Rest day brought its own chaos — a rogue podcast drop, hotel horror stories, and Alex's mountaintop stakeout for a Plappy stage win that never came. Back racing, Bastille Day delivered exactly the kind of Pogačar dominance we've come to expect, but Alex and Max dig into the smaller battles hiding underneath it.

In this episode:

• Why watching UAE control the whole day live felt different to watching it on TV

• Remco vs Lipowitz: the leadout that wasn't, and what it means for Red Bull's team chemistry
• Pidcock and Chris Harper's crash, and Pidcock's baffling "I hate GC" energy despite sitting in the top 10
• The genuinely underrated Teams Classification battle brewing between Trek and UAE
• Rest day admin update: prize winners, voice notes incoming, and a very honest confession about spreadsheets
• Welcoming new partner Knog lights to the show
• Stage 11 preview: the sprinters' first real shot since the mountains, into Nevers
• Tonight's prize: another Quad Lock voucher up for grabs

A special one for rest day — Alex and Matthew Keenan sit down with Caleb Ewan for a wide-ranging chat covering team identity in the pro peloton, the reality of stepping into the commentary box, and Keno's incredible 20th Tour de France milestone.

In this episode:

• Why national-identity teams (Uno-X, old GreenEDGE, Team Sky) create a bond trade teams never quite replicate
• Caleb's insider take on the Jasper Philipsen situation — confidence, tactics, and why "perfect lead-out" doesn't always mean perfect execution
• The Decathlon balancing act between Paul Seixas' GC ambitions and Olav Kooij's sprint chances
• Isaac del Toro's superstar potential vs. Paul Seixas' quieter talent — what actually creates a fanbase
• Keno's incredible 20-Tour journey — from solo commentary in London to today
• The art of commentary: light and shade, knowing when not to talk, and the greatest calls in Australian sports history
• Caleb's first steps in the booth alongside Phil Liggett, and the nerves that come with it
• A hard look at how teams handle PR — Jayco's Plapp saga vs. Zak Dempster's benchmark press conference
• The unofficial Tour de France win count debate — five, seven, or eight?

Stage 9 brought the biggest breakaway fight of the race so far, a genuinely baffling UAE tactical decision, and a redemption stage win for MVDP heading into the first rest day. Alex and Max break down the chaos and set up week two.

In this episode:

• Every team's attempt to get in the break — and why UAE's pacing made no sense to anyone, including their own riders
• Trek's on-the-fly pivot after realising UAE had done the work for them
• Pidcock's brutal mechanical and a big statement ride regardless
• Bernal vs. Johannessen — an unexpected top-10 GC battle brewing at Ineos
• Bling's remarkable week of near-misses without a single EF-style support rider
• Sprint fines, Girmay copping heat in the press, and Caleb Ewan's growing commentary reputation
• Full rest day GC, points, mountains and youth jersey breakdown
• Announcing our new voice note segment and what's coming on the rest day
• Last night's Pillar Performance winner revealed 💊

Stage 8 delivered another Tim Merlier masterclass — this time with no lead-out at all, bridging a gap solo and still finding the win. Alex and Max break down a wild finale, a genuinely funny Patrick Lefevere quote about Remco Evenepoel, and preview a Stage 9 that could produce one of the biggest breakaways of the race.

In this episode:

• ​How Merlier won from nowhere with zero support in the final sprint
• ​Philipsen's perfect lead-out, no legs, and a helmet flying out of the Alpecin team bus
• ​Astana's Max Cantor waiting too long — twice in one day
• ​"Me, myself, me" — Patrick Lefevere's brutal take on Remco Evenepoel
• ​The Lipowitz/Evenepoel leadership tension bubbling up again
• ​Thor Hushovd interview and the Uno-X culture that keeps producing great stories
• ​New segment alert: send us your voice notes for the rest day episode
• ​Last night's Oakleys and Hyro winners revealed 🕶️💧
• ​Stage 9 preview: a shortened, heat-hit stage that could see 30+ riders fight for the break

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Stage 7 gave us a genuine bunch sprint for the first time this Tour, and Merlier proved once again why he might be the fastest man in the race. But this episode goes deeper than the finish line - Alex and Max take a hard look at cycling's concussion protocol after two riders in three stages passed roadside checks only to be pulled with head injuries hours later.

