Velo Podcast

Pain and injury often go hand in hand with life as a cyclist. Relieving that pain can be tricky, especially when it comes to medications and anti-inflammatory supplements. CBD oil is the new kid on the block — promising anti-inflammatory and pain relief properties, among a host of other benefits — and it's championed by controversial former cyclist Floyd Landis. That's not surprising, given Landis...

As we inch closer to July, the build-up to the Tour de France is taking center stage in the world of cycling. EF Education First-Drapac's Alex Howes drops by the VeloNews world headquarters to talk Dauphiné vs. Suisse and to share his experiences with the highs and lows of Tour roster selection. Andy Hood also brings us a dispatch from Movistar's media day as the Spanish WorldTour squad gears up f...

Peaking. It's that elusive target we all strive for — to be on our best form right when our target race comes around. We build plans for it, we follow six-week guides we find online, and yet too often we wake up the morning of our target race with flat legs. Perhaps it's so elusive because peaking is both a science and an art. What we discovered over the course of this podcast is that the two don'...

It's pretty darn hard to get on a Tour de France team. Do results at the Dauphine or Tour de Suisse really matter? We talk to some of the peloton's key directors to understand how they assemble their rosters. Plus, we hear from riders about this stressful process to get a spot on a coveted spot in the Grand Boucle. Then, we bring on tech expert Dan Cavallari to talk about one of the wackiest stori...

If you're one of the many people who suffer from foot numbness while riding, you have come to the right place. In this episode of the VeloNews Tech podcast, Dan Cavallari talks to Bontrager's Kyle Russ about feet. Why do they go numb? Are there some affordable ways to remedy the problem? Will new insoles make your old shoes better? We get the answers to make your rides more comfortable. This episo...

Is Dirty Kanza "cycling's answer to Ironman?" Fred Dreier and Chris Case were out in Eastern Kansas this past weekend to find out. We hear from Kaitie Keough, Ted King, and Rebecca Rusch about what makes this race so special (and damn hard). Fred also talks to lots of other riders out on the dirt who faced physical, emotional, and psychological challenges, coming out the other end transformed. Plu...

If we had to summarize sports nutrition in one word it would probably be … controversial. Or maybe just confusing. In this episode, we’ll discuss the difference between a ketogenic diet and a high-fat/low-carbohydrate diet, and why the latter may be the more important one to discuss. Are there potential health benefits, outside of performance, of trying a ketogenic diet? We’ll take a look with hel...

Well, Chris Froome did it. He won his third grand tour in a row at the Giro d'Italia, waiting until the last possible moment to do it. Rivals crumbled, fans freaked out, and lots of people have opinions about his impressive victory. So let's try to make sense of it all. To better understand things, we hear from our European correspondent Andrew Hood, who was on the ground at the Giro this year. He...

What just happened? Chris Froome blew up the Giro d'Italia's GC in stage 19 Friday. Simon Yates is out of pink. Chris Froome is in it. And poor Tom Dumoulin is left chasing another Englishman. We recap the action, hear from Froome at the post-stage press conference, and have some takes and analysis about Froome's performance. Was it his best ever? Was it believable? All that and more. This episode...

We hear from Svein Tuft on what it's like to see his Aussie team grow up from its roots as upstart Orica squad to world-beaters as Mitchelton-Scott. Plus, we discuss Simon Yates's four-month ban for an asthma medication back in 2016 and whether that should color our opinion of his Giro dominance. We also talk about the recent round of the Epic Rides mountain bike series in Grand Junction as well a...

After the stage 4 time trial propelled Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) into the general classification lead at the Tour of California, stage 6 brought another big GC shakeup. Sky's Egan Bernal reclaimed the yellow jersey with a powerful move on the long climb to South Lake Tahoe, nabbing his second stage victory in the process. We catch up on the big storylines from the day and hear from Bernal an...

Have you ever noticed a little "Tg" on your carbon fiber rims? It means "glass transition." Did that clear things up for you? Of course not. So, our tech editor Dan Cavallari spoke with Enve's Scott Neilsen about what this means for bike wheels. Why does glass transition matter? How does this relate to rim durability under heavy braking as well as ride quality? We answer these questions and more....

