RadioCycling

The Critérium du Dauphiné starts on Sunday and the Tour de Suisse takes place soon after, and both races are clear indicators that the Tour de France is now just weeks away. Top of the menu in July, of course, will be the much-hyped and long-awaited clash between the big four – Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič. But what of the Ineos Grenadiers? Knocked from their perch having dominated the Tour during the 2010s, the British team is resurgent. They may not have a rider to compare with the four main favourites, but can Jim Ratcliffe's riders be the disruptors at this year's Tour de France? We speak to Ineos team manager Steve Cummings, who highlights the untapped potential of young Spaniard Carlos Rodríguez, the ever-improving form of 2019 Tour champion Egan Bernal, who's getting back to his best following his life-threatening crash in 2022, and of the all-round strength within the British team, whose Tour line-up is set to provide an interesting combination of youth and experience. Plus, just a fortnight or so back, it was looking hightly unlikely that Jonas Vingegaard would defend his Tour de France title. However, having returned to training at home in Denmark and then in the hills of Majorca, the Visma | Lease A Bike leader has joined his teammates at an altitude training camp in the French ski resort of Tignes this week. With Vingegaard ever more likely to be on the Tour start line in Florence on 29 June, we speak to his coach Tim Heemskerk, who tells us that the Dane's training is being assessed and tweaked on a day by day basis with the aim of getting him into the right condition to be able to compete with his rivals at the at the Tour. "But," says Heemskerk, "we're respecting his recovery of course, we're not forcing anything..." Earlier this week, RadioCycling's Chris Marshall-Bell travelled to Switzerland to visit the headquarters of the UCI and the International Testing Agency (ITA) that now oversees anti-doping in cycling. Having spoken at length to UCI president David Lappartient, the ITA's recently-appointed investigative chief Nick Raudenski and Olivier Banuls, head of the ITA's cycling unit, Chris reveals their take on technical fraud and particularly motor doping, their fears about athletes microdosing banned products, and changes to the ADAMS whereabouts system. Also, in "Ways to Make Cycling Better" we hear from Lidl-Trek star Mads Pedersen, who has an intriguing suggestion for increasing connection with fans. This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. For details on all of Skedaddle's holidays, go to www.skedaddle.com Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the end, the biggest obstacles to a Tadej Pogačar victory in the Giro d'Italia were a few over-excited fans giving him an unwelcome push on Monte Grappa. The Slovenian now says that he will chill, and then come back for the kill, only this time at the Tour de France... In the wake of Pogačar's six stage wins that carried him to the largest winning margin at the Giro for six decades, we reflect on the UAE Team Emirates leader's radical change of Grand Tour fortunes and look ahead to how his first GT win since 2021 has changed the racing landscape just five weeks before the Tour de France gets under way in Florence. We reveal Pogačar's plans for his Tour preparation, which include a week kicking back at home in Monaco, and assess whether he could pull off the greatest racing season in the sport's history. Our Giro coverage also features a lengthy final diary from Grand Tour debutant Harrison Wood. The Cofidis rider reveals the good and the bad of his race and wonders why UAE Team Emirates made things so difficult for everyone on the final "parade" stage into Rome. After Lorena Wiebes and her SD Worx time put on a Pogačar-like show of dominance to sweep the three stages and the overall crown at the Ride London Classique, race director Scott Sunderland tells us why the British event is going from strength to strength and about bigger plans for the future. We also have a lengthy interview with Human Powered Health's Audrey Cordon-Ragot. The highly experienced French racer reflects on the increasing flow of cash in the women's peloton, but argues that more of that money needs to find its way to the riders who aren't star names and are nearer the foot of the racing pyramid. Three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond provides this episode's "Way to Make Cycling Better", the American offering his suggestion for a league-like system that would make the sport easier for all comers to understand. This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. For details on how to save £100 on all of Skedaddle's Italian holidays during the Giro d'Italia, go to www.skedaddle.com/radiocycling Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After months of uncertainty, British Cycling have the money, the title partner and the race director: now they also have the races. Incredibly, the Tours of Britain have been saved, thanks to a five-year sponsorship deal with Lloyds Bank that is believed to be in the region of £20 million. We hear from British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton as he tells the media about the "landmark deal" that will see Lloyds Bank immediately become the title partner of the Tour of Britain events, as well as what BC are calling its "major events vision". We also reveal that former organisers Sweetspot were close to securing a deal of their own with Lloyds last year before they were forced into liquidation. On the back of this thrilling news for British cycling as a whole, we also look ahead to three days of great racing at the Ride London Classique. The event has attracted many of the biggest names in the women's peloton including Lotte Kopecky, Lorena Wiebes and Lizzi Deignan, as well as Zoe Bäckstedt, who's fresh from her second place in the Antwerp Port Epic. In an exclusive interview, the 19-year-old Canyon-SRAM rider reflects on her highlights of the season so far, the excitement she feels at the prospect of racing in front of home fans at Ride London, and the possibility of selection for this summer's Paris Olympics. Sam Bennett is another rider hoping that he gets the chance to shine in France this summer, in his case at the Tour de France, which he's not appeared in since winning the green jersey in 2020. Buoyed by five victories at last week's Four Days of Dunkirk, the Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale sprinter looks back on that success, reveals the race he's chosen as prep for the Tour, and talks up his chances of being selected for his currently all-conquering French team. In our "How to Make Cycling Better" feature, we hear from EF Education-EasyPost team manager Charly Wegelius, who outlines a way in which he believes racing could not only be safer for the riders, but also attract bigger audiences. This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. For details on how to save £100 on all of Skedaddle's Italian holidays during the Giro d'Italia, go to www.skedaddle.com/radiocycling Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're only 15 days into the 2024 Giro d'Italia, and already Tadej Pogačar has the race in his pocket. He leads second-placed Geraint Thomas by almost seven minutes. Before the Giro began, he had already won Strade Bianche, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Volta a Catalunya. Soon he will be turning his sights to the Tour de France. Is he going to win every race he turns up to this season? In order to get perspective and context on his achievements, shortly after the Slovenian's Grand Tour masterclass on stage 15 to Livigno we caught up with Greg LeMond, a three-time winner of the Tour de France, who finished third on his Giro debut in 1985. The American tells us why he already puts Pogačar in the same class as Eddy Merckx, why he expects him to better and faster at the Tour de France, and why he loves to watch him race. Going into the Giro, Antonio Tiberi was renowned primarily for his disgraceful shooting of a cat. Over the race's opening fortnight, he's shown a very different side of himself, holding the pace of the GC favourites as he's taken a firm grip on the white jersey of best young rider. To get an insight into Italian cycling's new GC hope we hear from Tuttobici journalist Carlo Malvestio, who tells us that the rider dubbed "The Sniper" by some of his peers still has some way to go to redeem himself, but is winning the tifosi over with his performances on the road. The Giro sprints have dominated by one man, Lidl-Trek's Jonathan Milan, a towering presence who can produce equally towering power outputs when he gets a finish line in his sights. Milan's team director Gregory Rast tells us why the Italian phenomenon is already one of the leading sprinters in the sport and that he's only going to get better. Sticking with the sprinters, we focus too on Fabio Jakobsen. Last winter, the Dutchman moved from Soudal QuickStep to dsm-firmenich-PostNL on a three-year deal tasked with scoring enough wins to keep his team in the WorldTour. However, in 39 race days Jakobsen has only won once and has been forced to quit the Giro after crashing. Team director Matt Winston tells us why Jakobsen has struggled and why he will come good. Finally, we hear from Cofidis climber Harrison Wood. In his Giro diary, the young Briton talks about his time in the break on the epic stage over the Mortirolo and into Livigno, about helping Simon Geschke pick up points for the mountains jersey, and reveals the awfulness of the last 1.5km of that stage on a super-steep dirt road. This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. For details on how to save £100 on all of Skedaddle's Italian holidays during the Giro d'Italia, go to www.skedaddle.com/radiocycling Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Road racing's not just about the biggest races, the biggest names and the biggest teams. While the Giro d'Italia continues and hogs most of the headlines, there's plenty of quality racing going on elsewhere, just with a lesser profile and often less funding too. This leads us to the question: why can't Britain's most talented young team get a bike brand on board? That team is Shibden HopeTech Apex, and we hear from its manager, Tim Ferguson. He tells us about their astonishing run of success through the first half of this season, about the WorldTour teams interested in signing half a dozen or more of his riders, and reveals that they're achieving world-beating results on a budget that would barely cover the cost of one fully-fitted WorldTour racing bike. Despite this financial poverty, Ferguson also asserts that he's determined for his team to press on and keep producing talent, hoping that more support will come in future. We also hear from Cat Ferguson, Tim's daughter and the outstanding talent on that Shibden team. Signed to a multi-year deal with Movistar from 1 August, the 18-year-old British sensation reflects on a season where her worst position has been second, on the crop of British juniors who look set to make waves on the Women's WorldTour in the years ahead, on her determination to win an elusive rainbow jersey before she leaves the junior ranks, and of her gratitude for the women who have paved the way to better and sustainable careers at the top level. Out with the brown shorts and in with victories – that's been the story of Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale's season so far. After nine wins in 2023, the French team already have 16 this year. We turned to their experienced road captain Larry Warbasse to get an insight into the reasons behind this change in fortunes. The American explains how Decathlon's arrival provided new motivation and focus, as well as extremely fast new bikes that have helped boost the riders' speed and confidence levels. Our Giro diary comes from Groupama-FDJ's Lewis Askey, who is full of praise for the organisers of the corsa rosa, reveals that Clarkson's Farm is getting his roommate Laurence Pithie sleeping like a baby in the evenings, and explains why he's confident in his own and his team's chances of his success before the race reaches Rome. This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. For details on how to save £100 on all of Skedaddle's Italian holidays during the Giro d'Italia, go to www.skedaddle.com/radiocycling Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tadej Pogačar has a convincing lead in the Giro d'Italia as the race pauses for the first rest day. With nine stages completed he's already won three stages and could easily have bagged five. Imperious on every terrain, he's even turned his hand to providing a devastatingly strong lead-out for his UAE team's sprinter, Juan Sebastián Molano. He's racing for fun and for victory. So, we ask, can anything stop him from cantering away with the maglia rosa as the race nears its Roman finale? In order to answer that question, we speak to the directors on the two teams that have pressed Pogačar hardest over the Giro's opening nine days. We hear first from Bora-Hansgrohe DS John Wakefield, who's full of praise for Bora leader Dani Martínez, and tells us "if the opportunity presents, we'll definitely go for it". The Ineos Grenadiers have signalled their determination to be aggressive since the opening day, when their Ecuadorian champion Jhonatan Narváez outsprinted Pogačar to become this Giro's first leader. After Narváez went oh so close to a second win in Naples, we spoke to Ineos team manager Steve Cummings, who explains why his team have been "excellent" since the race started and why cycling's history suggests that there's still a chance of Ineos leader Geraint Thomas taking the title. After Lewis Askey last time out, it's the turn of Harrison Wood to update us on his Giro progress. The Cofidis rider reflects on the stage victory taken by teammate Benjamin Thomas, the awful state of the Neapolitan roads, and how he's quickly learning how to save his personal "bullets" for exactly the right moment to fire them. We also reflect on the decision to select Richard Virenque as a torchbearer for the Olympic flame, which has arrived on French soil and is now being zig-zagging its way northwards from Marseille to Paris. A doper who consistently lied about his actions until the evidence of his cheating was overwhelming, does Virenque really embody the values of the Olympic Games? Last time out in our regular "How to Make Cycling Better" feature, Soudal QuickStep sprinter Luke Lamperti suggested getting rid of time trials in stage races. Now we hear from his former team boss at the Trinity Racing team, Pete Kennaugh, who explains why he'd do away with "cognitive gains". This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. For details on how to save £100 on all of Skedaddle's Italian holidays during the Giro d'Italia, go to www.skedaddle.com/radiocycling Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard is talking up his chances of being at the Grand Départ of this year's race in Florence on 29 June after the crash at Itzulia Basque Country that left him with serious injuries and complicated his Tour preparations hugely. But will he make it? And if he does, will he be in good enough shape to challenge for the yellow jersey yet again? At the end of a week in which Vingegaard made his first outdoor foray on two wheels since that horrific crash, we hear from Frederik Gernigon, a journalist for the Danish newspaper BT Sport, who has been closely following the Visma | Lease a Bike leader's progress. Gernigon outlines Vingegaard's likely programme going into the Tour, the shocked reaction to his crash in Denmark, and the likelihood of the Dane defending his title. We also speak to Israel-PremierTech coach Liam Holohan, who outlines the processes that comes into play when riders suffer serious injuries and are then guided back to the elite competitive level. Holohan explains why riders tend to push too hard too fast in these situations and how the backroom staff on pro teams ensure that riders recover fitness and form at a rate that doesn't affect their short- or long-term health. Going into a big weekend of racing at the Giro d'Italia, we analyse who are likely to be the most satisfied campaigners come the first rest day at the start of next week – it'll be no surprise at all that we're all tipping Tadej Pogačar to have a very happy Monday. Plus, we hear from our diarist Lewis Askey, who talks through his first week at the Giro, admitting that he's learned an awful lot in seven days, and not only from his evening viewing of Clarkson's Farm with roommate Laurence Pithie. While the Giro peloton were battling through the dust on Tuscany's white roads, a few hundred kilometres away, at the Tour of Hungary, Mark Cavendish clinched his second victory of the season. In the wake of that timely success, we caught up with his coach and Astana team director Vasilis Anastopoulos, who reveals the Manx sprinter's recent struggles, details Cavendish's intense training and racing programme going into the Tour de France which includes a start at the Tour de Suisse, and explains why the British sprinter's Hungarian success is a boost for the whole Astana team. In our regular "How to Make Cycling Better" feature, Soudal QuickStep sprinter Luke Lamperti proposes a radical way to make the action even more aggressive in stage races, a suggestion that will raise the hackles of fans of one particular racing discipline... This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. For details on how to save £100 on all of Skedaddle's Italian holidays during the Giro d'Italia, go to www.skedaddle.com/radiocycling Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just three days into the Giro d'Italia and, after Tadej Pogacar's sterling work over the opening weekend, it's already a done deal, isn't it?   