THEMOVE - Van der Poel Dominates as Brennan & Seixas Announce Themselves | Opening Weekend Breakdown | THEMOVE

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

Spencer Martin and Johan Bruyneel break down the opening weekend of Flemish cobbled Classics, starting with Mathieu van der Poel's dominant victory on Saturday at Omloop Nieuwsblad, and Mathew Brennan and Visma's statement win at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday, before discussing what to make of Paul Seixas riding the field off his wheel at Faun-Ardèche and tying Tadej Pogačar's climbing record in the process. Become a WEDŪ Member Today to Unlock VIP Access & Benefits: https://access.wedu.team Babbel: Here's a special (limited-time) deal for our listeners. Right now, get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription – at https://Babbel.com/THEMOVE OneSkin: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code THEMOVE at https://www.oneskin.co/THEMOVE  #oneskinpod  

This could also just be the whole podcast, us being like, Matthew Vanderpil's so strong. He looked so strong on the bike, because I thought the same thing. He looked like, you're like a beast out there. It was, I'm scared. I'm scared for everybody else for the rest of these classics. Spencer, if you look at Vanderpull, I mean, we have seen a lot of close-ups from him during the cycle cross season, right?

But now again, in envelope, I mean, the way this guy holds and pulls on his handlebars, his shoulders, his upper arms, it's like, It's scary, man. It's scary. It's like, you know, this is not like a fragile, tiny bike rider. This guy's a beast. Everybody, welcome back to The Move. I'm Spencer Martin. I'm here with Johann Berniel, and we are breaking down the opening classics weekend, which just wrapped up, which just occurred this last weekend with Omloop. Newsblad won by Matthew Vanderpull on Saturday and Kern, Kurn of Brussels Kern on Sunday with Matthew Brennan from Team Bisma Lisa Bike, winning a sprint.

That doesn't really do the race justice, though, Johan. That was one of the hardest races that ended in a sprint that I've maybe ever seen in my life. That was brutal. And then we'll also go down to mid-south France to talk about the two one-day races. The big highlight there is Paul Sechase, just annihilating everyone on Saturday dropping Mateo Jorgensen. And then soloing 40K to the finish, increasing his lead the whole time. But Johan, let's just start with Omloup. that was the first one that occurred

I think the biggest race of the weekend it was Matthew Vanderpul first Tim Van Dyke second Florian Vermeish third and then Christoph Leport winning the sprint from the group and fourth Vanderpul was 22 seconds in front of Van Dyca who was with him

with Vermis in a group before he dropped them on the mooh what is it the Movvon Gators in that again which used to be the big finish for the Tour of Flanders It was fun to see it's back, that it was back.

And then the Peloton was about a minute behind them. But what was your big takeaway from Omloup other than the fact that Matthew Vanderpull is an incredible bike handler? Well, I mean, it was an interesting race. There was a breakaway, five strong guys. But you could obviously see that, you know, there was a lot of interest in the Peloton to have their leaders in the final. And with about 45, between 45 and 50. year to go. We saw that, I mean, the Molenberg is usually a very crucial point in any of the races, also in the Tour of Flanders. It's because it's narrow. You know, you come from almost standstill

depending from where they come from, from the right or the left. But anyways, it is narrow. Florian Vermeers was in first position. And then we had this guy from Tudor, Rick Plymers, the Dutch guy, who crashed. And if you see those, images. It's a proof of the kind of artist that Vandrapoul is on a bicycle. You know, it's almost impossible to avoid this. And he did avoid it. And on top of that, he didn't get off the bike. He did unclip, but didn't get off the bike. And that was basically the moment where he and was it Mick Van der Leakee who, it is one of the Van der Leakeet twins who just. I think it was Tim. Tim. Yeah.

And so these three guys bridged up to those other five guys, and that was it. But yeah, I mean, it was because of a crash. If not, it would have also been a decisive point, the Molenberg, but maybe some more riders would have joined in first instance, right? But the fact is that these three guys who just got ahead of that crash then bridged up to the breakaway, and those were the three guys who also were in front. in the final until van der Poul

dropped them on the on the mood of Gerrarsberg without attacking just from the saddle accelerating yeah I mean I told I told you in our earlier podcast Spencer I saw him race

I saw him train in in Spain he looked amazing and yeah I mean he was he he wanted to start Omlop Nevesblood because he's never done it before and we know nowadays, you know, if under the pool chooses his program, he chooses a race, it's because he wants to win it.

He doesn't do any other races. He does not do any races. He doesn't want to win. Yeah, it's like almost like a track and field athlete. He just helicopters into these specific races after training specifically and then wins down. It makes it look easier. It's more difficult than cycling in track and field. Because in track and field, if you're the strongest, you have the fastest time you win, right? in cycling it's a bit different. There's other circumstances. But still, you know, the way he was above everybody else, I mean, those 22 seconds don't do it any justice,

the difference in level between him and the rest. But yeah, I mean, great. I think great for the race, great for Mathieu, great for his team. And I think that anybody in the race, I mean, nobody was had a chance. I listened to an interview of Florian Vermears after the race. And he said, you know, why, you know, the interviewer said, why did you collaborate?

He says, you know, I think it was my responsibility to collaborate. I was in front. I was in a position of being the protected rider of the team in that situation. And, you know, if we ride, we're sure of the podium. And you never know if something happens with Mathieu. But he also said that he knew already while they were riding. It was basically only Vermeers and Vandrepool. No, I don't think Van Dyke collaborated a lot, maybe a little bit, but just now and then.

