The Giro d'Italia: it's about beauty, style, resilience and suffering. There will be bunch sprints, punchy time trials, cruel mountains and lots of very cool Italian cycle-styling. The 2022 race starts this Friday in Budapest. As ever, we expect a dramatic and hard-fought race and, joining host OJ Borg, is the cycling correspondent to The Guardian, Jeremy Whittle, and author, journalist and podcaster, Pete Cossins.

OJ, Jeremy and Pete run their eyes over the route of the Corsa Rosa, identify the favorites and the potential upstarts, and choose the key stages from what looks a very dramatic and grueling route. And they chat through Italian cycling's spell in the World Tour doldrums, the appeal of time trialling to the Tik Tok generation and discuss ways to make the “race of truth” more appealing to a younger audience. 

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So the 2022 spring classics are behind us and it's almost time to welcome this season's Giro d'Italia, but before we do that, OJ Borg, Jeremy Whittle and Peter Cossins chat through a dramatic and compelling Liège-Bastogne-Liège weekend, in which one young talent — Remco Evenepoel — came of age, and another, of a different vintage — Annemiek van Vleuten — showed her durability and resilience. 

They also look back over the peaks and troughs of a thrilling March and April, from the Poggio to the Arenberg, the Kemmelberg to La Redoute, discussing the capi and the cobbles, the bergs and the bravado, and identifying the winners and losers (and the missing in action) from cycling's greatest one-day races...

Just as expected, the 2022 Paris-Roubaix weekend had it all, from crashes to collapsing wheels, bloodied knees to euphoria. In the latest Aérogramme podcast, OJ Borg, Jeremy Whittle, James Startt and Peter Cossins chat through the highlights, dramas and also the controversies of this year's 'Hell of the North,' as first Elisa Longo Borghini and then Dylan van Baarle took spectacular solo victories.

Borghini made it two in a row for Trek-Segafredo in the women's race, and then Van Baarle won the fastest-ever edition of the men's race and Ineos Grenadiers — formerly Team Sky, of course — ended their decade-long wait for a cobblestone trophy. Meanwhile, after his rider Yves Lampaert collided with a roadside fan, Quickstep Alpha Vinyl boss Patrick Lefevere was sounding off once again, which left our team wondering if that's always such a good thing…

It's almost here, some of cycling’s most enthralling racing — Paris-Roubaix weekend. With both Lizzie Deignan, lone winner of the inaugural women's Hell of the North last year, and Sonny Colbrelli, emotional champion in the velodrome last autumn, absent, the 2022 edition of the women's and men's race are both characterized by uncertainty over who will emerge victorious.

Host OJ Borg is joined by Jeremy Whittle and renowned photojournalist James Startt, fresh from a recon with the top teams, to chat through the highs and lows of Roubaix past, the endless tech innovations that emerge each year and the expectations for a dry and dusty weekend on the cobbles, as spring settles on Northern France.

Amstel Gold Race has a knack for creating gripping races, and this weekend’s edition was no exception. 

Michal Kwiatkowski was in vintage form, looking like the rider who once won the world championships as he snagged another win here by the slimmest of margins. And his Ineos team finally looked dominant for the first time this season. On the women’s side, Marta Cavalli won in style with some brilliant judgement and a decisive move.

Later in the episode, hosts OJ Borg, Peter Cossins and Jeremy Whittle catch us up on what happened in the Tour of the Basque Country 2022 and debate which race has the best prizes in cycling.

Finally, Paris-Roubaix, delayed a week this year, is next on the calendar. What can we expect from the Hell of the North this year? It’s all on this week’s episode. 

For the past few weeks there has been plenty of talk about wunderkind Tadej Pogačar winning the Tour of Flanders in his very first outing. And he very nearly did, coming incredibly close to cracking Mathieu van der Poel on the cobbled Flemish climbs, but ultimately falling short in a bungled final kilometer, becoming, humorously put, the first man to ever come fourth in a two-man sprint. 

OJ Borg, Peter Cossins and Jeremey Whittle are back for another episode of Aérogramme to discuss the second monument of the season, and there’s a lot to go over. Pogačar showed some uncharacteristic tactical flaws and a reaction to losing that looked more becoming of his 23 years than we’re used to seeing. “He suddenly looked his age,” says Jeremy Whittle of Pogačar’s reaction to getting fourth. Was this loss for Pogačar good for cycling? On the flip side, Mathieu van der Poel seems to have learned the tough lessons of his narrow defeat at last year’s Tour of Flanders, pulling off an excellent race and looking in control through the final sprint.

How does this year’s race stack up against the many great editions over the years? And for that matter how does the Tour of Flanders stack up against the other four Monuments? We dive in to those questions and more.

In the women’s race, Lotte Kopecky won Belgium’s biggest race in the national champion’s jersey after an excellent race by her SD Worx team. We discuss how the women’s race went down and the differing tactics employed between the men’s and women’s editions. 

There’s also discussion of the just announced Netflix series covering this summer’s Tour de France. What do we hope to see from the series being produced by the same people behind the wildly popular “Drive to Survive” Formula 1 series?

Tune in for the full conversation.

