SBS cycling analyst Anthony Tan invites his travelling companions Ian Chadband, chief sports correspondent for the London Telegraph, and Ian Parker, journalist for the Press Association, Britain’s largest national news agency, to muse over proceedings from the opening stage of the 100th Tour de France.

Cycling Central's signature Tour de France podcast team, the Sag Wagon, returns to the airwaves in 2013 with a mix of the quirky, the mundane, and lots of talk of Chateaux. Brought to you by host Sam Pang and regular David Culbert, first timer Annabelle Drew joins the team this year for buckets of laughs. Every day of the Tour from midday AEST. Enjoy!

Marcel Kittel of Argos-Shimano fronts the press after a crash-marred opening stage of the Tour de France, the German beating Alexander Kristoff and Danny Van Poppel in Bastia to become the race's first maillot jaune.

“We have one single objective, and that is to place Cadel Evans on the podium,” said BMC Racing team president Jim Ochowicz in their press conference Friday in Porto-Vecchio.

Evans added that his team this year is “slightly better and more focused” than in 2011 when he created history by becoming the first Australian to win the Tour.

As well as Ochowicz and Evans, last year’s best young rider Tejay van Garderen and world champion Philippe Gilbert have their say.

“I think we have a really bonded group of guys that, together, can create chaos in the race and can create a situation where we can perform way above anyone else’s expectations of us are.”

These were the words of Slipstream Sports CEO Jonathan Vaughters in Garmin-Sharp’s pre-Tour de France press conference, who also said that “no question is off limits”.

Also part of the discussion was David Millar, Daniel Martin and Andrew Talansky.

At a press conference in Porto-Vecchio, key members Chris Froome, Richie Porte and Dave Brailsford give their thoughts on the eve of the centenary Tour.

Following an eight-year association with French teams, Nicolas Roche decided to try something new and join Saxo-Tinkoff.

On the eve of the centenary edition of the Tour de France, he now finds himself as one of the coveted nine men with Alberto Contador at the helm, the Spaniard telling reporters at his team's pre-race press conference, 'If I didn't think I could beat (Chris) Froome, I wouldn't have the motivation to be here in this moment.'

Roche, who finished 12th overall at last year's Tour and the Vuelta a España, tells Cycling Central's Anthony Tan his season to date hasn't all been smooth sailing, but he intends to be there for the two-time winner when the race reaches its decisive final week.

Hey ho, hey ho, it's off to France we go... almost!

In our second-to-last studio podcast before an itinerant SBS crew head off to Corsica for the start of the hundredth edition of La Grande Boucle, Cycling Central's Phil Gomes, Sarah van Boheemen and Anthony Tan, along with special guest Nick Both, first scrutinise Orica-GreenEDGE's nine-man selection announced Wednesday and ask if it's a good one.

With the Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Cannondale and Argos-Shimano line-ups also confirmed, we wonder who will be the top sprint dog at Le Tour, and whether OGE will even get a look-in with their main man Matthew Goss, still yet to find his best. Of course, there's also the GC battle: Sky Procycling and Saxo-Tinkoff both look equally strong on paper, so will it be a tale of two riders and two teams, or can the likes of Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodriguez, Cadel Evans and Ryder Hesjedal cause an upset

And what about Andy Schleck? For the Wayward One, making it to Paris will be victory in itself, no?

We then go off-road in the back nine of the pod, waxing lyrical about our once-forgotten mountain bikers Daniel McConnell and Rebecca Henderson, who continue to prove their early season success was no fluke, and touch on the advent of cyclo-cross in Australia - will it be anything more than a fringe discipline, or does it have legs Down Under?

In this week’s Cycling Central podcast, special guest Antoine Vayer is in the studio with online editor-in-chief Phil Gomes and cycling journalist Anthony Tan.

Vayer is in Australia to promote ‘Not Normal’, his one-off magazine centred on the history of doping in the last three decades of the Tour de France.

A cycling performance expert who specifically looks at riders’ power output and speed on climbs to determine his own “index of suspicion”, Vayer was a trainer at the Festina team – yes, that Festina team! – between 1995-98, where the entire squad found themselves embroiled in the largest-ever doping scandal in the history of cycling. Until some dude called Lance joined US Postal, that is.

Despite working with one of the most soiled teams in sporting history, the Frenchman is staunchly anti-doping; he was coach to Christophe Bassons and as recently as January, called UCI president Pat McQuaid “incompetent” to his face (after the Irishman bought him two expensive beers), telling him he should step down from his post.

Leaving no Tour winner from 1982-2012 not scrutinised, Vayer explains his methodology that characterises performances ranging from “human” to “suspicious” to “miraculous” to – wait for it – “mutant”. He also gives his take on the efficacy of today’s testing protocols, the way the sport is governed, and whether cycling’s credibility can one day be restored.

Who would’ve thought a seemingly innocuous 32.5 kilometre time trial could reveal so much?

Well, that’s what happened Wednesday at the Critérium du Dauphiné, which left four riders from Sky Procycling occupying the top six positions on the general classification and Spaniards Alberto Contador, Joaquim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde asking themselves, ‘What da hell just happened, hombre?’

And how ‘bout South Australian Rohan Dennis as race leader? A 23-year-old neo-pro, yo!

With four days down and four to go, Cycling Central’s hardheaded hacks Phil Gomes and Anthony Tan begin this week’s podcast by dissecting the Dauphiné and what it may mean for July.

Next, they discuss the entrance of a new player in the running for cycling’s top job. In a matter of months, British Cycling CEO Brian Cookson, who has held the position for 16 years, has gone from offering incumbent UCI president Pat McQuaid “100 percent support” to deciding to contest the seat himself.

Why did Cookson do this? And is he the fillip cycling desperately needs to improve its tarnished image?

Finally, as yet another rider from the National Road Series graduates to the WorldTour in the form of Nathan Earle, Gomes and Tan wonder why Orica-GreenEdge keep missing the boat on Australian cycling’s next big things, particularly in light of their decision to bring forward their plans to target Grand Tours earlier than initially envisaged.