It was basically those two riders who did all the work. And he said, you know, he already knew that on the mure. He was not going to be able to stay with Van der Poul. But, you know, being the best of the rest, once you are in a situation that you're ahead of everybody, in the case of Floyd on Vermears, then basically you say, okay, you know,

I'm just trying to go as far as I can and hope I can make it to the finish for second place. And that's the way these riders race now. You know, I mean, once they see that Wanderpul or Pogacar is at the start, it's,

you know, who can be second? Which is basically worth a victory. Yeah. And yeah, I have a lot to say about that. But just first of all, I thought you needed to,

a really good job. If you noticed, going into the Mullenberg, they were at the front, they were really putting a lot of resources into getting Vermeche first wheel into the climb. And they gave it their best shot. He attacks. He had a gap. Vanderpult 9, actually 9.9 riders out of 10 crash right there. And Vermeche probably goes on to win the race. So they tried. He bridged up. And I wish, but then also Tim Van Dyke really, I thought really savvy. He doesn't make that

initial move. Vizma's on the front panicking, you know, like correctly saying this is the when he move. They're giving it everything. The moment it sits up, he has a teammate with him. He bridges the teammate gets to the front and kind of gums it up. You can see Vizma's yelling at them for not working. And then that's it. That's the move. I kind of wish interviewers and they ask that question, if they, I wish they would state, well, what's the other outcome? So I don't work with Vanderpull. And then what happens? He sits up. We all get. caught, he's going to drop me anyway on the funnel climb.

And then I'm competing with 50 people for third place, second place versus, and they did a little bit of work. I mean, Vanderfell was hammering. Like, hammering for in between those climbs. That's why I think Spencer, you know, you say, okay, if Vanderpul crashes, Vermeers goes

ahead and wins the race, I don't think so. I don't think Vermeers would have, because he wouldn't have stayed ahead because it would eventually have been organized behind. And, you know, I think Visma and Red Bull together with, obviously, because Van der Poole would have gotten up and then he would have had Alpacin also collaborating. He would not have to stay ahead, Vermeer's. I think it was in his interest.

He only had one chance to stay ahead when he was with Van der Poul because alone he would have gone, obviously, super fast also. But the speed of Vermeerche is not the speed of Van der Poul. So I think he did what he had to do. I mean, hats off to him to not say, hey, you know what, I'm just going to sit on the wheel of Vanderpul and see what happens.

The guy took his responsibility and he looked pretty satisfied, I would say, you know, and then his interview afterwards was really, really well thought of. And he said, you know what? I mean, there's going to come a time when, you know, to win against Mathieu. First, I have to be there with him.

right yeah i think that's not that's not that's not stupid thinking you know it's it's like okay let's first be there if you want to win you have to come to the to the line for first uh it's like you say you know if you don't collaborate von der pool get sick of it they get back it back reeled in and then he has to compete again against three four teams and maybe he doesn't make it in the break in the next move it's always you know that's always a possibility so um i think i think i think I think Vermeer did the right thing. It shows that he's really strong. And he's definitely going to be one of the strong guys in the spring classics in, you know,

Flanders and Rube and all those races. And he builds confidence. It's also not clear, like, what was UAE's other options back in the group? They don't have a knockdown sprinter. Yeah. So, and he builds confidence. Do you have the last time Florian Vermeche podium that are one-day World Tour race? is it

Peri dube? Peri dube 2021, so five years ago. So this is not nothing. Like it's important to get podiums. Tim Van Dyka had never been on a world tour one day podium. So these are big results

for these guys. You can't just throw that away. That's not nothing, especially you've worked that hard to get there. We should also mention, I think just mathematically, it was a wild number of crashes. I don't know what was going on

in the Peloton. Like Visamo was chasing. racing pretty well for Matthew Brennan. And then Brennan gets caught out in the crash. That hurts the chase. But if they're back. It was wet. So, I mean, it was wet.

That's obviously a factor. And it was also quite windy from what I've been told. So. Yeah, that's interesting. The first big race like this, you know, although you would say, you know, they're professionals and they're used to this. But, you know, they have to get that feel again because this is a very specific kind of racing. You have to get those instincts back. And, you know, lots of them have been training there and stuff.

But if you race there and it's windy and wet, it's a different game. Unfortunately, we see crashes, which, you know, obviously have consequences for some of the guys, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Big, big cons, especially for, I guess it was the next day. Tim Wellens breaks his collarbone. And then Stefan Kuhn, broke his femur so there's very disruptive to those teams springs but just mathematically i wonder if you're up in the breakaway you're not you don't have the risk of crashing or just as much and then you actually might be better off riding with van derpool and hoping he has a problem like that actually might be the best chance of it's a strategy it's a strategy it's the same like i say for the tour de

france you know like how can you beat pogachar you know first you have to be as close as possible to him And then something might happen. That's part of the race, part of cycling. So in the case of the classics, and in the classics, the chances that something happens are obviously a lot bigger because there's so many different factors you can't control, you know, crashes, punctures, getting blown off the road, whatever. It can all happen.

So, yeah, I think you need to race to be in front in the, independently and not look at Van der Poul because most of the time when Vandrapool is brought in position by his team and he decides to go I think it shows what we can expect again for Tour of Flanders, you know, like it's going to be, it's only Pugachar who can be with Fondrapul, I think. Everybody else, they're just a level below.

