With the 2025 road racing season now firmly in the rear view mirror, join Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie for a freewheeling ramble through some of the big stories that have hit the headlines in the past couple of weeks. We start by discussing the fragile nature of survival at World Tour level with the news that the Australian team Jayco-Alula came within days of possibly folding, and the delays to confirmation that two Belgian teams, Lotto and Intermarché, intend to become one. Where does that leave the riders, especially Intermarché's biggest star Biniam Girmay? Then we indulge in a bit of off-season speculation and wonder what Tadej Pogačar's 2026 season might look like, particularly with a number of race organisers making changes seemingly to entice the SlovAlien to ride. The Vuelta a España starting in his adopted home town of Monaco is not a particularly subtle overture and it seem an appealing prospect but, as we discuss, the picture is more complicated than that. 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 new 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.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.