Welcome And Stage 6 Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:44

All right, welcome back to Cycling Men of Leisure's Leisure Breakaway. Today we're talking about stage six of the tour, which took us into the mountains for the first real showdown of this year's race. And it definitely did not disappoint. We got the big moments, the surprises, and everything you need to know from the unforgettable day in the Pyrenees. I'm Michael, and as always, my best friend across the internet up in Michigan, Adam.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Welcome, welcome, welcome. I have an announcement. I actually was able to watch a little bit of it at work today. I'm excited. I got I I got something cool to talk about. But I thought you'd been watching it the whole time. I can't watch at work. They got me locked down.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

You know, I work for the government, right? Uh, it's called a cell phone. It's in your pocket. You pull it out and you watch. True. Uh, and uh okay. Now hold on. I thought you ran the show over there. Apparently I'm wrong.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

That's the problem. They got me locked down. All kidding aside, uh, once Tour de France accepted us, accepted Road Adventure The Cycling Man of Leisure to be able to share, it opened up a thread. Uh, and I'm really

Stage Profile Heat And Climb Numbers

SPEAKER_01 2:05

hoping nobody from work is listening to this. And I was able to watch. And let me just tell you, I don't want to steal your thunder because I know this is a great project, and you are taking the lead on this one, which I'm which I'm enjoying sitting back watching the fruits of your labor. But let me just say, we have some beautiful, wonderful friends in Georgia. You and I went close to 40 miles an hour, but 107 kilometers an hour, or what is 63 miles an hour? Holy. But, anyways, I don't want to steal your thunder, but let me just tell you, watching that chain going up and down like that. Ho ho ho ho ho ho not me, must have no no.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

All right. I totally agree with you. That was just insane. Uh, today was an interesting day. They started out in Po. Uh, they finished in Gavani, uh, a distance of 186.2 kilometers, which for us Americans, that's 115.7 miles. They gained 4,100 meters, and this is what blows my mind. That's 13,450 feet.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

And they did that in one day. And when you and I do like rag or rag brae, or I guess that's about it. But we do that in a week.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Yeah, or we do 4,100 feet in a in a day. Right. Not meters, just

Pogacar Lights Up The Tourmalet

SPEAKER_00 3:40

feet. Right. So, yeah, it's crazy. Um especially when you think about Pikes Peak, 14,115 feet. So they almost went all the way up Pikes Peak today. Wow. I mean, as far as climb. Clearly, they were going up or some probably steeper things than that. But anyway, this was a high mountain summer summit finish. The average temperature, uh, 33 degrees Celsius. That's 91 degrees Fahrenheit. Very hot conditions again today. I mean, this weather is not giving them any breaks. Um was a very interesting uh stage. Uh as you know, the big stage winner was Toddy. Um, or maybe you didn't know.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

I don't know how much you saw, but I uh I I searched when I got home for a nice summary.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

He it was incredible. He attacked on the Code do Kodu Tormelay, um, which was the big mountain today. Uh it blew everybody's mind. He was like five uh kilometers from the top, and him and del Toro, well, Del Toro took off, actually. Uh Toddy got right in behind him because right as they start breaking away, Del Toro looks behind to make sure that that Toddy is right behind him. Uh and they just attacked, and no one was expecting an attack that far from the top.

How Pros Descend At 70

SPEAKER_00 5:20

And Del Toro and I mean, just pulled him up the hill. Not that he wasn't cycling, but together, uh, just blew everybody away. And then coming down, Toddy produced one of the fastest ascents ever recorded on this climb, and I think it was like 74 miles an hour. That's just nuts. Now, you and I have talked about it. There has been a couple of rides downhill where we've managed to get in the high 40s, close to 50, if I remember correctly. I think you're absolutely correct. And those couple of times, very few, but those couple of times, I know me, I won't speak for you, I was holding on, I'm scanning the road for any little teeny pebble, because I'm like, you know what? At this speed, say at 47, 48 miles per hour, at this speed, I hit just something, little teeny thing wrong. I it, you know, I'm fracturing two clavicles and probably getting a nice uh couple weeks in the hospital. Um, it's scary. I cannot imagine going 70 miles an hour on a bicycle. And when I look at the mountains in the hills that we've done, mountains in Georgia, hills in Iowa, I go, you know, you go off, you're gonna tumble a ways, but you know, there will be a cornfield or something. There is some of these things where it's literally almost straight down, and the only thing that's gonna stop you is the road as it hooks back around, uh, you know, 100 and 100 150 yards down, basically straight. So hats off to those guys.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Let me tell you something. When we did that in Georgia, uh, I believe it was the year we had 43 team members. And forgive me, I don't know exactly where I should have been prepared before the show. I could have gone on Strava and found it. But all I know is my wife would be at home and she said um uh she would watch the rides. And of course, what did Strava do? It said top speed, I think it was 43, 44. I don't want to be dishonest. I'm not sure what it what it was, but all I know is I got a call and it said, Hey, when you're not around your friends, give me a call. Now, I don't know about your marriage, but I'm willing to be honest. Not a good thing. No, never. If your wife ever says, Call me when you're not around your friends, right away it's like, uh oh. You know what my answer is?

