Another Young GC Star Emerges | La Vuelta a España 2026 Stage 12 | THEMOVE

Yeah.

“From the pool is a rider who gets a kick out of winning, meaning winning is crossing the line and raising your arms.”

That's nothing else counts. No, G.C. couldn't be bothered. That's not even really due to that many stages, you think about it. Yeah, he's one of the G.C., but, you know, it's not, he does not get adrenaline and rush from it, you know, everybody.

Welcome back to the move podcast. I'm Spencer Martin. I'm here with Johan Berniel. We're breaking down stage 12 of love, well, as Spania, as well as previewing tomorrow's stage 13 with our outcome stage preview at the end of the show.

Stage 12 was won by Jacob Ormesel from Slovenia, on Bahrain, Victoria's from the breakway.

20-year-old youngest rider in the race, doing his first Grand Tour, gets the stage man

on one of the hardest stages, not too bad with Erko Barada, Barade, from Equipo, confirmed format in 2nd Santiago, Batrago, and third from Bahrain, Victoria's in the G.C. action behind, Enric Moss ripped clear of the group after the Catalan set up in attack. We didn't learn anything new, Johan, but we keep learning that Enric Moss is probably the strongest climber in the race.

If you let's go, in the first vlog, we're chasing behind, kind of bailed out by having teammates fall back to base them, Oscar, only who crashed earlier in the stage was he lost contact at the bottom, steep part of the climb, and then he did not have the benefit of having a group, or teammates with them lost to significant amount of time. I'm just looking at the GC gaps here.

So Roglic in goal, lose 27 seconds to Enric Moss, that's actually not a bad loss, considering how far out Moss went, and then Oscar on Lee is 209 behind Moss. So he's the big GC loser of the day. I'm very curious to hear your move of the day. Our move of the day is brought to you by eight sleep.

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helping them sleep, I cannot wait to get their sleep stats, they're updated, we two sleep stats to Maharl. I want that sent through so we can look at it, go to atsap.com/demo for $350 off your eight sleep. I believe yours and Bradley Wiggins are in the mail, Johan.

So you guys will have those for the third week of the grand third week of the Volta, you'll

be sleeping better. But what is your eight sleep move of the day, Johan? Spencer, my eight sleep move of the day by the way, my eight sleep that arrived today. I got it, I got it, so yeah, has to be Jakob, I'm Omersel, 20 year old, baby face, Jakob Omersel, what a ride man, you know, I remember, I think two years ago, I was speaking

to Yani Braikovic, Slovenian pioneer actually, one of the first very first Slovenian cyclists on the world tour with us with Discovery Channel, Postal Radio Shack. He already named Jakob Omersel, he said, Jakob Omersel is the next Slovenian guy. This is two or three years ago.

“Last year we saw him already coming to the front, he won the Baby Giro, what is it called?”

Zero Gen Z, next gen, next gen, next gen, yeah, I keep calling it Baby Giro, it's probably for Omersel, I mean, that guy looks like a real baby, by the way, I mean, on the podium, he looks so young, so yeah, for sure this is my eight sleep move of the day, also the way they rode, I think I think barang victorious, rode an unbelievable race, they had three

riders in the break, big group, and they went full gas for Omersel, Peo Bilbao did an amazing job,

Santiago Bittrago, from barang victorious, took the KOM points, is now pretty solidly in the KOM, third on the stage, so what did they for them, but definitely, you know, youngest rider in the race, first ground tour and first pro victory, he already won the National Champions elite last year, so he was last year, he was at 19 years old, he was Slovenian champion professionals, but it's not, I mean, you can't count it as a world tour or first level victory, of course,

and then especially Spencer the way, he was so composed after the finish, his interview, I was, of course, he was super happy, but he was, it was like, okay, you know, I expected this was going to come, no, maybe not so fast, but I've been working towards this,

to see that from such a young rider, that is amazing, that's an amazing amount of confidence,

he's now six in GC, he's four, fifty nine behind in Rekmas, but he's only thirty seconds behind Oscar on Lee for the White Jersey, so not impossible, that he rolls up to his first grand tour, wins a stage, wins the White Jersey, am I, am I out of line here for saying this is remind us of

