With the Grand Départ in Nice just a few days away, the countdown to the start of the 2020 Tour de France is on. It will be a Tour like no other and in this episode, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe look forward to the race.

We weigh up the Ineos Grenadiers team selection, which saw Chris Froome's bid for a fifth Tour victory put on hold and Geraint Thomas also left out. Ineos will still go into the race with the reigning Tour de France and Giro d'Italia champions, Egan Bernal and Richard Carapaz.

There's a look at the route, which appears to be full of semi-hidden traps to punish a moment's inattention. And we hear from Marianne Vos about La Course, which will be held on Saturday morning, NTT Pro Cycling's boss Doug Ryder about being the first to confirm their eight-man line up for the Tour, Britain's Tour debutant Connor Swift about lining up alongside Nairo Quintana and Larry Warbasse on his recent positive test for coronavirus.

Join Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau on the road in France for nightly episodes recapping the day's stage and big stories. Kilometre 0 will air every weekday morning (Monday to Friday).

OUR SPONSORS

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. iwoca have been accredited by the British Business Bank to offer CBILS (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme) – the scheme is now open, so businesses can apply for a loan rather than just register interest. 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

The next generation Wattbike Atom is supporting all our Tour de France coverage this year. The new Wattbike Atom is available from £90 per month at wattbike.com