Damiano Caruso on retirement, the Giro Miracle & Pogačar vs. Vingegaard - Domestique Hotseat

Damiano Caruso on retirement, the Giro Miracle & Pogačar vs. Vingegaard - Domestique Hotseat

Damiano Caruso is riding his eighth and final Tour de France. Before the start, he joins us to talk about Paul Seixas' reported €13 million contract, why he thinks it puts unfair pressure on a 19-year-old, and why he'd always choose a team that feels like family over a bigger paycheck. We also cover Bahrain Victorious' chaotic run to the pink jersey at this year's Giro d'Italia, his prediction for Pogačar vs. Vingegaard, and why, heading into retirement and a new role as directeur sportif, all he wants is to arrive in Paris without any regrets.

The Big Tour de France Preview! - Domestique Cycling Podcast

On Saturday the 113th Tour de France rolls out of Barcelona: 21 stages, 3,333 kilometres to Paris, opening with a team time trial for the first time since 1971. For the sixth year running it comes down to Tadej Pogačar against Jonas Vingegaard, and this time the Dane arrives off a crushing Giro win with his cleanest run-in since 2023.  But two new faces are forcing their way into the picture: 19-year-old Paul Seixas, France's biggest home hope in decades, and a rebooted Remco Evenepoel at Red Bull. In this big preview episode we go through all 21 stages one by one, from the Barcelona team time trial and the explosive Montjuïc finishes, through the early Pyrenean double of the Tourmalet and Gavarnie-Gèdre, the Bastille Day return to Le Lioran, the new summit finish at Plateau de Solaison and the Lake Geneva time trial, to the brutal Alpine double-header that ends on Alpe d'Huez twice.  We talk through the green jersey rule changes and why they hand Tim Merlier a real shot, the Seixas pressure and that reported €13.5m contract talk, and Pogačar's chase for a record-equalling fifth title. We then work through the start lists team by team, UAE, Visma, Lidl-Trek, Decathlon and Red Bull, including the Affini fitness question, Lidl-Trek's crowded leadership, and Red Bull's two-leader puzzle with Evenepoel and Lipowitz.  We finish with our predictions for the GC podium, the surprise names and breakaway riders to watch for three weeks, and our picks for yellow, green, polka dot and white. Tour de France 2026: Saturday 4 July to Sunday 26 July. Barcelona to Paris, 3,333 km, 54,450 m of climbing, 21 stages, rest days on 13 and 20 July. Five summit finishes, with Alpe d'Huez featuring twice in the final week. We're also launching Domestique Predict for the first time at this Tour. Pick one rider each day to win the stage, you can only pick each rider once, and we run it as a GC, so the rider's time counts, not their position. The overall winner takes home a Santini Tour de France yellow skinsuit. Sign up at debate.domestiquecycling.com/predict Read all our previews on domestiquecycling.com: Route, stage-by-stage guide: https://www.domestiquecycling.com/en/features/tour-de-france-2026-stage-by-stage-guide/ [https://www.domestiquecycling.com/en/features/tour-de-france-2026-stage-by-stage-guide/] Analysing the 2026 favourites: https://www.domestiquecycling.com/en/news/analysing-the-2026-tour-de-france-favourites/ [https://www.domestiquecycling.com/en/news/analysing-the-2026-tour-de-france-favourites/] Full team-by-team guide: https://www.domestiquecycling.com/en/cycling-races/tour-de-france/2026/news/ [https://www.domestiquecycling.com/en/cycling-races/tour-de-france/2026/news/] This episode is fuelled by MNSTRY. Fuel your body actually recognises, no artificial flavouring, no artificial anything. Use code DOMESTIQUE20 for 20% off your tasting box at https://mnstry.com [https://mnstry.com] Subscribe for race previews, reviews and analysis every week, and drop your yellow, green, white and KOM jersey picks in the comments. We love reading them, and sometimes making fun of them.