And we're talking about Vanderpult winning, like, oh, it's inevitable, it's easy for him to do this. This is impressive to show up. I mean, Amlup's a big race, not a race around the houses, as the Belgians would say. You don't just show up a race around the church tower. A race around the church tower, that's like a Kermas, you know, like that's a little Mickey Mouse race. It's not a race around the church tower. Hey, wait, winning those Kermeses, it's not, that's not nothing.

All right. Some people work very hard to win those Kermeses. But it's, this is just a big race. He just showed up in one. I mean, if you go back, I think Wow, Van Art, great writer. He's won this race one time in his career. It's not like Wow, Benart does not win every time you start. So very impressive, Annapal wins.

I think it shows us, as you said, in the pre-show, or not the pre-show, the race. The show before the race, very fit. I don't know if that's any different than years past, but he's not going away. He's going to be a force this year. I was so impressed. I mean, to avoid the crash, it just, in, I, I will say I love the guy is my favorite rider. Wow, Van Arte probably goes down right there.

Like that's, that's anybody, anybody but. Tom Piccock. Maybe Pitcock, yeah. Anybody but Vanderpoul is, I mean, it's just art. It's art on a bike. You know, the way, because imagine, first of all, the stress, the nerves, you know, your heart rate is 190 coming into the Malenberg.

That's for sure. it's been a big fight, you know, and then you have this issue in front of you, this guy crashes and you just nonchalantly go around that helmet with your bike. And not wipe out. I think he lost three feet, Rick Plymbers. Really? Yeah. Yeah.

Jeez. I mean, those cobbles were, it's so wet. And I don't, they did not that, he did not expect to go down. I mean, you know, just out of the blue. specifically it's it's one of those tiny roads and the cobbles are like all you know like it's like it's like this so he was not he was not uh on the right spot plumbers but you know can you be on the right spot i mean it's the fact i mean first of all he was probably super happy he was in second position i was like okay this is one little win in the race you know get to that position uh at the bottom

of the moulmberg because it's such a big fight and then he goes down so that uh that was that definitely, yeah, very unfortunate for him. And I don't know if you noticed this, but on the fight to get into the Mullenberg. You know, it's really intense. And they're going all out. And Vanderpull was like, oh, I want to be in a different spot. And he was moving up on the grass.

Like, can you imagine that? I'm just going to hop on the grass. We're going 35 miles an hour. And also, Spencer, I know that if you saw it, I mean, while they were away then, you know, in the breakaway and then even when he was on his own, the way this guy uses the road man it's like he goes through corners where people have to he goes first of all he goes super fast so you know automatically sometimes the inertia brings him to the

outside of the corner and he just goes on the grass in the corner or uses a little piece of dirt whatever it's like a berm for him almost yeah yeah no it's art man it's it's there's there's nobody who can do this i'm gonna i was going to say there's almost nobody there's nobody. Pitcock is an artist also, but Van der Pooh is just more often in the front, so we can see it more often. Let's talk about Tom Pickock for a second. We hyped him up pretty big for this race.

Turn it on, and Tom's already in trouble. He said he was too cold. I did look cold. He was really struggling with a rain jacket. But that just, I mean, to me, Pitcock struggles, and he was off the back early, shows you just why Vanderpull is. who he is. Like there's a difference between the levels,

even of these freaks of the sport. Yeah. I mean, I was also surprised to see Pitcock. I mean, I don't know if something happened, if he had a crash or a flat with before or it was, he was obviously not on a great day.

This is not his level. But you know, with Pitcock, you don't know in these kind of races. Sometimes he can be good. Sometimes he can be completely off. And that's just what makes Funderpool so great. You know,

he's just always there. He never fails. Never. And also, Spencer, I mean, one thing, if you just compare for the people, you know, who are listening and watching me, go go check a picture of Tom Pitcock and Matthew Van der Pooh. It's like David and Goliath, you know, it is. The Von der Poohle is just this massive, strong force on a bike. The way he, I mean, I don't know, the way he holds his handlebars just transmits that pure strength. And then his pedal stroke when he goes, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like

pistons of a car, like of a train. Whereas Pitcock is a completely different type of rider. No, he's more fragile. He's tiny. He's skinny. He's good when he's, you know, when he has his day. But it's, it's, you cannot have two bigger opposite types of riders. But Van der Pooh is just always there in these races.

He's, he never, he never disappoints. It also goes to show maybe there are limits to GC riders chasing classics wins where like this is a guy who got podium at the Vuelta and then remember the old days where you couldn't just be like hey I'm a GC guy at a grand tour

I'm going to go win on loop we might be seeing there's okay for people not named today Bagachar there's a limit to what you can do it is it is true it is true I mean Pitcock and Pitcock because of his constitution you know, it's clear that for him,

I'm still in Liesch are a lot better than these kind of races because, you know, the pure power, it's not so much, it is a little bit, but it is less a power to weight issue. It's pure power than in races like Amstall, Liesch, flesh, where it's really power to be, what's per kilo? In Kurner and in Omlop and even into Flanders, it is more based on the brute power.

And I think without being, without being an expert scientist. But that's what I think is the case. There are limits. You can't be 200 kilos. Like at a certain point, it matters, but it kind of doesn't matter.

It's just what's the power you're doing? And that's why Pagatra is so lethal because he's way lighter than these guys and he does almost the same power as Vanderpul. This could also just be the whole podcast, us being like Matthew Vanderpull so strong. He looked so strong on the bike because I thought the same thing. He looked like a beast out there.

