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Published on:

16th Aug 2024

Silvan Dillier: Leading from the front of the peloton

Silvan Dillier is a key part of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team. His role as a domestique saw him spent more hours at the head of the peloton at this years tour de France, than any other rider, as he worked for team leaders Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen.

He joined Bobby Julich and Jens Voigt shortly after the Tour de France had concluded to share his thoughts on a historic edition of Le Grand Boucle, what he's learned from watching Tadej Pogacar at close quarters and what it was like sharing the Paris-Roubaix podium with prime Peter Sagan.

Join our patreon to get the latest updates from the podcast and hear an ad free version of this podcast. Check out our @OddTandem youtube channel to see the video version, and remember to follow us @OddTandem  on your favourite social media platforms.

Transcript
Speaker:

Hello everyone, and welcome

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back to another episode of The Odd Tandem.

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Today our guest.

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I guarantee you knew his name

because he was on the front of the tour

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de France a lot this year.

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He's one of the guys that goes up

and maintains the pace, controls

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the breakaways, but

he also finds his opportunities to shine.

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Being a past world team time trial

champion and finishing up in second place

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in Paris-Roubaix So please sit back, relax

and listen to our great conversation

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with Sylvain Didier

from Alpecin–Deceuninck.

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Sylvain, how are you doing, man?

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Thanks. I'm good.

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Hello, everyone.

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Thanks for having me.

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You know, you just got finished

with the tour de France not too long ago.

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How are you? How is the recovery going?

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actually.

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Quite good.

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so I was with my family

a few days in the mountains.

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just completely without the bike.

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We went for one hike.

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Not too much.

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my older son is, four years old, so,

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he did the whole hike,

so it was not too crazy for me.

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Normally.

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So. Yeah, I, Yeah,

I enjoyed some off time.

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And now, slowly

starting to get back to business.

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When you finish the tour,

it does more of a programme.

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Probably.

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So did you tell them?

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Hey, look, I need time off. Don't call me.

Don't send me emails.

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I need family time,

or they call you everyday

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and ask about your weight,

your food, or how you feel?

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Or they did leave you alone for a week.

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How do I have to imagine

your little break after the tour?

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Yeah,

actually, the team is doing really well.

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in this kind of matter, they know

we had a tough time during the tour.

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Also, not only the tour itself,

it was already, Yeah.

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intense period.

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Before that, we had, altitude camp.

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We had, from altitude straight

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to tour de Suisse, Tour

de Suisse was super tough.

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And then, you have a couple days

home with nationals in between

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and basically straight off the nationals,

your flight to the tour.

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And, so they know it was a tough time

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and they said, okay, no problem,

just go home, relax.

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And, at one point after one week

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when you never recorded any training

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or sports activity,

then they might call you and, tell you.

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Okay, I think now it would be time

to get back to business.

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we set you up with a training plan,

training schedule?

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but most likely

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your first race

after the tour is already set.

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Before the tour.

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So for me, that is Tour of Poland.

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So I knew that I will have

a few weeks easy at home.

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But you

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spent so much time on the front,

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like your

your job was to control the breakaways and

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make sure that it came to as many sprints

as possible for your, for your sprinter.

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can you give us an idea

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of your energy expenditure?

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you know, on a, on one of those hard days

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where you were just like that

motorcycle on the front.

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So, yeah, for me,

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actually,

it looks like, it's a super hard day.

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And it also is, a hard day.

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but, you know, for me,

it's also quite easy

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because I just plant myself

in front of the peloton, and I.

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I'm quiet.

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So, nobody disturbs me

until the final when,

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you know, all the teams are leading up

and, trying.

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I always call it the drag race.

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You know, all the,

the teams are next to each other,

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chasing or just pulling full gas

and eventually

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sprinting for this one next corner as it

if it would be already the finish line.

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So at that point,

my job is basically done.

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And. Yeah. So I've

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for me, it's just about,

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you know, finding a good rhythm,

finding a pace.

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obviously.

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Also the, the breakaway dictates

a little bit the speed.

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we go,

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but at the end, it's,

like finding your rhythm, your flow.

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And once you found it,

it's just you do it.

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And I try to enjoy.

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I try to enjoy the spectators,

the atmosphere.

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yeah. The whole thing.

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The whole story.

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It's it's, I mean, it's the biggest bike

race there is. And,

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Yeah, obviously you should enjoy it.

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And I think

if you can't enjoy these moments, then,

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maybe you should find another job.

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I just thought about you

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spending time on the front because

I was commentating for German Eurosport.

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So I saw you all the time.

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how do, like me and also our listeners,

how do we have to

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imagine the meeting

when he tells you Silvan, listen,

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we want you to pull every single day

until you fall off your bike.

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I mean, like going into the tour,

you must know that

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if there's not

any exceptional circumstances,

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you will never see the finish line

with the first group

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because you work

for 4 or 5 hours every day.

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how do they explain that to you?

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I mean, I a was domestic

half of my career.

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I had some good results,

and I was sometimes just domestic.

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So I know the job and how they tell you.

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But explain that to our listeners.

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Basically, what they tell me is like.

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Silvan,

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you know what to do.

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That's easy.

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this is this is the thing

they tell me in the meeting.

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yeah.

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Because otherwise, yeah, it's not to be

honest, it's not much more to say.

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I know my qualities.

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the the team knows the qualities as well.

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I was, they selected me for the tour

because of that reason.

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and I was also preparing for this, so.

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But. Yeah, so obviously,

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it's not only easy or.

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Yeah, it's sometimes pretty tough.

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And,

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Yeah, when the tour starts,

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first day, second day passes, third day,

and you're getting more and more tired.

