The road.cc Podcast
The official podcast of road.cc, the UK's leading website for independent cycling reviews, buying advice, and news. Each episode explores topics that matter to real cyclists, including road cycling, gravel riding, commuting, leisure riding, and sportives. The show is sponsored by Hammerhead and aims to inform and inspire cyclists of all levels. It reflects road.cc's commitment to practical, expert-driven cycling content.
Episodes
“There are bigger issues to tackle than people on e-bikes”: How a bike shop turned detectives to track down a cargo bike wrongly seized and destroyed by the police
Send us Fan Mail
“We’re seeing some insane new records”: Why are Tour de France speeds getting higher and higher? + Dispatches from the Alps and Paris
Send us Fan MailSo, why is the Tour de France peloton getting faster and faster? That was the question I posed to UAE Team Emirates boss Mauro Gianetti, Geraint Thomas, and MPCC president Emily Brammeier during the race’s record-smashing final week.Later in the episode, we head into the heart of the Alps, and then down onto the boulevards of Paris for an audio retrospective of the Tour’s epic fina
Phone calls, barbecues, and bingeing Gossip Girl: What do Tour de France teams get up to on rest days?
Send us Fan Mail
Tadej Pogačar’s so fast that even Colnago is battling to keep up with him
Send us Fan MailAs speeds continue to ramp up at the Tour de France, spearheaded by the imperious Tadej Pogačar, we chat to Colnago’s lead engineer Filippo Galli about how to build a Tour de France-winning bike, why aero bikes are all the rage (even on the climbs), and why the biggest bike brands in the world are struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of the peloton.Plus, we headed to the UAE T
Is Tadej Pogačar being unfairly criticised for simply trying to win the Tour de France? + Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Battling the heat at the Tour
Send us Fan MailTapas, tension, thrillers, tempestuous temperatures, and team time trials… There have been a lot of talking points during the first week of this year’s Tour. And we’ve got them all covered as the road.cc Podcast hits the roads of France (and a bit of Spain)
“My husband said I made it look too easy. But I was having a great time”: North Coast 500 record breaker Caroline Livesey on Scottish downpours, rescue rice puddings, and the joy of cycling + What Andy Burnham as PM could mean for cyclists
Send us Fan Mail
“We did 10 miles on our first ride and couldn’t walk”: The father and son who cycled around the world as “complete novices”… and who still don’t identify as cyclists + Does a boring Giro make for a great Tour de France?
Send us Fan Mail
Victoria Pendleton: “I wish I could be part of Team GB now. But someone had to go out there and do it first. I’ll take the hit”
Send us Fan MailThis week, double Olympic gold medallist and nine-times world champion Victoria Pendleton joins the podcast to discuss what inspired her to write her new personal development book ‘The Fear Opportunity’, as well as her complicated relationship with cycling, and why she’s proud to have helped pave the way for both the current mega-successful crop of British female track sprinters an
“People will come up to me and say: ‘Yeah, f*** cycling!’ No, that’s not the message!” Comedian Kathy Maniura on creating ‘The Cycling Man’, your local bike lane’s worst nightmare + The new Rapha Roadmap discussed
Send us Fan MailThe worlds of cycling and comedy collide this week on the road.cc Podcast, where we discuss a new critically acclaimed character who is emotionally repressed, not very self-aware, and loves his bike. Sound familiar?
Big Mac recons, tattoo bets, and never giving up: Inside Picnic-PostNL’s Paris-Roubaix Femmes bid
Send us Fan Mail
How to prepare for Paris-Roubaix: Alex Dowsett’s tech guide to the cobbled classics + Reflections on cycling’s Holy Week
Send us Fan Mail
“The day after a classic, I was dead. He’s playing golf!” Adrie van der Poel on Mathieu’s chances of making Tour of Flanders history, Tadej Pogačar, and remembering his own Ronde win 40 years on
Send us Fan Mail
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig: “I’m a bit silly, I’m a bit weird but, you know, it’s what you get” + Was Milan-Sanremo epic Tadej Pogačar’s finest hour?
Send us Fan MailHave we reached the peak of the Pogačar era? That’s the question posed on this week’s episode, following the world champion’s epic crash-maybe break bike-chase-attack-attack again-outsprint Tom Pidcock victory at Milan-Sanremo, a race that was for so long Tadej’s kryptonite. So, where do we go from here?And in part two, Shane Stokes catches up with one of cycling’s greatest enterta
Chasing Brennan: Chapels, wonderkids, and Status Quo + The pros discuss race safety (and the UCI’s tech interventions) as the road.cc Podcast hits the Spring Classics
Send us Fan MailThe spring classics are here – and the road.cc Podcast is hitting the road. Or the narrow, treacherously cobbled and ridiculously steep Flemish lane, to be exact. Yes, this spring we’ve set ourselves the somewhat lofty aim of traversing every part of Belgium and northern France during the classics season, covering every town centre, rural lane, cobbled berg, bus-filled car park, an
Shimano launches a NEW 11-speed Tiagra groupset! What's going on??
Send us Fan MailIn this spontaneous edition of the road.cc Podcast, Ryan is joined by Jack Sexty, Mat Brett and Stu Kerton to discuss Shimano's surprising revamp of its popular fourth tier Tiagra groupset. The reason this is so surprising to us is not just because we were left to surmise that the groupset would eventually be phased out - it's because we were all but told this would be th
‘No, I’m not the new Cycling Mikey’: Britain’s most infamous camera cyclist councillor on holding bad drivers to account, dealing with trolls, and not caring what the Daily Mail thinks + Riding the Tour de France (as an amateur)
Send us Fan Mail
“Cheating will be part of cycling forever”: MPCC president Emily Brammeier on anti-doping, tackling the ‘grey area’, and making clean sport the norm + How to design a time trial bike from scratch
Send us Fan MailCheating in cycling… should we just accept it will always happen?Four months into her new role as the president of the anti-doping Movement for Credible Cycling, Emily Brammeier joins us to discuss the MPCC’s aims and ambitions, 19 years into its existence, how the cycling and anti-doping landscape has changed since then, and the suspicions that still hang over the sport.We also ch
'Oscar Onley shouldn’t have gone to Ineos’: Brian Smith on Britain’s Tour de France TV paywall (and why it’s a shame), calendar congestion, and how pro teams “use and abuse” riders
Send us Fan MailOn this week’s episode, we’re joined by one of the most recognisable voices in cycling: former two-time British champion and TNT Sports pundit Brian Smith.Brian chats about the struggles involved in promoting smaller races from outside cycling’s heartlands, while battling for position in a congested calendar.We also discuss the biggest bike race of them all, the Tour de France, and
“The cycling industry needed a good shake-up”: Can bike brands finally breathe again in 2026? Why the industry is back on track and “wiser” after years of turmoil + Tour de France UK Grands Départs reaction
Send us Fan MailOn this week’s episode of the road.cc Podcast, bike industry stalwart Rory Hitchens joins us for our annual cycling market health check-up – and tells us why brands being “honest” with themselves have brought the industry back to where it needs to be.And in part two, Ryan and Dan pore over the details of next summer’s festival of bike racing. Apologies in advance to the people of C
Is Keir Starmer ignoring cycling? Labour’s Road Safety Strategy discussed + Simon Yates’ shock retirement, British Cycling’s cyclocross paywall, and we rank the 2026 peloton’s new kits
Send us Fan MailIt’s fair to say the opening nine days of the new year have been fairly frenetic when it comes to news. And I’m only talking about our niche, little world of cycling (if you’re looking for Ruben Amorim or Trump chats, I’m sure there are a few football and politics podcasts knocking around the internet). Which means there was lots to discuss when we convened for our first podcast di
How Cycle to Work was saved: The battle to stop Labour’s Budget spending cap and “dispelling the myth” that Cycle to Work is for rich Surrey MAMILs + The year in cycling reviewed
Send us Fan MailChristmas is fast approaching (gulp), and that means only one thing… in podcast land, anyway – it’s time for us to don our best paper party hats, break open the archives, and reflect on the biggest cycling stories of 2025.In part two, the Cycle to Work Alliance’s chair Steve Edgell joins us to discuss Labour’s plans to re-introduce a spending cap on purchases made as part of Cycle
