Daniel Friebe, Brian Nygaard and Michele Pelacci take you to the heart of the action, on the ground, at the Giro d‘Italia.

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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.

2026 Girovagando selection:
You can buy this year’s Girovagando wine selection here: https://dvinecellars.com/products/cycling-podcast-giro-26. 
The wines with corresponding stage numbers are as follows: 
Stage 3: Mixtape Red, Georgiev & Milkov, Plovdiv (red) 
Stage 4: Tenuta del Conte, Calabria Rosso, Calabria (red)  
Stage 5: Vigneti del Vulture, Pipoli, Aglianico del Vulture, Basilicata (red)
Stage 10: Bianco 'il Terraio’ Paterna, Tuscany (white)
Stage 14: Les Crêtes Mon Blanc, Valle D’Aosta (white)
Stage 20: Braida Antica Blanc, Russolo, Friuli Venezia-Giulia (white)

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The Cycling Podcast is on Strava

The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Daniel Friebe, Brian Nygaard and Michele Pelacci take you to the heart of the action, on the ground, at the Giro d‘Italia.

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.

2026 Girovagando selection:
You can buy this year’s Girovagando wine selection here: https://dvinecellars.com/products/cycling-podcast-giro-26. 
The wines with corresponding stage numbers are as follows: 
Stage 3: Mixtape Red, Georgiev & Milkov, Plovdiv (red) 
Stage 4: Tenuta del Conte, Calabria Rosso, Calabria (red)  
Stage 5: Vigneti del Vulture, Pipoli, Aglianico del Vulture, Basilicata (red)
Stage 10: Bianco 'il Terraio’ Paterna, Tuscany (white)
Stage 14: Les Crêtes Mon Blanc, Valle D’Aosta (white)
Stage 20: Braida Antica Blanc, Russolo, Friuli Venezia-Giulia (white)

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 Cannibal & Badger
Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our 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 Cycling Podcast is on Strava

The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Daniel Friebe, Brian Nygaard and Michele Pelacci take you to the heart of the action, on the ground, at the Giro d‘Italia.

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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.

2026 Girovagando selection:
You can buy this year’s Girovagando wine selection here: https://dvinecellars.com/products/cycling-podcast-giro-26. 
The wines with corresponding stage numbers are as follows: 
Stage 3: Mixtape Red, Georgiev & Milkov, Plovdiv (red) 
Stage 4: Tenuta del Conte, Calabria Rosso, Calabria (red)  
Stage 5: Vigneti del Vulture, Pipoli, Aglianico del Vulture, Basilicata (red)
Stage 10: Bianco 'il Terraio’ Paterna, Tuscany (white)
Stage 14: Les Crêtes Mon Blanc, Valle D’Aosta (white)
Stage 20: Braida Antica Blanc, Russolo, Friuli Venezia-Giulia (white)

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 Cannibal & Badger
Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our 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 Cycling Podcast is on Strava

The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Daniel Friebe, Brian Nygaard and Michele Pelacci take you to the heart of the action, on the ground, at the Giro d‘Italia.

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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.

2026 Girovagando selection:
You can buy this year’s Girovagando wine selection here: https://dvinecellars.com/products/cycling-podcast-giro-26. 
The wines with corresponding stage numbers are as follows: 
Stage 3: Mixtape Red, Georgiev & Milkov, Plovdiv (red) 
Stage 4: Tenuta del Conte, Calabria Rosso, Calabria (red)  
Stage 5: Vigneti del Vulture, Pipoli, Aglianico del Vulture, Basilicata (red)
Stage 10: Bianco 'il Terraio’ Paterna, Tuscany (white)
Stage 14: Les Crêtes Mon Blanc, Valle D’Aosta (white)
Stage 20: Braida Antica Blanc, Russolo, Friuli Venezia-Giulia (white)

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 Cannibal & Badger
Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our 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 Cycling Podcast is on Strava

The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Daniel Friebe, Brian Nygaard and Michele Pelacci take you to the heart of the action, on the ground, at the Giro d‘Italia.

