Giro d'Italia preview: Can Geraint Thomas deny Tadej Pogačar the title?

RadioCycling

With the Giro d'Italia starting in Turin on Saturday, we turn most of our new episode over to a preview of the corsa rosa and ask the question: can Geraint Thomas — or in fact anyone — outfox the flying Tadej Pogačar?

We start with an extended interview with Geraint Thomas, beaten on the final weekend last year by Primož Roglič, who took the title by just 14 seconds. While acknowledging that Roglič's fellow Slovenian Pogačar is a class above his GC rivals for the maglia rosa, 2018 Tour de France winner Thomas tells us why he's backing himself to produce another sustained run for the Giro title and why he believes that he and his super strong Ineos Grenadiers team can be optimistic about their prospects.

We also hear from another of Pogačar's likely rivals for the title, Ben O'Connor. The Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider is targeting his first ever Grand Tour podium, and his spring form suggests it’s more than possible. The Australian says he's relishing the chance to show what he can do on Italy's roads and that he's hoping to be celebrating a podium finish in Rome in three weeks' time.

During the Giro, we'll have diary contributions from young Brits Lewis Askey and Harrison Wood, who are both making their debut in the race. Groupama-FDJ's Askey tells us that his primary job will be to help set up Kiwi teammate Laurence Pithie in the bunch sprints and that he'll be kicking back in the evenings with a dose of Jeremy Clarkson. Cofidis's Wood, meanwhile, is hoping that his pre-race reading of Roy Keane's autobiography will inspire him to knock over some big names in the hills and mountains.

We also look at what promises to be a scintillating contest among the Giro sprinters, where the depth of talent looks as strong or perhaps stronger than it's likely to be at the Tour de France in July. There's Milan and Merlier, Ewan and Groves, Kooij and Jakobsen, to name just half a dozen of the fastmen who'll be aiming to amass stage wins and the ciclamino points jersey.

As the first women's Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta Femenina, got under way in Spain earlier this week, our newshound Chris Marshall-Bell took the opportunity to get the latest on defending Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift champion Demi Vollering's end of season exit from SD Worx and rumoured arrival at FDj-Suez for a cool one million euros a season. FDJ boss Stephen Delcourt and SD Worx manager Danny Stam offer their take on the Vollering transfer, which is sure to be biggest ever seen on the women's side of the sport.

In our regular 'How to Make Cycling Better' feature, Visma | Lease a Bike's Vuelta a España champion Sepp Kuss explains how course design could be improved to make racing more exciting.

This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.

Music provided by HearWeGo

Marion - High Hopes

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