meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Life in the Peloton, presented by MAAP

Flanders Finished, the Roubaix Cobbles Await: Laurence Pithie’s Reckoning

Life in the Peloton, presented by MAAP

Mitch Docker

Fitness, Sports, Wilderness, Health & Fitness

4.8543 Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP I don’t know about you guys, but I thought this year’s edition of the Tour of Flanders was an absolute classic. It had everything: drama, excitement, chaos, and - of course - a worthy winner. I couldn’t wait to catch up with our man on the ground, Laurence Pithie, to hear what happened between the barriers on the bergs of Flanders, and hear how he’s feeling ahead of the Queen of the classics; Roubaix. Laurence went into Flanders after a pretty nasty crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen the Wednesday before. Fortunately, although he was a bit stiff and bruised, his legs came good and - after over 6 hours of brutal racing - he rolled home in an impressive 11th place. The TV cameras were pretty fixed on that leading group of Pog, Van Der Poel, Pedersen, and Van Aert for the last few hours of the race, so Pithie’s ride went a bit under the radar - but that’s one of the things I’ve loved most about getting these updates from him this season; hearing those stories the cameras miss. Although he’s still only 22 years old, the way Laurence talks about these races shows just how experienced and mature as a rider he is. Hearing how he raced this year’s edition compared to last year, and the changes he made to his tactics even just over the course of this classics season, it’s easy to tell how professional he is; already a real seasoned pro. Laurence isn’t racing Scheldeprijs - the midweek race between Flanders and Roubaix - so he actually made the decision to fly home for a few days of normality to reset before heading back to the cobbles for Paris Roubaix this Sunday. Flanders is such a huge event with so much build up, it can be pretty overwhelming - so breaking out the bubble for a few days should let Laurence reset and come back ready for all out war at Roubaix. I mean, just looking at the walls of fans on the roadside all the way around Flanders, I’d need a few days to get my hearing back, let alone my legs! I have absolutely loved these regular phone calls with Pithie and really trying to understand what those 3 weeks on the road are like from the inside. It’s no secret that I absolutely love the Spring classics; the ins and outs, the crashes, the stories - I could talk about them all day. it’s not all about the podium riders - every single rider in these races is giving absolutely everything, and I think that’s why they mean so much to so many people; you’ve got 180 guys lining up ready to leave everything out there on the road.  Of course, it’s not all over - the best is yet to come. This Sunday, the Queen of the Classics, the Hell of the North, my favourite race: Paris Roubaix. Last year Laurence bagged himself a classy 7th place, and he’s looking to better that this time around. I could hear the fear in his voice when he told me the weather forecast; after one of the warmest, driest Springs on record - the rain is coming…oh, man, a wet Roubaix! It’s the stuff of dreams…or nightmares. Whether the clouds break or not this weekend, I’ve got no doubt that Laurence is going to get to that iconic velodrome and round out a great Spring classics season with another pearler of a result. Who knows, he might even come home with a cobblestone of his own.  Guys, thanks for following along on this Spring Classics mini series. I hope you’ve enjoyed these updates from Laurence and the rest of the Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe team as much as I have. In fact, Laurence has actually agreed to give me a call after Roubaix so we can wrap up this series and hear about what went down on the pavé - a cheeky bonus ep. for you all.  Laurence; this is it now, mate, the big one. Go and get it. We’re all rooting for you.  Cheers! Mitch   Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro & Flanders Recap 00:03:25 - Laurence on Riding Flanders 00:08:00 - Strategy & Team Tactics at Flanders 00:12:10 - The Turning Point: Final Moves at Flanders 00:18:09 - Reflections on 11th Place 00:24:05 - Resetting for Roubaix 00:26:00

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Whoa, what a weekend, the Ronda!

0:15.4

Well, welcome to Life in the Peloton, presented by Matt.

0:19.6

I'm your host, Mitch Docker.

0:21.9

We have been riding the classics with the Kiwi, Lawrence Pithy, the last two weeks.

0:26.3

And aside from looking for Lawrence in the bunch, one thing that stands out to me is the best kit, the Map Jako Alula jersey.

0:33.6

Yep, they really nailed it.

0:36.3

Map entering the world tour with Green Edge cycling had a huge

0:40.2

task at hand. First time for Map in the World Tour and the task of reinventing a team with

0:46.1

so much character and reputation. And well, like I said, they absolutely nailed it. I could be

0:53.1

slightly biased, though.

0:59.4

Haven't ridden on Green Edge myself and now working with Matt, but come on, you can't tell me this kit doesn't rock.

1:02.4

Well, Map have just re-released after popular demand, the replica capsule for both men's

1:08.3

Jacob Alula and the women's Live Alula Jaco kids, go across and grab

1:14.1

yourself one.

1:15.3

These are wild.

1:17.2

Yes, wow.

1:19.1

Flanders, holy hell, what a race.

1:22.8

There's really not much more to say.

1:24.3

If you randomly haven't seen it, go back and watch it. Watch the whole thing

1:28.6

if you can. At least, watch the extended highlights because it was an absolute cracker of an

1:34.2

addition. We have been lucky to be able to access and to be chatting with the Kiwi

1:39.7

superstar Lawrence Piffy throughout the whole classics. The leader at Red Bull Bora Hansgrove.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Mitch Docker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Mitch Docker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.