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After the fifth day, you think like, oh,

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230kms today.

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I don't know if I can do that.

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But, yeah, there was also one stage,

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it was not too chaotic in the beginning.

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And I told the team, okay, guys, I'm super

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tired from yesterday or from the

the last three, four days.

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I wait, I don't pull one meter

until you guys call me.

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And so, they left me alone.

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They they left me easy,

for maybe 80/90kms.

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And, so,

so after that, I started to pull and,

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eventually

it came all down to a bunch sprint again.

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But when you're, when you are

taking those timeouts, if you will.

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It's been a long time

since I've been in the peloton.

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And the speed in which you guys

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are racing every single stage just seems

on a totally different level.

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When when you are, when it is

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kind of mellow and you,

you are taking that break,

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are you talking to other riders

or are you just trying

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to make sure that you eat and drink

properly?

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is can you relax in the tour de France

peloton at all anymore?

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I think is what I'm asking.

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nice. You ask? Yeah.

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You know, the thing is,

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it's my 10th pro year now,

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and, we were riding

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full guys in the in the grupetto.

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It's not the first group.

It's the grupetto.

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The last one with the dropped sprinters.

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and the half dead.

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And, I was

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watching next to me.

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It was, Luke Durbridge.

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And, we were like 350/370W uphill.

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And I was asking him,

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hey, man, correct me if I'm wrong, but

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when I turned pro, this was the speed

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in the leading peloton with the,

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yeah, with the favorites of the day.

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And then he was like,

I completely agree with you.

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I was here exactly ten years ago, and this

was the speed of the of the favorites.

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I was like, it's it's crazy.

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I mean, we,

we are riding to make the time cut

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with the power.

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Ten years ago,

you were in the first group.

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And, yeah.

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For me, this was also quite mind

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blowing because, the sports,

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progressed so much in the last few years.

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It's it's impressive.

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But I'm also happy to experience this.

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So from, from the outside,

we also realize the sport.

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We call it the golden age of cycling.

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We got superstars

like you have two on your team, right?

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With Mathieu Van der poel and,

Jasper Philipsen,

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Pogacar, Vingegaard, you know,

there's quite a few Remco Evenepoel Now.

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it is fantastic moment

to watch the sport, to be a fan of it.

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But isn't it incredibly hard

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because not only the tour de France,

from what I see, was my commentating job.

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Every single race is full gas.

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All right, Bobby, when we were young,

20kms to go was the finale

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and if you want to surprise somebody,

you would move up

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to the front at 25km to go,

you would be the first one.

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Try to be in the front nowadays. What?

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The grand finale starts at 50km.

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60km?

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Yeah, sure.

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you know, the tour is,

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in this kind of perspective super crazy.

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I remember the first tour I did,

it was a sprint stage and 70kms to go.

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It was like all the teams were lined

up next

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to each other, going

full gas for every single corner.

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Roundabout doesn't matter. It.

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You were thinking like in two

kms it's the finish line.

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And, yeah,

this actually creates so much stress.

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you know, it's actually,

I would say it's more,

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it's it's mentally harder than physically

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because, you have

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not one single second

where you cannot be focused.

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You have to stay focused all the time.

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And, Yeah,

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this this is for me,

is actually the biggest challenge.

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nowadays,

if you are doing a race like the tour

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or also other races, like,

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for example, the classics

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Flanders, when I turned pro

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the first few years, everybody knew,

like second time Kwaremont.

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This is where it will happen.

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Now it's like 50 kms before where all the,

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the favorites already attack

and you have already a selection. You.

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It's like the final starts,

not like 60/70kms to go.

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It starts already.

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100kms to go.

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Yeah I mean we're just in all watching

you, watching you guys race.

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It's,

totally different because, you know,

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you said you've been in the peloton

for ten years, and I was there when you

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kind of came on to your pro career at BMC,

and I know what kind of rider you are.

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And you've you've been on some good teams.

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You were on BMC,

you were on AG2R la mondiale,

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but you really seem to fit in really well

on this team.

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Alpecin–Deceuninck,

what what is different there?

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Because it just seems like you guys

have such a cool aura that you do things

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a little bit differently and seem

to have a lot of fun when you're doing it.

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Sure, I totally agree.

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you know, the thing is,

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I would say it all starts

with the management.

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It's, two brothers, the road brothers.

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they have really a clear vision

where they want to go.

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And, but they also know, okay,

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we are maybe limited against other teams

budget wise.

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yeah.

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We don't have, like, a royal family

behind the team

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or a super big company,

billion dollar company.

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So, we are maybe restricted

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financially

against the biggest players in the sport.

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So this is also the reason why

we try to find

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different kind of ways

and some approaches, you know,

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for example,

a team bus nowadays costs half a million.

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And, we are not we,

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but the team build the,

the team bus on their own.

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They have a few mechanics.

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They, they buy a bus

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and, pull everything out,

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and it was completely empty

and then build it up on their own.

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So this is how they they manage,

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their financial deficit against,

the bigger teams.

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And also, this is just one example.

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It's also on other things,

I would say it's super well organized

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and then it's also super well organized.

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in the, in the,

in the selection of the team,

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you know, they, they have a really strong

performance stuff,

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which is, monitoring

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the riders really well.

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The they almost

they even take responsibility

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to build up a rider to his highlight

in, in the season.

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So for example,

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if we have a talk in December

for my race program,

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I basically know my race program

for almost a whole year.

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And they say this

and this and this are your highlights.

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These are the smaller races,

but you will still be there to perform.

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And then they put me

on, on a training schedule.

