S8 Ep136: Tour de France stage 20: Lure – La Planche des Belles Filles
In this episode of The Cycling Podcast, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau recap an incredible stage of the Tour de France which turned the race on its head. A Slovenian will wear the yellow jersey in Paris tomorrow but the Tour champion elect is not Primoz Roglic, who has led the race since the Pyrenees but Tadej Pogacar, who produced a stunning performance in the time trial ...
52m Sep 19, 2020
52m
S8 Ep135: Tour de France stage 19: Bourg-en-Bresse – Champagnole
In this episode of The Cycling Podcast from the Tour de France, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau are enjoying an early glass of Champagne and a game of table tennis before recapping stage 19. They discuss another stage win for Sunweb and the tactics that led to it, then hear from yesterday’s stage winner Michal Kwiatkowski before looking ahead to tomorrow’s time trial to the...
53m Sep 18, 2020
53m
S8 Ep134: Kilometre 0 – The World Tour?
Episode 15: In recent months some sports, notably soccer and NBA basketball but others too, have raised the profile of the Black Lives Matter movement highlighting professional cycling's silence on the issue. Kévin Reza is the only black rider in the 2020 Tour de France peloton. While there have been initiatives to develop riders in Africa and Guadeloupe what is the pathway like for young blac...
28m Sep 18, 2020
28m
S8 Ep133: Tour de France stage 18: Méribel – La Roche-sur-Foron
Join Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau in La Roche-sur-Yoron as they recap the final Alpine stage of the Tour de France. There was a one-two for Ineos-Grenadiers, a worrying time for Richie Porte, who punctured on the gravel at the top of the Plateau des Glières and another big move by Bahrain-McLaren that came to nothing. Hear from Sepp Kuss of Jumbo-Visma on helping Primoz...
38m Sep 17, 2020
38m
S8 Ep132: Kilometre 0 – They were all yellow
Episode 14: With Primoz Roglic and Jumbo-Visma closing in on their first Tour de France title we look back at the journey they've been on to reach this point. This episode of Kilometre 0 is a sequel to a Friends of the Podcast episode called Chasing Sky that Richard Moore made a couple of winters ago. It told the story of how the Dutch team had its sights on Team Sky (now Ineos Grenadiers) and...
28m Sep 17, 2020
28m
S8 Ep131: Tour de France stage 17: Grenoble – Méribel Col de la Loze
The Tour de France reached Méribel and a new climb, the Col de la Loze, taking the riders to more than 2,300 metres of altitude. But did it settle the general classification once and for all? On the steep final climb it was Superman Miguel Angel Lopez who soared away from the rest to win his first Tour de France stage. Behind, Primoz Roglic tightened his grip on the yellow jersey. Join Richar...
46m Sep 16, 2020
46m
S8 Ep130: Kilometre 0 – Tour Diaries – Part 6
Episode 13: It's time to hear from our Tour de France diarists again. In this update, we hear from Simon Geschke of CCC who has featured in several breaks and is also helping his teammate Matteo Trentin close the gap in the green jersey competition. But what is the tactic? Geschke explains. Michael Mørkøv of Deceuninck-Quick Step is leadout man for Sam Bennett, who currently has the green jers...
24m Sep 16, 2020
24m
S8 Ep129: Tour de France stage 16: La Tour-du-Pin – Villard-de-Lans
In this episode of The Cycling Podcast, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau are in a bustling square in Grenoble. They recap a stage to Villard-de-Lans which was won by the Bora-Hansgrohe rider Lennard Kamna, who succeeded where he and his teammate failed last week when they were outfought by Dani Martinez. We hear from Team Ineos Grenadiers boss Dave Brailsford about how they...
48m Sep 15, 2020
48m
S8 Ep128: Kilometre 0 – The climate challenge
Episode 12: This episode of Kilometre 0 is a prequel to a deeper discussion of professional cycling and the environment in a future episode of The Cycling Podcast later this year. Slowly the focus on the sport's impact on the environment and the measures race organisers, teams and individuals can take to reduce the carbon footprint has intensified. Race organisers have taken steps to reduce li...
31m Sep 15, 2020
31m
S8 Ep127: Tour de France rest day press conference 2
It’s the second rest day of the Tour de France and before the race resumes with its final block of stages, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau answer another batch of questions from listeners. OUR SPONSORS iwoca became The Cycling Podcast’s title sponsors in March 2020. iwoca specialises in supporting small businesses and can lend between £1,000 and £250,000. iwoca have been a...
1hr 12m Sep 14, 2020
1hr 12m
S8 Ep126: Kilometre 0 – Tour Diaries – Part 5
Episode 11: Our diarists return with contributions from NTT Pro Cycling's South African champion Ryan Gibbons, CCC's Simon Geschke on getting in the breaks, Connor Swift on climbing and Pavel Sivakov, who continues to improve after his crashes on stage one. Despatches from our team of audio diarists will appear throughout our Tour de France coverage as well as in Kilometre 0. The full line-up ...
20m Sep 14, 2020
20m
S8 Ep125: Tour de France stage 15: Lyon – Grand Colombier
In this episode Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau recap a thrilling stage in the mountains. Team Jumbo-Visma dominated on the final climb and yet Primoz Roglic saw his overall lead trimmed by a handful of seconds by stage winner Tadej Pogacar. The day turned out badly for Ineos Grenadiers, whose leader and defending champion Egan Bernal cracked early on the final climb to Gr...
45m Sep 13, 2020
45m
S8 Ep124: Service Course | Episode 13 | Tour de France tech, saddles and sleuthing
In this episode of Service Course Lizzy Banks and Tom Whalley discuss some of the new tech being ridden at this year’s Tour De France, Tom channels his inner Raymond Chandler as he starts his hunt for a rare cycling item, Lizzy delves deep into the world of saddles and finds out why you’re probably riding the wrong one. Service Course is supported by Science In Sport (https://www.scienceinspor...
1hr 6m Sep 13, 2020
1hr 6m
S8 Ep123: Tour de France stage 14: Clermont-Ferrand – Lyon
In this episode of The Cycling Podcast from the Tour de France, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau recap another stage win for one of the surprise packages of the race. The stage was won in brilliant fashion by Soren Kragh Andersen of Sunweb, who played the finale into Lyon brilliantly. We discuss the stage finish and also hear from Richie Porte, who is riding with a sense of...
1hr 2m Sep 12, 2020
1hr 2m
S8 Ep122: Tour de France stage 13: Châtel-Guyon – Puy Mary
Join Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau in Clermont-Ferrand as they recap stage 13 of the Tour de France. It was an aggressive stage from the gun and turned into a twin battle for the stage and the overall classification. The race for the stage win was fascinating with EF Pro Cycling and Bora-Hansgrohe going head-to-head on the final climb before Dani Martinez got the better ...
56m Sep 11, 2020
56m
S8 Ep121: Kilometre 0 – Tour Diaries – Part 4
Episode 4: Our Tour de France diarists return to explain what's going on inside the race. In this episode we hear from Mitchelton-Scott's Sam Bewley, who crashed out the other day and has made it home to recover from a broken wrist and rib, from Sunweb's Nikias Arndt, teammate of stage winner Marc Hirschi, and from Connor Swift of Arkéa-Samsic about looking after Nairo Quintana. Despatches fro...
23m Sep 11, 2020
23m
S8 Ep120: Tour de France stage 12: Chauvigny – Sarran Corrèze
It was Jacques Chirac and Raymond Poulidor day on the Tour de France, as the stage finished in the former French president’s home town as well as through the Eternal Second’s home town of St Léonard-de-Noblat. But the day belonged to Marc Hirschi, nicknamed Baby Spartacus by François after his exploits in the opening week of the race. The Sunweb rider became the first Swiss rider to win a stag...
56m Sep 10, 2020
56m
S8 Ep119: Kilometre 0 – The cultural Tour
Episode 9: In this episode of Kilometre 0, Richard Moore speaks to American historian Christopher Thompson, author of Tour de France, a cultural history of the race which starts by examining how the race’s origins are rooted in a national crisis of confidence and masculinity in the wake of the Franco-Prussian war. The book also looks at the ways the Tour explains France itself. Kilometre 0 by ...
32m Sep 10, 2020
32m
S8 Ep118: Tour de France stage 11: Châtelaillon-Plage – Poitiers
In this episode of The Cycling Podcast from the Tour de France, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau are in Chauvigny to reflect on a routine sprint stage that had a moment of drama after the riders had crossed the line. Victory went to Australia’s Caleb Ewan, who claimed the fifth stage win of his career and the second of this race ahead of Peter Sagan and Sam Bennett. However...
44m Sep 09, 2020
44m
S8 Ep117: Life in the Peloton – Mitch Docker's Tour de France Q&A
In this episode of Life in the Peloton, it's time for Mitch Docker to answer the questions. Recorded on the Tour de France rest day, Mitch answers a range of questions sent in by listeners. What food does he miss most when on a grand tour? Who'll be in yellow in Paris, Pog or Rog? What metrics does he display on his bike computer during a race? And are matching shorts with leader's jerseys gen...
59m Sep 09, 2020
59m
S8 Ep116: Kilometre 0 – The sprint finish
Episode 8: With back-to-back sprints coming up after the rest day and no win on the board yet, the pressure was beginning to mount on Deceuninck-Quick Step's Irish champion Sam Bennett. Being the designated sprinter for the Belgian squad at the Tour de France brings with it responsibility. The long line of sprinters who have shouldered that expectation includes Tom Boonen, Mark Cavendish, Marc...
31m Sep 09, 2020
31m
S8 Ep115: Tour de France stage ten: Île d’Oléron – Île de Ré
Everyone on the Tour de France woke up nervous after the rest day, and not just because the racing was due to resume. The results of the COVID-19 tests could have altered the race but, although there were four positives among team staff all the riders were negative and no teams have had to leave the race. The Tour director Christian Prudhomme did test positive however. Join Richard Moore, Lion...
56m Sep 08, 2020
56m
S8 Ep114: Kilometre 0 – Tour Diaries – Part 3
Episode 7: Our team of diarists take us inside the Tour de France bubble again. We hear from Simon Geschke of CCC Team about being in the thick of the action in the Pyrenees and from Connor Swift of Nairo Quintana's Arkéa-Samsic team about what it's like to ride in the peloton in the mountains. We also hear from Ineos Grenadiers rider Pavel Sivakov about the Tour stage that went three kilometre...
28m Sep 08, 2020
28m
S8 Ep112: Tour de France rest day press conference
It’s the first rest day of the Tour de France, which can mean only one thing – the rest day press conference, in which Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau answer questions about the race sent in by listeners. OUR SPONSORS iwoca became The Cycling Podcast’s title sponsors in March 2020. iwoca specialises in supporting small businesses and can lend between £1,000 and £250,000. i...
55m Sep 07, 2020
55m
S8 Ep111: Kilometre 0 – Remembering Nico
Episode 6: On Sunday The Tour de France stage started in Pau, home town of Nicolas Portal, who passed away suddenly in March aged just 40. This episode of Kilometre 0 remembers Portal with Vincent Lavenu, the AG2R sports director who helped him switch from mountain biking to road racing. We also hear from Team Ineos principal Dave Brailsford and CEO Fran Millar, who talk about the kind, sensit...
36m Sep 07, 2020
36m
S8 Ep110: Tour de France stage nine: Pau – Laruns
In this episode of The Cycling Podcast from the Tour de France Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau recap the second and final stage in the Pyrenees. It was the most absorbing stage of an intriguing first week and leaves the Tour beautifully poised going into the first rest day. We recap stage nine, which was brought to life by Team Sunweb’s Marc Hirschi, who went so close agai...
53m Sep 06, 2020
53m
S8 Ep109: Tour de France stage eight: Cazères-sur-Garonne – Loudenvielle
The 2020 Tour de France reached the Pyrenees and an absorbing day of racing further sorted the overall standings and perhaps suggested for the first time that this race will be more complex than just anticipated battle between Jumbo-Visma and Ineos Grenadiers. Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau are in Luchon, at the foot of the Peyresourde where the race burst into life. In t...
57m Sep 05, 2020
57m
S8 Ep108: Tour de France stage seven: Millau – Lavaur
In this episode of The Cycling Podcast from the Tour de France, we recap a seventh stage that had everything. There was an aggressive pace set by Bora-Hansgrohe to drop all the sprinters at the start of the stage, then crosswinds caused havoc at the end of the stage. There was even time for a breakaway by Thomas De Gendt. Join Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau in Lavaur for ...
51m Sep 04, 2020
51m
S8 Ep107: Kilometre 0 – Tour Diaries – Part 2
Episode 5: We hand the mic to our Tour de France diarists again to get inside the race bubble. In this episode we hear from Connor Swift of Arkéa-Samsic who is riding his first Tour de France – in fact, his first Grand Tour – and has the job of looking after their leader Nairo Quintana. Swift gives us his first impressions of the race and talks about how he's settling into the rhythm. The cor...
29m Sep 04, 2020
29m
S8 Ep106: Tour de France stage six: Le Teil – Mont Aigoual
The Tour de France’s second summit finish of the opening week didn’t shake up the overall standings but it did see a barnstorming breakaway and a very fast pace from Kilometre 0. Join Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau outside a busy restaurant in Meyrueis in the Cévennes to recap a stage win by Alexey Lutsenko – the first for a Kazakh for a decade. One of our audio diarists,...
59m Sep 03, 2020
59m
S8 Ep105: Kilometre 0 – The Rider
Episode 4: The Rider by Tim Krabbé is one of the finest books ever written about cycling and it is features the Tour de Mont Aigoual in the Cevennes, where the Tour de France goes today. In this episode we hear from the author and from former professional Laurens Ten Dam, who has made a film inspired by the book, plus cycling writer Max Leonard, who has traced the route from the book, and from...
25m Sep 03, 2020
25m
S8 Ep104: Tour de France stage five: Gap – Privas
The quietest day in modern Tour de France history had an unexpected twist in the tail and Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau were on hand to discuss the stage. It was expected to be a sprint but it was surprising that there was no breakaway all day. We ask why the stage turned out the way it did and hear from Deceuninck-Quick Step’s Michael Mørkøv and NTT Pro Cycling’s Ryan Gi...
43m Sep 02, 2020
43m
S8 Ep103: Kilometre 0 – Tour de France Féminin
Episode 3: La Course started in 2014 as a criterium race on the Champs-Élysées before the final stage of the Tour de France. Since then the race has been a two-day event with stages on the Col d'Izoard and in Marseille, before reverting to a one-day race. This year, La Course kicked off the Tour, preceding the opening stage on Saturday. In the 1980s there was a two-week Tour de France Féminin,...
23m Sep 02, 2020
23m
S8 Ep102: Tour de France stage four: Sisteron – Orcières-Merlette
The riders tackled the first summit finish of the 2020 Tour de France earlier than normal but the fourth stage to Orcières-Merlette provided the first shake-up among the overall contenders. Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau convene at a restaurant in the mountain resort, which has a very distinct out of season feel. With few holidaymakers around, the open air disco felt a bit...
49m Sep 01, 2020
49m
S8 Ep101: Kilometre 0 – Meet the diarists
Episode 2: We have signed up nine riders and a sports director to keep audio diaries for us throughout the Tour de France and in this second episode of our Kilometre 0 series we'll hear from some of them. Debutant Pavel Sivakov had an eventful opening weekend and in this episode we hear his anticipation at the prospect of riding the Tour de France for the first time, followed by two falls duri...
31m Sep 01, 2020
31m
S8 Ep100: Tour de France stage three: Nice – Sisteron
The third stage of the Tour de France was expected to end in a sprint, and so it proved, but in this episode of our race coverage from France find out why the finish was like the race to find the quickest queue at the supermarket checkout. After leaving Nice, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau recorded the podcast in the centre of Sisteron. The crowds may be smaller but one th...
46m Aug 31, 2020
46m
S8 Ep99: Kilometre 0 – Col d'Èze
Episode 1: The Col d'Èze is not the hardest climb in the world. It's not particularly long, or steep, but it is steeped in cycling's history because for many years it was the final battleground for Paris-Nice. The race used to conclude with a Sunday afternoon time trial on the hill and in the 1980s the Irish dominated, with Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly sharing the victories between 1981 and 19...
40m Aug 31, 2020
40m
S8 Ep98: Tour de France stage two: Nice – Nice
The Tour de France’s opening weekend in Nice sent the peloton into the hills. With so many riders having crashed on Saturday there were some bruised and tender bodies dreading a difficult day with four tricky climbs to tackle. Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau recap a day that went some way to restoring normality to this unique Tour de France. Julian Alaphilippe, who held th...
52m Aug 30, 2020
52m
S8 Ep97: Tour de France stage one: Nice – Nice
The opening stage of this most unusual Tour de France turned out to be a strange day, befitting this most peculiar year. Join Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau in Nice to recap a stage won by the veteran Norwegian Alexander Kristoff, who last won a stage on the Champs-Élysées a couple of years ago. With rain falling in Nice for the first time in a couple of months the roads ...
1hr 5m Aug 29, 2020
1hr 5m
S8 Ep96: My First Tour de France
Trailer: Get into the Tour de France mood with My First Tour, a four four-part series for Friends of the Podcast. In episode one, François Thomazeau recalls the first time as a six-year-old boy that he took full notice of the Tour on the fateful day Tom Simpson died on Mont Ventoux in 1967. Then he fast forwards 19 years to the first Tour he covered as a journalist. Then Richard Moore looks b...
6m Aug 28, 2020
6m
S8 Ep95: Life in the Peloton – Jonathan Vaughters
In this episode of Life in the Peloton, Mitch Docker talks to his boss at EF Pro Cycling Jonathan Vaughters to find out what a team manager does. Vaughters founded the team and has steered it through two mergers and kept it afloat when the organisation's future looked to be in jeopardy a couple of seasons ago. But what does the role entail? Vaughters talks about team building, the constant ba...
59m Aug 26, 2020
59m
S8 Ep94: 2020 Tour de France preview
With the Grand Départ in Nice just a few days away, the countdown to the start of the 2020 Tour de France is on. It will be a Tour like no other and in this episode, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe look forward to the race. We weigh up the Ineos Grenadiers team selection, which saw Chris Froome's bid for a fifth Tour victory put on hold and Geraint Thomas also left out. Ineos wi...
1hr 15m Aug 25, 2020
1hr 15m
S8 Ep93: Tour looms, uncertainty reigns at the Dauphiné
In a bumper episode of The Cycling Podcast, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe recap a thrilling and incident-packed week of racing and try to work out the implications for the Tour de France. The Critérium du Dauphiné is always an important warm-up race for the Tour but with the Grand Départ in Nice just two weeks away it was an even bigger indicator of form. Daniel was in France...
1hr 21m Aug 18, 2020
1hr 21m
S8 Ep92: The Cycling Podcast Féminin | August 2020
In the August episode of The Cycling Podcast Féminin we speak to Lizzie Deignan, the former world champion who rides for Trek-Segafredo and returned to racing with the rest of the women's peloton last month.  Deignan discusses the races to come, picking out La Course by Le Tour de France at the end of August as a highlight, and she talks about the world's best rider, Annemiek van Vleuten, who ...
1hr 9m Aug 14, 2020
1hr 9m
S8 Ep91: Life in the Peloton – Back on the road: A diary of racing in a pandemic
Racing is back and so it was time for Mitch Docker to get on the road for two Italian Classics – one old, one relatively new. This is Mitch's audio diary from the week he rejoined his EF Pro Cycling teammates and pinned on a number for the first time since the Aussie summer. We follow the team as they tackle the white roads of Strade Bianche and an edition of Milan-Sanremo like no other. Joi...
1hr 39m Aug 12, 2020
1hr 39m
S8 Ep90: Wout and the art of winning
Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe discuss a week packed with racing as the Classics riders tackled the first, and longest, Monument of the season while the stage racers continued their build-up to the Tour de France. In part one: We review Milan-Sanremo and Wout Van Aert's incredible Italian double. Last week he won Strade Bianche, this week the Jumbo-Visma man took La Classicissi...
1hr 19m Aug 10, 2020
1hr 19m
S8 Ep89: The Cycling Podcast Féminin | 'July' 2020
We return to racing in the latest episode of The Cycling Podcast Féminin with reaction to and analysis of Strade Bianche, the first Women's World Tour race of the resumed season. We held back the July episode so Orla Chennaoui, Rose Manley and Richard Moore could discuss the race, which was won by the world champion Annemiek van Vleuten but was also notable for the performances of the other tw...
57m Aug 05, 2020
57m
S8 Ep88: Red hot on the white roads
Temperatures soared in Tuscany on Saturday and the riders occasionally disappeared in clouds of pale dust as they crossed the dirt roads. Strade Bianche was a brutal return to the World Tour for the riders and in this episode we assess Wout Van Aert's victory. The Belgian made his breakthrough at the same race two years ago, finishing third behind Tiesj Benoot and Romain Bardet. He was third a...
1hr 7m Aug 03, 2020
1hr 7m
S8 Ep87: Remco dusts off the opposition
After a break of almost five months, racing is back. In this episode of The Cycling Podcast, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe review the opening three days of the Vuelta a Burgos and look ahead to the first World Tour race following the resumption, Strade Bianche. Twenty-year-old Remco Evenepoel picked up where he left off in the spring. After winning both stages he rode before ...
1hr 10m Jul 31, 2020
1hr 10m
S8 Ep86: Service Course | Episode 12 | Hackers & helmets
In this episode of Service Course Lizzy and Tom speak to an ethical hacker about the ransomware attack on Garmin, and ask what the repercussions are for those of us who use Garmin devices. They also consider the wider issues of data security in cycling and find out why Strava became a problem for Area 51 and GCHQ. Tom also finds out about a prototype wheel that cleans up air pollution as it s...
1hr 24m Jul 30, 2020
1hr 24m