I'm scared. I'm scared for everybody else for the rest of these classics. Spencer, if you look at Vanderpull, I mean, we have seen a lot of close-ups from him during the cycle cross season, right? But now again, an envelope. I mean, the way this guy holds and pulls on his handlebars, his shoulders, his upper arms, it's like, it's scary, man. It's scary.

It's like, you know, this is not like a fragile, tiny bike rider. This guy's a beast. Yeah. He's such a good athlete, too. You can just tell the way he rides. Very, very unique. Also, I would say they didn't, they technically didn't win, but Red Bull, they would be winners of the race alongside Matthew Vanderpull for me.

They looked like a different team than last year. Like a really organized serious classics team, something to keep an eye out for. And we'll talk about decathlon. when we get to Sunday. But that was my other note about the race. Do you have anything else before you move on? No, I think that's it. No surprises.

Matthew Vanderpul wins. Matthew Brennan crashed out. So the substitute leader for Visma. So Visma was still quite present, but didn't seem like they had somebody who could, they could bring back into the race to have a chance. But still, Lapport did fort, no? Yeah, big, big result, kind of foreshadow in there.

They had a lot of bad luck, a lot of crashes in the wrong time, still get four, it still looked good. But let's take a quick break and then we'll talk about Sunday's race, Kurnah. Everybody, this episode is brought to you by one skin. If you're like me, your skin might need some extra care this time of year. Between those cold, windy winter rides and the dry air that just feels like it's everywhere, it can feel like nonstop stress on your system. That's why I've continued to rely on one skin.

It's been invaluable to have a daily routine that delivers both powerful skin care and longevity benefits, all in a few simple steps. At the core of their product is the patented OS1 peptide, the first ingredient proven to target cells, a key driver of wrinkles, fine lines, and a loss of elasticity, all signs of aging. And those results have been validated in four different peer-reviewed clinical studies. My favorite products that I've been using is the first one, their OS1 face sunscreen. It just comes a little thing like this. Easy for me to have on the counter. I put it on first thing in the morning, and it keeps my skin not only moisturized,

but protected from the sun. So if I go out for a run or a ride, I don't have to think about putting sunscreen on. Again, they also have the OS1 body SPF sunscreen for your body. That also takes care of those moisturizing needs is really, really good on your skin and keeps you protected from the sun.

It's mineral as well. So it's going to be refurb. safe and born from over a decade of longevity research one skin's os1 peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age for a limited time try one skin with 15% off using code the move at one skin dot co slash the move that's 15% off one skin dot co with code the move and that's dot co not dot com after you purchase the last where you heard about them please support our show and tell them we sent you one more time, Oneskin.co slash the move.

Okay, Johan, a flatter race, in theory, easier, Kurno-Brussels Kern on Sunday. Maybe I don't have a good memory of this race. I thought this thing looked brutal. Like, DeCathlon came out with the vengeance. Yasser Philipson, for some reason, is on the front on these early climbs, hammering like he's Matthew Vanderpull.

Maybe he's been inspired by his teammate. Visma was up front a lot pressing the pace. Matthew Brennan looked strong, but we had major spinners, guys that we thought would play a part, like Jonathan Milan, Beniam Grimai, Arna DeLei, just getting popped out the back. Like 90 to, yeah, Grunovagan, like 90 to 70K out. Like it was carnage. And even when they got over the hill zone, let's call it, into the flat final 50K, the race was still breaking up.

It was breaking up. And in the last kilometer, and Vizma was, I thought, pretty clever. They had riders up there in those moves. so they didn't have to pull it back. They get into the final few hundred meters. They put their depleted resources into a lead out for Matthew Brennan. And Matthew Brennan just smokes. That overhead shot of the sprint was unbelievable.

This guy's 20 years old. Smokes the two-door duo of Luca Mazato and Mateo Trenton. They get second and third. Actually, Luca, if you remember, he got, I believe, was it second place at the Tour of Flanders in 2024? I think this is his first major results since that. Is that the same guy? And then it's the same guy. Isn't that crazy?

Yeah, because I was like, man, I recognize that name from somewhere. I think Spencer is becoming also, I mean, this was definitely, I mean, at least Sunday's Universal Curnet, this was not a race for sprinters. The racing was so hard in the hilly zone that, you know, all these pure sprinters were, as you said, Milan. De Lee, Girmai, Grunewig, and many others were dropped. No chance to come back. So the racing was hard, and the guys who came back were basically toast when they got back.

Also, not many teams with a lot of manpower left. I did think, and I don't really understand his way of racing, although we have to say he had a flat tire at a really bad moment. Jasper Philipson had to take a spare bike from a teammate and then had to switch again. But I've saw like in the last 15K or something. Yeah. I've seen a few actions of Philipson that I didn't really understand very well. He must have had great legs because he was strong on those some of those cobbled climb.

Yeah. I didn't get it. I don't understand why he did it. Is it to, you know, for his own confidence, could be, but, you know, that's not, that's not how you're going to win the bike race. Because once you're in, then, you know, if, first of all, by these actions, Philipson was, he was isolating himself. There was no teammates left.

And then if he gets into a selected group, most of the riders are not going to want to work with him anyway. So I was a bit puzzled by these actions. But listen, Brennan was super strong. Visma was incredibly strong. They were omnipresent everywhere. And it was clear that they were all in for Brennan. Pretty impressive, having in mind that he crashed the day before.