“another twenty year old Slovenian at the Valtau? Probably not the same, I think I think, you know,”

now, now Omersel is in sixth, but of course it's thanks through the Brick Breakaway and the eight minute gap, they got at some point, or almost eight minute gap, I expect that when these three, four, five riders really go for it, that he's going to be sixth seven or eight. The thing is, Oscar only, you know, went down today, if he crashed on four to the piece, so I expect I expect that he felt that at the end, and it's also the question, okay, how is this going to

have an impact on the next two days, right? I mean, if you crash, it's never good,

it didn't look like it was a big deal, but at the end he was, he was paying for, for that, the consequences of that crash, I think. So, yeah, it would not be, it would not be surprising to see Omersel staying up there, sixth seven or eight, which would be already amazing. I don't think you can compare with Pugachar, you know, if we think about Pugachar at that age, he's first due to Spain, one tree stages, but the three stages he won were each time from the

“group of favorites, not from a breakaway. So, I think that's the time with that figure gap”

than the one before, which is pretty impressive and retrospective, and knowing what we know now about

his training. I mean, did you see this interview with you? You called this like a few years ago,

but it was a George Bennett, and he was time at how much beer Pugachar was drinking at the time, and then he was not really taking the sport that seriously, and he was still doing that. That's crazy. Yeah. Crazy stuff. Yeah. By the way, by the way, nice to see that his girlfriend, I don't know if it's girlfriend, but they're not married. No, it's anyway, Pugachar, coming out of the hospital with a friend, looks banged up, but you know, he was walking, he looked okay. I mean,

under it's considering the circumstances. So nice to see that he's walking and that he's he left the hospital. Yeah, walking arm and sling actually looked better than you would think. I think I think I thought so. I thought so. Yeah. I thought so too. I did. I was watching Slovenian state television, and they asked the coach, then to Slovenia and National Coach, if he's going to race, and he said not possible for World Championships. So, probably won't be out there.

I think it should be, you know, considering how hard he went down and considering the concussion, you know, the cervical fracture, and it should be mandatory that he's not allowed to race, I think. And Pugachar knows. Pugachar knows, I think. Well, you said it, I think yesterday, sounds crazy to say. Doesn't really change anything for him. If he races and wins, races and doesn't win, it doesn't really matter, right? Like, Pugachar has another World title,

like he needs a whole in the head. It doesn't even need over him. That's cool. Yeah, no, it's crazy to think about, but sure he would potentially win all three in a row, but I think you even said a few months ago that this might not be a slam dunk course for him even in the best of times. So, yeah, I mean, I think I think it's probably a course that that is also, you know, doable for the others with the distinction, and I think Pugachar was still up one, that it's, what is it? 260, 270

“kilometers. That's the big difference of a World Championships, right? I mean, that's what makes it really,”

really hard. So, yeah, I think he would still up one, but now I think somebody else is going to win. So, you're just looking at what's going to happen. Glasgow, they were people, the mean people were calling it criterion world championships, because it was like a different course. And it was the three strongest guys alone, you know? Yeah, even on a course without a big climb, that it tends to happen. If you watch the beginning of the stage, so interesting stuff happened, Oscar on lead crash,

it's a fast start to the stage. The breakaway cannot get away. Riders are trying to get in the break. I think it was around how long was the stage? 166k, break goes with 126k to go. So, that's a long fight for the break. The thing that kind of split it off is Oscar on lead crash is going through around about high speed, road look to little slippery, because of them, just like dust on the road,

there's a three rider move away with oxalaurons into other riders. And then a chase group comes

across with, with Wildman Ardenett, which was important, because he takes the points for the intermediate sprint and then sits up. But what we didn't know at the time is something really important was happening in that break, because there was two mobile star riders. There was a couple to calfline riders, and there was at least one Red Bull rider, Luke Tuckwell. This comes in a play

“on the final climb when Enrick Moss him is beautiful to see. He attacks with 14k to go. Is, is that right?”