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And if I just follow this training

schedule

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and I wouldn't be

on top shape for my, my goal,

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they would

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even take responsibility

if if it didn't work,

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they would not blame me and say, hey,

why are you not in top shape?

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So they would sit together

with me and find ways.

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Okay, maybe this,

training approach doesn't fit for you.

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we have to adapt, but, Yeah, definitely.

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We also fucked it up.

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So, they.

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Yeah.

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And then other teams

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I experienced more like you're

trying to prove yourself in training,

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so you that you're strong, and then, you

you have to prove yourself in the races.

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But how do you prove yourself in races?

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By results.

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And then you you have to sneak your way

through within the team tactics

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to, to make a result, to show that you're

good enough to go to the tour de France.

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in our team. It's not like that. You

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in the in the past few years,

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after altitude camp,

I was so shit in the Tour de Suisse.

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I even told the team guys, I think it's

better if I don't do the tour. I'm.

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I'm like an amateur here.

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If I.

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If we go over a bridge, I'm dropped.

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And they said, easy.

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Take your time. Take.

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Give your body a few more days.

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We'll turn around and a few more days

passed.

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And I was super good.

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And I was super good in the tour.

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If the team would take,

the decision during the Tour de Suisse,

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if I would be good enough

to go to the tour or not,

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for sure they would leave me, at home.

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And, I think this,

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these ideas they have within the team

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makes the team just perform

on a super high level,

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even maybe with a smaller budget against,

other teams.

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And I like it.

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For me, it's like I.

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The moment I joined the team, I said,

this is a superstar team.

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I, I love it.

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talking about superstars,

you got two of them in your team with,

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Jasper Philipsen

and also Mathieu Van Der Poel?

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How is it with working like, such

World-Class superstars on a daily basis?

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I mean, do they eat seamlessly like you,

or do you have a specialty coffee or,

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how you get along

during the races, training camps?

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How is life on a daily basis with a

superstar like, like Mathieu Van Der Poel?

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So talking about breakfast,

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if there is pancakes, they eat pancakes.

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Both.

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Jasper and Mathieu,

if if not, it's like a porridge.

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So we basically the same.

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yeah.

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And they are, you know,

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Mathieu and Jasper,

they are not, next to cycling.

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They are completely different.

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I guess, people saw

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it on Netflix

a little bit how Jasper is like,

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this guy, who, who loses his phone

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every five minutes,

doesn't know where his socks are.

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Maybe he wears socks,

in different colors.

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so stuff like this, you know, you

you can laugh with him,

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on the regular basis, like,

multiple times a day.

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You think like, oh, my God.

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Well, for sure, it had to be him.

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You know who who forgot

the race number in the hotel, for example.

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And,

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and Mathieu, he's just like,

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yeah, he

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he is not the serious guy in the team bus.

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You know, he wants to have fun

until the last moment.

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You know, even on the bike, you see it.

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He wants to have fun.

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He's not like, dead serious guy who,

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who needs to have to fight for position

all the time.

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He relaxes in the back of the peloton

if he thinks it's okay.

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And then, Yeah, maybe you.

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Maybe there is a situation

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where it wasn't okay to be in the back,

and then we have to correct it.

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But on the other hand,

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he also takes the responsibility.

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And if there is a gap

and there is no helper,

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he just close the gap without hesitation.

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so he's is a really cool

guy to work with for sure.

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Yeah, he he seems super cool.

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I'd, have a beer with that guy

in the offseason a little bit, but,

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you know, you guys started the tour off

this year without some victories.

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What was the team mindset in the bus

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when Jasper just couldn't

come through with the win?

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And then all of a sudden turn it around

and came away with multiple victories.

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Like was there something that you could

pinpoint that changed there or was

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it just happened stance that, he was

he was getting beat that first week,

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you know,

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the, the run in to into the tour

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or the whole preparation

was a little bit interrupted.

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some incidents, you know, he was.

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We were in altitude.

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He felt sick for a couple of days.

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so, yeah, there was

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he. I think he he didn't

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really believed

that he would be able to perform,

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like, last year with this,

lead up towards the tour.

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And you saw it, you know, he was

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he was there in the sprints,

but not really.

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Yeah. Victorious.

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And then, yeah, his

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his self-belief was was not on point.

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And the team.

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Yeah.

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I have to say they did a really good job.

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They did some analyzes of the sprints

and within in the first week

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they did video, video analysis.

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They analyzed all his data.

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They showed the numbers

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in the meeting and they said,

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Jasper Your

your numbers are close to your best ones

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and it's more than enough to win

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a tour de France stage in this peloton.

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No, no doubt.

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And we showed

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also that our lead out was working well.

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There were some small adjustments

we could, make better

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or do better, but,

you know, it's marginal, marginal things.

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And so, yeah, this meeting,

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I think, turned his belief around.

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And the next spring stage, he won.

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And, I think if if,

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sprinter catches up the momentum,

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his belief is going higher and higher.

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And, all of a sudden

he springs multiple stages.

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And this is what happened with Jasper.

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So, we all know the outcome.

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Cavendish won a stage, 35.

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In theory if.

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in stage one, two, three, four.

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Cavendish

would be on your wheel and going.

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Let be true, let me true.

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It's for the record.

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Would you open the gap from go?

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No, you're not on my team.

I'm here for Jasper.

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I love you, Cav.

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And I wish you the record.

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But no, I cannot let you know.

Would you go?

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Okay. I've come.

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It's the last tour I open a gap.

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I open the door for you.

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Would you I would you not?

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I mean, it's purely theoretical. now.

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what if I say no?

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Well,

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Yeah, you can also refuse to answer.

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Of course. It's a free world here.

420

:

Luckily, I'm, I'm not in this position.

