Cyclist Magazine Podcast
From the team behind Cyclist Magazine, this podcast is for lovers of all things cycling, whether you're a sportive enthusiast, a carbon fibre connoisseur, or a fan of Bernard Hinault. Host James Spender brings in-depth conversations from within the cycling world with guests like Greg LeMond, Tyler Hamilton, and Sean Kelly. New episodes are released every other Thursday.
Episodes
164. Doping, with James Witts
This week, James and Will are joined by journalist, author and cyclist, James Witts. James writes for a host of prestigious titles including the most prestigious of them all, Cyclist magazine, along with The Guardian, GQ, Rouleur and Men’s Health to name but four more. James also edits the annual official Tour de France guide and has penned four books including his most recent, Dope, which explore
163. The art of the climb, with Simon Warren
This week, James and Will are joined by cyclist and author Simon Warren. It seems mad to think it, but when the idea of a clickbait listicle was just a twinkle in the internet’s eye, Simon was busy writing an actual book about cycling, which quickly became the text that defined a genre: 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs released in 2010. Featuring everything from Box Hill to Bealach na Bà, 100 Greatest
162. The simple (yet complicated) truth behind bike design, with Chris Dodman
This week, James and Will are joined by Cannondale’s Advanced Projects Engineer, Chris Dodman. Chris has been working for Cannondale for the last three decades, and though he might not exactly be a household name, you’ll know who he is if you’re Mario Cipolloini or Peter Sagan – Chris is the brains behind those glorious red Saeco CAAD bikes of the 1990s that saw Cipo dominate sprints, and the radi
161. Victoria Pendleton: Fear and change
This week, Robyn and Will are joined by one of British Cycling’s most decorated track riders, Victoria Pendleton. Over a career that spanned more than a decade, Victoria won two Olympic gold medals and one silver, nine World Championships, two European Championships and the Commonwealth Games, although arguably her biggest contribution to cycling was her legacy. Along with Team GB alumni such as L
160. Ned Boulting: The Tour de France Special
This week Robyn and Will are joined by Ned Boulting, a man who needs no introduction but hey, here's one anyway: Ned broadcasts, commentates, pundits, orates, performs and writes about all things cycling. This year is Ned's first away from the ITV commentary box at the Tour de France (RIP), and instead he's taking his passion for two wheels on the road with his podcast For The Love Of Cycling, whe
159. Lidl-Trek's Mattias Reck: Why are riders faster, and the resilience of Mads Pedersen
This week, Will and James are joined by Lidl-Trek’s head coach, Mattias Reck. Born and raised in Sweden, like most people in his profession Mattias started out racing as a pro before moving into performance coaching. In 2017 he joined Trek-Segafredo, where he soon found himself nurturing the talents of a young Mads Pedersen (Swedish and Danish languages are pretty similar, says Mattias, which cert
158. Magdeleine Vallieres, World Champion
This week Robyn is joined by Road Race World Champion Magdeleine Vallieres. The 24-year-old EF Education-Oatly rider wasn't seen as one of the main favourites when the women's peloton lined up at the start of last year's course in Rwanda, but after one of the hardest World Championships in years she was a convincing winner, attacking clear from the lead group of three at the bottom of the final cl
157. Rob Britton: Slave to the road turned gravel supremo
This week, James and Will are joined by ex-road pro turned gravel ace, Rob Britton. Born in Saskatchewan in Canada in 1984, Rob turned pro in 2010 with American team Bissell Pro Cycling and for the next 12 seasons raced at Continental level, arguably enjoying his best years with Rally Cycling (not that Raleigh, although he did race for that Raleigh in 2013), where he won the Tour of Utah, his seco
156. Guy Martin: Getting kidnapped, land speed records and defying death on two wheels
This week, James is joined by Guy Martin, former British motorcycle racer, land speed record setter, part-time cyclist and reluctant TV presenter - he says he’d rather be known for his day job fixing trucks than as a TV personality. But on the box he is, where you may have seen him building his own narrowboat from archaic methods (think smelting your own iron), breaking tractor land speed rec
155. George Hincapie: Paris-Roubaix, elbows out racing and his Modern Adventure
This week, James and Will chat to George Hincapie, the super-est of domestiques, double 'ard Classics man and erstwhile lieutenant to Lance Armstrong.George was born in Queens, New York City, on 29th June 1973, to cycling-mad Colombian dad, Ricardo. By twelve he was throwing elbows racing adults in Central Park, and by his teens he was showing the talent that would take him to the Olympics in 1992
