VN Pod, ep. 151: Tour de France wrap up, plus Vaughters on cycling’s EPO era

Andrew Hood and Fred Dreier present their final analysis of the 2019 Tour de France. Did the race's truncated finish ruin the excitement? Will we remember Egan Bernal's victory for his stunning attack, or because of the shortened stages? Then, the guys discuss the future of Team Ineos, which now has three Tour de France champions, all of whom will want to win the race next year. How should the British squad navigate the strange leadership story that is bound to pop up? Then, we have a long and frank discussion with Team EF Education First manager Jonathan Vaughters, who has written a new book, "One-Way Ticket: Nine Lives on Two Wheels" about his experience in pro cycling. Vaughters has some great insight on cycling's so-called 'EPO era,' and the social pressures that he and his peers felt to dope. Vaughters sheds light on some of the anecdotes and opinions in his book, and talks about why he's confident in the current generation of pro cyclists. This week's episode is sponsored by Whoop, the performance tool that is changing the way people track their fitness and optimize their training. Whoop tracks your heart rate and gives you a strain scores that lets you know how strenuous your training was on your body, with additional information around your sleep and recovery to tell you how well your body rebounds from training. Right now, listeners can get 15 percent off a Whoop device by going to www.whoop.com and using the code 'velo' at checkout. www.whoop.com.