No. Felix Gallo, attack with 30k to go. 13k to go. Mass, attack with 11k to go. 11.2k to go in response to tax. And then bridges up to his teammate who pulls him along. Work works perfectly, because it's a steep climb going into a less steep climb, so you want to teammate. And also, Luke Tuckwell and Leo Bissot Bissot Bissot Bissot Bissot Bissot Bissot Bissot Bissot, drop back from the break to pull their GC leaders, Felix Gallo and Primus Rocklitch in the chase group. I thought they

could have dropped back a little bit earlier, as well as needed some help. Gallo was pulling for a long time. But this, this, like, this is kind of sneaky, massive, because with 2.7k to go, Moss has 41 seconds. Like, he was a pile in time on these guys, especially in that steep kicker we talked about. And then by the finish it's down to 27 seconds. Yeah. Yeah. So, well, that's, that's all me speaking. Yeah. Yeah. They, they were key. They were also key for,

for, for an egg musp, by the way. You know, like, uh, Gastrio, mean by the way, today,

“today, Bobby started an amazing job. Actually, yesterday, I think, I think I told you of,”

of camera, I had a coffee with, uh, with the brother of Raul Garcia Pierna, Carlos. And I asked, uh, so they're two brothers, right? The movie star guy on, and, and then his brother is, is some burgo's. Uh, he's not writing the world up. And I asked him, I said, what do you think about movie star? He said, they're going to be fine. I think they're going to be

fine. You know, so name is right. They, they did amazing today. Having these two riders in the break,

we, we kind of knew that, you know, if you attack on the first part of the last climb, then you have these rollers, that's the terrain where really it's, it's important to have somebody, and then that last kicker with three get a go. Um, and, uh, I mean, yeah, I think Enric Mas was just a bit too strong for, uh, for Raul, uh, for Raul Garcia. You know, Raul did an amazing job, but Enric Mas has such strong legs. I've so good legs that he took a few pulls, and basically put

Raul Garcia on the limit, and then he couldn't, he couldn't do it anymore. So that was the difference. You know, like, on the other hand, if you think, you know, uh, go and Raul glitch, we're not able to react at all when they didn't even try. I mean, it's like, they had no legs to react when Enric Mas attacked. Um, and Felix Gaul has done a lot of workman there. He was, he was, Raul glitch hasn't taken a single pull. No, single one. No. So I showed that he was on the limit,

and, you know, from 45 seconds to 27 seconds, uh, it's, I mean, it's still important. You know,

“I mean, they, they could kind of limit the damages a bit, uh, but still, I think today,”

we see who is the strongest climber, uh, you know, especially with, uh, Aldo de la Panera, is the next big big uphill finish, which is really, really hard, steep. That's, uh, that's another few, whatever, 15, 20 seconds for Enric Mas, I think. So, you know, bit by bit, he's adding up time, and, uh, it looks like, for the moment, I don't know what you think, Spencer, but, you know, Roglet seems that he's on his limit, you know, he, I don't think he has the legs to, to kind of

come back or make the difference. He's one minute 45 down now, still not, not a disaster, but it starts to add up. Uh, if Enric Mas takes two times more in two stages, 20 seconds, uh, there's no way Roglet's can make this up at the time trial. Yeah, and he was playing that, obviously he played a kg, like he didn't not offer any polls. Probably was the right one. He couldn't. He couldn't. He was on the limit. Yeah. And then he, I mean, he's, he's good for a reason, right? He actually

minimizes his time loss as pretty well. Didn't blow up. Like, did you see gold dropped him in Caripass before the finish, and then they really, and then he came back. Yeah. Yeah. So he clearly

manages perfectly, but the problem is, and I think I said it yesterday, if Mas puts time into these

guys today, just mathematically, it starts to get really hard. Yeah. And cool. When are you going to take the time back? It's now 145 to Rogletch. That's too much for the time trial. So, well,

tend to happen. You know, Enric Mas is growing in confidence. I mean, we've seen, uh, on itana was the first time ever in his career that Enric Mas attacked with confidence, like with

super confidence, like being the first one to attack, and you know, before we've always seen

Enric Mas attack on counter attacks, like coming back and he didn't this time he took the initiative. He got that confidence when he reels Rogletch are in on, uh, what was he called, uh, out to the Bartolu

