The Cycling Podcast

Join Lionel Birnie and Graham Willgoss as they recap the 2025 Tour de France. We’re back on the road for the 13th time with daily episodes recorded at the heart of the world’s biggest race. Our nightly episodes feature race analysis, interviews and plenty of French flavour. To listen to the episodes as soon as they are released, follow The Cycling Podcast in your favourite podcast app. INTRODUCING OUR SPONSORS, WAHOO FITNESS We’re very happy to welcome Wahoo as sponsors for the rest of our Tour de France coverage and the Tour de France Femmes later this month. Wahoo have been having a fantastic Tour de France so far. They supply more than half of the teams in the Tour and Tour de France Femmes and six of the 10 stages before the rest day were won by riders using the Wahoo Element Bolt 3 cycle computer and Trackr heart-rate monitor – including those by Mathieu Van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar Ben Healy and Jonathan Milan. Wahoo’s vision is to build the better athlete in all of us, by transforming the way the world moves through connected fitness technology and training insights. Wahoo creates a full ecosystem of software, sensors, indoor, and outdoor training equipment for those just starting their journey in cycling, right through to competitive athletes. Go to WahooFitness.com [http://wahoofitness.com/] to find our more. Tour de France wine selection from DVine Cellars available now. https://dvinecellars.com/products/the-cycling-podcast-tour-de-france-2025 [https://dvinecellars.com/products/the-cycling-podcast-tour-de-france-2025] Follow us on social media: Twitter @cycling_podcast [https://twitter.com/cycling_podcast] Instagram @thecyclingpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/thecyclingpodcast/] Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com [http://thecyclingpodcast.com/] to listen to new special episodes every month plus a back catalogue of more than 300 exclusive episodes. The Cannibal & Badger Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our new virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger. A friendly forum to talk about cycling and the podcast. Log in [https://thecyclingpodcast.supportingcast.fm/] to your Friends of the Podcast account to join in. The 11.01 Cappuccino Our regular email newsletter is now on Substack. Subscribe here [https://thecyclingpodcast.substack.com/] for frothy, full-fat updates to enjoy any time (as long as it’s after 11am). The Cycling Podcast is on Strava [https://www.strava.com/clubs/thecyclingpodcast] The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

On the evening of the first Tour de France rest day, Lionel Birnie and Graham Willgoss headed to the EF Education-Easy Post team hotel on the outskirts of town for dinner. There, they met the team's chef, Owen Blandy, a  keen amateur racer who quit his job in finance to pursue a dream, combining his love of cycling with a passion for cooking. For Owen, preparing the meals for the riders is an ever-changing challenge. First there's the sheer logistics of driving a catering truck that wouldn't look out of place at a street food festival around France, sourcing the ingredients and designing a menu that not only tastes great but gives the riders the right balance of nutrition to perform at their best in the most demanding race in the world. With Ben Healy in the yellow jersey it was a busy day for everyone on the team and while there was not necessarily any extra pressure on evening meal service, there was an additional sense of pride in fuelling the race leader. Forget The Great British Bake-Off, this is the Great French Cook-Off... how does a team chef prepare the food for riders tackling 3,500 kilometres and, most importantly, what does it taste like? Normally Owen's food is reserved exclusively for the riders – the team staff usually have whatever's on the hotel menu but they hover around after the riders have eaten to see if there's any leftovers. So, we felt very lucky to get a taste of Owen's food and the chance to eat a meal fit for the maillot jaune. Then Lionel and Graham turn cookery contest judges and, as you can see from our episode artwork, Owen earned a handshake from Graham in the style of the Bake-Off judge Paul Hollywood. This episode of KM0 is available for everyone to listen to for free, thanks to you the support of our Friends of the Podcast. To sign up to listen to all our KM0 episodes go to thecyclingpodcast.com [https://thecyclingpodcast.com/]. An annual subscription works out at a few pounds (or dollars) a month and plays a huge part in keeping the show on the road.

In 1986, Shelley Verses became the first woman to work as a soigneur at the Tour de France, when she was part of the American 7-Eleven team's support staff. Shelley had been at the Giro d'Italia with 7-Eleven the previous year but the attitudes towards women being involved in professional cycling were such that she was confined to duties at the team hotel. That changed at the 1986 Tour when she was able to work in the feed zone. A month ago, Shelley contacted Lionel Birnie keen to share her stories from life on the road and so this is the first part of a series called Chapter & Verses. The first three parts focus on her early days as a soigneur in cycling and the 1986 Tour. Of the ten 7-Eleven riders, only Doug Shapiro had experienced the Tour before, and so the whole team – on and off the bike – were going into the unknown. This is Shelley's story. This episode of KM0 is available for everyone to listen to for free, thanks to you the support of our Friends of the Podcast. To sign up to listen to all our KM0 episodes go to thecyclingpodcast.com [https://thecyclingpodcast.com]. An annual subscription works out at a few pounds (or dollars) a month and plays a huge part in keeping the show on the road. The episode artwork is a photo from Shelley's archive. It features the 7-Eleven team's three soigneurs for the 1986 Tour – Etienne Illegems, Shelley, and Marc Verroeye.

