Wheel Talk

This week, we go back in time to just before the Spring Classics, when Abby sat down with Amanda "Spratty" Spratt to talk about her final season racing bikes. 
Normal episodes of the podcast will resume after the Tour de Suisse, which kicks off on Wednesday, June 17th. The five-stage race will feature a few potential Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift contenders, so we will have plenty to discuss next week. Check out the Wheel Talk Newsletter on EscapeCollective.com for a full breakdown of the stages and contenders.

The final stage of the Giro d'Italia absolutely delivered. What a day of bike racing! Heartbreak for some meant healing for others. A stage that wasn't originally billed as a race-changing day turned into the biggest fight of the week. 
Abby and Loren called up a team fitting of such a stage: Anna Shackley and Alice Barnes. Plus audio diaries from Eva van Agt (FDJ United-Suez), Amanda "Spratty" Spratt (Lidl-Trek), and an EF Education-Oatly double with Alexis Magner and Magdeleine Vallieres.

The eighth stage of the Giro d'Italia was supposed to be the big one. The stage that would all but determine the general classification, even with one final stage remaining. Instead, the stage was cut short by about 27 km and one iconic climb. The battle that was foretold came to nothing, which means the final stage is going to be...well. It's going to be something to watch. 
For the eighth episode of our Giro Daily podcasts, Loren and Abby are joined by Julie Leth to talk about the stage and what could have been, plus what they think will happen on Sunday. 
With audio diaries from Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM), Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-Suez), and Amanda "Spratty" Spratt (Lidl-Trek).

The seventh stage was unpredictable, with a category 3 climb that topped out with 27 km to go. Other than the one climb, it was a flatter stage, so would Elisa Balsamo harness her Lidl-Trek teammates to control the race? Could a breakaway finally sneak in for a victory? Or would some of the GC riders who have already lost time go for it on the descent? Or...all of the above?
Loren and Abby are joined by Sarah Roy to talk about the seventh stage and what's to come on Saturday.
Audio diaries today include Alison Jackson (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93), Femke de Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Alexis Magner (EF Education-Oatly).

The Giro d'Italia is officially "almost over". Stage 6 is done and dusted, and even though Uno-X Mobility tried to make the race chaotic, it ended up coming down to the fastest rider(s) once again. 
Today, Anna Shackley is back with Abby and Loren to talk about stage 6 and look ahead to stage 7. Will the breakaway finally get its chance? 
Our audio diarists today include Nienke Veehoven of Visma-Lease a Bike, Caroline Andersson of Liv AlUla Jayco, and Maggie Coles-Lyster of Human Powered Health.