Opening and Race Results

Godsmedicinecycling 0:00

Hello everybody and welcome back to God's Medicine of the Premier Opinion Cycling podcast. I am your host, Lauren. I'm here with my co-host, Hannah, and we are unbelievably excited to bring you recap of Peri Rube 2026. We are a spoiler first podcast. So Hannah, please give me the podium and the rest of the top 10.

hannah 0:24

Our top 10, uh, our podium is literally the stuff of our dreams. It is W Van on top. Ta Pcha in second, Jasper Vin. Third place, Machu VanderPol. Fourth Christophe LePort. Fifth, Mick Van Dyke. Sixth Mads Petterson seventh. Stefan Ger. Eighth. Neils Pollett ninth and Mike Tson in 10th.

Godsmedicinecycling 0:41

So much to discuss.

Race Recap and Analysis

Godsmedicinecycling 0:43

We just have to jump right into the race recap, and because it's Peru Bay, there's pandemonium all over the place. This race recap will be a little longer than some other races. Basically there was no breakaway. Even though at peri rube we oftentimes see a successful break. The Peloton was just going too fast. They had a tailwind. It was something like 53 kilometers per hour average speed. And by the time we get to the first cobble sector at 162. Kilometers to go. We have no breakaway. There is just a peloton when they hit these cobble sectors, pretty much immediately at 1 59 Mads Petterson has a rear puncture, and he is 31 seconds behind, but gets back pretty quickly at 148 case to go wow van Art punctures, and then gets back on by 146. Case to go during this time. UAE is really controlling the race by 1 38 kilometers to go. There's been a big split, which looks a little bit like an echelon. It's not a breakaway situation. There is about 30 seconds in between these Peloton one and Peloton two, some domestic end up in the second Peloton, but all the major riders are still at the front.

hannah 2:04

By 1 23. Ghana has two teammates and they both go down, but Ghana doesn't. And then at one 20 kilometers, the big event, kind of, of this portion of the races, POG has a me and he gets on the Shimano, because of the second Peloton, the team car can't get to him, so he is on. A, neutral service bike, which does look noticeably slower. Alba and SMA hit the front because P'S in trouble. And it takes him about five Ks to get his own bike. So the team car catches him at one 15. He gets back on his own bike, 1 0 6 kilometers left in the race. Al Bassine is still on the front. Florian Vermeers is the only UAE teammate of Pochos who is in this front group. Everybody else is trying to get him back. Mordo does a lot of work at this point. Paul and Birk, I think are also tracking back to him, and they're trying to bring this huge group back together. Vermeers, punctures like two Ks later, Paul goes off the front and leaves Pcha basically to bring himself the rest of the way back to the group. There's a cross headwind. And NVDP slams it on the front to try and maintain this gap. POG does close, he catches up with them by 98 kilometers to go, but he did a lot of that work himself. So it took about 20 Ks, for him to make up all of that ground. And then we're into the berg.

Godsmedicinecycling 3:30

the story of the berg is, sort of Alpac Circus. Monkey Extravaganza. MVDP has a mechanical, Jasper Phillipson has already had a mechanical, and Tibor Grosso have already had a mechanical at this point. Jasper Phillipson comes running up to Vanderpool, gives him his bike. Vanderpool just tries to hop on the bike and the clip-in pedals are wrong because as we learn later, Jasper Phillipson had prototype clips on his. Shoes and Pedals. Wardell Grosso Teammate of the Year Award. He, while this is unfolding, jogs up, takes the front wheel out of his own bike, puts his front wheel onto Vander Pool's bike, and then Vander Pool gets back on he, in this sort of exchange, has lost a minute and 30 seconds, and meanwhile, Florian Vermeer has crashed. If you would believe it almost immediately after this happens, Vanderpool has another flat and he ends up about a minute 50 behind before the team car can get to him. We are now at 90 keys to go after the berg, and this is the race situation at the front. is Todd Pcha, Madz, Petterson w Van Christophe LaPorte, Stefan Bier, Jasper Sovan, and Lawrence Pithy. 20 seconds behind there is a Chase group with Jonathan Milan, Paris, Hani Pana, Johnny Ramir, Yori Mayos, Tim Van Dyke, Mike Tuon, Louis Aki, Anthony Terje, Luke Dur Bridge, and then at two minutes and nine seconds back is Matthew Vanderpool.

hannah 5:12

Leaving the Berg, Ghana and maus do close the gap from that chasing group by 84 Ks. They worked together a little bit and then by 81 Ks, Pippa punctures, NVDP. Has kind of collected himself at this point, and because his body language looked pretty rough at after the second puncture, he looked kind of defeated, but he's gathered himself, he's trying, he's closed it to one 30 behind. By the time that the Goop puncture at 81 Ks has happened.

