The final episode of the Tour d’Écosse series covers the last three stages of the ride to visit each of Scotland’s Football League grounds.

Stage 13 of the trip takes Lionel and Simon from Montrose to Peterhead, via Aberdeen and a visit to Slains Castle, which inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. At 128 kilometres it’s the longest stage of the entire tour too but, fortunately, it's somewhat tailwind-assisted.

The following day, however, they battle a fierce headwind on the way to Elgin City’s Borough Briggs, before the last leg takes them from Birnie to Dingwall, the home of the 42nd and final football club on their itinerary, Ross County.

This episode also features a chat with Scotland’s Commonwealth Games road race bronze medallist Finn Crockett, who supports Ross County.

In total, over 15 days of cycling, they covered more than 1,300 kilometres and spent almost 58 hours in the saddle.

The Tour d’Écosse was recorded by Lionel Birnie and Simon Gill.

Production and sound design by Tom Whalley.

Broomwagon support from Sam Slatter and Jon Heard.

Thank you to everyone we met along the way and a special thank you to everyone who has listened to the journey.

Supersapiens
Supersapiens is a continuous glucose monitoring system that helps you make the right fuelling choices. Stay in your performance zone with Supersapiens. Find out more at supersapiens.com

Science in Sport
Lionel and Simon were fuelled by Science In Sport. Everything you need before, during and after your ride. For 25% off all your SiS products, go to scienceinsport.com and enter the code SISCP25 at the checkout.

MAAP
The Cycling Podcast x MAAP collection is available now. Go to maap.cc to see the full MAAP range.

Hammerhead
The Tour d'Écosse routes were created using the Hammerhead dashboard and Lionel and Simon followed the yellow line and the Karoo 2's turn-by-turn directions from Gretna to Dingwall. For a limited time, listeners to The Cycling Podcast can get a free heart-rate monitor with the purchase of a Hammerhead Karoo 2. Visit hammerhead.io and use promo code CYCLE at checkout when you've added both items to your cart.

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The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

S10 Ep157: Explore | Tour d'Écosse stages 13-15: Montrose – Peterhead – Elgin – Birnie – Dingwall