421

:

Normally, my job is done before, but,

422

:

you know, the thing is,

423

:

you know, it's like

424

:

if if one guy wants to take the Jaspers

wheel

425

:

and he bumps into me, I'm the guy, like,

okay, man,

426

:

I don't want to stand in your way.

427

:

I'm out. Go for it. You know?

428

:

And if it's Cav or somebody else.

429

:

You know, the thing

is, in these kind of situations,

430

:

I'm gone anyway,

this is maybe also why I'm not really

431

:

a sprinter.

432

:

but. Yeah, I'm. I'm.

433

:

I was super happy for Cav, that he,

he took his 35th, victory.

434

:

And I think it was it's huge for the sport

and huge for him, obviously.

435

:

And, I'm so happy I was able to be

on site, when it happened.

436

:

Yeah, I can only imagine,

437

:

the entire peloton,

you know, you've done.

438

:

I think this was your fifth tour de France

this year, right?

439

:

Yes. Yeah.

440

:

And so you've been

a part of this race before,

441

:

and we as fans got to witness

so many monumental moments,

442

:

historical moments

like Cav winning, like Biniam winning,

443

:

you know, Tadej

just absolutely untouchable.

444

:

You know Remco

we saw so much special stuff.

445

:

But did you feel that

anything was different

446

:

this year compared to your previous

four experiences?

447

:

Were you guys aware of all that stuff

going on,

448

:

or were you just kind of zoned out

doing your job, not really thinking

449

:

about all those special moments for us

fans?

450

:

You know, the thing is,

451

:

you could go through the three weeks and

452

:

you don't even realize what happened.

453

:

You're you could

you're you're basically could do it.

454

:

You know, you're just in your zone, your

you do your thing

455

:

and you don't care

what's going on left and right.

456

:

But if you if you really soak it

457

:

in, what happened

and, all these special moments,

458

:

you realize actually how fortunate you are

459

:

that you are able

to, to be around these guys.

460

:

I mean, it's like, I'm around

the biggest superstars in our sport,

461

:

on a daily basis. And,

462

:

for me, it's also interesting,

463

:

you know, to observe these guys

because I, I also learn from these guys.

464

:

I'm like, okay, I,

465

:

why is today so,

466

:

so much better than other guys, you know?

467

:

And then I realized, okay,

468

:

there are super talented guys.

469

:

They always dress around because they want

to have control over everything.

470

:

They are fighting for positions.

471

:

And if they lose the position,

they they put all the strengths

472

:

towards, making it up again, you know,

and then you have a guy like Tadej

473

:

he's like, oh, okay,

now I'm in the back of the peloton.

474

:

No. Is.

475

:

And then he moves up easy, quiet.

476

:

No stress. He doesn't call any teammate.

477

:

He's not, not stressing.

478

:

He's not pushing other riders.

479

:

He's just like, relax.

480

:

And there will always be a door opening.

481

:

And then he goes through it

and then he's within, a few seconds, he's

482

:

in the front of the peloton again,

you know, without without any effort.

483

:

And, you know, for me, if you're,

484

:

if you're able to,

to see all these small things,

485

:

it's, it's super nice to see if,

486

:

for me, Remco

now is, is doing so much better

487

:

than, maybe two, two years ago,

two years ago,

488

:

he was also the guy who was freaking out

all the time.

489

:

He is.

490

:

He's still a little bit like this,

but so much better.

491

:

And this is also why he's performing now.

492

:

Also much better than two years ago.

493

:

He's more relaxed.

494

:

He has his emotions under control.

495

:

And obviously he's,

he's super strong as well.

496

:

So if you are super strong, there is no,

497

:

no rush or no need to to stress out there

is, yeah.

498

:

You will always be able to, to come back

or to correct the situation if needed.

499

:

It. Now, since you had,

500

:

successful tour de France with your team

and, yes, for winning a few stages.

501

:

normally there's always a glass of wine

or glass of champagne

502

:

at the dinner table right now,

what this was taking being so controlled.

503

:

And there's so much science in it, and,

people pay

504

:

so much attention to their nutrition

program, to the food and to drinks.

505

:

Is there still alcohol in glass

506

:

after victory already going now

maybe we going to have five glasses,

507

:

but at the end of the tour, not today

because tomorrow is another hot stage.

508

:

Is there tradition still alive

or is it cut

509

:

because it's alcohol

and it's poison for you?

510

:

Yeah.

511

:

We always open,

a few bottles of champagne

512

:

if we want to stage at the door. but

513

:

definitely the most of the glasses.

514

:

They go from our hands

to a sponsor or a mechanic.

515

:

And they are happy as well.

516

:

So, But, yeah, the tradition, to

517

:

to make a toast is still there.

518

:

but, you know, the thing is also,

519

:

when I experienced this

for the first time,

520

:

I was also in this team.

521

:

It was the first tour de France.

522

:

The first year, I was in the team

and Mathieu took the yellow jersey,

523

:

and we had all a glass

524

:

of champagne in the hands,

and I was like, okay, now

525

:

we drink it, you know,

we enjoy this moment, this toast.

526

:

So special.

527

:

And then, we toast.

528

:

I drink a sip, I watch, Mathieu,

529

:

and he's putting

the full glass on the table.

530

:

and then I was like, okay.

531

:

yeah,

532

:

this is maybe how we should do it, but

533

:

but obviously, you know, it's not like

534

:

it will harm you

if if you take a few sips of champagne,

535

:

you know, you could do more stupid stuff.

536

:

after a victory, for sure.

537

:

But,

you know, it's it's more a mental thing.

538

:

You know, some guys, they think,

539

:

I shouldn't drink it,

and then you better don't drink it.

