The Secret To Winning Is Letting Someone Else Win
A mechanical problem, a 22-year-old rising star, and a team captain who chooses leadership over ego, that’s the kind of Tour de France story that sticks. We pick up right after Stage 2 with a clear, fan-friendly breakdown of what “categorized climbs” actually mean, from Category 4 rollers to Category 1 grinders and the brutal HC ascents that feel beyond human. If you’ve ever listened to commentators toss out climb ratings and wondered why it matters, we connect the labels to real tactics: when the peloton squeezes, when a breakaway dies, and when the favorites finally show their cards.
Then we dive into the Stage 2 recap, including Isaac Del Toro’s statement win and why it’s such a big moment for Mexican cycling. We talk through the chaos of chasing back after a mechanical issue, the timing of the final mountain loop, and the subtle teamwork that turns a “bad day” into the biggest win of a young rider’s career. We also unpack the jersey situation and the Tour de France rules that prevent a rider from wearing two jerseys at once, which is why what you see on the road doesn’t always match what you assume from the standings.
To round it out, we get practical and a little obsessed: pro cycling nutrition. We lay out the real numbers behind endurance fueling, including the 5,000 to 8,000 calories per day range, carb-heavy strategies, and why riders aim for massive grams of carbohydrates per hour using gels, drink mixes, and rice-based foods. We also touch on the darker side of the race: crashes, concussion protocols, and how quickly a Tour can end, even in a rider’s first year. Subscribe for daily Tour updates, share this with the cycling fan in your life, and leave us a review with your bold prediction for tomorrow’s stage.
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_00: And there we go.
It's time for another leisure breakaway with the cycling men
of leisure.
I am Michael, and with me is my good friend, Mr.
Adam.
Hello again.
Well, we normally don't record this this quickly after, but um,
this is kind of cool.
We're like seeing each other like every day, literally.
But today we are going to continue our look at the Tour de
France.
Today was day two.
And uh let me tell you, it's not disappointing thus far.
Okay.
It's been pretty exciting.
Uh, today was mountains, at least the last half of it was
mountains.
So I thought it would be interesting, first off, to start
if you listen to the tour, they talk about categorized
mountains.
So I wanted to give everybody kind of an idea of what that
meant.
They've got categorization from one to four, four being the
easiest.
That's just short hills, gentle gradient, that kind of thing.
Then they've got a category three, which is a moderate hill,
which is a longer or more steady uh gradient.
Category two is obviously harder.
It is uh sustained climb with um significant elevation gain.
And then you've got the category one, which is very hard, which
is a long uh steep mountain ascent.
But wait, there's more.
They have what they call beyond category, uh, which is an HC,
which is basically a legendary climb considered beyond
categorization.
Um if anybody watched, like last year, I think they went on uh
several years, they've they tended to go on Mont Vontou,
which is a huge mountain in the Alps.
Uh, it is a killer.
That is a beyond category climb.
So um I just wanted to give everybody an idea that category
climbs, four being the easiest, one being the hardest, with uh
the HC classification being extreme.
And those are gonna be the type of hills that you and I are
never gonna see on a bicycle.
SPEAKER_04: Except down.
I like down.
SPEAKER_00: Down would be good, but we got to get to the top.
So maybe hire somebody to drive us and our bicycles to the top,
and then we'll cruise down.
Like I said, the trick for that, we'll get ourselves all wet up
and everything like that, like we've been chugging up the hill.
And then when you know we're cruising down, it'll look like
we actually did some like heavy duty riding.
Oh, yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Well, uh, let's get into it.
Uh, today's race.
It was uh extremely interesting.
There was a lot of surprises.
Uh, did you get did you get to see all of it?
SPEAKER_04: I I I turned it on for a little bit, and then I was
multitasking, and then I went for my workout, but then um I
did I did have a computer give me a synopsis.
So I have some questions, but I'm gonna hold my questions in
case you answer them while you're speaking.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
Well, today it was 168 kilometers, uh, very hilly.
We went from uh Targone, Tarragon, excuse me, to
Barcelona.
Um and they did kind of a mountain loop at the very, very
end.
So it was it was very interesting.
But uh a little bit our top top two guys did not uh did not win
today.
Uh basically, Isaac Del Toro is the one who uh took the victory
today, and a lot of people aren't gonna be familiar with
him if you follow it.
