Stanley St. Social | cycling conversations

Twelve days from the Tour and the big one lands live on the pod. Luke Plapp gets the call pre-episode to confirm he's officially in the Tour de France team. We get into his week off the bike, the Girona TTT camp, and how the build's shaping up.Then the usual Monday wrap:Wout van Aert ruled OUT of the Tour — the elbow infection and the hole it leaves in VismaPogačar's monster return at the Tour de Suisse (Max does the maths on 7.2 w/kg for 25 minutes)Van der Poel's surprise time trial, his €500 "shirt off" fine, and a rough week for the UCI on safetyThe sprinters light up the Baloise Belgium Tour — Girmay's upset opener, with Merlier, Magnier, Kooij and Philipsen all grabbing a stageRed Bull bossing it in Slovenia, Pidcock taking the Andorra climbers' race, Quinn Simmons' one-man show at US nationals, and a big rap for the Giro Next GenThe LA28 Olympic course finally revealed — and who it suitsStill no reply from LeBron, MaxThen Max's Top 5 cycling formats, presented by Pillar Performance — and yes, he's got gravel at number two. Take it up with him.Coming up this week: Jimmy Whelan on the pod this arvo, and Bass from the Unibet Rockets later in the week. Missed Matt Hauser last week?

Plappy's back in the Social Club fresh off the Dauphiné, and not in the best conditioning, battling gastro and a flu two weeks out from the Tour. Alex, Maxi and Plappy break down a strange eight days of racing: the team time trial's return, breakaways staying away everywhere you look, Luke Tuckwell's stunning ride into the yellow jersey (and Paul's post-race disrespect), Del Toro cruising to the win, and whether the Dauphiné was actually any good to watch this year.Plus: the inside word on Green Edge's Tour long list and TTT prep, Max slides into LeBron James' DMs, the Luke Lamperti crit appreciation society, wraps on the Copenhagen Sprint, GP Cycling and Circuit Franco-Belge, and Max's Top 5 — riders who still haven't won a World Tour race (you'll be surprised who's number one).