next year. For after one, the Tour de France on stage six of this year's tour. Just curious if you guys think that they'll start changing the route up, maybe, you know, making sure that this is a little bit more exciting. Thanks, guys. Love the show. I think we say we look this is just a sneak peek of our takeaways this is one of our takeaways of this 2026 tour to France what I will say before we get to those is look it's their

race we have said this many many times nobody knows what the route and you know I'm often shocked when I've talked to just everyday people I say well you know the route changes every year yeah they don't know and most people like it does it's not the same route every year? I'm like, no, it changed. And so most people don't know that. It's, look, it's their race. They spend, you know, and all the things get factored into which cities they go through,

towns they go through, which, whether those are financial interests or, and of course, they, you know, normally one year go clockwise, next year go counterclockwise. But we won't know that until October. But it is their event. I mean, they could do whatever they want. So they typically, as we said a week or so ago, they like to, if you have a guy like Pogachar or in my generation, they like to build a route that makes it challenging for you. They want excitement.

They don't want you to win year after year. So they do sort of try in some ways, Tade proof the tour or me proof the tour. That never works. Never works. The best man always wins his bike race. And so it is their race. It is up to them. Terry Gouverna, who...

I mean, it's interesting on that, trying to explain to people that don't really follow the Tour de France, but everyone's aware of what the Tour de France is, how the Tour is starting in Edinburgh next year and heading it down to Liverpool and then to Cardiff and trying to get their heads around how the Tour de France is going to be in Scotland and the UK next year for three stages. Yeah, I mean, again, these are...

These are, and by the way, I do not blame them at all, right? The Barcelona and the region of Catalonia paid ASO $11.5 million to host the start of the tour. It was great for Barcelona. We set it on those first days. Like, wow, one of the winners today was Barcelona. Like, it looked incredible. One of the winners today was Paris, the images, the helicopter shots, Montmart. You're watching this going, I want to go there in Edinburgh and who knows?

I mean, they're probably paying in the same range, 10, 11, 12 million bucks. So that comes in, that doesn't affect the sporting, to me, as far as I'm concerned, that doesn't affect the sporting nature of the event. Let it start wherever. I get more concerned with just the route when it comes to the sporting side of it. Well, like last year they did wait for the mountains because what the caller said, Tatei wins it on stage six. We didn't have a mountain stage until stage 12 last. year and he won it on stage 12. So you'd have to do no mountain stages if you wanted to Tatei

proof it. He'd probably still win though, right? If it was all, let's say, cat fours or below, Tate probably still. He still wins it. Yeah. He still wins it. Absolutely. Yeah. You saw him today. It was rode away from everybody on a cat four climb. Yeah. And the first stage into Barcelona, or the second stage, he gave Deltor the win. I mean, he could win on any terrain as we see it. Yeah. Well, it's been fun taking all's calls. We will certainly be doing those more and more in the future. I should have mentioned that call in line, sponsored by our friends Hyper Ice. And NormaTech. I've been using NormaTech for, gosh, showing my age 15 plus, maybe 20 years. They deliver sequential pressure throughout the legs, helping them feel refreshed lighter and ready for the next ride.

Get 15% off HyperEyce products now with the code. The Move 15 at Hyperice.com slash discount slash the move. 15. I have a friend that, this is not a joke, he's developed a Norma Tech addiction. So he will be using that code. They like addiction? We can't get them out of these Norma Techs. Yeah, I got my buddy

just by the sleep eight as well. Yeah. We felt like we've been through some stuff. Overcome some stuff and, you know, kind of on the right track or just crushing. This poor fucker's got a normite addiction. Jonathan Kaplan. Could have been a where we're thinking about you. Could have been a lot worse.

You know, Lanserita's, day weren't good. Norma Tech's every day? Dude. Seek help now. Driving around D.C. looking for the next Monatuck. I do have a high price drill every day. I don't know. I'm going to dig that. I mean, you're sending

prayers to this young man. And he's a friend of yours? You get a friend of mine. The first week I was staying with you, I'm like, dude, where's your drill? You were like hiding it in your room. I know you always have one around. So, dark stuff. Takeaways.

I guess I'll kick us off here. We're just, let's just have a quick round table discussion about that. And Johan, we would love for you to chime in here. You can't leave this tour without talking about Taday Pokachar. And look, we throw it around all the time. People have questioned it for years. I don't think they question it anymore. This kid is the greatest of all time.