154. Harry Tanfield: Baptisms of fire, keeping the faith, and the Ribble Outliers
This week James and Will are joined by Harry Tanfield. Born and raised in Yorkshire, Harry started racing aged 10, and having caught teams' attention with strong performances at races like Junior Paris-Roubaix, he turned professional aged 20 with JLT Condor. ProConti racing turned WordTour after a landmark season in 2018 that saw a silver at the Commonwealth Games time-trial, a British National tr
153. Aero mutinies and secret shorts with Castelli's Steve Smith
This week Will and James are joined by Castelli and Sportful’s global brand manager, Steve Smith. Steve grew up in Portland, USA, where he – like most of the city he says – worked for Nike for 10 years. But in 2000 he decided to make a bold move to Italy, to live the bella vita with a job at Sportful. Four years later parent company Manifattura Valcismon bought Castelli, and in the years since Ste
152. Zoe Bäckstedt: Why I love Sundays in Hell
This week, Robyn and James are joined by WorldTour pro Zoe Bäckstedt. Born in 2004 in Pontyclun, Wales to British track champion Megan Hughes and Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Bäckstedt, there were only two ways Zoe’s life (and sister Elynor’s for that matter) could have gone – cycling or cycling. So she burst onto the scene as a teenager, winning multiple junior world titles in road, track and cycl
151. UCI rules, design evolution, and why bikes are so expensive, with Pieter Potters
This week's guest is Pieter Potters, R&D manager at Belgian Cycling Factory, the group that owns Eddy Merckx Cycles and Ridley Bikes. For nearly six years Pieter has been at the centre of designing cutting edge road and gravel bikes, including the recent Ridley Noah Fast 3.0, which features a new kind of geometry that many see poised to change the game - think steep seat tubes, short cranks an
150. Brian Smith: National champ, racing with Lance, saying no to EPO, and snakes in showers
This week, James and Will are joined by Scottish ex-pro turned team manager, commentator and pundit, Brian Smith.Brian cut his teeth in the 1980s at the school of cycling hardknocks, ACBB – Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt – in Paris, whose alumni include Jacques Anquetil, Stephen Roche and Pippa York, before turning pro with the legendary British Banana team in 1991. Three successful seasons
149. The legend of Eddy Merckx, with Lee Donaldson
This week, James is joined by Lee Donaldson, filmmaker and passionate cycling fan, to discuss his upcoming documentary 525: The Unstoppable Eddy Merckx. Lee describes 525 as having ‘the greatest cast of racing champions ever seen in a cycling documentary', and it's hard to disagree. Contributors include Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins, Lotte Kopecky, Bernard Hinault, Sean Kelly, Roger De Vlaeminck
148. Hunter Allen and the future of training and racing
This week James (and Will at the beginning) is joined by Hunter Allen, co-founder of Training Peaks, long-time elite level cycling coach to pros and US national teams, and the man who literally wrote the book on power meters back when torque measurement was just a twinkle in an SRM engineer's eye. That book was, prosaically enough, called Training + Racing With A Power Meter, and it put Hunter at
147. David Millar: The Christmas special (sort of)
In this week's episode, Will and James are joined by David Millar, a man who needs no introduction, but just in case: David's career in cycling spans decorated rider (he was the first Brit to wear all three Grand Tour jerseys) to fallen hero (he admitted to, and was suspended for two years for doping in 2004) to risen phoenix (he returned to the pro peloton as an outspoken 'clean' rider and raced
146. Dr Hutch: Tears, resilience, beauty and endurance
This week, James and Will are joined by Dr Hutch, the legendary British time-trial rider (second only to Beryl Burton in national wins) turned Cambridge-educated doctor turned journalist. Dr Hutch is a longstanding columnist in Cycling Weekly (other cycling magazines are available, see our link to Cyclist below y'know), commentator, pundit, voice of cycling authority and author of several books in
145. Alistair Brownlee: triathlon legend, gravel racing demon and sportsmanship superstar
This week James and Will are joined by Alistair Brownlee, legendary triathlete turned Ironman champion turned gravel racing extraordinaire turned sports scientist turned... If there was a personification of the polymath endurance athlete, Alistair is it, from being the only triathlete to hold two Olympic individual triathlon titles, to sacrificing his own race to carry his exhausted brother, Jonny
144. Emma Pooley: Tour de France winner, Oat to Joy author and pro-athlete sage
This week, Robyn and Will are joined by Emma Pooley, Tour de France women's winner in 2009 (or the Grande Boucle Féminine as it was then), Olympic medallist, UCI world time-trial winner, multiple national road and time-trial champion and triathlon and duathlon champ, plus a first class honours student at Cambridge and University Challenge contestant to boot. Oh, and Emma also won the Brompton bike
