Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP

You can also watch this episode over on my YouTube channel here!

We’re coming to the end of June, and in the world of cycling, that can only mean one thing…it’s almost time for the Tour! It’s all been leading up to this - the biggest bike race of the year. I’ve got my old mates Tom Southam and Luke Durbridge back on The Race Communique to help me preview this massive race and, oh boy, it’s set to be an absolute banger.

Durbo kicks off this month with PeloChat, where he takes us through his TrainingPeaks data from the Tour de Suisse so we can see just how hard the racing is these days. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - I am so glad I retired when I did; oh my god, the racing is just so brutal in 2025! Some of these numbers are crazy! And hey, Durbs, we all saw you splitting the bunch up with 70k to go on stage 1, so don’t you start complaining about how tough it is out there these days…

Before the Tour de Suisse, of course, we had the mini Tour de France - the Critérium du Dauphiné. This is where we saw ‘The Big Three’ go toe to toe (to toe) with each other. Remco, Jonas, and - of course - Pogi. It was an amazing race, and Tadej came out looking absolutely dominant, but there was a pretty big question mark over his form after a quite frankly pathetic 4th place after the time trial. We know Jonas is still on the comeback trail from his crash back in Paris Nice, so with another few weeks of solid recovery, I think we’re in for an absolutely massive battle this July.

After we discussed the warm-up races, we got stuck into our massive Tour de France preview. We discuss everything - the stages, the riders, the moments that are going to define this year’s race. An absolutely chaotic looking first 10 days around Northern France with tonnes of opportunity for an aggressive rider to take shed loads of time, an absolutely brutal end to the race in the mountains (stage 18 - holy sh*t!), a new finish circuit around Paris to make sure there’s excitement all the way to the line, and heaps more! You’re not going to want to miss a single second of this race.

We all pick a rider or two to discuss, so make sure you tune in if you want to hear what Southam thinks of Carapaz and what really went down on that infamous Colle Delle Finestere stage at the Giro! Durbo lifts the lid on how Aussie favourite and recent guest on Life In The Peloton is going to take on the GC in a bid for a top 5 finish.

Next, we get into talking some tactics with Tom. This month’s theme is simple: wind. Southam breaks down how teams can use echelons to break up the race and try and catch the big favourites off guard.

As always, we wrap up with the Communiquiz. Durbo’s leading the way this time with 7 quickfire questions about the Tour de France.

Guys, I hope this ep gets you as excited for the Tour as I am. Crack open a weak French beer, have a nibble on a baguette, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Cheers,

Mitch

The Race Communiqué is brought to you by TrainingPeaks! Track, plan, and train smarter—just like the pros. Get 20% off TrainingPeaks Premium now at http://www.trainingpeaks.com/litp

🎧 Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Intro 00:04:26 – Pelo Chat (Training Peaks Stats Breakdown) 00:21:03 – Race Recap (Tour de France Stage-by-Stage) 01:03:30 – Talking Tactics (Wind) 01:18:45 – CommuniQuiz (Quickfire Tour Special)

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP

The Tour is right around the corner! La Grande Boucle. The creme de la creme. The biggest race of the year. After a stellar Dauphine watching Pog, Jonas, and Remco show their cards I am so gee’d up to watch this year’s race; A grippy first week in the North of France, some epic mountains, and a brand new finish up Monmartre in Paris - what’s not to love?!

I never raced the Tour as a pro, but I’ve worked it a few times chasing the race and making podcasts. One thing I’ve never done, though, is follow the race as a FAN. Luckily for me, I’ve got the boys over at Life In The Peloton’s Race Radio to give their ultimate guide to watching the Tour de France on the roadside as a fan.

Here’s what old mate Harry had to say about this month’s episode of Life In The Peloton’s Race Radio:

This ep is all about going to the Tour de France.

Between us, Stu and I have been to the Tour more than a dozen times, both as fans and for work.

There's nothing quite like cheering on your favourite riders from the roadsides, and we encourage you all to get out and hit the route, so we've put together our top tips and tricks for making the most out of a trip to the Tour.

Learn how to chase the race, pick your spot, learn from our mistakes, and much more. Vive le Tour!

I won’t be making the trip across to Europe this year - but I’m looking forward to catching up with the racing from the comfort of my couch back here in Aus. However, I can’t let the race go off without at least a little bit of LITP flair - so I’m sending the Race Radio boys over to record a few eps for me and capture that amazing Tour de France atmosphere!

If you’re heading over to France to see some or all of this year’s race, give this ep a listen to make sure you’re armed with the best tips, tricks, and advice so you can have the best roadside experience possible!

Cheers!

Mitch

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP

The Giro has finished for another year, which means all eyes are now shifting to the big one; Le Tour. We’re just under a month away from the Grand Depart, so who better to speak to than an Aussie legend that’s won stages in all three Grand Tours, nearly won the Vuelta last year, bagged himself the Silver medal at the World Champs, and narrowly missed the podium at the Tour back in 2021 - that’s right, it’s Perth’s own Ben O’Connor!

Now in his 9th pro season, Ben’s just joined the Aussie team over at Greenedge. I wanted to know what it’s like for him finally signing for the only Australian World Tour team as an Aussie rider representing over in Europe. He’s a proud Western Australian, hailing from Subiaco over in Perth, and I wanted to know how he felt about the riding and racing scene over there; especially after they hosted the Aussie nationals over this year!

Ben’s career so far has seen him consistently improving year on year, and without doubt 2024 was the best season he’s had so far. He won himself a stage early on in the Vuelta - completing the Grand Tour set to go along with his stages in the 2020 Giro and 2021 Tour - led the race for 2 weeks and almost won the overall before being Roglified by a storming Slovenian on his way to his 4th victory at the Spanish race. On top of this, Ben finished 2nd at the World Champs - establishing himself as a real one-day contender after getting the better of the likes of Van Der Poel and Remco!

Of course, a lot of you might know Ben best for his role in the ‘Tour de France: Unchained’ series over on Netflix. I wanted to find out more about what it was like racing the biggest race of the season with cameras in your face all day, and how he felt about the way the series portrayed him.

As always, we end up talking about all sorts: Ben’s career so far, the highs, the lows, fatherhood, what Ben likes doing away from cycling, and more. I also wanted to chuck in some listener questions! That’s right, those of you that heard the call and sent in your questions for Ben’O get some airtime on this month’s pod. I love hearing your questions and pitching them to Ben, so make sure you listen to hear what he had to say!

I’ve loved watching Ben’s career and seeing him grow into a real Grand Tour contender. How could I not, he’s an Aussie - especially now he’s over on Greenedge rocking that fresh MAAP kit! It’s no secret that Ben’s number one goal this year is the Tour de France, so I had to ask him if he thinks Pogi can be beaten. What does Ben think? You’ll have to listen to find out…

Enjoy this ep, guys. Ben’s a great guest and I had a blast having a yarn with him about bikes, wine, Netflix, and heaps more. Good luck in France this July, Ben! Can’t wait to see you giving it to old mate Tadej!

Cheers,

Mitch!

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