Podcasts about Strade Bianche

Zwischen Emotionen, Überraschungen und 5000 km Abenteuer endet die Etappe schließlich mit dem Ruf der Fähre nach Albanien.

Stefan, Laurens en Jim gaan verder. De laatste ochtendpodcast, de laatste voorbeschouwing. Het wordt een ander vooruitblik op de 21e etappe dan gebruikelijk - de winnaar is minder voorspelbaar en ook voor de renners zelf wordt het ook aftasten - deze is niet meer voor de 'bühne'. In hoeverre zit het publiek te wachten op een experiment? Lau is duidelijk, hij zou als renner lobbyen in het peloton: we doen rustig tot de Champs Elysees. En het gaat onweren. Maar veel gedonder en gebliksem zal er niet zijn tussen UAE en Visma - de vrede tussen Jonas en Tadej is getekend.Niet alleen het koersverloop is spannend - ook de Skoda Koersprofeet is onvoorspelbaar. Het staat gelijk tussen de heren, en dus gaat de etappe van vandaag uitmaken wie uiteindelijk die Skoda moet gaan wassen.En hoe zit het nou met de nieuwe Mark Rutte van het peloton?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Jim gaan verder. Schrijf. Wout. Nooit. Af. Wat een pracht koers - maar over of het experiment van de ASO geslaagd is, zijn de meningen aan tafel verdeeld. Gaan we volgend jaar in Parijs gewoon weer sprinten? De heren doorlopen de 21e etappe én reflecteren op de Tour van 2025. Tadej in het geel en wit met rode bolletjes, Milan in het groen, Lipowitz in ‘t wit. Welk cijfer geven de mannen deze Tour? Welke renners zijn eruit gesprongen? De Tour de France en daarmee Villa Tour est fini. Live Slow Ride Fast gaat er in de maand augustus tussenuit - à bientôt!En hoe zit het nou met Tadej en Circus Soleil?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast

Stefan, Laurens en Jim gaan verder. Ze blikken vooruit op de allerlaatste rit voordat het peloton de Champs-Élysées op draait. Maar eerst nog die etappe van vandaag - eentje om je vingers bij af te likken. Het belooft een prachtige rit te worden, met een parcours dat continu op en af gaat. Het lijkt neer te zijn gelegd met één doel: de Tour organisatie wil vluchters de kans geven. Het gaat bal zijn - niet alleen door de voorspelde regen, maar ook door het feit dat een groot deel van het peloton hoopt of denkt vandaag voor de winst te kunnen gaan. Het advies van de heren aan tafel: ga vroeg voor de pit zitten, en zorg dat je die eerste klim ziet. Parijs is niet ver meer!En hoe zit het nou met die hallucinerende drank?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Jim gaan verder. De renners kunnen Parijs al ruiken. Maar voordat de Tour karavaan zich een laatste keer verplaatst, werd er nog een regenkoers gereden - het werd de dag van de glijpartijen. De heren bespreken het koersverloop, de frustraties in het peloton, impopulaire beslissingen, gunnen en gelddoping, onaangekondigde bochten, O'Connor huilend op de fiets. Groves wint - Volta Limburg never lies. Én Pascalito wordt ingebeld. De Tour maakt zich op voor de laatste etappe!En hoe zit het nou met Jim die een Roglic pullde vandaag?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Jim gaan verder. Er hangt spanning in de lucht - de heren hoog in de emoties. De rit van etappe 19 is ingekort, Lau z'n dagplanning in de soep. Maar belangrijker: er staat hierdoor vrijwel zeker een streep onder de groene trui. En stiekem weet iedereen dat dat ook geldt voor de gele. De witte trui ligt daarentegen nog volledig open. Gaat Roglic zich opofferen voor Lipowitz? Zou Tadej Jonas iets gunnen vandaag, zoals de overwinning? Misschien wordt het wel een dag voor de knechten. We gaan het allemaal beleven.En hoe zit het nou met kansen voor de kopgroep?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Jim gaan verder. ‘t Trio had een top dag - ze stelden de Ultieme Live Slow Ride Fast Koers Kijk Kit samen en gingen op pad. Dit is de langste podcast van deze Villa Tour, want er is genoeg te bespreken. In het kort: de truien zijn verdeeld en ‘onze' Thymen wint. Hij leek bevrijd rond te rijden zonder druk, en kleurt daarmee La Plagne oranje. Ten slotte beantwoordt Jim de vraag hoe het zit met het record op de La Plagne - is die eraan gegaan vandaag?En hoe zit het nou met die bijzondere strategie van Redbull-BORA?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Jim gaan verder. De mannen hadden er zin in - ze zaten netjes voor de pit om 12.00 uur. Ze bleken alleen de enige op de afspraak te zijn. Conclusie na 5 uur koers: Visma heeft het plan perfect gespeeld, Pogačar is gewoon te goed. Ze bespreken alle hoogte- en dieptepunten: het bollentrui sleutelmoment op de Glandon, grote speler Onley, de ontbrekende teamspririt tussen Roglič en Lipowitz, de overwinning van O'Connor. En, uiteraard, worden de klimtijden vergeleken door De Professor.En hoe zit het nou met die inflatable giant?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Jim gaan verder. Een langere voorbeschouwing dan normaal, want er staat een van de mooiste etappes van deze Tour op ons te wachten. De kleine klimmetjes worden ingeruild voor de grote cols. Col du Glandon, Col de la Madeleine, Col de la Loze. Lekker. Gaan ze vandaag all-in met Visma | Lease a Bike, of gaan ze volgen en proberen de rit te winnen? Het zal vooral een test worden voor Pogacar, die het doorgaans lastig krijgt boven de 2000 meter. Gaan we barstjes zien in zijn pantser? Eén ding is zeker - vandaag wil je vroeg voor de pit liggen. C'est parti!En hoe zit het nou met dat tijdslimiet, hoé spannend wordt dat voor een deel van het peloton?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Jim gaan verder. De lelijkste etappe van deze Tour kan worden afgevinkt. Kan het trio een podcast van een uur vullen? Spoiler alert: dat lukt. Sterker nog, vooral de fietsrit van de dag houdt de gemoederen bezig, de emoties lopen hoog op. De hoogte- en dieptepunten van Jim worden aangehaald, het gaat hard tegen onzacht aan tafel, pure woede en harmonie wisselen elkaar af. Dan de switch naar écht belangrijke zaken: Danny van Poppel is vader geworden. De groene trui, de bollentrui, Arnaud de Lie wel of niet in positie, de crash van Bini, de chasse patate van Wout. En de overwinning van Milan, uiteraard. Op naar morgen - op naar de laatste loodzware Alpen etappes van deze Tour. En hoe zit het nou met die klufjes en broebels?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Jim gaan verder, vanuit hun riante villa in Megève. Er wordt opgestart met de naweeën van etappe 16 - over lof voor Visma | Lease a Bike, zuurstof boven op de Ventoux, de morele winnaar van gisteren. De etappe van vandaag: is er een kans dat er niét gesprint wordt? Als je naar de Tour tot nu toe kijkt, is alles mogelijk. Maar: ‘als de logica gerespecteerd wordt, gaan we gewoon sprinten,' aldus Jim. Het spannendste is dan misschien wel de tussensprint. Windkracht 0, een keurige finish, relatief uitgeruste renners. ‘Dit was de dag geweest dat Philipsen had kunnen winnen.' De heren zetten hun geld op Girmay en Merlier. Allez on y va!En hoe zit het nou met die ploegleider die gisteren compleet uit z'n dak ging?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en… Jim gaan verder! Vanuit Megève - de laatste halte van Villa Tour 2025. De heren blikken terug, een analyse van de Tour tot nu toe. Wat vindt De Professor ervan? Kan Jonas de Tour nog winnen? Hoe zit het met het conflict tussen UAE en Visma | Lease a Bike? Hoe gaat Tadej vandaag - etappe 16 - de Mont Ventoux op rijden? Gaat het record eraan, ondanks de wind tegen op de top? Opa vertelt nog ‘t een en ander over zijn herinneringen op de Mont Ventoux, Chateauneuf-de-Pape wordt aangehaald, en de mannen denken dat de kopgroep minimaal 5 minuten op Pogacar moet hebben om überhaupt kans te maken op een overwinning.En hoe zit het nou met Laurens in Gucci, Prada?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Jim gaan verder. Dé etappe met finish op de Mont Ventoux - dat kan niet anders dan vuurwerk opleveren. En vuurwerk was er. Paret-Peintre als verrassende winnaar, de eerste Fransman die een etappe wint deze Tour. Geen moment wordt overgeslagen - elke pedaalslag uitvoerig geanalyseerd. De kopgroep, iets met disrespect en gele kaarten, Arensman die aan de boom schudt, de vraagtekens bij Alaphilippe zijn optreden, Thymen die de benen niet had, de strijd tussen Tadej en Jonas, Healy, Mas… En uiteraard het antwoord op de vraag van de dag: is het Mont Ventoux record verbroken?En hoe zit het nou met die neuspleisters?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Lars gaan verder. De derde week komt langzaam dichterbij, en dat wordt ook in Villa Tour gevoeld. Gelukkig is het de laatste voor de rustdag. Eén nabrander, en die gaat uiteraard over Remco - er knapte iets en het was klaar. De 15e etappe voert de renners door de beruchte bakoven van Frankrijk - ze kunnen wind en hitte verwachten. Daar waar de eerste week zorgde voor slopende etappes door de stress, komen nu de ritten aan die worden gekenmerkt door vermoeidheid, en dat gaat hopelijk voor spektakel zorgen. Iedere renner snakt naar die rustdag. Het meest voor de hand liggende scenario, de favorieten, de groene trui - niets wordt overgeslagen in deze voorbeschouwing.En hoe zit het nou met Lars die niet wil fietsen?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Lars gaan verder. Nog één keer met z'n drieën. Lars zwaait morgen af - de Villa Tour karavaan trekt verder. Richting het noordoosten, de Alpen in. Daar wacht Jim, aka De Professor.Na een dagje Thymen Arensman te hebben gespeeld en het eerste deel van de koers te hebben gemist, starten de heren met de nabranders van de nabranders. Want het afstappen van Remco E. houdt de wielerwereld bezig. Etappe 15 werd een feestje voor onze zuiderburen - Tim Wellens pakte de overwinning, op z'n Wellens. En JuJu ook, dacht hij althans. Verder was er nog iets met een valpartij waarbij UAE wilde wachten, maar daar dacht Visma | Lease a Bike anders over. Matje sluipt dichter bij het groen. Achter de kopgroep rommelt het ook - verschoven pionnen in het klassement. Tijd voor bezinning, tijd voor een welverdiende rustdag.En hoe zit het nou met die vergelijkingen tussen TD en LB?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Lars gaan verder. De dag wordt gestart met een hommage aan de etappe uit 1986, die Greg LeMond won, met exact dezelfde route als vandaag. Een nieuw podcastconcept is ontstaan. Ook de nodige nabranders gaan over tafel, waarbij het last-minute aangepaste tijdslimiet de boventoon voert. Het wordt een beuker van een dag, met een boel mogelijke scenario's. Eén ding is zeker - de heren gaan vroeg voor de buis zitten. Een knal vanaf de start, een mogelijke vlucht van de dag, strijd aan twee fronten, de nieuwe plannen van Visma | Lease a Bike en UAE. En over de droom van een groot aantal renners in het peloton om ooit de Tour te winnen.En hoe zit het nou met die nabranders van Premio Clandestino?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Lars gaan verder. Deze keer staat er een klein beetje druk op de podcast - want de dag ervoor kwam Laurens te laat in de NOS Avondetappe, waardoor hij vanavond opnieuw is uitgenodigd. En een ezel… Afijn. Etappe 14. Geluksmomentje tijdens Villa Tour: de heren konden het peloton zo'n 300 meter van de villa langs zien komen. Het werd een beuker van een rit - de koninginnenrit van de Pyreneeën kunnen we wel stellen. De dag waarop Lenny Martinez de held van Frankrijk werd - al dan niet in de afdaling - en Thymen Arensman maakt het af. Een Nederlands feestje! Verder werd er geknutseld met Alaphillipe, zette Remco een streep door zijn Tour, waren er billenknijpmomenten toen Jonas en Pogacar in beeld kwamen, reed INEOS een supporter aan en was er iets met Kuss en snus. Een podcast met minder tijd, maar meer verhalen. Gaat dat beluisteren!En hoe zit het nou met Kuss met snuss?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Lars gaan verder. Etappe 13, de klimtijdrit: ze tikken ‘m aan, pakken ‘m mee, maar houden ‘t kort. Want de echte strijd speelde zich elders af: Premio Clandestino, op de Peyragudes. Het gevecht voor een Bastard werd behoorlijk serieus genomen, want Wout van Aert, Mick van Dijke, Pascal Eenkhoorn en Tiesj Benoot gaven álles voor die BBQ. Sterker nog, Pascal reed zijn beste halveminuutwaarde van het seizoen. Airtime werd gepakt, NOS interviews werden gekaapt. In deze podcast bellen de heren in met Pascal, Tiesj en Mick - Wout stuurde een spraakmemo zoals alleen Wout dat kan. De hele uitslag hoor je in de podcast! En uiteraard is de vraag van de dag beantwoord, de fietskeuze van de renners wordt geanalyseerd.En hoe zit het nou met die Pacman van de dag?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Lars gaan verder. Na een eventful nachtje in Cazeaux-Debat, maken de heren zich niet alleen klaar voor de eerste klimtijdrit sinds 5 jaar, maar ook voor het ‘monster' dat ze hebben gecreëerd. Premio Clandestino is teruggekeerd - er wordt door de renners vandaag gestreden voor een The Bastard BBQ, op de Peyragudes om precies te zijn.Dan de vraag van de dag: wie rijdt er op welke fiets? Daarbij is het trio vooral benieuwd naar de fiets van Remco, want die zegt ‘het nog niet te weten, maar wel iets speciaals te hebben.' Ook het tijdslimiet staat scherp - zijn er renners die na vandaag de koffers kunnen pakken? En wat betreft de verwachte winnaar - het is niet de vraag wié er wint, maar met hoeveel seconden voorsprong. C'est parti!En hoe zit het nou met die klimmen waarvan de namen door iedereen anders worden uitgesproken?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Lars gaan verder. De eerste ‘echte' bergetappe van deze Tour. En wat voor een. Vandaag was het bal vanaf kilometer vijftig. Geen stilstand, geen genade. De koers als een uit de hand gelopen ruzie in de kroeg. Het nieuwe nieuwe nieuwe wielrennen is niet meer van het wachten, rekenen, schuiven. Het is vol geven. Alles. Altijd. Met Tadej als grote winnaar uit de strijd. Je zou haast zeggen dat de winnaar van de Tour de France 2025 al bekend is. Maar dat gaan we niet doen. Er zit nog zoveel meer moois in het vat. Al was dit een etappe die je de rest van de week op herhaling, keer op keer, kan blijven afspelen - topsport op het allerhoogste niveau. Vive le Tour!En hoe zit het nou met die ene ploeg die niet mee zat vandaag?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Lars gaan verder! ​​De Tour is inmiddels halverwege, maar vandaag begint het échte werk. Etappe 12 voert de renners naar de iconische Hautacam en dat betekent één ding: spektakel, vuurwerk en misschien wel krakende klassementsmannen. De juiste renners zullen boven komen drijven.De heren blikken terug op de naweeën van etappe 11, denken dat Mathieu nu wel klaar zal zijn, en vragen zich af: hoe komt Pogi uit de val? Aan tafel worden namen genoemd: Alaphilippe, Arensman, Tadej? De heren maken zich op voor dag 13 van deze Villa Tour!En hoe zit het nou met die Live Slow Ride Fast logo's op de weg?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, en… Lars Boom gaan verder! Een nieuwe stem in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast. Met de voormalig wereldkampioen veldrijden, Touretappe winnaar en ploegleider van FDJ-SUEZ aan tafel heeft het duo er komende week iemand bij die ze op scherp kan zetten. De heertjes zijn neergestreken in de Pyreneeën voor week 2 van Villa Tour. (Weer) dicht bij de koers. Laurens sluit later aan wegens familieomstandigheden. Vandaag staat er een korte etappe op de planning, je zou het bijna een verlenging van de rustdag kunnen noemen. Het is een etappe voor renners als Mathieu en Wout (een droomscenario!) maar we moeten ook rekening houden met iemand als Milan. Lars zet zijn geld op Merlier - crossers onder elkaar - en Stefan gokt op MVDP.En hoe zit het nou met die Defqon en Powerhouse Spotify playlists van Lars?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Lars gaan verder. Het trio is compleet. Het voelt een beetje alsof Villa Tour nu pas écht begonnen is - ze reden Col de l'Aspin op, keken koers, dronken een Aperol Spritz en zagen dat het goed was. De elfde etappe: Toulouse-Toulouse, een korte rit, maar geen gebrek aan spektakel. Chaos alom na de rustdag, want alle renners zijn fris en hongerig. De heren doorlopen alle gebeurtenissen en splitscreen momenten van de dag, inclusief de overwinning van Abrahamsen, de valpartij van Pogi en Mathieu die nét te laat kwam. Ook bijzonder: het wachtmoment van Visma | Lease a Bike, als teken van respect. Zou dat een cruciaal moment kunnen worden later in de Tour? En hoe zit het nou met die NK jersey van Danny van Poppel?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. De heren blikken terug op een prachtige Quatorze Juillet. De dag begon met voorpret over loaded pepperoni pizza tijdens de finale - bewijs dat je met weinig ook heel gelukkig kunt zijn. Etappe 10 was een rit vol vuurwerk, alleen al over het eerste uur kunnen ze een complete podcast opnemen. Een steekspel tussen Arensman en Yates, kilometerslang op drie seconden van elkaar. En het aanhoudende schaakspel tussen Visma | Lease a Bike en UAE: wie heeft de touwtjes écht in handen? We bespreken de morele winnaar van de dag, trekken wat voorzichtige conclusies over de krachtsverhoudingen én kijken vooruit. Morgen is de rustdag, daarna trekken de renners de Pyreneeën in - en één ding is zeker: vanaf woensdag krijgen we een heel andere Tour. Allez, on y va!En hoe zit het nou met die speed pedelec community?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. De Tour dendert door en na wat nabranders over etappe 9 - want er werd wielerhistorie geschreven met de één na snelste Tour etappe ooit - wordt er snel vooruitgeblikt naar etappe 10. De aankomst in Clermont-Ferrand brengt herinneringen boven, maar het sentiment maakt snel plaats voor realisme: etappe 10 wordt andere koek. Of zoals Thomas zou zeggen: vandaag kun je jezelf goed voor de gek houden. De renners krijgen geen moment rust, klim na klim - voor een groot deel van het peloton wordt het lossen en aanklampen. Wie hier in z'n eentje komt te zitten is de sjaak. De tijdslimiet gaat spoken, want met 7 klimmen van de tweede categorie is dit zo'n dag waarop de bezemwagen ineens heel dichtbij kan komen. Wat gaat UAE doen? Wat gaat Visma | Lease a Bike doen? Pogacar is op een finish als deze moeilijk te kloppen, dus als iemand iets wil proberen, dan is dit de dag. Wordt het iemand uit de vlucht? Of toch een Galactico die er met de winst vandoor gaat?En hoe zit het nou met die tijdslimiet, hoe wordt die bepaald?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

With six mountain bike world championships, a Leadville win, six World Cups, and six Cape Epic victories under her belt, Annika Langvad is one of the most decorated off road cyclists of all time. But shortly after yet another career triumph in 2019 when she pivoted to road racing and placed second at the Strade Bianche, she decided it was time to retire from racing. She began working as a dentist, but after the birth of her daughter 10 months ago, she realised that she was ready to jump back into competitive cycling, this time to gravel. Payson sat down with Annika a few days before she competed in her first Unbound to talk about why she decided to quit racing, why her daughter's birth made her want to come back, and why she chose gravel. She also talks about the challenges of undergoing IVF treatment, saying that it was more difficult than anything she's ever endured on the bike. Check out the Osprey Escapist™ Velocity 3 hydration pack and early access to Crossings: New Zealand.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveen Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. Etappe 9 werd een dag waarop alle wielerharten sneller klopten. We kregen hoop, tegen beter weten in. Schakelde je de tv pas het laatste uur in, was je te laat. Geflikt, sorry. Het zou een rit voor de sprintersploegen worden, maar MVDP en Rickaert maakten er een koppeltijdrit van. Tegen het peloton, tegen het script. Gaan ze het halen, gaan ze het niet halen? Eindstand: massasprint. Merlier wint. De verwachte winnaar op een onverwacht chaotische, zinderende dag. Groenewegen had geen zin meer in de camera, de spanning tussen Visma | Lease a Bike en UAE… Weer een dag voor in de boeken. Wielrennen, de mooiste sport ter wereld.En hoe zit het nou met dat tweetje van Wout en reversed psychology?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. Maar eerst koffie. Etappe 9 - geen kootjes, wel een tussensprint. Weinig échts spannends, maar over de gastronomie in de regio is Laurens wel te spreken, want: pannenkoeken. Dan door naar de meteorologie, want het wordt warm. Zouttabletten to the rescue. De wind schuin van achter op sommige plekken op het parcours gaat zorgen voor stress her en der, omdat klassementsrenners ook vooraan willen zitten. Ga dus maar klaar zitten voor de laatste 50 kilometer, het gaat weer een enerverende middag op de bank worden. Meest logische uitkomst? Sprint. En als het meezit: een koninklijke. En met een finale die naar beneden afloopt kunnen ons zomaar nog meer verrassingen te wachten staan.En hoe zit het nou met Niki en schijten met onderbroek op schoot?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. Etappe acht zit erop! De bloemen zijn voor Johnny - het applaus voor de Wout! Verder waren er vandaag nogal wat indommelmomentje voor Laurens en Stefan op de bank, maar daar had Thomas gaan tijd voor. Druk, druk, druk, maar waarmee eigenlijk? In anders nieuws: Stefan is echt geen fan van Chardonnay, en misschien handig als Laurens en Thomas de volgende Tour een keer een startlijst erbij pakken. En hoe zit het nou met de selectie van TotalEnergies?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast!

