Tour de France countdown podcast: Thomas, Porte, Cummings, Bennett

In the latest episode of the Cyclingnews podcast - brought to you in association with Sportful, Pinarello and Floyds of Leadville - Stephen Farrand, Brecht Decaluwé, and Daniel Benson cover another set of pre-Tour de France team press conferences, including Groupama-FDJ, AG2R La Mondiale, Trek-Segafredo, and Deceuninck-QuickStep.

We debate the chances of all of those teams before heading into the centre of Brussels for the official teams presentation. There we talk to Geraint Thomas about the leadership duties at Team Ineos and how he will aim to defend his title with Egan Bernal in the same squad.

Steve Cummings, who always fronts up with genuine answers, gives his take on Mark Cavendish’s controversial non-selection - even if the Dimension Data press officer tries to intervene.

A relaxed Richie Porte talks about his Tour ambitions, Team Ineos, and whether this is his final attempt at cracking the biggest race in the world. And, finally, we talk candidly to George Bennett, who has put aside his ambitions at the race this year in order to work for Jumbo-Visma’s sprint and GC hopes.

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