The Giro round up

oh God it's jro time yes July to Lemon cello Pizza espresso K Let's Do It episode 97 of the Wheelhouse the Juro has ended but Hank is back I am back welcome back so to be back we've been waiting for you to come back we were going to record on Friday afternoon but then we figured you might be back on Monday so worth waiting for well if I came here on Friday afternoon I would be talking a whole lot of gibberish because I was seriously jetlagged and still coming out of the Twilight Zone so I'm happy you guys waited around for me it is well we've got a lot to cover this week uh we've got the Duro of course so much to unpack there the women's tour of bratan Aussie Flags everywhere there Hank everywhere I love brutan I just spent some time there I hate it every time I've ridden there it was pouring rain there's too many Hills for my liking but alas uh we need to Deep dive into your Hanks European Adventures I think we've got a fair bit to talk about there as well and I want to talk about selection because at the end of this week Oz cycling is going to nominate the riders for the Paris Olympics it's I think there might be and there's a few days for appeals I think they might be used wisely I think you've got some views on that yes we'll definitely get into that and I'll try and keep calm but let's let's start on a high because I've got lemon shello on my mind I've got pizza Calon all of it delicious the music the music how good is the music Mery Mer's already come through with the goods Goods already come through with the goods we haven't even started rocking and out let's let's head over to Italy love jro there's there's a lot of a lot of excitement that's happened in the last 3 weeks but there's one name that's prevailed overall the POG the pog pogacha he wins by less than 10 minutes actually I thought he was going to win by like 25 minutes the way he was going in the first first couple of weeks obviously I mean he just went on the offensive early but I mean for starters the jro is certainly I think is the best race the year and it always is and we've we can't go into the talking about the jro without you know knowing that he was the Standalone favorite so you know the guy was always going to shock a few and do what POG does and right away with those incredible Watts that he's got and how efficient he always is but really his competition it was kind of like I mean for everyone outside of the jro talking about the GC it was who was going to run second and third to him from the Geto which is kind of bit sad but we're watching greatness we what we really watched greatness all month so he won six stages which is pretty staggering uh until I took a bit of a deep dive and I realized that in 2004 alesandro won nine stages yeah that's pretty phenomenal that was your era that was my era and I actually came up against him many many times in 2005 and 2006 in the jro and going back to that guy Alexandro so he rode for a team called fer bordo which is white and blue kid really cool and um was the whole team was just the lead out train for him there was no GC aspirations whatsoever there was one guy who could climb who to make sure that he was there for paky but back in those days you could even start nine I think eight or nine in the Jos so he had eight lead out men and one of those guys by the way was a gentleman by the name of Fabian kelara who started his career as a lead out man for so can you imagine how many stages he was always going to win um um he was an absolute Legend he was just a big strong guy who had the fastest lead out and you know if you if you're on his wheel and you just poked your head out to the side you know you would realize how fast they're all going so not surprised he won so many but Robbie Robbie and gaty and I managed to snag six off him in two years in 2005 and 2006 so but um yeah good times back in the jro in those days um but uh yeah it's the Jos I think the best race of of the year for sure I I've always said it's one of the better races too in saying that though I rode more than half a dozen maybe closer to 10 women's Jos and I loathed it because the organization was always a bit of a show and for for the women for the women's in your era in my in my era and I'm not sure it's changed so much actually since then for the women but uh Ben o Conor he came out uh pretty much swinging and said it's the most disorganized race on the entire count like big words well they are big words maybe he needs to come back down a few pegs and ride a few 2. tws and see how well they're organized cuz I just got back from Greece and I can tell you it's uh it's been uh a challenge just to get through the day so and I've done grand Tours and yes it was a different era it was mid 2000 not that long ago um they're great Racers and I think they're well organized races so I think he's um needs a harden up a bit and you know he's yeah yeah he's a strong bike rider he's he's you know he's one of the world's best right now but if you're a little bit cold mate um you know you paid millions of dollars to ride your bike and if there's a safety issue I get it but if it's just a temperature issue then yeah no you need to get on with it okay well let's dive into that element of it a little bit more because on one side we could talk for hours about how how much paga dominated and he did I mean there there's no doubt about it he really didn't have a moment's pause there were no wobbles uh there were no nees he did what he wanted when he wanted however he wanted however he wanted very much so I mean he wasn't really a gentleman about it he kind of he was accountable about it there's a reason Eddie MKS got that nickname but it did start to come up more and more the conditions that the athletes were expected to race in and there was quite a lot of discourse and there was quite a lot of noise from Adam Adam Hansen at the CPA talking about ride of Rights talking about is it fair to make them race in these conditions what really struck me was there in my mind is no doubt that if the writing is dangerous if you're talking about going down to scents that are dangerous that have perhaps black ice on the road especially when they're up in the mountains and there's so much snow if you're talking about avalanches m it is not fair that the riters should be exposed to that but cold when it's simply about cold and it's simply about the Riders being able to get the number of jackets I want to put one thing to you there was a lot of noise made around the Riders aren't given the chance to get jackets out of their team cars but it confused me a little bit I'll be honest because I don't want to be the back in my day but you