EPISODE SPONSOR

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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.

2026 Girovagando selection:
You can buy this year’s Girovagando wine selection here: https://dvinecellars.com/products/cycling-podcast-giro-26. 
The wines with corresponding stage numbers are as follows: 
Stage 3: Mixtape Red, Georgiev & Milkov, Plovdiv (red) 
Stage 4: Tenuta del Conte, Calabria Rosso, Calabria (red)  
Stage 5: Vigneti del Vulture, Pipoli, Aglianico del Vulture, Basilicata (red)
Stage 10: Bianco 'il Terraio’ Paterna, Tuscany (white)
Stage 14: Les Crêtes Mon Blanc, Valle D’Aosta (white)
Stage 20: Braida Antica Blanc, Russolo, Friuli Venezia-Giulia (white)

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 Cannibal & Badger
Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our 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 Cycling Podcast is on Strava

The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

There’s both plenty of racing and plenty of Spanish omelettes for Rose Manley and Rebecca Charlton to get their teeth stuck into in this special Arrivée episode on the Vuelta Femenina.

With seven days of racing ranging from the pretty bumpy to the vertiginously mountainous, including a historic first summit finish on the Angliru, expect no shortage of drama from this first ‘Grand Tour’ of the year. With back-to-back champion Demi Vollering choosing not to compete this year, a brand new champion was set to be crowned, but who could it be? Would Tour de France Femmes champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot back up her Grand Tour credentials in Spain? Could Anna van der Breggen show that she’s back to her stage racing best? Or might this be the crowning moment for a surprising young star?

Also on the agenda: free jazz race reportage, unwanted gifts and Denny Gray’s 4am McDonald’s order.

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 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 Cannibal & Badger
Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our 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 Cycling Podcast is on Strava

The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Daniel Friebe, Brian Nygaard and Michele Pelacci take you to the heart of the action, on the ground, at the Giro d‘Italia.

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.

2026 Girovagando selection:
You can buy this year’s Girovagando wine selection here: https://dvinecellars.com/products/cycling-podcast-giro-26. 
The wines with corresponding stage numbers are as follows: 
Stage 3: Mixtape Red, Georgiev & Milkov, Plovdiv (red) 
Stage 4: Tenuta del Conte, Calabria Rosso, Calabria (red)  
Stage 5: Vigneti del Vulture, Pipoli, Aglianico del Vulture, Basilicata (red)
Stage 10: Bianco 'il Terraio’ Paterna, Tuscany (white)
Stage 14: Les Crêtes Mon Blanc, Valle D’Aosta (white)
Stage 20: Braida Antica Blanc, Russolo, Friuli Venezia-Giulia (white)

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 Cannibal & Badger
Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our 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 Cycling Podcast is on Strava

The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Daniel Friebe, Brian Nygaard and Michele Pelacci take you to the heart of the action, on the ground, at the Giro d‘Italia.

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.

2026 Girovagando selection:
You can buy this year’s Girovagando wine selection here: https://dvinecellars.com/products/cycling-podcast-giro-26. 
The wines with corresponding stage numbers are as follows: 
Stage 3: Mixtape Red, Georgiev & Milkov, Plovdiv (red) 
Stage 4: Tenuta del Conte, Calabria Rosso, Calabria (red)  
Stage 5: Vigneti del Vulture, Pipoli, Aglianico del Vulture, Basilicata (red)
Stage 10: Bianco 'il Terraio’ Paterna, Tuscany (white)
Stage 14: Les Crêtes Mon Blanc, Valle D’Aosta (white)
Stage 20: Braida Antica Blanc, Russolo, Friuli Venezia-Giulia (white)

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 Cannibal & Badger
Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our 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 Cycling Podcast is on Strava

The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

Daniel Friebe, Brian Nygaard and Michele Pelacci take you to the heart of the action, on the ground, at the Giro d‘Italia.

Saily
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⛵Download the SAILY app and use our code cycling at checkout to get an exclusive 15% off your first purchase. Or go to saily.com/cycling for full details.

