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TOUR DE FRANCE KEY STAGES | RIDER SUPPORT

with Rider Support

27:52·29 June 2024

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RIDER SUPPORT

Sarah and Anthony break down the Tour de France stages you absolutely need to watch, from the surprising seven-climb opening stage to the gravel battleground of stage nine and the queen stage at Plateau de Beille. They'll also walk you through the sprinters to watch, the four-way GC battle led by Tadej Pogačar, and the cutting-edge tech teams are bringing to the race this year.

Key Takeaways

Stage one is far from a procession this year—expect early GC battles and attacks with 206km and seven climbs, making it essential viewing despite traditionally being a sprinter's stage
The gravel stage nine (199km with 14 sectors and 32km of gravel) is a wildcard that could dramatically reshape the race; punctures at the wrong time could knock out GC contenders entirely
Stage 15 to Plateau de Beille is the true queen stage where the four-way GC battle between Pogačar, Remco, Jonas, and Ružicka will likely decide the tour
The final stage is a time trial into Nice, not a Paris procession—if the race is close, expect a nail-biter finish similar to Greg LeMond's 8-second win over Laurent Fignon in 1989
New tech this year includes Senna communication systems (small helmet nodules replacing bulky jersey packs), temperature-regulating core body monitors, and Jumbo Visma's controversial digital van for real-time performance data

Expert Quotes

"I expect Tadej to be unreachable almost. I think what he showed in the Giro was super impressive and he didn't have to go too deep so it won't have to take it too much out of him. I think Tadej would be the man to beat. — Remco (on Pogačar's dominance)"

"If you puncture at the wrong time it doesn't matter if you are Pogačar you're not coming back... these are tiny little roads, very third and fourth class roads so the cars are going to find it very difficult to get up to riders. — Anthony (on gravel stage dangers)"

"Does riding your bike help with your mental health? Yes 100%. Riding your bike makes everything better. — Sarah"

KEY QUOTES

“Greg lemand stripped the yellow Jersey from the shoulders of Lauren fan and the shaniz in 1989 by just how many seconds Anthony... 8 seconds 8 seconds so that is going to be I feel I feel sick thinking about that already hopefully that is a nail biter cuz that is a cool finish”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“I expect Haj to be unreachable almost I think what he showed in the year was super impressive and he didn't have to go too deep so it won't have to H him out too much I think Taj would be the man to Beast for his Tour de France”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“there's 14 sectors 32 km in total and I think this is a stage you want to watch the whole thing because it can get really interesting with types of bike that the Riders use what the mechanics change the tires if they're using kind of different suspension what they're doing to their handle bars in order to kind of get through this really really grueling 199 km”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT7 SECTIONS

