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Welcome back to Beyond the Podium. Continuing our recap of stage three. And one of the highlights of stage three is that we have all of our GC hitters and main contenders still in the mix, including the young 19-year-old phenom, Paul Seas. There he is, fourth place on the stage, one of only three riders to stay within that two seconds from TD Pagotcha. And TJ, this is uh this is looking really good, I think. First day one team time trial solid, good enough. Worked through that mechanical issue yesterday. Also right there at the four in the mix and once again today really doesn't miss a beat.
No drama and showing his aggressive racing, this belief in self does not back down. He is not he's not looking over his shoulder for anyone. He's looking all forward. He's got his that bullseye on Tade and he wants to go there. Oh, 100%. I mean, I don't know who's really surprised by this because if you've been following cycling, you know, he's won this year already. Dr. He's won uh Fleshwalone. He was second at the European Championships last year. I mean, this kid is like the real deal. So, I can't say I'm surprised by this result, but it does continue to impress with just especially given his age. 19 years old, man. At 19 years old, I was like, I don't know, chasing girls,
eating ice cream, whatever. I don't know what I was doing. But like this guy, he's on top of the world at Tour to France and a big French hope. Yeah. I laugh to think about 19 my 19-year-old version. I don't I think I barely even had a road bike at that age, but uh it's yeah, it's looking good. They're into France now, so into his home nation. And I think that pressure will continue to ramp. But so far, he's he's managing it really well. And I think every day that passes for Paul Seas is another uh another good day done in the
top 10. And that white jersey competition is just Yeah, it is heated, right? I mean, yeah. Uh Isak El Toro in the white jersey. We have Paul Seas right there in the mix. So, I still believe creeping up too. Whoever wins the white jersey I still think is going to be that third place overall in Paris. And here are those white jersey standings. And we have a race here like yeah 3 seconds too Paul Sakas right there 24 seconds and Martina is also flying the French flag and riding very consistent. So Paul Stakes asks TJ, you know, one of the hard parts about this gig is pronouncing these names, but we're also in this luxurious position where we do the research, we have the resources, and we actually we get these guys to say
their name so we can pronounce it, make the best attempt to pronounce it just as they do. So for all the haters, all the trolls that are stabbing us and slamming us for the pronunciation, we got to listen to this name one more time. And yeah, one more round of research, but let's just let's listen to Paul Sixos's name here. Straight from the source. How can you say your name? Paul Sixus. How can you say your name? Paul Sixus. I think we did it pretty well. I think we got it right. We don't always get it right. We don't always bat a thousand, but you know, Paul Sixus.
Yeah, French, but a Portuguese grandfather. So, yeah, maybe a little variation in how he pronounces his name. And yeah, I that's at the end of the day, I think a rider gets to decide how they pronounce their name, not someone who's following the race and appears to be a pronunciation expert, self-proclaimed. Yeah. And we do that with every single rider in the race. We have files and files of all 200 or whatever, however many people are in the race. So, and we also have Barb, our researcher, who is reminding us constantly in our ear. In our ear anytime we said it right, I think I said Mads Peterson today. both messed up Mads Person and that's another one that we get ripped
for a lot. A lot of people have a lots of thoughts on uh Person. You know, I've been struggling with Each Del Toro. It's Eac Del Toro. Sorry, I've been saying Isaac, but it's Each Del Toro. Yeah. And never for a lack of respect. It's all respect. Lots of names. Speaking of respect, respecting the tour to France. Oh, it's a beast of a race. And Arno Dele felt the full wrath of this beast today. Came into the race sick, unwell from the beginning. His team still choosing to start him. and he has just had one heck of a time these three days suffering every day and ultimately today capitulated and decided enough is enough. I'm going home. I'm going to try to get healthy. And what a brutal year for DeLe.
Yeah, it's he's he I mean I'm getting flashbacks to the JRO. We saw the exact same images in the first Grand Tour of the year when he was basically going off the back when the and the Pelaton was going e even easier in the G-Ro today was at least full gas. But in that heat when you're having stomach issues, you're already dehydrated. There's just no way you're going to catch up. You're not doing your body any favors. You're not doing your season any favors. Just go home, get healthy, and try to figure out what's going on. Why does this keep happening? Why did it happen in the G-Ro? Why is it happening again in the tour? And he's kind of had this history of being up and down. When he's up, he
is way up, man. Like, we've seen him win the GP Quebec. That's not an easy race. He's a strong sprinter. He's not a pure fast guy. He's one of those guys who can win hard races, but when he's off, man, he is all the way off. And I wish him the best. I'm a big fan of Arnold Dele, but there's there's something that's just off with him. Yeah. And even I think coming back to form, we're showing glimpses of it between the Jurro now, grabbing a win in Belgium in his homeland, but uh yeah, disappointing and yeah, obviously looks now easy to say in hindsight, probably shouldn't have started. So wishing to leave the best as he goes home to recover. We got to recover and get ready for another round of our stage game
within the studio because the veteran Phil Liot is running away with this thing. He's gotten a little lucky with this pick timing. I mean Tad Pagotcha once again giving him the goods today. Remco I already expressed my disappointment. Not my boy today by any means and at least we're keeping it close behind. 66 five for you and I and Christian TJ. I think we're in the mix. We can all feel good to kind of keep Bob down for a minute. He's going to run away with know he's going to pull away. And also Phil, he's going to sixth pick tomorrow. So, uh, we got to help out.
Maybe we got get a chance to catch up. Oh, yeah. We got to help out Paul. I mean, tomorrow's going to be a tough one, man. Breakaways are always tough. Actually, that actually helps Phil out. Yeah, he gets sixth pick on a breakaway day. Man, that's he's just go he's just lucky, man. This is Yeah, it's a complicated game to play. Complicated just like tomorrow is going to be stage four undulating day likely for the breakaway. We're going to take a look at that stage just after the break as the tour to France rolls on.
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