The Brutal Road to a Tour de France Top 10

Andrew Talansky1:02

Yeah, it's when I go back to Miami, I still get to ride with those guys that I was on my very first group ride with. There a crew of these guys who are still great on the bike and they're in their their 50s now.

So, they're probably in their 30s when I started riding.

My first group ride, I got dropped five miles in. I got dropped and we rode the next 40 miles alone, me and my mom's boyfriend. he stayed with me and then I just kept coming back for more. You know, it's the group ride culture there is intense, but these guys,

They were hard on me and it was rough, but they took me under their wing at the same time and led me along. And I think I live in California now, but when I go back to Miami, the pride that these guys and gals have around me [snorts] making it to the tour, it's I still call that home. I mean, Miami is always home for me.

Yeah. It's such a crazy story. How So, how did you get started? What were you into as a kid? What sports? As a kid, it's pretty safe to say I did everything that wasn't a team sport. So, from tennis to a little bit of golf to then the endurance sports, swimming, running, and then eventually the bike, but I guess mainly swimming and running. Uh, as a kid, running more so than anything else was my passion. I wasn't very good at it, but I really loved it.

So, then you you just decided to turn up to a group ride with no experience. Yeah, I got hurt running my junior year of high school cross country. I got a stress fracture in my shin and I was going bananas and uh to give you an idea of my energy as a kid, my mom when I was in middle school uh it was in between seasons like cross country it ended and she picked me up from school one day and finally said, "I don't care what sport it is, but you're pick a sport.

You're not coming home after school." Um I had to have an outlet. I had to do something or you just get into trouble with friends. So when I got hurt running, it was tough and I loved it. And uh doctor told me I could ride. My mom's boyfriend was a triathlete at the time, pretty high level in South Florida, performing well. And you know, I every weekend I'd see him on the group rides. And these guys would be in my in my living room on the floor eating lunch with us every Saturday after they'd ride Saturday mornings.

So I knew cycling existed, but I never looked at it as anything more than a way to get around. and he looked at me, my mom's boyfriend, Boris, and said, "Let's get you on a road bike. Let's see how you ride." But the very first laps I did at Key Biscayne were in a t-shirt and shorts, flat pedals on this crappy bike I had that was a commuter. And he got me on a road bike and uh I fell in love with it.

Andrew Talansky3:49

No, I No. And yes, he gave me things that were handme-downs. He gave me his stuff to ride in. So, I didn't have things that were my size or shoes that fit or any of that. I quickly

Got it. You know, when I talk about the Miami cycling community,

There was a bike shop there that supported my mom's boyfriend and helped support me. Without their help, I never would have had the gear I needed to race or the clothing.

Andrew Talansky4:13

Bikes to go. It's not there anymore.

Andrew Talansky4:16

But, uh,

Great people. Um, and they were they were pivotal because they made sure I had kit that fit and shoes that worked and

P the right pedals for the bike and all the things I needed.

Andrew Talansky5:28

Absolutely. That was what I found with it compared to running.

I said I loved running and I would if you asked my high school cross country coach who trained the hardest, who tried the most, it was me.

Didn't yield the results. My body just wasn't as adapted to it, adaptable, or made for it. The bike was the first time. It was the opposite experience. The more I piled on, the more I trained, the more I rode, the harder I trained, I just got better and better and better. And that was a really addictive feeling. It was the first time in my life I'd found a sport where I felt like what I was putting into it was actually correlated with what I was getting out of it.

And when I started, there were no thoughts of of the Tour de France or any of that. I had just found

Andrew Talansky6:31

Yes. I mean, growing up, uh, the age I was during the Lance Armstrong years, the tour was in the background. So, my mom and her boyfriend, the Tour de France would be running in the background. So, I knew the voices of at that time Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin. I knew of the Tour de France. But the concept of bike racing as a whole, the fact that there were races other than the Tour de France, I had no idea. The concept of bike racing as a viable profession did not seem like an actual option.

Andrew Talansky6:58

I just loved riding a bike.

Andrew Talansky7:11

Yeah, 17.

Andrew Talansky7:15

My first tour was 2013. So, I'd been racing. That was my third year professional cuz I did the VAT the two years prior. Yeah.

Andrew Talansky7:33

Yeah.

Andrew Talansky7:51

Absolutely. It's interesting you mentioned that just the difference. I also think it's worth noting that I was obviously I ended up in the Tour de France and racing at a really high level. So the genetic ability was in there, right? I have the the genetic predispos disposition to be able to train and race at that level.

But my journey there was not typical cuz there are kids who get on and you're like, "Wow, you are the phenom." And I and I was good.

Andrew Talansky8:17

But I wasn't the kid where it was immediately evident that wow, you're going to be the best or you're going to make it to the Tour de France. I had guys come up to me and tell me, "I thought you were going to quit the sport. Like, you were getting dropped at such and such a race or whatever." And I just had this bullheaded mentality of, "I don't know how or when, but I think all of this will pay off one day." And it obviously did.

It was it was one of those stories of uh overnight success that that took, you know, four years of training, which still is a really abbreviated time frame.

Oh, for sure. But it was uh nothing really clicked till my my final year as a under 23 rider. So it took a little while.

Andrew Talansky10:01

Yeah. I mean, if if we just use the Tour de France as an example, they wouldn't make it through a day. you know, they'd either be on the ground or they'd be dropped or whatever. And and that sounds really harsh to say, but you cannot

Accurately, there aren't words to describe the level of the Tour de France compared to other racing. And it's not just the power numbers. You know, people look at power numbers and say, "Oh, I can do this or that."

It's the actual racing, the art of racing, right? Like, I could get in an F1 car and put my put the pedal to the floor and be like, "Wow, I went 190 miles an hour." doesn't mean I can race F1. You know, there's a big difference in the skill set. And

Andrew Talansky10:47

The It was noted in the tour. There was a crash the other day, the Tour de France is going on right now in July. But at that level, it's actually always amazing when somebody crashes how few other guys crash. And that's like a testament to the

The uh skill set of the riders. If you zoom out and you look at more local racing, one person crashes and and the entire group is on the ground because people

People panic. But I mean, as you noted, I don't think I've encountered a sport, doesn't happen in running, doesn't happen in swimming, uh maybe not even triathlon, and certainly not in things like golf or or other tennis. Nobody's like, I can be Nadal, right?

But in cycling, people really do think they're closer than they are.

Yes. And I would say the ones who have the most respect for what the gap is between somebody who's really really good at a local or kind of semi- elite level compared to real Tour de France pros are the guys, you know, who I knew from when I was younger. Those guys have this really like keen grasp of what the difference is where I'll meet people in the bay now or wherever and you can just

You get the feeling that somewhere in there there's this inkling of like if all I had to do was train six hours a day, I could make it.

Andrew Talansky11:54

Yeah. And it's just not true.

Andrew Talansky14:11

They just replayed that on one of the Tour de France broadcast and yeah, I remember it vividly. The car literally hit him. Yeah. Sent the couple guys crashed, but he got launched into the barbwire and it was it was scary.

Andrew Talansky14:27

I can't remember, but that crash impacted his career pretty severely. It was a really bad one.

Andrew Talansky14:32

He he obviously didn't mean to hit him, but it was a rash move of, "Okay, we got to get the car around. The road is

Andrew Talansky14:46

Yeah. Yeah. The the the car the the road they're on is a go path. It's one car wide. There's no space for a car to go around. And they panicked and

And went and I mean driving, you know, racing in the Tour de France is obviously stressful, but I think the driving in the P in the caravan behind the RA, it's madness.

Andrew Talansky15:03

I think that's the hardest job. I would agree. I've talked to I was in Miami with Christian a few months ago and we were talking about it and he said absolutely it's scarier being on the moto than being in the race because obviously the race there's risk but the risk is under your control.