143. Why are the pros so fast, and how can we go faster? with Dr Xavier Disley
This week James is joined by Dr Xavier Disley, sports scientist, aerodynamicist, national masters track champion and founder of AeroCoach, a UK collective of coaches, scientists and engineers who are all obsessed with one thing: making cyclists go faster. To that end, Xavier has worked with WorldTour teams and winners of all three Grand Tours, track champions, Hour record breakers, component manuf
142. Magnus Cort: the Uno-X pro on Grand Tours, Classics and dyeing his moustache blue
This week, Robyn (and Will for the intro) is joined by Uno-X’s expert hotel reviewer and star racer, Magnus Cort. Winner of stages at all three Grand Tours, Magnus is now experiencing a new lease of life in the Classics with recent podiums at both Eschborn-Frankfurt and the Bretagne Classic, plus 6th place at Milan-San Remo this season. In this episode, the Dane speaks about his transition from st
141. Joe Friel: Train slow to race fast, and why Pogačar's such a beast
This week, James is joined by cycling coaching guru Joe Friel. Joe started coaching amateur and elite riders in the US in the 1980s, before becoming a household name in training in 1996 as author of The Cyclist's Training Bible, arguably the most successful cycling training guide of all time and still in print today in its fifth addition. In 1999 Joe founded TrainingPeaks with son Dirk and friend
140. Kasia Niewiadoma Phinney, Tour de France champ and Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto ace
This week, Robyn (and James, but just for the intro) is joined by Kasia Niewiadoma Phinney, winner of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes and all-round star rider at Canyon–SRAM zondacrypto. That is, Kasia can win stage races, one day races, Classics, national titles, World titles... you name it, the Polish ace has a trophy and a jersey for it. Here, Kasia candidly talks about dealing with disappointme
139. Tom Simpson: World Champ and Cycling Legend, with Chris Sidwells
This week, James is joined by cycling journalist and author Chris Sidwells, to explore the life and times of Britain's most storied rider, Tom Simpson, on the eve of Simpson's historic World Championships win, 60 years ago, almost to the day.As Simpson's nephew (his mother was Simpson's sister), Chris is uniquely placed to tell us the tale of the miner's son from County Durham who'd become the fir
138. Ed Clancy: The truth behind breaking my shoulders for aero gains, and other stories
This week, James and Will are joined by three-time Olympic gold medallist Ed Clancy. At 16, Ed had been scouted by British Cycling’s Academy, where he came up with riders like Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas, and by 2008, aged 23, he’d won his first gold medal in the Olympic Team Pursuit. Two more golds followed in same event, at London 2012 and Rio 2016, as well as a bronze in the Omnium in 201
137. The Strange Tale of Charly Gaul, with Paul Maunder
This week James and Will (well, mostly James) are joined by author Paul Maunder, who discusses his book, Angel of the Mountains: The Strange Tale of Charly Gaul.Born in Luxembourg in 1932, Charly Gaul turned professional aged 20, quickly establishing himself a prodigious yet mercurial talent, 'A murderous climber with a lower gear than the rest, turning his legs at a speed that would break your he
136. Kim Le Court, Monument winner, stage hunter and history maker
This week Robyn and Will are joined by Kim Le Court. The 29-year-old Mauritian turned pro in 2015, and now rides for Women's WorldTeam team AG Insurance-Soudal. In that time she's notched up a Giro d'Italia stage win, six national titles and earlier this year won a thrilling Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes. In this episode Kim talks about having to petition teams to sign her, despite her obvious talen
135. Stephen Roche: the Triple Crown Champion
This week James and Will are joined by Stephen Roche, who in 1987 became only the second rider in history to win the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and World Championships in one season, aka the Triple Crown (pub fact: the other was Eddy Merckx in 1972, then Tadej Pogačar joined them in 2024).In this episode Stephen talks us through this incredible season, from the rollercoaster Giro that had him f
134. Ned Boulting and the (last) Tour de France
This episode is brought to you by Laka Bike Insurance, the specialist bike insurersThis week, Robyn and Will are joined by Ned Boulting. Having started out covering football on Sky Sports, Ned joined the ITV Sports team in 2001 and soon became a reporter for their Tour de France coverage, albeit that hasn't stopped him popping up on Olympics coverage, and one of his favourite unsung sports, darts.
133. Levi Leipheimer: dark years, redemption and The Growler
This episode is brought to you by the Insta360 GO 3S action cameraThis week, James and Will are joined by ex-pro Levi Leipheimer. Levi turned pro in 1997 and in 2000 hit the big time with US Postal, riding as a teammate of Lance Armstrong. Stints at Rabobank, Astana and Radioshack followed, during which time he won the Tour de Suisse, three Tours of California, the Dauphine and two stages of the V
132. Luke Rowe and his Life of Sky
This episode is brought to you by the Insta360 GO 3S action cameraThis week, James and Will are joined by the superest of super domestiques, Welshman Luke Rowe. As road captain at Ineos Grenediers (nee Team Sky), Rowe helped win countless Grand Tours over more than a decade at the British team. However complications from a crash forced Rowe to retire last season, and here he talks about how that d
131. Bradley Wiggins and Ian Botham in conversation, plus Beefy's Charity Foundation
This episode is brought to you by the Insta360 X5 action cameraThis week, James is joined by none other than Bradley Wiggins and cricket legend Ian Botham, who on 15th and 16th September will be riding the Sir Bradley Wiggins Cycle Challenge for Beefy's Charity Foundation (sign up to ride here, more details below).In this episode, Ian and Brad compare notes on 1980s cricket versus 2010s cycling (s
130. Emma Finucane: gold medals, world records and the importance of crying
This episode is brought to you by the Insta360 X5 action cameraThis week, Will and Robyn are joined by Welsh track cycling star, Emma Finucane. At just 21 years old, Emma was the first British woman to take three medals in a single Games - including team sprint gold - since track and field athlete Mary Rand in 1964.In winning that gold at Paris 2024, her and teammates Sophie Capewell and Katy Marc
129. Ineos implosion and TNT TV turmoil with Rapha CEO Fran Millar
This week James and Will are Fran Millar, possibly the most influential woman in British cycling.Today Fran is CEO at Rapha, but her long CV includes managing Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendish; a decade at Team Sky/Ineos, in which she became 'head of winning behaviours'; operations director for Eliud Kipchoge’s sub-2hr marathon record; and then CEO at clothing brand Belstaff. She is also David Mil
128. Legends of Flanders, Roubaix and Tom Simpson with Chris Sidwells
On this week's episode James and Will are joined by author and journalist Chris Sidwells to discuss the history of pro cycling's Holy Week, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.We talk about the origins of the races, the working class heroes that rode in the early editions, the legends of the 60s and 70s, and how today's riders compare.Chris is the nephew of British cycling legend Tom Simpson, w
127. Risk, burnout and Olympic gold, with Connie Carpenter Phinney
In this week's episode, Robyn and James are joined by Connie Carpenter Phinney, who is 1984 became the first ever Olympic Women's Road Race gold medal winner.Connie charts her career from 14 year-old winter Olympic speed skater to champion road cyclist, a sporting career which saw her win multiple national titles and dominate races such as the Coors Classic.Married to fellow American cyclist Davis
126. The doping olympics: president of the Enhanced Games, Dr Aron D'Souza
This week Will and James are joined by Dr Aron D'Souza, president of the Enhanced Games. Billed as 'the ultimate demonstration of what the human body can do', the Enhanced Games seeks in part to answer that age old pub question, 'What if athletes were allowed to dope, how much better would they be?' It's a divisive topic unlike any other in sport, but having secured funding - including from Donald
125. Phil Burt, the king of bike fit
In this week's episode James is joined by Phil Burt, former head of physiotherapy at British Cycling and Team Sky and the man who literally wrote the book on bike fit. They discuss micro adjusters and macro absorbers, how riders' needs and wants are changing, and the affect of indoor cycling on the body.Phil also explains the theory behind shorter cranks, the advantages, and how Bradley Wiggins wa
124. The ultra-cyclist missing half his organs, Juan Dual
In this week’s episode, James and Will are joined by Spanish ultra-cyclist and runner, Juan Dual. As a teenager, Juan was diagnosed with familial adenomatous polyposis, a rare form of cancer that attacks the digestive system, and in the decades since he’s had his stomach, colon, large intestine, rectum and gallbladder removed. And yet Juan continues to compete in some of the most gruelling ultra-e
