Velonews Podcasts

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 episode is brought to you by Pro Bike Gear. With its new online saddle selector, you can find your next saddle with just a few clicks. Visit www.pro-bikegear.com and check out Pro’s newly expanded line of saddles.

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. Plus, Chris did more than talk the talk — he rode and finished the 206-mile race. Listen to the second half of the show for his first-hand perspective on the race. This episode of the VeloNews podcast and our coverage of Dirty Kanza is sponsored by 3T, manufacturer of the aerodynamic Exploro gravel bike. Learn all about the bike Chris rode: https://www.3t.bike/en/3t-bikes/exploro-2.html

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 help from our guest Dr. Timothy Noakes, who has been at the center of endurance science and sports nutrition research for decades.

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 has audio from Chris Froome and Simon Yates's Canadian teammate Svein Tuft. Finally, Chris Case comes on the show to talk about this weekend's big gravel race, Dirty Kanza 200 and why he put a narwhal on his bike.

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 of the VeloNews podcast is sponsored by Smith Optics, which outfitted us with the Session helmet and Attack Max sunglasses for the Epic Rides mountain bike series. Check out www.smithoptics.com for more.

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 as Stephen Hyde's plans to try for an Olympic spot as an XC mountain biker. Finally, Fred's got a few hot takes after his week covering the Amgen Tour of California. This week's VeloNews Podcast is sponsored by Fezzari, the bike company that brings a personalized experience to buying bikes online. With a 30-day "love it or return it" guarantee, you can shop with confidence and get the ride that's right for you. Check out www.fezzari.com to learn more.

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 and his teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart after their impressive performances on the final big GC day of the race. Over on the women's side in California, UnitedHealthcare's Katie Hall soared to a convincing victory in Lake Tahoe — and then shared her thoughts with the podcast on how it all went down. And then there's the Giro. We talk about Monte Zoncolan and hear from Sky's Chris Froome as the Italian grand tour visits its hardest climb.

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. This episode is brought to you by Pro Bike Gear. With its new online saddle selector, you can find your next saddle with just a few clicks. Visit http://www.pro-bikegear.com and check out Pro’s newly expanded line of saddles.

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. What’s lacking is that one clear metric or tool to tell us when we're fatigued. In today’s episode, we delve into the question of recovery metrics. First, we'll discuss why the balance between training and recovery plays such an important role in performing at our best. We'll also address the difference between overtraining and functional over-reaching. Next we'll discuss a recent review comparing subjective metrics to objective metrics of recovery. If you think that a blood test or heart rate measure is necessarily better than answering a few questions every morning about how you feel, think again. Finally, we'll

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 since then. Plus, we hear from Americans Sepp Kuss and Brandon McNulty at the race. This episode of the VeloNews podcast is sponsored by Smith Optics, which outfitted us with the Session helmet and Attack Max sunglasses for the Epic Rides mountain bike series.

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 window into the future of bike design or just a tease, never to materialize on our personal bikes? Kind of a little bit of both, but they are still very interesting to follow. Want to watch the Giro d’Italia? Stream all the stages on Fubo.tv for a special first-month introductory rate of $19.99. Subscribe now: https://www.fubo.tv/lp/giro/?irad=361812&irmp=1235874

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, Colorado duo brought the heat with McElveen winning his second title in a row and Olympian Grotts again getting a silver. We talked a little about the racing but a lot more about their heavy duty training programs, and how Grotts likes to keep it old school as far as technology is concerned.

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 Fluid Dynamics, or CFD. Chris Yu from Specialized walks us through CFD and explains how it influences bicycle design today. Episode one is brought to you by Pro Bike Gear. With its new online saddle selector, you can find your next saddle with just a few clicks. Visit pro-bikegear.com and check out Pro’s newly expanded line of saddles.

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? Plus, we have a rundown of the latest news from Romandie and takes on Lieuwe Westra's doping confession. This week's VeloNews Podcast is sponsored by Fezzari, the bike company that brings a personalized experience to buying bikes online. With a 30-day "love it or return it" guarantee, you can shop with confidence and get the ride that's right for you. Check out http://www.fezzari.com to learn more.

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. Today we ask this question: Where is all of this data going, and what do we gain by covering our bodies in sensors like something out of a Star Trek Borg episode? In this episode, we'll discuss the data revolution, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. There’s been exponential growth in the amount of information we're now able to collect and analyze. That data is allowing us to analyze our training in ways we never could before, but it also comes with some dangers.

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 not the only big name set to be in attendance. Defending champ Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), and rising star Miguel Ángel López (Astana) will also be in the mix for the three-week race. The Recon Ride talks route and favorites ahead of the Italian grand tour — and also hears from GC contender Simon Yates, who forms part of a dangerous Mitchelton-Scott two-pronged attack with Esteban Chaves.

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 that and more on this episode.

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 oldest major one-day on the calendar and the final marquee classic of the spring.

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 Breggen nabbed last year. Meanwhile, the North American peloton got into gear this week at the Joe Martin stage race, where Rubén Companioni and Katie Hall delivered overall wins. The VeloNews podcast talks Amstel takeaways as well as the domestic racing scene — with Canadian pro Rob Britton weighing in to boot — as the Amgen Tour of California approaches. VeloNews tech editor Dan Cavallari also gets in on the fun as he prepares for the Sea Otter Classic — and a string of his own tech-oriented shows soon to arrive on the VeloNews podcast network.

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 feel while racing in the pack. Next it will be flat road races: the importance of saving energy, how it's one of the most predictable races in cycling, but why you still need to be attentive to those unexpected moves. And finally, we'll talk about some of the dynamic tactics you'll encounter in these races, including sag climbing and breaking away. We’re joined by two veterans of both European and American racing from Rally Pro Cycling. Team manager Pat McCarty has spent much of his adult life racing, as a junior, U23, on the WorldTour, in Europe, in the U.S., in crits, climbing races, and on team’s big and small. One