Velo Podcast

Trek-Segafredo had perhaps the most successful weekend of racing in the team's history, winning Milano-Sanremo with Jasper Stuyven and then Trofeo Alfredo Binda with Elisa Longo Borghini. On this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast, we break down both performances and analyze why the success marks a new era for the U.S.-registered team. Then, Trek-Segafredo's general manager Luca Guercilena joins the podcast to take us inside the team's success, and explains the tactical decision to attack at Milano-Sanremo, and the aggressive attitude that's driving on the women's WorldTour squad. The cobbled classics are here, which means Deceuninck-Quick-Step will again use its team strength to take on rivals like Peter Sagan and Mathieu van der Poel. Will the Belgian team be able to own the classics this year, or will its controlling tactics be overpowered by the young up-and-comers? Plus, is Wout van Aert vs. Mathieu van der Poel a better rivalry than Tom Boonen vs. Fabian Cancellara? We express our takes. All that and more on this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast.

Pro cycling delivered 10 days of thrilling action as Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico delivered drama and heroics. On today's episode of The VeloNews Podcast, we discuss the biggest storylines to come out of this amazing bloc of early-season racing. Primož Roglič looked untouchable at Paris-Nice, winning three stages and taking the yellow jersey into the final day. Then, Roglič crashed twice and saw the jersey ride away. Photojournalist James Startt watched the race unfold from the back of an official race motorcycle all week, and he saw the inter-race dynamics that played into the outcome. Did Jumbo-Visma's hyper aggressive racing tactics influence the peloton's decision to accelerate after Roglič crashed? Did cycling's unwritten rules come into play? Startt gives us his insight into how things went down at Paris-Nice. Then, we discuss the week of heroics we saw at Tirreno-Adriatico, including Mathieu van der Poel's 50-kilometer solo breakaway on stage 5. Why are the stars of the cobbled classics and the Tour de France revving their engines this early in the season? How does this compare with the usual level of action and excitement that we see in early March? Andrew Hood and James Startt help us understand what, exactly, we're seeing on our TV screens. All that and more on this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast!

Kate Courtney, Lea Davison, Haley Batten, Chloe Woodruff, Erin Huck, and Hannah Finchamp are not teammates by the traditional definition. The six members of the U.S. women's Olympic long team all ride for different trade teams, and are backed by different sponsors. In the push to qualify for the games, success by one woman denies another woman her Olympic dream. Despite these facts, the six women are following a collaborative effort in the lead up to the Olympics. They are training together and pushing each other to be at their best. They are chasing UCI points together so that the U.S. will get the maximum three spots in Tokyo. And they've adopted the moniker called 'Team USlay,' and a mindset that values success of the group over individual glory. On this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast we discuss this collaborative mindset with the six women. As it turns out, there are deep lessons to be learned about self confidence, vulnerability, and motivation from these six riders as they all strive to achieve their personal and collective goals. Before we hear from the six, Jim, Fred, and Andy break down all of the action from Strade Bianche, which saw Mathieu van der Poel unleash an explosive 1300-watt attack to win the race. They also discuss the team dominance of SD Worx, and try to understand how the Dutch team is dominating the early part of the season. All that and more on this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast.

Classics season is upon us, and the biggest stars of one-day racing are now in action, from Belgium to Italy. On this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast we examine the action from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kurrne-Brussels-Kuurne, and try to decipher what these races may tell us about the upcoming battles at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Then, columnist Jason Gay of The Wall Street Journal comes on to discuss the Wout van Aert vs. Mathieu van der Poel rivalry, and why it may be one of the best rivalries in all of sports. Jason's recent WSJ column shed light on cycling's best rivalry, and compared it to Roger Federer vs. Raphael Nadal, Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird, and other great rivalries. Plus, how can cycling best capitalize on Mathieu van der Poel vs. Wout van Aert? How might cycling screw up this highly valuable and interesting rivalry? Jason has some opinions on how the sport should — and shouldn't — go about promoting its biggest asset. All that and more on this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast.

Mike Woods took on Trek-Segafredo this past weekend at the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var in France and almost won. On this week's episode we break down the early-season battle in France and discuss what it means for Woods and for Trek-Segafredo, which has started 2021 with a bang. Then, we examine the UAE Tour and why Chris Froome's comeback to racing does not appear to be going well. Tadej Pogačar, Sepp Kuss, and other stars seem to be on form, while Froome is more than a few watts shy of where he needs to be. Then, American Kiel Reijnen joins the podcast for a dispatch from the UAE Tour, where brutal winds and painful echelons have torn the race apart. Kiel offers his insight into what it's like to ride in an echelon, and why the effort provided by the UAE Tour is so important for classics racers like himself. This week's podcast is sponsored by Flobikes.com, which is your broadcast home for the spring classics. Watch Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders, and more races live and on demand in the U.S. and Canada. Subscribe today at www.flobikes.com/velonews.