Godsmedicinecycling 5:40

Okay, at this point we get to 71 Ks. Remember, POG has not been riding his, his preferred vehicle, okay? And he has a bike change. He's off the front. They hit another cobble sector, and POG is 11 seconds behind at this point, while Van Art has a mechanical and also changes his bike. This is very key. As it turns out for this race. I believe that they both had changes of bikes at about the same time because they stay, they both stay within this front group. Wow. And two Red Bull riders are pulling to the, to get back together while Mads Petterson is going to the front to try and keep the gap, which is about 20 seconds now to Wow. Buy 56 Ks to go and we are skipping things. I, I want to emphasize buy 56 Ks to go. This is the race situation. At the front is Todd Pcha, Matt Pederson, we Van Art Christophe Laport, Stefan Biser, Jasper, VIN Yie, Mayos, Lawrence Pippy. 23 seconds behind ish, or we're going off of pro cycling sets. So not, these gaps are not always exactly correct. Is Matthew Vanderpool. Neils Pollett. Mattias Ek Max Che, Dan w Ppoa, Johnny Vermeers, Tim Vandyke, Alex Sager, Mike Tson, Louis Aki, and Anthony Terje. As per usual, my apologies for the names.

hannah 7:01

At 54 Ks, we hit sector 12, which is a four star Coble sector. W van art attacks. Pcio immediately moves to follow and Pederson stays with. There is a slight separation. Those three guys and the rest of the front group behind MVDP is trying to make his move. And at the front MAD's Pog, we, van Art Pcio puts in another dig at 53 Ks. This time w stays with him and Paterson starts to drop the wheel. So we end up in a situation with Pcia and Van Art off the front. Paterson's kind of in no man's land, and VDP is still hunting them down.

Godsmedicinecycling 7:39

At 50 K to go. Unfortunately, Ghana has a crash and that is his race. So the race situation is now Todd a and w van at the front Paterson and no man's land, as you've just said. And then that group behind is Vanderpool, Christophe LaPorte, Stefan Bier, Jasper Doland, Lawrence Pithy, and Tim Van Dyke. Unfortunately, Lawrence Pithy is not long for this group. He crashes at 46 Ks and that's all she wrote. And then the situation is relatively stable in these groups. The gap is shifting a bit here and there, but that is roughly the situation until kilometers to go where it's clear that Vanderpool is making up time on the cobbles. He's gotten that gap down to 28 seconds and we thin art and P had been working together. But they're not giving it, let's say, their all. They're also clearly trying to conserve energy.

hannah 8:39

At 17 Ks to go, we hit Ka the last five star sector of the race. CIO's clearly trying to drop in the cobbles and wow is not budging. It's, there's at one point a really, really small gap. Pog hits a corner kind of wrong and almost crashes and wow is immediately back in the wheel. NVDP is pushing, he knows this is kind of his last chance to make up significant ground, so he and Ben Dyke end up, going away together. And Pcia can't drop Van Art in Car four, so Wow. Goes into the next Kabul sector still. On Todd's wheel, and wowed is basically half wheeling pcia through the rest of these cobbles.

Godsmedicinecycling 9:18

Then the race situation stays basically stable until the very end At two Ks to go, Jasper Stoyan launches himself. Mads Pederson tries to follow him, but Stoyan actually gets a gap and goes off of that second group. That's how Stoen ends up in third place, and w Bernard enter the Velodrome together and. Basically, and I can't believe I'm saying this, well, fan art sprints beats re and wins. Perry Rube re later said that when he came into the Velodrome, his legs felt like spaghetti. Okay. I think you could clearly see he looked more fatigued in this end game of this race than Wout did. W stayed behind him in the Velodrome. And basically just picked his moment, opened up and Todd literally went as hard as he could go, but Van Art just had that little something extra and he won. He won. He won. Which means my vision board worked, which means that, I can't believe it, ignore all of the rest of my incorrect predictions. Okay. It doesn't even matter. Wow. Van Art won and that, I mean, the storyline of this race is simply, wow. Van Art won and it has been. Such a long road for him to get there. Everybody, everybody seemed happy about