“with the gravel. That's why he got his confidence. And he's growing him. In today, that attack”

with 11 kiddo gold man, you have to have some balls to do that. It's like, okay, this can go wrong, this can go wrong. Okay, he did have Raul Garcia in the front, but still, uh, you must feel really confident. You must feel like you have an extra gear compared to Felix Gall, uh, who was pulling. And then what to say Spencer about, uh, again, deck up loan. Um, I don't know. It says, there's not much else they can do, but I think they, I think they are, they're getting ahead of

themselves, man. Um, they had four guys for one and a half kilometer, and then Fiddick's got already went. Shouldn't you try to use your team longer? That's what I was wondering. Yeah. And then, and then you have nobody, you know, it's like, well, have you not just negated your biggest advantage, which is your right? The thing, the thing is, you know, like, which is also very telling, is if you look at the interview of Felix Gall after the stage, uh, he says, you know, well,

you know, I'm satisfied with today's results. Okay. I do, I lose 27 seconds, but our goal was to eliminate one of the other podium contenders. In this case, Felix Gall, uh, Oscar Andrey. You know, I mean, you're not going to win the world. If we did mindset like that, you know, and especially, I mean, uh, I, I, okay, obviously, they said, they all know the little differences in their strength. They know and they feel that and McMus is the strongest rider. There's no

“doubt about that. They, they're the first ones to feel it. We see it, but they feel it, right?”

And they, whatever they're on the limit, you hear the breathing, you know, you, you, you, you can see, okay, this guy has another gear and I don't. So, uh, let's still, you know, uh, Felix Gall and, and especially, they got to them, but that's strong team. They're, they're strategy of the podium. It's not the win. It's not the win in the world, uh, which, uh, at this point, maybe is, is, is the right way to do because they know better than us, how strong, and McMus is right now.

When you're going up against a proven winner, like, and McMus, he has one tour of

long shape. People forget that. You've got to go for the scraps. I mean, McMus does like amazing.

It's hard to imagine him having a bad day, right? I told you, I told you, yes, today Spencer went when Andy McMus said, you know, when, when he was asked, who's the favorite, he says, I'm the favorite. Today already, he proved that that's, that's his mindset, you know, that that's, that's the way he's racing. That's the way he's thinking. Yes, yeah, I was thinking

“today, do you think Canyon had it in their, uh, their book that they were going to win a grand tour this year?”

Like, it's not over yet. It's, it's not over yet, but, uh, it started to look really, really good. No, definitely not. I don't think so. Talk about found money for that team. And then, and then another thing, Spencer, if you remember correctly, I mean, this, so Eric McMus, they decided not to, to also, he went to the giro. Let's not forget he had, he had issues, he had injuries, he had surgery, yeah. Last year, you know, so he came late into the season, into action, and then

kind of was going to try for GC in the giro completely failed. And there was this famous interview from the team management, it was saying, you know, like publicly saying, well, you know,

we are super disappointed with Andy McMus, he's not delivering. Basically saying, you know,

we're not getting what we pay for. That's hard for a writer, man, to hear that. And public, I mean, read it in the media. I wonder what they're saying now. Yeah. I don't know. It was hacked. I don't know what happened. I thought he had a pretty good idea. It was, it was AI. AI. Yeah. There's no, I was kidding me. I thought he had a pretty good ride at the giro, considering he was coming off Verico's vein surgery, which is, that's on your legs. Like, that's not going

to be ride so fast. You're going to take some time off. He's in some breakways. Obviously, that's not what you're looking for from a GC writer, but consider it like it worked, right? He went there and he got breakways and he got back in shape. And now he looks great. Do you want to get quick break? And then we'll talk about a few other, I moved a star,

carapaz attacking and, and, et cetera, but we'll be right back. Everybody, this wealth of Spaniard coverage is brought to you by a presenting sponsor, ultra-focused pouches. Do you desperately need a nicotine pouch every 15 minutes just to feel normal? How many pouches cups of coffee

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and you don't want to miss that 15% off opportunity. So y'all, we are back. Before we type out, Caripass is a tech. In Rick Moss, great. We was great. Moves start there were great. This is a lot

“of work for 27 seconds. I think about stage 10. It is. It is. It is. Yeah.”

