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

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 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

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 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

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 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

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