You choose when you break you lean the bike over being on the moto

And in the rain in the cold and the heat and melting tarmac.

He's just on the back trusting his driver and he has a great driver.

Andrew Talansky16:52

Yeah. It's funny descending. It's one of those where now I'll go downhill to the speed I'm comfortable with, which is still a lot faster than most people are comfortable with. But as you get older, you start to actually consider riskreward, right? You're 21, 22, 23. There's no risk. You haven't had a bad crash or anything, and I never had a bad crash downhill, thankfully. But you just become so acutely aware. You're like, I'm wearing Lycra. Would you jump out of a car at 60 miles an hour?

Like, can you imagine what would happen? Right.

Andrew Talansky17:41

I know what it looks like. I can't remember the name.

Andrew Talansky18:40

Absolutely. people when I see them going a little on the edge when when we're riding for fun or something like that, it's insane cuz I'm like there there are cars here, right? In a race,

At least you won't get hit by a car if you fall, right? Or oncoming traffic or something like that. You're just going to fall. It'll be what it'll be.

But people really roll the dice and take risks that I think are

Are unnecessary. But I think what you just described experiencing it's also one of the reasons and and people will debate it to the end of days but why I think cycling or specifically like well elite world tour racing the racing aspect is is one of if not the hardest sport in the world is because of that it's not just the physical exertion it's guys will experience what you just said and if they can pedal they get back up you get on a bike and you keep moving you know one of the Americans in the Tour de France was a little sick and hurt the other day and my wife was like, "Oh, should you know, is he going to stop?" And I was like, "No, in the tour, unless you physically are incapable of turning the pedals over through injury or illness, you continue pedaling.

It is you you do not stop."

Andrew Talansky19:58

Yeah. And I would say that compared to when I was racing, it's only gotten harder. I think the entire level of the sport in the last five, but I mean 10 years, it's night and day, but the last 5 years, it's continued to progress so much like a lot of other sports, the general level in the peloton and the guys who are racing is so so high. And it's harder than ever. They're going faster than ever. They're climbing faster than ever. The stages are harder than ever.

And it's a it was already a hard sport and now it's at another level.

Andrew Talansky20:22

I was able So, I was still a junior at that time, able to race in the 17 18 group category. And it was I I pretty much won immediately at that level. I got into local races and there was actually a pretty robust junior cycling racing program and team.

Again, through the good fortune uh this this generous guy in Miami, he funded a junior racing team. So, it would help cover all the entry fees, take us to the races on the weekends. And

Andrew Talansky21:04

No, I mean, we were racing mostly around Florida, you know, like the middle of Florida. You can get some hills. You're not getting mountains, but uh

Andrew Talansky21:17

Yeah, absolutely. Uh I would say the first time I raced in any maybe smaller mountains was that summer. So, I've been on the bike for maybe 6 months, 7 months. And I went to Junior Nationals, which was in this little ski town, I can't remember the name, maybe seven springs somewhere in Pennsylvania.

Andrew Talansky21:36

Yeah. That was the first inkling. I'd never climbed, never done anything. And my result wasn't amazing. I think it was somewhere in the top 20, but the guys I finished with were all the top names in in American cycling who I went on to race with in the World Tour eventually, but they were kind of the top guys that everybody knew. So when I performed there throughout my my career was kind of the story of my career uh until I turned pro, I would always have a good enough performance somewhere it mattered to kind of keep the hope alive to kind of tell me you're on the right path.

You can keep going even if there was a lot of hardship in between.

Andrew Talansky22:14

Then I I went to school for one year in Banner Elk, North Carolina. I raced uh

Andrew Talansky22:22

It was Yeah. Uh a guy he's a NBC commentator now, but Brent Bwalter graduated from there and I said, "Okay, this looks like it has a great cycling program. I'm going to go there for a year and see what it's like." Within 3 months of going to school, I decided I wasn't coming back the next year. Mainly because I don't like doing things halfass. I said, "Okay, I can't give my all to cycling. I can't give my all to school. This isn't working out super well." So, I said, "Okay, next year I'm not going to go back to school." and uh if I can't achieve my goal of becoming professional within the next two years, I'll come back and I'll go to school and get an education and and go down that route.

But uh I left and then I never went back.

Andrew Talansky23:07

It's a great question. There were there were divisions like we had different divisions. So I don't know if that differentiates NCAA or club, but like there was D1, D2. The schools were separated. There were different categories and races at nationals.

Andrew Talansky23:21

Uh I I don't recall what it was, but

It was organized. Um nationals was in Colorado Springs and and I won. So that was the

Andrew Talansky23:33

Yeah, it was fun.

Andrew Talansky23:35

From there, I went through what I would say was the most pivotal and trying period of my cycling career. I decided I was leaving school, didn't necessarily have a team lined up, you know, again, traveling in my car and um I got the opportunity through people I knew in Miami to join this Italian team called Amore & Vita. And for me at that age, 20-year-old, 19-year-old kid, I'm like, "Oh, this is the dream. When I go race in Europe for an Italian team, this is going to be amazing." And it was a complete debacle.

When I say complete, I mean a comedy of errors in probably the most negative environment you could have for a 19 and you know an easily influenced 19 or 20-year-old kid. I I flew over there, got sick, as often can happen. Um was trying to train too hard, was living in a we lived in a villa, which sounds glamorous. You think, "Oh, we're going to a villa." Yeah.

It had no heat. It had hardly any running water. I lived in a room with like two Ukrainians and a Russian. Uh we had a mini fridge was the refrigerator. There were like 10 of us in total. We lived in the servants quarters of the villa. We weren't allowed in the actual rest of it.

Andrew Talansky24:46

Nobody. Nobody. But we just weren't allowed in uh in the rest of it. This family uh Ivano and Christian Fenini, they're famous. They they run the Amory Vita team or they ran it

And it was their villa and they just said we weren't allowed. So it was during that time period was and probably everybody has this at some point in their lives. I mean you you could share probably many moments like this but I remember I got really sick a second time and I'm sitting there and I was like maybe I don't need this. Maybe I don't need this. Like I can go to school. I have I have choices, right? Which is always kind of the American conundrum and cycling is a lot of us have options educationally, professionally.

And I remember sitting on that bed in this room with the two Ukrainians and a Russian and saying like, "This isn't what I want, but I want this." Meaning,

I this isn't being professional. I don't want this life. This life is terrible.

This isn't You can't have a family. You can't buy a house. You can't make money. You can't have a real life. This isn't what I want. And these guys I was racing with, the guys are 30 years old doing this.

Andrew Talansky25:50

Yeah. This is their life. And to me, I said, "Okay, I don't want this, but I want cycling." So, I basically, it was this I literally remember that sitting there on the bed sick and I said, "If I can endure this, if I can get through this and still come out the other end somehow and love this sport, then I can do this."

Andrew Talansky26:09

And um the rest of that year, to be honest, wasn't much brighter. But at the very end of the year, I went to two local races, and this sounds silly, right? Like things that are meaningless. And I won two races in a at the very end of the year and it was like I said just enough hope and the following year was when I I raced for an under 23 amateur team in the US and then half

Andrew Talansky26:31

Cal Giant it was they're big yeah

Andrew Talansky26:40

I went back my dad was in California at the time and um I lived with him and then lived uh at the house of some Mast's racers up in Truckucky

They had a nice Yeah. Uh the the Masters Racers up in Truckucky. Yeah. Absolutely.

Andrew Talansky27:00

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know why he's still my friend to this day, but uh this guy Tony, he met me and was like, "Yeah, if you want to stay at my house this summer, you can stay at my house." And I was like, "Okay, sure. Absolutely." He's like, "Just don't burn it down. Don't do anything to it." And

Andrew Talansky27:21

Tour of the Gila.

