The opening stage of this most unusual Tour de France turned out to be a strange day, befitting this most peculiar year.
Join Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau in Nice to recap a stage won by the veteran Norwegian Alexander Kristoff, who last won a stage on the Champs-Élysées a couple of years ago.
With rain falling in Nice for the first time in a couple of months the roads were like glass and a number of crashes led to some of the riders calling for a truce – a truce that Astana briefly ignored.
In this episode we hear from some of the audio diarists who will be taking us inside the Tour de France bubble. Pavel Sivakov of Ineos Grenadiers talks about his brutal introduction to the race, Lukas Pöstlberger reacts to the conditions on the road, EF Pro Cycling sports director Tom Southam on the Covid-19 protocols and Michael Mørkøv about tomorrow’s stage two.
Plus we play out with Doctor Octave’s song Giants of the Road.
OUR SPONSORS
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. iwoca have been accredited by the British Business Bank to offer CBILS (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme) – the scheme is now open, so businesses can apply for a loan rather than just register interest. 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
The next generation
Wattbike Atom is supporting all our Tour de France coverage this year. The new Wattbike Atom is available from £90 per month at
wattbike.com