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Welcome back to the Lantern Rouge cycling podcast for our second preview, the J-co, a little preview. I've just touched down in Australia, so what better team to do a 2024 season preview of where they survived the relegation battle last year.

They came into this year with the three leaders, the same as the previous couple of years or previous year.

Grona Vegan, Matthews and Simon Yates, and they had a few additions which I think I questioned this time last year who performed really, really well.

So let's take a look at their 2023 season first before we look at their transfers, the Australian team, and then their realistic aims and goals for 2024.

So how would you rate their season venue? What were the highlights and low lights?

Well, first of all, Simon is one of the key characters in their previous season, which 12th of the front. That was pretty good. Top of the tour is a good result for Simon Yates, and I find it hard seeing him podium to the front.

So I think that is kind of the area where I expect him to be together with potentially a top three at a different ground to where he had selected that. So that's good for him.

Full of it, Baronies and second at Santa stood and under has to be mentioned a stage of the Santa stood and under.

I feel like he performed throughout the season with that tour the front with that Baronies and so full of maybe I did expect him to be in the top 10 of like one or two more one week races.

Or is that too much to ask?

I think he was I think he could I miss some I think he was in the top 10 of the last go.

No, yes, 9th. Well, so and then Romanda here band and his yearly abandon of race when it gets a bit cool.

So I think Simon Yates actually had a really, really good season. It's his first. It's his best year in terms of consistency since 2018 when he won the welter.

You know, fifth in Lombardia, third in Emilia, it was just missing like in.

In 2021, he podiumed the Giro, no, he podiumed the Giro with a stage win in 2022, he won a stage in 2019.

He won two stages of the Tour de France after top 10 of the the Giro, but in terms of the then on GC that year, he was.

Yeah, that like not that good. So I think he's most consistent year 3000 points, their top point scorer.

I still think a very, very good rider on his day. Sometimes he's scheduling. I'm not 100% on board with, but a hugely valuable part of the team.

Yeah, I think he formed out in a brief for them this year. They had a split goals at the tour with him in GC and grown up again for the sprints in terms of.

How about the grown up again though, Benji, who I mentioned.

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