RadioCycling

Remco Evenepoel on riding the Tour de France, Fabio Jakobsen on his new leadership role, Tour of Britain latest

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

What future for the Grenadiers after Ineos’s Manchester United takeover? Mathieu van der Poel – untouchable on the bike and off it? Remembering Meliss...

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

Tours of Britain in jeopardy, Tadej Pogačar on riding the Giro and his favourite pizza, and our wrap of the 2023 season

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

Mark Cavendish talks 2024, as do Lidl-Trek leaders Tao Geoghegan-Hart & Giulio Ciccone, plus a big step for the One Cycling project

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

Safety first for Israel-PremierTech after u-turn; we meet EF Education new hope Lukas Nerurkar and Lidl-Trek’s unsung hero Toms Skujins

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

The Ineos view on 18yo American racing sensation AJ August; another step forwards for One Cycling; the Algerian with more wins than Remco Evenepoel & ...

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

Israel-PremierTech boss Sylvan Adams on the war in Israel, security concerns, using cycling for reconciliation & Chris Froome’s bike set-up; plus, Spa...

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

Tour of Britain in limbo; the struggle to boost cycling participation in Palestine; as Manchester United line up Dave Brailsford, what next for the In...

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

Doubts and dismay over One Cycling’s plan to revamp racing; the Parisian climb that’s key to Olympic glory; Tour de France set for return of split sta...

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

Special report: Is Saudi Arabia’s PIF behind cycling’s proposed new league?

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