Tour preview and stage one picks

Welcome to this week's Rider support this week it's all about the Tor France we're going to preview the main stages you need to tune in for the best of the sprinters the GC bottles plus all the tech that's got us excited at this year's tour Sarah Anthony it's tour time it's t I'm going to pee my pants I'm going to pee my pants I'm so excited not a lot of people know this but this is like I mean this is Mea for cyclist isn't it and we've so many we' have a lot of CH to France questions this week so let's Jump Right In hi Sarah and Anthony I work from home so I'm hoping to catch loads of the CH of France this year while I can keep one eye on it and another on my computer screen I'm planning on blocking out time in my diary for three or four of the big stages that is a good question I like this guys he has uh he has his priority straight what are the top four stages you think I should absolutely tune in for four sick days left that's from Rick I love Rick stage one is normally a little bit of a procession it's a chance for a sprinter to take the Jersey wasn't like that last year but historically it is kind of like that but this year stage one promises to be a little bit more than that it's a 206k opener and there's seven climbs in it this year so we can definitely expect early attacks and maybe the first GC battle which is very unique for stage one yeah I think having the jersey and stage one is a real honor isn't it I think last year for the 2023 Edition started in the bass country and it was like really really really difficult first couple of days when they weren't in France so this year yeah definitely stage one okay I'm going to jump in actually before we jump in though I have some of the odds from stage one which are interesting Pacha despite having covid is the bookmaker favorite he's tree one and he's a strong favorite for it w for arst the second favorite at 8 to1 Betty all at 15-1 and Vander Paul who has said like the quote from Vander paaul is I think the first two stages are quite hard last year there was a question mark over whether it was possible it was too hard this year always depends on the racing but I think it's too hard again Vander Paul's 15 to one doesn't seem like a great bet considering that comment but as you said who knows yeah who knows it's all for play but as I said I think everyone really fights very very hard for a stage one particularly people who aren't going to be going for GC it's like an opportunity to wear that yellow Jersey for a day or two maybe if you're not a GC Rider you've no hope in Hell of ever getting the yellow Jersey again okay so I'm going to jump in I think we cannot miss stage n it's 199 km and it's gravel so they've stuck gravel into the tur of France this year just to spice things up a little bit I think pagat is going to be favorite for that because he has had two previous amazing performances in Strat biane and this is similar kind of road It's that kind of those yellow roads with loads of dust and kind of technical so there's 14 sectors 32 km in total and I think this is a stage you want to watch the whole thing because it can get really interesting with types of bike that the Riders use what the mechanics change the tires if they're using kind of different suspension what they're doing to their handle bars in order to kind of get through this really really grueling 199 km so I think stage n there also a huge look factor in those stages because if you puncture it the wrong time it doesn't matter if you are paga you're not coming back and that's why the GC Riders I haven't heard much comment yet I'm sure we'll hear it as we get closer to that stage they don't typically love those stages it's very stressful for the GC Riders well they want to be riding up front don't they I mean the GC riders need to be at the pointy end of this stage because if they get a puncture if they have a serious mechanical they want their team car close them where they don't want to lose that much time yeah I suppose up front is the main rationale is you're staying out of trouble it's a probability if there's Five Guys on front of

Gravel risks and Plateau de Beille

You there's only five chances of someone crashing on front of you if you're in position 100 there's 100 chances of someone crashing on front of you and then there splits but the team car is a problem regardless of where you're riding the team car is not more likely to get you if you're in position one so punctures are a real problem because if you just get it at the wrong time it's t to France over especially in these gravel roads because they're not highways these roads are tiny little you know as we call them an Ireland bohin these you know very very kind of third fourth class roads so the cars are gonna find it very difficult to get up to Riders the question is is the drama that you get from this inclusion at a gravel stage is it worth the inclusion given that it could detract from the overall GC spectacle like if paga goes and loses four minutes because he punctures at the wrong time now we're deprived in the high mountains hope if pagata is winning by four minutes hopefully he does puncture and have a mechanical On Stage Line and then we can open up the race again because it's just going to be so detrimental if he is just flying away with the win on this it's going to take so much away from the tour okay your nextage all in all I'm not a massive fan inclusion of gravel stages I think there's enough drama in the tour in the high mountains with the Alps and the panes that it just runs the risk of one of the GC contenders being totally out of the race also potential to go down to crash broken colar bone Etc but I'm going to go for my last pick Stage 15 and that is up to Plateau to buy a if I was picking out a queen stage that's probably the queen stage for me this year there's over 4,000 meters of climbing five as sense and then the finish on Plateau the B which has been in the past a real game changer in the T of France we're going to see that four-way GC battle probably playing out on those slopes that's definitely one to call in sick yeah and of course you have to call in sick get the doctors not ready for stage 21 so stage 21 is usually kind of a prog a you know A procession into Paris it's not ending in Paris this year to the Olympic starting up in Paris quite close to the end of the race so it's finish finishing in N it's a Monaco toce time trial this year so for people who don't like this pression where the Riders are kind of Dilly dallying didn't realize that yeah time trial so usually they you know the procession into in and around Paris a couple of laps of it it's quite chilled out until the last couple of kilometers when the sprinters really go for it but this year it's a time trial none of that messing around and if the tour is really exciting comes down to the crunch this is going to be the most riveting day so the final the last time and everyone remembers the last occasion that the tour finished with time trial I've read this in cycling News Greg lemand stripped the yellow Jersey from the shoulders of Lauren fan and the shaniz in 1989 by just how many seconds Anthony oh I can't remember I've had Greg on twice in s seconds 8 seconds 8 seconds so that is going to be I feel I feel sick thinking about that already hopefully that is a nail biter cuz that is a cool finish yeah up there don't tell me like the gravel you don't want you don't like a TT on the last stage either no I don't want TT in the last agage up to Plat belf a couple of years ago where rugit lost its T to Pacha the first time for pacha's first win like that was pure drama so now definitely not against that oh look we're in for an amazing amazing time don't forget that we are actually heading to watch some of the excitement we're being brought over to Italy for a state stage three by is it stage three or stage two I keep uh stage three yeah stage three so we're going to be in Italy in a couple of days watching that scod are kindly bring us over as guests I didn't want to go and then s's like we get to watch the stage in a helicopter I said okay go we're going in a helicopter we're going to be in a follow car we're getting the VIP treatment by Scot so thanks for bringing us and we