Has Pogačar already won the Tour? - Domestique Cycling Podcast

Three-stage races, one clear message: the Tour de France is coming, and the favorites are flying. Tadej Pogačar turned his Tour de Suisse debut into a public training camp - a 69 km solo on stage 1, a time trial win by four-hundredths of a second over Mathieu van der Poel, and a mountain win to finish. Three stages, the overall, and not a rival within six minutes. We break down the stage-1 "glitch", Narváez's 90 km breakaway raid in a thunderstorm, Van der Poel's surprising time-trial form, and what Primož Roglič's quiet week says about the twilight of his career. In Slovenia, Red Bull ran the show - Florian Lipowitz taking the overall and two stages, Laurence Pithie two more, in a near-perfect rehearsal 12 days before Lipowitz chases another Tour podium. And in Belgium, the Tour's sprinters sharpened their knives: four bunch sprints, four different winners (Girmay, Merlier, Kooij, and Philipsen), with Philipsen climbing well, walking off with the overall, and looking like the early green-jersey favorite under the new points rules. Then the big one: Wout van Aert is out of the Tour, and the morning's press points to a surprise replacement at Visma. We react to the Piganzoli reports, why Bram still wishes it were Ben Tulett, the back-to-back Grand Tour burnout question, and what it all means for Vingegaard's bid to chase down Pogačar. Fuel your body actually recognises. No artificial anything. 👉 Code DOMESTIQUE20 for 20% off your tasting box Order now! [https://mnstry.com/en-in?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=domestique&utm_campaign=260126_domestique_partnership-2026] https://mnstry.com/en-in?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=domestique&utm_campaign=260126_domestique_partnership-2026 [https://mnstry.com/en-in?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=domestique&utm_campaign=260126_domestique_partnership-2026] We've launched a free space to take a position on the biggest questions in pro cycling, rate other perspectives, and debate the community respectfully. No paywalls. Join at debate.domestiquecycling.com. [https://debate.domestiquecycling.com]

Del Toro is locked on for P3 in Paris - Domestique Cycling Podcast

The Critérium du Dauphiné is done, and a 22-year-old just announced himself to the world. Bram and Ethan break down Isaac Del Toro's back-to-back summit wins on the Grand Colombier and Plateau de Solaison, Paul Seixas' brave ride and painful final-morning abandon, and what it all means for the Tour de France. Is Del Toro already a better climber than Remco Evenepoel? We think so. We also dig into the soaking-wet Copenhagen Sprint that ended in carnage and handed Jasper Philipsen a big confidence boost before the Tour, and ask whether he can take green in 2026. Then it's countdown time. Tadej Pogačar finally makes his Tour de Suisse debut (good luck, everyone else), Roglič and Carapaz line up too, and Red Bull brings a Grand Tour-worthy squad to the Tour of Slovenia. Plus: what on earth is going on with Matthew Brennan and Arnaud De Lie's seasons? Fuel your body actually recognises. No artificial anything. 👉 Code DOMESTIQUE20 for 20% off your tasting box Order now! [https://mnstry.com/en-in?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=domestique&utm_campaign=260126_domestique_partnership-2026] We've launched a free space to take a position on the biggest questions in pro cycling, rate other perspectives, and debate the community respectfully. No paywalls. Join at debate.domestiquecycling.com.

Vingegaard, Giro safety and cycling’s salary problem - Domestique Hotseat with Michael Storer

Michael Storer has just delivered the best Grand Tour result of his career, finishing seventh overall at the Giro d’Italia for Tudor Pro Cycling. In this conversation, the Australian reflects on the race, explains why Jonas Vingegaard could beat Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France, and offers a different perspective on cycling’s safety debate. We start with the Giro. Storer discusses the breakaway that reshaped the general classification, the crash that ended Adam Yates’ challenge, his strongest WorldTour time trial performance yet, and why sitting at the back of the peloton can sometimes be the safest tactical decision. From there, we go deep into rider safety. Storer questions the UCI’s proposed restrictions on cycling computer sizes, calls for greater transparency around the research behind new regulations, and explains why better roads, street sweepers, clearer warnings, and the removal of dangerous road furniture could have a much greater impact. Then comes an unexpected idea. Rather than limiting the salaries of cycling’s biggest stars, Storer believes the sport should raise its minimum salary. He explains how low pay and short contracts can encourage riders to take greater risks, why two-year contracts could offer more security, and how reducing financial pressure may ultimately make racing safer. Storer also takes us inside life at a Grand Tour, from time trial recon and long hours on the team bus to reading Pride and Prejudice, watching Gossip Girl, and managing the mental fatigue of potentially racing the Giro and Tour de France back to back. And finally, his Tour prediction: based on what he saw firsthand at the Giro, Storer is backing Jonas Vingegaard to beat Tadej Pogačar this July.