No, of course it isn't. Yes, the Slovenian has the pink jersey and has made a great start, but there's still plenty of racing to come and work to be done, according to Stephen Roche, who knows better than almost anyone what it takes to win the Giro-Tour double. Although he recognises that Pogačar is a class apart as a racer, Ireland's 1987 Triple Crown winner explains why chasing victories and time gains every day could soon lead to some serious strategic problems for the Giro leader, both within his own team and amongst the rest of the peloton. Also from the Giro, we hear from British debutant Harrison Wood, with the Cofidis rider offering his perspective on his first weekend of Grand Tour racing. Meanwhile, over in France, safety is once again the focus of attention after a horror crash during the Ronde de l'Isard under-23 stage race in the Pyrenees that resulted in one of Australia's brightest prospects being hospitalised. Our reporter at the event caught up with Trinity Racing's team director Pete Kennaugh to get his perspective on the incident and why the sport needs more volunteers to reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences in the future. We also report from the race on the latest crop of upcoming talents who are likely to be breaking into the elite ranks in the coming seasons, including a cohort from Visma | Lease a Bike and an extremely promising 18-year-old Belgian. Global Peloton's Dan Challis joins us as a guest presenter and he tells us about China's growing enthusiasm for road racing, spearheaded by the China Glory team. Dan talks to the team's French team director Lionel Marie, who reveals the team is looking to move up from the continental ranks, with the WorldTour a long-term goal. In our regular "How to Make Cycling Better" slot, Bahrain Victorious's Pello Bilbao proposes a quick fix solution for the UCI points system – simply do away with it! This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the Giro d'Italia starting in Turin on Saturday, we turn most of our new episode over to a preview of the corsa rosa and ask the question: can Geraint Thomas — or in fact anyone — outfox the flying Tadej Pogačar?  We start with an extended interview with Geraint Thomas, beaten on the final weekend last year by Primož Roglič, who took the title by just 14 seconds. While acknowledging that Roglič's fellow Slovenian Pogačar is a class above his GC rivals for the maglia rosa, 2018 Tour de France winner Thomas tells us why he's backing himself to produce another sustained run for the Giro title and why he believes that he and his super strong Ineos Grenadiers team can be optimistic about their prospects. We also hear from another of Pogačar's likely rivals for the title, Ben O'Connor. The Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider is targeting his first ever Grand Tour podium, and his spring form suggests it's more than possible. The Australian says he's relishing the chance to show what he can do on Italy's roads and that he's hoping to be celebrating a podium finish in Rome in three weeks' time. During the Giro, we'll have diary contributions from young Brits Lewis Askey and Harrison Wood, who are both making their debut in the race. Groupama-FDJ's Askey tells us that his primary job will be to help set up Kiwi teammate Laurence Pithie in the bunch sprints and that he'll be kicking back in the evenings with a dose of Jeremy Clarkson. Cofidis's Wood, meanwhile, is hoping that his pre-race reading of Roy Keane's autobiography will inspire him to knock over some big names in the hills and mountains. We also look at what promises to be a scintillating contest among the Giro sprinters, where the depth of talent looks as strong or perhaps stronger than it's likely to be at the Tour de France in July. There's Milan and Merlier, Ewan and Groves, Kooij and Jakobsen, to name just half a dozen of the fastmen who'll be aiming to amass stage wins and the ciclamino points jersey. As the first women's Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta Femenina, got under way in Spain earlier this week, our newshound Chris Marshall-Bell took the opportunity to get the latest on defending Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift champion Demi Vollering's end of season exit from SD Worx and rumoured arrival at FDj-Suez for a cool one million euros a season. FDJ boss Stephen Delcourt and SD Worx manager Danny Stam offer their take on the Vollering transfer, which is sure to be biggest ever seen on the women's side of the sport. In our regular 'How to Make Cycling Better' feature, Visma | Lease a Bike's Vuelta a España champion Sepp Kuss explains how course design could be improved to make racing more exciting. This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The spring Classics are over and the Grand Tours are looming, starting with the Vuelta Femenina, which kicks off this weekend. But before we get into the Vuelta Femenina and ask if Demi Vollering can win for the first time this season, there's another huge women's story in town: that of world champion Lotte Kopecky deciding to bypass the Tour de France Femmes in August — something which would have been unthinkable even a year ago — in favour of the Paris Olympic Games. We examine the reasons behind the world number one's decision to miss the biggest race of the season in order to target gold in three events at the Paris Olympic. We hear from her French rival Audrey Cordon-Ragot, who explains why she isn't surprised to hear the news about Kopecky's change of focus. This leads us on to a wider issue... With reigning Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering reportedly set to move from SD Worx to FDJ Suez next season on a salary rumoured to be around one million euros, we ask whether this growth rate of women's cycling is sustainable? Is it going to create an even bigger divide between the rich and poor in the women's peloton? Next up is a preview of the week-long Vuelta Femenina, where Vollering will be chasing an elusive first win of the season. Movistar team director Tim Harris tells us what he's expecting from the season's first Grand Tour and also reveals his hopes for his own team, which will feature Movistar leader Liane Lippert for the first time this season after her recovery from a December leg break. Staying with the women's elite, we speak to Britain's Lizzie Deignan, another rider who's on the way back after breaking a bone, in her case an arm in a crash at the Tour of Flanders. The Lidl-Trek rider also has her focus on the Olympics, where she hopes to better the silver medal she won at London 2012. She outlines her programme leading into Paris, talks about her confidence in her ability to get into the form she needs, and about Britain's emerging strength as a road race power, which could benefit her this summer. In our 'How to Make Cycling Better' feature, we hand the microphone to French veteran stage racer and recent Liège-Bastogne-Liège runner-up Romain Bardet, who offers an intriguing proposal that he believes would help to reduce the control of the major teams on racing, making the sport more unpredictable and exciting. And, finally, was there ever a time when French financial services company Cofidis was not sponsoring a bike team? Once again, the team's contract has just been renewed, ensuring that there will be a Cofidis jersey in the peloton until at least 2028. So what's the secret of their staying power? We ask French journalist Pierre Carrey, the cycling correspondent Swiss paper Le Temps, about the French team and whether there's anything to those widespread rumours linking them with French star Julian Alaphilippe, whose contract is up at the end of this season. This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After being at the forefront of British success for two decades, masterminding the development of superstars such as Mark Cavendish, Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins and Tom Pidcock, Rod Ellingworth has left WorldTour to oversee the reboot of the women's and men's Tour of Britain.  In an exclusive interview trackside at Manchester velodrome, Ellingworth reveals why he left Ineos Grenadiers, how he has a bold vision to grow British Cycling's national tours — and whether he'll be giving Dave Brailsford advice on who to bring off the bench at Old Trafford… Sandwiched between the pavé and the Giro d'Italia are the Ardennes Classics, hilly one-day races in the elevated lands of the Netherlands and Belgium, the setting this coming weekend for a heavyweight clash between Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel. In our preview of the weekend's major racing action, Ardennes Classics veteran Dan Martin, winner of Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2013, tells us what makes these races so special and about the qualities required to win them. We also hear from Bahrain-Victorious's Pello Bilbao on how you go about beating Tadej Pogačar. While Van der Poel and Pogačar have been hogging the victories and the headlines at the very top of the sport, it's also become increasingly difficult to ignore the feats of 21-year-old Briton Joe Blackmore. Winner of the Tours of Rwanda and Taiwan, 4th against the big guns at Flèche Brabonçonne, and victorious again at the under-23 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Blackmore has just signed a 2-year contract with Israel-PremierTech. In our profile of this hugely exciting talent, we hear from Joe Blackmore himself, who tells us what kind of rider he sees himself as and about his motivations as a racer. In our regular feature on "Ways to Make Cycling Better", former pro and now EF Education-EasyPost team director Tejay van Garderen tells us why he'd like to see names and numbers on riders' jerseys. This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The frenzy of the cobbles are just about behind us, the Ardennes Classics now lie in wait and soon the high mountains of races like the Tour of the Alps and, of course, the Giro d'Italia will fill our screens...  Meanwhile, off the road, the UCI has just announced that it is bringing in a new face to lead the fight against technological fraud….but who is this guy…? We profile and hear from Nicholas Raudenski – a former criminal investigator who has also worked for the US Department of Homeland Security – who's about to head up the UCI's beefed-up battle against motor doping. We also reveal the main focus for Raudenski and this new initiative, which is being driven by UCI president David Lappartient. Continuing our series of interviews with the managers of the peloton's leading teams, we speak exclusively to Bora-hansgrohe boss Ralph Denk. In a wide-ranging discussion, Denk reveals the latest on team leader Primož Roglič's recovery from his Itzulia Basque Country-ending crash, Red Bull's increased investment in the team and potential links to Red Bull-sponsored Wout van Aert, why he'd like to see budget caps on top teams, his disappointment with Cian Uijtdebroeks' departure to Visma-Lease a Bike and his suggestion for improving the sport. In the wake of the horrific Itzulia crash, we also speak to Safe Cycling CEO Markus Laerum, whose company acts as a safety consultancy to many major races including the Tour France. He opens up on pre-Itzulia concerns about safety on that race, his conversation about dodgy Basque descents with Jonas Vingegaard, and about how receptive race organisers are to Safe Cycling suggestions and initiatives. Plus, after making his journalistic debut at Paris-Roubaix last weekend, our intrepid presenter Chris Marshall-Bell talks Hell of the North with Cycling Weekly's Tom Thewlis. This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Music provided by HearWeGo  Marion - High Hopes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's time for Paris-Roubaix: the race that every kid dreams of winning, but that half the pro peloton hate. After last weekend's chaos on the Koppenberg in the Tour of Flanders, what lies in wait in the ‘Hell of the North'?One thing that's already clear is that race organisers ASO and the riders' union the CPA are determined to put a strong emphasis on safety, most specifically with the introduction of a chicane right before the entrance to the most notorious section of cobbles in the Arenberg Forest.We hear from CPA president Adam Hansen, who reveals what drove this initiative and why he believes it's "wonderful". But, we ask, does it also alter the essence of this legendary race?The hot topic over the off-season, the One Cycling project is now on the back burner. Has it hit the buffers and come to nothing as some are claiming? Or is there still some life in it? We've been gauging the current attitude within the sport to the scheme and reveal how close it was to happening and what, ultimately, stymied it.  Since the start of the 2024 season, another issue concerning the sport has been Israel-PremierTech's presence in races and the risk that poses to the peloton given the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. We report on growing anxiety within some teams and how IPT have responded to being the potential target for protests.Plus, we hear from Cofidis's Harrison Wood on his way to make cycling better, while our new quiz reveals the answer to the question: what's the lowest kilometric amount of cobbles to feature on the route of Paris-Roubaix?This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.Music provided by HearWeGo Marion - High HopesSupport the show

Another bike race, another Tadej Pogačar exhibition. The Slovenian didn't just win the Volta a Catalunya, one of cycling's toughest week-long stage races, he completely annihilated the opposition.Pogačar's only 25, but already he counts 69 victories on his palmarès, including two Tours de France and five Monuments. Is there anything he can't do? Is he now knocking on the door of eternal greatness?We put that question to the man himself in Catalonia, where Pogačar tells us that he's stepped up a level this year and is now going into every race determined to win, and always with a smile on his face.We also also hear from George Bennett and Guillaume Martin, who admit that the rest of the peloton are now racing for second place almost every time Pogačar takes to the start line.We also look ahead to this Sunday's Tour of Flanders, where there's also one name on everyone's lips, that of two-time champion Mathieu van der Poel. With Pogačar not defending his title and Wout van Aert and Jasper Stuyven now sidelined by broken collarbones sustained in this week's Dwars door Vlaanderen, the world champion is the outstanding favourite for a third Ronde success.We hear from Mads Pedersen, Michael Matthews, Jordi Meeus and Matteo Trentin on if and how Van der Poel can be beaten.And, finally, as Tour de France Femmes goes from strength to strength, what is happening with the British women's scene? Cycling Weekly's Tom Thewlis reveals the latest on the Women's Tour of Britain, which now, of course, has former Ineos team manager Rod Ellingworth as its race director.After a period when it appeared that the Women's Tour might not take place in 2024, there are growing reasons for optimism, with a route taking shape that includes two opening stages in Wales.We also speak to Ford Ride London Classique technical director Kevin Nash on the strides being made by that three-day May race, and hear from Britain's emblematic road racer Lizzie Deignan, who highlights the continued growth and wider popularity of women's racing in Britain and how the scene has changed since she won silver in the road event at the 2012 London Olympics.This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.Support the show

The WorldTour's Big Four stage racers – Vingegaard, Pogačar, Evenepoel and Roglic — are all on the road at last, as the European season really gets going.  We start, though, with the news that the much-rumoured British Grand Départ, set to take place in 2026, has been shelved. UK Sport deputy CEO Simon Morton tells us, "We are not actively pursuing hosting in 2026," as the funding crisis in local government takes hold and cuts are made to government-backed sporting events in what's an election year. Yet after this latest gloomy development for British cycling, Morton suggests there is still some hope that the Tour and/or Tour de France Femmes could return to the UK, perhaps in 2027.After his demolition derby on his rivals at Strade Bianche, Tadej Pogačar is now turning his attention to Milan-Sanremo, one of two Monuments he's still to win. His 81km solo ride to success on Tuscany's white roads underlined once again that the UAE Team Emirates rider can create his own script for one-day races, but can he do that for Sanremo, the most predictable of the lot? We speak to Jayco-AlUla DS Matt White, who believes that the Slovenian is likely to make another early attack, but won't find is as straightforward to hold on when he does.In our final story, we look ahead to the finale of Paris-Nice, which is once again threatened by a big freeze as it heads towards high finishes in the southern Alps just inland from the Côte d'Azur.   Support the show

Had enough of sandstorms, palm trees and camels at the roadside? Get ready then for beers and techno, bergs and burgers: it's time for Opening Weekend...We start with a preview of Saturday's two editions of Het Nieuwsblad and Sunday's Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. The men's edition of Het Nieuwsblad will see Visma-Lease A Bike start with a stacked team that features the race's last two winners, Dylan van Baarle and Wout van Aert, and very much tagged as favourites. We hear from Sep Vanmarcke, who won this race in 2012 against an equally powerful BMC team and is now director for Israel-PremierTech in the Classics. Vanmarcke explains the hurdles facing Visma-LAB and reveals his hopes for the young IPT line-up.The women's Classics campaign also starts at Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. We speak to Human Powered Health's Audrey Cordon-Ragot, who tells us about the significance of this race and why she's hoping it'll be wet and wild this weekend. The French racer also reflects on the latest more optimistic news for the Women's Tour of Britain.With that event in mind, we also hear from Cycling Weekly's Tom Thewlis,  who provides an update on the latest developments for the Women's Tour of Britain, which has returned to the UCI calendar as a four-day event and, assuming British Cycling can fulfil the financial and logistical requirements, is likely to run as a "hub" race based on one or two cities.Finally we turn to a quite astonishing story. It's a tale that could have had an absolutely awful outcome, but which ended up with Cofidis pro Axel Zingle perhaps saving the life of one of his close friends, Yael Joalland, during the GP Marseillaise race in France last month. Support the show

Adam Yates, Lotte Kopecky, Mads Pedersen – the big names are already winning the big races. But as we look ahead towards Strade Bianche, Paris-Nice, the spring Classics, other issues come into play – just as they do every season. Issues like race safety, rider responsibilities, ethics and money...With these issues very much in mind, we speak at length to dsm-firmenich PostNL team manager Iwan Spekenbrink, who talks about why his team remains part of the Movement for Credible Cycling, why cycling needs more doping controls to boost its credibility, and about the exciting talent that is racing in his team's colours, including Dutch sprinters Fabio Jakobsen and Charlotte Kool, and fast-rising Britons Oscar Onley, Max Poole and Pfeiffer Georgi.  We also lift the lid on the latest developments within the SafeR (Safe Roadcycling) initiative designed to raise security standards among race organisers and prevent riders from behaving badly. We reveal that the project will lead to the introduction of yellow and red card penalty system in elite racing in the second half of this season, while Adam Hansen, president of the CPA riders' union, explains the benefits of SafeR and why riders will be making a financial contribution towards the project.  Support the show

Ten years after the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in Yorkshire, road racing in Britain is in crisis. We examine two strands of that state of affairs...We start by interviewing British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton, who has announced a rescue plan for the men's and women's national tours. Dutton explains how the newly formed British Cycling Events will set about saving these two emblematic races, but admits that they may not be as substantial as they previously were, in the short term at least. He also provides an update on the Tour de France's mooted UK start in 2026...Next we turn to Brexit... While the British government insists that leaving the European Union is going swimmingly, there's plenty of evidence of the negative effect Britain's decision has had on many facets of life. Cited as one of the reasons for the collapse in the UK's elite road scene, we examine the specifics of Brexit's impact, speaking to the former Tour of Britain organisers, the Dave Rayner Fund that helps aspiring Brits find club teams in Europe, and to Bingoal-WB new pro Tom Portsmouth, who's spent three years dealing with its complexities.Our final story takes us, once again, into elite racing's political netherworld, and specifically the SafeR (SafeRoadcycling) initiative that was established last year by the sport's key stakeholders to making racing safer.  Everyone agrees it's needed, but no one can agree on who should run it. Almost inevitably, Visma Lease a Bike are at the centre of this storm. From there, we move swiftly into the latest knockings from the One Cycling saga, and explain why it may happen soon... or maybe in the long term... or even not at all...    Support the show

So the training camps are over, WorldTour racing is under way, and already the European calendar has kicked off. But it's a bumpy road in professional cycling and, while some riders and races thrive, others are already finding it hard going. On the new RadioCycling podcast...Is it already too late for the Tour of Britain? With grave doubts hanging over the future of Britain's national tour, we hear from Hugh Roberts, the CEO of Sweetspot, who organised the race for the last 20 years but have now gone into liquidation. Roberts tells us about the risk he took in deciding to put the race on in 2023 without a primary sponsor, admits he's partly to blame for the event's tragic demise, and givers his perspective on its future, while we also discuss the reasons behind the Tour of Britain's demise and its likely impact on the future of road cycling in the UK.Dave Brailsford is still in cycling says Grenadiers new CEO John Allert: We hear from the new CEO of the Ineos Grenadiers, who explains that the team's former boss has not cut himself off from cycling completely after taking up a new position at Manchester United, talks about the team's fresh start under his leadership, and underlines that the team's primary focus will be winning the Tour de France title again.Luke Plapp on leaving Ineos to become a Grand Tour leader: Hailed as Australia's next  big hope for success in the sport's biggest stage races, recently crowned national road and TT champion Plapp explains how his two years at Ineos have prepared him for this challenge, says his primary goal at  new team Jayco-AlUla is to learn what he can from co-leader Simon Yates, and takes aim at what is shaping up as a stellar Giro d'Italia.Plus, we have news of a podcast produced by one of our editorial team that you definitely shouldn't miss...This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.   Support the show

Taylor Swift, Lionel Messi, Novak Djokovic and Tom Cruise. No, that's not the new backroom staff at Manchester United. Those are the names of the global superstars that front up the entertainment choices that we all make, each and every day. So how does five hours of road racing in the rain in Flanders compete against A-listers like that?Well, in this RadioCycling special, we meet Richard Plugge, head of the world's teams organisation the AIGCP, and the hugely successful manager of the Jumbo-Visma team that won all three Grand Tours last year – but also, crucially, the man telling cycling that it must change… or it will die.In this interview, we quiz Plugge on the One Cycling project that he is adamant must be introduced in order to maintain cycling's position as a focus for popular sporting entertainment.We ask him about the accusations made by rival team managers of "poaching" and a conflict of interest after Visma-Lease A Bike's signing of Cian Uijtdebroeks from rivals Bora-Hansgrohe.Plugge also provides an update on the doping case involving the team's Michel Hessmann in which he reveals the basis of the young German racer's defence.And, of course, we ask him about the loss of his team's most emblematic rider, Primož Roglič, and hear about the constantly evolving five-year plan designed to keep the Dutch team at the top of the WorldTour pecking order.This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.  Support the show

While northern Europe is swept by blizzards and freezing temperatures grip the landscape, in the relative warmth of Spain's Costa Blanca cycling's elite teams are making their final pre-season preparations and, as part of that, have been meeting the press. We joined this welcome migration and this pod features three of the peloton's biggest names...We start with Belgium's most feted sporting star, Remco Evenepoel, one of the "big four" who are due to clash at the Tour de France this summer. We ask the Soudal-QuickStep leader about whether he can end his country's 48-year Tour drought on his debut in the race, how his team is shaping up to this challenge, and about his post-Tour hopes for glory at the Paris Olympics.Fabio Jakobsen has removed himself from the ever-growing shadow Evenepoel casts over his teammates at QuickStep by joining dsm-firmenich PostNL. We ask the Dutch sprinter about why he wanted this move, hear about the goals he has set himself for the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, and about his aim to knock long-time rival Jasper Philipsen off the top of the sprinting tree.We also reveal the latest news on the Tour of Britain and Women's Tour, which both face an uncertain future following the breakdown in the relationship between British Cycling and race organisers Sweetspot.  There are reasons for optimism, we understand...We end with "Dave watch", a look at the latest movements of Ineos director of sport Dave Brailsford, featuring a brief cameo from the man himself... This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.  Support the show

Happy New Year to all of you — here's to 2024. There's so much to look forward to: the Classics, Grand Tours, the Paris Olympic Games, plus the intrigue, rumour and spectacle of professional cycling...Sadly, we start, though, with the distressing story of the death of Australian Olympian Melissa Hoskins in Adelaide on New Year's Eve. Her husband, two-time world time trial champion Rohan Dennis, was subsequently arrested on charges of causing death by dangerous driving. We look back on Hoskins' garlanded racing career, which included a world record and world title on the track and multiple sprint victories on the road.In an examination of what's next for Dave Brailsford and the Ineos Grenadiers after Jim Ratcliffe's Manchester United takeover, we speak to Matt Slater, who reports on finance in football for The Athletic. We hear about Brailsford's likely role at Man Utd following the £1bn deal, the reaction to the takeover in Manchester and beyond, and what impact this massive investment and Brailsford's key part in it could have on the future of the franchise's cycling team, the Ineos GrenadiersIn our final story we focus on Mathieu van der Poel, fined for spitting at fans during a Cyclo-Cross World Cup race, and discuss whether the world and cyclo-cross world champion has attained untouchable status off the bike as well as on it. We also gauge the reaction to the incident from his peers, including Wout van Aert and Sven Nys. RadioCycling has also been shortlisted for Best Sports Talk Podcast 2023!! You can vote for us (and we'd be extremely grateful if you would) at sportspodcastgroup.com – just look for RadioCycling under the ‘best sports talk podcast' category.This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.  Support the show

Christmas is coming but there's still enough time for us to squeeze in one final podcast before we're all submerged in discarded wrapping paper. These are our headlines...Tours of Britain reach the end after Sweetspot mainstays retire: The breaking news is that Mick Bennett and Hugh Roberts, promoters of the men's and women's Tour of Britain, are to retire. We reveal what's known so far, discuss what it could mean for UK cycling and whether the British Cycling federation has a new strategy for the country's two national tours.Tadej Pogačar talks Giro d'Italia and Tour de France: We hear from the peloton's most multi-talented and exciting racer as he reveals his plans for a Giro debut and his hopes that he can follow success in Italy with a third victory in the Tour de France. We also talk pizza toppings with Pogi, who reveals a taste for the exotic – kiwi fruit anyone?RadioCycling's wrap of the year: Before thinking ahead to the new season, we're looking at the one we're leaving behind and picking out a few of our highlights, featuring our Ukraine special, Sylvan Adams on Chris Froome, a tribute to Gino Mäder, the One Cycling saga, and the Pinot Ultras on their passion for Thibaut.We've now got another highlight too as RadioCycling has just been shortlisted for Best Sports Talk Podcast 2023!! You can vote for us (and we'd be extremely grateful if you would) at sportspodcastgroup.com, just look for RadioCycling under the ‘best sports talk podcast' category.This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.  Support the show

Do they know it's Christmas? Well, no, not at most pro team training camps, where thoughts are a million miles away from brandy cream and mince pies. We sent our intrepid reporter to the Costa Blanca to get the latest from the peloton's stars...Mark Cavendish says he's ready for his final hurrah: Motivated by the desire of his Astana-Qazaqstan to see him race for one more season and also by his competitiveness at this year's Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, the Manx sprinter says he's happy and relaxed as he goes into what is likely to be his final season. He also admits he's humbled at being described as the best sprinter of all time. Lidl-Trek's GC hopes pinned on Tao Geoghegan-Hart: The Briton tells us that he's recovered well from the pelvis fracture that he sustained at the Giro and will go into 2024 with his focus set very squarely on the Tour de France, where his objective is nothing less than the yellow jersey. We also hear from Italian climber Giulio Ciccone, who believes he's got the qualities to challenge for victory in the Giro d'Italia, thanks to his team's increased investment in training preparation and tech.One Cycling's sense of déjà vu: Last week's WorldTour seminar in Lausanne led to further developments in the project to revamp the men's professional scene. We detail the latest, including the rumoured sidelining of Jumbo-Visma boss Richard Plugge,  the emergence of a new player at the project's head, and, in another significant shift, reports of contact with the women's side of the sport...This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.  Support the show

The first pre-season training camps are under way, and we've got news from three of the teams sure to be in the heart of the action when racing restarts in January... We start at Israel-PremierTech, where there's been quite a u-turn since we spoke to team owner Sylvan Adams just a fortnight ago. Back then, we asked him if — given the tensions fuelled by the conflict in Gaza — he had any concerns for the safety of his team's riders and staff, to which he replied: “What are we supposed to do? Cower? We're just going to go about our daily business.” Two weeks on, IPT riders are being issued with blank training kit due to safety concerns.We also meet Lukas Nerurkar, son of one of Britain's best marathon runners, who is on the verge of stepping up into the WorldTour with EF Education-Easy Post. The 20-year-old tells us about his journey to the top, via Brighton, Ethiopia and South London,  his qualities and weaknesses as a climber and his flat share with Ben Healy. We also get the inside line on Nerurkar from EF team director Charly Wegelius. Plus, we have a second exclusive interview with unsung hero Toms Skujins, the experienced Latvian who's key to Lidl-Trek's success. Speaking from his home in Andorra, Skujins, one of the most intellectual and thoughtful riders in the peloton, discusses his team's major off-season signings, offers his take on One Cycling's attempt to revamp the structure of the sport, and offers praise for CPA president Adam Hansen's attempts to get the riders talking with one voice on key issues.This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.  Support the show

Teams rosters are all but finalised and the first gatherings prior to the 2024 season are now just days away. In this new episode, the RadioCycling team looks ahead, initially by focusing on a new name in the WorldTour peloton, a rider who looks set to be America's next big thing...Have the Ineos Grenadiers found the next American superstar in 18-year-old Andrew "AJ" August? We hear from the British team's coach Dario Cioni, who reveals the long courtship between Ineos and the teenage sensation from New York state, what makes August such an outstanding prospect, where he's likely to shine in the future, and how his racing programme is likely to shape up in 2024. Plus, we get the lowdown on his extraordinary physiology – is the young American's VO2 max really a superhuman 92?One Cycling picks up speed: The group behind the radical proposal to shake up cycling by revamping the calendar and, crucially, the redistribution of revenues has taken a further step forwards. We lift the lid on what's going on behind the scenes and what it could mean in both the short- and long-term.Better than Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel: We meet Algerian sprinter Yacine Hamza, who notched no fewer than 17 wins this season. He tells us about his route to success this season and his family's rich cycling heritage. Plus, our special guest, Global Peloton's Dan Challis, reveals why Hamza has been overlooked by the sport's elite teams despite his obvious talent and explains why Algeria looks set to become a new force in road racing.The Asian team causing a stir in the women's peloton: The Tashkent City team will be unknown to most racing fans, but that's soon likely to change as the Uzbek outfit have earned the right to an invitation to every event on the 2024 Women's WorldTour, including the Tour de France Femmes. Dan Challis tells why and how they've done it, and about the organisational shenanigans in Uzbekistan that have pushed French continental teams to make complaints to the UCI.  This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.  Support the show

Our latest episode features an exclusive, hard-hitting and sometimes confrontational interview with Israel-PremierTech boss Sylvan Adams. It's an encounter that's sure to create debate and shouldn't be missed.With the world's attention on the ongoing warfare in Israel,  the Israeli-Canadian billionaire reveals the impact the conflict has had on his team and offers an extremely robust defence of his adopted country's military response to the horrific terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas. Adams challenges the suggestion that the IPT riders and staff might require more security when racing and training as a consequence of the hostilities and says that none of his riders have expressed concerns about appearing in IPT colours.Adams talks about how sport and particularly cycling could act as a means of reconciliation in the future, highlighting the ways that it can create mutual understanding.The Israel-PremierTech boss also discusses the situation of erstwhile team leader Chris Froome, offering his perspective on the four-time Tour de France winner's recent complaints about his bike set-up and adding that the British rider can still find a way back to the Tour if he can rediscover the necessary racing condition. Our second story is a focus on the Spanish doping investigation that has embroiled the Caja Rural team.  Operation Ilex has already resulted in Miguel Ángel López first being released by Astana and then suspended, and now Spanish investigators have more riders in their sights. We detail the extensive background to this case and likely next steps.This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.  Support the show

In the latest podcast from the RadioCycling team, the headlines are...Tour of Britain in limbo – Following British Cycling's sudden and dramatic termination of its 10-year agreement with Tour of Britain promoters Sweetspot, we examine the probable repercussions and hopes for survival of both the men's and women's races.We hear from the journalists who broke the story, Cycling Weekly's Tom Thewlis and The Guardian's Jeremy Whittle, who explain the financial dispute that led to the apparently terminal breakdown in this long-standing relationship and the likely ramifications for both parties. The pair also examine the future of both the Tour of Britain and the Women's Tour, and highlight reasons for optimism in both cases.The past, present and future of Palestinian cycling – In an exclusive report on the cycling scene in a country that's currently beset by conflict, we speak to Sohaib Zahda, the Palestine Cycling Federation's director of development and planning. He describes the challenge of fostering a sporting culture within a population that's perennially affected by unrest and warfare, and the everyday restrictions and dangers that combine to make racing and training so difficult, undermining efforts made by the UCI and other national federations to support grassroots cycling projects in the West Bank.Dave Brailsford back in Manchester? – Having played a fundamental role in turning the national velodrome into a medal factory, it's our understanding that Britain's former performance director is heading back to Manchester to play the key managerial role at Manchester United, who are on the verge of being taken over by Ineos boss Jim Ratcliffe.We discuss what the loss of the man who oversaw now fewer than seven Tour de France victories could mean for the Ineos Grenadiers, a team that's losing five major talents and hasn't made a single big-name signing.This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Support the show

Road racing may now have ceded centre stage to cyclo-cross, but there's still plenty of major stories and issues for the RadioCycling team to pick over in our latest podcast. We begin with...One Cycling – the latest on the plan that could rock world road racing. Since lifting the lid last week on the scheme put together by Jumbo-Visma boss Richard Plugge and Soudal-QuickStep majority owner Zdeněk Bakala,  we've been gauging reaction and opinion across the sport. We hear from the race organisers likely to be affected by the mooted restructure of the calendar, from the women's teams who haven't been sounded out at all, and hear why this, the latest in a long line of racing revamps, has got an awful long way to go before the major stakeholders might climb on board.We also speak to Alex Duff, author of Le Fric: Family Power and Money, the business of the Tour de France, who explains why Tour organisers ASO won't be jumping into bed with One Cycling any time soon.Paris 2024 – we have the lowdown on Rue Lepic, the key climb that could decide destiny of the medals in next year's Olympic road races, which has a many-storied history. Eulogised in song by legendary French actor Yves Montand (and, yes, his crooning paean does feature), it starts next to  the famous Moulin Rouge caberet and rises past the former home of artist Vincent van Gogh and the cafe where Amélie worked in the eponymous movie as it climbs the Butte de Montmartre, a Flanders-like hill that will have the cobbled Classics specialists salivating.Split stage renaissance? Largely absent from major events since that late 1980s, the split stage will make its Grand Tour return at next year's Tour de France Femmes. We hear from Audrey Cordon-Ragot on the very particular challenge of racing twice in one day, recall the day that a defiant Bernard Hinault led a rider protest against split stages at the Tour, and assess whether the TDFF's experiment might lead to their reintroduction at the Tour de France.This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Support the show

A RadioCycling special report reveals how Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) may be part of the proposed new league that promises to revolutionise and change cycling forever.PIF, who have invested heavily in football, golf, boxing and F1, have held discussions with the major stakeholders of the mooted league.RadioCycling has been informed that the league has been in the works for the past three years, and that five major teams are involved.The league is the brainchild of Jumbo-Visma's general manager Richard Plugge, who is also the man behind One Cycling, a new entity that aims to make cycling sustainable.The UCI, cycling's governing body, are on board; ASO, the Tour de France owners, have also had meetings.In a special RadioCycling episode, we hear exclusively from Plugge, from EF Education-EasyPost's manager Jonathan Vaughters, and explain more about the proposed league, its format and planned launch date.We also reveal details of an explosive letter that has been sent to Plugge from other WorldTour teams, expressing their deep mistrust of him, and their unhappiness. As it stands, many teams are opposed to the new league and One Cycling.This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Support the show

A special extended episode of RadioCycling comes live from Paris, as we attend the prestigious Vélo d'Or awards and the 2024 route announcements of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes.Our 24-hour Parisian special begins at the Pavilion Gabriel, just off the Champs-Élysées, where the great (most notably Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault) and good gathered for the first formal presentation of the prestigious Vélo d'Or awards by French magazine Vélo. We hear from the winners – or at least those that attended rather than opting for a short break at EuroDisney – including Demi Vollering, who swept up many of the major events on the women's calendar during a season when her SD Worx team were all-conquering.Our special continues at the Tour de France presentations at Paris's Palais de Congrès. We hear from Mark Cavendish, Jonas Vingegaard, Jasper Philipsen, Demi Vollering once again, Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Patrick Lefevere and Richard Plugge, who give their thoughts on what lies ahead at next season's two biggest races.The episode ends with our analysis of the two routes, including the significance of the Tour de France Femmes' first visit to Alpe d'Huez, the fuss generated by the Tour de France's inclusion of 32km of racing on gravel, and an examination of the key stages in both events.This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Support the show

In a week when the dying embers of the raging fire that was the 2023 season are almost extinguished, we're already looking ahead to 2024... Welcome to the latest slice of cycling news from RadioCycling...We start with a guest appearance by Charlie Quarterman, who lifts the lid on the reasons for his decision to retire from the professional scene at the age of 25, despite a sterling performance in the 2023 Giro d'Italia and his undimmed passion for racing. The young Briton talks candidly about the constant physical and mental pressure he felt he was under, both on the bike and off it, about how his mind was made up when he found himself in hospital at 3 in the morning with heatstroke, and about his desire for a normal working life.All roads lead to Rome for the 2024 Giro d'Italia – Starting in Turin and finishing in the Italian capital, we look at the many and varied delights on next year's corsa rosa, including summit finishes a-go-go, a stage on the Strade Bianche, almost 70km of time trialling, a final weekend plane transfer that flies in the face of climate concerns – and a possible debut for Tadej Pogačar...?Michael Mørkøv's mission is to help Mark Cavendish win stage number 35 at the Tour de France. The pair are set to be reunited next season at Astana-Qazaqstan and the Danish lead-out supremo tells us that he's confident that they can rediscover the winning formula that resulted in Cavendish taking four stage wins for QuickStep at the 2021 Tour.TDF Femmes sets its sights on Alpe d'Huez – Following this year's finale on the Tourmalet, the TDFF peloton will tackle the mythical ascent of Alpe d'Huez on its final stage next year. We examine what this means for the race and explain why performances by former greats of women's racing cement the Alpe's status as "Dutch mountain". This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle. Support the show

It may be autumn, the time of falling leaves and drifting woodsmoke, the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, but there's still plenty of news and talking points in the pro peloton. These are RadioCycling's latest headlines...Intermarché-Wanty-Circus plunged into racism scandal – The Belgian team has pulled two of its riders from the Tour of Guangxi, the final WorldTour race of the season, after they posted a racist image on social media. We detail how the team and the UCI have responded to this furore and examine what it says about the riders involved and the state of the sport.Post-merger meltdown sends transfer market into a frenzy – The Jumbo-Visma/Soudal-QuickStep fusion is off, and, like the floodgates opening a dam, the transfer market is suddenly in full flow. We detail the main moves in recent days and explain why the merger blocked the transfer market and what it's meant for the many riders who are still out of contract for next season.The Tour de France heads for the white roads – Following a weekend dominated by racing on gravel at captivating editions of Paris-Tours and the UCI World Gravel Championships, the French press is reporting that the 2024 Tour de France will also be heading off-road, following the trail blazed by the Tour de France Femmes' peloton through Champagne's vineyards in 2022. We reveal the latest...It's big, it's bad, it's the Babadag – This is the climb unearthed by the organisers of the Tour of Turkey. The stats say is 50% tougher than the Angliru, while the riders who tackled it were unanimous in it being the hardest climb they'd ever raced up. We hear from Bora-Hansgrohe's Florian Lipowitz, who took 75 minutes to complete this monster 18km ascent that averages 10.5%, and was fourth to the top.  This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.   Support the show

The European road season may be heading for its grand finale in Lombardy this weekend, but there's no end yet to the talk of mergers. As uncertainty continues to linger over the men's peloton, these are RadioCycling's headlines...  Blood on the carpet – with the UCI weighing in as the Jumbo-Visma/Soudal-QuickStep merger meltdown continues, we examine the latest developments in this ongoing saga. Is SQS boss Patrick Lefevere the good guy? And what of Richard Plugge,  the Jumbo-Visma  boss who's also the head of the professional teams' association. Has his reputation been tarnished?Money, money, money – Bahrain want even more: They may be backed to the tune of €30 million a season, but that's little more than half the funding that the strongest teams now pull in. We hear from Bahrain boss Milan Erzen about his thwarted desire to prevent Mikel Landa from leaving, why he was never in the market for Primož Roglič, and what the gulf state-backed team's Plan B if it can't find a secondary sponsor to invest €10 million or more. The Thibaut Pinot Ultras head for Lombardy: As the much-beloved Frenchman prepares to make his final racing appearance at Il Lombardia on Saturday, we hear from the Collectif Ultras Pinot, the fans who packed the final climb of the Tour de France in July and are now heading to Italy by all means possible to pay a final tribute to their sporting hero. They're planning quite a party!The long road back for Guangxi: After the cancellation of the last three editions due to the effects of the Covid pandemic, the Tour of Guangxi is not only back on the WorldTour calendar but also set to take place. Race director Olivier Senn tells us about the difficulties faced in relaunching it, why the 2023 route will look very similar to the last edition in 2019, and what the race's return means for the sporting landscape in China.Support the show

Talk of mergers are on the news menu just about everywhere, but before we turn to the latest on that issue, RadioCycling has quite a scoop...X-ray machines and iPads have been touted as the means to prevent motor-doping and reassure everyone in cycling that the sport is technologically clean. However, a RadioCycling investigation has found that, despite the UCI stating that “it carries out bike tests at all UCI men's and women's WorldTour events”, that is not the reality.Our canvassing of the 51 WorldTour and Women's WorldTour races reveals that there are huge holes in the technological testing programme, even extending to the Grand Tours, while at least one major stage race has not seen any testing since 2021. We dig into the details and ask the question: is the absence of tech fraud testing threatening cycling's credibility?We can't, of course, avoid the merger mayhem that's enveloped the sport. But is the reported fusion of Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep simply an attempt to bring another big player back to the negotiating table? We pick over the latest rumours and discuss why this story provides another indication of cycling's flawed financial model.We then turn to Cat Ferguson, the outstandingly successful 17-year-old British junior who's signed a three-year deal with Movistar. We hear from her dad, Tim Ferguson, who provides the background to his daughter's transformation from Britain's second-best slalom skier to becoming the one rider almost every WorldTour team wanted to sign, and also hear about the Yorkshire team that's propelling Cat and a number of other girls to the top level. Support the show

The Vuelta a España may be done, but it's not yet dusted. These are RadioCycling's headlines following one of the most controversy-hit Grand Tours in recent memory...Vuelta wash-up: did the best man win? We examine whether Jumbo-Visma's overdue and belated selection of Sepp Kuss as the team's leader was a sporting or a marketing decision, and hear from the man who made it, Richard Plugge, who insists that social media pressure didn't play a role in them deciding to back the American and that everyone on the team buys into their #Samenwinnen (winning together) ethos.Slovenian sulk: will Primož Roglic ever get over it? Jumbo-Visma did all they could to present a united front, but the Slovenian said he had his "own thoughts" on his team's tactics. Was Roglič hard done by? And to what extent did the failings of rival teams and riders push Jumbo-Visma into a totally unprecedented leadership dilemma?Remco Evenepoel looks ahead to 2024: He may not have defended the Vuelta title he won last year, but the 23yo Belgian still came away from the race with his reputation heightened. With a Tour de France debut now in his sights for next season, Evenepoel tells us what needs to be done within his Soudal-QuickStep team to ensure that he can contend for the yellow jersey.Ineos Grenadiers blown away: After finishing without a Grand Tour victory for the second year in succession, we hear a candid assessment of the British team's performances from their Welsh leader Geraint Thomas, who confesses that they've been affected by "stagnation", triggered by the loss of several key staffers. Thomas adds, though, that a change for the better is already taking place.Support the show

With GC Kuss edging ever closer to Madrid and Jumbo-Visma's Grand Tour Grand Slam now inevitable, these are RadioCycling's latest headlines...As Jumbo-Visma end their tactical Vuelta skelter, we ask whether the Dutch team is the greatest of all time and whether it can maintain its supremacy. We also hear from former UCI president Brian Cookson, who assesses whether that dominance is good for the sport and why salary and budget caps aren't the solution to the perennial issue of big-money teams lording it over their rivals.This week's heart scare for Jumbo-Visma's Nathan Van Hooydonck was followed by the news that Cofidis's Wesley Kreder had suffered a similar issue two weeks ago. We looks at the details of both cases, the science behind heart issues in endurance athletes and the shadow that Covid continues to cast over the peloton.NCL – boom or bust? The National Cycling League was launched to a fanfare of hype, with celebrity backers like NBA star Kevin  Durant and a million dollar prize purse. Hailed as a future for cycling, it's quickly hit the skids, with races scrapped, venues changed and riders laid off.  We get the inside line of what's gone wrong and why from Escape Collective's editor Caley Fretz.And we have the transfer latest... including big name signings for Israel-PremierTech and, it almost goes without saying, Lidl-Trek, news of a new Brit in the WorldTour, as well as the return of the Vinokourov name to the pro peloton. Plus, there's an update on arrivals at Ineos Grenadiers...  Support the show

As the Vuelta a España pauses for its second rest day, these are RadioCycling's latest headlines...Cruise control for Sepp Kuss: With just six days of racing between the American and one of the unlikeliest but also most popular Grand Tour wins of recent times, we hear from the Vuelta race leader. Kuss explains why the steepness and quantity of the climbing that lies ahead holds no fears for him, his good memories of the fearsome Angliru and confirms that there are, as yet, no team orders being applied to Jumbo-Visma's three leaders who fill the top three positions on GC.Cian Uijtdebroeks, the smiling assassin: Few would have expected the 20-year-old Bora-Hansgrohe rider to be the rider spearheading Belgium's challenge this far into the Vuelta. The apparently always buoyant Belgian tells us why his instinct is to attack and why the last week should suit him, while Bora team director Rolf Aldag highlights the qualities that look likely to lift Uijtdebroeks into the ranks of the Grand Tour contenders.What's the future like for Britain's biggest races? A day on from the conclusion of the Tour of Britain, race director Mick Bennett makes a guest appearance on the podcast. He responds to the criticism of his race's route selection, suggests that the government needs to bring its influence to bear in order for elite level bike racing to survive in the UK, and suggests there are ways for racing fans to safeguard the future of the sport by making their voices heard. Annemiek van Vleuten, racing legend: Last weekend the Dutch rider who's won almost every major title in the sport – and in most cases won them again and again – raced for the final time. We get an insider's perspective on Van Vleuten's qualities from Martin Vestby, her team director at Mitchelton-Scott in 2018 to 2020, a period when she made extraordinary strides forward, pulling the women's peloton along in her slipstream, and assess her place in the sport's pantheon of racers.   Support the show

There's a big weekend of racing ahead at the Vuelta a España and the Tour of Britain. With our special guest host OJ Borg standing in for Jeremy Whittle, these are RadioCycling's latest headlines...We start at the Vuelta, where all the talk is about GC Kuss. Could it happen? Will it happen? The American mountain domestique who's leading the race didn't buckle in the TT, is climbing as well as anyone and appears to be enjoying his spot in the limelight. We examine the beautiful dilemma of having three leaders that's facing Jumbo-Visma and, bizarrely, is also facing their rivals at UAE Team Emirates, who have their mountain domestique Marc Soler in a similarly elevated position, just behind Kuss. Will this Vuelta of champions go the way of a first-time Grand Tour winner? It may be 10 months away from starting, but the presentation of the 2024 Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes will take place in Paris at the end of next month. As well as highlighting the bits of both races that have already been announced, including a first-ever finish away from Paris for the men's race, we delve into the known knowns and unknown knowns of the routes, including the Tour having two TTs and passing over Europe's highest road pass.This week's Tour of Britain has been all about one rider, Jumbo-Visma sprinter Olav Kooij. The young Dutchman won the first four stages and then played a very significant part in Wout van Aert's success in the next.  We hear from Van Aert about his budding partnership with his young teammate and profile former speed skater Kooij, who is shaping up like the next king of the sprints.This episode finishes with Britain's national tour, which has copped a good deal of flak for putting on a string of flat stages.  We reveal the reasons behind the route selection, why Covid, recession and police costs have meant that getting the race on at all has been a success in itself, and look at where the race could and should go next.This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Saddle Skedaddle.Support the show

As the Vuelta a España caravan pauses for its first rest day and the chance to wipe off the mud and dirt it picked up at the Cruz de Caravaca summit finish, these are RadioCycling's headlines...Is the Vuelta organisation's better judgement going off course? After yet another stage that left questions hanging over the race directors, we discuss the muddy mayhem of the Cruz de Caravaca. Was the decision to neutralise the final kilometres an over-reaction or were they right to avoid a situation where the hopes of some GC contenders might have gone slip sliding away?Well-drilled and relentlessly brilliant, we shine a focus on Jumbo-Visma's stage race-winning machine, which has lifted three of its riders into contention for the Vuelta title and is carrying them towards the first-ever Grand Tour Grand Slam. Jumbo DS Marc Reef explains the work and thinking behind the Dutch squad's never-ending search for perfection and why its riders buy into this philosophy.The Vuelta recommences on Tuesday with its sole individual time trial. We hear from world TT champion Remco Evenepoel, who tells us about the course in Valladolid and confesses that he's  hoping to replicate the kind of gaps he created in the equivalent test last year. We also get a very succinct take from Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard.Like Jumbo-Visma, UAE Team Emirates have three riders in contention for the Vuelta title. Juan Ayuso is arguably the pick of them, and in this episode we throw a spotlight on him. The 20-year-old Spaniard tells us about his disrupted build-up to this race, his belief in his chances of victory, his growing bond with his one-time racing hero Alberto Contador, and the foundation and junior team he's establishing to enable others to follow in his footsteps. We also turn our attention away from the Vuelta and towards the women's peloton, where two extremely promising British riders have been the subject of intriguing transfers. We hear from relative racing newbie Claire Steels about her move to Movistar as replacement for the all-conquering Annemiek van Vleuten. We also get the lowdown from Canyon-SRAM team manager Ronny Lauke on the arrival of the prodigiously talented Zoe Backstedt.Support the show

After three opening days when chaos was the predominant factor, this Vuelta is turning into a belter, with Sepp Kuss at his climb-conquering best and the youngest rider in the field donning the race leader's red jersey. With the mountains now coming thick and fast, RadioCycling's latest headlines from Spain and beyond are...Lenny Martinez sees red as Remco loses his grip: we could hardly have picked a better morning to speak to the coach of the 20-year-old Groupama-FDJ rider who's already shone magnificently on his Grand Tour debut. Nicolas Boisson tells us what makes Martinez special, about the young Frenchman's goals for this Vuelta, and why he's ready to pick up the baton of team leadership from Thibaut Pinot. "He's the natural successor," Boisson says of Martinez.The Ineos and Soudal-QuickStep rumours won't go away, no matter how much the British team's manager Rod Ellingworth insists that there's nothing in them. RadioCycling bloodhound Chris Marshall-Bell reveals the latest goings-on between the two teams, which include meetings between prominent players on both sides and reports that Jumbo-Visma team manager Richard Plugge is being targeted for a key role.Talking of Richard Plugge, we also get the latest from the Jumbo-Visma team manager on the Dutch outfit's search for a sponsor to replace its primary backer.  We also examine whether Movistar are heading into a sponsorship storm, and highlight some good news on the same front for two of France's leading teams, including sporting superstore giant Decathlon's return to the WorldTour.   As the Vuelta was getting under way, the perennial indicator of talent that is the Tour de l'Avenir concluded with a sensational final day coup by 19-year-old Mexican Isaac Del Toro, who rode off with the yellow, green and polka-dot jerseys. We hear from Del Toro's long-time coach about the Grand Tour potential that he believes the young Mexican is brimming with and his likely next step as he looks towards the WorldTour. In addition, renowned Mexican sports commentator Goga Ruiz Sandoval explains what Del Toro's triumph means for cycling in a country that has a long racing tradition but has been beset by administrative mismanagement and corruption. Support the show

The Vuelta a España is off and running, although its opening weekend was hardly auspicious. RadioCycling donned its waterproofs and night vision goggles in Barcelona and these are our headline stories...The Vuelta's chaotic start: glassy and treacherous roads, racing in darkness, rider protests, getting the results of intermediate sprints from fans, and its defending champion's crash into race staff moments after a thrilling victory... The season's final Grand Tour has stumbled rather than sprinted from the starting blocks. We hear from Thomas De Gendt on the riders' take of the mayhem, we get a defence of the events that occurred from Vuelta director Javier Guillén, and we speak to multiple Grand Tour stage-winner Dan Martin, who explains why this kind of chaos will keep happening while there's no cohesion among the sport's stakeholders.Mark Cavendish is 50/50 for 2024. That's according to his Astana team manager Alexandre Vinokourov, who's tells RadioCycling that he's still encouraging the sport's greatest sprinter to continue for one more year, and is trying to bring that about by signing more riders to be part of the Briton's sprint train.Following the recent positive test for a diuretic of his young GC talent Michel Hessmann,  Jumbo-Visma boss Richard Plugge tells us that the team is confident with its internal protocols and regime of supplements, including the use of cetones. Plugge further explains that no decision can be taken on Hessmann's future until an investigation into the German's positive has been completed.Support the show

Our latest podcast focuses entirely on the Vuelta a España, the final Grand Tour of the season that has attracted, arguably, the best line-up of riders seen anywhere this season. In  RadioCycling's deep dive into the Vuelta, these are the headline stories are...As Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard rekindle their partnership in Jumbo-Visma's bid to claim a first-ever season sweep by one team of all three Grand Tours, we speak to American ace climber Sepp Kuss, who played a key role in the Dutch team's Giro and Tour successes and has been selected to do the same job in Spain over the next three weeks.We also hear from Geraint Thomas, second at the Giro in May and now set to make just his second appearance at the Vuelta at the head of an extremely strong Ineos Grenadiers team. The veteran Welshman talks about his desire to maintain his passion and competitiveness for as long as he can, and confesses that he'd love to make a return to the Tour de France next year.Like Thomas, defending champion Remco Evenepoel goes into the Vuelta as the sole leader of his team. British climber James Knox is one of those tasked with helping the Belgian retain the title, and he tells us about Soudal-QuickStep's approach to the race and of the team's confidence in their leader after Evenepoel's recent victory in the world time trial championship in Glasgow.As was the case at the Tour de France, where Tadej Pogačar and Adam Yates were their leaders, UAE Team Emirates will go into the Vuelta with dual contenders in Juan Ayuso, who was third last year, and João Almeida, who was third at the Giro. Winner of two Vuelta stages last year, Australian Jay Vine will be one of their key support riders in the mountains and explains how this role could play out and why the whole field has concerns about the Spanish weather.Finally, we focus on Eddie Dunbar, the Irishman who was one of the breakthrough performers at the Giro in the spring. The Jayco-AlUla leader reveals what's he learned on the back of that great ride in Italy and how high he thinks he can fly in this most stellar of Grand Tours.This episode is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, skedaddle.com Support the show

The Vuelta a España is just around the corner, but before the focus switches to the final Grand Tour of the season there are plenty of other big talking points in the pro peloton. These are RadioCycling's latest headline stories...We start on familiar ground, with a look at the latest developments and rumours involving the Ineos Grenadiers, Soudal-QuickStep and, it almost goes without saying, Remco Evenepoel. What began as a quest by the British team to sign the Belgian team's leader is turning into something quite different and much more substantial. There's talk of a merger of the two squads, a move that could suit the key players on both sides and could, if confirmed, result in two billionaires joining forces in what would be the most super of teams. It's been a bad week for doping cases. On the heels of the Richard Freeman verdict, Belgian cyclo-cross star Toon Aerts has copped a two-year ban after testing positive for Letrozole, a verdict which doesn't bode well for his compatriot Shari Bossuyt, who now appears to be facing the same fate for the same product. Meanwhile, Jumbo-Visma GC prospect Michel Hessman has delivered a positive test for an unknown diuretic. We examine these cases and discuss where they leave the riders involved, their teams and the sport as a whole.Lidl-Trek have been arguably the biggest movers in the transfer market in August, and the raft of talent highlights that they've definitely not been shopping in the cycling equivalent of the middle aisle in your local Lidl. We hear from the team's head of performance, Josu Larrazabal, who reveals the thinking behind the arrival of seven highly experienced racers including GC leader Tao Geoghegan Hart and top sprinter Jonathan Milan, and of the team's hopes of becoming stage racing big-hitters. Finally, our super sleuth, Chris Marshall-Bell, is already thinking eight years down the line, to the 2031 Super Worlds. The UCI has said five countries from three continents are interested, and our journalistic bloodhound believes he's identified three of them, with the ruling body's home country admitting that it's very much in the running. Support the show

With a flurry of big name moves in the transfer market and 10 days remaining until a cast of the peloton's stars gather at the Vuelta a España, these are RadioCycling's latest headline stories...Following the announcement a four-year ban for former Team Sky and British Cycling doctor Richard Freeman for possession of a banned substance and lying to UK Anti-Doping investigators, we speak to Matt Lawton, chief sports correspondent of the Times, who has followed the case closely since 2016. We hear what impact this decision will have on Team Sky's legacy, whether Freeman is the "fall guy" in this affair, and if the identity of the rider for whom the batch of testosterone at the centre of this case was destined will ever be revealed.   One of the buzz phrases in Scotland at the World Championships was "Tour de France". Another was “When is it coming back?” The British government is behind a bid to host the Tour's Grand Départ for the third time, the money is in place to support this, and now leading actors on both sides of the bid are openly talking it. Is it a done deal? If it is, when might it happen? And could we have the answers to these questions on 25th October? A surprise debutant at the Tour de France, EF Education-EasyPost's James Shaw impressed hugely during the first half of the race, but had to abandon at the end of the second week after a heavy crash left him with severe concussion. The British rider tells us how the concussion protocols worked in his favour, about his return to fitness and reveals that two months on he's still affected by the impact he suffered that day.Support the show

After two weeks of non-stop action, the Glasgow "Super" World Championships  closed, as they began, with some stellar performances from some of the sport's biggest stars. As we head off for a super beer and a long lie down, these are RadioCycling's latest headlines...Worlds in motion... UCI president David Lappartient has hailed these Glasgow Worlds as the biggest success in the championships' history, but there are plenty of talking points in what has been an overwhelming (in all senses of the word) fortnight. We reflect on the sheer amount of racing, which has triggered admissions of burn-out among leading racers, as well as the quality of the action, which has been of the highest level right from the off.The "Remco Evenepoel to Ineos" rumours are rumbling on, fuelled by the Belgian's entourage and by a suggestion from multiple Grand Tour winner turned team owner and commentator Alberto Contador that a deal between the Belgian and the British team is "an open secret" within the peloton. Our man with his ear to the Remco rumour mill, Chris Marshall-Bell, picks over the latest reports and explains how bike manufacturer Specialized could be the deciding force in this affair.Tom Pidcock gave up his chance of going for a road race medal in order to focus on mountain biking in Scotland, and achieved his goal by finishing with a gold and bronze medal haul from his two off-road events. Both, though, were tinged with controversy, notably the UCI's late-minute reshaping of the rules regarding grid positions. We examine the issues, including the UCI's fudging of its own regulations. Among the many long-rumoured transfers that have been confirmed since August 1 was Tao Geoghegan Hart's move from Ineos to Lidl-Trek. We hear from Ineos team manager Rod Ellingworth about the Briton's departure from the squad where he's spent his entire career and why there's no hard feelings on either side.Finally, the Super Worlds is over, but there's less than a fortnight to the start of a super mountainous Vuelta a España. Weary Tadej Pogacar has said a firm ‘no' to racing, but plenty of big names will be in Barcelona for the start. We look at their final preparations and pick out the one contender who's made the Vuelta his entire focus this season as our favourite...Support the show

There's so much action taking place at the Glasgow "Super" World Championships  that there's hardly been time to squeeze in a podcast, but we've finally managed it and these are RadioCycling's latest headlines...We start, of course, in Scotland, with the World Championship version of the Wacky Races. It's been frantic, but fun. There's been griping about too many corners, too many potholes and even too much racing, but it's been impossible to avoid being swept up by the quantity, quality and beauty of the action. As well as offering our take on "cycling's Olympics", we hear from USA's Neilson Powless, British track gold medallist and (first the thing the next morning) Mixed Team Time Trial Relay member Ethan Vernon, and from Ineos coach, Team GB silver medallist and new father Dan Bigham. Despite various attempts to kill it, most notably from the man himself, the Remco Evenepoel transfer story refuses to go away.  In our latest update, we look at the spat between the rider's dad/agent and Soudal-QuickStep boss Patrick Lefevere and ask the obvious question: will he stay or will he go now?One of the central issues in the Remco saga is his team's need for reinforcements. In our analysis of the latest transfer news, we discuss whether Soudal-QuickStep are doing enough to satisfy their team leader's demands, highlight the new Portuguese stage racing talent who's been nabbed by UAE Team Emirates, and detail why the big winners in the transfer market have been... Lotto-Dstny.   Returning to the Glasgow Worlds, we also have one of the feelgood stories of the season. It features two Ugandan racers who've emerged from a biking-crazy orphanage in their home country to compete at the Worlds. We tell the story of U23 Paul Lomuria and junior Lawrence Lorot who, thanks in large part to a British bike event and charity,  are now attracting the interest of elite teams.We end with reflections on one of the sport's climbing greats, and arguably the climbing great, Federico Bahamontes, who died earlier this week – Tour winner, mountains king and fabled lover of an ice cream.Support the show

After an enthralling second edition of the Tour de France Femmes finishes with Demi Vollering's overall victory in Pau, these are RadioCycling's headlines...Bigger and better than in 2022, with a stronger, deeper and more competitive field, the Tour de France Femmes built towards a dramatic climax in the Pyrenean mist that will stay in the memory. We get a rider's perspective on the race from French star Audrey Cordon-Ragot.One of the dominant stories of the Tour de France Femmes was the crackdown by the UCI jury of commissaires on riders drafting behind cars when rejoining the peloton after a crash or a mechanical. Race winner Demi Vollering was penalised for doing it, while her Team SD Worx DS Danny Stam was kicked off the race for facilitating this. We examine the historical context for this hardline approach, hear from Stam and a fellow DS, Uno-X's Huub Duijn, who was also penalised, and from AG Insurance Soudal Quick-Step team leader Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, who tells us the rules should be strictly and consistently imposed at all races.Remco Evenepoel's reign as world champion ended with him winning last weekend's Clásica San Sebastián, but the saga of his rumoured transfer away from Soudal-QuickStep rumbles on. Chris Marshall-Bell, who's so well informed on this story that even S-QS boss Patrick Lefevere asks him for the latest developments, provides an update on the those developments.As had been the case at the Tour de France, the issue of motorbikes and rider safety was highlighted on a number of occasions during the Tour de France Femmes. Adam Hansen, president of the riders' association (CPA), details the ways that things could be improved and explains his own invention of a laser-based system that could ensure that motorbikes don't hamper or interfere with racers.  And finally, in Ground Beans...– the latest on the transfer tug-of-war over Carlos Rodríguez– Caleb Ewan and Lotto-Dstny reach agreement on sprinter's future– Irish sprinter Sam Bennett set to move?Support the show

nAs the Tour de France Femmes approaches its high-rise finale in the Pyrenees, these are RadioCycling's headlines...Despite the loss of sprinter Lorena Wiebes due to a stomach complaint, SD Worx remain in control at the TDFF with Lotte Kopecky still holding the yellow jersey she's had since the opening day and their GC leader Demi Vollering looking as if she has the edge on her rivals, despite a 20-second time penalty for drafting behind her team car. We look at the key days ahead, and particularly Saturday's critical mountain stage over the Aspin pass that then finishes atop the towering Tourmalet.   It has emerged that Jasper Philipsen, winner of four sprints at the Tour de France, received death threats during the race. While attacks of this kind have become frighteningly commonplace in football, this is the first time time that cycling has witnessed such cowardly and partisan menaces. We hear from the Belgian sprinter's Alpecin-Deceuninck team and discuss whether such behaviour is part of the Netflix effect.Among Philipsen's vanquished rivals at the Tour was Biniam Girmay. Much was expected of the Eritrean and Girmay did highlight his talent and speed on occasions, but a Tour win proved elusive. Describing Girmay's Tour debut as like a footballer stepping up into the  Champions' League, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty team director Lorenzo Lapage insists his team leader went to the world's biggest race to learn. From that perspective he emerged from it a better racer, Lapage asserts, and as one who will return to the Tour and win.Rumours are growing that Mark Cavendish will opt to continue for another season with Astana-Qazaqstan. We examine the hearsay and indications that the British sprinter will return after his Tour de France ambitions were abruptly halted at the end of the first week by a broken collar-bone. Like most fans, we're very keen to believe these rumours are true...The Tour de France Femmes has underlined the funding disparities in the women's peloton. It's fair to say there are rich and poor, haves and havenots. There are teams with luxury buses, and there are teams with ageing camper vans.  Some have even labelled it a two-speed race. We hear from Tom Varney, general manager of the British Wahoo-Lifeplus team, about the issues faced by those outfits in that second camp and why, also, there are reasons for optimism as the popularity of women's sport continues to increase.And finally, in Ground Beans...– Bahrain rider suspended for causing a high-profile crash four months ago– Russian rider quits the Women's WorldTour and returns homeSupport the show

 that As the Tour de France Femmes reaches its halfway point, these are RadioCycling's headlines...The first three stages of the TDF Femmes have seen plenty of weather, crashes and abandons, but the GC battle has been cagey, with Demi Vollering's Team SD Worx and  Annemiek van Vleuten's sparring with each other, but not yet looking to delier knockout blows. We hear from defending champion Van Vleuten on why the GC contest has been a waiting game.Amidst the conjecture and scepticism that was triggered during the final week of the Tour de France, there were rumours of technological fraud — or motor doping. There's only been one proven case of this occurring, back in 2016. Since then, the UCI has made the issue one of its priorities. We hear from Mick Rogers, the former pro who is now the UCI's head of road and innovation, who explains what the ruling body is up to with frame-scanning iPads and a state-of the-art X-ray machine.Returning to the Tour de France Femmes, we speak to Claire Steels, the 36-year-old who's racing her debut WorldTour season and is the main GC hope for the Israel-PremierTech-Roland GC team.  Having only taken up racing in 2020, Britain's Steels tells us that she believes she can be in the mix on the race's queen stage, to the summit of the Tourmalet.  Post-Covid, post-Netflix, the Tour is changing and is going to have to come to terms with a younger, more boisterous audience than in the past. But how will the race promoters ASO respond to these changes? As the Tour ended, we caught up with the man who designs, administers and manages the course, Thierry Gouvenou, who confesses that educating selfie-seeking fans is vital and explains how ropes rather than barriers may provide a solution to the mayhem witnesssed on several mountain stages earlier this month.And finally, in Ground Beans, – Sandra Alonso delights fan with teddy gift– López suspended by the UCI– And the last joke on "Beergate" Support the show

On cycling's Super Sunday as the Tour de France finishes and the Tour de France Femmes gets going, these are RadioCycling's headlines...As Jonas Vingegaard completes the most dominant Tour victory of recent years, we pick out the race's highlights including an unforgettable first week, the return of the Puy de Dôme, Bora's poignant tribute to Gino Mäder, and, last but not least, Thibaut Pinot's tremendous swansong in the mountains.British riders were also to the fore during the Tour, from the start in Bilbao, where Adam Yates won the day, to the finale in Paris when the Lancastrian and his twin brother Simon finished third and fourth overall.  Tom Pidcock was also in the thick of the action, and we get the Ineos Grenadier rider's take on the ups and downs of his three weeks, and what it all means for his future Grand Tour hopes. Does Pidcock think he's got what it takes to be a contender?"Beergate" or "Fizzy Watergate"? Whatever you call it, Jumbo-Visma boss Richard Plugge's claim that a French team (it was Groupama-FDJ!) were drinking beer on the second rest day was vociferously rebuffed by Marc Madiot. We examine the spat that led to the Dutch team coming under fire from French fans and that also highlighted the difference between the cutting edge and the traditional approach to the sport.One of the most open and engaging riders in the Tour peloton, Jai Hindley had an unforgettable Tour debut. "A left-hander who likes smashed avo on toast,” the Australian leader of the Bora-Hansgrohe team tells us about his rollercoaster three weeks that included a stage win, a spell in yellow and a GC-damaging crash.Having hot-legged it from the Tour's finale to the Tour de France Femmes' Grand Départ, we speak to another debutant, Lizzie Deignan. The Lidl-Trek rider tells us about her fight for racing fitness after the birth of her second child, what she's hoping for over the course of the next week, and why teammate Elisa Longo Borghini is very much a contender for the yellow jersey.Support the show