What This Win Means

Godsmedicinecycling 10:44

it

hannah 10:44

yeah, absolutely. I mean, I said in our preview pod. If wow wins Perry Rube, it would be one of the greatest storylines of all of sport of 2026. And now it's happened and I, I think it holds up. I think it holds up because, I mean, anybody who I think is a fan of cycling or is a fan of sport in general would be really hard pressed to look at W's career and the, the difficulties he's been faced with in the last couple of years and to not. Get emotional about him winning this race specifically. He is a God to the people of Belgium and he has the crown jewel of Flemish Holy Week in his palmara now. It's incredible.

Godsmedicinecycling 11:24

Yeah. In W's first edition of Perry Rube in 20 18, 1 of his teammates died and he basically had said in a post-race interview that he kind of had this in his mind that he would really want to win this race and be able to dedicate this to his former teammate. And his former team and all of the, uh, not just the riders, but everybody on that team and the family. And to have this moment where this all comes back together again is extremely special. And then we've also seen, I mean, Ralph Leonard has had a great career. He's podium many times. He's had stage stages of the Tour de France. He's been in the Red Jersey at the Weta. Like it, it's not as though he's done nothing in his career, but. He has not won a monument since 2020, I believe when he won San Ramo

hannah 12:22

Yeah, and to win San Remote in the COVID year, like, I think that is another layer of, of what makes this so special.

Godsmedicinecycling 12:33

And he's had a lot of injury in between, especially in the last couple of years. In 2024, he had a horrible crash in the Spring classics, and I have to admit. When I was watching this race and he crossed the line, this image just flashed into my head of him on the side of the road with his jersey completely ripped off his back. I actually tried to avoid seeing that. I don't really like, mean, watching crashes, I don't think anybody does, but I hadn't watched that race and I thought maybe I would be able to avoid it. But that image was just everywhere in cycling coverage. He comes to the Weta, which he was absolutely ripping and then he immediately has a knee problem that takes him out. And he had to have surgery on his leg and other things in, in this interim period between. San Ramo now. So he's had a lot of injury and, and many riders have faced injury. But you look at the, what he's gone through versus some of his other major competitors, he definitely has stacked up some major crashes. And so that was another reason why he just, it really felt like somebody had come out the other side and won not only a monument, but one of the most famous, most iconic monument of monuments.

hannah 13:47

And a monument that he specifically has said multiple times, like, this is the race that I want to win. I think yeah, after the, like the horror show of Wow Van Art's 2024 with that crash in Ds, because I did watch that race and him, like this, the sound that he made when he hit. The ground is very haunting to me, and I think to everybody who watched it. And yeah, that visual is, it's hard to get out of your mind. After the, the horror year for him, that was 2024. He came back last season and found himself in position, I think to win Ddo Landry. He was in, he had two of his SMA Lisa by teammates, and he had Nielsen Palace around him. And Nielsen Palace ends up winning this sprint of four. And like wow is, you know, denied victory in this, in this KA class. It was a great win for Palace. I love Palace as a writer, you know, and then we saw Ghana, not, not a week ago, snatch victory from right under the nose of Wow Van Art Inlanders again. and so when w and Pcha hit the Velodrome, there was this feeling of, we, we all know that,, wow is a bigger rider. He's a better sprinter. He's, he's won the green jersey at the tour to France. He's a pretty good sprinter. But is, is it guaranteed that he wins if they go to the village drum together? And so I think it was also this like really beautiful, moment of, of wow. Really timed everything in that sprint perfectly. He played it like it was textbook. It was really, really great. And he gets the separation and you see the moment where he looks back over his shoulder and he knows he's gonna do it. I challenge anybody to not get choked up over that.

Godsmedicinecycling 15:30

I also think, you know, he did have a great

hannah 15:32

Mm-hmm.

Godsmedicinecycling 15:34

end the season he, had a cyclocross crash and had to have surgery on his ankle. And it just did feel a little bit like kind of, here we go again

hannah 15:47

Yeah.

Godsmedicinecycling 15:47

and. You know, and that this was just more bad luck

hannah 15:52

mm-hmm.