Feel it's called loses 18 seconds on a sprint stage and then this isn't that much more of a time loss and I mean, what if you attack with 11k to go? It's like a 30 minute effort, something like that, right? Yeah. But at the same time Spencer, you know, it's. Yeah. I was expecting it to be 45 seconds. Okay. 27 seconds in the end. It doesn't make that much of a difference. I think it's more symbolic. It's a statement. Plus, you know, he keeps adding time not too much,

but the others are the guys. We need to take time back on him. Yeah. Especially if it is go because Felix Gaul is a worst-time trial is then then Rick Moss. So not too bad. You know, I think I think they even would have taken a status quo today. I think. But yeah, I mean, I think he went where he had to go. You know, if he would have waited and just stayed with Gaul and and and Roglic

“would have become tactical at the same time, you know, it wouldn't be that difficult because”

these are the only two riders he need to look at. So they were not going to go right away from him. But it was a risk. It was, you know, going with 11k to go, it's a big effort. It's a long effort. At the end, it's 27 seconds, but hey, it's better to gain 27 seconds than to lose 15. It's true. It's just something to keep in mind when first wave of a grand tour, you know,

riders are picking up time, time bonuses, et cetera. And everyone always says, well, well,

it's early. They're going to get to the mountains. Gapsch can be minutes. You back to stage nine. That's one of the hardest stages you can imagine. Same time as Oscar on lead 12 seconds to Prima's Roglic. And then today, I mean, that was a big, big stage, hard funnel climb long, long break away 27 seconds to Prima's Roglic. So just, I know, and also, you know, what's Spencer, the Valtta is never one with a big gap. That's true. Like, you know, the last year you're

on us being a guard, one on Joe, all made up with 116. And Big Mus is not 145 ahead of the second guy. You want to one with one minute, 16 seconds on the second rider. So let's go back and look at time gaps. That's kind of interesting. So yeah, 116, 236, the year before 17 seconds in 2022 and 2022, 442 and 2021, that was the the blowout, Roglic over Moss. And then 24 seconds in 2020. Yeah. So it is a tight tension already. He's already, he's already after 12 stages. He's already in

pretty good position, you know? Yeah. That is crazy. In since 2020, we've had two Valtta's decided by less than 30 seconds. Crazy. Wow, it's stuff. It also shows you kind of, you know, when when golf lost that time early, it shows you probably was not mentally switched on for the win. Because you can't just be thrown away 18 seconds at the Valtta. Literally, that's been more than the time between the winner and the loser in reverse. No, and also today, if you see the interview,

it's, you know, it's not a winner mentality interview, you know? It's okay, you know, you're kind of resigned, in my opinion, okay, I'm going to be in the podium. I'm going to try to do everything I can

legs, which is obvious, and all they can hope for is a bad day or something else that happens. The crash, nobody wants that, but it can happen. But yeah, I guess we've proven that. Seeing what I've seen, seeing what I've been seeing, like it looks like. Primus doesn't, for the moment, doesn't have the legs. You know, he did not get a single pull, and it was not because he didn't want to, he was, he just couldn't. He couldn't. Well, he's doing those things.

You do it, you had a podium. Yeah, and you're playing the game of, let's say he stays in second.

“Let's say in Rick Moss crashes. Now he's winning, right? I think that's not that he's hoping for that,”

but he's smart enough to know that second place is a pretty good spot to be. What if you think of, so second to last climb, hard climb, very hard climb, like 13k, 7 and a half percent average, they call it, they call it the out the West of Spain. It does look like up to us. Yeah. Yeah, it's a lot of switchbacks, you know, 13 and a half kilometers, about 7 and a half percent. It's a great, it's, I mean, this was the hardest climb of the day, by the way, the harder than

Colorado Tour, but, you know, the fact that it was the second last climb, we didn't see any action, but really, really nice climb. Nice pavement also. What did actually, we said today, I spoke with someone, so I'm, you know, I know somebody who organizes this, these events, the Everest thing, events. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so they're looking for climbs, it's Spain, and I thought that could be a really good climb to do the Everest thing. You know, it's constant, it's, you can,