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Sorry, all my friends are here, can't break away.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Yeah, that would be that would have been smarter. So we went to town that night. We went out to dinner, and I said, Hey, I'm gonna step outside and call my wife. And you said, Okay, no problem. And I called her and she said, What were you doing? I said, What do you mean? And she said, What do you think's gonna happen to you with a little plastic helmet on and a stupid de brim on your head at 43 miles an hour or whatever it was? And I said, Oh, honey, I was being safe. And and and she said, Oh, yeah, and what about a blowout? I don't want to tell her, but that's what I was thinking the whole way down. Please don't blow out, please don't blow up, anyways. Watching that today, what happened was is I had it. I have you've you've been in my office before. I have um double monitors, and then I have a third one on my right. And on

Team Tactics And GC Time Gaps

SPEAKER_01 8:40

so my employees wouldn't come in and be like, the guy's only sitting there watching bike racing. I put it on the monitor where my employees couldn't see, and so I was kind of working on a project, and I looked up and all I saw was uh the uh chase car. What do they call the cars? The mechanic car?

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Oh, yeah, mechanics car.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

Oh my gosh. 107 kilometers or whatever. And and I'm like, why are they showing that? And then the camera went up, and I was like, Oh my gosh. So that's crazy, man. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

But it was it was incredible. I mean, you just see the technical

Crash Ends A Stage Winner Run

SPEAKER_00 9:15

skill, and you think going down the the hill, it's like, well, there's nothing technical about no, that is very technical, and at those speeds, it is extremely technical. Yeah, fantastic job. But uh UAE Team Emirates basically controlled uh the race before uh Toddy launched his just basic blowout decisive move. Uh Vindigo rode a strong race, but man, let me tell you, he just could not keep up. Um, but it this this stage really created the first uh major time gaps among the overall contenders and kind of reshaped the general classification. I do have the saddest news of the day. The uh the winner of yesterday's uh stage, uh Tor Stein Treen, uh won the stage yesterday, uh, was going down uh the mountain today, and he had a rider in front of him, and it was actually on his own team, and they touched wheels, he went down, and he is now out of the race. Um not pass

Jerseys Update And Tomorrow’s Flat Stage

SPEAKER_00 10:30

the concussion protocols, and even if he would have, he had several cracked ribs, so he had to leave the tour, and that's really sad because after yesterday's ride, uh they were talking some really, really big things about him and and some potential, and then to get taken out um of just something as minor as touching, you know, a teammate's wheels is is horrible. The good news is he goes home a stage winner, so there's uh there's something. Something that uh I'll never be able to say. Uh well, you can say it all you want. I I don't care. It's not true, but you can say it all you want. Anyway, the jerseys uh wrap up as follows. Yellow, uh Toddy is up in the yellow. Green goes uh to uh Patterson. The KOM also goes to Toddy, but Toddy will be wearing his yellow jersey tomorrow. So I'm going to guess that uh Jonas Vindigo will be wearing the polka dot jersey and then the white,

Fan Photos And An American Flag

SPEAKER_00 11:40

obviously, Del Toro with his breakaway with his team captain will be wearing white tomorrow. So Toddy Bagaca is uh the big winner today, and pretty much everything everybody is talking about. So uh overall, the lead team is Lionel Trek. They are the ones that are on top. And tomorrow looks like uh it will be another interesting, uh, interesting ride. 175 miles or kilometers, excuse me. Only going to be going up about a thousand meters. Uh, so the profile is going to be relatively flat, so it's gonna be more of a of a sprinter's uh day tomorrow. So we'll see. So what do you got for us?

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Our good teammate, one of the original cycling women of leisure, and our friend Mandy, um, she reached out to me this morning and she sent me some pictures. Um, and she in July 20th, in 2022, was able to see Quinn Simmons um ride by, and she was holding an American flag up by the Pyrenees, and he looked over and gave him a nod. And she's got some very close pictures. Wow. Uh, she said it was a great stage to be there for, and Toddy and Jonas battled it out on the climb. Uh, and she was in Paris for the final stage as well, and for the first stage of the women's tour, as they started the women and the men finished.

Belgium Tops Tour Rider Nationalities

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Um, it was the women's first tour after 20-plus year hiatus, and that's why they started them the same day as the finish. So there was a huge crowd. So, Mandy, thank you so much for reaching out to us and sending the pictures. It was really sweet. Um, I'll have to send them to you, Michael.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Yeah, that's that's that's really cool. There's so few American cyclists that it's that it's neat when one of them does well or you've got a cool story about him. Uh, we're just not a big cycling country, not like Europe and all of those places over there. But you never know. That could change.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

And I, sir, I made a uh I made a promise to you that I would look up your nationalities. And uh while we're recording here, I have sent you two pictures that Mandy shared with me. Um, but you asked for don't look nationalities. So I have the original start of 184 writers, I have the breakdown of country, the percentage, um, and would you like to give us a guess of the number one country who produced the most writers for the 2026 Tour de France?