Godsmedicinecycling 15:52

it just had that effect of like, what are we, are we going to be able to see what Ben are inform? I also think he takes, I wanna pause myself quickly and I wanna just say that the teammate that Wout dedicated his win to was Michael Goard. I couldn't remember his last name and I was talking about it earlier, but I think it's important to say yeah. And then back to the, the point that I just interrupted myself on, which is that wow, when he's not informed, all, all we see is, is this the end of wow van art? It's like the media is just as soon as he isn't, you know, podium, podium a race, it's like maybe he's done with cycling and it's like, and it's the fans as well.

hannah 16:34

Oh yeah.

Godsmedicinecycling 16:35

a bit of a, a joke but I. Think that there's a, there's a level at which jokes stop being jokes and it kind of just turns into the narrative of this rider is not ever going to do it again. Which I personally didn't believe because I think Ralph Van Art is clearly one of the handful of riders that we have right now that's capable of winning a, a classics race. Especially all the big competitors that are lined up. it was, it's just relentless. I'm sure he just doesn't read the, the

hannah 17:08

I hope he doesn't. I hope he doesn't.

Godsmedicinecycling 17:12

Yeah. Um, but to see again and again if you're not, absolutely smashing it every single time you get on a bike to be like, maybe he's not good anymore. That's just, I guess the reason why that frustrates me is it's like outside of a couple unbelievably exceptional runs. Like Todd a, uh, winning his winningest year, JRO tour double, you know, I've compared that before to Novak Djokovic having these sort of golden years. There's been a, a couple of players that have won the, you know, golden Slam stuff like that. Very, very, very rare. Every other athlete, basically on the face of the planet, has bad days, has bad races, has bad competitions, loses once in a while. Um, that's just how life is. That's how your body is. That's how you know they, they're also real people. They're going through things. Just because you're a professional athlete doesn't mean bad ever happens in your life. Um, like, or you don't have an off day. So it just feels like it's a real. In a way, it's like a lack of humanity to demand that he perform at this level. And ironically, in winning this race, after going through so much struggle and saying, oh, I gave up on myself a thousand times and then came back a thousand times. really gets me, and it, it's a complete like he, the, the way that this has ended up in veneration for him, strangely enough, paradoxically enough, is that it, he feels completely and totally human to us.

hannah 18:39

Oh yeah.

Godsmedicinecycling 18:40

it feels possible that, you know, this is what sport is about. is about many things, but one thing that it's about is, is making, opening up a sense of possibility in our own lives. And so to have him as this like very, very human figure who's been sort of torn down by the press, torn down by the fallibility of being injured and being a human and having bad days, and having these inhuman expectations on him. And then persevering and being a human anyway, and winning. It kind of makes me feel like I could win. No, I can't win Perry.

hannah 19:15

I think it's, also worth mentioning, it's difficult to talk about Wild's career without talking about Machu VanderPol. Right. They grew up together. They have competed together in Cyclo Cross since they were young. I mean, there's photos circulating on the internet right now of the two of them on a podium, I think when they're 12 years old. Being juxtaposed to the, the photo of VanderPol congratulating Vant at the finish line from this weekend. And they were very evenly matched for a chunk of that career. And then in the last couple of years, VanderPol has really pulled away, partly because of Van Art's Injury Saga. You know, we also had, I believe it was the 23 edition of Perry Rube, where Van Art and VanderPol were together up the road and it looked like they were gonna go into the village room together. And Van Art has a puncture, you know, like 4K is from the end or something. There's just not enough road for him to make up the time it's over that, you know, it's heartbreaking. To watch it in retrospect and to, to then know how the next couple of years play out for him. And that there is this narrative of like, that was his best chance. And VanderPol rode away with it. And VanderPol then rode away with 2024. Perry Rube and VanderPol rode away with 2025 Perry Rube. And, and all of these commentators and fans are really saying the rivalry isn't a rivalry anymore because VanderPol wins and Vant doesn't. I mean, that's. For your eternal rival, you know, that you've, you've come up in the sport together. Uh, to have everybody be like, well, it's not a rivalry anymore. I surely this win. I don't, I, you know, I and I, to be fair, I think there's a lot of respect between those guys. VanderPol went straight to Vant. They had seemingly, you know, a bit of a conversation at that finish line. VanderPol has only had. You know, pretty glowing things to say about this van Art win, as has everybody in the Peloton. 'cause it really seems like everybody was, you know, well everybody wanted to win for themselves, but nobody's sad that Van Art won. You know what I mean? Maybe Pcha. Maybe Pcha. Um, but so I think, you know, to have Rupe on his palm Mars, especially after this kind of separation between him and VanderPol has occurred. Surely, surely that feels good. You know? And I love also what Van Art said in one of his post-race interviews of, you know, what more beautiful way to win this than to go to the line with the current world champion and, and be able to pull it out. And that is, I think there is something to that that's really like, there's no asterisk on this wind. There's no. Pog wasn't there, or VanderPol wasn't there, or w didn't have a mechanical and everybody else did because they all had mechanicals. Like all of the contenders got struck down by fate at some point in this race, and they all did get themselves back in it. I would say maybe my hot take, VanderPol had the ride of the day. He didn't win, but he, he really, he. It was so impressive how he came back. But it was also very impressive how Wout managed the situation tactically and half wheeled Pasha for so long.

