S13 Ep75: The Road to Rouen | Stage 4 | Tour de France 2025

Join Lionel Birnie and Graham Willgoss as they recap the 2025 Tour de France. We’re back on the road for the 13th time with daily episodes recorded at the heart of the world’s biggest race. Our nightly episodes feature race analysis, interviews and plenty of French flavour. To listen to the episodes as soon as they are released, follow The Cycling Podcast in your favourite podcast app. VAN RYSEL, OUR TOUR DE FRANCE SPONSORS We are very pleased to welcome Van Rysel as our sponsors for the first half of our Tour de France coverage. The Tour gets underway in Lille, the city where the company was founded and has its headquarters. The city is steeped in French cycling history and heritage, not least because the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are on the doorstep. Van Rysel supplies bikes and kit for the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale World Tour team, who feature Felix Gall, Bruno Armirail and Aurélien Paret-Peintre in their line-up for the Tour. Visit www.vanryselcycling.com to find out more. EPISODE SPONSOR Indeed If you are looking to hire someone for your company, maybe the best way isn’t to search for a candidate but to match with Indeed. Go to indeed.com/cycle now to get a £100 sponsored job credit and get matched with the perfect candidate fast. Follow us on social media: Twitter @cycling_podcast Instagram @thecyclingpodcast Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to new special episodes every month plus a back catalogue of more than 300 exclusive episodes. The Cannibal & Badger Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our new virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger. A friendly forum to talk about cycling and the podcast. Log in to your Friends of the Podcast account to join in. The 11.01 Cappuccino Our regular email newsletter is now on Substack. Subscribe here for frothy, full-fat updates to enjoy any time (as long as it’s after 11am). The Cycling Podcast is on Strava The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Join Lionel Birnie, Graham Willgoss and François Thomazeau as they recap the 2025 Tour de France. We’re back on the road for the 13th time with daily episodes recorded at the heart of the world’s biggest race. Our nightly episodes feature race analysis, interviews and plenty of French flavour. To listen to the episodes as soon as they are released, follow The Cycling Podcast in your favourite podcast app. VAN RYSEL, OUR TOUR DE FRANCE SPONSORS We are very pleased to welcome Van Rysel as our sponsors for the first half of our Tour de France coverage. The Tour gets underway in Lille, the city where the company was founded and has its headquarters. The city is steeped in French cycling history and heritage, not least because the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are on the doorstep. Van Rysel supplies bikes and kit for the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale World Tour team, who feature Felix Gall, Bruno Armirail and Aurélien Paret-Peintre in their line-up for the Tour. If you are going to Lille for the opening weekend make sure to drop in at Van Rysel House, a pop-up venue and hub for cycling fans. It’s located at Hein Estaminet in Place Saint-Hubert a short walk from the Euralille train station. It’s a place to have a drink or something to eat and watch the race on TV and there’ll be lots going on over the weekend with a quiz night to test your cycling knowledge each night at 8pm. There’s also some group rides setting out from there. A chance to see the Van Rysel bikes and the innovation that goes into their design. Visit www.vanryselcycling.com to find out more. Follow us on social media: Twitter @cycling_podcast Instagram @thecyclingpodcast Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to new special episodes every month plus a back catalogue of more than 300 exclusive episodes. The Cannibal & Badger Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our new virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger. A friendly forum to talk about cycling and the podcast. Log in to your Friends of the Podcast account to join in. The 11.01 Cappuccino Our regular email newsletter is now on Substack. Subscribe here for frothy, full-fat updates to enjoy any time (as long as it’s after 11am). The Cycling Podcast is on Strava The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Join Lionel Birnie, Graham Willgoss and François Thomazeau in Lille as they recap the 2025 Tour de France. We’re back on the road for the 13th time with daily episodes recorded at the heart of the world’s biggest race. Our nightly