The Tour Is Back And We’re Counting Seconds
Eight seconds doesn’t sound like much until it’s eight seconds at the Tour de France. We’re launching Leisure Breakaway as a short, stage-by-stage companion to Tour de France 2026, starting with the opening days in Barcelona and a team time trial that already reshuffled expectations for the general classification.
We break down the big-picture setup first: July 4 through July 26, 21 stages over 23 days, two rest days, 23 teams, and 184 riders racing roughly 3,333 kilometers. Then we get into what made this team time trial especially worth paying attention to: instead of one shared team time, every rider earns an individual time, which changes how early gaps hit the GC contenders. Jonas Vingegaard and Visma Lease a Bike strike first, with key names like Tadej Pogacar, Filippo Ganna, and Remco Evenepoel immediately in the mix and the clock already creating pressure.
We also share how we’ll keep these mini episodes clean and easy to follow, labeled by stage and city so you can listen in order. Beyond results, we’re bringing the stuff fans always wonder about: how many calories riders eat per day, how the musette feed bag works, how mechanics and doctors support riders at speed, and all the small details that make the Tour a rolling logistics masterpiece. If you’re watching along, we’ll point you to viewing options like Peacock in the United States and other broadcasters worldwide.
Subscribe, share this with a cycling friend, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find our daily Tour de France recaps.
Adam and Michael’s friendship has grown through years of shared miles, challenges, and laughter on the bike. Their passion for cycling has carried them through life’s twists and turns, creating a bond full of stories, jokes, and unforgettable rides. In their podcast, they bring that same spirit to the mic—sharing adventures, trading banter, and welcoming listeners into their cycling community. Whether tackling steep climbs or cruising open roads, their conversations capture the fun, friendship, and freedom that cycling brings. Tune in for stories that celebrate the ride and the camaraderie that makes it unforgettable.
and Remember,
It's a Great Day for a Bike Ride!
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1 SPEAKER_03: All right.
It's the leisure breakaway.
That's right.
Uh, folks, welcome to our first installment of the leisure
breakaway.
I'm Michael, and with me is my good friend Adam, as always.
Hello there.
And uh, this is our little mini podcast uh segments following,
yes, the Tour de France.
So are you excited, Adam?
SPEAKER_02: I'm excited.
I uh I actually had to, you know, once we said we were gonna
do this, I actually had to look at the okay.
I went to AI and asked it for an update.
SPEAKER_03: So well, you look, that's the important thing.
Well, let me tell you, um, let me just give you a little bit of
information about the 2026 tour.
It runs from July 4th through the 26th.
Yeah, the 26th of 2026, of course.
It is the 113th installment of the Tour de France.
We're gonna have 21 stages over 23 days, and that includes their
two rest days.
Uh, distance 2,071 miles.
And for our European and other friends, that's nothing.
Uh, that is 3,333 kilometers.
There are 23 teams, and that equates out to 184 riders
because there are eight teams, or there, excuse me, there are
eight riders per team.
Uh, we've got some big names going for the the general
classification.
Uh Toddy Pagaccha, of course.
Uh Jonas uh Vendegaard is on there.
Rimco uh Avonpool.
Uh, and then a new one of the brightest young talents coming
up is Juan A.
I always get his name wrong.
A so.
I thought you were gonna say Juan F.
Soto.
Juan F.
Soto.
Well, hey, I'd love to see that.
Um starting in Barcelona.
Now, basically, it's opening or it opened with time trials.
And I'm not a big fan of the time trial thing.
Um it hasn't opened uh with a time trial since like 1971.
Not a huge fan of the time trials.
Today was the team time trial.
Uh later in the uh tour, they will be having the uh individual
time trials.
Um but good news is tomorrow they they break out into the
open road and it and it should be should be pretty good.
So um talk a little bit about the stage.
Basically, they had a 19.6 kilometer time trial team time
trial.
Um this is unlike um unlike the traditional time trials, every
rider receives an individual finish time, um making it a
little bit more uh exciting for the general classification uh
riders.
Um basically a lot of times on the team time trial, just to
explain, the team they all ride together and they finish with a
single uh you know time.
Uh but in this one they've designed it so that each one of
the riders get their own individual time.
So that's kind of cool.
But are you ready for it?
Who won?
What happened?
Oh, I'm I'm sitting down.
SPEAKER_02: No, I I hope to I hope to take away an education
from this.
So that's what I'm looking forward to.
SPEAKER_03: So okay.
Well, uh Tadi Pagaccia is the the favored person for this
year.
SPEAKER_02: And that's a potato chip, right?
Pagaccia or something like that.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there's a there's a lot of education
that's gonna have to occur in the next 21 days.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I'm just kidding.
So this this gentleman, uh Tidi Pagaca.
SPEAKER_03: Tadi Pagaccha, yes.
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
SPEAKER_03: And uh he is the favored one, won it before.
Uh he actually did not uh come in first today.
Uh Jonas Vindegaard with uh Visma Lisa Bike team uh actually
came in first, followed by Philippe Gana, uh who was eight
seconds back, and then Toddy Pagaccha was 12 seconds back.
Okay.
Uh another one of my favorites, uh Rimco Evanpool, which I had
mentioned earlier, was 19 seconds back.
So um it was uh a little bit of a shakeup.
That's what's fun about the tour, you just really never
know.