540

:

And some guys, they say, oh, I deserve it,

and I will feel good about it.

541

:

And then, you should take, the glass

of champagne for sure.

542

:

And you should fully enjoy it.

543

:

And then the day after, you will be fine.

544

:

Anyway.

545

:

So it's safe to say that

when your mechanics are putting that bus

546

:

together,

they did not include a wine fridge

547

:

like one of your past

teams had in the bus. Right.

548

:

we have a wine museum.

549

:

They, they have like, one,

how you call it.

550

:

Yeah, it's kind of a fridge.

551

:

And, it has a plate in front

552

:

and it's called Wine Museum.

553

:

It's only it's only for staff members.

554

:

Yes, yes,

555

:

I know that side.

556

:

So before we, kind of transition

out of talking about the tour,

557

:

we wanted to do a little bit,

558

:

quickfire questions to just kind of get

what's on the top of your head.

559

:

So we got four questions here.

560

:

Pretty, pretty simple.

561

:

Pretty, pretty quick answers.

562

:

what is your favorite cheat meal?

563

:

it's called cordon bleu.

564

:

I don't know if you guys know it.

565

:

Oh, yeah.

566

:

of course we do.

567

:

Okay. Best teammate to share a room with.

568

:

Ramon Sinkeldam.

569

:

All right.

570

:

What would you prefer?

571

:

To win a stage at the tour de France

or an Olympic

572

:

medal?

573

:

Olympic medal Awesome. Okay.

574

:

Stage

winning the Giro or become national road

575

:

champion again.

576

:

National road champion.

577

:

So, now that we talked,

578

:

a few questions about the tour de France.

579

:

What is the rest of your season

gonna look like?

580

:

Please don't tell me you got to go to the

Vuelta a Espana and right in the front.

581

:

Right. These days. Please don't tell us.

582

:

And that would be so hard and unfair

for you.

583

:

no. No, it's not the weather.

584

:

but maybe I will do similar stuff

585

:

in other races.

586

:

yeah, I will go to Tour of Poland.

587

:

then I will do it. the Navy tour,

588

:

tour of Luxembourg,

589

:

then, hopefully, world championships

in, in Zurich

590

:

and Switzerland.

591

:

after Zurich, I think there are

592

:

maybe a small handful of other smaller

593

:

one day races and that's it.

594

:

Yeah, that was the craziest thing.

595

:

Once you get done with the tour,

you have like 2 or 3 days

596

:

and then it's on to the next one,

you know, and then they just keep coming.

597

:

There's so many races all the time. It's

not like the season's over, right?

598

:

It's basically halfway through.

599

:

But so you've done five tours,

600

:

two vueltas and three Giros.

601

:

How would you explain to our viewers

and listeners

602

:

the difference between those three

603

:

major grand tours?

604

:

yeah.

605

:

The last few years I only did the tour,

so I don't know really

606

:

if something developed

in the same way as the tour did.

607

:

yeah, I did the Giro.

608

:

the first few years I was, I turned pro

609

:

and for me it was just absolutely brutal

610

:

with so much climbing in such long days.

611

:

yeah.

612

:

So many kilometers.

613

:

Normally,

the year is like the hardest one.

614

:

If you see the numbers. And,

615

:

and the tour is, I would say

616

:

is is the most stressful one.

617

:

Not physically, but mentally.

618

:

Like I explained before.

619

:

And then you have the Vuelta

where you think,

620

:

this is more kind of holiday style.

621

:

So end of the season, you know,

it's more like, who wants one more time?

622

:

Who has some more motivation?

623

:

but they actually, if you see the Vuelta

the last few years, it was always

624

:

a super exciting one, especially watching,

625

:

what I can imagine the last few years

626

:

also must have been super brutal

to ride it,

627

:

but most of the time I would say

it's it's a little bit more relaxed

628

:

if you're not competing, in the GC team.

629

:

But anyway, three weeks, every day, full

guys at one point you're tired anyway.

630

:

And then, it's how

631

:

how strong are you mentally to

to go through it, go through it

632

:

every day and,

how how you digest all these efforts?

633

:

just

634

:

talk, talking about, fatigue

in this grand tour.

635

:

sure. Bobby had it.

636

:

I had it more or less every year once.

637

:

Tell us if you had that as well.

638

:

You get your room keys,

go to the door, and the key wouldn't work

639

:

if you go, was the room number

from yesterday.

640

:

I'm on one level.

641

:

The both. Did you had that as well?

642

:

I had every.

643

:

Yeah, at least once.

644

:

I'm so tired.

645

:

And I went to the room of yesterday.

646

:

Room number.

647

:

And then, there was yesterday.

648

:

Did you had that as well?

649

:

Yeah. It happens for me a few times.

650

:

the floor, you know,

I was like fifth floor.

651

:

Okay. And then, like, oh, shit.

652

:

No, it's not fifth floor. It's for,

653

:

Yeah, that's that's what I meant.

654

:

You're so tired, you cannot even remember

for 20s your room number.

655

:

Yeah. Or for this.

656

:

I know, these, you know, it's up,

but when, you know, that's still okay.

657

:

But the worst is

if you're the key is really not working

658

:

and you have to go all the way down

to the reception, and then you're battling

659

:

with your roommate, you know, okay,

660

:

how you call it, oh.

661

:

pepper, scissor stone

or how you play. Yeah.

662

:

The the game with rock, paper scissors.

663

:

Yeah. Rock paper scissors. Exactly.

664

:

oh. You go with them.

665

:

but so that you were

666

:

you were world team time trial champion

667

:

in 2014 and 2015.

