Spin Cycle is Escape Collective’s news digest, published every Monday and Friday. You can read it on the website (obviously) or click here to have it delivered straight to your inbox.
Hello!
Welcome back to Spin Cycle.
This time next week myself and a smattering of my Escape Collective colleagues will have landed in Barcelona for the start of the Tour de France, where one can only hope it will be slightly cooler than The Island has been this week. It's been like undertaking a pre-Tour training camp for the stage four start in Carcassonne.
It's also heating up for the likes of David Gaudu and Remco Evenepoel, as the pressure cooker of the Tour is switched on and all are chucked into its pot.
And if you're looking to get into the Tour de France spirit nice and early, don't worry, as TNT have produced some exquisite AI slop that will certainly prevent you from getting overexcited ahead of the best three weeks of the year.
Gaudu's finally running out of road 😞
It's been an interesting few years for previous French Prince Who Was Promised David Gaudu.
After finishing fourth overall at the Tour de France in 2022, some dared to believe the Tour's host nation had found their next man to saddle with the expectations of an entire country. But despite some impressive victories since then, including Vuelta a España stage wins, Gaudu has not managed to reach the heights of four years ago.
Instead, he's distracted himself by posting disparaging messages about former teammate Arnaud Démare on Discord, taking swipes at other colleagues while streaming live on Twitch, before chucking his phone away and getting really into fishing instead.
Unfortunately, it seems the 29-year-old has a) not managed to completely repair those bridges and b) hasn't been producing the sort of results that would paper over his unpopularity within the team, and Gaudu is now looking like he won't get selected for the Tour de France.
“David has become an irritating mystery," an anonymous Groupama-FDJ United teammate told Le Parisien. "He no longer has the fire, but he is the only one who does not realise it. And I can tell you that he has fewer and fewer supporters within the team."
It's not great that other riders in the team are briefing against Gaudu. These are certainly not the vibes team boss Marc Madiot would want heading into another Tour de France where his squad looks hard-pressed to get anything that looks like a result. Nevertheless, we'll keep our fingers crossed for these embattled French boys.
Don't let your Red Bull go flat 💸
Remco Evenepoel is facing a conundrum.
Every Belgian pro is mandated to take part in the Belgian national championships. Some would argue it's an honour to take part in your nationals, but a pan-flat course around Antwerp isn't exactly the ideal preparation Evenepoel needs ahead of the imminent Tour de France.
While he should be able to cover the €15 fine for not taking part, how would he side-step the nine-day suspension for missing nationals with the Tour de France beginning only a week later?
"There are no exceptions," Belgian Cycling’s Director of Sport, Massimo Van Lancker, told Wielerflits. "The Belgian Road Championship is mandatory for every professional cyclist, regardless of profile or status.
"Every rider has received an email containing all the information. The regulations are stated in that email. It is up to every rider to know and respect those regulations."
Despite Van Lancker insisting there will be no deal cut between the federation and Belgium's star riders, there is a potential workaround available to the likes of Evenepoel and UAE's Tim Wellens, who also cannot win Sunday's road race and would rather keep his powder dry ahead of joining team leader Tadej Pogačar in Barcelona.
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