Old beginnings

In this week's episode we look at two high profile figures who are returning to old haunts. Mark Cavendish is going back to Deceuninck-Quick Step, the team with which he spent three successful seasons earlier in his career, while in an even more surprising move, his old mentor, Rod Ellingworth, is returning to Team Ineos after just a year in charge at Bahrain-McLaren.

In a week full of major news stories, Lionel Birnie, Daniel Friebe and Richard Moore discuss the moves by Cavendish and Ellingworth, as well as Team Sunweb's rebranding as Team DSM for 2021. The new sponsorship took everybody by surprise but we hear from the man who did the deal, team boss Iwan Spekenbrink, as well as the team's veteran Irishman, Nicolas Roche.

We also have an interview with Cherie Pridham, who will be the first female sports director at a World Tour team when she takes the reins at Israel Startup Nation, a team that in 2021 will include Chris Froome, Michael Woods and Sep Vanmarcke as well as Dan Martin and Alex Dowsett. 

The Cycling Podcast is supported by iwoca and Science in Sport.

This episode is also sponsored by Laka, a community of cyclists all co-operating to provide insurance for your bike and equipment.