123. Lael Wilcox: The fastest woman around the world by bike
In this week's episode, Robyn and Will are joined by ultra-cyclist Lael Wilcox, who set the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle in September 2024, cycling over 29,100km in 108 days, 12 hours and 12 minutes. Here Lael explains how to plan such a feat, the highs and lows of solitude on a bike, their fear, resilience and growth, and the unexpected emotional responses
122. Why do we do it? Endurance, with Dr Michael Crawley
This week James and Will are joined by Michael Crawley, doctor of anthropology, sub-2h 20min marathon runner and award-winning author. In this episode, we discuss Michael’s latest book, To the Limit, which explores the meaning of endurance – why we do it and what it means to us culturally – through the eyes of Mexican running tribes, fell runners and professional athletes.We talk about the Enhance
121. Andy Schleck: Chaingate, Contador, Bruyneel, Froome, retiring demons and the brotherhood
This week James and Will are joined by Andy Schleck, Tour de France winner, brother to Frank and victim in the infamous chaingate affair, in which Alberto Contador rode past a stricken Schleck – the yellow jersey wearer having suffered a dropped chain – to snatch the 2010 Tour de France top step. Two years later, Schleck was retroactively awarded the win after Contador was banned for doping, but h
120. 2024 pro season review + 2025 predictions with Felix Lowe
Pitchforks at the ready. On this week's episode Will is joined by Cyclist's own Ewan Wilson and writer Felix Lowe to review the 2024 pro cycling season and look forward to what may come next. Along the way we find out the lucky winners of some of Felix's annual alternative awards – which you can find in full in Cyclist magazine issue 159, out now – including 'The Manchester United Bin Fire Aw
119. Tom Pidcock interview: 2025 focus, Olympic ups and downs, descending, and Link My Ride
This week Will is joined by two-time Olympic gold medallist and World Champion in three different disciplines Tom Pidcock. After a turbulent season that included highs at Amstel Gold Race and Paris 2024 as well as very public lows after falling out with Ineos Grenadiers management in October.Will sat down with Pidcock in November to talk about his rapid rise to power and his rapid descending skill
118. Joanna Rowsell: Double Olympic gold track superstar
This week Robyn and Will are joined by track superstar Joanna Rowsell. Joanna was picked up in 2004 by British Cycling's Talent Team, which visited her school looking for new talent, and just four years later she won her first World Championships in the team pursuit. Three more team pursuit world titles followed plus a fifth in the individual pursuit, but it was the Olympics that made her a househ
117. Fabian Cancellara: Classics king, Tudor Pro Cycling owner, patron of the peloton
This week James and Will are joined by Spartacus himself, Fabian Cancellara. Over a career spanning two decades, Cancellara established himself as arguably the greatest Classics rider and time-triallist of his generation, winning multiple Monuments, world, national and Olympic titles and Grand Tour stages. With a cool demeanour and effortless riding style, the Swiss cemented himself as the patron
116. Peter Sagan: Highs and lows of a triple World Champ
This week Will and James are joined by Peter Sagan. When Sagan burst onto the scene in the early 2010s he was heralded as the greatest talent of his generation, and so he proved to be. 121 professional victories later he'd notched up three World Championships, seven Tour de France green jerseys, multiple Grand Tour stages and national titles plus a Tour of Flanders and a Paris-Roubaix cobble.Famed
115. Ned Boulting: The 2011 Tour de France, and other stories
This week James and Will are joined by Ned Boulting: commentator, pundit, author, stage performer, part-time comic and all-round superb raconteur. Ned talks about the 2011 season (the star of his new The Road Book 2011 almanac), from a knife-edge Tour de France with Cadel Evans snatching a last gasp victory, to a Vuelta a España that announced a rising star in the shape of Chris Froome. Conversati
114. Tadej Pogačar interview: How he won the Tour, Vingegaard, losing, winning again, and his work with PlumeStrong