carry your jacket with you mhm so has it changed so much that they will no longer carry jackets with them this genuine question but they have to get them from the team car instead it makes no sense because there's two team cars there's two team cars so if you're dropped like if there's a front group the number one team car stays with the GC Riders and if you're in the second group then you've always got a team car behind you and they Leap Frog the whole time even to the point where you know someone punches the second team car comes up and will feed the rest of the team so there's always there and also the clothing's much better now from point of view is there a fair argument for extreme weather protocol in the cold like are we being a bit tough on them saying well Avalanche yeah no brain a bit cold come on no cold I don't reckon there's any I mean if it's the dangerous conditions if there's ice on the road get it if there's uh like a the tour the other year where there was an a small slight Avalanche and they stopped at the stage where Adam Yates was up the road and they had all the storm uh Adam Yates Simon Yates I think um when green he was going to win the stage and they called it off I get that that's that's a no-brain ey 100% like that but if it's just if you're cold because you don't want to go down to 10K descent then that that kind of that's rubbish I mean we're a blue collar sport there's no bums on seats people come to watch the racing um and it's the 20 20 days in in Italy in the jro and yes it's cold and it's hot and it's windy but that's May every year and has been for the the whole hundred years or how many years the jro has been going so that kind of has to stop that that bit of talking around I'm cold I don't want to go down and descent because someone wants to who just paid a million euro to go through linho like if that's the case and these we're losing races like we are losing races I am at the Forefront right now in Europe where races are disappearing on a weekly basis like we actually have to come back from Europe early this year because we don't have enough racing so if we lose races because of money and everything else I mean people do Cy people sponsor cycling because they love it and because everyone in their town can go and watch it and when you take towns who put money out uh put money out for races because the Riders are cold and that's going negative in in there um in that book in that respect dance isn't it you know there has to be for them it's an ecosystem if they want to get their million doll contracts then they have to go through the towns who pay the money because that's how it all works that's essentially where the money comes from not directly but safety safety issues yeah there's no there's no conversation yes if it's if it's bad then uh I understand that and I reckon we can still do way more for the traffic Furniture in all Races I think that needs to have a blueprint there's got to be Crush barriers on every single pole that's in the middle of the road for every single race on Earth and that goes from like the 2.2 up to the grand Tours and we stuff that needs to be talked about a bit more I reckon because and we'll get into my experience over the last eight weeks with the amount of crashes that we had in our in our um in our racing um but yeah the the safety stuff there's more needs to be talked about with Road furniture and direction in races um and less about on cold so yeah I mean given winter sport exists and the clothing exists I think that's possibly one thing that is an overreach but yeah when it Avalanche or sry I saw something cool Julian Al Philipe in his first jro he cut the top off one of his bottles and had his jacket stuffed in that yeah and that's great idea cools that and you know what you just put them up your back as well so just you can you look like a a humpback whale yeah there's also a sprinter climbing with that anyway that's for sure but I mean you just there's you always got to find the happy medium between really sweating on a climb and then going over the top and it's like 4° and there's you know smattering of snow coming down and then you go dive down 5K and then it goes up 10° so there's always that you know jacket on jacket off jacket on jacket off but they've got like 20 staff members so there's always someone to give a jacket there's always two team cards they're always and they can change clothes a lot so um without I mean I'm glad those days are over for me and they were hard and they were tough but it's a blue collar Sport and you know people come to see the racing and really want those epic stages I mean I've seen in the 80s and I've raced in the snow before too and um I've seen in the 80s hamston and Johan valela who were just riding with snow all over their you know Vis all over the head U and through those amazing mountain stages of the garia and the stelia which they went this year over over those Hills and one week before they were talking about not having the jro over there and you know kind of clears up and they plow the road and they go over it and we have a great spectacle and people come to see those stages in the jro and the T and the vaala they want to see the Epic stuff and that's our sport is is that epic oh my god did you see this did you see those guys they you know rode up a you know 15K climb and there was 5 minutes of snow and then it went through and everyone's like taking photos never forget those days for the rest of their life even the riters won't no well that's right I mean there there is that epic image of Andy hamston in in 88 yeah Hank put me to work he made me find it here I found it I found it yeah give us a look so he's going up I think it's steio G the garia or the St which are right close to each other no helmet because wasn't necessary in that in that time no leg warmers uh no shoe covers but thick gloves and a jacket and another jacket on top of that and he's getting it done yeah I mean you got to remember too that that the garia and the stelvio are close to 26 2700 M so it's always like that at the top even in the middle of the summer there's snow and Glaciers and everything else so and it's a short amount of time where you're riding in those conditions it's really maybe 30 minutes to 45 minutes where you go out over the climb and down the other side and then you drop down into say bouro where it's at, 1900 or 1600 or whatever and then you you race on say but um people really want to see that stuff I reckon it's important I'm not sure what year it was but look at that in the background it's the Delorean from Back to the Future that's pretty cool it was 88 so that's about is that when night rer