You go back as far as you want to go. He can do it all. You saw it all the way up until today. You put the numbers on his back. It doesn't matter if it's flat and cobbled. Doesn't matter if it's in the mountains. doesn't matter what time of year it is. It doesn't matter if it's on the white roads of Strata Bianchi, he wants to race.

He is simply the greatest of all time. I get, you know, people always, not always, but oftentimes people will want to talk to me about my career and my history with the tour and where I stand there. It doesn't matter. This guy is the goat, right? He is, and I said this as we were watching the race today and watching him just be so dominant and so in control. I said, listen. Let's stop with all this. I said, this guy would mop the floor with Lance Armstrong.

Mop it. And I mean it. And so it may not be the most entertaining thing when it comes to watching a three-week event, but it's a fact. He's the best of all time. And I would even say he is the most dominant athlete in the entire world. It's probably true. It's hard to think.

Like Michaela Schiffin won the Slalom Olympics. I think her margin of victory was as big as the last seven Olympic winners. bind that would be the only person i could think of that's even close but yeah he's incredible johan what do you think about that would tatea mop the forward lance yeah i think i think i think thank you thank you it feels good you know i mean i don't know about this you know he did okay so that's definitely a sound bite by the way like sorry to interrupt like i keep reading like things that we say become like news that's that will be in the paper go ahead yon sorry yeah Yeah, so he did the Tour de France seven times.

He won it five times, two times second. He's 27 years old, and he won the tour five times. Lance, you were 27 when you won your first Tour de France. Remember that. So, you know, I mean, this guy can just do it all. It's, no, I think, I think, Pugachar, yeah, it's, you know, we can't compare, of course, but, you know, I think, yeah, I think. I think he would have beaten you probably Farrant Square.

I think he's right. I agree. Obviously. Yeah. I got a couple quick takeaways. Yeah. That's okay. Of course it's okay.

This is your show. Yeah. I really enjoyed and I think this goes against the grain of everybody in this show. Is the reemergence of Remko Evanapult as a GC, you know, top GC writer in the world? Because for many reasons. I mean, this guy, I think he's a guy that. that many people can relate with. He has bad days.

He gets dropped on climbs. He's dropped out of Grand Tours, but he's won the Tour of Spain. He's the Belgian prodigy. He gets so much hate for being this Belgian young kid that's come up through the ranks of soccer, then junior to a straight to pro. But he keeps coming back. He doesn't give up. I mean, he was arguably the second best climber in the race of the Tour de France.

And he is just getting better. He's getting paid a ton of money, a ton of pressure, but that doesn't phase him. And to me, he's more of like, the people's champion, a human champion. Tade, obviously, like, look, look, he wears his emotions on his sleeves. I know you guys criticized yesterday. He's yelling at his PR guy.

Like, I didn't win. Who else would do something like that? Lance would do the same exact thing. You would be pissed. You didn't win. But he's still in second place. I like it. I think to me he is the people's champion

and he's somebody that a lot of us can relate to. I think there's something to this. And Bradley's going to make fun of me. Can I just say one thing? Because you're wrong about one thing. Let me tell you what I wouldn't do. Yeah. If I spent three weeks on the road in France trying to win a bike race and ultimately went into bike race and I had 20, 30 staff people around me, I would never, ever dress them down on global television.

Yeah. Ever. That's his problem. Okay. That, that, that, that, I mean, you just don't. You might feel it. You might think it. But do not.

These people, they never get seen. They never get glory. They never get credit. You never do that. Ever. So that's the difference. Secondly, and then I'll let you guys go. I think Bradley's going to make fun of me.

But the whole purpose behind this team that I'm building and my second job I'm going back to after this is the fact that we have, we had six Americans in the Tour de France. NBC, our fans who are watching right now, imagine having all of these guys on the same team. The fact it would have on viewership in the United States, on sponsorship,

I'm not saying I'm the person to bring that to the table, but I'm trying and that's my goal and we all need purposes, we all need challenges hell these guys might not even like me but they like the concept of an American team in the Tour de France with mainly American riders Which guys might not like you?

I'm just saying the six Americans in the race Everybody likes you. They do like me but I'm just saying for the people watching that hate me and don't want me involved in the team. Nobody hates you, George. They want, they all want an American team so this is really motivating to me to see how strong they were throughout this three weeks, how impactful they were

for their teams and just makes me really hopeful and motivated to keep building my project. There actually is an American cycling rider that is always pretty mean towards George. What is the deal? He doesn't know George. If he knew him, he wouldn't think that. Thank you. And so the people like that, they're not even worth worrying about. It's very wide.

Bradley, anything come to mind? I mean, my main thing is Teddy, you know, I mean, of course, Mudd's Pedersen, fantastic performance, you know. Fantastic. Taday, you know, when I, I mean, I'm a big fan of Eddie Merck's, of course, and I've been the one touting that he's still the greatest. But Taday, for now, for me, has taken over that mantle of Eddie Merckes. You know, the five standout moments of this tour were Taday. And we talk about the imagery of Paris and that, but Taday is always part of that imagery in making the race.

Today, Alp Duet, Barcelona, when he gave his teammate the stage win. Of course, the Tour Malay, another big imagery kind of moment in the Tour de France. but Alpduez was still something we're all trying to digest and get our heads round I think because we get so used to these performances we get kind of become you know we're very conditioned to seeing these great performance whether it's Pari Roubaid, whether it's the Tour of Flanders

whether it's you know Léges Baston Lijes what he did in the Tour of Swiss and it's just but what he did on Alpduez I think we will still be talking about in 50 years time and I don't think anyone's going to break that record I agree with that. And they even asked him at the finish, will he be at the start line for the tour of Spain? I mean, I just, I cannot get my head around that.

Why? It is a better. How could you? It's a better race than it used to be. I know, but I'm not trying to discount the race. I'm just saying it's like he, God, if you wish a six-month vacation for anybody. Yeah. I mean, this guy deserves it.

I can't even imagine in a month's time. You've got to go gear up for another three-week grant tour. That's not even talking about the whirls. If he does well, they still all in for the world. But yeah, he does have to stay in shape for the world. So he's got to do something. You might as well get the free food. By the way, he's won the free food.

Guys, guys, I just want to chime in here. Yes, sir. I know some people who are very close to him. And, you know, it keeps coming back to me that this is just a guy who loves to ride his bike and loves to race. You know, he's apparently he's not chasing anything. He just wants to race. I'm not chasing anything I think I have my doubts about that because obviously the reason why he's going to the tour of Spain because he wants to win all three grand tours and you know now that it now that he's in great shape and he's not last year he was sick you know he had a bad knee which actually he said today or yesterday in the in the interview before the stage but it's it's apparently from from people who work with him and teammates what they see of this guy on training camps is unbelievable. The guys that are very hard worker always pushes himself is extremely demanding on

himself and just wants to always push it further and further. So he just likes to love to ride his bike. You know, it would explain. I watch him. You know, I watch his post-race interviews and you just, and again, I'm not an expert in this, but you watch him. You watch him today, right? This guy was ready, he was ready to go home. People often ask me and I reflect up now at 50, 55 years old have had the time to reflect on why those moments, there wasn't joy and there wasn't just sort of this presence, right, or this living in the moment, so to speak, when I was there. And it was because I loved more than winning the Tour de France. I loved process.

I loved training, planning, scheming. I loved the process in order to win the tour. And when it was over, the process was done. And so what does that mean? that means yes say hi to everybody but it's now time to start the process again perhaps that is him yoan i mean it you just said it right that's i'd love to be a fly on the wall and some of these camps i mean that would be inspiring yeah he also if we're being honest yon tell me if i'm wrong here i don't know if he went that deep in this tour there's a lot of days a lot of tough mountain

days where he was holding back god i hope he went deep on out the west was full guys that's yeah thank you but that's just a tree got to get that training effort and you know, don't want to get out of shape in the third week of the tour. You know, he didn't go full gas yesterday. We know that. He looked really, really in control.

He didn't go full gas on Plateau de Solisone when Remko won. I think he did, I think he went three times full gas. The time trial, Tourmalet, and Abdu West. That's the two times he really went full out.

So it makes it easier to back up and do another grand tour, I guess, if you can get past the mental hurdle. And the three times, times out the Marmont or however you call it today. He looked pretty like he was in control. Another takeaway for me, I think we just got a couple more is the route. I said it at the start. I didn't understand the route that they picked.

