RadioCycling

Lenny Martinez’s coach on the Vuelta leader; more Ineos-QuickStep rumours; two paths for Jumbo in sponsorship search; Avenir winner Isaac del Toro and...

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

Vuelta chaos: De Gendt, Guillén & Dan Martin give their take; Cav 50/50 for 2024; Jumbo-Visma holds course after doping positive

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

Our Vuelta preview, featuring Geraint Thomas, Sepp Kuss, Eddie Dunbar, Jay Vine and James Knox

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

Ineos-QuickStep merger? Lidl-Trek’s supermarket sweep; a bad week for doping cases; Swiss aiming for 2031 Super Worlds

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

Former Team Sky doctor given doping ban, the Tour de France and its probable UK return, and James Shaw on severe concussion

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

Super Worlds wrap: Remco, Pidcock, Kopecky & rider burnout. Plus, Geoghegan Hart leaves Ineos & Pogačar says ”no” to Vuelta

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

Glasgow Worlds reaction; Remco latest (yes, again!); transfer market update; the feelgood story of the Worlds; Federico Bahamontes remembered

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

TDF Femmes finale; Remco transfer saga rolls on; the UCI crackdown on drafting; Adam Hansen on improving motorbike safety in races

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

Alpecin downplay Philipsen death threats; Vollering the rider to beat at TDFF; Intermarché defend Girmay’s Tour showing; Cav to saddle up again in 202...

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

Cagey start at TDF Femmes; the UCI’s quest against motor doping; Claire Steels, the 36yo WorldTour debutant; educating the Tour’s new fans

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