He's a uh relatively new uh cyclist, he's only 22 years old.
Uh he's from Mexico, and he won today's stage, and he is only
the second Mexican cyclist who has ever won uh a stage in the
uh in the tour.
So that's pretty cool.
Uh it was crazy.
He had probably about 50 miles out bicycle problems.
Uh his cars, both the cars passed because they got two
support cars.
They had both passed.
Uh, so he had to kind of catch up and and uh deal with that.
And so he basically came from the back of the pack before the
mountains, caught up to the front, and wound up taking it.
And I've got to say, he's on Toddy Pagaccha's team, and him
and Toddy were right there, you know, pretty much neck and neck
all the way up.
And let me tell you classy, classy guy.
Some of these guys, I mean, ta uh Toddy Pagacci is the captain
of the team.
And, you know, it's easy for them to say, well, you work for
me, I'm the star of the team.
Well, when they got up there, actually Toddy pretty much let
uh El Toro have the victory, which I thought was extremely
classy.
You know, he could have got a big head and said, No, man, I'm
taking the victory.
He let him have it, this young, you know, new cyclist.
That's what's gonna build loyalty, that's gonna build
teamwork camaraderie when your team captain is not just saying
it's all about me, let's have some wins go around for
everybody.
So I thought that was that was fantastic.
Um it did make some interesting uh some interesting highlights
for the jerseys.
I talked about jerseys the other day.
Um Del Toro actually won two jerseys today.
He won the white jersey, which is the best young rider, which
is uh for any rider who's under who's 26 years of age or under.
And he also won the green jersey today.
Well, a writer can't wear two jerseys, according to the rules
and regulations.
So uh according to those rules and regulations, the rider must
wear the jersey that's most significant to them, based upon
the Tour de France rules, which will mean that Del Toro will be
wearing the white jersey for the best young writer tomorrow.
Uh, the green jersey then falls to the person who has the most
points behind him.
And um that is going to be Egan Burnell.
So he'll be wearing the green jersey, yellow jersey uh still
will be on the uh shoulders of uh Vendegaard, and uh Pagatcha
still maintains the King of the Mountain jersey.
Um, but he did pick up some time, so he's only six seconds
behind overall.
So uh we'll see what tomorrow's brings.
Um tomorrow uh we're looking at about 195 kilometers, which is
about 121 miles.
They enter the Pyrenees tomorrow, which is the lower
elevation of the mountains that they go through.
They'll then go through the Alps later.
Uh they will be traveling from Granul Years to La uh Las
Angeles.
So um that'll be tomorrow's route.
Please forgive me.
I am not French.
Sharp is not a French name.
I did not take French in high school.
Uh so I may not get the names exactly right, but just please
bear with me.
SPEAKER_04: Oh, we've already got complaints.
I'm just kidding.
We did not give him some French classes.
SPEAKER_00: He's mispronouncing everything.
SPEAKER_04: Well, you answered the question about the two
jerseys because when I came back from my workout, I said, give me
a synopsis, and and uh you said 50 miles according to AI.
It says 60 kilometers from the finish.
He had a mechanical, lost significant time before getting
a bike change, needing help from the teammate Nils Palat, if
that's how you say that, to get back into the Peloton.
He recovered fully and still took the biggest win of his
career on the Munchuf climbs or whatever.
Munchunk?
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh Mount Jewick.
SPEAKER_04: Mount Jewick.
SPEAKER_00: Which was like the big massive climb today.
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, the final one.
It says Alex uh Molinar won the intermediate sprint and points
atop the Coda de Baguess, taking over the King of the Mountain
jersey from Pojakar.
Is that how you say that?
Pojakar, yeah.
Pojukar.
SPEAKER_00: That's good enough for you.
Yeah, Pagatha.
Pagatha.
Well, it's a potato chip.
And I think I said Pagatcha would retain the uh King of the
Mountain, but that is incorrect.
You're right.
It's uh Molinar, who I believe is a uh Dutch cyclist.
SPEAKER_04: Well, this is why I'm here to make sure that you
do get this thing right.
SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
By the way, Molinar means uh uh Miller in English, so just FYI.
Cool.
That's as much Dutch as I know.
SPEAKER_04: Uh uh Del Toro was emotional, saying the win meant
everything, given how much his team and family supported him.
Um yeah, and so yes, it it did say that his teammate uh instead
of taking over let him slide on by.