Godsmedicinecycling 22:22

I agree.

hannah 22:22

you know, he played, he played the race really, really well, and that's gotta be such a satisfying way to win.

Godsmedicinecycling 22:29

I have two things to say. One before I forget it is, just really beautiful, always to watch somebody have a moment of catharsis. And not that we haven't seen Vanderpool tear up. Not that we haven't seen Pog be elated at a win, right? But this was wow. Van Art, and I can't stress this enough, running around, jumping on people, crying, hugging people, reuniting with his team, with his family. It was really genuinely beautiful to watch. It was just this sort of unbridled and pure. State of emotion. Again, one of the reasons why we all both participate in and watch sports and it was just a very, very lovely thing. I think the camera stayed on him for a long time, so we really got to see him, you know, live in an embody this moment and it that was just really lovely. In terms of the race tactics, I think Van Art played this so spectacularly in part because he forced Poot to take. The role of the favorite,

hannah 23:30

Mm-hmm.

Godsmedicinecycling 23:30

for the parkour and for the day, van Art was clearly better, and he just said, no, no thank you. I would love to stay behind you. I would love to ride up into your wheel and let you know that I'm there, but I'm not gonna do any more than I need to do. When we get into the velodrome, babe, you're up first. I'm not going first and you can't make me. Even though at the end of the day, I don't think it would've mattered for the sprint. He really forced poot into a position of, you do it. You take control. You're in the world. Champion jersey, you wanna win Perry Rue so bad, let's see it. Which was very clever and very

Race Analysis - Beyond The Win

Godsmedicinecycling 24:09

good. We could talk about wow NAR until the cows come home. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of this podcast. We will now be blasting through several other points from the race. I would like to start first with a real quick blast, which is just, I have to say, the TV coverage of these first hundred Ks. it was not good. It was really hard to follow break formation. You could barely see what was going on. There were times where they straight up just. We're videoing the back of the Peloton. I was like, do you know that the break goes off the front? Like I can't tell what's happening from

hannah 24:48

They're waiting for guys to puncture and go out the back and just catch them.

Godsmedicinecycling 24:52

Genuinely. I don't know if they had broadcast problems. I don't know if a helicopter didn't show up. I have no idea what happened. But you know, it was noticeably harder. And I love break formation. It's one of my favorite parts of any race or any stage of. A tour and I watch it like a hawk and it was just, I have no idea there. I mean, I have extensive notes and there's points where I just wrote, can't tell what's happening, this is per rube, is not small fry. And also because for some of those guys eyes, peri rube often has a break. As we said, a lot of teams spend significant energy trying to get in. did not get in because there wasn't a break. That was their chance and their team's chance to be on camera, to have their names said, to have their team name said to maybe get some of those shots that, you know, all we hear about is how important it's for sponsors, uh, which I'm sure is true.