The day before. And he's 20 years old. And dealing with that pressure and having that confidence. That was really, really nice. Listen, it's another step into his, you know, escalate towards stardom, I think. You know, this guy, he won a lot of races already last year, but, you know, this is, I mean, Universal Curener,

that's a big race. And, you know, normally having Walt Von Art there as the leader and you are, you're kind of in the shadow without less responsibility, being able to step up and, you know, deliver, that's definitely like yeah that's okay I'm Matthew Brennan I'm here for real you know

so you know we've talked about Visma in some of the other podcasts you know them having trouble us being worried for them a pretty good weekend for them they look like they're all yeah they were they were all over the place

fort in enlop winning Kurenne and then you know we'll talk about the other races in France, where they also had a strong presence. So, yeah, I mean, the only thing, and, you know, another guy who I saw who was strong, Spencer, maybe didn't come, I mean, didn't get a result. Something must have happened in the final, but he was, he looked very strong. And I think, you know, I just want to make a note here in this podcast to keep an eye on him

for the real big classics is Dylan von Barler. Dylan von Barler looked back to his own. old self. It's a bit strange to see him in the colors of Soudal quick step, but he looked in very good shape, you know, did a few attacks and then finally didn't make it into the big group, so he must have had some issue. But I think it's very hopeful for him and for Soudal to see him on a good level. He was, he was flying, absolutely flying. And he could tell Vizmo was worried about it because they always had a rider with him. Is this guy, Timo, Timo Kellich.

He comes from Alpercene. Okay. Very good writer. And he was marking all these moves. So that you could imagine a scenario where Dylan rolls off the front in the hill zone and they never get back. So I actually thought that was going to happen at a certain point. But man, he looks unbelievable. I mean, same thing with Christop Laporte.

Both these guys kind of fell off the face of the earth the last few years. Yeah, they're back. And now they look back. It's great to see. It's huge revisma. I mean, Sudalos, we went through a few weeks ago, doesn't have any healthy riders.

So the fact that they have a writer at the front of these races is big. I also, Tim Wellens, I didn't see it, but Tim Welland's crashed and broke his collarbone. I heard it was very bad that he looked like he's in a lot of pain. So we're going to have to rule him out for the classics. That's a big deal for UAE because he was a key,

key, key rider for today. Pagachar in every type of one-day race. And then Stefan Kuhn on Tudor breaks his femur. They get second and third on the day, but they also lose Stefan Kuhn, which is not good. Second and third in Kurna is pretty impressive. You know, and Matteo Trentin, man. How old is Matthew Trenton now? He must be in his late 30s, no?

He's got to be in his late. He's got to be almost as old as many. He's been in all these races in front already. And again on the podium now in, in Kurn, that's, that's pretty impressive. He's 36. Okay, well, this mid mid 30s, not late 30s yet. I mean, but if you, I mean, maybe I should lay this out for next week. But, man, I don't, there's almost no riders over the age of 31 that win anything anymore.

Like, it's almost unheard of. So the fact that he's, he's almost like getting better. in his late 30s, which is super impressive. I saw a guy I mean, little side note. I saw a guy on the weekend who was in his early 40s, mid-40s, and

he can jump straight back into the Peloton and probably be in front Alejandro Valvin. I met him at the race of my son and man, he looks so fit. It's unbelievable. Crazy. He could better watch out. He might be racing.

strata on Saturday. He's not travel racing. Was that in, was that in Mercia? It was in Mercia, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I was on the highway and I saw like the sign to Mercia and he's the first person I thought of. It's like, God, that's Valverdi's hometown. I don't know if you notice. Luke Lampurdy, American, on EF, got, it's ninth at Kernah, 10th at Omloup.

Not only is that a big result for EF, that's a big result for this guy, 23 years old. Yeah, kind of struggled at Sudol Quick except to find a home, but. Those are good results. Listen, if you adopt 10 in those races, you have to be in great shape. There's no secrets. There's no hiding. Yeah. And to get tough, because a lot of people, you know, maybe do well in one.

You rarely see people do well in both on consecutive days. That's an elite, elite duo there. Any other notes? What did you think about Alpison, outside of Philipson and Vanderpul? I mean, listen, I mean, especially in Kurna, we have to see also what happened because there's a lot of things that happened, crashes, mechanicals that we didn't see, right? Especially in Kurnah, I expected them to be more present around Philip. Me too. Because at the end, Phillips, I think he was definitely paying for his efforts earlier on because he could never make it back into a good position in the last kilometer.

but there was also nobody left. There was one rider left, I think, with him, but he couldn't really bring him up there. But I think, I mean, even if Philipson would have been in a good position, I don't think there was anybody who could beat Matthew Brennan on Sunday. He would not have won against Brennan, I think. Yeah, which is just crazy to say, because Philipson was, you know,

he was considered the unstoppable guy at this race just a year ago. the separation Brennan put into them the tutor's strong though I mean that's this you know to say Spencer we you know we we said about Phillips

you know we haven't seen anything from him yet you know he didn't do great in Algarveh okay he didn't get the result in Kurenne but man he was one of the strongest guys in the race so you know he's

well and he wrote a teammate's bike for like yeah he's gonna be he's gonna be he's gonna be there in the classics like Milanson Remo and Paris Roube is Philipson is going to be up there. Yeah, I think that's fair, and I guess at the end of the day, Alpison, they lean on those two guys.