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. Het besef komt - hoé goed heeft Mathieu die eerste week wel niet gereden? Maar zijn we ‘m vanaf vandaag kwijt? Gaat ‘ie vanaf nu sprints aantrekken?Dan etappe 8. Het parcours is glooiend, wat beschut, weinig spectaculair - in wezen rol je zo binnen. Alles wijst op een sprint. Net als de nieuwste versie van het parcours van Nokere. Veel renners denken te kunnen winnen - maar de Skoda Koersprofeet gaat toch echt naar Merlier en Milan.En hoe zit het nou met dat onderbuikgevoel van Thomas?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. Etappe 7 staat voor de deur en de sfeer is broeierig. Laurens duikt in flashbacks van eerdere ritten over de Mur de Bretagne: opa vertelt. Ondertussen borrelen in het peloton de frustraties tussen UAE en Visma | Lease a Bike. Visma lijkt onder de huid van Pogacar te zijn gekropen. Moet UAE het vandaag laten lopen om mannen te sparen voor wat nog komt? En gaat Visma weer stront willen maken? En wat betreft Mathieu in het groen - de meningen daarover verschillen. Een Tour vol kleine verrassingen en grote verhalen.En hoe zit het nou met Villa Tour in Zweden?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast. 

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. Etappe zeven, c'est fini. Op de flanken van de Mûr-de-Bretagne pakt Pogacar alweer zijn tweede ritzege van deze Tour. Jonas volgt knap, maar moet zijn hoofd buigen. Wellens laat z'n benen spreken, Yates schudt aan de boom, en Remco rijdt met zijn hart. En daar nam de emotie heel even een loopje met de ratio. Pas très malin, maar wel met panache. Ondertussen glipt Wout van Aert er stilletjes doorheen en vallen er verrassend wat renners. Oh ja, de heren bellen in met Klak Affer Steff Cras, en er stond witte wijn op tafel. Prioriteiten.En hoe zit het nou met Wout die heeft geluisterd naar de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast!

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. Hoe zou Jonas wakker geworden zijn? En Mathieu? Zou hij wakker geworden zijn en denken, ik kan vandaag winnen? De voorbeschouwing op dag 6 - volgens Dekker gaat het koersverloop vrij eenvoudig zijn. Dit is hét terrein voor Tadej. Het wordt plan UAE tegen plan Visma | Lease a Bike, met een kleine kans op een kopgroep die het redt tot de finish. Zowel Laurens, Stefan als Thomas voorspellen ze Pogacar als winnaar van deze rit, de etappe die het karakter heeft van een monumentale heuvelklassieker. En als Jonas Tadej ziet finishen, mag hij tevreden zijn.En hoe zit het nou met ‘onze' Steff Cras, die het enorm goed doet in het algemeen klassement?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast. 

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. Healy wint! En dat had in de voorbeschouwing van vanmorgen niemand verwacht. Maar de heren waren blij dat ze ernaast zaten. Wat ook niemand aan de podcasttafel in ‘t Bajeskwartier had verwacht, was dat Matje het geel zou herroveren. Én dat Pogacar vandaag drie truien op één dag zou verliezen. Wat waren de strategieën van de ploegen in deze zesde etappe van de Tour? Verder passeren allerlei belangrijke onderwerpen de revue: Simmons' knotje, de streken van Storer, en een analyse van de winnaar van vandaag, artistiekeling Healy.En hoe zit het nou met die bak lasagne op Thomas z'n borst?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast!

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. Na de eerste bewogen dagen breekt vandaag de traditionele tijdrit aan. Recht toe, recht aan. Geen poespas. Gas op die lolly. Van Caen naar Caen - dit is er eentje voor de échte klassieke tijdrijders. Hoe groot is de kans dat Mathieu het geel behoudt? Wie is de favoriet voor de dagwinst? En belangrijkere zaken - lang leve wielerdisciplines uit de oude doos - moet er ooit een Bajes Koppeltijdrit georganiseerd worden? Een kwartier lang inhoud en wielergeneuzel om de dag mee te starten. Allez on y va!En hoe zit het nou met die nabrander over Le Lenny?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast. 

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. Deze eerste etappe waarbij de renners mochten strijden tegen de klok - en de beste tijdrijder ter wereld won. Er wordt direct een blik nostalgie opengetrokken over de tijd dat volgens de twee ex-profs aan tafel de tijdrit nog een hoogtepunt was in de Tour, daar waar het nu als een ‘moetje' voelt. ‘Vroegah', toen er nog tijdritten van 65 kilometer waren. De 6e etappe van de Tour wordt uitgebreid geanalyseerd - de ploeg van Visma | Lease a Bike die tegenvalt, het belang van verkennen, de wind, het verhaal van Jonas, technische noviteiten, en uiteraard uitmuntende Evenepoel.En hoe zit het nou met KLAK AF! als verkapte Only Fans van Thomas?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast!

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. De eerste voorbeschouwing vanuit Amsterdam. Ze starten met de usual nabranders over de etappe de dag ervoor, inclusief updates van de ziekenboeg en gele kaarten. De finale van etappe 4 belooft er een voor de klassiekerspecialisten te worden. Maar hoeveel renners denken kans te maken op de winst? En welke scenario's zijn er? Waar wordt het verschil gemaakt? En wie voorspellen de heren als grootste kanshebber? De Skoda Koersprofeet is in ieder geval duidelijk - Pogacar en MVDP zijn de favorieten aan de Live Slow Ride Fast podcasttafel. Allez on y va!En hoe zat het nou met Jim die misschien wel een auto moet gaan wassen in de derde week?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Thomas gaan verder. Nadat de heren in de ochtend zelf een rondje hadden getrapt - la belle est vie - zorgden ze dat ze tijdig terug waren om alweer de vierde etappe van de Tour te kijken. Resultaat: een middag vol schreeuwmomenten vanaf de bank. Ze verwachtten vuurwerk vandaag, en het was er. De etappe van Amiens naar Rouen begon als een wedstrijdje armdrukken, maar werd een nucleaire strijd tussen de grootmachten en hun leiders. UAE nam het initiatief, en het plan van UAE om Mathieu zijn ‘benen af te snijden' leek succesvol te zijn. Tadej behaalt z'n honderdste overwinning, Van der Poel blijft in het geel. Wat gaat de etappe van woensdag ons brengen? De heren kunnen niet wachten!En hoe zit het nou met die hypo van Lau?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan en Laurens gaan verder. Het Grand Départ weekend in Lille zit erop - de heren zijn weer neergestreken in Amsterdam. Voor 8 dagen precies - want volgende week reist de Villa Tour karavaan achter de renners aan, richting de Pyreneeën. Vanaf vandaag is Oomen ingeruild voor kersverse vader Dekker. Ondanks zijn korte nachtjes is hij weer scherp zoals je van ‘m verwacht. Een kort hazenslaapje op de bank in de Bajes was nodig - maar niet funest. Want het was een dodelijk saaie rit, met maar weinig sleutelmomenten. Uiteraard op een aantal flinke valpartijen na. Een rit zo 'mak an' - hoe ontstaat dat? Jasper Philpsen out, wat zijn de gevolgen voor de ploeg van Roodhooft? En de verantwoordelijkheid voor veiligheid - ligt die bij de renners of het parcours en dus de organisatie?En hoe zit het nou met Tricky Trine - hoe is de reactie van Jonas the day after?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Sam gaan verder. De tijd vliegt - het is alweer de laatste podcast met Ons Sam. De voorbeschouwing op etappe 3 van de Tour - wat zijn de verwachtingen? Als er gekeken wordt naar de wind en het parcours, zouden deze voorspellingen ‘t minst stressvolle scenario moeten opleveren, aldus Sam. Stevenen we af op een koninklijke sprint? Hoe gaat de lead out in de laatste meters eruitzien met al die s-bochten? Er worden vraagtekens gezet bij de aankomst. Kortom, veel vragen, en vandaag krijgen de drie mannen antwoorden.En hoe zat het met die bolletjes van Lau?Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

Stefan, Laurens en Sam gaan verder. Nog met slaap in de ogen, want het wekkertje stond als vanouds weer vroeg om te gaan voorbeschouwen. Villa Tour a commencé! De heren trappen af met wat ditjes en datjes, maar komen al snel ter zake. Lille-Lille. Over Le Vent, de invloed van Veloviewer op de koers vandaag de dag, stress en spanning van ‘het blokje' vooraan, de verwachte volgorde van de sprinttreintjes, en uiteraard de voorspelling van de dag met Skoda Koersprofeet. Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

In this episode, Coach Patrick pulls back the curtain on one of Endurance Nation's most epic annual events — our SOLD OUT Tuscany cycling camp. Daily gravel rides through jaw-dropping Italian countryside   Farm-to-table (more like farm-to-face) meals that fuel the soul   5 days of riding — from casual spins to conquering the brutal 120-mile Strada Bianchi   Sun-soaked climbs, epic descents, and quiet olive groves   Lifelong friendships made one ride (and espresso) at a time More than just a camp, it's a fitness accelerator disguised as a vacation. Coach Patrick shares the philosophy behind why these “big scary events” are essential for motivation, growth, and fun. Whether you're looking to shake up your race calendar or just dreaming of an Italian cycling adventure, this episode will have you ready to book your own spot.    Spoiler Alert: This camp is already sold out... but stick around for insider info on how YOU can be part of future Endurance Nation experiences.

