Our Giro arrives in Sicily and Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe discuss the race’s rich history of controversy, tactical ruthlessness and downright cheating.

From police raids to outlandish excuses for positive doping tests to Richard’s shocking wine-tasting notes, we cover it all.

We talk about Eddy Merckx’s positive test at Savona in 1969, the day a rampant Marco Pantani was stopped in his tracks and kicked out of the race, the stage that pushed the legendary race director Vincenzo Torriani to the limit, and the internal rivalry between Carerra teammates Roberto Visentini (the defending champion) and Stephen Roche in 1987. Plus there’s arguably the first social media controversy.

Having visited Sicily with the Giro twice in recent years, our coverage of the mafia has been perhaps superficial so we get the lowdown on the organised crime network from an expert, author and historian John Dickie.

And Lionel cooks a delightful summery dish of pasta alla norma with the expert guidance of award-winning food writer Felicity Cloake.

The Cycling Podcast is supported by iwoca and Science In Sport.

The title music for Our Giro coverage is called Cozze by Amaraterra.

The Eagle of the Canavese by Herbie Sykes

Mountain High by Daniel Friebe

Mountain Higher by Daniel Friebe

The Cannibal by Daniel Friebe

Cosa Nostra by John Dickie

Mafia Botherhoods by John Dickie 

Mafia Republic: Italy's Criminal Curse. Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta and Camorra from 1946 to the Present by John Dickie

Day of the Owl by Leonardo Sciascia

In our stage five episode we will look at some of The Supernovas – riders who burned brightly, some of them only briefly, at the Giro but failed to replicate that sort of form at other races. The Prosecco Supernovas, if you will.

Our first film, And So We Rode… is available for Friends of the Podcast to watch now. This is the story of Larry Warbasse and Conor Dunne packing their bags and going on a bikepacking trip in the French and Italian Alps after their pro team Aqua Blue Sport folded mid-season. It costs £15 to sign up as a Friend of the Podcast and you will be able to watch the film as well as listen to all our special episodes. thecyclingpodcast.com/join

iwoca became The Cycling Podcast’s title sponsors in March 2020. Iwoca specialises in supporting small businesses and can lend between £1,000 and £250,000. Applications can take only a few minutes to complete and they promise a fast and fair decision. To find out more, go to iwoca.co.uk

Science In Sport is The Cycling Podcast’s longest-standing supporter. It’s a relationship that stretches back to the 2016 Giro d’Italia. Listeners can get 25% off Science In Sport’s range of energy drinks, bars, gels and cakes at scienceinsport.com with the code SISCP25

RIDE OUR GIRO

If you have a smart turbo trainer, you can ride Our Giro on the RGT digital platform. Each stage is around 30 kilometres long and will be online for three days. Go to RGTcycling.com/our-giro for details of how to download the app and sign up. Thanks to RGT and Veloviewer.com for helping us create Our Giro.

Our friends at Dvinecellars.com have put together a ‘Selezione Our Giro’ case of 12 wines from around Italy. There’s also a ‘Baby Giro’ case of six bottles. Use the code ‘Our Giro’ when ordering. Cases can be delivered in the UK, excluding the Highlands and Northern Ireland, and a donation from each case will be made to the Scuola Ciclismo in Cene.