Sprinters to watch

All know that Scot have been huge sponsors of the tur of France for many many years what I didn't know about scota is that they the the two guys who set scota up actually started as a bike company and then they mve yeah they moved to motorcycles and then into cars and now look at the Legacy that they have so really looking forward to it and you'll be seeing loads of content from myself and Anthony from our trip over there get to the chopper right what are we got sprinter's question okay next question hey Ro man excuse the short Interruption I love riding the bike but on account of being so busy with the podcast at the moment I'm now what's called a time crunch Rider I never it see today but I have a tool I'm using W bike to keep myself sharp and on point with specific sessions to maximize that available training time I have a what bike atam right here in the recording studio beside me and when I have an hour in between interviews I jump on it's removing all the friction points from me there's no more 10 minute setup unfolding legs banging my knees off stuff getting my hands dirty usual connection issues it just works every single time the atom's perfect for virtual racing as well because it has crisp gear changes it has 1% accuracy and it has Max gradient capability of up to 25% if you're looking for an indoor trainer I honestly couldn't recommend this any higher I've been using a w bike since 2013 honestly it's the last indoor trainer that you're ever going to need if you head on over to what bike.com now and use code roadman 10 that's r o a d m n t n and that's going to get you 10% off your W bike Anthony who are the sprinters to watch this year I'm absolutely obsessed with the Sprint stages I'm not shouting for Mark cendes though I watched him shout as at his mechanic a few years ago and totally went off him not a fan o that clip if anyone remembers did a little bit of damage to Mark aves Mark is like absolutely loved in the cycling fraternity and I think it's probably two years ago in the T of France he had some issues and with his bike some gearing issue I think and the cameras just happened to catch him at the end when he was shouting at mechanic I think he is I think well everyone is rooing for him to no they're not I end up on Twitter saying like are rooting for Cav it's split really well Merks is the record holder jointly with have at the moment now some will argue that Merc won some shortened half stages and that's counting towards his record but that's getting pretty pedantic about it is pedantic yeah joint record holders at the moment and am is undoubtedly the greatest cyclist of all time it's kind of cool that the greatest cyclist of all time is also the record T of France stage winner I think it's split I'm not sure I'm 50/50 if I want them to I do want them it's head versus heart kind of isn't it I yeah head I think the cycle and logic part me would like to see mer is still the joint record holder with so Eddie m is more of an allround cyclist where the greatest ever and Cav is just kind of a pure Sprinter okay I get you but anyway let's get back to the question who are the Sprint is to watch this year there's a pile of Sprint stages there's seven maybe nine if you were to push it hard to tell depending right now looking at the stages profile you could say there's seven eight n stages that could potentially come back to a breakaway or come back to a field Sprints but then it just depends on the Dynamics of what's going on the race who has the Jersey who's the dominant Sprinter who's motivated to chase who's motivated for the Breakaway so we're going to see quite a few Sprint stages and you're looking at really y yasper philipson ising quite hard he's defending that green jersey so he's going to be getting stuck in and he's the best lead out man in the world in mat vandero so he's very very strong Arnold Dee who I really like from Lotto Destiny there Dylan grun wagen Ms pson and you have to shout out Sam Bennett because we're obviously Irish massive Sam fans great to see him back in the Tour of France great to see him back winning this year so look I'd love to see Sam who's W the green Jersey and one on chance Lis before Quick Step