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP You can also watch this episode over on my YouTube channel here!   Guys, the Giro is rolling along, and what a race it's shaping up to be. Ahead of the final week of racing, it's still all to play for. We've got the mega-talented young Isaac Del Toro holding onto the Maglia Rosa, bookies' favourite Primoz Roglič dropping out of contention, and a handful of riders poised to go all out to try and unseat UAE's dominance before the finish in Rome. Tom Southam's been called up to bat for EF Education Easypost, so he's cruising around Italy in the team car, and he's already netted a pair of stage wins with Richard Carapaz and Kasper Asgreen! With Southam away, we've had a bit of a roster change for this month's Race Communique; we're joined by my old mate and fellow ex-professional, Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe sports director, the Flying Mullet himself - that's right, it's Shane Archbold. Shane'o joins me and Luke Durbridge - fresh off the back of the Tour of Hungary - to dissect the racing so far at the Giro and speculate what we might see in this last week of racing.  The Giro is known for being a pretty chaotic race, and the 2025 edition is no different. So far, we've seen some amazing stages, and the GC storyline has been incredible, too. From guys like Luke Plapp - the Plappinator - finally getting his hands in the air in Europe, Wout van Aert completing a monster comeback on the Strade Bianche gravel stage in dominant fashion, and unsung hero Daan Hoole taking some massive scalps in the stage 10 time trial. UAE are gripping the pink jersey pretty tightly, but guys like Simon Yates, Richard Carapaz, and our old mate Derek Gee are creeping up behind him, not to mention his own teammate Juan Ayuso waiting in the wings. Sadly for Shane, his Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe team are having some pretty rotten luck. First, they lost Jai Hindley - a former Giro winner - in the first week to a crash on the wet, slippery roads of Naples. Then, Dani Martinez, last year's runner-up, slipped out of the GC and hasn't looked like his former self so far. Of course, they went into the race with the defending champion Primoz Roglič, whose GC bid looks to be over after a brutal day of racing over the Monte Grappa. It's not all doom and gloom for Bora, though; young Italian super domestique Giulio Pellizzari has shown a hell of a lot of promise so far, and no doubt has a bright career ahead of him. In this week's PeloChat, Durbo shines the spotlight on XDS Astana and their ongoing hunt for UCI points to avoid being relegated at the end of the season. A change in tactics from the Kazakh team means they're no longer racing for the win, which sounds absolutely crazy for a pro cycling team. Instead, they're trying to stack the top 10 with riders to scrape together as many UCI points as they can. They've managed to claw themselves back up the team rankings and away from the relegation zone, putting other teams at risk and giving us fans a whole other narrative to follow this season. Finally, we have a Giro-themed CommuniQuiz. I'm Quiz Master this week, and I'll be testing Shane and Durbo's knowledge on all things Giro d'Italia. Which former ‘Junior World Champion' used to sell cleaning products, didn't turn pro until 26, and then went and won the Giro?! You'll have to listen to find out!  Enjoy this month's Communique, everybody. We'll be back at the same time next month, just a week or so out from the start of the biggest bike race of the year: the Sibiu Cycling Tour over in Romania…only kidding; of course it's the Tour de France!    Cheers, Mitch   The Race Communiqué is brought to you by TrainingPeaks! Track, plan, and train smarter—just like the pros. Get 20% off TrainingPeaks Premium now at http://www.trainingpeaks.com/litp  

The Giro d'Italia's mini Strade Bianche had everything: A winner everybody can hear for, a precocious young talent, GC crashes, dust galore.In this episode of Spin Cycle, Caley, Jonny, and Kit break down a spectacular weekend of racing, look back at some of our favorite Grand Tours stages of the modern era, downsize Big Jim to Medium Sized Jim, and wonder how UAE will handle yet another leadership question. 

