Amazon's new documentary 'All In' goes behind the scenes with Jumbo-Visma during the 2023 season, capturing the explosive tensions that erupted at the Vuelta a España when teammates turned on leader Sepp Kuss. We break down what the footage reveals about team dynamics, leadership styles, and whether guys like Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard are winners first and team players second.
Key Takeaways
- Leadership and winning mentality often come at the cost of being a traditional team player — the highest-paid cyclists (Pogačar, Evenepoel, Vingegaard) are all top-line leaders, not supporting actors
- Bike weight and materials matter far less on short climbs than psychology and conditions — Tom's identical hill time on a gravel bike vs. carbon road bike shows par-weight ratio and mental factors dominate aerodynamics on climbs
- Raising the UCI minimum bike weight to 8-9kg would unlock innovation in materials, safety, and embedded sensors, but could disproportionately disadvantage lightweight female riders
- The gender pay gap in professional cycling is severe — top male riders earn multiples of the highest-paid female cyclists, with Evenepoel (€4.5M) vastly outearning any women's peloton rider
- Zone 2 training indoors is underrated for building aerobic base; use My Wish with a film on the second screen and monitor cardiac drift over 2-3 hour sessions to optimize nutrition and hydration
Expert Quotes
"A leader leads, he's a number one, he's not a supporting actor. He's Michael Jordan, he's not Scotty Pippen — and that's not always palatable to take."
"The most important thing he learned is also the very first thing he learned as a sprinter: close the barrier."
"He's been on the podcast like a great interview, yeah so so nice and yeah I just wish my name was Bling — my nickname, I'd love that."