Andrew Talansky27:25

Yeah. So following that year with the Amore & Vita, which was just a disaster.

Andrew Talansky27:30

Like a true disaster.

I said, "Okay, I have one more year." It was my final year under 23. And I ended up riding for for Cal Giant because Anthony Galino, the guy who was like the VP of marketing there, but he loved cycling. So it's the reason they funded a team. He said he was the only guy who was honest, you know, in the sport that I had encountered. Meaning he said, "Here's what I can give you. Here's the support I can give you, the equipment, the races we're going to go to.

Not going to get paid, you know, but we're going to make sure everything's covered. You're supported and you know, you'll do what you can do."

Andrew Talansky28:07

Yeah. If you go into the grocery store, strawberries, other berries. Yes. Exactly. And so it's a produce

Andrew Talansky28:19

At that time. Yeah. They don't do it anymore. But I would say it's literally it was Anony's personal love of cycling.

Andrew Talansky28:26

He he pushed the funding. He made sure the team existed.

Andrew Talansky28:34

Yeah. So that year was part of Lance's comeback and there was another world tour team there. the team I ended up racing for.

Andrew Talansky28:52

Yeah, it sounds ridiculous, but there was a basically

There's like a loophole in the rules that allowed world tour teams, which they never really did, to send a very small number of riders, like two or three riders to a a US domestic pro race.

Andrew Talansky29:13

Yeah. And I think the thing was they were training in Aspen or something and then they were like, "Let's use this to get ready for the tour

Andrew Talansky29:20

Yeah, exactly. I think Sam was a sponsor to the Gila and Lance was riding for a Stram sponsored team and I think his attendance saved the race that year. I don't think the race would have existed if he hadn't agreed to come.

So that was obviously beneficial for the race. But uh yeah, that was one of the biggest races as an amateur you could go to in the US.

Andrew Talansky29:40

It was a breakout year. I mean, I had had the good fortune that winter to be training with one of Lance's teammates, Levi Leipheimer, uh who's been on the podium of the Tour de France and really good rider. He lived over in Santa Rosa. We were living, funny enough, at my now in-laws house in Napa. That's where we had uh we had gone. You know, that's a whole other aspect of the story why they agreed to let their daughter go out with a a broke um or in debt bike racer.

I have no idea, but they did and I'm thankful for that and they let us stay there.

Andrew Talansky30:16

No, [snorts] I mean, I would say almost the opposite, right? The approach I took, I was like, this guy's on the podium of the tour. I'm nowhere near that, but I can benefit from learning. So when

Andrew Talansky30:32

That the second one. The second one. Yeah. Where to me you're just seeing the level that it takes to be at that and you're seeing like I'm

So I would just try to mirror my efforts to his you know I would try to he'd tell me what we were doing up a climb and I would try to do it from my level. But he ended up respecting that a lot and I think I got a lot out of the training and then yeah that led towards towards to the Hilo where I had a breakout race.

Andrew Talansky30:59

So the equivalent would be he'd say okay we're going to do I'm doing this type of effort up a climb. Right. And to break it down

Andrew Talansky31:23

And the equivalent of what somebody would do is if you were doing 8 by1 miles, 5 minute pace. The person says, "Okay, I'm not as fit as Ken. I'm going to do 8 by1 miles, 6 minute pace." So they would go do the workout, but they would do it scaled to their ability. And that's what I would do with him.

Andrew Talansky31:36

Yeah. Scale it down a little bit.

Andrew Talansky31:38

that level." I didn't know if I could ever get there at that time. Obviously, I ended up getting thereabouts, but I I did think, okay, like I'm I've been on the bike for for 5 years or something. This guy's been on the podium in the tour doing this his whole life. There's there's a process. There's the chance, right? There's a possibility that I could maybe 5 years from now be at that type of level.

And and that was the case.

Andrew Talansky33:42

Pretty limited except for one very notable aspect. I mean, his team and the other team there, Slipstream, their best teams, another world tour team were performing as you would expect, just kind of winning, dictating the race. I was, I think, fifth or sixth overall, which for those not familiar with cycling, cycling is a unique sport in that you don't have to win when you're looking at the overall classification of a race. If you're third or fifth or sixth, it can still be pretty valuable, which was the case there, especially with really good competition.

Um, my memorable memorable moment with Lance, and I have a have a picture of the moment. Somebody a photographer got it and sent it to me uh at some point during my career. I didn't have it immediately after, but we're climbing the the final big climb of the entire race on like the Gila Monster stage and

Literally it had started to dump little snowflakes like it the weather changed out of nowhere. It was crazy. And we're going, a couple guys were off the front and I'm this remember like 20-year-old kid on Cal Giant or 22, I guess, 21 at that time. And we're riding and people who know me, you know, I'm I'm pretty calm guy away from sport, pretty intense in sport. And I just hear this voice yell, "Stop effing surging." And you know, I'm in the middle. You know, you're pinned.

You're above threshold. You're going as hard as you can. And without even looking, I just yelled, "Are you going to effing pull?" And then I looked over and it was Lance.

Yeah. And I have this picture of Lance looking at me like like he was thinking, "Is this kid out of his mind?" Like, "Do you are you losing it?" You know, and then I got a contract offer from them a couple days later.

Andrew Talansky35:21

Yeah.

Andrew Talansky35:24

Maybe. Maybe

Andrew Talansky35:31

I Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I never spoke with him about it after that. I ended up going to Slipstream Sports, which the current iteration of that is is EF Education, the Pink Kit, the Tour de France.

Andrew Talansky35:45

Exactly.

Andrew Talansky35:53

Yeah. Yeah. And they both those offers came. It was funny. Right after that, I left for a six week trip with the national team. And then, you know, if the year before had been the biggest debacle of my life, that year under 23, my final year was like a golden year from Gila on. Everything I touched turned to gold. I won nationals. I won races in Europe. I was second to the biggest under 23 race in the world. Like, it just it was a golden year.

Um, and but those two teams made those offers before I took that trip to Europe, which meant a lot to me cuz they were I mean they had seen me perform at Gila.

Andrew Talansky36:26

Um, after that I had offers from from almost every World Tour team after the Europe trip, but these two were the first.

Andrew Talansky36:49

Marott. That one

Andrew Talansky36:53

Oh no.

Andrew Talansky37:10

But he was a chiropractor.

I think it was Eric Marott.

That's it. Yeah, that's it. Eric. That's his name. Eric cuz California know but Arizona

Andrew Talansky37:23

Yes.

Andrew Talansky37:25

Yeah. He was a unit.

Andrew Talansky37:36

Correct. Yeah, he was good here. He I mean he'd won nationals obviously, but

Uh I think he did one world championships,

Andrew Talansky37:59

Yeah. I think it's funny. You know, you'll see guys on TV and you'll be like, "Oh, wow. They look bigger than the others." And if you were to see them in person, you'd still be like, "Oh, they're not very big."

Andrew Talansky38:33

Yeah. I mean, that generation of riders really suffered. Obviously from having to make those decisions around opening, but from the the eating, the dietary aspect as well. And I think that carried over a little bit into my era. Yeah,

There were still guys, we were doing fasted rides, we were doing things to be as lean as possible. And it was very much a mentality of like, oh, put in less, you'll you'll burn muscle, you'll lose weight, all of that. Now, the sport has changed for the positive. Of course, diets, you look at the tour, the guys are lean as can be, but it's way, way more precise, meaning it's overseen by a nutritionist. The caloric deficits when they're losing weight, they're controlled. They're not left to their own devices to say, "I'm going to take a a Benadryl after my ride and go to bed." They're like, "Okay, we're going to cut 200 calories today and 200 tomorrow." And they know what the type of training they're doing is to support that and everything.

And it's much much healthier now. It was pretty bad for I mean for men and women um in the sport during my era.

Andrew Talansky40:45

Kill you.

Andrew Talansky40:51

These guys I mean Tyler's book is certainly a good a good look inside.

Andrew Talansky41:01

Yeah. I can't imagine what it was like in that era. I mean, obviously guys I raced with, Levi Christian, Dave Zabriskie, David Millar, they experienced that. They went through that.

And you know, the only thing I can say is

I think things become normalized when everybody around you is doing it. And you know, it's funny with your personality, you're like, "Oh, I might I might draw the line there, right, with like your intense personality." Because for me, what I always say people and and I've been judged for it many times cuz I don't condemn the decisions these guys made cuz [gasps] the reality is you didn't get there by doping. These guys were really good bike racers. Then you're young and you get into an environment where

It's here's your dream. This is what you've worked for your whole life and now all the people that you respect and look up to and admire. They don't frame it as oh here's this thing you have to do. They're like welcome to the club. Here's what you do now to perform.

Exactly. And they're all doing it. And of course, people always play the devil's ad. Go. Oh, there's a handful of guys who didn't. Okay, there are a handful of guys who didn't. The best guys were racing their bikes. Christian Vande Velde's an amazing bike racer. Levi Leipheimer is an amazing bike racer. You know, they didn't get there. Dave Zabriskie, David Millar, right? He won stages of the tour afterwards. It's It would be so cocky of me to sit here and say, "Oh, that's terrible. I wouldn't have made that decision." I've talked about this with the other Americans.

They're from my era and they don't necessarily maybe they're not as open about it as I am. I know my personality. You put me in that that type of system, I wouldn't have made a different decision than Christian Vande Velde or Levi Leipheimer. These are good guys with good moral compass. And

They made the decision that allowed them to have their dream. And frankly,

It was hardly a decision for them. So what I'm thankful for is that I came in there after that because I know my personality and I probably would have done the same thing they did. So I'm very thankful that I never had to.

Andrew Talansky43:47

Of course, I mean, it wasn't just the thing. it was the the relationships or lack thereof and interactions he had with people over the years that influenced how they how they feel and what they were going to share and how they were going to react. But

Andrew Talansky43:59

We definitely did. I mean, and again, people will criticize it, but one thing that the team I raced for really embedded in us is this is no longer a choice. You're racing for a team that is dependent on racing clean. And they intentionally hired guys like David Millar and Christian who had gone through these things. And it's not like Christian at that time didn't talk about it, but David would. David had been banned um when he was young. He was world champion. He was amazing. Served his suspension, came back.

And David was a great role model for the younger riders at that time. You know, he really upheld that. And you had this feeling of responsibility and all the especially the Americans did at the time, myself, TJ Van Garderen and Taylor Phinney. to race clean. I mean, it was never presented to me. It was never an option to do anything else, which I'm thankful for.

But you felt this internal responsibility of like, man, this sport's going to if if if somebody if one of our generation had done something illegal.

I cannot imagine what the reaction would have been. I mean, I would have probably flown there and punched him in the face because I just you're like, this is our responsibility to make sure people can believe in this sport again.

Andrew Talansky45:21

Better. I would say better, but uh I didn't make things the easiest on myself in the sense that we had lived in Lucca, Italy when I was racing with the under23 national team, the US team. And I liked Lucca and I've always kind of liked to do a little bit of my own thing. So instead of moving to Girona, where the team's home base was, I was like, I'm going to move to Lucca. A few other guys like my friends in my generation were also living there because we'd all spent time there and that was made it a little more challenging cuz the team had a home base in Girona and they're like why don't you just come to Girona you know it's it's easy we have taxis that take you to the airport we have our service course which is like the big headquarters where all the equipment and team buses and everything kind of live and um so there were a few challenges

But overall night and day I mean moved in to a great apartment in Lucca eventually my girlfriend now wife flew over to join joined me and it it was much much better. I mean it was it felt very full circle. Two years prior I'd been in Lucca at the lowest point of maybe my life.

Andrew Talansky46:21

It's uh like a little outside of Florence. So Tuscany.

Andrew Talansky46:25

Yeah. So beautiful. And then to come back less than two years later on a world tour team. I think maybe that's part of unconsciously why I made that decision. A bit of closure.

Andrew Talansky46:39

No, I never saw them again.

Andrew Talansky46:42

No, I got a few emails or texts from uh Christian Fenini, the guy who ran the team, just saying, "Congratulations. This is great." Hey, you know, and nice enough guy, but uh

Andrew Talansky46:56

Good. It was obviously a dramatic change and I think I mean we've spent a little time together but my personality you're young a I was a little bit cocky uh a little bit presumptuous and I think David Millar being one of them experienced it where I think the way I viewed myself I viewed myself as like it's just a matter of time till I get really close you know maybe not win but close to the top of the sport

But as a neopro first year pro with all these experience guys that's not looked upon super fondly. So I know I

I rubbed a few people the wrong way and I think we made amends over the years but same thing theme of my career I actually struggled a lot in the racing that year and uh have one funny story from there but in all the time trials which are like the individual races against the clock much like running is

I excelled at almost every race. So the that year I beat Levi Leipheimer, my training partner and friend at the Perry time trial.

And I think people were confused cuz I'd get dropped on the climbs. I'd have bad days, but every time trial, every race that year, I was maybe in the top 10 or or better, kind of near the front. So there were glimmers of hope. There were glimmers of potential.

Andrew Talansky48:12

Oh, my very first pro race ever um tour Mediterranean. I don't know if it exists anymore, but I drove from Lucca, drove there with then met my French director in in Nice, and we we drove there. And so we do the race and I'm typical neopro, which is a first year pro. And I'm getting bottles and fetching jackets and doing all these things for the kind of our our leaders,

Andrew Talansky48:36

Yeah. All the rookie stuff. But I was annoyed cuz I was like, man, I'm like, I think I'm good.

And we get to the final day and it's a like 20 minute climb to finish the whole thing that decides to draw a race. No, like a mountain top finish.

Andrew Talansky48:53

And uh we get there, our leader ends up like blowing up really early and is like go. So I just ride full gas and it ended up being fourth and then fourth overall in the race, right? I'm like, "Wow, like this was pretty good for my first pro race ever." My director is driving me back in the car and for an hour and a half we like we're talking. I'm and I don't want to say anything. And he's just like, "Man, I can't believe you know our leader cracked and this and that and the other." And [clears throat] then finally after an hour and a half in the car, he goes, "How'd you finish today?" And I was like, "I got fourth." And he just lost it.

You know, he's like, "What? You were you were fourth. This is wonderful. This is amazing." But we went through the whole whole thing and this guy had no idea that we had gotten fourth overall in the race.

Andrew Talansky49:38

Yeah.

Andrew Talansky49:39

Yeah. Funny guy.

Andrew Talansky49:44

No, I rode the Valta Espña another 3-we race.

Andrew Talansky49:51

Yes, first Grand Tour. And uh

Andrew Talansky49:58

There are three. There's the Giro d'Italia. Okay.

Which is in May, uh the Tour de France in July, and then the Volto Spa, which runs August into September.

Andrew Talansky50:11

I should know this. Not many. We just added this year.

Andrew Talansky50:18

F has won all three. Chris F has won all three.

Andrew Talansky50:24

Jonas Vingegaard? Jonas Vingegaard won all three. Yeah, he just won the Giro this year.

Andrew Talansky50:31

Uh Tadej has not won all three. He needs to go win the VA then he's won all three.

Andrew Talansky50:45

It was uh I think Alexander Vinokourov. Yes. Right. Kazakhstan.

Andrew Talansky50:52

Rabberto Iran who was one of my teammates.

Andrew Talansky51:11

In modern cycling. I don't think it happens at all at the World Tour.