I thought it was underwhelming. And I think it showed, right? And what they do next year and I think we're sort of secretly crossing our fingers. Let's go back to a traditional thing. me who knows right we'll find out in mid-october or late October I thought I thought the route didn't do the course or didn't do the race and the dynamics of the race and the story of the race any justice no arguments there well I thought Barcelona was beautiful the team time trial format I really enjoyed that love team time trial is one of my favorite it feels like a year ago I does it does but you know I don't know I didn't mind the course that much I think I think next year is different because you know since it starts in Scotland you know have in mind if they have to start in Barcelona

they have to do the Pyrenees early on there's no there's no other choice of course you know so I think after stage six we already knew I mean although I think that they did design that stage with the intention of okay let's do the Tour Malé but let's not finish

on a hard climb but that didn't really matter but next year if they start in the UK they're kind of free. I mean, normally they're going to start in the north of France when they get out of the UK. So it could be a traditional, you know, first a few flat stages and then

either Pyrenees or Alps. I think next year will be a more classical design, in my opinion. Let's get back to Futuroscope. Remember that place? The time trial there. Let's just do like old school. Lact de Vazier. Yeah. All right, final

take away. I think for me, and I would love, I want everybody to chime in here. It's just the future of the sport. Where do we go? There's a couple ways to look at this. Look, I mean, Tade is so dominant. It takes out the intensity and the excitement and the questions around

who will win the yellow jersey. This kid is that good, right? And so that's sort of, you have to look for other storylines. That's sports. I don't know what people said when I was racing. Maybe they said the same stuff. I don't know. But the numbers don't lie. This is an event that globally, the television numbers are down, down significantly.

I have them pulled up right here. France up marginally, I think the Paul Setsha's effect is real in France. Spain flat. Germany down 8%, Wallonia down 14%, Italy down 16%, the Netherlands down 16%. And Flanders. Remco's home down 22%. Those aren't good, right? And I really enjoyed, and Spencer, you were quoted in David Siegel's article in today's New York Times about the ownership of this event, the control that the family has on the event.

$170 million in global television rights that are sold every year that not one red cent is shared with the Peloton. There's no other sport in the world like that. You have all the beauty, all the difficulty, all the difficulty, all. all the just history of this sport and this event. And yet stuff is backwards. I leave here saying things have to change. And I will also say, and we saw this. And I aired my frustration when it happened.

The fact that the only thing that gets the Tour de France on the cover of ESPN.com is somebody getting woken up at 2 a.m. to be drug controlled. That's a problem. That's our headline? That got us in the global sports news? No. we just said it. We are witnessing maybe the most dominant athlete in the world today.

That, my friends, is the headline. Why are we still doing this? It is the dog chasing the tail. What's your theory? Why is it down in Flanders? What's everyone's theory on that? Mine is no out of Ben Hart. The only thing that comes to mind when I think of that is we have had probably one of the best World Cups we've seen in many, many years.

And Belgium were in that until late stages of it. Quarterfinals. True. And of course, England and some of the other nations. You've also got the problem in the UK that is now not free to air. This is a big problem and it's growing. And so people are against paying to watch the Tour de France,

where of course it used to be on terrestrial TV. But the World Cup might have impacted it a little bit. I should have added, and in my fault, those numbers that are those viewership numbers that I just read off are compared to a five-year average. Okay. It's just getting

They're real numbers It is getting really expensive To watch the tour in some countries Not everyone has Like Peacock is like an affordable streaming service But It's great as well

I love it There actually is a lot of key sports On there that you're going to have to get it To watch this fall But Gold reminds he's catching no he misses on there Love Island George's favorite Love Island

Don't forget The man doesn't miss an episode of Love Island Women's store Right He's also on there Tour of the women's tour. Women's tour. On here.

Like Peacock will have a lot of sports that you might want to watch. It's very user-friendly. It is. It's great. But in the UK, you have to buy this like really expensive. I'm talking like five to six hundred US dollars a year. A bolt-on package is basically just cycling and like some Champions League games. Like who is going to buy that?

That makes me worry they're going to lose an entire country viewership. Coupled with, look, we all have kids. We all have young kids. I see my kids. We see our kids. We see how they consume content. We see how they are connected to their devices, probably too much in the future. Are my kids going to watch 200 skinny guys right around France for five hours a day?

It's something we have to think about. In all sports, I have to think about this is how we, look, even in America's pastime, but the game of baseball has had to make serious efforts, to speed the game up. and make it more interesting. Well, the NBA viewing figures have been down. NBA's kind of a mess. But baseball, actually, old sport, you'd think stodgy, they said, wow, we got some problems.

And in like in two years, they fixed them all. It's an incredible viewing experience now. And one thing we should point out to is the podium. I mean, think about the companies involved in the podium, UAE promoting tourism. They are justifying millions of dollars being spent on this team because it is a positive impact on their country. DeCathlone.

fourth place and tour. Massive company, France, they are justifying their expense because they're promoting their company through cycling. Red Bull, one of the biggest investors in sports in the entire world, also justifying their expense.

