Velonews Podcasts

What exactly does it take to race the Tour — physiologically, mentally, spiritually. Each day these phenomenal athletes race an event that would shatter most of us in just one day. But then they also have to contend with answering reporters questions, pleasing sponsors, transferring between hotels, trying to eat enough food to cover the day’s expenditures, and, finally and perhaps most importantly, trying to get quality sleep. It’s a feat that’s hard to comprehend, so today we'll try to give a sense of what it takes to race the Tour. We’ll cover: First, an overview of the Tour from a numbers perspective, and why the numbers really don’t tell the tale. Our guest, Ciaran O’Grady will explain his role as a Tour team physiologist and coach. The many challenges of the Tour outside of racing, including not only what I mentioned above, but also not missing the bus, handling the food, and what happens when you get sick. Why getting dropped by the peloton doesn’t make for as easy a day as you might think. What h