was on more white in the photo than any other color I do have a complaint though if the UCI is listening that their rain jackets and their neoprane gear should be team color because by the time everybody is in the fully covered up it's black black black black black cuz you've got your commentator hat on well no but even for fans like and photography like if Andy hamston can have it in full color he would have been freezing he wouldn't have had the great gear that they have now but I think that that is a real thing that they need to address yeah I I kind of get it I'm I'm with you on that but having running a team in Europe it's it's kind of difficult to have colorcoded you know completely colorcoded raincoats and everything else around that all the UCI cares about is whether where your transponder sits and whether they can see the number frame on your body hold on all the UCI cares about is if your socks are the correct he let's don't get me start I got warned by the UCI last week cuz we had had a new run of Black Sheep clothing that came in um that was just the tiniest fraction different than the Run we had in January and they were going to fire me 200 Swiss frank per Rider and I was going to get a 200 Swiss frank and that's all they all worried about were you wearing the kit too no no because I'm the manager they're like oh it's your fault you've got to sort it out and you can have the same kit and we're like really so there's guys hitting posts at 80k now but you care about what color my kid is I've just got a tiny little different anyway when you start prioritizing that shot over Rider safety then yeah I get it so I can't understand why Adam Hansen and those guys do stick up for rers like that when you see what they concentrating on which is that shot and then what the Riders want so there's a big divide in between what those those two priorities are and you know cracking the whip about how different a kit may look or you know talking about whether we need color coded raincoats and compared to some guy a post it's just a wish list that you know I'm just putting it on my wish list uh it's getting bigger that wish it really it really really is it's it's volumes thick now uh let's talk about the Aussies because we had a bit of a a misfire from the sprinters you would say uh Kaden Groves got close close close close close uh but no cigar he ran second a couple of times to merer to Milan MH so he he was up there but didn't quite happen Caleb in his first jro gun didn't happen for him no it's his first jro is finished yeah so what's what's that about in your mind I liked what Kaden said um so Kaden said this really just shows that I'm not a pure Sprinter they are that was the one sentence that I think everyone needs to really think about because when you actually look at Kaden Kaden Groves as a bike rider he's just an animal he's just a strong mofo who finds his way who can Sprint when he doesn't have the absolute world's best like a philipson or a m or and now Milan who is obviously the the fastest guy but I want to see Milan up against philipsson in the tour now you know I know Milan philipson and well I don't know that Milan's riding the tour I he's getting ready to defend their Olympic teams Puro title yeah and good on him cuz that's what's you know he's just come tick tick tick and right out there's my season's goal I'm on to the next one so but um with Kaden yeah he's just come out and said listen you know I'm it shows I'm not really the pure Sprinter yes the team worked for me here because this is all we've got here um but um you know he's going to win Grand Tour stage he's going to pick one up but I'm excited for him for um world so yeah well and we'll talk about it a bit later but you know maybe Olympics as well I think he'd go very well on the Paris course I think he needs to go there 100% but with Caleb I think I don't know I mean he's gone back to green Edge this year he's obviously comfortable there uh Magic's done admirably as a pilot but um I think he just needs a clear run one day but he seemed to lose a little confidence and you know when you start you know not going for those gaps as a sprinter I think you're done for that race maybe that's just a little period that's going through his head right now I think he's still one of the fastest ever but yeah for this for this may this jro he he wasn't there he just couldn't make that that decision that really you know as a sprinter you need to find those gaps and push your way through those gaps or find a way um which like Robbie used to do all the time like he just found away he found a hole he' just you know make that decision and at a moment he's just not on top of his game so that sucks for him because he's not done I don't re he's done no I don't think he's done either I mean people are talking about it like oh he's done it's like a race car driver who doesn't go for the hole he's dead as a race car driver you know talk about in the F1 I don't think that's the case I think that's just happened now so it can be for the race though like it's hard it's one thing to look at turning that around in a season but in a 21-day race including a lot of days where you're just in pure survival mode that's a different thing but he's fit like he was getting to hard finishes like I was I didn't watch many Gs stages cuz I super busy doing the races that we all doing but highlights that I saw and everything else he's getting to those hard finishes and as a sprinter and he's not known for that and he can be you know hot and cold so he's super fit he just wasn't taking his chances which just kind of sucks for him because it's all revolves around that you know those five or six days in the jro so if you can't make a it sucks to be a sprinter when you can't Sprint well we talk a lot going in about Caleb and Caden and their spring opportunities we talked a lot about Ben oon we're going to talk about him a bit more I want to talk about who I think is the most underrated Aussie Talent out there the last few episodes I've been bringing him up every time Michael stor he ran 10th yeah exactly he is no one talks about him phenomenal he won the K Jersey at the Welter in 21 he's riding for tud to Pro cycling now under the guidance of Fabian kilara it's probably half the reason he flies under the radar cuz they're an upand cominging team and they're not really talking about in the same breath you know he was he was formerly at DSM like he's been on the bigger teams but why aren't we keeping more of a look on him like we talked so much about our other climbers but he had some incredible rides yeah and he's super strong won a couple of stages of w a couple of years ago