In just his second ever race on the cobbles of Belgium, Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay is now a spring classic winner at Gent-Wevelgem, the first from Africa, throwing out preconceptions and perceived limitations of what African riders can achieve. It’s a watershed moment in professional cycling, leaving much to discuss on this week’s episode of Aérogramme. 

Jeremy Whittle and Peter Cossins once again join OJ Borg for another installment of the podcast from the spring classics, and they’re eager to dive into the big result for Girmay. Hot off of taking fifth at E3, his first time riding on cobbles, the 21-year-old sprinted to the huge win. He employed clever tactics coupled with sheer power to win a race over many established classics riders who know these roads intimately.The discussion quickly turns to the importance of this win. What will the first cobbled classic victory by an African rider mean for the advancement of African and Black riders in cycling? And what does it mean for Girmay’s life and career?

But in order for this moment to happen, Girmay first had to break into pro cycling. He has been beating the odds for his entire life to find himself where he is now, coming from a country where, when he was born, one in two kids were severely malnourished. Dr. Stuart Gillespie, a senior fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, joins the show to provide context about Girmay’s home country of Eritrea, its cycling culture and what his accomplishment will mean for the country.

Later, the discussion turns to etiquette and manners within the pro peloton and how new riders are rewriting traditional attitudes and norms of the sport. And we check in on the exciting women’s edition of Gent-Wevelgem. 

The first Monument of 2022 is in the books and there’s a lot to discuss. Matej Mahorič put on a phenomenal show this weekend at Milan–San Remo, pushing his daredevil descending skills to the limit on the Poggio for a thrilling victory. Here to break it all down in the first episode of Aérogramme of the 2022 season are OJ Borg, Peter Cossins and Jeremy Whittle.

La Primavera’s final kilometers were even more entertaining than usual. From Tadej Pogačar stating before the race his intent to attack, to the return of Mathieu van der Poel, there were many elements animating the race. But the most thrilling would be Matej Mahorič’s innovative use of a dropper post to maximize his descent down the Poggio and pull away from all of his rivals. The win meant that Slovenian dominance this season has continued, with four out of five WorldTour races this season now being won by riders from the country of 2.1 million. It’s all on discussion in this episode. 

Later, the conversation turns to the state of other teams in the pro peloton. Normal power houses like Quickstep and Ineos were nowhere to be found at the front of Milan–San Remo. How does this bode for the rest of their seasons?

Motorbikes are on discussion too. They have been getting closer to riders and at times getting in the way of racing. Do we need new rules for motos in cycling races?  

Finally, we check in with other big news from the world of cycling this weekend, including EF Education–EasyPost’s Lachlan Morton riding 1,000 kilometers from Munich to the Poland-Ukraine border nearly nonstop to raise money for Ukrainian refugees.  

Aérogramme is presented by Hammerhead and the Karoo 2 cycling computer. Use promo code AEROGRAMME to get a free custom color kit and exclusive premium water bottle with purchase of a Karoo 2. 

The autumn leaves are falling and just like that the 2021 road cycling season has come and gone. In this final episode of Aérogramme with La Course en Tête for 2021, we recap the year, sifting through the highs and lows, the winners and losers, and our favorite moments. 

The big question for 2021 is: Was it a classic season of professional cycling? There are many points to be made either way, with historical firsts, edge-of-your-seat moments of excitement, and, of course, moments that were less enthralling. We dive into some of the highlights, including the first women’s Paris–Roubaix and the new young generation of riders cementing their place atop the sport. 

But cycling never quite stops and there’s one final bit of news to discuss: the 2022 Tour de France routes. Yes, routes plural; the eight-stage Tour de France Femmes premieres in 2022. We take a look into what the next editions have in store, from the start in Denmark to the traditional finish in Paris, where the women’s race picks right up after the men’s as a standalone race. Where will the most exciting moments come from next year? There’s no shortage of contenders with a varied route that includes cobbles and plenty of climbs, including the fabled Alpe d’Huez. 

And before we sign off until the 2022 season begins, we have one more interview with Dave Brailsford, general manager of the Ineos Grenadiers. One of the biggest questions of the new season will be how his team, once nearly untouchable at the Tour de France, responds to the Tour’s newly dominant force, Tadej Pogačar. Can his team, which by no means had a bad year with a Giro d’Italia win and podium finishes in the other grand tour, rise to the occasion?

Never has Paris-Roubaix been meaner or more brutal than this year’s edition through the rain, wind and mud of Northern France. It truly was hell, a fantastic feast of cobbled racing that was well worth the 2.5-year wait since the last edition. And with women competing for the first time ever, we got a double dose of cobbled racing. 

On this week’s episode, OJ Borg is joined by Peter Cossins and Jeremy Whittle, with an appearance by Sophie Smith, still in lockdown at home in Melbourne, to discuss this epic edition of the Hell of the North. 

With the weather so severe, there were doubts over whether the race would even be run this time around. But the whole point of the race is the extremeness of it, and it went on as planned. The October date, away from its usual April slot, made for a unique flavor of the race. Should it stick around at the end of the season? Or return to its traditional slot? Plus there’s plenty to discuss about the racing itself. 

And this weekend a revamped Giro Il Lombardia boasts a star-studded cast including recently crowned world champion Julian Alaphilippe, along with GC racers like Chris Froome, Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič and more. The final monument of the season should present an exclamation point to the season. 

Listen to the episode for the full discussion!