“of course, you would have to do it, I don't know, 7 or 8 times up and down, but that's what you have to”

do if you do Everest thing, right? So, if you, if you have what unless you climb, I'm not Everest, you do have to go up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know if it's steep enough, there's definitely a calculation. Yeah, I guess, I mean, it's like, I guess you're in the highest possible Mayhem, yeah. Yeah, but still, obduess would also be great for an Everest thing. It's, and this climb is exactly the same as obduess, in terms of, in terms of steepness and

then difficulty. Can I get Jack, that's there. So apparently they call this climb the sky of Europe, or also also window to the universe, but apparently they, they discovered planets up there

with telescopes. That's one color, aldu. Okay, not, not the first time. That was, it was, it's,

it's now Spanish, but it was a German, German base. Have you seen all these telescopes up there, like, yes. Yeah, yeah, it's like a moon landscape there. It's completely open. There's nothing, nothing, nothing there. It's pure desert. I assume nothing for a long way, right? No, you're not a thing. It's kind of, so, so a very, what do the very figure, which is the second last climb, there's a little town at the bottom called the very figure, 200, 200 inhabitants. Whoa.

Whoa. You're not getting, you're not getting Sunday night dinner there. You better plan a half with that. Yeah. Yeah. But Richard Caripass attacks on that second-of-last climb. I thought Movey star handle this perfectly. I mean, yeah. Caripass looked like he was flying, which tends to happen.

I was, I was going to say Spencer, you know, it's the same, it's always the same with Caripass.

You know, like he goes like he's, it's a spectacular, right? And he looks like he's in a Raspberry finish. But it moving. That's the thing with Caripass, his style, you know, he's like, oh, like this, and you say, I mean, he's flying. And then you look, he's 15 seconds ahead of all the time. You know, yeah. I don't know what he was trying to accomplish. Actually, it was, you know,

“that I don't think it was a spot move. And on the other hand, you have to say,”

he's incredibly strong because he recovered from that attack and could stay and come together with Phoenix. And, and, and Roglic, that's pretty impressive, man. That was going to be my follow question. Very impressive finish. If he just uses that energy on the final climb, is he, with inric mass? Probably not, but he would maybe be able to get away from from Roglic and, and go. Perhaps he's actually, he's, he said, he said, you know, his, his plan was to attack

there. So he would happen. And then, you know, whatever happened, he knew that the last climb, he just had to write his own pace, which he did. He was dropped and then he came back. He was with Mubarakai, right? Yes. Yeah. And they dropped help him out. Of course. They dropped Oscar only. So yeah, he had a good pace, man. He's back. He's in for now. And G.C. Probably not going to get on the podium. But that man, that guy in the last part of a

it's crazy. He's very impressive. It did make me wonder, what is that conversation like at EF? So you have a climb. Movey star, it's not like there's no Movey star teammates. There's

“Movey star teammates there. So let's say he gets over that climb solo. What's the plan then?”

Like, I don't know. I don't know why he attacked. I don't know. I don't know what he was trying to accomplish with that attack. I mean, I don't know, try to, I mean, maybe the same, you know, maybe, maybe, you know, trying to eliminate somebody from the podium. But, you know, it's

mass-droglish and pretty golf. You're not going to get much out of that attacking on the second

last climb compared to those guys. Yeah. And I thought when he attacked, I was like, well, he's going to blow up, right? And no, he rode pretty well. He did not blow up. That's the most impressive. He did not blow up. Yeah. So it was pretty, it very impressive that he finishes think about that 27 seconds behind the end of the class after all that. Yeah, that, that shows you like today. I thought was a little silly and maybe not that well planned. But I would circle him

is a concern because if he's crazy enough to do that today, who knows what he's going to do, the rest of the smelta and he has like the legs to back it up and finish with a GC group. So I would have a little bit of concern, but Richard Kepes would be giving me anxiety if I was working for Movistar right now. Yeah, you know, the thing is also, I've said a few times already Spencer, you know, kind of buzz doesn't have the legs to be with the top four, five guys. Well,

you know, he's he's getting there. Yeah. By the way, I mean, he should okay, set set. Of course, you know, as dropped off the pace also was in the crash with regards to by the way. So that's probably still bothering him, Oscar only crashed, you know, he's off the pace now. So Karapas is step by step. Initially he was six, seven, right? Now he's in fourth. Yeah, he's right there. Like off the podium. He tends to ride. He has really good rides

to the vault. Like you remember he was on the podium four, third, a few years ago and then second,

“he was second. No, I think Ben O'Connor was second. No, Karapas was second, too. And 2024?”

No, no, no, no. And chocolate's one, I think. I've got a lot of different pieces. He's been second to chocolate, but in 2024, after we thought he was done as a GC rider, he gets fourth at this race. Okay. Okay. And then, you know, in that Remco year where he was out of the GC, oh my lord, I think he won three stages, just three stages and three stages and the and the King of the Mountains. Yeah. So should we take a quick break and we'll talk about tomorrow,

which is actually a really tricky stage. We'll be right back. All right. We are back,

Johann, so tomorrow's stage. I believe we are on, we're finally on the Southern Coast. We're

taking off from the coastline south of Spain. 192k, 193k really. So long stage, super hot, like temperatures in the mid to high 30s, which is like 100 degrees Fahrenheit. One, two, three categorized climbs,

“but then flat to downhill final 40k. How does this stage play out and who is going to win?”

Yeah, I think it's more than 3,000 meters of elevation. So, it's a hard stage. First, the cat one climb, the hardest climb of the day comes at the beginning. So obviously, break away with strong climbers and then two cat two climbs. Break away makes it to the finish in my opinion. A big group again. Movistar will try to create the same situation. Tomorrow, it's probably not a good idea to send riders in the break for them, because they need everybody

in the Palatau. And yeah, let's just see what happens with those riders who are now, you know, like just outside of the top 10. These are the days that these guys come into play. You know, guys that are outside of the top 10, they're 12, 13 minutes down, they get five, six minutes, which is also what Movistar will want to create, because that automatically turns into some help. For somebody who is now starting to defend their top 10 plays, let's have a quick look

at the top 10 right now. So we have Karapassid Ford, Oscar-only, Omar Zell, then Skill-Mosa doesn't look like he's, you know, having the legs set goose, Mulbarger and Tejaba. Yeah, I mean, I can only see, I can only see Bahrain here, trying to defend, and maybe maybe Inel's Oscar-only stop five. The other riders I don't think so Skill-Mosa, I don't think he will try to, I mean, little track would probably not care if Skill-Mosa is 7 or 9, that makes no difference.

Seb Kus. Whether he's 8, 9, or 10, that's really matter either, I think, and then maybe Tejaba,

Harov Tejaba, who's in 10th place, that could be something that Tejaba himself or Astana, or XDS Astana wants to, wants to ride for. But, you know, it's five minutes from 10 till 11th place, yeah. So, you know, then it's five minutes and then it goes to 8 minutes. So, yeah, it needs to be a big break with a big gap, but I think the moral of the break away makes it to the finish.

“This would be, you know, if you want to stage at this, it has to be a day like today,”

because if it's easier, then Brennan is going to win, right? Well, Brennan is not making it to moral in the break. But that's why it's perfect. Like, Brennan has to win this, not this stage specifically, but this style of stage, because anything easier, Brennan, it's Brennan. Yeah, and he can't be Brennan. Hmm. So, okay, let's go for Wildvanacht. As you say, I mean, who in the right mind would work with him? But you remember the stage at the

tour where Bannerpool wins, you know, so like clearly people are working with him to take him to the line. So, it does happen, and like, Wildvan, I look so good today in the break. Like, if I'm not mad or if anyone's working with them, like obviously people are going to go up the road, you're going to have guys try to get in the top 10 overall. So, you're going to have so many settings. By the way, also also sprinting for the KOM points. Yes, yes. I mean, unfortunately, unfortunately,

for him, you know, the Dragon State in front and a lot of points. He's in second now in the KOM.

You know, it has never happened in a ground tour sponsor that a guy who was not a GC rider,

has won the points and the KOM together. It has never happened in any ground tour. So, like, it has happened that a guy who's yellow and also green and but somebody who's not a GC rider, who wins the points classification and the KOM has never happened. And he would have done it a few years ago.

