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

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

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

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

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

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

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 Hopes Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices