CyclingTips Podcast

We're back in a basement, though it's not the same basement. Neal has some sort of flu, so Caley and James are in James' basement this week, along with Dane Cash. The three discuss Mathieu van der Poel's incredible Amstel Gold victory — one of the most amazing finishes we've ever seen — and Kasia Niewiadoma's daring attack, then look ahead to Fleche Wallonne. 

In this week's Nerd Alert, James chats with a tubeless rim manufacturer that isn't happy with the new tubeless "standard."

Dave Everett and Caley Fretz begin their Sunday in Hell with a walk around the pits at the start in Compiegne, chatting with Silca's Josh Poertner about tire optimization. Then they hop in their rental car and head out on course. 

Will their oil pan survive? What does it feel like to stand on the final corner before the Roubaix velodrome? These and other important questions, answered herein.

The new Specialized Roubaix launched this week, and you've probably seen the headlines: It has a new Future Shock, aero tube shapes, stealthy, sleek looks, and more.

Just as we did with the Venge last summer, we wanted to dig deeper. So we asked for an early test bike, rode it, and then flew to Specialized headquarters in Morgan Hill, California, and sat down with the engineers and product managers behind the bike to ask them how they made it.

It's holy week, and this week's episode comes from the ground at the Tour of Flanders, including interviews at the Antwerp depart and Oudenaarde finish.

Caley is joined by Dave Everett for a wander around the Flanders, including chats with the John Degenkolb, Heinrich Haussler, Taylor Phinney, Ruth Winder, Jonathan Vaughters, and more. 

Caley takes you inside the celebrations at EF, and Dave settles an age-old question: Socks over leg warmers, or under?

It's here. Holy week. Flanders, Roubaix, the best one-day races all year. Neal, James, and Caley start off the show with a look at E3 and Gent-Wevelgem, and what they tell us about the way things could play out across the roads of Belgium and northern France.

In Nerd Alert, James calls up the researcher behind Virginia Tech's third-party helmet safety tests to get the real story behind all the claims and counterclaims that have been thrown around since Bontrager announced its Wavecell helmet line.

La Classicissima! Milan-San Remo put on a show, with daredevil descents and dropped chains, and a worthy winner. But Trefeo Binda might have been even better.

Neal, Caley, and Dane Cash break down the weekend's racing, attempt impromptu race commentary of Volta Catalunya, and discuss Matthieu Van der Poel's post-crash recovery. 

In Nerd Alert, James has been digging into John Degenkolb's dropped chain on the Poggio. What is it about road racing that makes 1x hard to perfect?

Dave Brailsford did it. He found a sponsor. What does the Ineos news mean? Who's the man behind the money? This week's episode digs into the announcement.

Plus, we round up the week's racing news, from Paris-Nice to Tirreno to Drenthe, and have a look at the hilly start of the 2020 Tour de France.

James is in New York for the launch of Bontrager's new WaveCell helmet tech. He talks to the researchers behind the development, which is claimed to be 48 times more effective at preventing concussions.

We open this week's episode with a breakdown of one of the season's best one-day races, Strade Bianche, plus a look at a windy first few stages of Paris-Nice.

Then, we hear an astounding interview from the Nordic Nation podcast with Karel Tammjärv, one of the cross country skiers busted in Austria for blood transfusions. Tammjärv explains in detail how he got around the biological passport. 

In this week's Nerd Alert, James sits down with Mavic to talk about the newly settled road tubeless standar

This week's episode opens with an analysis of last weekend's Belgian opener, then we chat with Dane Cash about Rohan Dennis' general classification ambitions. 

Neal rang up the communications director from E3 Harelbeke to ask about that weird frog poster. Then we dig into the recent doping confessions of two Austrian cyclists. 

Finally, we ask an existential question: Is Zwift making us soft?

We open this week's episode with a recap of recent racing, plus a call-in from our man in the Middle East, Dane Cash. 

Then James, Neal, and Caley discuss the very strange E3 Harelbeke poster, which appears to show two body painted women turning themselves into a frog. Or something. We're not quite sure. 

Then, in Nerd Alert, James calls up Josh Poertner to ask about the entry of tubeless tires into the world of pro cycling.

This episode wraps up with a chat about riding across Kyrgyzstan.