Twelve days from the Tour and the big one lands live on the pod. Luke Plapp gets the call pre-episode to confirm he's officially in the Tour de France team. We get into his week off the bike, the Girona TTT camp, and how the build's shaping up.
Then the usual Monday wrap:
Wout van Aert ruled OUT of the Tour — the elbow infection and the hole it leaves in Visma
Pogačar's monster return at the Tour de Suisse (Max does the maths on 7.2 w/kg for 25 minutes)
Van der Poel's surprise time trial, his €500 "shirt off" fine, and a rough week for the UCI on safety
The sprinters light up the Baloise Belgium Tour — Girmay's upset opener, with Merlier, Magnier, Kooij and Philipsen all grabbing a stage
Red Bull bossing it in Slovenia, Pidcock taking the Andorra climbers' race, Quinn Simmons' one-man show at US nationals, and a big rap for the Giro Next Gen
The LA28 Olympic course finally revealed — and who it suits
Still no reply from LeBron, Max
Then Max's Top 5 cycling formats, presented by Pillar Performance — and yes, he's got gravel at number two. Take it up with him.
Coming up this week: Jimmy Whelan on the pod this arvo, and Bass from the Unibet Rockets later in the week. Missed Matt Hauser last week?