GC battle: Pogačar vs Vingegaard

Back winning again it would be amazing that's who I'm going to have my fingers my toes my eyes cross for is Sammy come on Sammy okay next question Anthony and Sarah the big question is how is the GC classification going to play out I mean do you think anyone can beat T Pacha I'm really excited for it haven't me excited for this for a GC bottle in years it's a four-way bottle like we've Pacha rco yonas yonas and rug and they're all like the Bor just had the red B gives you wings announcements out of new kid is Jersey looks brilliant the helmet looks brilliant RL looks brilliant I'm really excited to see The Lads from Bor vlasov looked great in the buildup races Joy hindley's there he's a very strong support cast for ruget obviously pagach was totally Untouchable in the Italia this year Remco feels it's pagas to lose I have a quote here from Remco and he said I expect Haj to be unreachable almost I think what he showed in the year was super impressive and he didn't have to go too deep so it won't have to H him out too much I think Taj would be the man to Beast for his Tour of France could be a little bit of Mind Games and that who knows Remco has looked a little bit secondhand in the warm-up races so far even though he pulled out a good time draw in t Swiss it's exciting I would agree the Taj is the man to beat but a couple of months ago the head of yumbo visma yumbo Lisa bike said yonas won't go to the tour unless he's at 100% yonas is at the tour are we meant to infer from that that yonas is at 100% I think it's going to be a two horse race for me between yonas and Taj F yeah I don't think anyone's going to be surprised by your answer there of course I would love to see RIT you didn't mention the two co- captains her inos pockock and garant Thomas you're not even holding them out for help Grant's definitely not going to ride GC I would assume after riding GC in the yearo pockock is not up to her yeah it's just not going to happen okay there you go actually Taj had covid during the week I only seen this earlier on today he said have a call from here it's not serious anymore especially if your budd's already had the virus before and I've had it once or twice so he caught it about 10 days ago it wasn't too bad it was just like a cold in the past like he missed a couple of training days but who knows what effects that has on the body as well so that's something else to throw into the mix Remco was masked up in the press conference obviously mad paranoid to cing it jum up is I have like um a crazy tight protocol for this year's TR to France because as we know seus is out of the tour because he has Co which is really disappointing because I absolutely love watching seus nose breathing as he's like fighting his life out for everybody going up those hill climbs so I'm going to M up this year for sure okay next question Anthony and Sarah have you seen any amazing new tech lined up for this year's tur of France well oh man I know how serious you take your goal setting whether they're Fitness or life related goals if you're looking for a powerful alloy to support you on this journey look now further than hu hu has become my secret weapon for when I don't have time to prepare a balanced meal it ensures I get the nutrition I need without sacrificing time or taste plus it stops me from reaching for that takeaway menu I always throw a bottle into my backpack when I'm heading into the city to work and it stops me eating junk convenience food snacking on crossons and bars of chocolate because I know they don't support my training goals it's a handy nutritious meal on the go and it's got over 22 gram of protein hle is perfect for athletes don't have time to cook or prepare food before a training session it's convenient nutritious fuel at your fingertips ensuring you hit your daily fueling needs for that session H ready to drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals in every single bottle you're getting a whopping 175 health benefits plus it's made from natural ingredients like topas sunf far seed coconut and more the best part is the flavors there's eight crazy beautiful flavors IC coffee is what's in my backpack right at the moment you can get hu directly to your home all