This week James and Will are joined by none other than Tadej Pogačar, currently the greatest rider on the planet having this year triumphed - and decimated all-comers - at both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, a feat last achieved by Marco Pantani in 1998. Next up the World Championships and a potential Triple Crown - can Pogačar join that elite club of Eddy Merckx and Stephen Roche?We sat do
113. Nico Roche: Pogacar, La Vuelta, son of Stephen Roche
This week, James and Will are joined by Nico Roche. Nico was a pro-rider from 2004-2021 during which time he won numerous races including two Vuelta a España stages. His long career saw spells at Team Sky, Saxobank and BMC, though as we learn, it was with French teams AG2R, Crédit Agricole and Cofidis that Nico felt most at home. The Vuelta was Nico's favourite race, so we kick off by asking what
112. Chris Lawless: Team Sky Pro turned Saint Piran DS
This week Will and James are joined by ex-pro turned DS, Chris Lawless. At just 28 years old, Chris is the youngest directeur sportif in pro-cycling, but he's got a whole lot of experience. Cutting his teeth at Team Wiggins and JLT Condor, Chris went on to ride for Team Sky/Ineos, during which time he won the Tour de Yorkshire. As a no-nonsense rider with a stoic mentality, a move into team manage
111. Secret Squirrel Club's Dimitris Katsanis
This week Will and James are joined by bike design visionary Dimitris Katsanis. Dimitris worked alongside Chris Boardman in the Secret Squirrel Club, creating the pioneering bikes and kit that helped Team GB dominate the 2012 London Games. Ever wondered where the term 'marginal gains' came from? Yep, Dimitris and his colleagues, whose work at the time was so secret not even his boss, one Dave Brai
110. Ribble Rebellion's Matt Bostock + Tour de France mega chat
This week Will and James are joined by Ribble Rebellion crit rider, Matt Bostock. Matt cut his teeth racing track and road, but now pedals his trade in the crit racing scene. A twice national crit champ and multiple Tour series winner, Matt now races all over the globe. In this episode Matt discusses growing up on the Isle of Man with Mark Cavendish's old mentor for help, throwing elbows in the St
109. Mikkel Honoré, pro cyclist at EF Education-Easypost
This week, Robyn and Will are joined by Mikkel Honoré, Danish pro at WorldTour team EF Education-Easypost. Mikkel talks us through the differences between a team like EF and one like his previous team, Quick-Step; how a small (and decidedly flat) nation like Denmark has produced so many great cyclists; and his thoughts on Pogacar, the Tour, the importance of the World Championships and his love of
108. Carlton Kirby: Tour de France 2024 Special
This week James and Will are joined by Carlton Kirby, Eurosport's voice of the Tour de France. In this episode, Carlton looks ahead to the Tour de France 2024, and talks us through the course, all the crucial stages, the likely turning points and the surprise heroes. We discuss the inside track on Cavendish's chances of beating the Merckx record; who will triumph between Pogačar and Vingegaard (bu
107. Factor Bikes owner Rob Gitelis
This week Will and James are joined by the founder and owner of Factor Bikes, Rob Gitelis. Rob is originally from Miami but moved to Taiwan more than twenty years ago to start building bikes. Originally he ran a factory which built bikes for brands such as Cervélo, Scott and Canyon, but in 2015 he decided to go it alone with the purchase of Factor Bikes. In this episode, Rob discusses how the bike
106. Unbound Gravel 2024, racing with British champ Danni Shrosbree
This week James and Will are joined by gravel pro, Danni Shrosbree. Danni became British gravel national champ in 2022, then in 2023 raced to a storming fourth place on her debut at Unbound Gravel, arguably the world’s hardest gravel race - 200 unsupported miles (320km) across the Kansas prairies. Danni tells us why this was one of the most chaotic races of her life, from shacking up with stranger
105. RideLondon Special, with race director Kevin Nash
Will and James are joined by Ford RideLondon-Essex race director Kevin Nash ahead of this year's event, which takes place on May 26th 2024. Kevin discusses the challenges designing the route, from circumventing weddings to dealing with litter; explains how to deal with peloton physics and the human racing psyche; and divests the secrets of managing thousands of riders and staff, all from a secret
104. Channel 4 newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy
This week, Pete and James are joined by Channel 4 news presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy for a rambling (but hopefully rewarding) episode that runs from bikes to elections. We talk about Krishnan's charity bike ride, the Duchenne Dash - London to Paris in 24hrs; his fair weather approach to cycling; his time on Strictly Come Dancing; the role of AI in mainstream media; what AI Jon Snow would ask him;
103. Ex-pro Scott Sunderland on 90s cycling, Classics, Cancellara, breaking stuff and RideLondon
This week, Will and James talk to ex-pro, team ds and race director Scott Sunderland. Today, Sunderland is race director for the RideLondon Classique and Tour of Flanders among others, but during the 1990s and 2000s he rode professionally for TVM, Lotto and GAN before taking on sports director roles at Team CSC and Cervélo Test Team. Here, Sunderland talks racing through the troubled 1990s; a near
102. DJ Spoony on cycling, music, Dave Brailsford and sportswashing
This week James is joined by BBC Radio 2's DJ Spoony, current host of The Good Grove and owner of a dj'ing palmares as long as your arm, from pirate radio at London Underground to Kiss to the BBC to playing out in Ibiza and Ayia Napa. But somewhere along the way DJ Spoony also got really into cycling. And football. And golf. And Strictly Come Dancing. And charity fundraising. And politics. And his
101. Maurice Burton, the original British track legend
Maurice Burton joins Will and James for this week's show. Burton became Britain's first black cycling champion in 1974, and by 1975 was on his way to a stellar career racing track and Six-Day events on the Continent. Here he tells Will and James about his early days living in a butchers shop with a man who never washed, trading bikes or cars, competing in 56 Six-Day races and being sabotaged numer
100. Shane Williams, Welsh rugby legend turned cyclist and AGILIS founder
This week Will and James are joined by Shane Williams, Welsh rugby union legend, Ospreys star winger, RFB Player of the Year and MBE. After nearly 20 years at the top of his sport, Shane retired in 2015 and quickly (like within a week) took up Ironman. From there, Shane's love of cycling only grew, and today he not only rides bikes and competes in triathlon, he's founded his own sportswear kit bra
99. Daniel Troia cycled across America with no food or money
This week James and Will talk to Daniel Troia, who cycled coast-to-coast across America (and back) with no food or money, then made a film about it: We Are All In This Together.With only basic camping gear and his trusty Surly tourer, Daniel begged and borrowed his way across the States in the hope of answering the question of the age: as a society, how divided are we? Along the way he met some ex
98. African cycling pioneer David Kinjah, the man who made Chris Froome
Joining James and Will this week is David Kinjah, Kenyan former pro cyclist who was the first black African to ride for a European team, competed at World Championships and Commonweath Games, founded the Safari Simbaz Cycling Trust and mentored many young African cyclists including one Christopher Clive Froome.Kinjah talks us through his journey into pro cycling, his experiences in Europe, Chris F
97. Cycling to the South Pole with Maria Leijerstam
On the latest episode of the podcast, James and Emma are joined by Maria Leijerstam, a British adventurer and world record holder. In 2013 Maria became the first person to cycle to the South Pole from the edge of the continent. This epic, and rather dangerous, journey took her ten days 14 hours and 56 minutes. We caught up with Maria to hear all about her record setting journey, the highs and the
96. The future of cycling, from economics to Lost Dot racing
To start 2024 off with a bang, James and Emma are joined by not one but two guests.First up is Mark Sutton, editor of Cycling Electric and all-round cycling industry news specialist who explains the current state of the cycling industry, looking at the past few turbulent years and what the future might hold.Mark shares his views on the industry landscape, discusses value vs volume brands, the boom
95. Simon Mottram, founder of Rapha
This week James and Emma are joined by Simon Mottram, the founder of cycling clothing company Rapha. You might have heard of it. Mottram is the former corporate branding specialist and lifelong cycling fan who set up Rapha in 2004 at a time when the sport had yet to experience the explosion of interest in Britain. You could say, he made cycling cool. In this episode Mottram delve