Live from Stockley Park, Matt Stephens steps out of the TNT Eurosport Discovery TV studio and delivers his opinions on the Giro d'Italia as it happens. In this episode, Matt reacts to a thrilling week of racing when the Giro landed on Italian soil, as he focuses on stages 4 - 9. There was a little bit of everything to reflect on; flat stages with frantic finishes, impressive climbing from grand tour debutants, and the pink jersey changing hands four times in the past week. Not to mention a thrilling win for Wout van Aert in Siena, on a stage sharing the same gravel sectors and the same finish as Strade Bianche. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rose Manley and Rebecca Charlton dissect the final Classic of the 2025 Spring season, Liège-Bastogne-Liège.  With the first two Ardennes Classics - Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne - going to unexpected winners, all of the big contenders were looking for the victory in Liège. Puck Pieterse arrived looking to get her second win of the week, whilst Demi Vollering was hunting her first victory since Strade Bianche in March. Plus Anna van der Breggen returns from illness, looking to become the most decorated winner of the race having been victorious twice before. But with the stage racing season upon us, every rider will be vying for their last chance for a precious Spring Classics win. Sponsored by Laka The Cycling Podcast's coverage of the spring Classics is supported by Laka. Laka offers specialist bike insurance that goes further than you think. It's powered by a collective of cyclists who all have each others' backs. They won't charge a fixed sum, instead, they calculate your monthly contributions – up to a maximum capped amount – based on the collective's claims. There's no excess so you won't be penalised when it comes to making a claim. Laka is back as a proud sponsor of The Cycling Podcast. Listeners can get their first 30 days free by signing up with the code TCP30 at laka.co/tcp  Follow us on social media: Twitter @cycling_podcast Instagram @thecyclingpodcast Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to new special episodes every month plus a back catalogue of more than 300 exclusive episodes. The Cannibal & Badger Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our new virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger. A friendly forum to talk about cycling and the podcast. Log in to your Friends of the Podcast account to join in. The 11.01 Cappuccino Our regular email newsletter is now on Substack. Subscribe here for frothy, full-fat updates to enjoy any time (as long as it's after 11am). The Cycling Podcast is on Strava The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Join host Craig Dalton and Trek Travel's Rich Snodsmith as they take you on an exhilarating journey through the heart of gravel cycling in Italy. In this episode of The Gravel Ride podcast, they share their recent experience at the Strade Bianche Gran Fondo trip organized by Trek Travel. With over three decades of friendship, these two avid cyclists reminisce about their chance meeting at the Lugano Cycling World Championships in 1996 and their shared passion for the sport. Throughout the episode, Rich and Craig discuss their incredible adventures, from vintage bikes at L'Eroica and witnessing the Strade Bianche professional bike race, to participating in the challenging 140-kilometer Gran Fondo alongside 7,000 other riders. They also share their encounters with pro cyclists and the camaraderie of the Trek Travel group. If you're looking for an immersive and unforgettable gravel cycling experience, this episode will inspire you to find dirt under your wheels and explore the breathtaking landscapes of Italy. Topics discussed: Introducing the Strade Bianche Gran Fondo trip with Trek Travel  Riding an international Gran Fondo  Experiencing the energy and spectacle of professional bike races  Meeting pro cyclists and gaining insights into the sport  Challenges and rewards of gravel riding in Italy  Stunning scenery, castles, and brick towns on the route  The supportive and well-organized nature of Trek Travel trips  Exciting plans for future cycling adventures Full Transcript: Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:00:03 to 00:00:33 Hello and welcome to the Gravelride podcast, where we go deep on the sport of gravel cycling through in depth interviews with product designers, event organizers and athletes who are pioneering the sport. I'm your host, Craig Dalton, a lifelong cyclist who discovered gravel cycling back in 2016 and made all the mistakes you don't need to make. I approach each episode as a beginner to unlock all the knowledge you need to become a great gravel cyclist. This week on the show, we welcome Rich Snodsmith from Trek Travel. Rich is one of my oldest cycling friends. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:00:33 to 00:01:00 We met over 30 years ago, actually, in Italy. As you'll hear from our story, Rich and I were recently in Siena in Italy for the Strada Bianchi Gran Fondo trip. With track travel, we were able to watch both the professional bike race as well as participate in a 140 kilometer mass start. Gran Fondo across the white roads, the white gravel roads of Siena. Fantastic trip. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:01:00 to 00:01:10 I can't wait for you to hear more of the details. With that said, let's jump right into the show. Hey, Rich, welcome to the show. Hey, Craig, good to see you. Thanks for having me on. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:01:10 to 00:01:36 Yeah, absolutely. You and I just shared a magical experience on the roads and trails of Italy, which is the purpose of you joining this call. But you, you and I have a rich history, no pun intended, of cycling experiences in Italy. That's right. We met randomly in 1996 at the Lugano Cycling World Championships and have stayed friends ever since. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:01:36 to 00:01:51 Yeah, fortunately I. I eventually moved to San Francisco a few years later. So we were able to ride together, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we were able to ride together for. Gosh, it's hard to believe it's three decades at this point, which is crazy to think about. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:01:51 to 00:02:14 My end of our Lugano story was I was working in Italy and my colleague, who we both know, Jeff Sanchez, said to me, going to go to the World Championships and oh, by the way, we have to go pick up Rich. He's going to be at the Duomo in Milan on the way. Pre cell phones, be there at 5:00. Don't be late. Yeah, exactly. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:02:14 to 00:02:34 So super fun to finally go back to Italy together. Obviously, we've been riding on the roads and trails of Marin county for a long time, but to finally have the stars align on this trip was fantastic. Yeah, it was great to get out there and do that again. We also saw another World Championships together in Richmond, Virginia. That's right, yeah. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:02:34 to 00:02:40 The thing for the World Championships, you've. Seen a few and we've got a future one. I Think in our plans, right? Oh, yeah. Montreal 2026. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:02:40 to 00:02:55 Let's go. There we go. See you there. So this, you put the idea of this trip in my mind probably December of last year. And the trip, to be specific, because I don't think we've mentioned it, although I probably mentioned it in the intro. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:02:55 to 00:03:09 Is the Strada Bianchi professional bike race trip with Trek Travel. Was it me that put it in your mind? I was asking you where you were going to go. I thought you. I thought you convinced me, but I was down as soon as you suggested it. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:03:11 to 00:03:52 It's interesting. Obviously, we're on a gravel cycling podcast and this is sort of a. A hybrid trip almost because we're road riding, but we're riding on the Strada Bianca, the white roads of Tuscany outside Siena. And for those listeners who are fans of both professional road racing and gravel cycling, I think Strada Bianchi is the race that gets us most excited because we see the coverage, we see the professional road riders riding on gravel, and the visuals are just awesome. And they're kind of like what we experience as gravel racers and riders routinely. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:03:52 to 00:04:19 But so cool to see all the pro bike teams go through and participate in the event. So I was super stoked, obviously. I'd been on a Trek Travel gravel tour in Girona a couple years prior, so I'd had that experience with Trek, but this is the first kind of pro bike race enabled tour that I'd ever been on. Yeah, I mean, it's really interesting to blend those things together. I mean, you being more of a gravel rider, me being more of a road rider. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:04:20 to 00:04:59 But the last few trips I've taken with Trek Travel have been gravel trips. You know, getting out there and trying new things, trying the Vermont trip, trying the Dolomites last year, this was just a really cool experience to put like my fandom of the road cycling and racing world along with this, like, almost instant classic. The race has only been around for 20 years and it's like, become a real fan favorite. Yeah, I was, I was looking up some of the history of the race and I didn't realize that it started out with Laroica, which is a. An event that many people have heard about where you ride vintage bikes on this course. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:04:59 to 00:05:18 And the professional bike race emerged. So the loraca started in 1997. In 2007 is when the professional bike race emerged. So it's interesting. And obviously being in that region and riding in that region, we saw signs of Loraka all over the place, right? Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:05:18 to 00:05:38 Yeah, we Even ate at the Laroica Cafe. That was incredible. Yeah, exactly. And I came home with a Loracha sweatshirt as well. And then the, the, the cool thing, and we probably failed to mention it at this point is there's the Gran Fondo the day after, after Strada Bianchi, which was awesome. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:05:38 to 00:05:59 So we actually get to go on a 140 kilometer rides. A ride on the similar roads as the professionals. Yeah, it's not the full men's road course, but it's pretty close to the women's road course and we cover all the last, you know, climbs, you know, that the. Both the men's and the women's race covered. That was really cool. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:05:59 to 00:06:21 Especially after seeing them finish the day before and then going out and riding those roads, seeing where Poga crashed and then, you know, doing that last 20k of climbs is just bananas, beautiful and hard. It was pretty rewarding that ride. I can't wait to get into that details a little bit more of the event later. I did. I'm. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:06:21 to 00:06:46 As I'm speaking, I misspoke because I have been to Europe once before around the Tour of Flanders and did the Tour of Flanders grandson do, which I noted. And in speaking to the Trek travel guides, you've got a series of awesome trips that month in Flanders of a similar vein. Right. You do have Perry Roubaix and. Or a Flanders trip. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:06:46 to 00:06:57 Yeah. You can choose the whole Holy Week, you could do both Flanders and Roubaix or you can break it into chunks and do one or the other. So it's. Yeah. If you're a pro race fan, that's a nice companion to Strat Bianca. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:06:57 to 00:07:10 The. The Flanders Roubaix ultimate weekend or ultimate week there. And then one of the highlights of the year, presumably for Trek travel is your Tour de France tours. For sure. We take over a couple hundred people there every year. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:07:11 to 00:07:19 We do usually do five or six trips through the Alps and the Pyrenees. It's. That's a pretty exciting one too, if you've never been to the Tour. For sure. Yeah. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:07:19 to 00:07:45 Well, let's talk through the trip a little bit that we participated in because I think it'll give people a flavor. I've talked about my, my experience with track in Girona and my general love of gravel travel. But more extensively, I love traveling by bike and having these experiences because it's just, it's just so much fun. So we start off the trip, it's a pretty quick trip relative to some others because in a five day timeline. Right. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:07:45 to 00:08:01 So we flew over. You'd Already been in Europe, but I flew over to Florence and met you the night before. And day one, we basically just get picked up by our guides and head on over to Siena, which is about an hour and a half away. Yep. And then the bikes. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:08:01 to 00:08:21 Yeah, straight onto the bikes. And the beauty of. The beauty of this trip and all the truck travel trips is they've got bikes already set up for you, so you send your measurements and if you want to ride your own saddles or pedals, you can, you're welcome to bring those, but they'll basically get it dialed. And that. That first day, I think we went for maybe an hour and a half shakeout ride just to see how the bike. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:08:21 to 00:08:31 30 miles. Yeah, yeah. And how many people were in our group. We had 19 with us and then three guides. Okay, so is that pretty typical on these pro bike? Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:08:31 to 00:08:46 Sort of. They tend to sell out. They're pretty popular. And guests will go back and forth between the Strada Bianca or. I think quite a few of the guests or folks that were on our trip had done the ultimate Holy Week trip before with Flanders and Roubaix and some had done the tour as well. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:08:46 to 00:09:03 Yeah. It was pretty fascinating talking to some of the men and women on our trip to learn just how many trips they had done with you guys. Yeah, it was neat to like show up and kind of already have the camaraderie of. A lot of the guests on that trip had been with Nick or Viba or Gio on previous trips. So they were. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:09:03 to 00:09:21 There was already sort of a built in fan base there. Yeah. And I suppose it's. I suppose it's the nature of this type of trip, but I felt like everybody in the crew was quite competent on the bike and there were some people who were faster than us, some people slower than us, but everybody was mostly faster. Yeah. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:09:21 to 00:09:25 There's an impressive riders on this trip. It was pretty, pretty great. Yeah. Yeah. And the. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:09:26 to 00:09:45 And the guides were equally impressive both, you know, across the week. Just getting to know them personally, seeing their fitness. A, but B. And more importantly, they're just understanding of all the sectors and the roads that we'd be riding and their, their love of Strada Bianchi. Yeah, the knowledge and passion for the race was definitely evident. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:09:45 to 00:09:57 It was pretty cool. Yeah. So we got a shakeout ride on the Monday or, sorry, on the first day of the trip. Yeah. And then the second day we went a bit longer and kind of got our first real look at some of the. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:09:57 to 00:10:19 The white roads. Yeah, we think it was a 50. It was a nice lead up to the Fondo because it was like a 30 mile day one, a 50 mile on day two, which was pretty challenging. It was, but not like back breaking. And then we went to the race to view the race viewing day, which was like a gentle 30 miles before the Fonda, which was kind of a nice way to structure the week. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:10:19 to 00:10:42 Yeah. When I think when I first looked at that mileage, I'm like, gosh, I'm going all the way to Italy. I just want to ride my ass off. But as, as it came down to it between like travel fatigue, it being earlier in the year, and the punchiness of those climbs we were experiencing on day two, like that was enough in sort of those first couple days. And I felt totally satisfied. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:10:42 to 00:10:56 Yeah, you can put in if you're doing the big options every day. You get 200 miles in, in four days, plus the race viewing. So it's, it's, I think it's a really well designed trip. It's, it is compact. But it's surprising how tired you can be after doing those four days. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:10:56 to 00:11:10 Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. The elevation is pretty. Every day has a nice chunk of elevation gain. Yeah. And I think for, for us, like we don't have a ton of rolling hills around where we live, they said they tend to be more sustained. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:11:10 to 00:11:28 So it definitely felt different to me. I was feeling a little underprepared that, that 50 mile day, thinking, Gosh, we've got to do 90 plus in the Gran Fondo. It's going to be a long day out there. I'm not gonna lie. I don't think I said it during the trip, but I was a little worried after the first two days. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:11:28 to 00:11:39 I was grateful for the race watching like cool down day before the Fondo. It all worked out. But yeah, yeah, yeah. So we should, I mean, we should talk through a little bit. We'll get into race day next. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:11:39 to 00:12:05 But you know, basically every day after the ride, you just leave your bike and the team cleans it, takes care of it, puts it away. You've got really nothing to do but show up and eat and enjoy yourself in Siena. Yeah, take a nap, whatever you need. We, we stayed at a great hotel, the Hotel Athena, just right outside, like in Siena, but just outside the wall. So it was easy to walk like 10 minutes into town. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:12:06 to 00:12:24 Really, really great location. I mean, one of the best things about the Fondo day was waking up to a completely clean, like just power wash, power dried, chain lubed. It was like a brand new bike getting Ready to ride out to the start. It was pretty great. Clean bike is a fast bike, so I appreciate that. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:12:24 to 00:12:40 And shammy time's training time. That's right. But yeah, those guys work their butts off to keep those bikes in great shape every morning when you show up. Yeah, no doubt about that one. Sort of topography. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:12:40 to 00:12:50 Topography note. Siena is up on a hill. Yeah. And you know, that was like warm down. There's no warm down and there's no sort of. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:12:50 to 00:13:08 In the, in the early mornings when we were rolling out, we're going downhill for 5, 10 minutes no matter what. So it was quite cool on the road out in the rollout in March, for sure. We lucked out. We, the guides every day were saying, it's not usually like this. Like it was. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:13:08 to 00:13:18 We had like mid-60s during the day, every day. And it was. Fortunately we saw almost zero rain, which was great. Would have been tough to ride those roads in the mud. A hundred percent. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:13:18 to 00:13:38 And I think it just would have taken away from how much fun we had out on the course on the third day, which is. So we, we did ride maybe 15, 20K out to, I think sector number two on the women's and men's road course. Got to see the women come through, which is a lot of fun. Right, right on one of the. Those gravel roads. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:13:38 to 00:13:49 Cheer them on. We had ridden that road the day before and then we went to a cafe. Totally overwhelmed. This local cafe with 23 people needing locusts. Yeah. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:13:49 to 00:14:07 Yeah. I think ebay went in there and basically said, I will buy your entire rack of baked goods. And he just walked him outside and he's like, get the cappuccino machine going and keep them going until we say stop. Yeah, that was great. It was a nice break between the women's and the men's race. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:14:07 to 00:14:26 It was incredible to see, like the riders go through, but then you just see the apparatus of like all the, the sort of security cars, then all the team cars. And at a certain point, both of our videos, all you can see is dust. When you're on the gravel, when everybody's raging by in the team cars, it's like, there they go. And here come. Here comes the caravan, the follow caravan. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:14:26 to 00:14:40 It's pretty cool when the safety motorcycles come by and sort of just casually brush people a little bit further to the side of the road. Get, get closer to the curb, will you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was interesting. I mean, we didn't. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:14:40 to 00:14:53 We couldn't see much of the run up of the women's race, but there was Seemingly a fracture. Even at the point in which we started watching, I think there might have been a crash before the women's race. Pretty broken up outside of the main pack. Yeah, yeah. So it was cool. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:14:53 to 00:15:21 Yeah, they were going slow enough that you could kind of really see your, your favorite athletes cruise by, which is a lot of fun. And to your point, it is always cool seeing all the support the professional athletes get in the team cars. Yeah, it was interesting to see the breakaway. You know, in the men's race you had like a two or three minute breakaway. To see them go by first and then their car, their follow cars and then seeing the, the whole peloton and like UAE on the front clearly just ready to rip it. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:15:21 to 00:15:43 It was pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we should mention that the, the night before with this trip, we had the opportunity, right, to meet the Lidl track team and we got to go on the, the, the tour bus, as I would call it, the, you know, the big bus that the riders hang out in before and after the race. No photos. Yeah, I was really excited to do some photos. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:15:43 to 00:15:53 Yeah. And they said no photos, no photos. And, and then we saw the, you know, the, the mechanics van with all the bikes. Mobile service course. That was incredible. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:15:53 to 00:16:01 Like. Yeah. How many bikes, wheels, chain, chain sets, tires. It's just like a. Incredible organization to get that all set up. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:16:01 to 00:16:09 Yeah. And then it was cool meeting. We got to meet the women's team and some of the men's team members. Do you remember who we got to talk to? We talked to the whole women's team. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:16:09 to 00:16:28 They all kind of came out. We sort of had dinner that night with them in the hotel. So we got to talk to mostly Ena Tutenberg, the director, Retta Hansen, great domestique. And then Lizzie Danan was pretty, they were pretty engaging, pretty, pretty fun to see them all chatting up and answering questions from our group. And we got to met. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:16:28 to 00:16:39 It was a little bit different with the men. They kind of came and went. But we got to meet the previous year's second place finisher Tom Scoins. That was really interesting to talk to him about his race. I think you talked a bit to Quinn Simmons. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:16:40 to 00:16:53 So we got to meet like a little bit of the whole team there, which was really cool. Yeah, it was cool. And probably not giving away any secrets. Say they, they had a buffet that was separate from our meal. They had scales to weigh their food. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:16:53 to 00:17:10 They were quite a bit more disciplined than our 19 person group. Yeah, that was, I was surprised to see that as well. I was with my back to them. So they're weighing their food, really, as I'm. As I'm shoveling my pescatarian options in. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:17:12 to 00:17:39 Um, so then we going back to race day, we see the men in the same location, then we ride ourselves back to Siena that day. Um, and I think we were able to go back to that. Well, I know we were able to go back to the hotel and then make it into the piazza for the time that the women were going to be finishing, which was awesome. We couldn't have timed it better. Yeah, it was great to get back to the hotel, drop off the bikes, grab a quick shower, and then head over there. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:17:39 to 00:18:06 To watch the last, like, 20k and see him come into the finish line was super, super exciting. It's just such a beautiful, scenic place to finish a bike race. We'll get into. I mentioned that it's up at the top of a hill, so we'll talk about what it's like finishing there, but just you've got this square that's not that big, a great, beautiful clock tower. And the imagery is just stunning. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:18:06 to 00:18:24 When they come around the final corner, there's people up in their apartments cheering them on from around the corner. And then you see a rider emerge or a sprint emerge to a slight downhill to the finish line. It's just an incredible scene. Yeah, it's pretty iconic. Like, if you think about, like, that finish line, compared to. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:18:24 to 00:18:44 You could compare it to, like, the finish in Roubaix on the velodrome or the finish on the Champs Elysees in France. It's a super, super different way to finish a bike race up that steep, the Santa Catarina steep climb into the compos. Just really unique. And we were able to get, I mean, super close to the. To the women's finish. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:18:44 to 00:18:51 Yeah, it was. That was sort of shocking how few people were there. It's sort of a bummer. We were there for the women's race. We're just going to say that now. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:18:51 to 00:19:16 So we were excited to be so close and to see the podium ceremony afterwards. But you got some great shots of Demi Vollering winning. And then we were standing right where they all finish, and they're all kind of, like, bottlenecked into this little corner and their whole team is surrounding them and people are congratulating them, and they all just look destroyed, and you're just like, wow, how can you get this close to such amazing athletes? But it was. It was really, really cool. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:19:16 to 00:19:36 Yeah, super cool. And then so we watched the celebration as they got their trophy and sprayed the champagne. We're almost close enough to get hit with champagne. I feel like that was cool. And then the track team had secured a lunch spot right on the piazza in one of the restaurants with the massive flat screen tv. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:19:36 to 00:20:02 So we were able to roll over there, joined lunch that was already in progress and watch the men's race on TV for a few hours. Yeah, that was like a really cool setup to see the women's finish go stuff our faces and, and keep track of the race while we did it and then be able to run right back outside to see the men finish in the same way. I mean it was pretty remarkable. I think we like getting kind of itchy with about 15, 20k to go. We're like, you ready? Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:20:02 to 00:20:35 Let's get out there, stake out our spot along the finish line. It was awesome. You know, being in North American, we don't always get to watch these events live as they're unfolding. So just sort of feel the energy and watch on the TV obviously that the Tom Pickock Pagachar breakaway was happening and we were all, I think all eyes were on the television at the point where they've got this great shot of Tade ripping around this corner and just hitting the deck. And I didn't think he was going to get up. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:20:35 to 00:20:47 I don't know about you. It looked, and the first time I saw it, it looked like he really wailed his head and he rolled far into the grass. Got catapulted into the grass. Yeah, yeah. I was absolutely shocked he was able to get up. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:20:47 to 00:21:22 And then it was nice to see Tom Pickock do the gentlemanly thing and you know, he, yeah, kind of shook his head after the crash but you know, clearly just soft pedaled until today came back to him. It was, it's incredible when you're either in the restaurant or like on the square with the Jumbotrons and something like that happens and you hear the whole crowd gasp, you know, like that, that like collective gasp of a few thousand people right next to you is like pretty like wow, that just happened. Exactly. A shocking mid race events for sure. Yeah, totally. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:21:22 to 00:21:50 And then once it was back on, like you said, I think with, with, you know, 15k today attacked maybe with 18k to go. And by 15 or 10k we were like, we gotta get out there and get on the streets and get right by the finish line again to see this. Yeah, it was incredible to see him come over the line first all battered and bloodied and he had, was so full of Adrenaline. He didn't say much until he got into the interviewing room. It's like right before he was going to go get his trophy that it kind of hurts now. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:21:50 to 00:22:15 It's like he had so much adrenaline to attack and finish the race, but as soon as the race is done, he's like, oh, I'm really scratched up. Yeah, he was totally tore up. And then the other interesting thing for me at the finish line was that, you know, not a lot of people actually finish the race, which is. I mean, as a professional, I get it. Like, you do your job, and then you and I will talk about how hard it is to get to the finish and. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:22:15 to 00:22:25 And why, if. If you weren't required to get there, maybe you don't get there. So I think maybe only, like, 20, 25 riders finished. Does that feel right to you? That sounds about right. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:22:25 to 00:22:39 Once. Once you're out of contention, there's not a whole lot of reason to struggle through. It was. It was incredible to stand there and watch the finishes that come through that just covered in dust, sometimes dust and blood and just looking shattered. Uh, and, yeah, was a little scary. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:22:39 to 00:22:53 Thinking about what we were going to do the next morning didn't help the nerves. No. Real quick shout out to Tade. I thought it was so classy. When he was being interviewed after the finish, they're like, hey, you're the first world champion to. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:22:53 to 00:23:00 To win Strada Bianche. And he's like, no, Lada Kapeki won last year. She was the champion. I love. I love that. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:23:00 to 00:23:08 It was so great. It's just, like, such a classy guy and sort of respect for the sport and his fellow athletes. Pretty cool. Yeah. 100%. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:23:09 to 00:23:26 Well giddy with our. Our race day experience, we then kind of went off to dinner and back to the hotel and needed to get our heads around what 140km on that course was going to look like for us in the gran fondo with 7,000 of our closest friends. Yeah. I'm not gonna lie. I was a little nervous about that start. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:23:26 to 00:23:33 Just not. Not about the. Well, okay. Maybe a little bit about the distance and the elevation, but just. Yeah. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:23:33 to 00:23:48 Do you want to talk about what that was like? Yeah. Like a starting bell go off and 7,000 people take off. I know you've done, like, SBT and Unbound, so it's probably not that different, but the scale was pretty large. Yeah. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:23:48 to 00:24:02 Yeah. I think, you know, the guides did a really good job of one, previewing us some of the terrain we were going to be on. Yeah. They gave us a lot of confidence that the Trek van was going to be there. So we, we had multiple drop bag locations. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:24:02 to 00:24:31 We knew they were going to be there for us, that we didn't have to go to the mass, you know, rest stop areas, which was a super luxury. So we're on the Trek Checkpoint SLR bikes with 45C gravel tires on them. So, you know, pretty robust bicycle for this kind of event. When you compare to what a lot of people were riding. I think the professionals were still on 28 or 30s and full slicks. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:24:31 to 00:24:46 So interesting from an equipment perspective. And that'll come up, I think, in our conversation. But we get up at 6am we go down to breakfast. You and I are roommates. We go down to breakfast at like 6:01 and every single table is occupied. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:24:46 to 00:25:02 We're sort of fighting for space. This is clearly everybody's fueling up. There's, you know, dozens and dozens and dozens of people in the hotel who are going to go on the same journey we are. I think our rollout time from the hotel was 7:00am does that sound right? That sounds right. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:25:02 to 00:25:12 Yeah. Yeah. So we, we had to go down a hill. This detail wasn't clear in my mind morning of. But we had to ride somewhere to start the event. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:25:12 to 00:25:29 And of course, being in Siena, we had to ride downhill. And then right back then we, and then we rode back up to another part of town. And there were multiple different staging areas based on a color on your number plate. So we kind of fumbled around. Maybe there was five or five different colors out there. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:25:29 to 00:25:41 I think we were in the, the green sector and there's. There had to have been 1500 people in our sector alone. Yeah, it was. I think it was based on distance you were doing and maybe the speed you were going to ride. I'm not sure. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:25:41 to 00:26:10 Yeah, yeah, there could be something like if you're demonstrably a fast person, you're going to go in a different color than us. But, you know, we've been, we be in particular had mentioned, like, it's crazy town to begin with in this event. And I think in addition to 7,000 people being around you, we started with a massive downhill. Yeah, there were a lot of people going really fast. It was good advice. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:26:10 to 00:26:30 He was saying, you know, kind of keep your space and kind of stay to the right because people are going to want to pass on the left. And they were certainly doing that. So, yeah, I think we stayed together or within close proximity just to, you know, for the first. Like you said, the first Hour or so to navigate some of that. But once we hit that first section of dirt, I saw the. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:26:30 to 00:26:46 I saw the robot eyes go on, and you were gone. You're like, dirt. My comfort zone. I wasn't so comfortable with all these people flying around me. I remember at one point you and I were sort of casually riding maybe like three feet apart. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:26:46 to 00:27:07 Yeah. And someone just splits the middle. And I was like, okay, I guess we gotta ride closer if we're gonna discourage these people from dive bombing. And they were dive bombing left, right, and center, no matter what we did. Yeah, there was a lot of passing on the right, passing in weird places, and a lot of people just sinistra passing on the left. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:27:07 to 00:27:13 I'm on your left. I'm going hard. It was like. And. And my problem is I never internalized which one was right or left. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:27:13 to 00:27:22 So I would just kind of keep it a straight line whenever possible. Hold still. Yeah. So, yeah, there's. I mean, I think blissfully in terms of the amount of mileage we needed to cover. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:27:22 to 00:27:57 It was nice that there was, I don't know, call it 20k of riding on pavement to break things up a little bit before we hit the first dirt section. First dirt section was 2.1km long. Still pretty packed in terms of people being around, but definitely, like, I felt more personally in my comfort zone at that point. I knew that from an equipment perspective, with the 45C tires, I had a lot more control than a lot of the. My Italian compatriots who were riding 25s and 28s on their full arrow road bikes. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:27:57 to 00:28:16 There were a lot of flat tires in that first couple hours. Yeah, yeah, no doubt there was. There was some parallels with the unbound experience where it's just crazy and flat tires are happening all the time. That was the nice thing about the checkpoint. Like, the tires are, you know, a little bit bigger, but no, no one on the ride got a flat. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:28:16 to 00:28:30 And that's just really comfortable. Like in a ride like that where it's. It can be pretty challenging, both from a elevation perspective, but also just a terrain perspective, just getting bounced around a bit. It was, if I felt pretty. Pretty good at the end, surprisingly. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:28:30 to 00:28:48 Yeah. I think for. I think for. For people who haven't done a ton of gravel riding, it was a confidence inspiring choice to set them up that way because you could go in as someone who's ridden on the road a ton and ride that gravel and not feel like the bike was all over the place. Yeah. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:28:48 to 00:29:06 Totally sketchy. I mean, it's Totally stable under you. Yeah, I witnessed some sketchy, sketchy stuff out there with people and not nothing to do with their bikes handling talents. It was just equipment choice. They like literally could not stay on their line because of their tires being. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:29:06 to 00:29:29 So much smaller and rim brakes on some of those things. The descents, I mean there's. We talk about the climbs but like even some of the descents were, you know, somewhat challenging to navigate, especially with a group. It really kind of opened up once you made the turn to the, the longer part of the event. The, the full fondo and then it kind of really opened up for us like where there was riders but not nearly. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:29:30 to 00:29:51 Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. And I think it's a good, it's a good point. On the descending it definitely was. You could definitely see the people who had either just confidence warranted or unwarranted or the right bike for the situation. Yeah, because I was, you know, there were definitely stutter bumps from all the riders out there. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:29:51 to 00:30:11 So you definitely got into situations where you were, you were getting a lot of feedback from the trail. Yeah, it's amazing to have ridden some of those roads in the first couple of days. I think they actually go through and they grade it before the race. Like they try to kind of smooth it out a little bit. But after, you know, two races go through with all the cars and all the riders, the conditions have changed in one day pretty significantly. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:30:11 to 00:30:23 It was pretty interesting. Yeah. Yeah. In total there's 10 different gravel sectors in this event over the 140km. I think there's 50km of gravel riding. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:30:23 to 00:30:43 So it was a nice mix of. Felt like more in a good way. Yeah, for me, for me I was just like, I was way more comfortable on the. Not way more comfortable, but I was having way more fun. Yeah, I think you alluded to like after the, after the two, first two gravel sections I would just hit one and be like, okay, it's on. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:30:43 to 00:31:07 And I was having, I was just having a blast. And yeah, some of these climbs, I mean they were 15, 18% grade, both up and down and a lot of. Them are in the last 20k. Yeah, that's for sure. I remember one, one sector I was just kind of talking to myself and having fun because most everybody speaks Italian and I didn't. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:31:07 to 00:31:35 So I remember at one point a writer just closed the door on the left hand side to another rider and I, I sort of jokingly said, but fairly loud, I guess that door is closed. And it turned out the guy was from the UK and He was just dying laughing because I think he was having the same experience with me. Like, nothing I said really landed with anybody. So it's hard to kind of. You just sort of make noise to make yourself aware and obviously ride as safely as possible. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:31:35 to 00:31:55 Yeah, it was, it was a super, like, challenging experience, but it was like. I don't know if you felt the same as super rewarding, especially like getting through that last 20k and hitting, you know, the Toll Fe climb, getting up the Santa Catarina, like, those are. Those are steep climbs. I don't talk about that experience that you had coming up. A couple of those. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:31:55 to 00:32:19 Yeah, for sure. I mean, those were later in the day. And we're talking 10 kilometer long sectors at this point, which was cool because the earlier ones were shorter, you know, as I mentioned, like 4k, 5k. So to get on the longer ones and then some of the. You were just looking at these beautiful gravel roads going through the Tuscan hillsides. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:32:19 to 00:32:34 Yeah, it was super cool. And we, we sort of hadn't mentioned in the previous days we'd seen castles and old brick towns and, like, we definitely had this. It was, it was a beautiful ride. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even when you're suffering, at least you got something to look at. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:32:35 to 00:32:45 That's pretty. Exactly. And I didn't know enough about the route. Like, I didn't agonize over it. Like, you know, I might have done unbound to try to figure out, like, how am I going to survive this thing? Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:32:45 to 00:33:06 It was kind of more by the seat of our pants. And that, that one long climb up. I think it's the Tofe pass where we met Gio in the van. Like, that was more than I had expected because it was like, just felt like a long gravel grind. And it was interesting just experiencing that and seeing the fans on the side of the road encouraging you. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:33:06 to 00:33:21 And then you, you kind of crest out on the ridge line back onto the pavement. Yeah. And the van's there and you're just. Like, oh, great, thank goodness, just where you're supposed to be. And you could look back watching everybody coming up the hill. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:33:21 to 00:33:33 And it was so funny. So you, you hadn't arrived yet. We had gotten separated for a bit, and an Irish rider comes up with two friends. And he. And he's like, hey, do you guys have any tape? Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:33:33 to 00:33:44 Oh, yeah, yeah. Maybe you were there. Gio's like, well, what do you need tape for? And he's like, my, my look pedal. The entire back end of the pedal has fallen off. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:33:44 to 00:33:54 So basically he's got Zero purchase. Yeah. And he's like, my friends are tired of pushing me up these hills. Do you have any tape? And Gio's like, don't be ridiculous. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:33:54 to 00:34:06 Like, tape's not gonna do anything. How about breaking away? Yeah. How about we give you a set of pedals, a set of cleats, you just return them. Back in Siena, we're all going to the same place. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:34:06 to 00:34:12 Yeah. Yeah. Such a nice gesture. The guy sat there, put his cleats on, then ended up finishing the race. That was cool. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:34:12 to 00:34:34 Or the ride. Yeah. That's super cool. Gio also mentioned that Quinn Simmons, the professional rider from Lidl Trek, he had flatted out of the race the day before. And it turns out he showed up at the Trek van because he was riding the Gran Fondo with his mom and dad, and he had yet another flat, and Geo gave him a tube to kick him down the road. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:34:35 to 00:34:51 Mobile bike shop. Yeah. Gotta love it. And that. Once we got on that ridgeline, it was awesome because we did have a substantial amount of road riding ahead of us for a while, which I'm sure I could speak for both of us was a bit of a relief to just be able to cruise. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:34:51 to 00:35:00 It was a lot of downhilling at that point. We got into some good groups, and we were just. Just kind of motoring and putting some kilometers under our belt. And you can start to see the city. So you. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:35:00 to 00:35:12 You got your sight line for your finish. Yeah, it's pretty cool. And then I think we were in good spirits. We rolled up with a couple of our. Our trip mates along the way, which was fun to kind of ride with those guys. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:35:12 to 00:35:17 Roll up. Patrick and Perry. Exactly. Good guys. Very strong. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:35:17 to 00:35:23 Yeah. Roll up to that van. And we're like. They're like, great. You know, great you guys are here. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:35:23 to 00:35:34 Let's get you situated. What do you need? Let's get you some more food, et cetera. And then it kind of dawned on, I think, both of us that we knew how much elevation we were needing to have done. I think It's. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:35:34 to 00:35:45 Was it 7,000ft over the course of the day? Yeah. And we hadn't yet hit 5.5,000ft of. Climbing, and there wasn't much longer to go. Yeah, I'm like, there's a. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:35:45 to 00:36:07 There's a big disconnect here. I got a big problem because it seems like we don't have a lot of mileage, and we've got a lot of vertical feet to cover. So that was a little bit of a heady moment, but it was nice to like, have sort of had a reset, get some food, get a little more warm clothes on if we needed it, and then head off on those last sectors. It's like, yeah. That's why I knew I could make it. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:36:07 to 00:36:15 I knew it was going to be hard, but I was like, okay, I'm just going to kind of strap in. Let's go. Yeah. Yeah, we had that. I think both of us misunderstood. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:36:16 to 00:36:41 We had asked about this steep climb we had ridden two days before and how far up it was, and I think they were thinking about the dirt sector, and we were talking about this vicious road, and it was right after the rest stop. Yeah, it's right after the rest stop. Like, oh, there it is. It's right here. And this was like the type of climb, even fresh, you sort of think about doing the paper boy weave back and forth on the course. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:36:41 to 00:36:50 When you. You can see it from a half mile away, you're like, oh, no. Is that where we're going? Yeah. And then a couple more tough gravel climbs after that point. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:36:50 to 00:36:55 Yeah. Then we got into. Really. Yeah, it was. It was. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:36:55 to 00:37:05 Yeah. And it's funny, I mean, that very much felt like, to me, like the. The end of a big gravel event. Where, you know, you're like almost single tracky. Like, when you get up to the ridge, there was kind of. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:37:05 to 00:37:24 Yeah. Switch back, little single track, kind of super cool. I got some good pictures of you and Perry coming up there, and. And then we kind of. We get into some small towns and starts feeling like we're getting close to Siena because we'd ridden back into Siena a few times, cruising, riding with Patrick and a few other guys. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:37:24 to 00:37:42 And then we hit the climb into Siena, and. Holy God. I mean, this thing is, I don't know, maybe 16, 17% at the end. You kind of climb up the pavement just to soften your legs up a little bit. You go through one of the gates of Siena, one of the. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:37:42 to 00:38:13 From the wall of Siena, and then you. These big cobbles, and you're riding up this chute that you just see probably a quarter mile up ahead of you, and there's fans on the side of the road, there's riders struggling to get up. And it's just this epic scene that you have seen now from watching the pro bike race. You'd seen the riders go up it. And I just remember feeling like just very part of the cycling community and cycling world in Siena at that moment. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:38:13 to 00:38:26 Yeah, it was fun. There are a lot of friends and family for tons of those riders out there. So they Were still cheering people on late in the day. So it kind of felt like you were like wrapping up your own personal strada bianchi race. A lot of people shouting at you to keep, keep pushing. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:38:26 to 00:38:41 It was really fun to kind of come into the city like that. I had a little bit of a break in my story because I kind of crusted that climb. And then we came to an intersection and there was riders going both ways. And I took a left and I'm. And then I. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:38:41 to 00:38:48 I'm riding and like, this doesn't feel right. And I. I asked some riders, I'm like, is this the way to the finish? And they're. They were. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:38:48 to 00:38:57 It was English as a second language. They're like, no, this is the pasta party. I didn't hear, Jesus. Oh, Jesus. I went the wrong way. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:38:57 to 00:39:17 So I turned around and then rolled around the corner. And then you roll into the piazza. You got this, you know, the big clock tower. You go across the same finish line as the pros that we watched before. Just super cool conclusion to an amazing day out there. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:39:18 to 00:39:25 And you get your metal, your finisher metal. Got my meter. Yeah, exactly. The 10 years of the Gran Fondo. Yeah, that was pretty. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:39:25 to 00:39:33 That was a pretty nicely designed metal. I didn't realize it was the 10th anniversary. That was pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I think everybody. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:39:33 to 00:39:47 Everybody on the team finished. Yeah, on our crew, we had some doing the. The medium length one, some doing the long one, which we did. I think everybody, at minimum has some great stories to tell their friends when they went home. Yeah, it was. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:39:47 to 00:40:08 It was a big day, but it was definitely worth it. I think everybody. I think no one really said anything the night before, but I think a few people were a little bit nervous about it, but everybody was, like, super just stoked to arrive in the compo after the ride and just be like, that was amazing. Especially after watching the race the day before. Yeah, a hundred percent. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:40:08 to 00:40:19 Yeah. In hindsight, like, it was. It was a week that was packed with. Packed with things to do. There was a nice progression of the mileage. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:40:19 to 00:40:34 We didn't overcook my grits prior to the event, so I gave myself the best chance of having a good day out there. Yeah, it was hard and intimidating, which I loved. Right. But totally doable and. And certainly well supported along the way. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:40:34 to 00:40:49 Whether it was from the. The Gran Fondo organizers or Trek's additional support level. Like, it just felt like a great accomplishment and felt it couldn't be more satisfied with my trip to Italy. Yeah, I'm Glad to hear it. It was great to have you there. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:40:49 to 00:41:06 It was 30 years in the making, so, yeah, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun without you there, so. Exactly. Well, it was fun reminiscing a bit, as I'm sure we'll continue to do over the years. It's such a monumental trip we had. And thanks for coming on. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:41:06 to 00:41:42 Thanks for everything you guys do at Trek Travel, for sure. I think you're the third Trek travel person we've had over here. I've appreciated, as I've advocated to the audience, like, Trek's put a lot of energy into gravel tourism and gravel travel, and it's a great way to go see some of these communities you've read about. And particularly in the. For me, the European trips, just to experience the culture and have the guides with local knowledge has always been this, like, additional bit of je ne sais quoi about what that European experience is like. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:41:42 to 00:41:52 Yeah, there's a lot of great gravel over there. Yeah. Check us out, travel.com a good pitch. Lots of good trips in the States and in Europe, so. Yeah, exactly. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:41:52 to 00:42:03 And if you're interested in Strada Bianca, it is a trip that sells out. It's obviously in March every year. I think you can already sort of reserve a spot on Trek Travels website. It's getting close. Yeah. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:42:03 to 00:42:12 You can sort of put yourself on a wait list. Yeah. And there's still. I don't know if there's still room in the Holy Week trips to Flanders and Roubaix. Okay. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:42:12 to 00:42:19 That one goes fast. Like, we're pretty close to sold out for that one. You got to get in early. And same with the Tour. It's pretty well booked. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:42:19 to 00:42:42 Even the Tour de Familes, the Women's Tour de France, is nearly sold out for this year, which is really exciting. Amazing. And I can't wait for you to have some gravel race trips in the future as well. I think it would be a fun way of doing some of these events. People who aren't necessarily racing but want to go to somewhere like SBT or to Unbound or. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:42:42 to 00:42:53 I know you already have a trip to Bentonville, but it is kind of an interesting idea. I think you guys should play around with, connect the two. Yeah. Yeah. What would it be like to bring a group of people who just want to experience that. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:42:53 to 00:43:04 That area in a deeper way and have a little bit of extra support in some of these milestone gravel events? Yeah, for sure. I think Unbound would be an interesting one, for sure. Yeah. Cool. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:43:04 to 00:43:15 All right, well, I will let you go. Hopefully I even see you this weekend and we can do some riding and reminisce some more. Yeah. See you up in up in Marin. Sounds good. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:43:15 to 00:43:31 Take care, Craig. Good to see you. That's going to do it for this week's edition of the Gravel Ride Podcast. Big thanks to Rich for coming on the show. And a big thanks to Trek Travel for all the great gravel cycling experiences they offer around the world. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:43:31 to 00:44:13 Top notch organization that's dedicating a lot of time and energy into the gravel world. So if you're a fan of professional bike racing and want to have an experience like I did at Stradabianca, go check them out@trektravel.com obviously they've got the other spring classics and the Tour de France, both men and women, as options for you, but also a bunch of fantastic gravel trips to Bentonville, to Switzerland, to Vermont, to Girona, all over the world. So again, go hit them up@trektravel.com and let them know that the Gravel Ride podcast sent you. Until next time, here's to finding some dirt under your wheels. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:44:27 to 00:44:27 SA.  