Join Lionel Birnie and Graham Willgoss as they recap the 2025 Tour de France. We’re back on the road for the 13th time with daily episodes recorded at the heart of the world’s biggest race. Our nightly episodes feature race analysis, interviews and plenty of French flavour. To listen to the episodes as soon as they are released, follow The Cycling Podcast in your favourite podcast app. VAN RYSEL, OUR TOUR DE FRANCE SPONSORS We are very pleased to welcome Van Rysel as our sponsors for the first half of our Tour de France coverage. The Tour gets underway in Lille, the city where the company was founded and has its headquarters. The city is steeped in French cycling history and heritage, not least because the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are on the doorstep. Van Rysel supplies bikes and kit for the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale World Tour team, who feature Felix Gall, Bruno Armirail and Aurélien Paret-Peintre in their line-up for the Tour. If you are going to Lille for the opening weekend make sure to drop in at Van Rysel House, a pop-up venue and hub for cycling fans. It’s located at Hein Estaminet in Place Saint-Hubert a short walk from the Euralille train station. It’s a place to have a drink or something to eat and watch the race on TV and there’ll be lots going on over the weekend with a quiz night to test your cycling knowledge each night at 8pm. There’s also some group rides setting out from there. A chance to see the Van Rysel bikes and the innovation that goes into their design. Visit www.vanryselcycling.com [https://www.vanryselcycling.com/] to find out more. Follow us on social media: Twitter @cycling_podcast [https://twitter.com/cycling_podcast] Instagram @thecyclingpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/thecyclingpodcast/] Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com [http://thecyclingpodcast.com/] to listen to new special episodes every month plus a back catalogue of more than 300 exclusive episodes. The Cannibal & Badger Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our new virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger. A friendly forum to talk about cycling and the podcast. Log in [https://thecyclingpodcast.supportingcast.fm/] to your Friends of the Podcast account to join in. The 11.01 Cappuccino Our regular email newsletter is now on Substack. Subscribe here [https://thecyclingpodcast.substack.com/] for frothy, full-fat updates to enjoy any time (as long as it’s after 11am). The Cycling Podcast is on Strava [https://www.strava.com/clubs/thecyclingpodcast] The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Join Lionel Birnie and Graham Willgoss as they recap the 2025 Tour de France. We’re back on the road for the 13th time with daily episodes recorded at the heart of the world’s biggest race. Our nightly episodes feature race analysis, interviews and plenty of French flavour. To listen to the episodes as soon as they are released, follow The Cycling Podcast in your favourite podcast app. VAN RYSEL, OUR TOUR DE FRANCE SPONSORS We are very pleased to welcome Van Rysel as our sponsors for the first half of our Tour de France coverage. The Tour gets underway in Lille, the city where the company was founded and has its headquarters. The city is steeped in French cycling history and heritage, not least because the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are on the doorstep. Van Rysel supplies bikes and kit for the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale World Tour team, who feature Felix Gall, Bruno Armirail and Aurélien Paret-Peintre in their line-up for the Tour. If you are going to Lille for the opening weekend make sure to drop in at Van Rysel House, a pop-up venue and hub for cycling fans. It’s located at Hein Estaminet in Place Saint-Hubert a short walk from the Euralille train station. It’s a place to have a drink or something to eat and watch the race on TV and there’ll be lots going on over the weekend with a quiz night to test your cycling knowledge each night at 8pm. There’s also some group rides setting out from there. A chance to see the Van Rysel bikes and the innovation that goes into their design. Visit www.vanryselcycling.com [https://www.vanryselcycling.com/] to find out more. Follow us on social media: Twitter @cycling_podcast [https://twitter.com/cycling_podcast] Instagram @thecyclingpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/thecyclingpodcast/] Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com [http://thecyclingpodcast.com/] to listen to new special episodes every month plus a back catalogue of more than 300 exclusive episodes. The Cannibal & Badger Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our new virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger. A friendly forum to talk about cycling and the podcast. Log in [https://thecyclingpodcast.supportingcast.fm/] to your Friends of the Podcast account to join in. The 11.01 Cappuccino Our regular email newsletter is now on Substack. Subscribe here [https://thecyclingpodcast.substack.com/] for frothy, full-fat updates to enjoy any time (as long as it’s after 11am). The Cycling Podcast is on Strava [https://www.strava.com/clubs/thecyclingpodcast] The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.