BeSpoke: at the Tour de France

The BeSpoke team drive through the night to join up with reigning Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas and Ineos Team Principle Sir Dave Brailsford on the final rest day. With Julian Alaphilippe cracking for the first time yesterday, the BeSpoke team run through who has a genuine shot of glory in Paris.

Geraint Thomas and his Ineos teammates crashed with 10km to go but fought back to limit the damage to Gianni Moscon's snapped frame. This was all going on whilst Thomas de Gendt rode a remarkable breakaway victory. Julian Alaphilippe stakes his claim to be considered a real GC contender, and Jeremy pulls out two of the worst jokes you'll hear all summer within a minute.

The 2019 Tour de France starts this Saturday. With Chris Froome out, we hear from Geraint Thomas who aims to defend his crown. Plus we ask what the future holds for Mark Cavendish after he wasn’t picked by Team Dimension Data.

Bent double, legs aching, lungs burning, knees knocking into your ribcage as you race against the clock: the Time Trial is cycling in its purest form. But what does it feel like to ride a professional TT and what's the science behind it? In 2015 Alex Dowsett broke track cycling's world hour record by 446 metres. He and Michael Hutchinson - who held the competition record for 10, 25, 30, 50 and 100 miles - join BeSpoke to reveal the finer details and find out why it's better to have hairy legs.

Geraint Thomas tells BeSpoke he's lucky to be ok following his crash at the Tour de Suisse which could've have scuppered his defence of the Tour de France. He talks us through the finer details of what it's like to crash at 50km/hour and says he'll need to knuckle down over the next couple of weeks to get match fit for cycling's biggest race. Plus we hear how athletes clean up their road wounds, but please don't listen if you're having your dinner.

Britain's Chris Froome is in intensive care after crashing into a wall at 55 kilometres an hour during a reconnaissance ride at the Dauphine stage race in south-east France. He will no longer compete in this year’s Tour de France. Sir Dave Brailsford - team principal of Team Ineos - joins BeSpoke to update them on Froome's injuries after the six-time Grand Tour winner was airlifted to hospital with multiple fractures.

EF Education First's Michael Woods played Ice Hockey before becoming an elite runner, only taking up cycling to keep fit. He joins BeSpoke to discuss his journey to front of the peloton, describes how he suffers from imposter syndrome and reflects on how his son Hunter, who he lost at 37 weeks, spurred him on to his maiden grand tour stage victory at last summer's Vuelta.

With the Giro d'Italia in our slipstream, BeSpoke pops across the Pennines to Leeds and a catch-up with Lizzie Deignan - the dominant British female road racer of her generation and, as of eight months ago, a mother to daughter Orla. We find out how she is balancing the competing demands of racing and motherhood, chew over her chances of winning back her World title in Yorkshire this September and ask whether her Trek-Segafredo team-mates have got any closer to cracking the correct pronunciation of her married name

In the city synonymous with Romeo and Juliet, there are no late dramas nor tragedies for dashing race leader Richard Carapaz. The BeSpoke team analyse where the young Ecuadorian won this 102nd Giro, pick out their favourite moments of a race that has sometimes underwhelmed and attempt to get Jeremy Whittle to finally pronounce Primoz Roglic's name without hesitation or error.

A warm feeling resonates through BeSpoke's Gareth Rhys Owen as the breakaway just kept their advantage after separating from the peloton 170kms out, with Italy's Damiano Cima winning by inches in just his second year as a professional. Richard Carapaz maintains the overall lead in the General Classification with 1min 54 over Vincenzo Nibali and Primoj Roglic back in third. Cycling broadcaster Laura Winter joins Jeremy Whittle and Gareth as the Giro nears completion and discusses whether Simon Yates has egg on his face and how prevalent mechanical doping is in elite cycling.

Bad weather and dangerous descents made for a captivating 16th stage of the 2019 Giro. The Italian rider Giulio Ciccone won, whilst Richard Carapaz remains the race General Classification leader, a lead he took from Primoz Roglic whose tour turned on its head after a badly timed toilet break. He now sits third behind Carapaz and Vincenzo Nibali with just five stages left. BBC Cycling commentator Simon Brotherton, joins Jeremy Whittle and Gareth Rhys Owen.

