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.

Hello everyone, and welcome

2

back to another episode of The Odd Tandem.

3

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

95

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

270

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,

280

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,

300

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.

305

And I like it.

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For me, it's like I.

307

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,

310

Jasper Philipsen

and also Mathieu Van Der Poel?

311

How is it with working like, such

World-Class superstars on a daily basis?

312

I mean, do they eat seamlessly like you,

or do you have a specialty coffee or,

313

how you get along

during the races, training camps?

314

How is life on a daily basis with a

superstar like, like Mathieu Van Der Poel?

315

So talking about breakfast,

316

if there is pancakes, they eat pancakes.

317

Both.

318

Jasper and Mathieu,

if if not, it's like a porridge.

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So we basically the same.

320

yeah.

321

And they are, you know,

322

Mathieu and Jasper,

they are not, next to cycling.

323

They are completely different.

324

I guess, people saw

325

it on Netflix

a little bit how Jasper is like,

326

this guy, who, who loses his phone

327

every five minutes,

doesn't know where his socks are.

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Maybe he wears socks,

in different colors.

329

so stuff like this, you know, you

you can laugh with him,

330

on the regular basis, like,

multiple times a day.

331

You think like, oh, my God.

332

Well, for sure, it had to be him.

333

You know who who forgot

the race number in the hotel, for example.

334

And,

335

and Mathieu, he's just like,

336

yeah, he

337

he is not the serious guy in the team bus.

338

You know, he wants to have fun

until the last moment.

339

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

340

He wants to have fun.

341

He's not like, dead serious guy who,

342

who needs to have to fight for position

all the time.

343

He relaxes in the back of the peloton

if he thinks it's okay.

344

And then, Yeah, maybe you.

345

Maybe there is a situation

346

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

and then we have to correct it.

347

But on the other hand,

348

he also takes the responsibility.

349

And if there is a gap

and there is no helper,

350

he just close the gap without hesitation.

351

so he's is a really cool

guy to work with for sure.

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Yeah, he he seems super cool.

353

I'd, have a beer with that guy

in the offseason a little bit, but,

354

you know, you guys started the tour off

this year without some victories.

355

What was the team mindset in the bus

356

when Jasper just couldn't

come through with the win?

357

And then all of a sudden turn it around

and came away with multiple victories.

358

Like was there something that you could

pinpoint that changed there or was

359

it just happened stance that, he was

he was getting beat that first week,

360

you know,

361

the, the run in to into the tour

362

or the whole preparation

was a little bit interrupted.

363

some incidents, you know, he was.

364

We were in altitude.

365

He felt sick for a couple of days.

366

so, yeah, there was

367

he. I think he he didn't

368

really believed

that he would be able to perform,

369

like, last year with this,

lead up towards the tour.

370

And you saw it, you know, he was

371

he was there in the sprints,

but not really.

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Yeah. Victorious.

373

And then, yeah, his

374

his self-belief was was not on point.

375

And the team.

376

Yeah.

377

I have to say they did a really good job.

378

They did some analyzes of the sprints

and within in the first week

379

they did video, video analysis.

380

They analyzed all his data.

381

They showed the numbers

382

in the meeting and they said,

383

Jasper Your

your numbers are close to your best ones

384

and it's more than enough to win

385

a tour de France stage in this peloton.

386

No, no doubt.

387

And we showed

388

also that our lead out was working well.

389

There were some small adjustments

we could, make better

390

or do better, but,

you know, it's marginal, marginal things.

391

And so, yeah, this meeting,

392

I think, turned his belief around.

393

And the next spring stage, he won.

394

And, I think if if,

395

sprinter catches up the momentum,

396

his belief is going higher and higher.

397

And, all of a sudden

he springs multiple stages.

398

And this is what happened with Jasper.

399

So, we all know the outcome.

400

Cavendish won a stage, 35.

401

In theory if.

402

in stage one, two, three, four.

403

Cavendish

would be on your wheel and going.

404

Let be true, let me true.

405

It's for the record.

406

Would you open the gap from go?

407

No, you're not on my team.

I'm here for Jasper.

408

I love you, Cav.

409

And I wish you the record.

410

But no, I cannot let you know.

Would you go?

411

Okay. I've come.

412

It's the last tour I open a gap.

413

I open the door for you.

414

Would you I would you not?

415

I mean, it's purely theoretical. now.

416

what if I say no?

417

Well,

418

Yeah, you can also refuse to answer.

419

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

now, youtube.com/@Odd Tandem.

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

And if you want the full,

uninterrupted version of this podcast

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

and your name in the titles,

just head to our Patreon

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where you can sign up for $5 a month

and keep this podcast going.

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

That's patreon.com/oddtandem

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

thanks to our Patreon members Scott,

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

Steven Kimbrough, Marie Teixeira,

Jeff Kralik,

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

Brian Colon, Chris Merritt,

Tim Farriss and Jim who’ve done just

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

that.

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

make sure you keep sending us

your questions to Oddtandem@Shocked

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

giraffe.com or any of our odd

tandem social media channels.