Velo Podcast

The 2020 Giro d'Italia has begun and VeloNews is on the ground it Italy for all of the action. On today's episode we link up with reporter James Startt who is attending the race for insight on what it's like to actually be at the event.

Startt takes us inside the race's COVID-19 safety protocols, and he discusses the biggest differences between the Giro and the Tour de France. Then, Startt breaks down all of the GC action from stage 3, the summit finish to Mt. Etna.

Then, American rider Brent Bookwalter joins the podcast for an update from the Giro. Brent is riding for Simon Yates at this year's race, and thus far it's been a tough start for Brent. He crashed on stage 2 and injured his back, and Brent explains the metal and emotional challenges that a rider faces after suffering an injury this early in a grand tour.

Brent has some opinions on the race's COVID-19 safety protocols — or lack thereof — and he explains what it's like behind the scenes at the race.

Today's episode is sponsored by a new training supplement called MitoQ. MitoQ is a unique form of the antioxidant CoQ10 that is designed to get inside our cell's mitochondria to help create energy and neutralize free radicals. For more information go to www.mitoq.com/powerupcycling.

Bobby and Gus sit down with UAE Team Emirates director Allan Peiper to find out how he overcame his own personal battles with cancer to go on to help his rider Tadej Pogacar win the Tour de France.

Pro racing continues to chug along, but this week we're taking a break from the WorldTour to catch up with the Major Taylor Iron Riders cycling club in New York City.

Major Taylor Iron Riders is comprised largely of African American, Latino, and Asian-American club members, and it is one of the larger cycling clubs in New York City. We spoke to five board members of the club in June about how they have experienced explicit and implicit bias in the cycling community.

Today, we follow up with the club's board to understand the impact of that initial podcast episode. And, we dig into the club's game plan for helping new riders develop a deeper love and appreciate for cycling. Major Taylor Iron Riders has a detailed plan to help novice riders rise up the ranks to become competitive cyclists. It's a blend of inclusivity, attention to detail, and tough love.

Today's episode is sponsored by a new training supplement called MitoQ. MitoQ is a unique form of the antioxidant CoQ10 that is designed to get inside our cell's mitochondria to help create energy and neutralize free radicals. For more information go to www.mitoq.com/powerupcycling.

Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso have launched a brand new bike brand, Aurum Bikes, based on all the features they wanted to see on a race bike during their careers.

Contador and Basso join tech editor Dan Cavallari on the VeloNews Tech Podcast, all the way from Madrid, Spain to give the details about and inspiration behind Aurum Bikes.

Contador and basso talk about the technical details, from testing in the wind tunnel to determining the componentry and spec details, but the pair also talks about their hopes for the brand in the years and decades to come. Can Aurum become a legendary brand like Colnago? It may be a dream now, but Basso and Contador hope to make it a reality.

Hindsight is 20/20 — and that's exactly what PYSO is bringing to this special episode reflecting on the 2020 Tour de France.

Co-hosts Bobby Julich, himself a podium finisher at the Tour, and retired racer Gus Morton look back at the highlights, the lowlights, and the surprises of this year's race.

In the plus column, for starters, there was a Tour de France — and it made it all the way to Paris. In the year of Covid, just the existence of the race was a success.

But then the race turned out to be filled with drama all the way until the end of the Stage 20 time trial.

Bobby and Gus break down their favorite stages and performances, explain how the green jersey competition played into the overall race like never before, and analyze what Jumbo-Visma did right and did wrong.

Bobby also speculates on what all this means for former Tour winners Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas, both of whom sat out this edition.

"It's going to be difficult for both of them," Bobby says. "And they're probably two of my favorite riders ever. I have the ultimate respect for them. But this new generation of such young riders being kind of steered in the correct way of doing things, I think it's gonna be really hard, just from a recovery standpoint, because when you're racing against guys that are 12 to 14 years younger than you, I mean, logic says they're going to be able to recover a little bit better."

Tune in for a 20/20 take on the 2020Tour de France.

It's our final VeloNews Podcast episode of the 2020 Tour de France, and there are so many twists and turns to address.

The Tour de France overall was upended in the final ITT, as Tadej Pogačar overcame a 57-second deficit to leapfrog Primož Roglič into the yellow jersey. On today's episode Fred Dreier and Andrew Hood break down all of the action and perspective from Pogačar's historic win.

How did he pop such a big ride, and what happened to Roglič? What does the victory mean for Pogačar, and what does the defeat mean to Jumbo-Visma and its leader? Fred and Andy offer their perspective on the big news.

Then, what impact did the 2020 Tour de France's media restrictions have on the stories we read throughout the race? Andy offers his perspective on what type of storytelling was lost and gained during this very strange Tour.