“Gear restrictions are a no-brainer”: Cadel Evans and Stuart O’Grady on cycling’s safety debate, how the sport has changed, protests, and why fans should “just enjoy watching Pogačar’s greatness”
Send us Fan MailOn this week’s episode, Ryan is joined by 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans and 2007 Paris-Roubaix victor Stuart O’Grady, two of Australia’s greatest ever cyclists.The dynamic Aussie duo chat about what they’re up to these days, including O’Grady’s role as Tour Down Under organiser, and reflect on how their perspectives on cycling have shifted since retiring and how much the s
“I’m proud that Dave Brailsford doesn’t like me”: Emma Pooley on the Tour de France’s weight debate, growing women’s sport, and battling cycling’s old-school “f***wits”
Send us Fan MailFormer world time trial champion, Olympic medallist, and endurance sport all-rounder Emma Pooley joins the podcast to discuss her new recipe book/memoir Oat to Joy, her own up-and-down relationship with food, the ‘weight debate’ that erupted in women’s cycling this year (and what she regards as the gender-based hypocrisy surrounding it) and her times spent fighting the sport’s ‘idi
“I’ve done some stupid things in my life, but this was beyond stupid!” Ultra-endurance cyclist Sofiane Sehili on breaking into Russia, 51 days in jail, and cycling’s most dramatic failed record attempt ever
Send us Fan Mail“This is crazy. It’s Russia, you don’t illegally enter Russian territory. You don’t do that!” says Sofiane Sehili. Except he did… And the ultra-endurance legend tells us all about it on this epic episode of the podcast.In September, Sehili was a day away from breaking the world record for the fastest Eurasia crossing by bike when he was refused entry to Russia at the country’s bord
“I lost sponsors after riding with Lance Armstrong – but it did us more good than bad”: Ex-footballer Geoff Thomas on 20 years of tackling the Tour de France route for charity, tears on the Galibier, and enjoying cycling more than ever
Send us Fan Mail20 years ago, former England footballer, Crystal Palace captain, and cancer survivor Geoff Thomas first made his mark on the cycling world by completing all 21 stages and 3,593km of the 2005 Tour de France, a day before the Lance Armstrong-led peloton.Since then, Thomas’s Tour 21 has developed into a huge deal, and every year groups of amateurs follow in his wheel tracks and ride t
Top tips for recovering from the cycling yips: How to regain your confidence on the bike after a bad crash + Double Alpe d’Huez! Ventoux! 2026 Tour de France routes analysed… Are they boring?
Send us Fan MailIt may have been sorely lacking in recent years, but the 2026 edition of the Tour de France Hommes will be all about suspense. Or, as the race’s press release put it, it’s going to be a ‘crescendo’. Whether it’s one that could build to a great Alpine GC frenzy, or, if Tadej decides to clash the symbols sooner than anticipated, fade into a disappointing diminuendo, remains to be see
“Is sport a force for good? Or for battering people into submission?” Former UCI president Brian Cookson on Israel, sportswashing, banning nation state sponsors, and why protests highlight bike race security failures
Send us Fan MailFollowing Israel-Premier Tech’s decision to change both its name and nationality for 2026, in the wake of a season dominated by protests and controversy surrounding the team’s participation in races amid the conflict in Gaza, former UCI president Brian Cookson joins us on the podcast to discuss one of cycling’s biggest talking points in recent years: sportswashing.In a wide-ranging
“I told myself, just let Robert Millar go!” Pippa York and David Walsh on gender, following the Tour de France, and why pro cycling isn’t Disneyland
Send us Fan MailBuckle up for a truly epic episode of the road.cc podcast! We're delighted to be joined by legendary cyclist Pippa York and arguably cycling's most well-known journalist, David Walsh, for episode 115. After York agreed to spend three weeks on the road with Walsh following the Tour de France back in 2020, the pair struck up an unlikely friendship, which culminated in a boo
“Timothée Chalamet can’t replace me in this one!” Actor behind Cadel Evans one-man show on taking the Edinburgh Fringe by storm, cycling “full gas” on stage, and why creating a play is like riding the Tour de France
Send us Fan Mail
Is China ready to take over the cycling industry? We chat to Chinese bike brand Yoeleo about challenging the old guard, changing Western perceptions, building trust, and “pushing the limits”
Send us Fan MailThis week, we're exploring one of the big cycling tech stories of 2025: the rise of Chinese bike brands. And why they could, through better tech, research and design, and affordable prices, very quickly threaten the traditional western brands and transform the global cycling industry. To assess China’s new high-end bike brand dynasty, and dig deeper into the circumstances, tec
“It would be a tragedy if we abandoned time trialling in Britain because of bad drivers”: Lawyers discuss duty of cycling clubs after rider seriously injured by motorist during time trial – and why cyclists should “expect better” from the police
Send us Fan MailOn the evening of Tuesday 23 May 2019, Ben Hetherington’s life changed forever. Ben, then 23-years-old and one of the most exciting young prospects in British cycling, was racing a local 10-mile time trial when he was struck by a motorist who turned right across the carriageway’s eastbound lanes after failing to give way. Ben suffered serious, life-threatening injuries in the crash
How to build a Tour de France team from scratch: Tudor Pro Cycling’s CEO on reaching the biggest race in the world within three years and creating a squad that’s “here to stay” + Inside the mechanics’ truck at the Tour
Send us Fan MailThis episode of the podcast is in association with Schwalbe...How do you go about building a Tour de France team effectively from scratch? That’s the question I asked when I popped around to the rest day hotel of Julian Alaphilippe’s Tudor Pro Cycling squad, who are making their debuts at this year’s Tour.The Swiss team are relative newbies to the sport, only launching under the Tu
Is Tadej Pogačar too good? We discuss the Tour de France leader’s Pyrenean dominance + Ben Healy on returning to “doing what I like” after two days in the yellow jersey
Send us Fan MailTadej Pogačar, already four stage wins to the good this year and chasing his fourth Tour de France title at the age of just 26, is busy cementing his status as one of cycling’s greatest ever riders, with yet another dominant, cannibal-esque performance at the sport’s biggest race.But is Pogačar’s relentless dominance hurting the race? And is he just too good? That’s the big debate
“When I quit, I was done with all the pressure and suffering. But I like cycling again”: Anna van der Breggen on her comeback and “feeling stupid” in the peloton + Pink jersey Anna Henderson, Pfeiffer Georgi, and Mia Griffin talk Giro d’Italia debuts
Send us Fan MailIt’s July, it’s hot, the men’s and women’s pelotons are both deep into grand tour season – and the road.cc Podcast is hitting the road and embracing all the stage racing madness, as part of a new mini-series we’re calling… errr, ‘road.cc on the road’. And kicking off this tentatively titled podcast series, I headed to northern Italy and the self-proclaimed cheese capital of Europe,
Chris Boardman talks e-bikes, road safety, and why Reform UK has made cyclists “nervous” + Is Tadej Pogačar vs Jonas Vingegaard the greatest Tour de France rivalry in history? Bumper TDF preview
Send us Fan MailCoppi versus Bartali. Anquetil versus Poulidor. LeMond versus Hinault. Armstrong versus Ullrich. Contador versus Schleck. Does Tadej Pogačar’s epic rivalry with Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France beat them all?That’s the question we try our best to answer during this week’s Tour de France-focused episode of the road.cc Podcast, as we rub our hands in glee at the prospect of Pog
“Get that bike back in the van!” Tour de France tech tales from the Dauphiné, Factor’s radical bike, and the backlash to new UCI rules + Does Cycle to Work still… work?
Send us Fan MailFor most of the pro cycling world, June is all about altitude camps, warm-up races, and fine-tuning that all-important preparation ahead of the big one: the Tour de France. But here at road.cc, it really means only one thing: our annual tech-spotting pilgrimage to the Critérium du Dauphiné! (Or whatever it’s going to be called next year…)And while all eyes were on Tadej Pogačar, ro
Should brands stop claiming gravel bikes “can go anywhere”? Lawyer discusses £4.5m Planet X fork failure case, its implications for the cycling industry, and the need for transparent marketing + Is Simon Yates one of Britain’s greats after Giro win?
