Strade Bianche may have been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy but Paris-Nice got underway and the opening two stages turned out to be more like mini Classics. Crosswinds caused chaos and whittled down the number of riders likely to contend for overall victory as the race heads towards the hills and, hopefully, the sun at the end of the week. Richard Moore and Lionel Birnie discuss the racing and the impact coronavirus is having on professional cycling before Daniel Friebe dials in from France to talk about the opening days of Paris-Nice. Ciro Scognamiglio also updates on the situation in Italy following the cancellation of Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo and a host of other spring races. We also hear from Tiesj Benoot about his winter transfer from Lotto-Soudal and his objectives for the season. In the final part, there's a moving tribute to Team Ineos sports director Nicolas Portal by Tao Geoghegan Hart. The Cycling Podcast, brought to you by iwoca and supported by Science in Sport iwoca is title sponsor to The Cycling Podcast. 

Over the past seven years iwoca has grown from a small start-up to one of the fastest-growing business lenders in Europe. Now they’re a team of more than 300 in London and Frankfurt working towards the goal of funding one million small businesses, including cafes, spin studios and bike shops. They can lend between £1,000 and £250,000 and make it quick and easy to get a decision. If you are interested in finding out more about what iwoca can do for small businesses go to: iwoca: Fast, fair and flexible business funding The Cycling Podcast is supported by Science in Sport. For a 25% discount on all your Science in Sport sports nutrition products go to www.scienceinsport.com This episode is also sponsored by Laka, a community of cyclists who play fair and take good care to save each other money on insurance. If you want to find out more about bicycle insurance powered by you at laka.co.uk KEEP UP TO DATE Sign up for The Cycling Podcast's weekly email newsletter to keep up with what's going on behind the scenes. This week, Lionel writes about the return of Explore. Sign up at thecyclingpodcast.com BECOME A FRIEND OF THE PODCAST Signing up as a Friend of the Podcast has never been easier. Our new system will get you connected in just a few clicks. Why sign up? Apart from getting access to our special episodes throughout the year – there are five online already – you will be helping us to keep The Cycling Podcast's team car on the road to provide daily Grand Tour coverage. Sign up at thecyclingpodcast.com/subscribe. We've frozen the price again – it's just £15, which will work out at less than £1 per special episode. If you want to pay more we'll send you a copy of our new book, The Grand Tour Diaries. THE GRAND TOUR DIARIES Available now at thecyclingpodcast.com/book. All Friends of the Podcast can get a 20% discount.