668

:

And I love that event,

669

:

but we're not seen it

so much in Grand Tours anymore.

670

:

would you like to see more team time

trials and grand Tours?

671

:

Are you like, now?

672

:

They made the right decision,

not including these so much.

673

:

I love this team.

674

:

Time trial was, Yeah.

675

:

was one of my favorite disciplines.

676

:

It's so hard, but also so nice.

677

:

You know, for me, it's like it represents

really the team sport.

678

:

And,

679

:

but, you know, the thing is,

it's also combined with a lot of effort.

680

:

The team has to put in a lot of effort

nowadays, you need to do

681

:

when tunnel testing, material testing,

682

:

it's it's like a super big investment.

683

:

And if you need to do it

with multiple, riders,

684

:

not only with, yeah,

maybe you have 2 or 3 GC guys.

685

:

and you want to set up them.

686

:

Well, you do it, you do the effort.

687

:

But if you have to set up

like seven, eight, nine riders

688

:

to be able to switch around,

for team time trials

689

:

in different races,

it's it's a big effort.

690

:

but still, I would love to see it.

691

:

I would actually love to, to see it.

692

:

the World

693

:

Championships like we had back then.

694

:

but the teams, not the national teams.

695

:

And I would like to have also

a world champion jersey

696

:

for the team.

697

:

So, you know,

then you would be able to wear,

698

:

rainbow jersey in a team

699

:

time trial

in a different in a, in another race.

700

:

And maybe you have like, five,

701

:

teammates wearing the normal jersey,

but you as a world

702

:

champion,

you could wear, the rainbow jersey.

703

:

I think this would be a super nice idea.

704

:

but yeah, I can imagine

705

:

it's it will be hard to bring that back.

706

:

So being a two time world

champion of the the

707

:

the team time trial,

what is the most important thing

708

:

that you think about

when you're doing a TT t

709

:

I think

710

:

or you always have to think for the team.

711

:

You should never think like, okay,

712

:

now I feel strong, I push it, you know,

you always have to think that

713

:

if you push full guys, maybe, the fifth

714

:

or sixth guy in the row,

715

:

he has like some small gaps

in between all the wheels

716

:

and he needs to maybe sprint for 20s.

717

:

You know, if you push the gas in front.

718

:

And so you basically can kill

your teammates quite fast.

719

:

It's not about the ego,

it's about the team.

720

:

And you always have to be aware of this.

721

:

And, put your effort

722

:

to the team. Not not. Yeah.

723

:

or how you said, yeah,

you have to make an effort for the team

724

:

and not for yourself

to prove how strong you are.

725

:

Actually, somebody really good at

that was your countryman,

726

:

Fabian Cancellara and team time trials.

727

:

He was clearly much stronger

than the rest of us,

728

:

but he didn't pull it up to 65kph.

729

:

No, he just pulled longer.

730

:

So give us more chance to cover.

731

:

He was really, really good at that.

732

:

I really have to say so.

733

:

Not if he talked about, team triumph.

734

:

So maybe back into true or not.

735

:

If you would be a designer

for a grand tour,

736

:

how would your grand tour look like?

737

:

More mountains, less mountains,

more stages for breakaways,

738

:

more sprints, days, longer teams short.

739

:

That's

how would your Grand Tour look like?

740

:

Maybe roughly.

741

:

I would make this on

742

:

paper super, super easy.

743

:

Three weeks.

744

:

You know what you know.

745

:

Tell me.

746

:

Because if you have super easy stages,

747

:

you know, short,

maybe a few climbs to make a selection,

748

:

everybody would go full gas

749

:

flat out from start to finish.

750

:

It would be exciting.

751

:

You agree?

752

:

Yep. Yeah.

753

:

Yeah.

754

:

This is how I would design it.

755

:

Super easy

but super aggressive and a little bit

756

:

more made for for TV I guess as well.

757

:

but let's talk a little bit

about your experience

758

:

back in 2018, in Paris-Roubaix,

you had just switched teams.

759

:

You had just signed on to AG2R

la mondiale, and you're there in the final

760

:

with Peter Sagan, who I believe

had the world champion jersey on.

761

:

tell us a little bit

about your memories of that,

762

:

because I never got to race Paris-Roubaix,

763

:

but it is my favorite classic

to watch on TV.

764

:

Yeah, for sure.

765

:

It's the best, classic on TV.

766

:

It's always happening something.

767

:

But yeah, if you allow me to

768

:

to grow a little bit before,

but in Roubaix.

769

:

Because actually this I like to,

to tell the story because for me,

770

:

it's like,

something really nice to to also show,

771

:

what is possible because,

772

:

I was super motivated

coming into a new team.

773

:

I went to Gran Canaria,

I trained 40 hours a week.

774

:

I was in crazy shape.

775

:

I was so I was flying and then I went to

Strade Bianche First Sector.

776

:

I crashed and broke my my little finger.

777

:

So basically, when you break something

778

:

in Strade Bianche,

your classic season is over.

779

:

It's, you know, Strade bianche.

780

:

And then a couple of weeks later,

the classic season is

781

:

is fully on and already over again.

782

:

So, yeah, I went back home.

783

:

I was not really happy

about my broken finger, but,

784

:

I more

785

:

or less immediately

started training again on the rollers.

786

:

one week later, I, tried outside.

787

:

Always, monitored,

788

:

from a doctor.

789

:

If it's okay and safer to go outside.

790

:

And I had,

791

:

like, three weeks after my injury,

my next race

792

:

scheduled, and,

I came there and won immediately.

793

:

So my shape was actually still good,

I guess,

794

:

because of my big training block before.