It's Colombia week on velonews.com, and we have more than a dozen stories about Colombia's cycling culture and racing stars. On this week's episode of the VeloNews Podcast, we discuss Colombia's rise to the top of the WorldTour over the last decade. Egan Bernal, Miguel Ángel López, and Iván Sosa are the latest stars to enter the WorldTour, and their success comes on the heels of Rigoberto Urán and Nairo Quintana. Before them, it was Santiago Botero and Victor Hugo Peña. And those men benefitted from Lucho Herrera and Fabio Parra, the so-called 'escarabajos.' Then, author Matt Rendell joins the podcast to discuss his own research into Colombian cycling. Rendell has written multiple books on Colombian cycling, most recently 'Colombia es Pasion!: How Colombia's Young Racing Cyclists Came of Age.' All that and more on this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast.

Two big storylines are dominating the pro cycling space this week, and on this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast we dive into both. First: The UCI has enacted two unpopular rule changes for 2021, banning the 'super tuck' descending position, as well as the 'invisible aero bars' breakaway position. We delve into the decision and explore which of the positions will be harder for riders to give up (the latter). Then, bike racing and the stars of the sport returned last week at the Etoile de Besseges race in France, which kicked off a month of pro racing in France. James Startt was at the race, and he will be attending the upcoming events in France. Startt offers his perspective on how the cancelation of global races could impact these small French events going forward. Then, Lucinda Brand returns to the podcast to discuss her world championship ride at the recent cyclocross worlds in Belgium. Brand discusses her ambitions for the upcoming road season, and why she doesn't believe her CX worlds win will change much in her approach to pro cycling. All that and more on this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast.

On this week's episode of the VeloNews Podcast Andrew Hood and Fred Dreier discuss the spate of race cancelations in Spain and Portugal due to COVID-19 and the impact they will have on the calendar. The best riders will now look to France and the Middle East for their early season fitness, which could have an impact on the upcoming battles on the cobblestones and at Paris-Nice. Then, U.S. phenom Clara Honsinger joins the podcast to discuss her thrilling ride at the 2021 UCI cyclocross world championships, and her impressive first full season in Europe. All that and more on this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast.

On this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast we dive into two of the biggest stories swirling in the sport: Tom Dumoulin stepping away from pro cycling and NBC's decision to torpedo the Tour de France's U.S. cable television home, NBC Sports Network. First, we discuss the Dumoulin news with longtime Dutch cycling journalist Raymond Kerckhoffs of Wielerflits.nl. Kerckhoffs, who has covered Dumoulin for his entire pro cycling career, discusses the family tragedy that occurred just before Dumoulin announced his decision. Kerckhoffs also explains why he believes that Dumoulin's step away from cycling may be permanent. Kerckhoffs also discusses his recent interview with Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen, who opened up about the terrifying crash at the Tour of Poland that sent countryman Fabio Jakobsen to the hospital for weeks. Groenewegen was banned for causing the crash, and he has new perspective on how it went down. Then, American journalist John Ourand of the SportsBusiness Journal joins the show to discuss the news that Comcast/NBC plans to shutter cable sports channel NBC Sports Network at the end of 2021. NBC Sports Network has been the U.S. television home of the Tour de France since 2012, and every year it broadcasts dozens of hours of Tour coverage to U.S. fans. Ourand explains why NBC is shuttering the channel, and whether or not the Tour will have a home for live television broadcast in the future. All that and more on this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast.

It's Aussie Week on velonews.com and we have stories and interviews that take readers inside the Australian experience in pro cycling. We're continuing that theme on this week's edition of The VeloNews Podcast, which is dedicated entirely to Australian cycling. We have an interview with Cadel Evans, who relives his Tour de France win from 2011. We also hear from up-and-coming rider Lucy Kennedy, who explains how Australia's national federation — and its unorthodox training camp — contributed to her professional career. Before that, Fred Dreier, Jim Cotton, and Andrew Hood discuss the importance of the Tour Down Under, and how the race's cancelation for 2021 could impact Australian cyclists. The guys also rank the top Australian cyclists of all time. This week's episode is sponsored by Synchronicity Hemp Oil, which invites you to take 30% off your first order by going to synchronicityhempoil.com and using the code ADVANTAGE at checkout.