Andrew Talansky51:17

I really like in general, I don't know. I think that was one really publicized example. Rigo would never give us the answer. He was my teammate in 201.

Andrew Talansky51:42

Rio,

Andrew Talansky51:59

Yeah, we have no way to know if it's true, but Rigo, people who know him, he's a really smart, intelligent bike racer. Like he knows how to race.

Andrew Talansky52:08

It would be very unlike him to make a mistake like that. Put it that way. If you've watched the stages of the Tour de France, Rigo's won the races. He's won. He has a lot of tactical new and he's he's just a he knows what to do. But

He would never give us an answer. you know, he was our teammate and we asked him and he goes, "Just smile at us."

Andrew Talansky52:31

Absolutely. It could have been like maybe I'd rather they think that than realize I lost a gold medal in the Olympics.

Andrew Talansky52:49

Not for a win. And I mean, if alliances are naturally there for a shared goal, then maybe, right? They're temporary allies, but they could be enemies the next day.

But it's so cutthroat now. And like, the wins are so far and few between if you don't have one of the top riders in the sport that I I don't think anybody, even if somebody said, "Here's 100 grand for the win." I think they'd be like, "No." Yeah. You know, we need to win.

Andrew Talansky53:14

Good question. I think my first win was at a to a line which was a French stage race leading up to the Vto Espña in 2012. Yeah.

So I had been second overall and I lost the time trial by less than 1 second to Bradley Wiggins in Tour de Romandie who went on to win the Tour de France.

Andrew Talansky53:42

Yeah, that was like his golden year. He won the Tour de France, then went and won gold in the TT. I mean, just at the Olympics.

Absolutely. Yeah. At home Olympics.

Andrew Talansky53:51

Yes. Sir Bradley. He is. And uh

Later that season, I got my my first win. I won a tour. I won a stage and I won the overall leading into the Vault Espña.

Andrew Talansky54:02

You know, I think as you could attest, I What was your What was the first running race that you won?

Andrew Talansky54:55

But you won.

Andrew Talansky55:14

Yeah, it was crazy. I was special.

Andrew Talansky55:46

It was incredible.

Andrew Talansky56:07

Yeah. Good job, Ken.

Andrew Talansky56:09

It was crazy. I wish more people could have that feeling, you know? I think when you have the feeling of of winning, right, and the elation that comes with it, it's what keeps you going through all the rest. Carry it your whole life.

Andrew Talansky56:26

No.

Andrew Talansky56:32

2013 was my first Tour de France. So I'd done the Vuelta a España twice. I had done the Vuelta a España the first year, just survived. The second year I uh I ended up seventh overall. So actually at the at the VA so did a pretty good ride.

Andrew Talansky56:48

Yes.

Andrew Talansky56:53

To a degree. I mean the tour was different. We had a couple other leaders. So certainly in that first tour I was not the only guy. We had guys who could win stages, guys who could do well in the top 10 overall.

Andrew Talansky57:07

Yeah. something very outlandish would have happened. Had to have happened in 2013 to to think about that. That was the era where Chris Froom started dominating or maybe Yeah. 2013 might have been its first tour win cuz it was Wiggins the year before. So

Andrew Talansky57:22

Sky.

Andrew Talansky57:30

Yes. Radio Shack.

Andrew Talansky57:33

It was maybe Astana.

Andrew Talansky57:38

Or maybe it was Radio Shack in 2012. I think it was Radio Shack in 200 in [clears throat] 2012 as well. Actually 2011 was Astana.

Andrew Talansky57:48

Yeah. But um L he wasn't racing, right? Lance wasn't racing in 2013.

Andrew Talansky57:54

Okay.

Yeah. And it was it's it was everything you'd expect. I mean, I've always said you can go to a lot of bike races and you're a professional bike racer, but some of the races are smaller. You know, you don't always have big crowds. You don't always have a lot of fanfare, but when you go to the Tour de France, you feel like an NFL player or an NBA player or there the fans are everywhere. The media is there. The hype is very much real. You know that you're performing on the world stage.

And I think at least with my personality, I really like that feeling. I like the feeling of, okay, this is this isn't just for us, but we're we're showing these performances to people all around the world.

Andrew Talansky58:38

It's and you described it perfectly well. I've said so many times, if you could bottle up the feeling of being in a peloton and just let everybody experience that for just a few minutes, you would have everybody would be a Tour de France fan,

Of course. But it's so hard to I absolutely understand how you can be watching a bit of the race on TV and be like, "Okay, like what what's happening?

Andrew Talansky59:03

Now what? Why are we watching this?" Right? It's

Andrew Talansky59:09

I fast forward, you know, like when I watch in the afternoon, it's not live. I fast forward to the the parts that are more entertaining.

And people have said, "Well, why don't you just make the race shorter?" And it's like because in the sport of cycling, you need the 90 miles to set up the last 10 and make [clears throat] them the spectacle that they are.

Andrew Talansky59:30

Uh yeah. Or no, uh no, it's Phil now. Paul passed away.

Andrew Talansky59:37

Bob Roll.

Andrew Talansky59:39

Yes,

Andrew Talansky59:48

Yeah. I mean, in the US, there aren't that many races that get proper commentary or studio production, so the tour is really it.

Andrew Talansky1:00:02

Yeah. I think it's gotten even better now as far as the support. I mean, in my generation, there were still you had everything you needed. Absolutely. you had everything you needed, but it wasn't necessarily to the the degree that people might think of where, oh, like you probably had like 15 bikes if you needed. It's like that wasn't the case, you know, and time specialty bikes like time trial bikes. But again, the sports changed a lot and now it really is more like that. Like they're making sure the riders have any amount of equipment they need and the the support infrastructure they need to be their best.

Andrew Talansky1:00:37

Uh, not typically mainly because it's it's up to the team, the team team mechanics prep the bikes and whatever the team sponsors are. And of course, they're doing everything they can to make your bike as fast as possible, as light as possible

To race the best that you can,

But you you were not able to change things personally.

Andrew Talansky1:01:13

Yeah. Your position, all that. Absolutely. Like you want to change bars, you want to change this, that, the other. Sure. But ultimately, you had to stay within the team specs.

Andrew Talansky1:01:28

Yes. Yeah. Absolutely. And I mean that again we talked about this this morning but the playing field has leveled as far as equipment, bikes, components, all of it. Like very few teams are at a a real tangible detriment. Now you go back a decade that was really different. You know you go back even more to the Lance era and that's why people were even more obsessed with it because your equipment could really be making a big difference. And now all the top bikes are really fast, really light, really good.

So, nobody's really at a a detriment.

Andrew Talansky1:02:14

I think you're right. I'd have to check, but I think there's not one team in the tour.

Andrew Talansky1:02:23

Yes. Yeah. I remember that when it was all mechanical shifting, that was like something you'd aspire to. You're like, "Oh, wow. That's really nice."

Andrew Talansky1:02:32

Yeah. Yeah. Pinarello with Shimano was like blasphemy. You couldn't have that. But now that's the gold standard.

Andrew Talansky1:02:41

Four. Four tours.

Andrew Talansky1:02:44

My best finish was actually my first lawn. 10th. Yeah. I was 10th overall. 10th overall top 10 in the tour is pretty wild. And how old were you in that one?

24 I think.

Andrew Talansky1:03:00

Yeah. Yeah. And I mean that journey was like I said with with many ups and downs and I think it was just a testament to staying in the game and giving yourself a chance. You don't know exactly what's going to happen. And even the way that tour played out, you know, I was third on one of the stages, ended up getting in a breakaway. There were ups and downs timewise. I wasn't just sitting comfortably in tent the whole day. I think if I recall, I think I actually secured 10th on the final day.

I mean, Paris, the Champs-Élysées say is the final day, but the final mountain stage. So, stage 20 of the race, I think, was when I moved into 10th. I think I was 11th before that day, and I had to pass one guy or something. So,

Andrew Talansky1:03:48

I mean they it's a real bike race the last day. I mean that's one thing.

Andrew Talansky1:03:52

But I think there's one famous instance of somebody and it wasn't for the win, it was for maybe a podium spot or a top five, somebody attacking on the last day. Typically the guys for the overall classification are not racing that way on the last day, but

Andrew Talansky1:04:16

Yeah. But you I don't think it's ever happened and I could be wrong, but you know, hypothetically, if the yellow jersey was to crash, break their collar bone or break be out of the race 10 miles in,

They don't win the tour. You still have to get

Andrew Talansky1:04:33

I mean, you would do anything you could and maybe the whole peloton would like ride slowly to get to the race.

Andrew Talansky1:04:53

There. There definitely when it's allowed when the race allows it, right? There are certain moments of a race and I think anybody would agree where the race is the race and you can't that can't happen basically and it just is a racing incident but when it can happen they always do it and I think it just you just saw it uh stage of the Tour de France two days ago one of the guys who's the the only guy who's beaten TD Pagacha Vingegaard he crashed and broke his collar bone but when he first crashed he's out of the race but when he crashed Tadej and the whole peloton there was a breakaway they kept riding but they sat They literally sat up till they heard on the radio that Yonas was actually out of the race in the ambulance and then they they resumed racing.

But you could tell nobody wanted to capitalize on on that. So when the race situation allows, there's a lot of sportsmanship. I do think that there are very few riders who receive that type of treatment or sportsmanship, but they've earned they've earned that.

Andrew Talansky1:05:57

If it's not a critical part of the race, if it's they're not on the final climb, they're not somewhere like that. If they can say, "Okay, we can wait and this is actually going to have no bearing on the outcome of the race or they're not in the final 5 km,

Then a lot of times they will try and and yeah, give them a little bit of grace

Andrew Talansky1:06:56

peloton and the race officials kind of look the other way for a lot of that stuff. Yeah. [snorts] With the cars, you often want to be behind other team cars. You know, they don't look so fondly on you spending excessive time behind your own team.

Andrew Talansky1:07:10

Yes, they will. They'll let they'll the drivers, the directors know. And that's unritten. Even if teams are racing full gas against each other,

It's very rare for a team director to to try to flick another rider from another team. They'll try to to help them back because they know that the director of that team will do the same for one of their riders. And

And it it depends on what it is, right? If somebody's getting dropped, it's one thing. If you're mechanical and you're chasing back, that's when it's like, "Yeah, you know, fair play. Let's let's get back to the pelon here."

Andrew Talansky1:07:38

It's Yeah. That's wild when you think about it. You know, again, same thing. You're

Centimeters from the bumper of a car going 40 plus miles an hour. Totally at the whim of the driver. But thankfully, these a lot of the directors were bike racers. They're very good behind the wheel. I've always joked that I think the directors are some of the best drivers out there saying what they can do and and the fact that nobody gets hurt doing it.

Andrew Talansky1:08:09

Favorite stage of my first tour just favorite in general?

Andrew Talansky1:08:17

Alpe d’Huez I mean it is a classic answer that uphill finish Alpe d’Huez it was the first time I think they've ever done it. We did two laps of it of Alpe d’Huez. So the crowds whenever the Tour de France runs a route that repeats itself so people can see the race twice.

The fans are always I mean it's insane cuz they're like this is amazing. We're going to go there.

So we did it twice. And I've always loved the Alps. The Pyrenees I I suffered a bit more but all the Alps climbs I really liked.

Andrew Talansky1:08:50

I should know what is it 13 21 switchbacks?

Andrew Talansky1:09:53

Yeah, I remember this.

Andrew Talansky1:10:19

There was a famous one a few years ago. The crowds got so thick a moto stopped and Chris Room who was leading the tour crashed into the back of the moto and then broke his bike and was running with his and I mean

I don't know what the equivalent in another sport would be but you're looking at the pinnacle of pro cycling and you're watching a guy in cleat shoulder his bike and run up Mont Ventoux in the yellow jersey and you're like is this there's no way is this reality

Andrew Talansky1:10:45

But everything you highlighted I think is part of what makes cycling unique of The spectator interference aspect is always a stress, you know, even as a rider, you love the noise. The noise, the excitement,

But you don't want where you're like, man, I could

Andrew Talansky1:11:02

Yeah. But it's the history of cycling. So, it's this you you can't change it. You know, they barriered longer at the end of the stages on uphill finishes, which is good. It get make sure the finish won't be messed with, but it's hard. I mean, you can't get around, you can't see,

You can't hear. So, as exciting as it is, it's also

Really, really stressful. And and obviously like you just highlighted at times dangerous to the riders and I think that enthusiasm is great. Be even being a little narrower close is great especially on the climbs it's fun. I mean what other sport can you for free go to the side of the road and get that close to the best players? You know you can't go onto the pitch at the World Cup and your ticket and you watch from the stands.

Andrew Talansky1:11:41

It's also it's the riders. Everybody's always said like just try to respect the riders, you know, but a lot some of these people have had a lot to drink on the side of the road as well, which plays into it.

Andrew Talansky1:12:18

Trust me, I'm trying.

Exactly.

Andrew Talansky1:12:28

Yeah. I would in the tour, you can hardly hear. I'd say that's the only detriment is if your your director, if somebody's trying to tell you something through the radio,

You you hear nothing. You can't hear a thing. There's no chance when people are just on both sides of you a foot away screaming at the top of their lungs. So,

Andrew Talansky1:12:47

Usually, it's very practical information

Andrew Talansky1:12:50

Communicating earlier in races can be communicating, hey, coming back to the car for bottles or whatever it is so things are ready.

Andrew Talansky1:12:58

Uh, I mean some races. Yeah. Yeah. Like especially when I was younger.

Andrew Talansky1:13:02

And go back and help. But I mean, you're communicating on clothing. If you need different clothes from the car, if it gets cold and wet or rainy, if you have a mechanical issue with the bike, you're communicating that. The directors are often telling the riders what's coming. And people will argue back and forth on whether it makes it more dangerous or safe, but they're like, "Hey, you know, in two miles or, you know, or in 3K, the road goes to one lane, but every team hears that around the same time, so everybody races super hard for those points, pinch points of the race."

Yeah. Um, but a lot of times it's useful information. A lot of times they're just encouraging you, right? I mean, at the end of, you know, what you said about the crowd, you're like, "I'm going as hard as I can." The directors know you're going as hard and and they become adept at what riders need what type of encouragement.

Andrew Talansky1:13:52

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, depending on the situation, right? Like, "This is a good moment." Or they'll tell you how somebody else is looking if they have the the race feed in their car. or they'll tell you somebody's dropped and maybe you don't see that, right? Because you're you're leading or you're second in line or third and somebody gets dropped from behind, they'll let you know and that's motivating to hear.

I liked information in the road races and time trials. I actually I would race with the radio, but I gave them real strict instructions on like you can give me information on turns and stuff. I want no

Andrew Talansky1:14:52

And I mean, when people don't understand the team aspect, it's like you don't win. The person who's winning or doing really well for a team, without the people whose names you, you know, if you're a cycling fan, you might know, but the names that people most people won't know or hear,

That's what keeps them going. That's what keeps the whole the whole system working.

Andrew Talansky1:15:14

Yeah.

Andrew Talansky1:15:16

For me? Mont Ventoux was the hardest. And Mont Ventoux is like another I'd say alto and Mont Ventoux are two of the most iconic climbs used in the Tour de France. The tour repeats climbs every now and then they find a new one but there are certain ones that are just baked into the history of the race. And Ventoux is a very different climb as far as its gradient duration all of it. And I just never had a good day on Mont Ventoux. You know sometimes I don't know if you've had any races like that where you're just like this is not my race but Mont Ventoux is not my mountain.

