S8 Ep148: Life in the Peloton – Dr Kevin Sprouse
Mitch Docker is back to talk about Life in the Peloton with a man who is critical to the health and wellbeing of the riders on and off the bike. Dr Kevin Sprouse is the medical director of Mitch's team, EF Pro Cycling, and in a fascinating conversation he talks about the daily routine for a team doctor working in professional cycling. What does a team doctor do day-to-day? How does a doctor d...
1hr 11m Oct 07, 2020
1hr 11m
S8 Ep147: The Grandest Tour stage 4: Shark hunting
The Giro d'Italia spent a fourth day on the island of Sicliy and Richard and Daniel went shark hunting in Messina, visiting the shop owned by Vincenzo Nibali's family. With the stage won in a close sprint by Arnaud Démare of Groupama-FDJ, we get an eyewitness account from our audio diarist, and Démare's leadout man, Jacopo Guarnieri. We speak to Pello Bilbao, who is sitting third overall after...
50m Oct 06, 2020
50m
S8 Ep146: Kilometre 0 – Giro Diaries – Part 1
Episode 1: We have signed up six riders to keep audio diaries for us throughout the 103rd edition of the Giro d'Italia. They are Nathan Haas (Cofidis), Joe Dombrowski (UAE Team Emirates), Rick Zabel (Israel Start-Up Nation), James Knox (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-hansgrohe), Jacopo Guarnieri (Groupama-FDJ). Meet the team in this first episode of Kilometre 0. Kilometre 0 b...
47m Oct 06, 2020
47m
S8 Ep145: The Grandest Tour stage 3: Enna — Etna
Stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia saw drama even before the race properly started when Geraint Thomas, one of the favourites, crashed heavily in the neutralised zone.  Thomas’s challenge is over, and Simon Yates’s took a dent as he was dropped on the slopes of Mount Etna. We hear from the sports directors of their respective teams and also from Fabrizio Guidi, whose EF Pro Cycling team won the stag...
38m Oct 05, 2020
38m
S8 Ep144: The Grandest Tour Stage 2: Alcamo - Agrigento (via Liège–Bastogne–Liège)
In stage two of The Cycling Podcast’s Grandest Tour we are divided between Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Giro d’Italia.  In Liège there was a victory for Primoz Roglic, and we have the reaction of the boss of his Jumbo-Visma team, Richard Plugge.  In Italy, Diego Ulissi won his seventh Giro stage and we hear from his teammate, Joe Dombrowski. We also have a dispatch from another of our audio d...
46m Oct 04, 2020
46m
S8 Ep143: The Grandest Tour Stage 1: Monreale - Palermo
In the first episode from the Giro d’Italia — and the first of The Grandest Tour by The Cycling Podcast — Richard and Daniel review stage one, won by Filippo Ganna of Team Ineos Grenadiers.  We hear from Geraint Thomas and Simon Yates, the big winners among the overall contenders, and from our new diarists, Joe Dombrowski, James Knox, Jacopo Guarnieri, Nathan Haas, Cesare Benedetti and Rick Za...
49m Oct 03, 2020
49m
S8 Ep142: Service Course | Contador, Basso, Biometrics and Ducks
In this episode of Service Course Tom and Lizzy react to EF Pro-Cycling's new kit for the Giro, speak with Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso about the Aurum Magma, the first bike to be produced by their new brand, and chat with Absolute Black's Borut Fonda about his lab work with Tadej Pogačar. Service Course is supported by Science In Sport (https://www.scienceinsport.com/) .  If you would like...
1hr 17m Oct 02, 2020
1hr 17m
S8 Ep141: Alaphilippe dances to the rainbow jersey
In this episode, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe recap the World Championship road race won by Julian Alaphilippe. How did the Frenchman win it? What could the others have done to stop him? And should Primoz Roglic have put national rivalry aside to help his Jumbo-Visma teammate Wout Van Aert of Belgium, who worked so tirelessly for him in the recent Tour de France? Plus find ou...
50m Sep 30, 2020
50m
S8 Ep140: Lizzy Banks’ Giro Rosa Diary
This month’s episode of The Cycling Podcast Féminin includes Lizzy Banks’ unmissable audio diary from the Giro Rosa. Banks, who won a stage for the second year in a row, takes listeners inside the race, interviewing her Équipe Paule Ka teammates, Emma Norsgaard, Elise Chabbey and Mikayla Harvey, as they discuss rough roads and even rougher hotel beds, supportive grandfathers and stealing Annem...
1hr 52m Sep 28, 2020
1hr 52m
S8 Ep139: Looking back at the Tour and looking forward to the World Championships
In this week's podcast Richard Moore and Daniel Friebe discuss the time trials at the UCI world championships in Imola and look back at the Tour de France, won by Tadej Pogacar a week ago in Paris. Daniel justifies his "four wine glass" rating for this year's delayed Tour, and asks whether this is the start of the Pog dynasty, or a one off, when he was able to ride on the coat-tails of Jumbo-V...
1hr 10m Sep 26, 2020
1hr 10m
S8 Ep138: Life in the Peloton – Juanma Garate
In this episode of Life in the Peloton, Mitch Docker catches up with another of his sports directors, Juanma Garate. Garate is a former Spanish national road race champion who also won stages of all three grand tours, including the Mont Ventoux stage of the 2009 Tour de France. In this episode, Mitch and Juanma talk about life on the road as a rider, as a sports director and much more. This ...
1hr Sep 23, 2020
1hr
S8 Ep137: Tour de France stage 21: Mantes-la-Jolie – Paris Champs-Élysées
In a final episode of The Cycling Podcast from close to the Champs-Élysées Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau recap the last stage of the 2020 Tour de France. Still digesting yesterday’s time trial we review a stage victory for Sam Bennett before hearing from Connor Swift, who was in the break, Alexander Kristoff, who won the opening stage of the race and is a teammate of Tade...
1hr 17m Sep 20, 2020
1hr 17m
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