hannah 25:47

I would just add to that also that the break in Rube is a a little bit different than the break in other races where they have, if you are in a break in Rube, you have a shot at making it to the end because the race is so chaotic and you never know what's gonna happen behind. So for the smaller teams, like I think we had mentioned that the rockets were certainly gonna try to be in the break. Um, you know, for a team like that, that's maybe their best shot at a top 10 in the race is getting a guy or two in that breakaway and just seeing what happens. And none of those teams got that chance. To keep burning through our, our list of things to talk about in this race, pip oana is kind of the tragic figure of the day in some ways. In most ways, he is in absolutely ripping form right now. We, we've seen it in the lead up. He, you know, the, the mechanicals were unfortunate at the point where he was. In a group behind or had a me or something and VanderPol was like two minutes behind. I think you and I texted each other and we were like, that's Vanderpools lifeline. If he can bridge just to Ghana, they could bring it all back together. And surely somebody in the out the scene radio said the same thing because VanderPol like got a new lease on life and did catch Ghana. And then we got this like cinematic shot of the two of them sitting on the back of a group. Actively, you know, rubbing tiny fly hands togethers and then they bridged up to the group that was behind Pcha and Van Art. And immediately when that happened, get another mechanical. I mean, to, to have put in all of that work to have made the temporary alliance with the guy you were ultimately trying to beat and, and putting it aside and saying, yeah, we're gonna work together, we're gonna bring it back. And succeeding, which is an enormous task. And then immediately mechanical. I mean really rough day out. Really rough day out for Pippo, Ghana.

Godsmedicinecycling 27:48

He had, as they all did multiple problems. He worked himself back in. He worked himself back in, and also that moment where his two teammates were taken out. It was like, it was, if it wasn't a so tragic, it would've been cinema. It was, he was riding with two of his teammates. You know, at this point everybody's been whittled down and they, I don't know, I can't remember exactly what happened, but they are taken out right in front of him, basically together. And he somehow gets out of that. Obviously. Then he's kind of on his own. I mean, that was just, it's not just unfortunate. Um.

hannah 28:28

Yeah,

Godsmedicinecycling 28:29

for his teammates and, you know, for Ineos it just felt like he could not catch a break. Uh, other people who couldn't catch a break their teammates was sison. Remember when I said, remember when I said Sison hasn't had a lot of mechanical problems in Perry Rube,

hannah 28:47

you brought this upon them.

Godsmedicinecycling 28:48

that I jinxed you. Uh, 'cause 'cause y'all really did. Okay. And, um, all I have to say. I, I don, I'm not an, I'm not a a magical of any kind. I didn't put a hex, I didn't, it wasn't intentional. This was the universe saying, you know what you want, well, nart to win. You wanna make good predictions, monkey paw.

hannah 29:12

Lauren's pithy, I think we have to talk about a little bit. He was having quite the day. He was looking really, really strong. And then there was this sort of series of unfortunate events that befell him that was not the usual series of unfortunate events that befalls riders in Perry Rube. He at one point, looks like he's trying to get a bottle or like a feedback or something. He's looking for a team car. The team car is not there. The neutral service car. Can't or won't give him what he needs. Um, very unclear what was happening there. That was very strange. Um, and then after his mechanical around like 78 kilometers to go, he said after the fact that what happened is that one of his contacts fell out so he could see from clearly from one eye and not clearly from the other eye. I don't know how bad his vision is, but that. Seems to me as somebody who has different vision in both eyes, it's very disorienting. Um, and it was, it was like really, really dusty. He said it was just, everything was really, really blurry. And so the crash that he ended up getting caught up in, he said everything was really blurry. And there was a spectator who was like borderline on the course out a corner, and he just crashed into them 'cause he couldn't see. Because he was missing a contact. He does end up getting back on the bike. He finished 26th on the same time as Pippo.

Godsmedicinecycling 30:37

two broken men crossing the line together. Spiritually broken. Anyway,

hannah 30:43

Disappointing day for pithy because he did look really strong. We got a lot of shots of he, him and Jordy maus kind of riding back up on that group, big group two together, and he consistently looked the stronger of the two, at least to my eye. All of that said, great day for red.

Godsmedicinecycling 31:01

did have a great day.

hannah 31:02

Well, it was a great day for Red Bull in general. I think, you know, van Dyke, uh, there was something also, and I don't have the details of this, so maybe it's not worth mentioning, but the Van Dyke twins like switched their race numbers.

Godsmedicinecycling 31:14

I know I was gonna bring that up when we were doing things and I was reading it out and I was like, you know what? If twins are gonna pull semantics, I'm gonna let them. Okay. That's their God-given. Right. I can't comprehend that. Okay. So, but yeah, I mean, we said Bora brought a ripping team and they brought a ripping team. I said Jordy may. Um,

hannah 31:35

And I said pithy, so yeah.

Godsmedicinecycling 31:37

He, he had a great, they both had great rides. Um, they both got themselves out of situations. Whichever Van Dyke brother, it was, a great race and was up there till the end. He actually put in a dig before Yesper gets away and tries to make that move. Clearly still going for it. Still trying to do something there. It was, they just were all over the place. They were in every shot, every group, every move. They, I think must have circled this race on the calendar and said, let's get ready to Rumble and Rumble. They did.

hannah 32:13

Mm-hmm.

Godsmedicinecycling 32:14

team that we called out that I think ended up playing ball was Quickstep.

hannah 32:18

Yeah. I mean the Dovan podium for Quickstep, I think that alone makes signing him A worth it. Um, and b, I think I, correct me if I'm wrong, they haven't gotten a real big result outside of, I think Dovan Top 10 Tour Flanders. Did I make that up? Like this is their, the result of their classic season. Is is this podium and it's a great result for their classic season. I think it makes the early part of this season a success for them in a really big way. Um, they're, they had somebody else, Drea Hessel was, uh, top 20 as well. So like that's great. That's a great result for, for Quickstep, I think a team that we didn't shout out and that we both thought about shouting out was Decathlon Stefan Bissinger. Places eighth. Looks like he's chilling, basically all day, doing all that work. He's in the, that front group basically from when it forms. And he never looked like he was particularly uncomfortable in that group. There's a little bit of sep separation from the VanderPol LaPorte like sprint group at the end of the velodrome to him, but great result for him. I think some, there was another dec Oh, Don Hola was 15th. It was, I think, successful day out for decathlon as well as al a hundred percent.

Godsmedicinecycling 33:41

I think Stan de Wolfe was also in there for quite a while. I don't know where he ended up. I agree. I mean, IFN hadn't podium. I think it would be a little bit different, but because he did podium that. That's huge. I believe he came six in the Rhonda.

hannah 33:54

Yeah.

Godsmedicinecycling 33:55

that's a big back to back for him and

hannah 33:57

Mm-hmm.

Godsmedicinecycling 33:58

the last thing we wanna sneak in is Christophe LaPorte, who was in this Chase group and the whole time working for Van Art Christoph. LePort was clearly on form today as he's been for the entire class season. I've said it before and I'll say it again, and what he did in this group. He wasn't sitting on the back and saying, no, no, no, I'm not gonna pull because wow is in front. He would go up to the front, not accelerate or try very hard, stay there for, you know, five, seconds and then just pull off. was disrupting the flow. He was not allowing people to maintain momentum. He was just consistently in there being like, I don't know if I really wanna ride. If, if LaPorte is not doing this consistently, there is a point where Vanderpool is 20 seconds behind. Okay. obviously at that point Vanderpool is putting in attacks. He's not being, you know, hampered by LaPorte, but LaPorte, taking a second here, a second there. Those add up to have to make up for those, add up to have, I mean, we didn't see as much of this group, but I can only imagine it doesn't add to the comradery. To have somebody who's clearly has other goals in mind for what your group is going to do, and he just stayed cool, calm, and collected as far as I could tell, and did exactly what you want a teammate behind to do. I would say it's impossible, of course, to know how much this contributes to the wind, but I think there's a real chance that he made enough of an impact in that bat group. That van Art would've missed him if he wasn't there. What a teammate just completely dedicated his race to van Art. And again, when he's clearly in shape, and I think after he said something like, it's, it's as meaningful as if I had won this myself.

hannah 35:53

Yeah.

Godsmedicinecycling 35:53

and it's, I, I was as happy to see him win as I would have been for myself. And I think that really speaks to. The, the classic season that SMA has put together, and especially those two, we've called them out in Flanders. They were together. And, uh, LaPorte was also, you know, in the mix and working his schemes. So. I think that that was, and I didn't see them talking about that, at least on my broadcast as nearly as much as I think, it, it would've been nice to see 'em get a little, little credit for that.

hannah 36:24

Yeah, no, I agree because I think that the point at which, you know, maybe like 15 Ks to go at which Ben are. Is working le much less on the front and really is glued to Pogs back wheel. There starts to be a danger, right, of it could come back together. And I think LaPorte disrupting the group behind is probably not insignificant reason why it didn't come back together. We didn't get enough of that on camera to, to definitively say, you know, he, he made it happen. But I think it's a safe inference.