Yeah, I mean, they could, she wouldn't be shocked if he won game, Moble Gum. The thing I was most surprised by about Kernah is Jonathan Milan has finished on the podium at Get Mobile Gum, Beny and Brumais won it, and they look like anchors. They just, the race was, these are legitimate classic skies and they're just getting popped out the back like it's nothing. And then, yeah, for Philipson to be doing the damage tells us how strong Phillips. Yeah, I mean, if you look at Milan and Girmai and Paul Manier also, Paul Manier had a flat.

He had a flat and then could never make it back. But, you know, they were all suffering so much in the, I mean, the hilly zone and then, you know, the racing in the wind, it just took so much out of them. because it's not like these races you can ride super protected in a bunch. You know, a lot of these stretches are just single file where everybody's on the limit, whether you are. I mean, even if you're in the wheel,

you're not riding in a bunch, which is different to other races where you can actually take advantage of the aspiration and the vacuum of the peloton. Kerna seems to have a lot of paved climbs as well. Yeah. And the speed is just so high on those. It's not as advantageous to be a really big rider because you're just flying up these paved climbs. I thought that was maybe the best race of the weekend.

I really enjoyed Kernan-Brustle-Kurd. Yeah, yeah. I mean, obviously, the envelope was great, but we all knew from the start that if nothing happened to Wanderpulles, within the win. It was still nice, but I mean, luckily, he decided to not go too early for the fans. But, yeah, Kuna was super, super, super good to watch. we didn't know until the end who was going to win and a lot of changes in situations also. You know what?

It's been like, I've seen like three or four situations. I said, okay, this guy's, this group is gone. This group is gone. And it always came back. So that was very entertaining. What do you think, what's Matthew Brennan's ceiling this spring? Is this the biggest race he wins or does he win another big race? He can win a tree or he can win.

I mean, he could even win Ganboeval game, I think. I'm not going to say Flanders or Rubei, that's different. Although, do not let this guy go in a breakaway. In body, Rubet, you know, that's... Do you remember last year he was, I feel like he never left the top 10 for the first half of Rubei? Yeah. It was a guy who's a teenager, his first ever Rubei. I mean, he almost reads older, the way he rides and the way he conducts himself, I at least thought he was older than he is.

He has this winner's instinct. It's like he doesn't have to learn anything. He knows how to win. Yeah, I'd be curious to see who's the youngest ever winner of this race. I don't know. It could be him. Young here, youngest oldest. Oh, it's not going to show me.

But what he's doing at 20, it's almost incomprehensibly good. I'm curious to see what he can do the rest of the spring. I'm even more curious to see what he can do the rest of his career. But speaking of young riders, teenagers, Johan, there was two races and another another before we start about the french races another teenager who made a big impression in uh in kurenna was uh actor alvarez 19 years old oh yes if i'm not mistaken he's still on the development team of little track just so he got brought in uh because kudn is not a world two race though that's allowed and he was up there all the time i saw him bridge across a few

times and then also was escaped for a while 19 years old so remember that name hector alvarice when he gets 29th on sunday at kerna only little truck rider in the top 50 you had not not not a great not a great weekend for them and our tim van dyke and mick vandike are they twins joan yeah twins crazy identical do we know fraternal uh yeah yeah yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, they look the same. Yeah. And they were previously on Visma. Is that right?

It's, I mean, Vizma is clearly doing good. They've got some good options, but those were big pickups for Red Bull and retrospect to get two identical twins that are classics machines. So good job, Red Bull. But yeah, going to France. So we had two one-day races. This is kind of the Ardennes analog to the Flemish classic. opening in Flanders

and then in France it's these it's like a Hillary Hillier profile one day races phone Ardash and then the phone Jerome I believe is the one on Sunday the one on Saturday in my opinion is the bigger headline though

because Paul Seishas did it and Paul Sechaseau's won and Paul Seishas didn't just win he destroyed everybody line lined him out on the climb and did you remember this is the climb from your champion championship

championships. Yeah. Saint-Roman de lorps, lorps. 7K long at about 7.5% it took Paul 16 minutes, which is really fast, exactly the same time as Tate Pagacar at European Championships. And he just got to the front. He said, hey, guys, try to hold my wheel.

And he was just popping, like, Egan Bernal pop so hard. Mateo Jorgensen had to come by. Young Christian was holding on. And then it was just Mateo Jorgensen. This is a double Perrinisse winner, defending champion of Perry Nees. and he just pops him. He's sipping out of his water bottle,

dropping him. I don't know if I've ever seen anything like this from a teenager, but then we've got problems, right? 41K to the finish is not, and he is a strong group. It's Beto Jorgensen, young Christian, Lenny Martinez, who we used to think was the talented, up-and-coming French writer.

They're all chasing them. They're going to catch him right now. He's extending the lead. He continues to extend it until he sets up in the final K, wins by almost two minutes with it is i did not have the top three in front of me it i believe young christian second martina's third yorgensen fourth ergenson fourth poor poor mateau he did get second the next day though so we got a podium yeah but 148 in front of that group yeah it would have been two minutes if he didn't sit up i mean it was impressive spencer i mean to first of all the way and and

also the confidence the team had in him you know so they went to the front they started to accelerate, lined it up. Then Seychas took over. Don't think he really attacked. You know, he just accelerated from the saddle and then bit by bit, they all blew. And, I mean, the fact that Jorgensen popped like that, it was, I mean, yeah, but if you say the time is the same time as as Bogacha did in the European championships. And so early in the season, this is serious, serious, serious stuff due to,

to think about. Is he going to be the guy who is, who will be able to follow Bogacha in the future? I mean, this is serious performance. Yeah. This is no joke anymore. That's the real deal.

