S13 Ep70: The XL Tour de France Preview, Part One
The Cycling Podcast
The Cycling Podcast
4.8 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 2 July 2025
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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 Reesel bikes and the innovation that goes into their design.
Visit www.vanryselcycling.com to find out more.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the cycling podcast brought to you in association with Van Riesel, |
| 0:06.5 | the bike company born in Lille in the heart of French Flanders. |
| 0:10.6 | Van Riesel supply the bikes for the decathlon Ager-Doseer La Mondial team, of course, |
| 0:15.2 | and they feature Felix Galle, Bruno Armourai and Aurelian Paripantre in their Tour de France lineup. And we're very happy to say |
| 0:22.8 | that Van Riesel is sponsoring the cycling podcast coverage of the first half of this year's Tour |
| 0:27.0 | de France, including the Grand Depart in Leo this weekend. That's the city where Van Riesel was created. |
| 0:33.9 | And it's a hotbed of cycling history and culture, as we'll find out when we get there at the weekend. |
| 0:38.9 | It was a regular on the tour route in the early days and it's got the Cobble Classic territory right on the doorstep. |
| 0:45.7 | Cycling fans from all over the world will be heading to the city in the northeast of France for the opening weekend and I expect there be thousands of British fans making the short hop across the channel. |
| 0:54.4 | You might be listening to this episode already there in Leal, |
| 0:57.2 | enjoying the atmosphere as the anticipation builds up ahead of Saturday's opening stage. |
| 1:02.0 | So if you are in Leal or you're coming over for the weekend, |
| 1:04.5 | make sure to check out the Van Reesel House, |
| 1:07.5 | a pop-up venue and hub for cycling fans in the heart of Leal. It's located at En Estamin |
| 1:13.1 | in Place San Ubert, a short walk from the Euralil train station. So very easy to get to. And there's |
| 1:19.5 | going to be so much going on over the weekend. There'll be food and drink in the cafe space. |
| 1:23.5 | It'll be a place to watch the stages on TV. There's an evening quiz each night at 8pm except on Thursday. |
| 1:30.5 | So if you want to test your cycling knowledge, get down for quiz night. |
| 1:34.4 | And there'll also be some group rides setting out from the cafe space. |
| 1:37.6 | So it will be a chance to see the Van Riesel bikes and get an idea of some of the innovation that goes into their design. |
| 1:45.3 | Graham Wilgos and I will be dropping in at some point over the weekend, so we might well see you there. In the meantime, |
| 1:49.6 | this is our Excel Tour de France preview, so let's get on with the show. And really, the tour, |
... |
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