Bike tech and Senna comms

You got to do is head on over to the hu website hu.com robman C's bike is pretty amazing it's the Willer filante probably most pronounced that SLR looks really amazing Instagram doing the rounds there's a new Trek as well which are seeing mads Patterson is rocking some of the Tire Tech I'm super excited to see as well lad's playing around with different tire wids a narrower one on the front for aerodynamics and a slightly wider one as we're seeing those Trends in the last few years on the back I am really excited to dig into the time trial Tech though and the TT stages all around that's really where I geek out on it nothing as massively cut my eye so far this year apart from the flashy paint jobs and the slightly upgraded bikes what about you yeah I read a really interesting article on Val actually and apparently one of the teams it's primary Tech is part partnering with a new with a company called Senna to solve the issue that a lot of Team have with communication between the Riders and the car so Senna apparently I've never heard of them before but they do a lot of communication systems for boats and yeah they're very very well established and instead of having that huge big pack in the back of the Jersey which can be quite dangerous if the the cyclist Falls if there's a crash and then also apparently it's awful you've race race communication before it doesn't work very well it doesn't work very well yeah so apparently this is going to be fantastic and it's just got a small nodule that sits at the back of the helmet and from there this kind of this small wire with the mic connects to the mouthpiece so apparently the mouthpiece oh earpiece the earpiece sorry so it's groundbreaking and very microphone like this a little fuzzy thing the other thing of course that is going to show and we we're seeing it trickling in in the LA in over the the this last SE season is the temperature regulating technology and you had an amazing amazing go and check it out M podcast yeah with Ross mcra who is one of the he's the founder CEO vice president core at the moment yeah of course so these are the core body temperature gauges and essentially you're seeing everybody wearing them now Remco trains at one see them on ra glitch they're training with them and they're also using them to you know make sure that they're not going completely into the red while they're racing so you've seen a lot of that plus a lot of ice yeah well ice cyle down to Cork last week we were going away for a weekend and it's like 300K away you didn't want to be in the car with me for 3 hours couldn't stand listen to your music for three hours and I rolled down and it took me like 10 hours to ride down but I had my core temperature on and at one point my core temperature went up one degree and it coincided with me just going like I'm feeling super bad and I didn't think to look at my core temperature because it's just something I'm not really used to checking in at it but it was only after chatting with Ross mcgr I flicked onto the data screen to see my core temperature like whoa I'm up a degree I'm feeling terrible like I almost like I might finish this right stopped at the next service station dunk two liters of water off my head had a cold ice cream I you not I it was like flicking a switch I was perfect and then just for the next you know every half hour I was dunking like a couple of maybe 200 M off my head to keep cool at one point I getting so just desperate I drew 90% water 10% Gatorade oh my head just everything was sticky for the rest of the day yeah that is disgusting I I'd have to be in a seriously bad way to do that they do um the team cars do pass out these big clumps of ice that are tied up you'll see them I mean the first time I really saw that I was like what are they passing out they look like lumps of coat because they're actually tied up in women's tis women's tights where you know where all your tots are gone T of France time T France time you can't get your hands on tights so I think we're going to see a lot of that plus he did kind of intimate that there was going to be some like loads of more temperature temperature regulating kit at the tur of France yeah Ross wouldn't

Visma's data van and UCI scrutiny

Even tell me off Fair what it was he got NDA I can't tell you but he said there's going to be some really Hightech cooling systems in place with the biggest teams this year in the Tour of France which is amazing can't wait see them the last thing that I wanted to cover on the tech is this jump is this Vima Lisa bike they are basically they've set up a van it kind of looks like an FBI Center the control center a speeding van on S of the motorway so they basically say that it's a digital solution to help aid decision making and performance on the road as the team embarks on its plight to secure the yell jersey for the third year in a row and news just before we went on air is at the UCI they're no phun are they they rule everything they're looking into this van they're kind of think they kind of say that they have to verify make sure that it's all kosher above board and you know that it's fair play that the transmission of data is okay and and yeah it looks like they're going to be coming down pretty heavily on that jump of visma I have to say absolutely love them because they're always at The Cutting Edge they're always pushing I know a lot of people are in Sky started it jump of visma were remember we had Hannah Hannah Grant the chef and she was like yeah they created their own app for nutrition you know they're always pushing and pushing and pushing it which we absolutely love to see okay next question Anthony I'm a bit of a bandwagon cycling fan even though I ride my bike a lot but I watch the tour every year and because I'm not a dieh hard fan I'm not sure what's what this year my question is who is your favorite team yes I know Pacha will be favored to win but what team do you love watching and their style of racing uh I don't really know because the team is driven by the personalities isn't it and so there's not a team and maybe this is a larger problem in cyclin and I remember speaking to Corey Williams and considering there he's at very low level he's just above an amateur racer racing that Continental level in the US but they seem to be the only ones who figured out brand because Legion branded their team and then the sponsors sit on Legion the brand so sponsors will rotate and exactly the same way as we see with the big franchisees Chicago Bulls Manchester United it's not you don't call the team sharp this season and then call it JVC next season but that's what we seem to do with cycling it's jumbo visma it's jumbo Lisa bike so it's hard to get a real Affinity to a team because they're not franchises in the same sense so your loyalty is more to Riders so if you you were a big rugit fan sah that Allegiance most likely goes with ruget from yumbo Vima to Bora hrove now or Bora Red Bull or whatever they're calling themselves these days so I think about it more from characters and so some of the characters I love I like to see Victor carparts doing well I think he's pretty cool I like T benu just because he's an old school Belgian looking dude h i not a huge any else fan and that maybe a trollback to just when Sky were so dominant and nobody likes the dominant team that just keeps winning don't think they covered themselves in glory either in the Netflix unchain season 2 documentary that tension between H pitock and cummings which pockock am made today and said that that was just drama it was not real it was just for show it was Netflix trying to create drama I don't know I know Cummings is now not going to the tour so it's been decided that he's going to work remotely even though he's the head director at Ino so yeah it's hard to know uh RO with Cummings last week and he wasn't really given much away about that but I don't have a mad love for any else AG or have an Irish coach there Steven bars which is pretty cool and they're like they can't stop winning the season so it'd be nice to see them doing well and we've had so many guests from bararan on the podcast from Mor to Fred wri probably G to be cheering for them really yeah I for me it's I mean I'm not just picking the favor but I do have a special place in my heart for Tad P you just went cycl with t and now that's your answer for everything