But this is true. I agree with you. It's like we got to take this over to members only. This is so provocative. We almost shouldn't say it publicly, but I don't know if I've ever seen anything like this. So it's 35 seconds faster than the last time he did this climb, which wasn't that long ago. That was in September.

So he's improved since then. You said, is this the guy that can follow pagachar? If we're just going by science, I mean, I guess technically he did. We got to say, though, he's not going to follow him yet. But he's, I think, I think right now it's probably the guy who's, I mean, if he's, if he's improving still and he's going to improve. And let's assume that Bogacha is not going to improve a lot anymore, maybe a little bit. The gap could get smaller, you know. The thing is now for Paul Sechast, poor Paul Vos Chas, the pressure on him in France is tremendous.

It's like, okay, this is the new guy, this is the new savior, this is the new guy we're going to win the tour. Those are big shoes to fill. Yeah. He should move to L.A. and join Georgia's team or something. Like he's got to get away from this pressure cooker. I am a little worried about him. I mean, I did a little power calculation. And this is unbelievable.

And this is conservatively. This is with some draft, 460 watts for that climb for 16 minutes. So if we say 64 kilos, that's 7.2 watts per kilo. I read that somewhere too. I think you cover that. Very, very accurate. And as you say, that's not quite, if you think of the best Pagai, chart 20 minute powers.

The climb to come blue, remember at the Dolphine this last year? He was like way better than that. With time trial to Oda, not Odecom, Perigood. He was a little better than that.

But this is up there. It's getting close to Begatja. He's only 19. I think you said last week, Bernardino said you should only go to the tour if you think you can win it. I think we're getting to a point where I don't think he can beat Tadi Pagacha this year,

but if we're talking about like what you said earlier in the show you just got to be stay close to him hope something happens to him i think you'd be getting into that tier johan this year i think he could be one of the three best there's still different different you know steps to be made you know we need to see how he performs during three weeks right that's all he's never he's never very very you know this is another another level um there's no reason he won't be able to do it in the future i have no doubt about that. I think the I mean, the indications are

that Deccatlon is going to take him to the tour this year. I would have disagreed last week. I think, though, that's probably the right decision. You should not make decisions, you know, in the heat of the enthusiasm. But, hey, you know what? Why not? I mean, if he go.

But what would you be waiting for? I'd like him to be faster. Do another grand tour. the Giro or the Vuelta. But, listen, I mean, he has at the level, I mean, there's, there are no five other riders at this level in the Peloton.

So there's no reason to say, hey, you know what? We still need to wait and let him develop and save himself a little bit. He's at the highest level already. So why not? And you see it, I mean, you'd say 19. Is he mature enough?

Is he ready? not every 19 year old would be but you know like even in the in the NBA one of the best young players maybe the best young player is 19 years old it's very young to be in a professional top level league and he's doing

well but like Quinn Simmons super interesting interview talked about he was the best junior writer that he had ever met Quinn Simmons was I love that confidence so it's like I was the best writer I'd ever seen and even he struggled when he turned to pro so it's

not for everybody, but Paul Seychas, at least physically, I would say, seems like he could handle it. But yeah, now that you mentioned, even Pagot chart, his first grand tour was not a tour. It was the Vuelta. And he did quite well, and then he wins the tour when he goes. So that would be the case maybe for doing a different grand tour. But I don't, yeah, I don't know. Does that get in his head, though? If you have a writer like Paul Sehoss and you don't send him to the tour, does then he feel like you don't have confidence?

I think if he doesn't go, it's going to be a mutual decision. You know, he's also going to be part of that decision for sure. I think he's going to go, man. I mean, it's like what can stop them? You know, decathlon, Felix Gall was their top rider. He's doing the Giro and the Vuelta, I think. Good rider, top five candidates, maybe podium. So if they want to go to the tour with the GC guy, they have to take Pulseachas.

What about Matthew Ricotelo? He's not going. You think he's not going to the tour? I don't think so. He's going to, I think he's going to do the Gero. Interesting. Yeah, I guess I could see that. And then Lenny Martinez, a good reason not to go to the tour of France.

Lenny Martinez, good weekend finishes third boat days, shows the French. have like the french are back six total podiums available they get four of those podium spots um lenny martinez went to the tour last year this guy's very good like war leaders jersey at the welta he's 22 years old he's finished not below the top five of any race he's done this year and he showed up to the tour and you could just watching him i could tell how much harder the tour was than any other race he'd ever done yeah like he just looked i think he started sick you know because I remember in stage one or two, he was dropped by himself in front of the broomwagon,

coming back. Yeah, that was the first stage. So, you know, I mean, a guy like, obviously he was sick. If you start like that, it's super difficult to come back from that,

man, because they rise, they race everything so fast that even if you feel better physically, you're already worn out. So it takes, I mean, he had a few good stages. He finished top 10 in that time.

But overall, it was definitely not his race. I struggle to see Lenny Martinez do well in the Tour de France overall. I think he's not, I mean, he's getting back. I mean, he's still young. But, you know, his time trailing is okay, not great. But then I think he suffers a lot in the transition stages. Yeah. And, you know, he needs a whole team.

around him, but still, you need to pedal yourself also, right? And this guy's a pure climber. He's a pure climber. He has this talent to be there, suffer, and then has this last kick. He's very race savvy. Knows how to win. But I see him more for stage wins than for the overall, to be honest. Well, it's funny.