So there are a lot of positives, I think, that are coming out of the store to France. Right. But all of those teams, not just the ones you mentioned, but all of the other ones, are totally and completely dependent upon those title sponsors

or any other form of sponsorship. The second, those people, whether it's a wealthy person or the sheikhs in, UAE decide to go, you know, sponsor Liverpool or something, whatever else sailing. I don't know. The second they decide to leave is the second that team is gone. And so no other sport would have a company that's generating hundreds of millions of dollars.

And the athletes and the teams and the team owners share in zero of that is ludicrous. Now, the only way to fix that is for those 200 guys. and I'm just generally saying 200 guys to say, we're not coming. We're not coming, collectively. So let me turn this around, and I know I'm the devil's advocate, always on this table,

but Lance, Bradley, myself, we all made good money in cycling. What have we been one of those guys that said, you know what, I'm going to skip a year or two from my salary that supports my family to help the future of the sport? Each rider, I just read an article

that the average wage of the salaries of the riders in this tour to France is around 600K. $440,000. So you're coming from mostly blue-collar families, never made that kind of money in your life, and now you're making that kind of money? Are you going to step away from that? I don't think so. I'm not saying it's a guarantee.

I'm just telling you that's the only way that you affect change. Yes, I do that. I do tend to agree. And I'm looking at it both ways. Former rider and now a team owner. Yes, team ownership needs to have value. Franchise value. We don't have that right now.

We're 100% dependent on sponsorship. Again, David Siegel's article in the New York Times today, if you guys are subscribers or can somehow walk by a newsstand. I thought it was, I mean, really, he spent some time, he spent three days of the tour, he lays it out there. I was coming into the preview show, get a call from a guy, I don't know. It's David Siegel. He said, do you think I should write an article about the financial side of the tour? I was like, I don't think you could come up with a better article. It's great art. Yeah, it's fantastic.

Yeah. Well, I feel like we shouldn't end on a down note. How about the bet? Let's do, is there anything nice, or sort of warm and fuzzy, we can say? Warm and fuzzy. We've got the paella party tonight? This thing has become quite the monster. Everything started out as a small thing.

If you want to attend, call that number on the screen. Anna and Melanie, well, years, you know, a long time ago, started baking this paella for a few of us. And now it's like 50 of us. Melanie's stressing about 60-person pie. Well, we get about, Anna. has called in reinforcements, Mel. So do not stress. We've got other people to help with that.

This thing's a big damn deal. Call that voicemail line. We'll drop you a pin, tell you where to go. Come to our party. I want to finish on a positive note, too. I just want to say it's a real honor sitting here next to the goats of cycling history here. I mean, coming from basically redneck from Texas, streets to London to winning the biggest race in the world. I mean, the most unconventional path you can get to winning the largest race in the world.

So for me, like as a fan of the sport and knowing how much you guys have done in the sport, even though I've witnessed most of it, I was there with you guys for a lot of it. It's still an honor for me to be here, and I'm super grateful to be part of this month with you guys. Thank you. Last Phantom trivia of the tour. And we actually have a winner. We have the winner's name on here. The question yesterday was about the iconic AlptuWest Klein was defined by how many numbered hairpin bins?

answer 21 Duh After three weeks All the questions All the answers All the submissions Our winner Stephen Steiner

From just down the road actually Durango, Colorado Sepcus's hometown Stephen Steiner Congratulations You win $5,000 bucks Towards the ventum

Of your choice Ladies and gentlemen It has been fun It has at times been eventful It has at times been uneventful But I

will say this. I have not always been entertained in this tour, but this has been sitting here with these three or four in the Johans around too somewhere. This has been one of the funner ones for me, and I mean it. I don't know why. Sir Bradley fucking locked in in 2026. That might have been one of my highlights. Plans was in a good mood for the most of it? He was in the great. I was. That made it really fine. It was all the cycling you're doing. Yeah. You're on a good mood. Anyways One of the sites yesterday I have to say

You didn't know that I saw you do this But watching you change into your golf kit in the car park That made me laugh I was tickled by that Well I had I had my golf shorts on for the show And I was I didn't want to wear it

I tickled me so much I think Max was next to you My son met me here And I mean I'm not going to rock up on a golf shirt For the move But I had it in the car Yeah I was getting tucked in belt on

You know Max and I had fun. Played with my mom and Ed. We had a hell of a time. Hell of a time. So look at you. Fuck, next time I'm going to change after I leave. Thanks for tuning in, everybody.

It's been a hell of a good time. We will see you very soon.