Favorite teams and cycling for depression

Just so nice your friend he's just so nice he's amazing and you know who else I love is Micah yeah maybe yeah I'll hit him off she will probably go to his wedding but I love Micah I love their I just they just look so cool they're kids so cool they're always on point I love them as a team just the support that they have for T is just unbelievable so that for me and I have to say as well i' always loved jumbo visma I've always loved seeing the yellow and black kind of you know getting into their formation anymore I know yeah this is really just I do like their kids everyone's in Navy so watch yeah I think this time last year we were given out because everyone was in Red so I'm pretty sure it was kind of all reds yeah Reds I think black was one a few years ago as well yeah so now it's all in blues so I don't know they should get together and kind of say that they're not going to do that but um yeah I think I don't know as Anthony says find a character that you like and then hit yourself to that team okay hey Anthony and Sarah I've always suffered with depression this is a complete completely different question from our any non-t France questions this week and I've self-medicated with exercise and riding my bike do you know what actual evidence there is to back up what I anecdotally understand to be true and how do we get this message out to people who don't know the power of riding your bike for your mental health that's a hard question I depression is real mhm and anti-depression medication is real for sure does riding your bike help with your mental health yes 100% riding your bike help your mental health I don't know what what makes people better but if you flip that question on its head and I know what makes me worse if I sit around all day I'm not in nature I don't ride my bike I'm on screens it's like oh hello darkness my old friend so does riding your bike stay off Depression more than anti-depressants look very hard to say it's horses for courses do both ride your bike and then go and see your counselor if you need prescriptions but ride your bike ride your bike makes everything better I think the other thing that is really important is people like this riding and being open about their mental health and challenges that they've had with their mental health and things that they found that have coped rather than being really quiet about it saying nothing and everyone's kind of suffering in silence and not really knowing what to reach for even tiny little steps that they can take I we're watching the Euros Euro 2024 I love a bit of football especially when it's a in a not tightly knit couple of weeks tournament and it's all just there in front of me one of the players I can't remember who it was for I'm pretty sure maybe it was Spain or somewhere really high profile player he took a year out of playing football completely to mend and focus on his mental health and has been really open about it so I think the more people that talk about it it and I would wouldn't like to kind of you know try and campaign for any body who's famous or a pro cyclist could say you know I suffer from mental health only if they feel that they're comfortable to do that those are the conversations that we have basically the last part of this question is how do we get this message out to people who don't know the power of riding your bike for your mental health well you've just done that you've got all of our listeners in the podcast are listening to that so you've done an amazing kind of service there so yeah love that Roman thank you for tuning in to another episode of the podast you'll have noticed a nice little addition to the set right behind Sarah so we're calling this section of the show the final if you made it into the final let us know in the comments down below what you think of that new sign behind Sarah you can click up here for another video that I know you're going to love and do me and Sarah one big favor and please hit the Subscribe button because it helps us deliver this video to more and more people thanks enjoy the tour and we'll see you next day

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are the best stages to watch at the Tour de France 2024?+

Sarah and Anthony recommend four stages as unmissable: the 206km opening stage featuring seven climbs, the 199km gravel stage nine with 32km of sectors across 14 stretches, the mountainous stage 15 to Plateau de Beille with over 4,000m of climbing, and the closing Monaco-to-Nice time trial. If you can only watch one, the gravel stage is the most unpredictable and likely to shake up the general classification.