795

:

And, so after this,

796

:

winning after this,

when I had a small stage race

797

:

just a week before, Paris-Roubaix.

798

:

And so I was

there also performing on a high level

799

:

and, midweek,

800

:

the sports director called me and said,

801

:

you know, there are few guys

struggling after Flanders.

802

:

You know, one guy crushed it.

The other one is a little bit sick.

803

:

you think, it's

okay for you to ride cobbles?

804

:

And I was like, I have no idea.

805

:

Normal tarmac road. It's okay.

806

:

But let's find the church

with some cobbles around.

807

:

So, in the evening, we found the church.

808

:

and it was pretty rough cobbles.

809

:

I did five, six loops around.

810

:

No pain.

811

:

I called him again.

812

:

I think it's okay to ride.

813

:

Let's. Let's try.

814

:

So I jump. I abandoned the race.

815

:

I jump on in the TGV,

went to continue to the start of Roubaix,

816

:

basically the day before,

817

:

the race started, you know,

no record, nothing, no material testing.

818

:

Just let's go.

819

:

And then, my, the plan was I wait 40 kms.

820

:

Just stay easy,

calm in the in the peloton.

821

:

And then I tried to attack a few times,

822

:

to see if it's possible

to get in the breakaway.

823

:

And. Yeah, this is exactly what happened.

824

:

I waited 40 kms, I attacked twice.

825

:

Second time we had a small gap.

826

:

And then, came maybe the hardest,

hardest part of the whole race

827

:

to to maintain the small gap

and even build it up a little bit.

828

:

So the peloton would eventually let us go.

829

:

And then, I have to say, if

830

:

if you ever experienced this flow state,

831

:

it's exactly what I had

for the entire race.

832

:

You know, you're just there.

833

:

You're you're just enjoying the moment.

834

:

I was like, sometimes almost crying

when I thought about my family

835

:

watching,

or seeing me on TV, in the breakaway

836

:

in one of the biggest races

we have in our calendar.

837

:

I was just for.

838

:

It was amazing

for me to be there, you know?

839

:

And then,

you go further and further and further,

840

:

and then 50 days to go,

the director tells you in the radio.

841

:

Yeah, now Sagan attacked

and then you think like, okay, now

842

:

I'm deep in the final, you know, now

it's only the big players anymore.

843

:

So Sagan joined our group,

844

:

one rider after the other dropped.

845

:

And, you know,

everybody was on their limit.

846

:

Even Sagan, he was.

847

:

He was obviously the strongest

in this, constellation.

848

:

But, also,

he was on the limits and he was pushing,

849

:

you know, and every cobblestone

and other rider from the original

850

:

breakaway dropped, and all of a sudden

I was alone with him, you know?

851

:

And, I told him a few times, listen,

852

:

if you help me, I help you.

853

:

You know, I, I don't want to stick

only on your wheel, I commit fully

854

:

to this breakaway, and we go to the finish

and we sprint for a victory there.

855

:

It doesn't matter. I'm.

856

:

I'm committed, you know,

but you have to do it.

857

:

The cobbled sections.

858

:

Because he was still more powerful.

859

:

and,

I did my turns on the normal tarmac road

860

:

and I remember

861

:

in these final few couple sectors,

862

:

I had so much pain, but not in my legs.

863

:

It was in my hands.

864

:

I had blisters like, like this big.

865

:

It was all open.

866

:

And, I had so much pain in my hand

that I was just, like,

867

:

focusing on Sagan's, back wheel like,

okay, don't give him one more centimeter.

868

:

Just stick here.

869

:

Stick here. It's okay.

870

:

And also, the crowd was crazy.

871

:

I mean, Sagan,

he was like, really flat out.

872

:

And the spectators,

they were standing everywhere, you know,

873

:

he I could we couldn't see the cobbles

and where we, we have to ride

874

:

and they, we jump like two meters before

we, we arrived, they jump left and right.

875

:

Then I was like,

876

:

okay, if

Sagan pushed for us, I also have to push.

877

:

And if if he makes it through,

I will also make it.

878

:

And the same goes with the corners.

879

:

He was

he was not even touching the brakes.

880

:

And I was like, sometimes closing my eyes

when they turn.

881

:

well, you know, it was amazing.

882

:

The, the atmosphere there. It was crazy.

883

:

At one point, I had like a tinnitus or,

you call it the tinnitus as well.

884

:

Like.

885

:

Yeah, my ears were beeping,

you know, it was like so loud.

886

:

Crazy for for me.

887

:

Absolutely crazy. I've, I think

888

:

I maybe experienced

this once or twice in my career and.

889

:

Yeah,

890

:

but it was absolutely crazy in this,

in this term.

891

:

And, yeah, we came to the last sector

892

:

just in front of, of, of the velodrome,

893

:

and I turned into the velodrome as first,

894

:

and I was like, okay,

I know a little bit how to ride the track.

895

:

So I took the the other side

on the balustrade and then, yeah.

896

:

So I go and launched the sprint

just a little bit earlier, and me

897

:

and he pulled it off and he won.

898

:

And I was like.

899

:

I was not at all disappointed.

900

:

I was in tears.

901

:

I was so happy

it was over this pain because it was,

902

:

I was crying the last 30 K's,

I was so empty.

903

:

But I was also so happy that I was able

904

:

to finish on the podium of one of.

905

:

Yeah, one of the biggest races

we have in our calendar.

906

:

And, yeah, I said Sagan.

907

:

For me, it was like,

908

:

a devil and the,

909

:

an angel and,

the devil in the same person.

910

:

Because without him joining our group,

911

:

I guess we would have never made it

to the finish line.