really come out of you know the woodwork he's another worst Australian on my head um we'll add him to the uh trophy the Legends well he's Legend I mean when you win Grand Tour stages and um I think he's just a quite unassuming guy that really doesn't take a lot of the Limelight or much of the media's attention because he's kind of in the background he's not really fighting for the overall win but 10th in my boxes that's just legendary I mean how many top 10 finishes have Australians had in any Grand Tour there's a little one for the public out there can have him work out how many top 10 people of I mean cadel Anderson um who who else has finished in the top 10 of grand Tours as I mean we've got our you know Richie Port yeah Richie con yeah Ben Michael Richie J J um is less than 10 so he's up there and he he's a legend an absolute Legend St let let's kind of store watch too now I think he's 27 uh and he he's just really impresses me yeah the way he races he always if you look in the back of shots he's often just sitting there looking far more comfortable but he's not one of the big names they talk about I love it no hey Hank what's with the uh what's with the talent out of the West wa it's something in the water over there is it really what's in the water Something In The Water you know no I actually this was just a strong cycling background from you've got some really solid climbers Hills over there there's not a lot of I mean there's k over there well we haven't got bloody Buffalo and bright and you know frb and everything else I just think they breed him tougher over there m just tougher over there and they've got a coppet from the East Coast all the time so they just you know it was like they just become tough speaking of uh your Buffalo and whatnot our little Buffalo Warrior plappy he did pretty well he did and had a had a tough few stages in there but I cannot believe that someone who gets sick mid Grand Tour pushes through like that like he had to let the wheel go a few times like mat if you're in bed with a feber how the hell are you getting up the next morning and setting yourself going right I'm going to try and win the time trial in three days and I'm in the fetal position right now after you know 240k and I've just done 11 days and I'm crook as Rookwood and then you know he comes and runs fifth in the time trial that's epic and he was really good before he got sick too let's not forget that I've long said that he's His Own Worst Enemy you know like he he doesn't really know when to stop so he may end up in a massive hole after this because he's pushed himself through some significant illness to be able to achieve it um just just depends on how they all recover from a grand tour everyone like grows an extra leg once you come out of The Grand Tour you really do get super strong and if he can finish it and he's you can recover from it he's not complet absolutely destroyed today after he finished the jro he be fine so I mean I'm sure that green Edge would have pulled him if he was too sick I'm sure he would have fought him too the now but he would have listened to you know their medical team but he's obviously in great form um and came into the tour with good form and when you've got good condition even when you're sick you can recover so they must have been like okay just you're going to have to let the wheel go for a few days and just chill and then see how he going the last week but um yeah great start to the jro I think he did really really well and he I love how he has a crack that's huge I do you know like just don't want to be in the background all the time and just being finishing somewhere on GC there's nothing worse than someone who doesn't animate a bike race and plappy is always going to give us that so you got to love him for that oh he'll always be entertaining that's for sure now um to just go full circle before we move on to the women's dominance in britania I really want to talk talk about that go aies uh paga now his team the sport manager for UAE who did a tremendous job the whole team I might said this is a quote from him some people might say he's a tyrant that he's a cannibal that he wants to win everything we are paid to win and we race to win we don't believe in the idea of gifts no one gifts anything in the sport that's true okay but on stage 20 Garren Thomas sitting on the podium bot went down of his own accord clipped a wheel had a bit of a whoopsie y uh paga kind of led the the Cal Podium yeah led the Cal to make sure that nobody attacked or um or rode on through that that was potentially an opportunity for Martinez or potentially for benona to get onto the podium uh if they had have ridden I think this is really curious everyone's saying what a great Sportsman Pachi is but he if they're saying we don't believe in the idea of gifts is it really his position in the bunch to slow everybody down for a minor fall that Thomas caused on his own in the middle of the bunch and almost nullify yeah the other riters see I think what Pacha would have done there is just gone to was it Mah who was still there in the group just going Thomas is crashed let's not ride full gas like you guys can all go if you want but we're not we don't have to you want to go for your life we're going to follow okay but if Ben o Conner for example if he and his team had have gone full gas and gone on the attack to try and get that Podium spot off Thomas would he have then made himself the least popular man in the pelaton I wouldn't want to be in Ben o Conor shoes if you um said to your teammates ride full noise on it keys not getting back on he he would not be popular and good luck ever going to another team I honestly don't reckon most many BLS would do it you would have to really dislike someone to actually go you know what he's got what's coming to him it's the code it's like a br kind of is and I don't reckon too many BLS would do it or or ladies for that matter would go and say oh well he's crash I I'm only 30 seconds behind if we ride full here I'm on the podium like you don't want to take um you don't want to take a victory or you don't want to take a spot on a Podium from someone else's Misfortune and I think that's what's happened there so I'm glad that didn't happen for his sake for his standing for his longevity which is a good call I mean pagach could have stopped on the side of riding side of the roiding an espresso and waited for him and had a chat with him to get back on and he didn't care like he was never losing the jir yeah it didn't matter to Pacha so but didn't he get sick as well Nera he did he did he he battled through the last couple of days so look maybe it's a moot point because