Today's episode is sponsored by a new training supplement called MitoQ. MitoQ is a unique form of the antioxidant CoQ10 that is designed to get inside our cell's mitochondria to help create energy and neutralize free radicals. For more information go to www.mitoq.com/powerupcycling.

Wheels have changed drastically just in the last several years. They've gotten wider, deeper, hookless, tubeless, and more aerodynamic. Princeton CarbonWorks made its play into the wheel market with something completely different: a sinusoidal rim shape.

What the heck is that? Basically, it's a wavy pattern that lends a host of advantages to your riding. And yes, it looks like Zipp's sawtooth pattern, but Princeton's wheel is its own beast entirely. Listen to the episode to find out how.

It's our penultimate episode of the 2020 Tour de France, and Jens Voigt joins the show to talk about the action on stages 18 and 19 of the race. Jens provides insight into the two breakaways that succeeded on these two tough stages, and what the riders did correctly (and incorrectly) in the big moves.

Ineos Grenadiers won a stage and boosted Richard Carapaz into the polka dot jersey. Is this enough to salvage the squad's 2020 Tour de France? Jens and Fred analyze the high expectations for the team in the race.

Then, what are riders planning to do for Saturday's individual time trial up La Planche des Belles Filles? Some riders are planning bike changes on the course, and Jens explains why this could be a huge gamble.

We catch up with Sepp Kuss at the finish of stage 18 to hear about his super domestique duties at the Tour, and see whether or not Sepp has any intentions of one day leading a team to the Tour de France

Then, James Startt and Andrew Hood sit down with French journalist Pierre Carrey of the publication Liberation to discuss how the French population is viewing the 2020 Tour de France. The race's controversial running amid the COVID-19 pandemic has created split opinion in the host country, and Carrey discusses the various storylines swirling around the event in France.

Today's episode is sponsored by a new training supplement called MitoQ. MitoQ is a unique form of the antioxidant CoQ10 that is designed to get inside our cell's mitochondria to help create energy and neutralize free radicals. For more information go to www.mitoq.com/powerupcycling.

This year has posed unique challenges for everyone in pro racing, and TV commentators have not been immune. In this episode of Put Your Socks On, retired pro Matt Keenan talks about his preparation process for calling the Tour de France. In short, a lot of homework is involved.

This year, instead of commentating for ASO in France at the Tour, Keenan is calling the daily action for SBS from his native Australia.

"Commentating remotely, you lose a couple key things about the feel for it," Keenan says, adding that he misses being able to drive the end of each day's course and being able to talk with journalists of other nationalities to get the latest news and gossip.

"I like to be able to inform people when I'm commentating about stuff that they can't find from Dr. Google," Keenan says. "The upside of commentating from home is I get to see my family each day. Normally I spend maybe five months or so in a hotel bed. So that's been one of the positives."

This year Keenan has also been training during the Tour, thanks to the legend Graeme Brown coaching him.

"Graeme said, 'you're going to be at home, why don't let me coach you through the Tour and see if I can get you fitter at the end than what you are at the start?'" Keenan says.

And Keenan breaks down his method of preparation on each of the riders at the Tour.

"I have two start lists," he says. "I have a start list with a really brief set of stats on every single rider: their age, where they're from, their height, their weight, couple of key results, how many times they've ridden the Tour. So if they appear in the breakaway, I've got a really quick reference point on them. And then I've got another I list, an extensive database [with all the notes on their background]."

"Then each day during the Tour, I spend about an hour and a half or so going through the book that tells us the details about the churches and all that sort of stuff. And you've got no idea how much feedback we get on that. We get more feedback on that than we do on the race."

Tune into Put Your Socks On to listen to one of the key voices of the Tour de France.

The peloton rumbled up the Col de la Loze on Wednesday, and the soaring mountain did not disappoint. On today's episode, Fred Dreier and Jens Voigt break down all of the action from the big day in the Alps.

What were Primož Roglič and Sepp Kuss up to in the final 3km of the race? Jens breaks down the action.

Then, we hear from American Sepp Kuss about his Tour de France debut and the role he's been playing for Roglič throughout the Tour.

Finally, James Startt and Andrew Hood file their dispatch from the Col de la Loze. James was on a race motorcycle for the soaring climb, and he takes us inside the race.

All that and more on today's episode of The VeloNews Podcast!

Today's episode is sponsored by a new training supplement called MitoQ. MitoQ is a unique form of the antioxidant CoQ10 that is designed to get inside our cell's mitochondria to help create energy and neutralize free radicals. For more information go to www.mitoq.com/powerupcycling.