The Guardian’s Tour de France Correspondent Jeremy Whittle and Gareth Rhys Owen join Tom Fordyce as the 2019 Giro d’Italia finally gets exciting with a brilliant 12th stage - Italian Cesare Benedetti claiming his first grand tour stage win in dramatic fashion. Meanwhile Team Ineos are failing to make a dent and one of the BeSpoke team isn’t impressed with how they look in their first Grand Tour in their new kit. They discuss the latest developments in a doping story that is gathering momentum, plus Gareth has some exciting shopping news.

Last year’s Giro winner Chris Froome tells BeSpoke how he loves to inflict pain on his competitors as we preview the first Grand Tour of the season, the Giro D'italia. Meanwhile fellow Brit Simon Yates - who was on the verge of winning last year’s race before spectacularly imploding - says he’s put it all behind him. Rob’s bottom is blamed for his inability to climb, Jeremy makes a very bold prediction, plus the team are joined by ex pro rider and current manager of EF Education First Jonathan Vaughters, who admits that cyclists are masochistic.

The journey to Grand Tour victory starts 2'300 metres up Mount Tiede: a dormant volcano in Tenerife which is overdue an eruption. This is where Team Sky have based their training camps since 2010. Bespoke have been given exclusive access to the riders and staff as they help prepare their riders for the summer ahead. Tom Fordyce speaks to Chris Froome as he tries to regain his Tour de France title from teammate Geraint Thomas, he finds out which condiment is quaffed by the bucket load, plus he makes a visit to arguably the steepest road in the world.

Olympic gold medallist Dani Rowe joins Gareth Rhys Owen on the podcast this week to discuss life after the peloton; Dani retired from road racing in November. Rob Hayles returns from the Tour of Flanders having witnessed one of the worst airports in Europe but one of the best post-race interviews you'll hear. They discuss the pressures and strains of being a professional cyclist in light of British rider Peter Kennaugh announcing this week he'd be taking a break due to mental health reasons, plus they look ahead to the most punishing weekend on a bike: Paris-Roubaix. A race that Rob started three times but never finished.

Tom Fordyce is joined by cycling writer Sadhbh O’Shea and BeSpoke veterans Gareth Rhys Owen and Jeremy Whittle to battle up the steep cobbled climbs and narrow roads of the Tour of Flanders, a race like no other. World no.1 Annamiek van Vleuten tells the team what it takes to win Flanders and reveals why a happy rider is a successful rider and reveals she can't tell the difference between her Mitchelton-Scott teammate twins Adam and Simon Yates. Plus Tom pressurises his guests into predicting a winner and is then blindsided by Gareth in return.

Tom Fordyce is joined by the Guardian’s Jeremy Whittle and former pro rider Rob Hayles – eventually – as they hear the remarkable story of veteran rider Bernie Eisel’s near-fatal accident and his remarkable recovery. Bernie spills the beans on the strange habits of his team-mate and long-time room-mate Mark Cavendish and offers a tantalising prediction of what the superstar sprinter might do next. Plus the team discuss the cavalier charms of part-time drummer and full-time peloton maverick Julian Alaphilippe, and make a series of poorly-considered Grand Tour forecasts.

What a year it’s been. A clean sweep for British riders of the three Grand Tours in Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome and Simon Yates, but who will the BeSpoke team pick as the best rider of 2018? Tom Fordyce gets the band back together and is joined by Rob Hayles, Jeremy Whittle and Gareth Rhys Owen – the team that covered the Tour de France for BeSpoke. As well as rider of the year, awards are also dished out for the best day’s racing, most thrilling moment, and biggest inspiration.

He cried on his wedding day and when he won the greatest prize in cycling, but listen to Geraint Thomas as you’ve never heard him before in this BeSpoke special. With his wife Sara alongside him, the 2018 Tour de France winner talks to Tom Fordyce about how he overcame mountains and a sore bum on the eve of the world’s biggest race to get the better of his teammate Chris Froome. Thomas's year was capped off by winning the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year award in December.

In this week’s episode, Ben Croucher and the team discuss whether Mark Cavendish’s latest health problems will stop him breaking Eddy Merckx’s famous Tour de France record. They also discuss Chris Froome’s chances of winning the upcoming Tour of Britain, and ask if Simon Yates is learning from his mistakes at the Giro d’Italia to become a contender at the Vuelta a Espana.