there was no opportunity for him to be able to attack because he was simply surviving himself he might have been quite glad well I mean that's a thing right like you you you're seven minutes in the lead you wake up and you've got a 40° fever they're not waiting for you and that's there's no gifts well and there was but there was only 35 seconds back to fifth that actually um with Tiber from B and Victoria so you know it's not just OK Conor who could have yeah made unpopular in that moment you'd have to be pretty bloody desperate or have some gigantic bonus system in your contract for you to ride full noise when one of the most popular BLS in the pelaton in the last 25 years 20 well gez that old so 20 plus years crashes and you hit him good luck well incidentally it was also his birthday so that would been very unsporting of birthday mate he he just turned 38 is that all gar Thomas Jesus goes right doesn't he he does how do you how do you like he nearly won the jro last year like rogi got him in the last time trial and he's still on the podium so he's most one of most loved bles in the pill so and not only that Hank he continued to do his podcast every day on the on the massage table on the the massage table we should get a massage table actually but what for Mass well for me I could just switch the show in here on a massage table I get sore but anyway um that would another demographic I like it got a whole another demographic a demographic that we want I don't know we don't really care we welcome everyone we will uh welcome everyone on board for whatever hang on but Hank I uh just want to put it to both of you so there's no RIT no yonas no uh who else no no Remco at the zero so what's this look like going to the tour can he sustain this well I think do you guys think that he backed it off in the last week I do yeah I reckon he needed to back it off in the last week but I just I don't think he did I think he well Monty graer he he went he went on Monty grapper but I reckon he could have won this yearo by 20 plus minutes if he wanted to well that wouldn't have been smart given what he's still going for this year well he's just got to think that the third week of the tour is the most important week of the year if he wants to double because you can't be this good and maybe I'm talking and I don't know how good he is but if you're if you're super in May you've also got to keep that going and not a lot of end of July the third week the last Mountain Stage in July he's got to have this form but that's what I mean mate would they be would would Rog liit and that be shaken in their boots at his form or would they be glad he did the jro I don't reckon Rog liit ever shakes in his boots about anyone SK boots I Reon he just needs to stay on his bike they they kind of paddle their own canoes but they'll come in underdone no question and ride into form yeah and ride into it so it will be an interesting in that regard I mean speaking of which yumbo Vima oh yeah they've changed names sorry Vima Lisa yeah they their best Rider in 22nd over an hour down a Tilla vter uh so I think they even as a team are just well they trying to rebuild haven't they well I mean when you lose the two best bike riders in the world you know before even the jro starts and you lose the one of the best Classics riders in the world in W who goes out and then Ving got and they have serious injuries both of them um and they take a long time to come come back like W's racing again in Norway off again and stay on your bike W did he fall over again yeah he did oh God anyway he's fine though he's okay elbow he's all right but um yeah I mean everyone's talking well he is is uh vinger guard going to be right for the tour I think he'll be fine third week of the tour just depending where I think the first the danger the first 10 days you'll just get better and better tour if he goes um same with wout um but he's already said he's not going the tour is he no W's out W's out I think will be his big Focus yeah so I mean I think we're in for a RI a tour after seeing that I mean can go either way with with the POG it can be exceptional now have some time off and then he's going to have to come back and really concentrate on being good in the third week of the tour or he could just smash everyone on the first week and that's the great thing about pying you never know who's going to be incredible in the two half not many writers have done it not many writers have done the double well no and and you have to look at you can't just look at his form in a vault you've got to look at what's going on around him and the other riters coming in going in the field at the jro and the course and so I think it's far more complex than simply saying ah he'll he'll be unbeatable he'll go in with you know a Target on his back but last couple of years we've seen him beatable well he was beatable and remember did break his wrist was it wrist or collone last yes so he went in underdone and vingard had his measure and maybe it's going to be reversals this year which is kind of cool actually because POG wins two vingar wins two and now this year we don't know what's going to happen with uh Remco coming in and Rick actually I reckon he's super hungry Rick I'm really excited to see what he does in the tour and I think you'll have more freedom too with a bit of a question mark still on uh yeah on your own well then it'll have a Red Bull helmet well they'll look completely different yes now let's talk about the women in britania the Aussie women uh dominated it's only a 2.1 race so not a world tour race but Grace Brown won the opening time trial Sarah Roy uh won the next stage go Roy so good to see her back and uh then Grace brown brown won the third stage so did they win the overall they won the overall so Grace won the overall overall so for the first time in a while it was a really good opportunity to see the Aussies kind of do their thing and ride their style of racing and the reason I think this is really important is because if we look forward to the Olympics which is such an important race especially for the women you don't have teams of six or seven you don't even have teams of five it's a much smaller field most of the countries have two or three Riders and so that is an environment where the Aussies can do their thing a bit more and I think one of the reasons they've done races like britania instead of uh the tour of Britain that's on at the moment is so that they can get used to you know being able to race in their own style it's hard there too I've just come back from that region which we did the tour of Brana and it's windy it's hilly small roads it's dangerous left and right