Is that is that kind of what happened?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
I mean, he he could have he could have done it.
But again, sometimes it's not about you taking the win,
although there have been uh team captains on these different
things that would have been happy to uh you know take the
win just as another win.
But uh the the true leaders out there understand let the let the
winning be shared by everybody.
The team still wins.
Uh, you know, I mean this this is really about money, you know.
You win money if you get the different jerseys, you win money
if your team's on top.
So I mean your team is still bringing in money, which means
more money for the for the riders.
So, you know, it's all good.
Cool.
SPEAKER_04: Well, uh, I'm gonna spread out my information about
the tour over the series here.
But I I teased about how much food uh that they eat.
Now, you probably know this because I'm sure during this
they're like, oh well, why we go to a commercial, let's tell you
about how much they eat or whatever.
So um if anyone is curious how much it takes for one of these
guys to to keep pedaling that bike 121 miles, around 5,000 to
8,000 calories a day, uh depending on the stage.
Uh flat days sheltered in the Peloton burn less, and big
mountain days push towards the top that range uh occasionally
past it.
For comparison, that's roughly three to four times what a
typical adult eats per day.
Um well, supposed to anyway.
Uh interesting part is how they get it in.
Uh carbs dominate 500 to 700 grams daily.
Uh, there's there has been a pro who's averaged 843 grams,
peaking at 1100 grams on a brutal day.
Riders now eat about 120 grams of carbs per hour on the bike.
Uh, they get it through gels, rice cakes, drink mixes, uh,
because you physically can't make all that up at dinner
alone.
Breakfast is often rice or pasta about three hours before the
start, and refueling starts within minutes of crossing the
line.
Even so, most writers finished three weeks uh having lost a
little weight over the whole thing.
Staying ahead of the 8,000 calorie burn for the 21 stages
is nearly impossible.
So there you go.
Um, I remember Michael Phelps during the Olympics, the year
that he won the eight gold medals.
Uh McDonald's was the Olympic um restaurant that was providing
the meals, and he would say he would eat like five Big Macs a
day or something like that, which is just just pounds and
calories too.
SPEAKER_00: You can afford to do.
Now, you and I, when we go on those week-long bike rides, we
wind up and gain a few pounds, even though we're out there
chugging for you know five, six, seven hours.
Yeah, we we still end up gaining a couple of pounds.
SPEAKER_04: So yes, yes, that's for sure.
So um, I already have received some information uh from someone
who listened to the first episode.
We'll save that, but I have some interesting more facts to share
throughout the series.
So um, all right, so tomorrow uh we will we will have another
update.
Anything else to add?
SPEAKER_00: No, tomorrow will be stage three.
It's uh it's already shaping up to be good.
There was a couple of uh minor crashes today.
I did want to say uh they did should have said this at the
beginning, uh they did lose one rider.
I believe he was on the UAE or uh Groupon team, actually.
Uh did lose one in a mild crash yesterday, but he did not uh was
not able to pass the concussion protocols that they have to go
through when they hit their heads.
And so he was he has left the race, so we're down one rider,
uh, which isn't typic, which isn't atypical.
Uh you'll see every day they'll give a report that will tell you
how many people dropped and generally for what reasons or
what have you.
And um there's uh quite a few riders that will unfortunately
not make it.
It's really sad that this is like this guy's first year and
he made it like 12 miles.
Uh well next year he's got a shoot for 13.
Well, hey, the way I look at it is his 12 miles is further than
I will ever ride in a Tour de France or any other professional
cycling event.
So kudos to him.
SPEAKER_04: And so if I'm doing my math, you said we started
with 184 minus one.
We're now down to 183 riders.
That is correct.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
And tomorrow morning they will give us a report on if anybody
dropped out overnight because sometimes, you know, they get
the flu or you know, they got they they crashed and they were
finished the race, but they weren't, you know, after they
got checked out and stuff, they realized, you know, they weren't
able to continue.
A lot of these guys have other races coming up, so they also
looking down the road saying over the course of this ride,
you will see riders drop out for different reasons.
Um, so we'll uh we'll keep a daily count of who's in, who's
out.
Sometimes some of these teams get pretty thin.
There's eight riders per team.
There have been teams that have lost most of their riders uh
through the course of it, which is never good, but uh just
nature of the beast.
SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the