episodes feature race analysis, interviews and plenty of French flavour. To listen to the episodes as soon as they are released, follow The Cycling Podcast in your favourite podcast app. VAN RYSEL, OUR TOUR DE FRANCE SPONSORS We are very pleased to welcome Van Rysel as our sponsors for the first half of our Tour de France coverage. The Tour gets underway in Lille, the city where the company was founded and has its headquarters. The city is steeped in French cycling history and heritage, not least because the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are on the doorstep. Van Rysel supplies bikes and kit for the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale World Tour team, who feature Felix Gall, Bruno Armirail and Aurélien Paret-Peintre in their line-up for the Tour. If you are going to Lille for the opening weekend make sure to drop in at Van Rysel House, a pop-up venue and hub for cycling fans. It’s located at Hein Estaminet in Place Saint-Hubert a short walk from the Euralille train station. It’s a place to have a drink or something to eat and watch the race on TV and there’ll be lots going on over the weekend with a quiz night to test your cycling knowledge each night at 8pm. There’s also some group rides setting out from there. A chance to see the Van Rysel bikes and the innovation that goes into their design. Visit www.vanryselcycling.com to find out more. EPISODE SPONSOR Nord VPN Get NordVPN two-year plan + four months extra ➼ https://nordvpn.com/tcp It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee. Follow us on social media: Twitter @cycling_podcast Instagram @thecyclingpodcast Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to new special episodes every month plus a back catalogue of more than 300 exclusive episodes. The Cannibal & Badger Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our new virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger. A friendly forum to talk about cycling and the podcast. Log in to your Friends of the Podcast account to join in. The 11.01 Cappuccino Our regular email newsletter is now on Substack. Subscribe here for frothy, full-fat updates to enjoy any time (as long as it’s after 11am). The Cycling Podcast is on Strava The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Join Lionel Birnie, Graham Willgoss and François Thomazeau in Lille as they recap the first stage of the 2025 Tour de France. We’re back on the road for the 13th time with daily episodes recorded at the heart of the world’s biggest race. Our nightly episodes feature race analysis, interviews and plenty of French flavour. To listen to the episodes as soon as they are released, follow The Cycling Podcast in your favourite podcast app. INTRODUCING VAN RYSEL, OUR TOUR DE FRANCE SPONSORS We are very pleased to welcome Van Rysel as our sponsors for the first half of our Tour de France coverage. The Tour gets underway in Lille, the city where the company was founded and has its headquarters. The city is steeped in French cycling history and heritage, not least because the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are on the doorstep. Van Rysel supplies bikes and kit for the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale World Tour team, who feature Felix Gall, Bruno Armirail and Aurélien Paret-Peintre in their line-up for the Tour. If you are going to Lille for the opening weekend make sure to drop in at Van Rysel House, a pop-up venue and hub for cycling fans. It’s located at Hein Estaminet in Place Saint-Hubert a short walk from the Euralille train station. It’s a place to have a drink or something to eat and watch the race on TV and there’ll be lots going on over the weekend with a quiz night to test your cycling knowledge each night at 8pm. There’s also some group rides setting out from there. A chance to see the Van Rysel bikes and the innovation that goes into their design. Visit www.vanryselcycling.com to find out more. Follow us on social media: Twitter @cycling_podcast Instagram @thecyclingpodcast Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to new special episodes every month plus a back catalogue of more than 300 exclusive episodes. The Cannibal & Badger Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our new virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger. A friendly forum to talk about cycling and the podcast. Log in to your Friends of the Podcast account to join in. The 11.01 Cappuccino Our regular email newsletter is now on Substack. Subscribe here for frothy, full-fat updates to enjoy any time (as long as it’s after 11am). The Cycling Podcast is on Strava The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