It's often overlooked, sometimes forgotten. But it never should be. Recovery is just as important to strong performances as your daily workouts and weekly riding volume. Recovery is the other side of the training balance that we often neglect. In today’s technology-driven training world, we have easy-to-use tools like power meters to track our performance. But tracking recovery is not so easy. Wha...

America's biggest race is underway in California! Dane Cash and Fred Dreier are on the road and covering all of the key stories from the Amgen Tour of California. We discuss Colombia's emerging climbing talent Egan Bernal who won the Tour of California's queen stage on Gibraltar. Fun fact: He actually had to borrow a helmet for his first bike race back in the day. Bernal has come a long, long way...

The Giro d'Italia is underway! And Froome is off the back... Already! Should Sky worry about his bad ride at the opening TT? We check in with Andrew Hood and Gregor Brown who are on the ground in Italy. Back in the States, the Amgen Tour of California starts on Sunday. We preview the route, the key riders, and more. Finally, in our tech segment, we talk to Dan Cavallari about patents. Are they a w...

Should we call them frenemies? Not quite. Mountain bike stars Howard Grotts and Payson McElveen are close friends and training partners even if they clash on the trails at the races. We recorded this interview in the back of McElveen's van at Whiskey Off-Road in Arizona before they embarked on a road trip to U.S. marathon mountain bike nationals in Arkansas. As they did last year, the Durango, Col...

Welcome to the brand new VeloNews Tech podcast, in which we’ll discuss complex tech topics and distill them down into terms we can all understand. Aero tube shapes are now integral parts of bicycle design. Engineers test them in the wind tunnel once they’ve got a prototype in hand, but before such prototypes even exist, a virtual design can be created and tested on the computer using Computational...

The Giro d'Italia is here! Froome vs. Dumoulin. The Zoncolon. We preview all of the big storylines ahead of the season's first grand tour (at 42:30). But first, Spencer talks about what makes the Whiskey Off-Road and other Epic Rides mountain bike races so successful. On the other side of the country (and racing spectrum), Fred went to the Red Hook Crit. Why is fixie racing so popular these days?...

This episode is all about data. Not long ago, people looked at you funny if you had a two-inch screen mounted to your handlebars. Now, we ride with head units the size of iPhones, sensors connected to our limbs, and wearables that track our every step and heartbeat. No one bats an eyelash. A few episodes ago, we talked with Hunter Allen about the history of power and how we got to this point. Toda...

The first grand tour of the 2018 season gets underway on Friday. The Giro d'Italia kicks off with a time trial in Jerusalem, making it the first grand tour to begin beyond European soil. The start list is an impressive one, with Chris Froome (Sky) making an attempt at the first half of a Giro-Tour double — assuming he is not suspended for his adverse analytical finding for Salbutamol — and he's no...

Lance Armstrong settled with the Feds for $5 million... Did he win? Plus, we discuss the tactics that played out in one of the most exciting editions of Liege-Bastogne-Liege in years. Later in the show, we bring on tech editor Dan Cavallari to talk about the biggest bike show in North America, Sea Otter Classic. What tech was cool? What trends are growing? And what's the deal with e-bikes? All tha...

The spring classics are nearing their conclusion, with one monumental race left for classics fans to enjoy this Sunday: Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) will look to defend his title against a flying Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) and a host of other punchy climbers in the Ardennes week finale. The Recon Ride previews the parcours and the favorites of "La Doyenne," the o...

The WorldTour peloton has left the pavé behind, but the classics rage on for another week in the Netherlands and the Ardennes forest. Michael Valgren kicked off Ardennes week with a classy victory at the Amstel Gold Race, toppling heavyweights like Peter Sagan and Alejandro Valverde. On the women's side, Chantal Blaak took the win for Boels Dolmans, defending the title her teammate Anna van der Br...

We take a deep dive into race strategy and tactics, and the necessary skills and training you need to excel at bike racing. We'll discuss some of the differences between professional and amateur racing and why that leads to different approaches. We’ll take a deep dive into crit racing: why skills are so important, how to save energy, and how to get comfortable with the speed and fear you might fee...

Sagan finally succeeded in winning Paris-Roubaix, doing it in the most audacious way imaginable. Andrew Hood and Dane Cash were on the ground in France to witness the world champion's second career monument victory. They discuss how the race played out, what it means for Sagan, and also speak to Zdenek Stybar and Philippe Gilbert to find out why their Quick-Step freight train went off the rails. A...