Godsmedicinecycling 36:57

Yeah, I mean, again, you can't see everything on camera but just I think even just to know that he's working as well. It also gives wout that cushion. He's the only one. a teammate. And it does, I think, give him also that, cushion to say, you know, Todd does not have a teammate there. Vanderpool does not have a teammate there. Mads Petterson does not have a teammate there. If things did come back together, he's still at an advantage.

hannah 37:23

Mm-hmm.

Godsmedicinecycling 37:24

know. Again, total speculation. I'm not sure how much psychological boost that gives you to know in some way you're not on your own. Obviously, he's on his own at the front, but. To say if something bad happens maybe it just even gives you license to feel like you can take a little more risk to say, i, I still have an advantage even if everything comes back together. I mean, I think if you asked, you shook well, banner awake. In the dead of night and you said, who would you rather go to the Rube Velodrome? With Vanderpool or Pcha? He would say poc, Tommy Pcha. Um, just based purely on their abilities.

hannah 37:59

Mm-hmm.

Godsmedicinecycling 38:00

And so I don't think, and Paterson as well, we've seen Paterson Sprint quite well. This group Behind a good group, so I don't think Wow. Is thinking, oh, I'd be totally safe if this came back

hannah 38:11

Oh no.

Godsmedicinecycling 38:12

But that there is this. Kind of insurance and just to have a teammate riding that well, when Vermeers has been taken out, you know, we've seen Sison on the side of the road and,, all of this other misfortune has whittled it down to have your teammate who is in the right place at the right time in great form, clearly wants to work for you. I do think it makes a psychological difference.

hannah 38:36

And I think especially because that the teammate in particular is your sprint lead out when Wow. Van Art Sprints, Christoph LaPorte is his lead out. Christophe LaPorte is his last man. So those two know each other so well. They ride together, they, you know, they're all training together. But if, if. Anything were to happen. And Vanner ends up in the village room with that group. His sprint lead out is there for him. I mean, that's, that's the, the best you could ask for if that situation were to arise.

Godsmedicinecycling 39:07

guys, we could keep going.

hannah 39:09

I just say one more thing in the, the pain of waxing poetic about Rube,

Godsmedicinecycling 39:15

Okay.

hannah 39:15

I think the part of what makes this, again, just such an emotional win for Wow is that Rube is so chaotic and it's so unpredictable, and even if you showed up with the best form of your life, there is no guarantee for any rider that Rube is a win. It is never a given, and there was every possibility that Wow would end his career. Without this on his palmara,

Waxing Poetic and Closing Remarks

hannah 39:41

through no fault of his own right. And so to have a race like this that is so unpredictable and so crazy that you know that we've spent so long talking about it, we could keep going for hours finally in the books for him. I think that that is really the cherry on top.

Godsmedicinecycling 39:57

and also. You know, this isn't really how life works, but it is sort of how narrative works. You have some bad luck and you just want a break to win Rube. You gotta, you gotta catch a break

hannah 40:10

You gotta catch a couple breaks.

Godsmedicinecycling 40:12

feels like this karmic sort of balance. Again, this is not how life works. You don't have a piece of bad luck and then later on you get an equivalent piece of good luck. That's not how the universe operates, but it does feel like finally. Got a bit of luck right when he needed it after having some moments where he got a bit of bad luck right when he didn't. And again, just from a narrative perspective, it's really, really nice and it has that sort of the resonance, the seniority to it. On that, we are going to finally let you go TBD on what we're doing for the rest of the classics. And we will be watching, will we be Podcasting? Only One way to find out. of what happens for the rest of this spring, I can assure you we have so many things coming up for only the best race on the calendar. That's right. I'm talking about Latour de France baby. Okay. I know it's April and that's in July, but it is right around the corner. I have already got my seatbelt buckled. Okay,

hannah 41:20

We have plans, we have schemes.

Godsmedicinecycling 41:22

Watch this space. A great place to check for updates is our website, which is gauze medicine cycling.com, and we will be posting all of our updates there. You can also listen to our podcast there. If you're a listener from another platform you wanna do some independent listening, go to our website. That's where you can find all of the information. Again, that is god's medicine cycling.com. We will see you soon. We won't see you 'cause we never see you. You know what I mean? Thank you so much.