OV9

As for riders, Vingegaard is in better shape than the last couple of years, but I can’t see him trouncing Pogacar unless there’s a crash or Pogacar has an exceptionally bad day on one of the final stages.

I’m gutted Oscar Onley is not riding due to injury, because it would have been brilliant to see him along with Paul Seixas and Isaac del Toro in a grand tour. I suspect they’re all aiming for top 5 GC places. Well, maybe not del Toro, he’s surely at the service of Pogacar in terms of strategy, with the white jersey being a secondary goal.

I’ve given up with Remco as a challenger on grand tours. He always brings so much promise but sadly never delivers on these kind of races.

I'd agree with that, especially the Remco bit. Three week races often seem too much for him when there's top level competition. I think Pogacar is probably favourite, but Vingegaard has had a much better build up this year.

It’s weird because he’s up there in the top finishers, but it always feels like he’s not really delivered for some reason

He's by no means a bad rider, he's even won the Vuelta, but I always feel he's got a bad day in him and ends up losing a chunk of time.

8Ball wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2026 8:36 am Yeah it's in Welsh, and I thought they only had selected stages?

The article said something about iPlayer having selected stages, but I read it as S4C having the full Tour, albeit in Welsh.

Ned Boulting and David Millar have started a Youtube channel so I'll be getting my fix of their voices at least: https://www.youtube.com/@loveofcycling

I did see someone on PH say Pogacar was crossing over to MotoGP. I think it was intended to be a joke that he wouldn't be changing his bike; it amused me anyway.

Jobbo wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2026 11:55 am

8Ball wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2026 8:36 am Yeah it's in Welsh, and I thought they only had selected stages?

The article said something about iPlayer having selected stages, but I read it as S4C having the full Tour, albeit in Welsh.

Ned Boulting and David Millar have started a Youtube channel so I'll be getting my fix of their voices at least: https://www.youtube.com/@loveofcycling

I did see someone on PH say Pogacar was crossing over to MotoGP. I think it was intended to be a joke that he wouldn't be changing his bike; it amused me anyway.

I was just searching for when the Channel 5 shows start - I assume it's tomorrow night after the first stage and they don't have a preview show on tonight?
I then discovered that podcast above so am watching/listening to their preview show now.

Ch5 say on their website that their first show is on 4 July, so that'll be the highlights of the first stage I assume.

Curious about how the TTT will play out today (starts around 4pm UK), the new format is quite interesting, because you go faster as a team, but get individual times. So it becomes quite tactical regarding how long you stay as a bunch and when you launch your leader. Looking at Netcompany Ineos, they’ve got Tobias Foss, Fillipo Ganna and Josh Tarling on their team, who are all TT specialists, so could put in a strong finish. Although the little kicker of a hill at the end won’t suit someone like Ganna.

Not particularly impressed with Ch5’s coverage. A big set but they spent a while talking about Pog, said it’s not all about Pog and mentioned Ving for a few seconds, then straight into the stage without saying the format, route, length etc. not great.

Oh, and the commentators were completely silent at one point

That’s a bit rubbish Rob Hatch on TNT really is a great commentator.

The Aussie commentators on SBS were alright, albeit a bit, well, Aussie