912

:

And with him sprinting against him,

913

:

for victory in his prime time

as, world champion.

914

:

Okay.

915

:

I was also Swiss champion that year, but,

he was still.

916

:

He was better that day, for sure.

917

:

so listening to you and you.

918

:

Excitement, happiness. What do you say?

919

:

You won a second place in Roubaix

You did not lose the race.

920

:

You won a podium place in Roubaix.

921

:

Would that describe what you just told us?

922

:

100% one hundred percent,

923

:

I love it. Oh, those young kids out there.

924

:

Listen to what he just said.

925

:

So, Sylvan,

I want to talk a little bit more because

926

:

we're we're getting towards

the end of our allotted time.

927

:

Tell us a little bit

about what you do with the Dillier Classic

928

:

grand fondos and charity rides.

929

:

I want to learn

a little bit more about that.

930

:

So yeah.

931

:

I have, this

932

:

small race series,

it's called Dillier Classics.

933

:

one race is called,

the gipfel gran fondo.

934

:

Gipfel is a German word,

which means mountain top.

935

:

and in my area

936

:

we have, quite, it's

quite a hilly terrain.

937

:

So we have small climbs.

938

:

and this is why we call it

the gipfel Grand Fondo,

939

:

which is, a race for everyone.

940

:

But we only have.

941

:

It's not the race from start to finish.

942

:

It's basically more a group ride.

943

:

And then you have a few sectors

where we measure the time,

944

:

and then we accumulate the,

these, timed sections.

945

:

And the total time

defines the result list.

946

:

So and I always invite

a few pros ex pros as well.

947

:

they join the different groups.

948

:

So everyone has the, the time

949

:

to, to ask a few questions to the pros.

950

:

yeah.

951

:

It should be more like a social, right,

with,

952

:

some challenge inside.

953

:

And, it actually happened,

954

:

yesterday, the 3rd of August,

955

:

4th of August.

956

:

We have

we had already at the inner 3rd of August.

957

:

4th of August was the Grand Fondo.

958

:

And, yeah, I have to say,

959

:

it was so nice to see everybody

960

:

pushing their limits,

you know, on the, on the, timed sections

961

:

and then coming up to the finish

line, tired,

962

:

but with the biggest smile

possible in their face.

963

:

And for me, this is like, okay,

I have to do this every year from now.

964

:

And,

965

:

the other event we have is,

966

:

the charity gravel ride,

967

:

and we all the money,

968

:

the, the participants,

969

:

or the ticket price, all the,

all the money we collect

970

:

from the ticket price,

we aim to put all of this money

971

:

into the pot for different charities.

972

:

We support, Movember charity

and, pink ribbon.

973

:

So it's mainly for,

974

:

projects, against cancer

975

:

for men and female.

976

:

so Movember is for, for men,

977

:

and, pink Ribbon is, for female

978

:

and,

979

:

yes. So, yeah, this is like the event

980

:

where I, I don't want to earn any money.

981

:

I put all all we get,

982

:

we put into the pot

and give it to to these charity events.

983

:

it's super easy.

984

:

It's just as long as you have a bike

who rides on offroad roads,

985

:

you can join

if it's supported with the engine.

986

:

No problem.

987

:

We want you to to come to enjoy

988

:

and, spend some time with the

an amazing community and have fun.

989

:

And then enjoy a good meal obviously,

and a drink afterwards.

990

:

Seven did was some really nice words

991

:

for your charity and

that you also tried to help other people.

992

:

So what we just want to say

thanks a million

993

:

for being our guest tonight

and give us a chance to talk to you

994

:

and talk about your practical experience

with blisters

995

:

the size of a $10 sign and,

996

:

yeah, being our guest,

sharing your experiences with us.

997

:

Thanks a million to you. Thanks.

998

:

Thanks, Bobby.

999

:

for having me on your podcast.

:

00:55:03,466 --> 00:55:06,428

And, Yeah, maybe another time.

:

00:55:06,428 --> 00:55:09,306

Just let me know.

:

00:55:09,306 --> 00:55:09,764

Well

:

00:55:09,764 --> 00:55:11,391

That's everything for this week.

:

00:55:11,391 --> 00:55:15,395

Now, remember to follow us at Odd tandem

on TikTok,

:

00:55:15,395 --> 00:55:20,108

Instagram, Twitter, Facebook,

and wherever you get your podcast.

:

00:55:20,942 --> 00:55:23,945

Big thanks to Silvan

for joining the podcast today.

:

00:55:24,195 --> 00:55:27,991

And also remember, if you want to see

the video version of this podcast,

:

00:55:27,991 --> 00:55:34,622

it's up on our YouTube channel right

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:

00:55:34,622 --> 00:55:38,376

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:

00:55:38,376 --> 00:55:42,047

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:

00:55:42,047 --> 00:55:46,843

where you can sign up for $5 a month

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:

00:55:47,218 --> 00:55:51,473

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:

00:55:52,307 --> 00:55:54,642

thanks to our Patreon members Scott,

:

00:55:54,642 --> 00:55:58,688

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:

00:55:59,147 --> 00:56:02,942

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:

00:56:04,235 --> 00:56:05,653

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:

00:56:05,653 --> 00:56:09,783

And remember, if you want your question

in our next mailbag episode,

:

00:56:09,783 --> 00:56:15,163

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:

00:56:15,163 --> 00:56:20,585

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About the Podcast

The Odd Tandem Cycling Podcast with Bobby Julich and Jens Voigt
Bobby Julich and Jens Voigt on all things cycling
Bobby Julich and Jens Voigt are back with a brand new cycling podcast. Speaking to the biggest names in the professional peloton and sharing their wisdom from their own careers.