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.

2026 Girovagando selection:
You can buy this year’s Girovagando wine selection here: https://dvinecellars.com/products/cycling-podcast-giro-26. 
The wines with corresponding stage numbers are as follows: 
Stage 3: Mixtape Red, Georgiev & Milkov, Plovdiv (red) 
Stage 4: Tenuta del Conte, Calabria Rosso, Calabria (red)  
Stage 5: Vigneti del Vulture, Pipoli, Aglianico del Vulture, Basilicata (red)
Stage 10: Bianco 'il Terraio’ Paterna, Tuscany (white)
Stage 14: Les Crêtes Mon Blanc, Valle D’Aosta (white)
Stage 20: Braida Antica Blanc, Russolo, Friuli Venezia-Giulia (white)

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 Cannibal & Badger
Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our 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 Cycling Podcast is on Strava

The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

This episode of KM0 by The Cycling Podcast is available for everyone to listen to for a limited time before it moves across to our Friends of the Podcast feed shortly. If you enjoy it, and are not already a Friend, consider subscribing annually or monthly to support The Cycling Podcast. The support of our Friends of the Podcast subscribers enables us to deliver our weekly and daily Grand Tour coverage free for all. Sign up at

This week the Giro d’Italia will start behind the old Iron Curtain for the third time in five years, specifically in Bulgaria. For Italians, the Giro has always represented the sporting highlight of May – but for those living in Eastern Europe, for half a century, the Peace Race took centre stage.

The 1986 edition was an unforgettable one, for reasons that had nothing to do with cycling. Ten days before the race was due to start in Kyiv, 90 kilometres from there, at the Chernobyl power plant, there was an explosion in one of the reactors. The ensuing catastrophe turned into the worst disaster in the history of nuclear power. 

Hundreds of billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers and hundreds of thousands of evacuations would be required to restore at least the illusion of control. Meanwhile, a cover-up of unprecedented scale and unimaginable consequences began – and allowed the 1986 Peace Race to start in Kyiv. 

In the last instalment of his two-part series, Daniel Friebe covers what happened when the Peace Race peloton left Kyiv and over subsequent months and years, as the horrific implications of Chernobyl slowly revealed themselves. 

Meltdown: The Race to Escape Nuclear Disaster is a series written and produced by Daniel Friebe. Episode art is by Daniel Friebe. 

On Friday, the first Grand Tour of the season rolls out from Bulgaria, not Italy – and, as always, we’ll be there, on the ground, to bring you all the action from the Giro d’Italia. 

This year’s “Corsa Rosa” starts here, with our race preview and the troika who’ll take you on the journey to Rome over the next three weeks: Daniel Friebe, Brian Nygaard and Michele Pelacci. Before sinking our teeth into the Giro, though, we discuss the first big headline of the week: Paul Seixas’s announcement that he’ll be riding the Tour de France. 

It’s then time to talk about the Giro, focusing first on the favourites, then moving into the beautiful canvas upon which Jonas Vingegaard et al. will hopefully create cycling art over the next three weeks.  

EPISODE SPONSOR

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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.

2026 Girovagando selection:
You can buy this year’s Girovagando wine selection here: https://dvinecellars.com/products/cycling-podcast-giro-26. 
The wines with corresponding stage numbers are as follows: 
Stage 3: Mixtape Red, Georgiev & Milkov, Plovdiv (red) 
Stage 4: Tenuta del Conte, Calabria Rosso, Calabria (red)  
Stage 5: Vigneti del Vulture, Pipoli, Aglianico del Vulture, Basilicata (red)
Stage 10: Bianco 'il Terraio’ Paterna, Tuscany (white)
Stage 14: Les Crêtes Mon Blanc, Valle D’Aosta (white)
Stage 20: Braida Antica Blanc, Russolo, Friuli Venezia-Giulia (white)

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 Cannibal & Badger
Friends of the Podcast can join the discussion at our 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 Cycling Podcast is on Strava

The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.