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Okay. Now, just to caveat that you have not told me any information. I have not done any research.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

I have not. Um you have not, I don't think so.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

You've taken these results and buried them in your back in a phonetic or a uh a sealed jar in your backyard.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Well, I printed them off about 14 minutes ago, and uh I've spent ow oh sec seconds.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

The old Carson thing where you do the uh the great uh whatever the guy's name or whatever. All right, I am going to guess I am going my first guess will be not like I've got multiple guesses, but I'm I think I've gotta go with probably one of the Norwegian countries. Uh it's either going to be France or the Netherlands. Final guess? Final guess. Or I could phone a friend. I I got this buddy Adam that might know.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

Well, that's not fair. I've got the answers in front of me.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

All right.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Yeah, that's final guess.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Can you see now that I've moved my seat, the board? This one is a and don't take my answers wrong. This one is an applause, and this one is a trombone. Go ahead and put go ahead and hit the trombone. Ladies and gentlemen, the country providing the most amount of riders to the 2026 Tour de France is Belgium.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Oh, I was so I was gonna say Bel it was between Belgium and the Netherlands.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

I was like, but you were so close because Belgium was 31 riders at 16.8 percent, and in your defense, France was 30 riders at 16.3 percent, and then the Netherlands was next at 17 percent. Um then we jumped down in uh Italy and Germany both have 12, Spain and Austria, Australia have 11, and then we get into single digits. Uh Norway eight, Denmark seven, Great Britain seven, United States six, um Colombia five, Switzerland four, Slovenia three, Czech Republic three, and then uh Austria, Ecuador, uh Latvia, New Zealand and Poland two each, and then Mexico. Oh yeah, then we go

KOM Points Timing Answered With Pie

SPEAKER_01 17:30

on one each. So twenty-seven national nations total. Uh the sole Mexican is uh del Toro.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Del Toro.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Yep. And uh then yeah, there we go.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

So so the top three, give me the top three again. Yes, sir. Belgium, France, and Netherlands. Okay. I'm a little disappointed in, you know. Where's where's I mean, I you told me like where's Switzerland? Switzerland and Germany. You'd think Swi the the Swiss and Germany and those, you'd think that they would have big contingents. Um but okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Well, sir, that is the homework for the night. Uh we do have one more piece. Uh, our good friend Wade Paul, I mentioned that he's been writing in uh a lot. And thank you, sir. He wanted to clarify something, but he also has something really funny, so I couldn't hold back.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

He said he wanted, he said he understood other. So last night we talked about the points, and he said he understood that. He said my question about the jerseys is um, do they time every writer individually? Is every rider given a time throughout those climbing gates, or do they give the Peloton the same uh speed?

SPEAKER_00 18:42

As I understand it, basically um there's gonna be like four, five, six, whatever they determine is like the point riders, meaning that on the KOM, if you go through that gate and you're one of those top four, five, six riders, they have a designated number of points. You will say you're through you're the third rider through on the king of the mountain at that particular point, and say that's four points, you get four points. Uh, once those that number of riders goes through, at that point it doesn't matter. Okay. No more points left to give out. It's just like the intermediate uh intermediate sprints and things like that. They say, you know, we're gonna, you know, top three riders are gonna get, you know, points, and uh they race it out, and those top three riders get the points, and then after that, there's there's no points to give, so they don't worry about it. So it's they don't worry about like you know, all the other people there. They're just looking basically they're looking at the places, and they determine, yeah, we've got three places or four places or five places or ten places. Wherever the points are, once those points are gone, then you move on. Okay. So the the Peloton itself would not receive anything on a king of a mountain, it would just be the the lead people

Final Thoughts And See You Tomorrow

SPEAKER_00 20:05

that that make it through that gate.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

Well, he wants to finish with a comment, and I could not hold back. He said, Toddy is a beast, and he says reminds me of myself on Ragbry. What Toddy is to climbing, I am to pie eating.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Oh, hats off to you. Absolutely. But you're in Iowa. Come on.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

Well, listen, uh, I might be a little bit selfish, but I hope he's in southern Iowa because the pie in southern Iowa is is oh, there is a difference.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

The northern Iowa pie is not as good as a southern pie. And I've got reasons for, I mean, I I've got theories about that, but okay. We we won't go into my uh Iowa pie theory on on this episode, but maybe we'll we'll touch on that later.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

So tell us about stage seven. We're trying to keep these a little bit shorter.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

So uh stage seven is like I said, pretty much a flat stage, 175 kilometers, and um not any climb. So it's it'll be flat. You'll be going through a lot of you know farm country and that type of stuff. So hopefully we'll uh maybe tomorrow get to see some cool um field art because it's always interesting.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

So we'll see. As always, thank you so much, sir, and we will look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Until tomorrow.

SPEAKER_04 21:30

Welcome to the