it's technical it's uh it's super hard out there whereas you are right um our girls are actually racing just finished in London and it's like a Sprint Fest Great roads I mean Grace Brown won in leage and that was you know the first time we've seen an Aussie woman when there but before that people for quite a while had been talking about almost like they were talking about Caleb like is she passed it like what's happened to Grace Brown and then all of a sudden had a career year yeah and you can you can really see that for all the debating might like to do or for all the Insight you might have the athletes individual programs determine so much about their form do doesn't it I mean it's they start a 100 races a year maybe but it's it's it's everything and we were talking not so long ago about how Grace Brown we thought oh she's going to win rebe but then then she goes out and wins a hilly classic yeah and then comes out and wins tour to brutan for women so yeah she stepped it up hugely and Sarah Roy he's always been super strong good to see her get a win it is she's also had a a tough time of you know doubting herself and wondering whether she'd be able to make the top step again so we love you Roy awesome to see like no it is I mean no it is when youed know a lot of the athletes makes it better too doesn't it you know the ladies you follow and you know their struggles and their ups and downs cuz you know puts more context than just the result sheet yeah the result Sheet's so imp personal oh isn't it it is just results being it's so in person you really want you really want to know the story behind the writers it's it's 100% it's so much it's so much better when you realize what they've been through to get there and that's what every athlete struggles with is like the down days the days you dropped you crashed you're sick you got a parasite you're like in fighting in the team and you get to put it all together and there's only a certain amount of days and you don't win many races in your career so when you can that's what makes it more special and it's The Human Side of of our sport which is fantastic and yeah so Chapo to two two of those ladies having great years so and and I think goes to show too that experience counts a lot in this Sport and your experience and how how you in and how you've learned like the young girls and the young guys need to understand that they got to all go through those periods of you know downtime and um where you're getting your ass handed to the crosswind and you know you're in the last group and you come in you're just inside a time limit and then 3 months later you're winning so it makes it all the more special because every cyclist in the world's been through it exactly merie remember at Boxing Day last year we turned up at your sister's house which is Roy's coach with 20 bottles of wine and Sarah was in the garage in some kind of suit like a sweat suit on a trainer she yeah she was I thought you were just going to say she was on the G no no everybody rolled in very jolly punishing herself and I was like what are you doing Sarah it's boxing day she had like she looked like like a painter suit yeah well she looked like the Breaking Bad doing some heat training kind of oh really yeah it's quite cool anyway their dedication is real tell tell us a little bit about Hank's wonderful adventures Hank's European travel how the team go lots of Falls La yeah it was the year of the crash uh for us is that like on the Chinese calendar no not between the rooster and theg the rooster or whatever but no I don't know we must have um run over a few black cats or something um but um yeah it was a good period uh we did lots of racing went over and did Circuit to adens which is a super hilly Northern French race um tour of bratan tour of Greece and some one-day races and literally every single day they went down it was my mechanic was working till midnight most nights changing handlebars and forks and Spokes and regluing tires because these guys and I was literally walking around with a first a kit most nights trying to patch up and sending them to the doctor and had to do a heap of um I wouldn't call him scat test cuz I'm not a doctor but a lot of concussions which is kind of scary um and that's an immediate pull him out of the race and we had you know almost won a race where I had to pull him out um I had one guy who crashed three times in 25 km including hitting a back of a car which stopped in front of him for a puncher at 70k an hour and had to put him in the front seat he didn't know what country he was in um jeez that's I mean that's tough just from a human perspective right yes and you've got to manage this stuff uh as best you can with these young men I mean I'm I'm in charge of the the men's program when I'm away um the girls had some similar experiences um with crashes but um is it because there is it obviously there's course design there's a lot of Road Furniture there's incidents like the car stopping that's unacceptable but do you think it's pretty tough for the Aussies who've only raced domestically really to go over there and be in those conditions I don't think it's I think they need that like we race over in the NRS here in Australia where there big wide roads not much traffic yes I I understand but like You' you've got to get onto it quickly yeah like you've got to have heads up I always tell them over the radio when we can like you can't be looking at the Hub in front of you you're going to be looking 150 to 400 m you're going to be reading the bunch in front of you and it's a bit difficult when you're in the biggest gear you got and you're at 185 beats a minute I understand that but it's the same for everyone and they they have to get used to it and these are the years that they will form them as bike riders um when they're you know they're developing um they're getting used to the speed and the technicality and the big bunches and everything else so we made talk about how yes it's dangerous and yes it's the sport we're in you know riding around with li a styrofoam on your head at 60k an hour and the wet coming down a descent with mud on it um so these are the things that make you professional bike riders so you know that technicality that you know super speed with all the other world tour Academy teams and ag2 and DSM and ARA and aana and lotto and quickstep and you know go riding with these guys and yes they're used to it but we have a short window and um they did they Rod really well um we got some good results Dean rce won a a big one day race in Holland Rond over r that massive guys it is massive and if you look at the Sprint he was on his own with about 80 guys left