Tour de France 2019 preview

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.