15. From the Ardennes to Yorkshire

April 30 | Ned Boulting joins Richard Moore and Daniel Friebe for the latest Telegraph Cycling Podcast, which looks back at Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège and ahead to this weekend’s inaugural Tour de Yorkshire.

There’s an interview with Gary Verity, who led Yorkshire’s successful bid to host the start of last year’s Tour de France. After the Tour’s triumphant two days in Yorkshire, Verity is also behind the Tour de Yorkshire, the three-day stage race that will see Sir Bradley Wiggins make his debut for Team Wiggins, and also feature Ben Swift of Team Sky and Marcel Kittel, the German who won stage one of the Tour in Harrogate.

A joint venture between Welcome to Yorkshire and Tour de France organisers ASO, Verity says the parties have a ten-year agreement to run the Tour de Yorkshire, with ASO having identified Great Britain as an important market. “ASO organise many of the most important races in the world and we want this to be in the mix with those,” says Verity. “They are the best in the business at what they do.”

Moore, Friebe and Boulting also discuss Alejandro Valverde, the ‘marmite’ rider who won the two Ardennes Classics, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Flèche Wallonne. Valverde served a two-year ban for doping, yet is one of the smartest and most exciting riders in the sport – and one dilemma for cycling fans is in deciding how to respond to the continued successes of the controversial 35-year-old.

The Telegraph Cycling Podcast is sponsored by British Eurosport and Van Dessel Cycles.