Mario Cipollini holds the record for the most Giro d’Italia stage wins and so we are going to spend the next two stages of Our Giro looking at his career and life, which has been as turbulent as it’s been flamboyant.

Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe take a broadly chronological look at the career of the man who was nicknamed the Lion King and Super Mario, who marketing men wanted to use to sell their products and who was the undisputed fastest man in the world for a period in the 1990s.

This part takes us to the peak of his career, the 2002 season when he threatened to retire and yet won Milan-Sanremo and the World Championship title.

We hear from two of his contemporaries in the bunch sprints, Tom Steels and Ivan Quaranta, from Matt White and from photographer Graham Watson, who saw the Lion King up close.

There’s also wine of the day, a delicious simple lunch that combines carbs to brilliant effect, and the regular amacord feature delving into The Cycling Podcast’s back catalogue.

As Daniel points out, at the start of the 2000s, the five biggest names in professional cycling were Lance Armstrong, Marco Pantani, Jan Ullrich, Frank Vandenbroucke and Mario Cipollini… All achieved greatness as well as notoriety and could be seen as poster boys for an era when the professionals rode as close to the sun as they could. Strap yourselves in to see if we can tame the Lion King.

The Cycling Podcast is supported by iwoca and Science In Sport.

COMING TOMORROW... Our two-part look at the life and career of Mario Cipollini concludes, covering the end of his racing days and a life away from the sport that has been turbulent. WATCH OUR FIRST FILM

Our first film, And So We Rode… is available for Friends of the Podcast to watch now. This is the story of Larry Warbasse and Conor Dunne packing their bags and going on a bikepacking trip in the French and Italian Alps after their pro team Aqua Blue Sport folded mid-season. It costs £15 to sign up as a Friend of the Podcast and you will be able to watch the film as well as listen to all our special episodes. thecyclingpodcast.com/join

iwoca became The Cycling Podcast’s title sponsors in March 2020. Iwoca specialises in supporting small businesses and can lend between £1,000 and £250,000. Applications can take only a few minutes to complete and they promise a fast and fair decision. To find out more, go to iwoca.co.uk

Science In Sport is The Cycling Podcast’s longest-standing supporter. It’s a relationship that stretches back to the 2016 Giro d’Italia. Listeners can get 25% off Science In Sport’s range of energy drinks, bars, gels and cakes at scienceinsport.com with the code SISCP25

This episode is also supported by Laka, a community of cyclists all working together to provide insurance cover for their bikes and equipment. To find out more, go to laka.co.uk

If you have a smart turbo trainer, you can ride Our Giro on the RGT digital platform. Each stage is around 30 kilometres long and will be online for three days. Go to manage.com/track/click?u=e30db910a0fe0ac7464cd458e&id=b47ea6766a&e=be8e0a97d5">RGTcycling.com/our-giro for details of how to download the app and sign up. Thanks to RGT and Veloviewer.com for helping us create Our Giro.

Our friends at Dvinecellars.com have put together a ‘Selezione Our Giro’ case of 12 wines from around Italy. There’s also a ‘Baby Giro’ case of six bottles. Use the code ‘Our Giro’ when ordering. Cases can be delivered in the UK, excluding the Highlands and Northern Ireland, and a donation from each case will be made to the Scuola Ciclismo in Cene.