Spin Cycle

Alternate headline: Jesus Christ Pogačar Welcome to a podcast in three parts. Caley, Jonny, and Iain first join from the Tourmalet, then a traffic jam, and then a fascinating restaurant in Lourdes. Tadej Pogačar is the story of the day but there are plenty of other bits to dig into. 

What a stage. The stage of the Tour so far? We think so.  It had everything, from breakaway wins to big GC crashes to finish line protesters. Caley, Jonny, and Iain are joined by Joshua Robinson of the Wall Street Journal and (briefly) Defector's Patrick Redford to talk through the day.  Today's podcast title brought to you by Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal. 

We did it. We made it to the first rest day of the Tour de France. It took ten days but we got there.  Caley, Jonny, and Iain sit down in Toulouse to answer your rest day questions. 

What a day in the mountains. Two races in one, a fantastic yellow jersey, and the first hints of a coming GC battle. Caley, Jonny, and Iain are joined by Chris Marshall Bell to talk through the day's stories.  Alternate episode titles today (feel free to suggest your own): Massif Bental St Martins College Philippe Philippe Simon is Massif  France's Bastille Day Bungle is Massif

Jonas Rickaert had a dream. A fast, chaotic sprint made even more interesting thanks to some heroics (or insanity? Fine line) from Mathieu van der Poel on the road to Chateauroux. Caley, Jonny, and Iain break down the stage.

Sprint day! It was a hot one in central France and Jonathan Milan won the drag race up a slight rise to take his first Tour de France stage. Did Alpecin-Decueuninck back the wrong man? And is Pogačar a threat for the green jersey?  Caley, Jonny, and Iain break it all down and then extol the virtues of a Bergadou breakaway and discuss Feed Zone Gate. 

For the record, we had our episode title before the Cycling Podcast did. Pogačar had this one circled on this calendar, and there was no denying him. Caley and Jonny are joined by Iain, just in from Norway, to chat through the stage (which was fun), whether it means anything for the GC battle (not really), and look ahead to a big haul across the middle of France this weekend. 

We thought it would be a breakaway day, and indeed it was. Ben Healy put on a show, sneaking away at just the right moment to take his first Tour stage win. Behind, weird decisions from UAE and Visma left the pod crew with many questions.  Caley and Jonny are joined by pro photographer Zac Williams and reporter Chris Marshall Bell to break down the motivations of those big teams, how Healy pulled...

Time trial day! It's Ronan's Christmas, birthday, and birth of his first child all rolled into one. The man could not be more excited. Jonny and Caley, in contrast, are just hoping for literally anything interesting to happen.  Lucky for us, it did. Jonas Vingegaard underperformed (or did he?), Remco Evenepoel smashed it, and sweet Kevin Vauquelin (or is it VauqueliCAN) rode his way into the top t...

Another lumpy finish, another string of attacks, another brave French boy, and Pogačar's first (and 100th) stage win. Caley, Jonny, and Ronan come to you from Rouen where they discuss the finale, Evenepoel's motivation level, Ralph Denk's aura farming, and much more. 

A whole lot of nothing, then lots all at once. That was the feeling from stage 3 of the Tour de France, where a processional day was punctuated by a nasty crash and the exit of Jasper Philipsen, then even more crashes in a hectic finale in Dunkirk. Caley, Jonny, and Ronan break down the stage, bring you news from Bryan Coquard and the Cofidis bus, and more. 

The French boys were so brave today. Caley, Ronan and Jonny bring you the latest from stage 2 of the Tour de France, where Mathieu van der Poel soared to the stage win and was handed the yellow jersey by Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Jasper Philipsen. Elsewhere, we've got the latest on Remco Evenepoel heading to the exit door at Soudal-Quick Step, and likely off to Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe.

Visma-Lease a Bike is not going to roll over this week. Stage 1 of the 2025 Tour de France was a cracker, for a sprint stage, with wind and crashes playing a role in setting early GC gaps and Jasper Philipsen pulling on the first yellow jersey of the Tour.  Caley, Jonny, and Ronan join you from a canalside in Lille, 50 meters from the Visma bus. We hear from Matteo Jorgenson on his team's plan and...

It's Tour de France eve. Caley is back, joined by Jonny, Ronan, and special guest Matt Stephens to discuss the Jonas Vingegaard's press conference, why Kaden Groves is at the Tour, and lots more. 

Welcome back to the Tour Daily! These are our daily Tour de France episodes, brought to you by the same crew as Spin Cycle. We're on the ground in France, Lille specifically, to take in the vibes, ask questions at press conferences, and generally get this bike race started.  In this first Tour episode, Ronan, Jonny and Chris Marshall-Bell gather on a grassy field next to a bar to cap off what has...

Cycling's a beautiful sport. It's also a nightmare for new fans to get into – a mess of jargon, history, and tactics. Journalism professor (and new cycling fan) Holly Johnson has questions, and together with Iain Treloar, is on a mission to decipher pro cycling. In the first episode: a chat with Jonathan Vaughters about how teams work.

It's Tour de France time! This is the last regular episode of Spin Cycle before it turns into the Tour Daily. Caley, Jonny, and Dane run through the weekend's national championship stories and then dive into a preview of the upcoming Tour de France, with a heavy focus on a wild first week. We've got picks (Fantasy and otherwise), guesses, even some rampant speculation.  This is Free Week at Escape...

Today on the Spin Cycle podcast, Caley, Dane, and Jonny discuss quel le fuq is going on in French cycling at the minute, buttering you up before we descend into the topic of whether monsieur moins sept is trying to worm his way back into cycling. We then have some transfer rumours to update you on and a weird doping story to finish things off.

The pre-Tour doping story

In this episode of Spin Cycle, Caley Fretz, Jonny Long, and Dane Cash discuss the rising chaos at UAE, the UCI's new gear limits, and Pidcock going really fast.

Well, some of the knee-jerk predictions made last Friday didn't last very long, did they? Tadej Pogačar showed everyone who's boss at the Dauphine, and we wait with baited breath to see if he somehow messed something up going into the Tour de France.  Caley's back from a successful foray into lobstering and is joined by Jonny and Kit to break down the weekend's racing. Then the three turn their at...

Jonny Long, Dane Cash, and Kit Nicholson offer some kneejerk reactions to a single time trial at the Critérium du Dauphiné and ponder sponsorship activation opportunities for cosmetics brands in the latest episode of the Spin Cycle podcast.

Jonny Long, Kit Nicholson, and Dane Cash debate the merits of sprint stages and ponder the media-friendliness of today’s peloton.

Welcome back to Spin Cycle, everybody. This week, Caley, Dane, and Jonny bring you: Dave Brailsford is making a return to cycling after being shuffled from his day-to-day role at Man United, potentially focusing more on the cycling team.  His return prompts discussion about Geraint Thomas's potential management role upon retirement, first reported by Escape Collective in March. The exact nature of...

Welcome back to Spin Cycle. This week, the crew dissects a thrilling conclusion of the Giro d'Italia. Was it won by Simon Yates or lost by UAE Team Emirates? Perhaps somewhere in between? What is absolutely sure is the deployment of Wout van Aert via the Wout Signal was yet another example of why he's the rider you want on your Grand Tour team.  Plus: meeting the pope, Mads Pedersen's new underwea...