Join Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe as Our Giro reaches Tuscany.

We interview Max Sciandri about his journey from Derby to the Tuscan hills via Los Angeles.

Sciandri was one of the Movistar sports directors who helped guide Richard Carapaz to victory in last year's Giro and he's a familiar voice to podcast listeners.

We thought we'd talk to Max about his early years in Britain, how he discovered cycling, his father's link to Robert De Niro, and his Giro d'Italia stage wins.

As Our Giro reaches the halfway mark we also explain how the Intergiro competition worked with the help of Magnus Backstedt, who won the classification's blue jersey in 2003.

We look back at the day Lionel and Daniel went in search of Riccardo Riccò, there's a classic wine of the day and François Thomazeau plays us out with an appropriate song.

The full, unedited Max Sciandri interview will be available for Friends of the Podcast in a couple of days.

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

COMING TOMORROW:

Our interview with Max Sciandri continues, and we look at the 2000 Giro when Marco Pantani returned to racing 11 months after being expelled from the race when on the verge of winning.

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

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.