As part of of our build-up to the Tour de France, this episode of KM0 from the Friends of the Podcast feed is available for all for a limited time. With the 2025 race starting in Lille, the city of François Thomazeau's birth we're revisiting the first part of his Tour de France tales. Recorded in 2023, this five-part series is a chronological romp through some of François' favourite Tour memories, starting with the first Tour he covered in 1986. The four subsequent parts of this series are available to Friends of the Podcast subscribers. Sign up at thecyclingpodcast.com and support The Cycling Podcast's coverage in the process. Once subscribed you can listen to the back catalogue of more than 300 episodes plus new shows for Friends of the Podcast by adding the feed to your preferred podcast app in a few quick clicks.

This is part two of our bumper XL Tour de France Preview, with Lionel Birnie, Graham Willgoss, Rob Hatch and François Thomazeau. We pick up where we left off with François' run-through of what to expect on the road in weeks two and three of the 2025 Tour de France, interspersed with some of the more intriguing sub-plots to look forward to. There's also Whitey's Whiteboard – in which experienced sports director Matt White shares some of his tactical expertise and breaks down how a typical team goes about selecting its line-up for the Tour de France and how the daily strategy is decided and conveyed to the riders. INTRODUCING VAN RYSEL, OUR TOUR DE FRANCE SPONSORS We are very pleased to welcome Van Rysel as our sponsors for the first half of our Tour de France coverage. The Tour gets underway in Lille, the city where the company was founded and has its headquarters. The city is steeped in French cycling history and heritage, not least because the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are on the doorstep. Van Rysel supplies bikes and kit for the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale World Tour team, who feature Felix Gall, Bruno Armirail and Aurélien Paret-Peintre in their line-up for the Tour. If you are going to Lille for the opening weekend make sure to drop in at Van Rysel House, a pop-up venue and hub for cycling fans. It’s located at Hein Estaminet in Place Saint-Hubert a short walk from the Euralille train station. It’s a place to have a drink or something to eat and watch the race on TV and there’ll be lots going on over the weekend with a quiz night to test your cycling knowledge each night at 8pm. There’s also some group rides setting out from there. A chance to see the Van Rysel bikes and the innovation that goes into their design. Visit www.vanryselcycling.com to find out more. Follow us on social media: Twitter @cycling_podcast Instagram @thecyclingpodcast Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to new special episodes every month plus a back catalogue of more than 300 exclusive episodes. The Cannibal & Badger Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our new virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger. A friendly forum to talk about cycling and the podcast. Log in to your Friends of the Podcast account to join in. The 11.01 Cappuccino Our regular email newsletter is now on Substack. Subscribe here for frothy, full-fat updates to enjoy any time (as long as it’s after 11am). The Cycling Podcast is on Strava The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Join Lionel Birnie, Graham Willgoss, Rob Hatch and François Thomazeau for the first part of The Cycling Podcast’s bumper Tour de France preview. This episode focuses on the first half of the 112th Tour, which will take the riders from Lille in the north east, across to Normandy and Brittany before cutting down through the heart of France to the Massif Central. The head-to-head battle between Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard is currently tied at 2-2, with the Slovenian winning in 2021 and 2024 and the Dane taking back-to-back victories in 2022 and 2023. But, as closely-matched as they often seem, none of those four clashes has been particularly close and, as we saw at the Dauphiné last month, Pogačar seems to have the upper hand at the moment. So, will we see a battle royale between the Three Tenors – © Rob Hatch – with Remco Evenepoel one of the riders most suited to a punchy, scrappy opening week, especially with a time trial to contend with? François breaks down the route and explains what we have to look forward to before the first rest day after ten stages. Part two of The XL Tour de France Preview will be online soon... INTRODUCING VAN RYSEL, OUR TOUR DE FRANCE SPONSORS We are very pleased to welcome Van Rysel as our sponsors for the first half of our Tour de France coverage. The Tour gets underway in Lille, the city where the company was founded and has its headquarters. The city is steeped in French cycling history and heritage, not least because the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are on the doorstep. Van Rysel supplies bikes and kit for the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale World Tour team, who feature Felix Gall, Bruno Armirail and Aurélien Paret-Peintre in their line-up for the Tour. If you are going to Lille for the opening weekend make sure to drop in at Van Rysel House, a pop-up venue and hub for cycling fans. It’s located at Hein Estaminet in Place Saint-Hubert a short walk from the Euralille train station. It’s a place to have a drink or something to eat and watch the race on TV and there’ll be lots going on over the weekend with a quiz night to test your cycling knowledge each night at 8pm. There’s also some group rides setting out from there. A chance to see the Van Rysel bikes and the innovation that goes into their design. Visit www.vanryselcycling.com to find out more. Follow us on social media: Twitter @cycling_podcast Instagram @thecyclingpodcast Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to new special episodes every month plus a back catalogue of more than 300 exclusive episodes. The Cannibal & Badger Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our new virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger. A friendly forum to talk about cycling and the podcast. Log in to your Friends of the Podcast account to join in. The 11.01 Cappuccino Our regular email newsletter is now on Substack. Subscribe here for frothy, full-fat updates to enjoy any time (as long as it’s after 11am). The Cycling Podcast is on Strava The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

As part of of our build-up to the Tour de France, this episode of KM0 from the Friends of the Podcast feed is available for all for a limited time. This is one of the most whimsical episodes of KM0 we've ever made. It was recorded on the second rest day during the 2017 Tour de France in the style of the old British TV show Juke Box Jury. François Thomazeau took Lionel Birnie and Richard Moore on a musical journey to discover music inspired by the Tour de France. Over a pre-dinner drink or two, they assessed the musical offerings of artists such as Les Freres Jacques, Alex Marco and former professional rider Jean-François Bernard and decided they ranged from the quirky to the weird, the catchy to the downright diabolical.

As part of of our build-up to the Tour de France, this episode of KM0 from the Friends of the Podcast feed is available for all for a limited time. The Tour de France returns to Mont Ventoux this summer and this episode about the mountain’s history and influence was made back in June 2016 ahead of the race’s visit a few weeks later. Lionel Birnie and Simon Gill head to Provence to ride the climb from Bedoin via Chalet Reynard. Along the way they discover the drama, majesty and tragedy of the Giant of Provence. Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast to listen to our full KM0 archive of more than 300 episodes stretching back to 2015.

This episode of KM0 from the Friends of the Podcast feed is available for all for a limited time. As we count down to the start of the Tour de France on Saturday, we’re releasing episodes new and vintage throughout the week. First up, to mark the tenth anniversary of the creation of our spin-off show we’re adding the very first episode of KM0 to our free feed. Join Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe in the car as they approach Utrecht, venue for the 2015 Grand Départ. This episode launched our KM0 series, which gave us the platform to tell a wide range of different stories we didn’t have space for in the regular stage recaps. The KM0 back catalogue is available for Friends of the Podcast. Sign up at thecyclingpodcast.com