Andrew Talansky1:15:44

Yeah. It's very like 2/ird of the way up you come out of the trees and it's like a moonscape up there and the wind hits and you can see the top when you pop out and you're just like if you're on a good day you're probably like wow this is awesome. If you're not like I was uh you're just like wow I have a long way to go.

Andrew Talansky1:16:02

No, you go straight to your team bus, typically cool down for a few minutes on the trainer, especially if it was like a really hard finish,

Andrew Talansky1:16:35

You do because even if it's a sprint stage, sprint, you can be going full gas super hard at the end. And if you think it from a physiological perspective, you don't want to go from full gas effort to zero and not kind of give your body a transitional period.

Andrew Talansky1:16:50

And in psych, especially in a stage race,

It's just super hard. I mean, you you want to transition into almost the parasympathetic state, right? And when you're doing extreme effort, adrenaline, sprint, ah, finish, mountain top, whatever it is,

Sort of to France, your body is in this state, you need to

Try to bring it down as quickly as possible to support recovery. So, there is the physical aspect of like just cool spinning the legs a little bit. But I think it's also the the overall state of the body and just trying to be like, okay, race is over, transition to recovery, calm things down a little bit. Because even if it's a a calm to France stage,

Yeah. You're still filled with like some tension at the end of a flat sprint.

Andrew Talansky1:17:36

They're nice. You go, you eat, eat, drink on there. You know, the team has recovery drinks and food and everything

Andrew Talansky1:17:46

Hotels immediately. Yeah.

Andrew Talansky1:17:53

So, one of two things. Typically, the bus will stay. You can leave in cars like you'll like team cars will leave before and sometimes you honestly take the team car depending on the road because if it's some twisty tiny mountain road for an hour and a half you'd almost rather be in the car than the bus.

So that's usually what happens.

Andrew Talansky1:18:29

Yeah. I So, I mean that I would say it's similar. Depends on the person, you know. I think some riders of the tour have a single room. Some like to have a roommate because you don't want to be alone for that much time and depends on the the individual. When I was racing, it was nine riders in a team. So, it would be four guy, four, eight guys sharing a room and one person would take a you know, a room on their own. Now the teams are eight

Andrew Talansky1:18:57

I think most guys still share a room. I think maybe sometimes there are individual rooms. I think it depends a little bit but

You're back to the hotel and the interesting thing about bike racing is the hotels are provided by the organizers. So we can use the Tour de France as an example and they use this star system and the way I describe you can end up in some really beautiful hotels during the tour where you're like wow I'd like to come back here and bring my family and go on vacation. But whenever you get a hotel like that because of the way the star system works, you know, oh man, we're getting screwed at some point.

Yeah. And screwed doesn't mean, you know, a campanel. A campanel is kind of a standard, right? Like a Motel 6 or whatever. It's not great. It's small, but you know what it is. They're pretty consistent. The bad ones are these oneoff hotels in random villages in the middle of nowhere that

Are the accommodations. You would never never put your friends or family in these hotels ever. Like like if you showed up, Ken, to one of these hotels and it was the only hotel for 100 miles and you went in there, you'd be like, I'm going to go sleep on the ground. Like I'm just going to I don't know. I'll sleep outside. I'll sleep in the car or something, right?

Andrew Talansky1:20:04

They're in it. You can go. There's one guy, maybe it's Magnus Court. There's one guy who on his social media chronicles all the hotels he gets during the tour. Highly entertaining.

Andrew Talansky1:20:15

I can't I think it's Magnus Court is the rider. I'll look it up after this, but there's one guy and it is it is he rates every hotel on his own system and gives a it's just like a little entertainment.

Andrew Talansky1:20:27

But the Tour de France, these guys on the rest day, they literally were there's no AC in some of the hotels. It's a heat wave in your

On a rest day. On a rest day. That's [ __ ] They pulled the mattresses to sleep outside. Imagine Imaged before the World Cup, but I bet it wasn't like that.

Andrew Talansky1:20:46

Oh, man. I think 22

Andrew Talansky1:20:51

Which is what Christian like the Tour de France organizer in his defense that is the problem. There are I can't remember the number but when you include everybody around the tour not just the team you got all those thousands and I mean of bedrooms per night.

Andrew Talansky1:21:05

Ultimately somebody's going to get screwed. There's only so many hotels in these regions especially when you're a bit removed. So

Andrew Talansky1:21:20

Maybe after. You can't stay before. That's before while you're in the race. You have to stay in the But yes, the night the tour is over, you stay wherever you want.

Andrew Talansky1:21:40

I mean, if I was winning the tour, I would want a party at one of those hotels. Absolutely. I mean,

Andrew Talansky1:21:49

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I wasn't there, but

I mean, if and that's continued. I mean, I don't know if it's dampened down at all, but when you win the tour, it is it is

Andrew Talansky1:22:00

I mean, obviously in that era, he kept winning, so it was different. But for a lot of guys, it's a a one time. Geraint Thomas, he won the Tour de France one time, and you can bet that was a party to remember afterwards.

Andrew Talansky1:22:52

Okay.

Andrew Talansky1:23:41

And then you just went right inside your house.

Andrew Talansky1:24:13

I was uh That's what I was thinking when you just described telling your friends not to walk up the hill. That was me this morning on the final the final hill. I was like, man,

Andrew Talansky1:24:26

It was

Andrew Talansky1:24:38

Thanks for that.

Andrew Talansky1:25:09

Yeah.

Andrew Talansky1:25:32

Some guys are like that, and Cam is one of them. Cam is just such a interesting athlete and I think using him as the example, it's a great look into the differences in sports of like triathlon and bike racing cuz Cam, great teammate, strong bike rider,

Never a superstar on like within the world. Amazing teammate, somebody 100% you want on your team and never the guy who's going to get the glory on the on the bike.

Andrew Talansky1:25:59

Going to triathlon, he's way I mean he truly is right. I I went into Iron Man for a couple years after cycling. Didn't have nearly the success that Cam has had. And I think it just shows you you can be so good in this in this one thing. Uh and it doesn't necessarily transfer. And Cam is that's part of why it's so impressive what he's done.

Andrew Talansky1:26:41

I think he just did it was over. I think it was last weekend. Yeah. I don't know how he did, but I know he was racing.

Andrew Talansky1:27:19

Who had those records for a while.

Oh yeah, I'm sure.

Andrew Talansky1:27:31

Yeah. Relatively speaking, I mean, maybe it would be a stretch to say that I'd be racing now, but maybe up until a year or two ago, I probably could have been racing if I had chosen to stay in the sport.

Why? And how did how were you able to like walk away and in and why? It's one of the things I said to you first and I'll open it with I can look back and easily have a lot of regret about the way that I left the sport and what might have been and things unfinished. But then I look to present day and the way my life is and the people I've met and the relationships I have and how I get to spend my time and my days

And then you're like, well, maybe it's not really a regret because it all led to this.

On paper, I could have kept racing a lot longer. I just got completely burned out from the sport. I mean there was really no nothing special. I just did not have the right support infrastructure around me at that time. I think I needed to be in a different team environment. I'd had some amazing years with Slipstream and I chose to stay there. I think a lot of times change can be just a catalyst for a new take on things and uh it was a case of too much of a good thing.

So I'd chosen to stay there and extend my contract and then I just I wasn't enjoying it anymore. And that sounds really silly, right? And I think everybody has periods where whatever they do professionally, they might not enjoy. And you don't have to enjoy every day to to love something. But I didn't enjoy it for such a long period of time that I just couldn't

I couldn't continue doing it. You know, it was it was having a negative impact on me. It was having a negative impact on

On just how I felt about everything. And

Again, that's why I mentioned support infrastructure. I think when you have the right people, whether you're working with a maybe a sports psych or whether you have the right agent, whatever it is, you know, of course, my wife is amazing. I have great friends, but I mean, people who are like right in your little performance bubble.

