CyclingTips Podcast

Egan Bernal and Katie Hall came into the queen stage of the Amgen Tour of California with the weight of expectation. Both delivered. In this episode, we break down the GC battles and chat with Hall and Bernal's chief lieutenant, Tao Geoghegan Hart to find out how they did it. 

Plus, a chat with the 20-year-old American who finished 7th, despite a flat tire in the time trial.

Fernando Gaviria took his second stage win and Kendall Ryan took her first ever leader's jersey in Elk Grove, California on Thursday. Caley Fretz is on the ground at the race and chats with Ian Boswell about the speed of the peloton (he says it's faster) and Toms Skujins about his breakaway confidence and his victory solute.

Then, Neal Rogers joins to dig into the GC picture, and how things might play out on the Tahoe stage. The stage will decide the overall for both the men's and women's race.

The second of three key stages at the Tour of California, a 34km time trial through Morgan Hill, is now behind us. Where to the favorites sit? Neal Rogers and Caley Fretz walk the pits at the TT and chat discuss the stage. 

Plus, a Nerd Alert with wind tunnel engineer Chris Yu, who gives us a lesson in bike aerodynamics.

Toms Skujins has now won three stages in four starts at the Tour of California. How does he do it? More brains than brawn, he says. And did he plan that victory solute? Not exactly. 

Neal Rogers and Caley Fretz and in California and break down Tuesday's attack-filled stage, then look ahead to the time trial in Morgan Hill, which could decide the race overall. We hear from Peter Sagan and his director Patxi Villa, plus Egan Bernal and stage winner Skujins.

Yesterday, Egan Bernal told us that he is, quote, "Not yet a good road rider."

The first decisive GC stage of the Amgen Tour of California suggested otherwise.

We catch up with the new race leader plus his Sky teammate Teo Geoghegan Hart, Bora-Hansgrohe's Rafal Majka, and Aussie Adam Yates to break down the stage. 

Plus: Why are you here? The Tour of California is a long way to go for the European peloton, so we asked classics man Oliver Naessen why he made the trek.

The first stage of the Tour of California ended, predictably, in a sprint. What did we learn from it? Who's leadout train is firing on all cylinders? Who needs to find their sprint legs? The best sprinters in the world are here, duking it out. 

Plus, a 15-minute sit-down with one of the brightest talents in the sport, Colombian Egan Bernal. He's introspective and has his feet firmly planted on the ground.

The Amgen Tour of California kicks off Sunday and we'll be recording daily episodes all week for our beloved podcast listeners. This is the first: A preview of the week to come, in which we hear from top GC contender Tejay van Garderen and sprinter Caleb Ewan. 

Plus, everything is bigger in America, including the roads. How does that change the racing? We chat with the pros to find out.

The Giro d'Italia kicked off in Israel last weekend. What was it actually like? What did it mean to Israeli cyclists, and what did it mean to Palestinian cyclists? Matt de Neef filed a dispatch with answers. 

Neal Rogers and Caley Fretz break down the racing of the first week and look ahead to the first GC battle on Etna. 

This week's Nerd Alert includes a chat with Aqua Blue's mechanic about racing at the highest levels of the sport without a front derailleur.

The Giro d'Italia is about to kick off and we run through the key stages, evaluate the major contenders, and discuss the unique opening weekend, the first ever partenza outside Europe. 

This week's Nerd Alert sets off with a small rant from James on the bike industry's inability to set its own tubeless standards, then morphs into a discussion of e-bikes on trails, and is topped off with an analysis of Vista Outdoor's announcement that it will see a number of its bicycle brands. Did the boycott work?

This week's episode comes to you from the grounds of the Sea Otter Classic, which is quickly becoming the go-to show for forward-looking bike tech. We run through the coolest tech from the festival and get some insight from SRAM into where the industry is headed. 

It's not all Sea Otter, though. We're back in Boulder for the second half of the show to chat Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Lotto Soudal's team troubles, and the origins of CyclingTips itself with CT founder Wade Wallace.