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Hello and joining you from Berlin on Monday, February 20th, 2023, year to the day from the Winter Olympics finishing in Beijing with Norway atop the medal table having scored a record 16 golds.

This will become teniously relevant later in the pod. My name is Daniel Friba. I'm the host of this episode of the cycling podcast in which we will hear about how the win did a fine today.

The first stage of the U.A.E. Tour in which the defending champion is not competing will revisit the same riders scorched Earth Polk's generation of the Ruta del Sol in the deep south of Spain.

This will be a significant win for the extreme north of Europe to meet the Buccaneering team boss who will lead a Viking invasion of the Tour de France in July.

All of that today is a podcast of who embodies the rugged resilience of the ancient Norsemen, shares their complexion, hails from a similar latitude or location known to podcast listeners as not what.

He claimed recently that he had seen the northern lights, although conceded later that he meant the illuminations in blackpool where he was visiting his in-laws. It was our our our our moment when he returned to the podcast a couple of weeks ago we're talking away.

I don't know what I'm to say I'll say it anyway. Lionel Bernie, how are you how are you after your illness today.

Well I'm recovering rapidly down your fortunately I think I'd have been a DNS this morning and possibly a DNF this afternoon but as we approach early evening I'm feeling okay again.

Well you weren't a DNF this morning because you participated in the interview that will form the main part of today's podcast.

I did indeed yes are we going to reveal who who it's with it's with the boss of not would you believe it's with Norwegian with the listeners believe that it's with the Norwegian.

It's with the Jens Howgland who is the boss of the UNOX cycling teams men's and women's teams and also the company itself which I only recently discovered actually on their elevation to the world tour UNOX is unmanned petrol stations in Norway and Denmark.

Lionel in that rather convoluted intro as all of our intro are convoluted or they certainly have been since I've been at the helm.

I mentioned the UAE tour now were you to bed bound and sick to watch the UAE tour today or did you catch any of that entertainment.

I was I was horizontal actually which meant I was able to watch from the start of the TV broadcast to the end of the stage opening stage cross winds from the beginning we gather didn't see from kilometer zero but when they went across the action the peloton was split into pieces

and there was a big front group and a much smaller second group and then it was like well it was like the old accordion wasn't it groups going back and forwards lots of action in the desert and well it went the way of what ended up being a relatively small group and then a photo finish between Tim Malia and Caleb you and the I still think is inconclusive from any of the pictures we saw on TV.

I have to assume that the video assistant referee of cycling has better pictures to look at or more data to go by because it's very difficult for many of the pictures that are in the public domain to say definitively that Tim Malia of Sudal Quick Step beat Caleb you and of Lotto Destiny and I'm still struggling with the fact that the sponsors have all switched around in some big game of musical chairs throw in,

Albus in Decurning and Katusha Albus in and my mind is an absolute milkshake at the moment when it comes to team sponsors.

The stage itself was a bit like a game of musical chairs and some of the tactical permutations were a bit of a confounding milkshake as well.

I said to you before we started recording this evening that I found it a little bit curious maybe that Sudal Quick Step were pulling behind trying to get those two big groups together

and Remco even a pull was down the road or be it relatively isolated and then I also found it a little bit strange that the two big groups were allowed to come back together with Sepp Kus J Vine,

Marooned off the back at one stage it looked as though their UA tour was over as far as general classification was concerned.

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