Tour de France 2026 PREVIEW | The Race Communiqué EMERGENCY PODCAST

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP   Here we go, guys: It’s Tour de France time. The big one starts on Saturday, so I sat down with Durbo and Southam for a special EMERGENCY PODCAST to preview the 2026 edition of the race. Who better to preview the biggest race of the season with than two guys who are going to be there; Southam in the team car as a sports director for EF Education Easypost, and Durbo riding his 12th and final Tour de France for Greenedge.    Kicking off this weekend with a team time trial in Barcelona, the race then heads up through the Catalan roads that Luke and I trained on together when I was across in Europe. This may be the Tour de France, but this is basically a home stage for Girona resident Durbs. From there, the Tour crosses the Pyrenees into France and - although there are a few big mountains in the first two weeks of the race - the route this year is very back heavy, climaxing with not just one, but TWO ascents of the infamous Alpe d’Huez. After 20 brutal days of racing, the pelo jet across to Paris for the awesome new final stage with the cobbled climb of Montmarte to draw the curtain down on another Tour de France.    Of course, as well as the big preview we have our regular segments. In PeloChat Durbo’s asking the question; is it worth going to the traditional Tour de France warm up races any more? More and more riders are favouring training camps over racing to get a better quality build without the risk of crashing, picking up an injury, or just totally rooting yourself before the big show in July, but what’s the best way to prepare for the Tour?   Over in Talking Tactics, Southam’s diving into where that tipping point in GC is for riders just underneath the top tier favourites. Where do they have to be sitting in the top 10 or 20 before they decide to sit up, let the overall go, and head up the road in breakaways in search of a stage win. The likes of Pidcock, Ayuso, Lipowitz, and more who could stretch for a podium if everything goes there way, but could really turn the race on it’s head if they decide to go for stages.   The Communiquiz is a super simple quickfire from quizmaster Durbo; which teams ride which bikes. I won’t spoil the results for you on this one, but let’s just say Southam spends a lot of his time in amongst the bunch looking at their bikes, and I…don’t.   Who’s riding? Who are the favourites? What are the stages like? How will the race unfold? What are our predictions? Tom, Luke and I discuss all of these questions, and more in this special emergency ep.    Listen to this episode and get yourself ready for three weeks of baguettes, berets, wine, beautiful countryside, sunshine…oh, and a bloody big bike race too!   Cheers, Mitch   The Race Communiqué is brought to you by TrainingPeaks! Track, plan, and train smarter - just like the pros. Get 20% off TrainingPeaks Premium now at trainingpeaks.com/litp