Um Vinegard came right out and established some some good time.
Uh so we'll see.
You know, it's only eight seconds, but and and people
think, well, eight seconds isn't a lot.
Well, eight seconds can be quite a bit.
Um tours have been won and lost on eight seconds, and I know
we've got 20 some days uh until the end of this.
But uh it can get very difficult for riders to make up eight
seconds, and you never know what's gonna happen if there is
a uh you know a crash or something, uh, different things
like that.
I mean, it it could make it really tough to uh to get those
eight seconds, but I think I think it's gonna be a good close
race this year.
So it'll be fun.
Um like I said, today they get back on the road or they get on
the road, and we'll see.
So we'll just keep you updated as it goes.
We'll let you know uh if there's there'll obviously be some
riders who will not make it, who will have to drop out,
unfortunately.
Uh we'll we'll bring you those little updates and we'll keep
you informed of of who's on top.
But right now, uh Vismo Lisa Bike team is the number one
team.
So we'll see as it goes.
SPEAKER_02: So, my uh contribution throughout this,
not not this first episode, because this one we want to just
keep these nice and short, just an update.
Um, my contribution throughout this is I'm gonna be looking
also some different things like how many calories a day do the
cyclists eat, um, some some pieces like that.
So I won't give all it away, but I was thinking last night how I
could add just a little bit each time, just something kind of
interesting if you're at home and you're like, oh man, I
wonder what they eat to be able to do that.
So uh I'll I know they have chefs and everything else, and
I'll I'll I'll be bringing bringing some of that
information and pieces as well as trying to learn learn all
along.
So um if you want to watch uh the tour, um and 2026 tour
started yesterday, July 4th in Barcelona, and will run, as
Michael said, through July 26th.
And where to watch depends on your country.
In the United States of America, as Sam Eagle would say, the best
country.
Every stage streams live on Peacock.
NBC uh is also gonna air stage one, which we've missed, stage
eight and twenty.
Uh stages start early Eastern time.
Well, of course, it's Eastern time.
Um in the UK, there is TNT Sports and HBO Max.
I know that we're listening to all over the world now, so
that's pretty cool.
Um, in Canada, there is flow bikes, and there is a price
listed here in Canadian at$49.99 a month.
I'm not sure if that'd be like $45 a month, American, if you
were, you know, for for US dollars, but guess you won't
matter if you're in Canada.
Australia, free on SBS and SBS on demand, and France, Belgium,
Germany, Netherlands, Italy, and Spain, free-to-air national
broadcaster.
So um, and uh not that it's our website, but there's also
leTour.fr, L-E-T-O-U-R.fr.
So there you go.
There's your uh information.
So what you're saying is you're just you're gonna be talking
about food.
I just did my health assessment to work, and uh like every
question is like, how many uh uh healthy fats do you eat?
How many processed foods do you eat?
And I'm like, this year I might I'm able to check, uh, not a lot
of that, not a lot of that.
But I love the way they answer those questions.
It's like sometimes, never.
I'm like, oh yeah, you have my you have my whole history.
Never have I thought something liar.
SPEAKER_03: But that'll be cool.
Um, and you can learn about uh mucinet.
unknown: Muse.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
Uh this is a family show.
I hope you just didn't use spell language.
No, I did not.
Okay.
So all I know is um when you and I would be doing cycling events
with our friends, people would say around this time, especially
Ragbri, the tour was usually right around Ragbrian.
People would say, I wish I had a guy to hand me a new tire.
So I can't wait to hear about that.
Like, how does that work and stuff?
So I'm excited about that.
And we'll add those pieces as as we do these 21 segments.
Um uh unless, of course, on rest day you want to rest too.
SPEAKER_03: So uh no, no, no, I won't, I won't rest.
I've got my my hats, my little racing hats on.
So uh I'm I'm ready to do it.
Uh, we won't rest on the rest day.
Um, yeah, there's all sorts of interesting things like the the
tire changes, uh, the mechanics.
The doctors uh actually work on them as they're riding if it's
you know, if they've got like skinned up, exposed skin, the
doctors will be outside, you know, hanging outside their
vehicles actually working on them.
Mechanics will be tweaking uh their bikes as they're actually
going down the road so they don't lose time.
Um, all sorts of, like I said, the musanette uh concept, which
is the little bags that they give out their food in.
Uh yeah.
It'll it'll uh it'll be interesting.
So it'll be exciting, ready to, you know, ready for them to get
on the road.
SPEAKER_02: So to keep things, uh Michael and I discussed um
album cover, to keep things um clean and concise, and so you
can do this in order.
We're going to label them stage one and put this put the city.
Uh it's gonna have the same same color and font and everything.
So make sure you're paying attention if you'd like to hear
it in order, if you're on the road or something, and you you
find this at uh stage 16 or whatever, and and you're like, I
want to start in the back, just make sure that you can put your
uh podcast uh to chronological order and then just make sure
you look at the stage and the cities.
That's how we're going to uh distinguish it and keep things
nice and clean.
So um I'm excited.
Uh, this is the first one done.
Anything else, Mr.
Sharp, that you want to add?
SPEAKER_03: No, uh I'm excited.
Uh, we'll produce another one, and uh I I like the catchy theme
song.
All right, here it comes.
Let me give it to you.
All right.
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the shop breakover.
Listen to the