Life in the Peloton, presented by MAAP

• The Race Communiqué: Tour de France Breakdown & Durbo’s Data Dive

  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)

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  1:27:39
• Race Radio: Tantalisingly Close – Warming Up for the Tour

  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 ----more---- This episode is brought to you by our friends at Saily. If you're heading overseas for your next ride or trip? Avoid nasty roaming fees and get set up with Saily, the eSIM app from the legends behind NordVPN. Download the app and use the code PELOSURF for 15% off your next data plan — or hit https://saily.com/pelosurf to score yourself a special listener-only discount.

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  32:30
• Ben O’Connor: Chasing Yellow & Calling It How It Is

  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! ----more---- This episode is brought to you by our friends at Saily. If you're heading overseas for your next ride or trip? Avoid nasty roaming fees and get set up with Saily, the eSIM app from the legends behind NordVPN. Download the app and use the code PELOSURF for 15% off your next data plan — or hit https://saily.com/pelosurf to score yourself a special listener-only discount.   Their new OpenRun Pro 2s are perfect for staying safe and aware out on the road — you can listen to tunes and still hear traffic, your coach, or that kooky magpie swooping you from behind. They’re super comfy, sound unreal, and come with upgraded mic and EQ modes. Head to shokz.com and use the code LITP to score yourself a special listener-only discount.

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  1:08:00
• The Race Communiqué: Del Toro Dominates, Giro Mayhem & MULLET JOINS THE MIC!

  Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP You can also watch this episode over on my YouTube channel here!   Guys, the Giro is rolling along, and what a race it’s shaping up to be. Ahead of the final week of racing, it’s still all to play for. We’ve got the mega-talented young Isaac Del Toro holding onto the Maglia Rosa, bookies' favourite Primoz Roglič dropping out of contention, and a handful of riders poised to go all out to try and unseat UAE’s dominance before the finish in Rome. Tom Southam’s been called up to bat for EF Education Easypost, so he’s cruising around Italy in the team car, and he’s already netted a pair of stage wins with Richard Carapaz and Kasper Asgreen! With Southam away, we’ve had a bit of a roster change for this month’s Race Communique; we’re joined by my old mate and fellow ex-professional, Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe sports director, the Flying Mullet himself - that’s right, it’s Shane Archbold. Shane’o joins me and Luke Durbridge - fresh off the back of the Tour of Hungary - to dissect the racing so far at the Giro and speculate what we might see in this last week of racing.  The Giro is known for being a pretty chaotic race, and the 2025 edition is no different. So far, we’ve seen some amazing stages, and the GC storyline has been incredible, too. From guys like Luke Plapp - the Plappinator - finally getting his hands in the air in Europe, Wout van Aert completing a monster comeback on the Strade Bianche gravel stage in dominant fashion, and unsung hero Daan Hoole taking some massive scalps in the stage 10 time trial. UAE are gripping the pink jersey pretty tightly, but guys like Simon Yates, Richard Carapaz, and our old mate Derek Gee are creeping up behind him, not to mention his own teammate Juan Ayuso waiting in the wings. Sadly for Shane, his Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe team are having some pretty rotten luck. First, they lost Jai Hindley - a former Giro winner - in the first week to a crash on the wet, slippery roads of Naples. Then, Dani Martinez, last year’s runner-up, slipped out of the GC and hasn’t looked like his former self so far. Of course, they went into the race with the defending champion Primoz Roglič, whose GC bid looks to be over after a brutal day of racing over the Monte Grappa. It’s not all doom and gloom for Bora, though; young Italian super domestique Giulio Pellizzari has shown a hell of a lot of promise so far, and no doubt has a bright career ahead of him. In this week’s PeloChat, Durbo shines the spotlight on XDS Astana and their ongoing hunt for UCI points to avoid being relegated at the end of the season. A change in tactics from the Kazakh team means they’re no longer racing for the win, which sounds absolutely crazy for a pro cycling team. Instead, they’re trying to stack the top 10 with riders to scrape together as many UCI points as they can. They’ve managed to claw themselves back up the team rankings and away from the relegation zone, putting other teams at risk and giving us fans a whole other narrative to follow this season. Finally, we have a Giro-themed CommuniQuiz. I’m Quiz Master this week, and I’ll be testing Shane and Durbo’s knowledge on all things Giro d’Italia. Which former ‘Junior World Champion’ used to sell cleaning products, didn’t turn pro until 26, and then went and won the Giro?! You’ll have to listen to find out!  Enjoy this month’s Communique, everybody. We’ll be back at the same time next month, just a week or so out from the start of the biggest bike race of the year: the Sibiu Cycling Tour over in Romania…only kidding; of course it’s the Tour de France!    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 00:05:54 – Race Recap 00:32:11 – Pelo Chat 00:42:29 – Talking Tactics 00:47:03 – CommuniQuiz

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  1:00:52
• Race Radio: Superfans at the Super Race: It’s Giro Time!

  Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP If there’s one thing the Race Radio boys love more than a pun, a pint, or podcasting, it’s the Giro d’Italia. The passion, the culture, and - of course - the racing; does it get any better?! It’s a Giro special episode this month, and boy do these guys deliver. The Giro is generally regarded as the fan-favourite of all the grandys, and that’s exactly what Harry & Stu are; super fans.  In true Giro fashion, the race has started with a bang over in Albania. We’ve already seen some amazing wins, some unfortunate early departures, and more excitement than you can shake an arancini at. The boys wrap up all the action so far, talk about some of the main characters of this year’s race, and - as always - tell the stories  you won’t hear anywhere else. The Giro is a race that Harry & Stu have spent a fair bit of time at over the years, so they’ve got some cracking stories to tell.  Here’s what the boys had to say about this month’s episode of Life In The Peloton’s Race Radio: “We love ‘grand tour season’ here at LITP’s Race Radio, and in this week’s ep we celebrate the grande partenza of the Giro d’Italia. We discuss the Lidl-Trek love-in, Josh Tarling’s amorous post-stage antics, before lamenting the heartbreaking loss of Mikel Landa. There’s a ‘tourism’ section starring man of culture Tom Pidcock, and we reminisce about our own grand tourism at the Giro a few years back before pro cycling photographer Zac Williams sends us a voice note from the race. Finishing off with a review of two great races also on, Tro Bro Leon and the Vuelta Femenina, this show is amore infinito from start to finish!” I only started the Giro twice, and only reached the finish once, but I absolutely love it. It marks the start of Grand Tour season, and I love being able to follow the story of the race over nearly a whole month. The Giro is a race defined by the Tifosi - the fans - whether that’s on the roadside, watching on the TV at home, or being pumped directly into your ears in this month’s Race Radio.  Pull yourself a shot of espresso, pour yourself a crisp Italian lager, order a pizza; whatever you need to do to get into the Italian spirit - and enjoy this month’s Race Radio.  Ciao, Mitch

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