Is there a gravel stage in the Tour de France 2024?+

Yes, stage nine covers 199km and includes 14 gravel sectors totalling 32km. Sarah and Anthony argue this stage carries serious risk for GC contenders, as punctures or crashes on the rough terrain could end a title challenge before the race reaches the mountains. It is one of the most controversial stage inclusions in recent Tour history.

Does the Tour de France 2024 finish in Paris?+

No, the 2024 Tour de France does not finish with the traditional Champs-Elysées stage. The race closes with an individual time trial from Monaco to Nice, a change made to accommodate the Paris Olympics. Sarah and Anthony note the format echoes Greg LeMond's famous 1989 final-stage time trial, where he overturned an eight-second deficit to beat Laurent Fignon.

Who is the GC favourite for the Tour de France 2024?+

Sarah and Anthony highlight one GC rider as the standout name to watch, with the mountainous stages, particularly stage 15 to Plateau de Beille, likely to determine the overall winner. The gravel stage nine adds an extra layer of unpredictability that could elevate or eliminate contenders well before the final time trial decides the classification.

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Key Takeaways

Stage one is far from a procession this year—expect early GC battles and attacks with 206km and seven climbs, making it essential viewing despite traditionally being a sprinter's stage

The gravel stage nine (199km with 14 sectors and 32km of gravel) is a wildcard that could dramatically reshape the race; punctures at the wrong time could knock out GC contenders entirely

Stage 15 to Plateau de Beille is the true queen stage where the four-way GC battle between Pogačar, Remco, Jonas, and Ružicka will likely decide the tour

The final stage is a time trial into Nice, not a Paris procession—if the race is close, expect a nail-biter finish similar to Greg LeMond's 8-second win over Laurent Fignon in 1989

New tech this year includes Senna communication systems (small helmet nodules replacing bulky jersey packs), temperature-regulating core body monitors, and Jumbo Visma's controversial digital van for real-time performance data

Expert Quotes

"I expect Tadej to be unreachable almost. I think what he showed in the Giro was super impressive and he didn't have to go too deep so it won't have to take it too much out of him. I think Tadej would be the man to beat. — Remco (on Pogačar's dominance)"

"If you puncture at the wrong time it doesn't matter if you are Pogačar you're not coming back... these are tiny little roads, very third and fourth class roads so the cars are going to find it very difficult to get up to riders. — Anthony (on gravel stage dangers)"

"Does riding your bike help with your mental health? Yes 100%. Riding your bike makes everything better. — Sarah"

KEY QUOTES

“Greg lemand stripped the yellow Jersey from the shoulders of Lauren fan and the shaniz in 1989 by just how many seconds Anthony... 8 seconds 8 seconds so that is going to be I feel I feel sick thinking about that already hopefully that is a nail biter cuz that is a cool finish”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“I expect Haj to be unreachable almost I think what he showed in the year was super impressive and he didn't have to go too deep so it won't have to H him out too much I think Taj would be the man to Beast for his Tour de France”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“there's 14 sectors 32 km in total and I think this is a stage you want to watch the whole thing because it can get really interesting with types of bike that the Riders use what the mechanics change the tires if they're using kind of different suspension what they're doing to their handle bars in order to kind of get through this really really grueling 199 km”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are the best stages to watch at the Tour de France 2024?+

Is there a gravel stage in the Tour de France 2024?+

Does the Tour de France 2024 finish in Paris?+

Who is the GC favourite for the Tour de France 2024?+

TOUR DE FRANCE KEY STAGES | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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LIKED THIS EPISODE?

TOUR DE FRANCE KEY STAGES | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

WHY CAVENDISH WON'T BREAK TOUR DE FRANCE RECORD | RIDER SUPPORT

ROWE REVEALS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED INEOS | RIDER SUPPORT

WHY LEMOND THINKS MOTOR DOPING IS DESTROYING CYCLING | RIDER SUPPORT

RELATED CONTENT

WHY CAVENDISH WON'T BREAK TOUR DE FRANCE RECORD | RIDER SUPPORT

GREIPEL OPENS UP ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH CAVENDISH | RDMN CLIPS

ROWE REVEALS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED INEOS | RIDER SUPPORT

LIKED THIS EPISODE?