94. Adam Hansen, 20 back-to-back Grand Tours and president of the CPA
This week Will and James are joined by Adam Hansen, ex-pro and president of the professional riders union. As a rider, Hansen completed a record 20 consecutive Grand Tours, riding as a super-domestique first for Mark Cavendish and then for the bulk of his career with André Griepel. Hansen is also an incredible polymath, making his own carbon shoes (which weigh 76g) and writing bespoke software for
93. Nigel Mitchell, Team Sky's sports nutritionist
James is joined by ex-Team Sky sports nutritionist, Nigel Mitchell. Nigel has been a top clinical sports nutritionist for more than 25 years, with nearly a decade spent helping Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome win Grand Tours, followed by work with Team GB sailors, skiers and triathletes and more WorldTour cycling teams. In this episode, Nigel discusses the old school world of cycling nutrition an
92. Leigh Timmis is the fastest man across Europe
This week Robyn and James are joined by ultra-cyclist Leigh Timmis, the fastest man across Europe, pedalling 6,330km from Cabo do Roca in Portugal to Ufa, Russia in just 16 days, 10 hours and 45 minutes. Leigh also held the record for the furthest distance cycled in seven days - 3,589km - and has also ridden around the world. Only that one took a bit longer than usual - about seven years.Our chat
91. Alex Dowsett tells all about pro cycling
This week Will and James are joined by Alex Dowsett, six-time British National TT champ, twice Giro d'Italia stage winner and one-time Hour record holder. And he did this all while competing with haemophilia.Now retired, Alex has just released his autobiography, Bloody Minded (Bloomsbury), a candid account that pulls no punches, either when assessing his own performance or telling it like it was,
90. SD Worx's Anna Shackley is Britain's next cycling star
For this week’s episode, Emma and Will are joined by the formidable Anna Shackley who rides for SD Worx and, who at just 22 years old, has had a glittering summer.Often the domestique, Shackley has her own set of decent results. Highlights include a win in the under-23 race at the British National Championships (5th overall), third place in the under-23 race at her home World Championships in Scot
89. Ex-pro Christian Meier is an elite runner now
Joining Will and Emma this week is former pro road racer Christian Meier. The 38-year-old, who rode for Garmin-Chipotle and GreenEdge, recently took up trail running and this year won one of the world's biggest races in France. In this episode Meier discusses falling out with cycling, finding a new sport his ambitions in running.Meier is also one of the fore-founders of Girona's cycling scene, fou
88. Winning gold with Neah Evans
This week Emma and Robyn are joined by World Champion track cyclist Neah Evans.Most recently Evans won the Madison at the World Championships in Glasgow alongside teammate Elinor Barker. She also boasts five Commonwealth Games medals, an Olympic silver medal, and has held national, European and world titles, over a number of track events.Coming to the sport slightly later than most, Evans exp
87. Philosophy and cycling with James Hibbard
This week we’re joined by ex-professional cyclist turned philosopher-author, James Hibbard, to chat about his book, The Art of Cycling: Philosophy, meaning, and a life on two wheels. It’s a sort of memoir-cum-meditation – a bit like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – taking the form of a cycling road trip interspliced with tales of James’s racing career and musings thr
86. Yanto Barker, Le Col CEO and Richmond Park KoM
Robyn and Will are joined this week by Yanto Barker, former pro cyclist and founder and CEO of cycling clothing brand Le Col. Barker talks to Cyclist about his racing career, retiring twice, starting Le Col and how he got London's coveted Richmond Park Strava KoM. He also discusses ending the sponsorship of the Le Col-Wahoo team and the current state of the British domestic racing scene.Interview
85. Instagram vs reality with Liam Yates
Emma and Will are joined by cycling influencer and ultra cyclist Liam Yates. Social media has taken over the world, and Liam is all too aware of this, with his sizeable and growing 20k + Instagram following. He talks about how social media has impacted his life, why he posts what he does, and how he finds a balance among it all. He also chats about the pressures of coming from a cycling family and
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