In this episode:

• Merlier's clinical win and Stuyven's clutch positioning move
• Why Jasper Philipsen's "brand" is taking a hit despite still being a top-four sprinter
• Astana boxed in with numbers to spare — what could've been for Max Cantor
• Uno-X's relentless, joyful chaos in the absence of a jersey to defend
• A serious, considered breakdown of the concussion protocol gap — comparing cycling to AFL, NRL and NFL approaches, and what a proper fix could look like
• Remco and Lipo's team tension spills into a very public "we're all good" video
• Last night's Quad Lock winners revealed 🔒
• Stage 8 preview: Périgueux to Bergerac, two cat-4 climbs and a tricky, technical finish
• Tonight's prize: Tour de France edition Oakleys 🕶️

Pogačar went at the 42.7km mark — Del Toro went with him, did a turn, then cracked human — and from there it was just Tadej riding away to a 2:40 stage win and the yellow jersey. But the real drama wasn't even the stage win. Remco Evenepoel stopped for a nature break, got dropped, had to chase back on — and then used the press conference to publicly rinse teammate Florian Lipowitz for not doing a one-K leadout back in Catalunya, months after the fact. Meanwhile Lipowitz quietly had one of his best days in ages, matching Pogačar and Del Toro's pace up the Tourmalet — so who's actually in the right here? We break down the team tension, the brutal end to Torstein Træen's day in yellow (crash, concussion questions and all), Ben O'Connor's early move, and Huub Artz's handlebar saga (spoiler: no fine, just a very public argument). Plus — we look ahead to tomorrow's pancake sprint into Bordeaux, who our on-the-ground sources say might actually have calm conditions (despite what the previews are saying), and hand out today's prize winners.

Stage 5 was billed as the big sprint showdown, but it played out more like a quiet day in the legs — and Alex and Max dig into whether that was fatigue, tactics, or something closer to a protest ahead of tomorrow's Tourmalet.

In this episode:

• Why nobody wanted to make Stage 5 hard, and what that says about where the peloton's head is at
• The chaotic final sprint — Alpecin and Lidl-Trek in control, then it all came undone
• Astana and Cofidis punching well above their weight
• The green jersey battle heating up between Pedersen, Philipsen, Girmay and a surprise name in Max Kanter
• Meeting Marco Frigo trackside, and the Uno-X yellow jersey balancing act
• A first look at "the big three" — the unofficial riders' reps who help shape decisions mid-race
• Last night's Hyro electrolyte winners revealed
• Stage 6 preview: the Tourmalet, Col d'Aspin, and a first real Pogačar vs Vingegaard test
• Max's own painful history on the Tourmalet — a cautionary tale about oiling your disc brakes
• Tonight's prize: another Café du Cycliste kit up for grabs

Stage 4 was run in genuinely brutal conditions — 44 degrees on the road, no heat protocol in effect, and a peloton that paid for it. Alex and Max break down a day where the tactics mattered as much as the legs.

In this episode:

• How hot was it really, and why there's still no UCI heat policy in play
• Trek's perfectly played hand — sending their lead-out men up the road instead of controlling the bunch
• The GC gift that handed a brand new team their first-ever Tour de France race lead
• Norway's incredible week continues — on the bike and at the World Cup
• Tudor and Astana's rough day missing the moves that mattered
• Kelland O'Brien's tough day and missing the time cut
• The UCI celebration rule, sticky bidons, and where the fine pool sits so far this Tour
• Last night's Café du Cycliste kit winner revealed 🎽
• Stage 5 preview: the sprinters finally get their shot into Pau
• Tonight's prize: Hyro electrolytes to help survive the heat 💧

Stage 3 into the Pyrenees delivered exactly what a first mountain day should — a mass crash inside the opening 15km, an hour-long fight to form the breakaway, and a GC shakeup as the race hit altitude in 41-degree heat.

In this episode, Alex and Max break down:

• The early crash that caught out Decathlon, Ineos and Lidl-Trek riders
• Why the breakaway took so long to go clear, and who made the cut
• Visma's tactical head-scratcher and what it means for how UAE are racing this Tour
• Bourdon's stellar day in the mountains jersey
• The GC fallout — who's struggling, who's surprising, and who's cooked from the heat
• A UAE team that looks equal parts relaxed and ruthless
• Last night's Giant sunglasses winner revealed 🕶️
• Stage 4 preview: Carcassonne to Foix — a stage that smells like a breakaway but might not be one
• Tonight's prize: a full Café du Cycliste kit up for grabs 🎽

Barcelona put on an absolute show — 36 degrees, brutal wind, and a street circuit that turned into a proper GC selection race. Alex was trackside for the carnage, Max is calling it from Melbourne, and this one's got everything.

In this episode:

• Brandon McNulty's ridiculous shift on the front — basically a one-man UAE train for 25km
• A break that was never getting there, and why Q36.5 still sent a man up the road
• The final climb: who cracked, who attacked, and a corner that had Max white-knuckling his chair
• Remco's positioning headache and how close the sprint for it actually was
• GC carnage: Ineos in chaos, an unlikely name now their top rider, Tiberi a bit lost
• Del Toro's team car chaos — the mechanical that had him waving down his own car like a fan
• Stage 3 preview: bushfire smoke near Girona, 4,000m of climbing towards Andorra, and why the break might actually stick this time
• Last night's Pillar Performance winner and how to get into today's Giant sunnies comp