Rose Manley and Jo Rowsell cast their eye over one of the most hotly anticipated races of the year, Milano-Sanremo Donne. The last time the race was staged for women was 20 years ago, leaving plenty of intrigue over how it would be approached by this current crop of riders. This season's battle of SD Worx versus Demi Vollering was expected to continue into this race. The Dutch team boasted both World Champion Lotte Kopecky and super sprinter Lorena Wiebes in their line-up, making them the team to beat. However, former alumnus Vollering – now of FDJ Suez – got the better of them at Strade Bianche and looked to do it again on the famous climbs of the Cipressa and Poggio.  There were plenty of contenders for the inaugural Milano Sanremo Donne title elsewhere too. Trofeo Binda champion Elisa Balsamo heads up Lidl-Trek, Elisa Longo Borghini looks to make a big impression as Italian champion and Kasia Niewiadoma races for the first time since her Strade Bianche crash. Arrivée is The Cycling Podcast's quick-fire race analysis show offering a first take on the biggest races. Join Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie as they discuss their first impressions of the opening Monument of the spring, the longest one-day race on the World Tour calendar, Milan-Sanremo. Who will triumph on the Via Roma and how did they do it? Sponsored by Laka The Cycling Podcast's coverage of the spring Classics is supported by Laka. Laka offers specialist bike insurance that goes further than you think. It's powered by a collective of cyclists who all have each others' backs. They won't charge a fixed sum, instead, they calculate your monthly contributions – up to a maximum capped amount – based on the collective's claims. There's no excess so you won't be penalised when it comes to making a claim. Laka is back as a proud sponsor of The Cycling Podcast. Listeners can get their first 30 days free by signing up with the code TCP30 at laka.co/tcp  TRIBUTE TO RICHARD MOORE AT GENT-WEVELGEM Friend of the Podcast Charlotte Elton is raising money to pay tribute to our friend and co-founder Richard Moore at Gent-Wevelgem by painting his name on the road. She's crowdfunding to pay for the paint and any additional funds will be donated to Sir Chris Hoy's Tour de 4 charity. You can donate to the cause here. Follow us on social media: Twitter @cycling_podcast Instagram @thecyclingpodcast Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to new special episodes every month plus a back catalogue of more than 300 exclusive episodes. The Cannibal & Badger Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our new virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger. A friendly forum to talk about cycling and the podcast. Log in to your Friends of the Podcast account to join in. The 11.01 Cappuccino Our regular email newsletter is now on Substack. Subscribe here for frothy, full-fat updates to enjoy any time (as long as it's after 11am). The Cycling Podcast is on Strava The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Lance, George, and Johan break down Tadej Pogačar's utter dominance at Strade-Bianche, which took the peloton through the rolling hills and white gravel roads of Tuscany, and saw Pogačar ride clear of Tom Pidcock even after suffering a high-speed mid-race crash. The crew discuss how Pogačar recovered from his crash to dismantle his main rival over the dirt, and how anyone can hope to beat Pogačar through the rest of the spring calendar. Become a WEDŪ Member Today to Unlock VIP Access & Benefits: https://access.wedu.team Pique: For a limited time, get 20% off for life plus a free Starter Kit (rechargeable frother and glass beaker) when you grab the Pu'er Bundle. With Pique's 90-day money-back guarantee, you've got nothing to lose. Try it now at https://www.piquelife.com/themove and feel the difference on your next ride. Maui Nui: Maui Nui offers the only 100% Wild-Harvested meat that's completely stress-free and responsibly sourced. It's perfect for anyone looking to elevate their meals with delicious, high-quality protein. Maui Nui Venison is offering THEMOVE listeners a limited collection of our favorite cuts and products. But...supply is limited by the nature of their work, so don't wait. Check them out. https://mauinuivenison.com/lp/THEMOVE?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=show_notes&utm_campaign=THEMOVE&utm_term=THEMOVE&utm_content=landingpage AG1: AG1 is offering new subscribers a FREE $76 gift when you sign up. You'll get a Welcome Kit, a bottle of D3K2 AND 5 free travel packs in your first box. So make sure to check out https://www.DrinkAG1.com/themove to get this offer! That's DrinkAG1.com/themove to start your new year on a healthier note. OneSkin: OneSkin is the world's first skin longevity company, keeping your skin looking and acting younger for longer. Get started today with 15% off using code THEMOVE at https://oneskin.co

Johan Bruyneel and Spencer Martin break down the course, contenders, and likely outcomes for tomorrow's Strade-Bianche, a 213-kilometer race over the hilly gravel roads of Tuscany, which is also one of the first, and most exciting, one-day Classics of the season. Listen in to see how the duo thinks the race will play out, which riders can even remotely challenge Tadej Pogačar, and who presents the best betting value.   Become a WEDŪ Member Today to Unlock VIP Access & Benefits: https://access.wedu.team   Hims: Start your free online visit today at https://hims.com/themove for your personalized hair loss treatment options. Results vary. Based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil and finasteride. Prescription products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate.