In this week’s regular episode of The Cycling Podcast, Daniel Friebe is joined by top commentator Rob Hatch and the Danish former comms chief turned team manager turned journalist, Brian Nygaard.  We take a look back at a busy week of racing - including the cyclocross World Championships - and some of the biggest stories of the last week, including heartening news about the Tour of Britain. It’s then time to focus on some of the big talking points and performances at the AlUla Tour, Volta a...

In this week’s regular episode of The Cycling Podcast, Daniel Friebe is joined by two of cycling’s most recognisable and beloved commentators - Renaat Schotte and Rob Hatch - to discuss to the start of the European road season and look ahead to the cyclocross Worlds in Tábor, Czechia.  The reigning ‘cross world champions, Mathieu van der Poel and Fem Van Empel, are both favourites to retain their titles at the weekend. Renaat tells us why a Van der Poel victory, in particular, looks a safe...

We’re looking at life a little upside down in the first Cycling Podcast Feminin of the year. Special guest cycling journalist Rebecca Charlton joins Rose Manley and Denny Gray to look over the first Women’s World Tour race of the year – the Tour Down Under in Australia. We analyse the veracity of overall winner Sarah Gigante’s claims that she was “washed up” at the age of 23 and all get into a hotly-fought argument over Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig’s prospects for the year. We’re also introducing...

In this week’s regular episode of The Cycling Podcast, Daniel Friebe is joined by former peloton stalwart Mitch Docker and former pressroom stalwart François Thomazeau to review the first WorldTour race of the 2024 season, the Santos Tour Down Under. We discuss how Stevie Williams’ thrilling overall victory represents a return from the brink for the Welsh rider - and one tinged with controversy. The other two breakout stars of the race were BORA-Hansgrohe sprinter Sam Welsford and UAE Team...

When, midway through last year’s Tour de France, Caleb Ewan ‘celebrated’ his 29th birthday, in fact far from rejoicing, the Aussie sprinter was enduring some of the most difficult days of his career - out of form and out of favour with his Lotto-Dstny team, so much so that his boss, Stéphane Heulot, would respond to Ewan quitting La Grande Boucle by questioning his professionalism.  Ewan’s relationship with Lotto looked irredeemably broken - and indeed, three months later, Jayco-Alula...

This week’s regular episode of The Cycling Podcast is our annual Speculation episode, in which we ponder & prognosticate what will be the major stories of the coming season. Daniel Friebe is joined by Décathlon-AG2r La Mondiale star Larry Warbasse & ace commentator Rob Hatch - & together they’ll scrutinise the 2024 predictions of assorted friends, colleagues & riders. Can Visma-Lease a Bike repeat their 2023 heroics? Will Mark Cavendish take his 35th Tour de France stage win?...

In this special episode of The Cycling Podcast, as a festive treat, we serve up a Christmas selection box of highlights from the 2023 men's Grand Tours. Proceeding in chronological order, we journey back in time first to May and the Giro d'Italia, where Daniel Friebe and Brian Nygaard saw lots of rain, a race that took its time to catch light, then a finale for the ages.  Next, Lionel Birnie took over at the steering wheel for the Tour de France - variously assisted and accompanied by...

In this special, end-of-year episode of The Cycling Podcast, Daniel Friebe is joined by a star-studded ensemble of regular guests to relive and debate some of the highlights of the 2023 road season. Mitch Docker, François Thomazeau, Larry Warbasse, Richard Abraham (fortunate to avoid inclusion in the episode artwork!), Ian Boswell, Rob Hatch and a certain Italian newshound all drop in to share in the festive fun - and give their nominations for the Ride of 2023, Person of 2023, Beef of 2023...

Yes, it’s the most wonderful time of year… Christmas quiz time! Reigning champ (or so she claims) Orla Chennaoui pits herself against quiz debutant Denny Gray in Rose Manley’s fiendish Yuletide puzzler. Let your brain be bamboozled by humdingers like, how many corners were there in the World Champs course? Did Demi Vollering really explain her teammate’s toilet habits in a post-race interview? And most crucially, which rider is “Orange Bumcrease”? As is only appropriate at Christmas time,...

In this week’s regular episode of The Cycling Podcast, we visit Bora-Hansgrohe at their December billet in Mallorca for an in-depth interview with the team’s Head of Sports Rolf Aldag.  It turned out to be a timely conversation, coming as it did hot on the heels of news that Cian Uijtdebroeks had walked out on Bora-Hansgrohe to sign for Jumbo-Visma - his agent claimed after his Bora deal had been terminated, the team said a year before it was due to expire.  Here, Aldag talks to us about...

In this week’s episode of The Cycling Podcast, long-time Grand Tour diarist Pavel Sivakov joins us to reflect on his 2023 season and look ahead to his imminent move to the world’s number one-ranked team, UAE Team Emirates.  The winner of the Giro della Toscana in September and a top-10 finisher in six stage races, Sivakov enjoyed his best season ever in 2023 - and yet recognises that, in some pundits’ eyes, his Grand Tour results are still used as the single measure of his career trajectory....

In this episode of The Cycling Podcast, Daniel Friebe is joined by ace Eurosport commentator Rob Hatch to discuss the latest headlines from the world of professional cycling and some of the burning issues of the week.  In Germany, the hot topic of the last few days has been the release of the new, multi-part Jan Ullrich documentary ‘Der Gejagte’. Daniel reports back on what we as viewers learn and also reflects on how the film in some ways acts as the perfect afterword to his Ullrich...

In this week’s regular episode of The Cycling Podcast, Daniel Friebe is joined by Brian Nygaard and Ian Boswell - both of them formerly of Team Sky as a press chief and rider respectively - as we chew over the shock news that Deputy Team Principal Rod Ellingworth is to leave the British outfit.  We analyse Ellingworth’s legacy and ask where the team goes next, having lost one of their founding fathers. Are they on the brink of a bright new era or contemplating a crisis of identity?  There’s...

It’s an Annemiek Van Vleuten special on The Cycling Podcast Feminin. Rose Manley and Denny Gray reflect back on the racing career of one of the most successful and influential riders in the sport following her retirement in September.  Rose sits down with Van Vleuten herself to talk about the things that shaped her as a rider and how she’s finding post-retirement life. And Van Vleuten reveals what’s next for her both personally and professionally. We also look back at the ways in which Van...

In this week’s episode of The Cycling Podcast, we take you inside one of the more dramatic and harrowing stories of the 2023 season - a crash that abruptly ended one rider’s realistic chance of winning the Giro d’Italia, his season and also his seven-year career with the team that, as a teenager, he had dreamed of one day joining.  That rider is Tao Geoghegan Hart - and he is also our guest and Daniel Friebe’s conversation partner this week. We hear about the initial trauma of the accident,...

In this week’s episode of The Cycling Podcast, Daniel Friebe & Brian Nygaard delve deeper into one of the stories of a wild pro cycling autumn - the revelation that half a dozen World Tour teams want to launch their own league or series to help secure their (financial) future. Brian was at the bleeding edge of two previous attempts to do precisely this - and he helps us understand why neither ultimately came to fruition. There’s also the usual news round-up, including reports of a bleak...

In this episode of The Cycling Podcast, we are joined by an old friend and confidant - AG2r-Citroën’s Larry Warbasse - for a full debrief on the former US road racing champion’s 2023 season.  Daniel Friebe quizzes Larry about personal landmarks, successes and disappointments in what was a long, tiring campaign for the 33-year-old. There’s also an honest analysis of AG2r’s fortunes over the past few months - and where they can and need to improve next year.  In addition, we round up the...

Explore returns with Adam Bowie, one of The Cycling Podcast's producers, taking over the mic to document his ride at the 2023 Étape du Tour. Each July, the Étape gives thousands of riders a chance to experience the thrill of riding the route of a Tour de France stage on closed roads. This time it was the course of stage 14 from Annemasse to Morzine in the Alps, taking in the Col de Cou, Col du Feu, Col de la Ramaz and Col de Joux Plane. The Étape was celebrating its 30th anniversary – the...

In this episode of The Cycling Podcast, we review two big gala events that took place in Paris this week - the Vélo d’Or awards ceremony and the presentation of the 2024 Tour de France routes.  Daniel Friebe is joined by veteran reporter and resident francophile François Thomazeau plus top commentator Rob Hatch to give our verdict on the Vélo d’Or voting panel’s decisions - and on two Tour de France routes, men’s and women’s, that pack an awful lot of ingredients into what look like a pair...

This October episode of The Cycling Podcast Feminin is full of our podcast’s most dreaded thing “speculation”. Rose Manley and Denny Gray look over some of the rumours around next year’s Tour de France Femmes route which will apparently include a showstopping final day on the Alpe d’Huez. They also look ahead to some of how next season’s teams are shaping up, with Lidl-Trek and EF Education-Cannondale taking almost opposite approaches to their rosters. We hear from young Brit Abi Smith...

In this week’s episode of The Cycling Podcast, Daniel Friebe, Lionel Birnie and ace commentator Rob Hatch examine one venerable Italian cycling institution’s latest iteration - the newly revealed 2024 Giro d’Italia route - and look at the brightest, most ambitious upstart on the same nation’s racing calendar: Filippo Pozzato and his races in the Veneto.  We deliver our own assessment of a noticeably less lofty-than-usual ‘Corsa Rosa’ route before hearing Jayco-AlUla head DS Matt White’s...

This week’s episode features a comprehensive look back at the last monument of the season, Il Lombardia, and the latest example of Tadej Pogačar in just his latest annus mirabilis.  Daniel Friebe, Lionel Birnie and Rob Hatch also reflect on Thibaut Pinot’s very noisy and memorable farewell, plus the full-stop on a few other notable careers last weekend. There’s also the latest on the merger that apparently will now never be, between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-Quickstep. The former’s most...

In this week’s bumper episode of The Cycling Podcast, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie are joined by French press-pack doyen François Thomazeau to discuss some dramatic events over the last seven days - and look ahead to il Lombardia at the weekend.  There’s the usual news round-up, then the labyrinthine tale of how Daniel tried to establish the 2024 destination of Primož Roglič. We also ponder the latest twists and turns in the Soudal-Quickstep/Jumbo-Visma saga and what they may mean for...

The Cycling Podcast returns this week with an in-depth look at the news story that has rocked the sport over the past few days: the revelation by Dutch website Wielerflits that the existing Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-Quick Step teams may be about to join forces. Daniel Friebe and ace Eurosport commentator Rob Hatch hear from the journalist who broke the story, Raymond Kerchoffs, and go on to discuss both the likelihood and the implications of any such move. Does it spell the end of the road for...

In this month’s episode of The Cycling Podcast Feminin, Rose Manley and Denny Gray pour over what has been a packed racing schedule since the World Championships. They pick out the defining moments and big breakthroughs from this closing part of the season which has included a nail-biting Tour of Scandinavia, a lively Tour de Romandie and a Simac Ladies Tour that was full of surprises. We also hear from Canyon-SRAM’s huge new talent Antonia Niedermaier who has already bagged a Giro stage win...