he had no teammates left cuz they all threw themselves off the bike before that um and he went with 400 to go and he did a double kick so he kicked to hit the front realize oh well I'm here now I got to go again so uh some great footage of that and Dean's had a fantastic gear and he held off a Bunchy going with 400 to go so if any sprinters out there know you try and do two kicks and 400 meters see how you go there's not much left in the tank no I mean how did the athletes handle it because it is scary it is intimidating and when you do come down once twice you start to lose a little bit of confidence how are you getting them to get on the start line the next day without that in the front of their mind yeah I mean we kind of nurse them through the day they when they have crashed they like nurse them straight back on the bike I'll put you on the back of the car which is legal give them a little cuddle no cuddles no cuddle oh no cuddles no cuddles afterwards no wiping of bums no wiping of bums so but no no I mean we we we're trying to turn them into young men and young women who you know can stand up for themselves and the best way to do that is just to be very direct but also so not uh nasty and I try and go that direct route it's like okay you've crashed are you okay have you EIT your head no do you feel okay can you continue right get on my mechanic's pushing them down the road in 15 seconds so they're on the back of the car and they're in the Convoy within 2 or 3K we then stay with them to the back of the back of the Convoy we make sure they are are okay they've got bottles are you okay fine all right mate there's your teammate he's taking you back to the front and this is how you need to continue the rest your bike race and if that's okay if you can't do that then probably best to get to go to a a different sport because this is what it's about it's about their Gladiators and I mean that in in without sounding too dramatic but if you do crash is part of the sport and every cyclist that I know will have five five touchdowns a year um two or three being small and one big off and one where you might you know have to stop Racing for a little while but that's just when you do 100 days racing a year and you're doing 35,000 k a year that's just the risk that you're um taking being a cyclist so but yeah I mean they they Rod really well and they leared a lot and um we did some great high level racing with World Tour Academy Riders um and they stuck it to them I would just wish they had a little bit more luck this year and maybe that's what happens uh moving forward because they're not done we're still racing for another two and a half months in Europe and um Matt and Ben will be taking that um forward um Matt with a lot of experience as green Edge director knows exactly what he's doing and um they're very lucky to have him um as DS but um yeah they've got some great racing to go but yeah some good results but the main thing for our team is just development so we're not really going there okay we're going to win today we're going to do this and we're going to put this plan it's like all right guys hold on today hold on today tomorrow this is where Guys Like You Blake anelto where we can win a stage and he got great top 10 he was top 10 in any Bunchy all the time third 5ifth 8th 10th he's always there so he's someone to look forward in the future and Dean was fantastic and the guys like Cohen J and uh Josh cranage they're just kids they're kids they're like 18 19 year olds just coming first dip of you know dipping their toe in the water so for them it's um it's all about experience and you know crushing is part of it and they'll move on and keep going and on to the next one and and doing stage races is also great because they just get huge power out of it so well look and if Benny Kirsten's over there for the next round he'll give them a cuddle yeah yes Benny is warm and fuzzy and everyone loves him and he's a great man the team mascot yeah he I have a I have a rookie question Hank you know like in footy the the the scouts they go to the games when they're young are there Scouts that are looking at your guys every every race I was actually talking you see them all over the place they the world tour guys come and watch all the high level under 23 races I was talking to the Bor Scout actually the first two one days races we did in Italy and they just follow the whole year around the the under 23 and they're not just looking at their team they're looking at absolutely everyone and they have a conversation with you and they go what's this kid like and how is he and you go he's a bloody Ripper or you know and he he's very young he needs some work but he's going to be good and all this kind of stuff and this guy's got great numbers and this one he's just a born winner and he's got a 30 year old head on your shoulders so yeah there's a lot of there's a lot going on in the background and especially in that development Squad and when you are completely honest about your writers when you can say you know he he's still a bit young but he'll get there then they trust you more too right so they'll come to you more and well you don't those guys get found out real quick yeah yeah well that's not good for you or the athlete that that's not a good ecosystem we've got a great track record of putting one to two Riders every year into a world tour team and that's the ladies and the men's and I think that will continue I think that will continue and bridgelane do the same they seem to be putting one to two up there so you know those two Powerhouse squads seem to be the destination for most young Australians men and male and female who you know and that's we need that in cycling Australia we need we need those squads to prop up um you know and we need that in between Grassroots to us to that next level uh now really quickly cuz we're running out of time H who knew you could talk oh no who knew there's been some selections that have happened uh junior World Championships and such at the end of this week o cycling will nominate to the AOC who should go to the Paris Olympics uh but especially looking at the Juniors and and with the track there was a little bit of discourse uh in the selections where full teams weren't filled and put forward and one of the justifications is that o cycling don't just send somebody to get experience um you know they they have to be hitting some kind of performance level um to get there but something that stood out to me and this is pointed out by the parents more than anything uh is they're starting to look at things like average speeds and saying well you know the the winner did this average speed and our