Andrew Talansky1:29:24

Who can say, "Hey, this is a really bad patch. Here's what we're going to do to help bring you out of it." It's super super important. And that's a little bit what I focus my work on now because I hate I don't I don't want people to experience the same thing as me in sport. But yeah, nothing nothing magical. I just got really burned out on it.

Andrew Talansky1:29:45

What was the walked away?

Andrew Talansky1:29:49

Uh oneweek race. Criterium Dauphiné.

Andrew Talansky1:29:52

Yeah. Dauphiné I won in 2014.

Andrew Talansky1:29:56

It was really cool. It was still one of my favorite. The final day I won it on the final day. I was third going into the final day.

And was it F? Uh yeah, it was a uphill finish. And the beauty of bike racing is that and I think why I love the sport, you have the best riders. And people say, "Oh, the Tour de France is born. Pogačar wins every time." But everybody who knows bike racing knows there's always a chance. And maybe you've experienced this in running, right? You talked about going out with some guys. Maybe I'll hold the pace. Maybe they'll crack. You don't know it'll happen.

Cycling that's constant. There's of course on paper this person's better. They're going to win. This might happen.

But there's always a chance, right? And 99 times out of 100, I don't win the Dauphiné. But that day and that race, I won. And that's the beauty of bike races.

Andrew Talansky1:30:43

Just chaos on the final day. Alberto Contador set out to to cause chaos basically. And I was the beneficiary of that. Made a really smart move. Got into the breakaway with a teammate who's also a Giro d'Italia winner, Ryder Hesjedal. And we rode full gas all day. Like full gas.

And uh and we stayed away.

Andrew Talansky1:31:11

They were very much heated rivals. Like Contidor had been playing mind games with Froom that entire race and and you were just like, "Wow, he's he's really good right now." And um I think Contador thought he could pull it off at the end like chase me down. I think I was just better than he he banked on cuz he did take off eventually and leave Froom and and give chase, but he that day I was better than he was.

Andrew Talansky1:31:44

F had also he had I think crashed the day before or something. So I think his team was a little he had guys in the breakaway with me a little so he wasn't going to chase a little less to chase. Yeah, maybe that that maybe that day he did, I think. Or Contador. I don't remember who had the jersey actually going into the final day. Maybe Contador, but

Either way, that day I was better.

Andrew Talansky1:32:07

No, I've ridden on those cobbles, but I never did the one day race.

Andrew Talansky1:32:48

It is one of the coolest races as a spectator to watch the race, Perry Rubé. I raced it in a 2014 Tour de France and it it rained and we woke up and we had the guy who was the Perry Rubé winner, Johan Van Summeren, on our team

And I done the recon which means went and checked it out beforehand

And we woke up and it's pouring rain

And you go down to the breakfast table and when I got really nervous was when I looked at Johan and the look even on his face and this is a guy he loves the cobbles. He's Belgian. He lives and breathes for them. He'd won the race. amazing guy, amazing bike racer. And there was this hint of fear of like even the guys who are the very best on the cobbles, they don't want to ride on rainy cobbles, you know, cuz you have you have no control.

You if you break, you might crash if you and and that day lived up to its reputation. F crashed out of the tour before we even got to the cobbles every 3 minutes or 5 minutes in the peloton. You would just hear sound of carbon and, you know, sliding across the the pavement. And I've never been more scared approaching those cobbles. But like a lot of things you're scared of, after one section,

The switch flips and you're in. And after that, I think there's a picture of me smiling and interviewing. I was like, "That was one of the coolest days of bike racing covered in mud." And

You know, I mean, it was it was epic. Like I got to race across the Rubay cobbles in the rain and the tour. And how often do you get to do that?

So scary.

Andrew Talansky1:34:38

Final sprint.

Oh, love it.

Andrew Talansky1:34:39

It was once again going back to the running example was definitely not my body's forte. Yeah. I think as a sport I really liked it as far as the community, the people I met. I made some lifelong friends through the couple years I spent in that sport.

The environments around the races obviously super positive. You know, people are really encouraging.

Uh like yeah, very positive. I think what I didn't count on is I've always thought of myself I I would like to train alone sometimes when I was racing bikes and I did enjoy the time on my own but I think I underestimated sounds silly in hindsight right but I was younger I didn't didn't think this through as much what a team sport cycling is meaning

You want to go train with teammates for a hard session there's always teammates to train with you want to train with a friend who's on another team there's always somebody you go to a camp you're together you go to the race

It's a special environment you have eight nine guys together all focused on one goal giving everything for that it's really a special experience and I think ultimately that's what I missed in triathlon was at least the way I approached it uh maybe the way my life was structured I approached it in a pretty solitary nature and I didn't really enjoy that I missed I missed uh

Andrew Talansky1:35:59

Yeah the camaraderie the shared experience and I think as good as I was at bike racing you know like Cam Worf go to triathon he's actually a much better triathlete than he was bike racing.

For me, it was the reverse. Much better bike racer.

Oh, okay.

Andrew Talansky1:36:15

Oh, absolutely humbling. But people were still kind and receptive to the time I spent in the sport. And

Andrew Talansky1:36:30

Yes.

Andrew Talansky1:37:02

I think it's every sport. I mean, to me, the beauty of sport is you can build great relationships with people. You can do hard things together, shared hard experiences, that camaraderie, that bonding, even if it's not with teammates. Just you have a really good running race with somebody like a worthy competitor creates a little bit of like respect and bond, right? Like just that

And that's the good of sport to me.

I would agree like the people, you know, I wasn't a bike racer who could sit there and talk about bike racing and watts and equipment all day. I cared deeply,

But I didn't really want to talk about it all day. And

And it's much the same now. I mean, I might if I'm a fan of a sport, I like talking maybe a little bit about it, but

Yes, there there are unique personalities in every sport.

Andrew Talansky1:37:48

Uh, now trying to apply the lessons that I learned through pro sport. Uh, sometimes one-on-one with individuals, sometimes with teams and organization. But like I had mentioned to you, I think the principles of high performance apply no matter no matter the domain. And if you use elite sport as the lens, there's no BS. It cuts through it all. Right? I mean, if you think, again, my experience is in cycling, but

When you create a high performance environment that supports, you know, every almost everybody to the best of your ability, it's only a matter of time till they're going to thrive. And I think sport does a really good job of that. ultimately everybody wants to perform not only on the individual level but on a team level to keep it going um and for everybody to be successful and I think it's a real challenge to build the infrastructure that can support a variety of people and get the most out of them and that's what I'm most impressed with whenever somebody has a system that isn't a system of you you know here's one mold and if you fit that you'll succeed and if you don't you won't take a variety of people and get the most out of them that's always really impressive to me and that's what I try to go in and help people create uh work with a really select group of athletes onetoone.

I would say it's as much about the mental aspect of performance as the physical and then yeah I put teams and organizations to do the same thing.

Andrew Talansky1:39:07

Tansky Performance Group is the name of my company, name of my website. So pretty easy to remember.

Andrew Talansky1:39:14

Yes.

Andrew Talansky1:39:17

Live in the mountains. I will say the the cool morning temps and dry air did not prepare me for the Tennessee heat and humidity this morning. But but we made it.

Andrew Talansky1:39:30

Yeah.

Andrew Talansky1:39:36

It was thick.

Andrew Talansky1:39:53

Yeah. Yeah. I love doing it. Had a good time chatting. I think uh maybe we'll get you out to Miami at some point to ride with this crew, Rice Cycling, which is kind of my original friend group.

Andrew Talansky1:40:10

I think you could do it. like me today chasing you.