“What have done it? Yeah. Yeah. I think it's interesting. It's a tough client. It's a tough rival. He has”

there. 32 points. Good climber. It's his main goal now. I don't think, I don't think it's going to be possible for while doing the KOM. I would say but try. I go not, not on the usual form though. No, no, no, no for sure not. She know. So, I mean, it, well, okay, now that you say that, he's not that far back. So, he's 22 points back. Yeah, tomorrow has a lot of points available. But tomorrow needs to be, but, but Betra was going to be in the, you know,

there's a cat one climb at the beginning. So, if Betra wants to be in the break, he will be in the break. Yes. Well, yeah, and on the cat one climb normally Betra will get it. I mean, the penthouse and I don't think so. Well, let's see. I give the air. So, if it's a, it's not that steep

at the top. It's kind of lavish at the top. Yeah, 9.2 kilometers at 6 to 6 percent.

Yeah, well, it could get it. Well, then Betra was going to be second. Yes, and he would need a stage like he needs a stage where Betra was not in the break away to win the KOM. It could be, there's actually some interesting stages coming up where, I mean, like stage 14, it probably doesn't make sense for Betra to be in the break away. Yeah, I mean, it's, it all depends also how much of a goal he wants to make it like Van art. He's sprinting for it when he's in break

“away. But is it really that important? You know, he said unfinished business. So, is that the unfinished”

business, the green and the polka dot jersey, or is it just the polka dot jersey? Well, is he everyone green here? No, no, so maybe that's him finish. There's Vanderpool, everyone a leader, jersey, that a grand tour. No, no, no. Kind of a big gap in the pulmonary. It doesn't really fit his personality, though. No, he just can't, he could not care less. He could not care less. Yeah, Van, the pool is a rider who gets a kick out of winning, meaning winning is crossing the

line and raising your arms. That's nothing else counts. No, G.C. Couldn't be bothered. Just an even really do that many stages. You think about it. Yeah, he's one of the G.C.

Well, I think you got to go with Van art for today. Obviously, for tomorrow, there's a

“going to be plenty of riders that could beat him and could beat him, but I just thought he looked.”

When he was in the break today, he kind of looked like a parent would be like, "I want to see his birth certificate. He's too old. He's racing with these guys." He's like,

he looked really strong compared to the rest of the roof. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, let's, the odds are not up yet. I would imagine he's going to be the favorite, but I'm going to, I'm going to pull up money at Van art. I think tomorrow's the day,

“if you want to stay, it's got to be a day like that, and it's going to be up there.”

And also, Van art, you can see he's really, I'm watching some interviews from Belgian TV. He looks really good. He looks, fresh. He looks happy. He really looks like he's enjoying racing his bike, which is something that, you know, you can see it when a rider is feeling good. About what he's doing. And so I know he's here to prepare for the world, you know? Yeah. Yeah. It's true. So he's going to be in the break just for training purposes. Yeah.

But even today, like, today was so hard to get in the move. He attacks early, doesn't get away. Then he just sits. You know, and there's moves going up the road. He's not worried about him. And then when he sees the big move go, he just jumps in. But, you know, everybody wants. Everybody wanted to be there. But it's, it's very hard to be there. But he just has the string to be like,

I'll just sit back and let, let the move form. And then I'll jump across the last second.

“You have to be in very good shape to do that. Extremely good shape. So he's on the form that he could”

win the stage like that. I think it's time. I think it happens tomorrow. Yeah. Okay. Final round. Up to. Yeah. Yeah. Too hard for his training. That's not the only concern. Well, yeah. I don't think Matthew Brenner will make it over that cut one time. Maybe it's a maybe I'm underestimating him. I'm going to think. I agree with you. I don't. Thanks so much. Yeah, but I'm thinking back now what he did on what he did on what he did.

I don't know. That was pretty impressive. Also. I know. I know. That's like, if now the Brenner makes it over that count one climb, people of problems. It could be, uh, just pack it in, like not just for his fault, but for every race. Like he's just going to win everything now. But Johan, we'll be back to breakdown stage. Okay. Tomorrow and preview stage. 14 and have a good evening.