Rider based on their win at the national championships their average speed is you know not up to scratch and it just occurred to me that it's coming down to a lot of data like they're stripping a bit the athletes themselves and their potential out of it and starting to make decisions based on a whole lot of numbers uh what are your thoughts on this I mean everyone probably thinks I'm a dinosaur now in the sport um I get Fair well when you start talking about watts and pound numbers and everything else probably I am a bit of a dinosaur cuz I'm more a realist and um it's based on fact and how you see somebody how they perform their you know how they are in a team environment how they're results based and whether they're learning but the idea to not take someone to a junior worlds because they can't do it for experience is unacceptable and two I think if you're basing stuff on numbers then we've lost the plot but what I mean is it fair to throw Junior athletes in to a world championship when they're not going to perform competitively I absolutely think 100% that you have to take them you have to take them and you have to well why would they for me you've got to Juniors it's there's a word because they're juniors they're not professional they're not under 23 um development Academy writers they're juniors they're going to Junior worlds for experience whether they're going to win or they're going to get last they need to go there and they need to get their head kicked in because then they know the level they're at cuz if you don't take them and they're just going to ride around that like hefron Parks speed do you know what I mean like that's not going to work they need to go and go oh my God these guys are good I need to pull my finger out in the experience oh look how well the Italian team rode at the junior worlds they had like seven guys lined up in the crosswind and they rode together as a team oh we should do that why don't we do that like because you can't get that at hefron Park or in Centennial Park or wherever you where there is there's no experience you've got to take Juniors you got to throw them in the deep end and they've got to find out what the level is is it do you think it's hard for Aussies from Juniors when you dominate so much in Australia because it's a small talent pool whereas in Europe you're not just racing your National Title you're also racing all the other countries around you and so you unless you are really the very very best you're quite aware of what you're not yeah whereas the Aussies can go over there going I'm the queen of the world I'm the king of the world I win everything it's such a different mindset isn't it yeah and that's why all Juniors should go that's why they should go they should race in Australia January February March and they should try and find a club team over there to go on Race because you can race in Holland Belgium France Italy Spain anywhere on a club team and still have 150 Juniors get your butt KCK on the start line yes and good for you to get your butt kick but they all do it I did it I'm sure that every one in your era went over to Europe and learned how to race bikes like back in our day it was handicapp and yeah I'm a dinosaur but you know you had to go over there to learn and race against the best in that country and even if it was two days racing in Belgium and two days in France and five crits in Holland or whatever you got to learn how to race as a bike rider and I think that's that's important otherwise we're not going to have you know the abundance of Juniors coming through to squads like our AR skip C and and bridg Lane so you you've got to get over there you got to learn and you've got to go with the national team it creates a sense of Pride when you go away to your first world championships they pay for it anyway the the parents pay for it all the parents yeah don't what does it cost them yeah maybe a mechanic mechanic and a manager the track Junior so Road hasn't been selected yet but for the junior track the kids that didn't make it a lot of them went over and raced uh in Malaysia I think it was um and did great it was a great experience for them so and that was on the back of the parents so baely Yang took them over uh and gave them that experience and I think that that was Unreal and that's what it should be about in juniors it shouldn't be oh my God we're going to get our asses handed to us we're not going to send a team it's all about experience so what if they're a minute down or whatever it is they they need to understand the level they need to get to and they're never going to find that out out unless they go and do that it's not embarrassing for pying Australia to go over there and say you know um oh they're not good enough we're not going to waste our money that's rubbish it's not the attitude it's interesting and you know we'll continue to have this conversation because teams will continue to be named uh for more events and of course the Olympic team so I'm really interested in your thoughts on that cuz we're so limited very small teams for the Olympics there will be big names who miss out who there will be people outraged about uh so we can debate just take sprinters just take I I tend to agree it's going to be a hard race we talked about two of them today so yes we did go kayen yeah go kayen Hank welcome back oh it's great to be back Kate I'm sure we'll do a few more of these in the next couple of weeks we will mert how good is it to have Hank back in studio yeah it's very good he's uh he puts me to work he he does this fine that yeah hey but you do an exceptional job you are you're good it's good to have you back hang and I just want to check is that a Skiby you go to Europe is that a Skiby no this is just a jumpy a turtleneck I thought it was a no not quite a turtleneck turtleneck sweater maybe no it's very Euro very euroo just pulled it out of me suitcase very good A bit chilly here episode 97 here at the Wheelhouse not far off that not far off the 100 not far off the 100 we might be able to make it yeah I'll I'll bake a cake I'll I'll bake a cake for the 100th episode 100 yeah make it gluten-free that sounds like a good race it's like a good race The Wheelhouse 100 The Wheelhouse 100 you can make it happen there'll be cake at the end of The Wheelhouse 100 I mean invol everyone will want to join keep wearing the black turtleneck sweaters and no one needs to know ex very flattering why do you think I'm wearing it [Music] over and out chow chow catch you

Channel: TheWheelHouseCyclingPodcast

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Id: rcgMfrDSaVs

Length: 56min 6sec (3366 seconds)

Published: Mon May 27 2024