This week's episode is sponsored by Whoop. This year, Whoop is providing rider data from the race, including heart rate data during the stages and sleep data after them. Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EastPost), for instance, only got 5.5 hours of sleep on the big transfer day from Hungary to Sicily, according to Whoop. The Giro d'Italia is reaching its mountainous conclusion, and team Ineos looks primed to win the Maglia Rosa with Richard Carapaz. A victory would bring Ineos its fourth Giro win in five years. Why does the team and its "Froome train" strategy still work in Italy, while it falters i ..read more

U.S. track cycling phenom Ashton Lambie has traded in the velodrome for dirt. Lambie, 31, is embarking on his first full campaign in gravel and mountain-bike racing in 2022, and he's racing the Life Time Grand Prix events and other off-road races. Lambie shares his opinions with Ben Delaney on what it's like to return to 100-mile gravel events after spending years spinning circles around a velodrome. How does the four-minute effort of the individual pursuit compare to a daylong race? What are the biggest tech differences between an aero bike and a gravel rig? Lambie takes us inside his experie ..read more

The Giro d'Italia kicked off this year with three stages in Hungary, followed by a big travel day down to Sicily for a stout mountain stage up Mount Etna. How does all this travel affect the racing? Riders often say different things, depending on who they are speaking to — or whether it's on the record. This year, fitness wearable company Whoop is providing rider data from the race, including heart rate data during the stages and sleep data after them. Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EastPost), for instance, only got 5.5 hours of sleep on the big transfer day from Hungary to Sicily, according t ..read more

The racing was high-intensity and high-drama around the world last week, from Belgian Waffle Ride to the Tour de Romandie. What did we learn from covering these races? Ben Delaney, Betsy Welch, and Daniel Benson talk through the hot spots. Watching Lauren De Crescenzo win a stage by five minutes and the overall at the Tour of Gila while Mo Wilson won BWR by 25 minutes has us looking forward to a showdown between these two powerhouses at Unbound Gravel early next month. Speaking of Unbound, can anybody beat Keegan Swenson? Daniel was in Switzerland for Romandie, where Aleksandr Vlasov execut ..read more

Amy Charity is the driving force behind SBT GRVL, one of VeloNews' five Monuments of Gravel that exploded onto the scene in 2019 and now sells out its 3,000 spots within minutes. SBT GRVL was invited to join the UCI's new Gravel World Series, but Charity declined. On this episode of the VeloNews Podcast, Charity and host Ben Delaney discuss a variety of things, including the intersection of pro racing and recreational gravel riding, why she is happy to have SBT GRVL as an independent entity, the community of gravel race promoters, and that time she and Life Time vice president Kimo Seymour wor ..read more

It was a hell of a weekend in France with Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Paris-Roubaix, and Ben Delaney and Jim Cotton discuss the highlights and lowlights of both the men's and women's races and the gear that was used to varying degrees of success. What is your favorite type of Roubaix? A wet and muddy edition, or a dry and dusty version? Ben and Jim argue about that, too ..read more

Race series are nothing new, but a series that combines cross-country mountain bike and gravel events absolutely is. How will this play out? Will mountain bikers or gravel racers have the advantage overall? The Life Time Grand Prix kicked off Saturday at the Sea Otter Classic with the 80K Fuego XC race, and the day before, Betsy Welch sat down with a number of the racers to talk about the six-race series format, their hopes for the events, and what they were nervous about. Betsy spoke with Kaysee Armstrong and Crystal Anthony of Liv Racing, fresh back from Cape Epic in Africa, then spoke ..read more

When was the last time you saw a Tour de France champion defining a race at a cobbled classic? Go on and think a while; we’ll wait. Tadej Pogačar raced the Tour de Flanders for the first time Sunday, and he wasn’t just perusing the event as a tourist - the two-time Tour champ rode to win. And while he didn’t pull off the victory, he absolutely did force every rider in the field to play on his terms until the final meters. In the women’s race, defending champ Annemiek van Vleuten rode similarly in many ways to Pogačar — defining the race, chasing down the break, and forcing the critical selecti ..read more

In winning Gent-Wevelgem, Biniam Girmay made history by becoming the first Black African to win a classic. While he and his team were delighted with the win, Girmay isn't necessarily comfortable with the limelight. "I don't like to be the famous guy," Girmay said after the race. Recording in Belgium between Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders, Sadhbh O'Shea and Ben Delaney discuss what Girmay's win means for cycling, and what it means for the young rider from Eritrea. Sadhbh and Ben also talk top prospects for the women's and men's Tour of Flanders this coming Sunday, where the eagerly awai ..read more

In winning Gent-Wevelgem, Biniam Girmay made history by becoming the first Black African to win a classic. While he and his team were delighted with the win, Girmay isn't necessarily comfortable with the limelight. "I don't like to be the famous guy," Girmay said after the race. Recording in Belgium between Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders, Sadhbh O'Shea and Ben Delaney discuss what Girmay's win means for cycling, and what it means for the young rider from Eritrea. Sadhbh and Ben also talk top prospects for the women's and men's Tour of Flanders this coming Sunday, where the eagerly awai ..read more