It kind of goes back to the, I feel like we were talking with your son about this, that he's like a big Lenny Martinez believer. And we both think maybe for the tour not a great GC writer, but it goes back to the power you talked about. Like the raw power on transition stages is what matters. If you're 52 kilos, you don't have to put out that much power on a climb to do well, but it hurts you.

That's why Nairo canton is a magician. You know, this guy is at a huge disadvantage on these crosswind stages, and he got to a point in his career where he could navigate them quite well. But it's very hard to do, especially, I mean, I'm looking at Martinez. He's kind of an interesting rider. He gets second at Romandy. He does pay a price in that time trial.

But the thing about one week stage races is there's not as many transition stages. I agree with you that a French transition stage for the tour to France seems like that's not his friend. But I could see him doing well. You could see him doing very well at his year to tell you in the future, I think. You could probably win one. I don't know if he has a grant tour in his legs. he seems like the top he's I feel like though

I would have said the same thing about Simon Yates or something at the same part of his career like I don't think he can win a grand tour and then he wants to him right but the Yates Yates brothers were track riders which does help you a lot like that's a skill that transitions

to those grand tours any thoughts on Mateo Jorgensen how's our Dens project how is he in good shape he uh you know he was beaten and dropped fair and square by Seychas, but he is in good shape. You know, he finished fourth on Saturday and second on Sunday.

Those two races are very hard and he must be in good shape. So I think he's, yeah, he's on the right path to be in good shape for his objectives later on in spring. Do you know who's a really good young rider that I feel like doesn't, he gets talked about, but never in the context of being a really good young writer is young Christian. Yeah. 21 years old. Like, he's had an amazing year so far.

Wins the Alulu Tour. Wins youth classification at Ruta del Sol. And then he was, he got dropped, obviously, but he was looking very strong on Seishas' wheel on Saturday. That's someone to keep an eye on. That's a little.

Yeah. That's a budding talent at UAE, I think, yeah. And as you said, with Mateo, it seems like it's off to a good start to get second and fourth. When you don't have a great finishing kick and you're going to the linemen with people both days, pretty good results. Yeah. Yeah. And then Romagreiguar, you know, on Sunday, again, you know, big talent, still young rider with a great punch, but also was able to stay with Mateo Jorgensen on that climb.

And then it basically smoked him in the last 100 meters. that guy's a winner you know on group a group army fdg um i don't know if he i think he did he win there already or not uh yeah he did actually well he won the day before last year yeah yeah so i i was having the same deja vu i'm like man i remember winning this race he's a very good writer 23 years old. The French are back, Johan. They have good riders. They have good riders. But now the hype around Seychas will be

incredible. To me, it almost helps these guys like Riguar and Martinez because they would normally have all the hype on them and they're not, I love both of them. They're not the rider that's going to live up to what

the French need them to be. But now they can operate in the space where they probably deserve. I think it's great for them that they have this new guy coming along that's eating up all the eye. Yeah, for sure. Now, Seychas is the real deal, man. It's he started the season with a bang, you know, like he was great in Algarve and now with that demonstration. You know, it's not against the real big engines, but these guys are all like, you know, these are young Christian Martinez, Jorgensen.

Bernal was up there also, I think. you know it was it was against really really really dangerous rivals and he rode away I mean didn't just win the race he rode away two minutes from them he was yeah that to me that's the most impressive after doing that effort on the climb yeah and he probably I don't know if he did it on purpose but he didn't attack which it was just visually odd to see it almost looked like he was going slow but he's riding away from everybody it was steep but then he conserves you know he probably doesn't really go that much above threshold even at 460 watts so then he can just continue to push like the fact that he's not

attacking I thought it was just in the last two weeks I thought he's just looked so intelligent like way and beyond his years um which is what you want to see you don't want to see someone that just smash smash smash all the time like I feel like Vanderpil started as just Vanderpul C, Vanderpul smash, and he's gotten smarter as his career has gone along, but Seychas, looks, the race awareness is unbelievable. What do you think right here, right now, what does Paul Seashos have to accomplish to be considered, like, fulfilling his potential as a prospect? I think right now, probably win a one-week state race.

like Catalonia, Parinise, Dofine, Switzerland. He can do that. I think that should be his next. Bass country. That should be his next realistic objective. That's definitely doable.

Okay. What about podium at the tour of France? Listen, I mean, it's possible. I'm a bit, I'm a bit, you know, worried still about the three-week effort. Three weeks. Who are rider?

Yeah. Who have we seen in the recent past that's looked amazing as a stage racing prospect than has not panned out in three-week races? I'm just trying to think of examples where this, it's like, man, this guy's bulletproof at one week's and at one-week races and then they don't put it together in grand tours. So, for example. Why don't you so for sure? I mean, yet even, I know you're going to grant tour, but.

but Valverde was a little. Oh, Valverde was something else. I mean, he won the Vuelta and he podium in the Giro and the tour. Yeah. Well, yeah, I guess if Iuso wins. Yeah, Iuso was third in the Vuelta already in his maiden year as a pro. But, you know, since then he has. He's not shown us that consistency.

Yeah. And you're right. He looks really good at one week. races, like really good, the world's best, perhaps. Yeah, so that that would be the question. Can he hold it together for three weeks? I'm excited to see him try, though. Anything else, Johan, before we take it? I think we've covered everything, Spencer. That's about it.