Send us Fan MailOn this week’s episode, we’re joined by Julian Chamberlayne, a partner at Stewart’s, the UK law firm who last month secured a £4.5m settlement case against Planet X’s insurers, after cyclist Dr Daniel Gordon was left paralysed in a crash caused by his gravel bike's carbon fork shearing in two on a grass slope.We discuss what went wrong to lead to such a horrendous crash, the c
Why do we keep trying to turn cycling into other sports? Formula Fixed founder on reinventing bike racing for the TikTok generation, “trampling on tradition”, and why “big swings” are better than marginal gains
Send us Fan MailThis week, Ryan chats with the co-founder of the latest big idea hoping to shake up the conservative world of cycling: Formula Fixed, a new US-based indoor racing series featuring bikes with no brakes on tight, twisting, go-kart style circuits in a ticketed arena setting.With this new brand of cycling set to launch this year, Formula Fixed founder James Grady chats about his backgr
“TNT price hike is two fingers to cycling fans”: Ex-WorldTour pros Harry Tanfield and Sophie Wright on going gravel, the future of British bike racing, and why Manchester’s cycle lanes are rubbish + John Stevenson tribute
Send us Fan MailThis week, former WorldTour pros Harry Tanfield and Sophie Wright kindly interrupted their packing for Sea Otter to hop on the podcast and discuss how they’ve adapted to life as rookie gravel racers with Britain’s newest professional cycling team, the Ribble Outliers – including getting used to wider tyres and lower pressures (and why they’re a big plus when it comes to riding on B
“Driving a car is just too easy”: Bikehangar inventor on theft, the need for safe cycle storage, and why “there are too many cars on our streets”
Send us Fan MailTo mark Security and Storage Week on road.cc, this week’s episode focuses on one of the most useful and controversial – if you’re a grumpy SUV driver, anyway – urban cycling innovations of the past 15 years: the cycle hangar.Invented by Cyclehoop founder Anthony Lau, and spawning a host of imitators, Bikehangars provide secure shelter for six bikes in half the space normally occupi
What do Donald Trump’s tariffs mean for cycling? We chat to an industry insider about price rises, staying positive, and why the tariffs present an opportunity for UK brands
Send us Fan MailWith the cycling industry gripped by yet another period of uncertainty, this week’s episode of the road.cc Podcast focuses on the story that’s dominated the front pages all month – Donald Trump’s chaos-creating global tariffs. And why, at least according to one industry insider, they aren’t going to, as feared by many, “sink the ship”, and could even present an opportunity for bike
“We’ve made huge strides, but there’s still a long way to go”: Double Olympic champ Kristen Faulkner on Paris, being an outsider, and the growth of women’s cycling + Rainbows, frites, and sunburn at the Tour of Flanders
Send us Fan MailWe’re deep into classics season, with Paris-Roubaix looming on the horizon, so this week’s episode of the road.cc Podcast pays homage to cycling’s biggest one-day events.In part two, double Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner joins us from her altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada, as she prepares for the upcoming Ardennes classics following a turbulent start to the season marred b
“I’m impartial on everything – except my own safety”: Jeremy Vine on his cycling “radicalisation”, Twitter trolls, the “gaslighting of cyclists”, and why bad streets and bad drivers cause road danger
Send us Fan MailIt’s the road.cc Podcast’s 100th episode! And to celebrate our century, we’re joined this week by a staple of our news and live blog coverage: broadcaster, cyclist, road safety advocate, and self-confessed road.cc fanatic Jeremy Vine.During a brilliantly entertaining chat, Jeremy talks us through his conversion to cycling in his 40s, his later radicalisation when it came to road sa
Is this the UK’s worst city for cycling? Riding around Belfast’s abysmal bike network (and why drivers should be cycling campaigners’ best friends) + Do cycling culture war stories harm the bike industry?
Send us Fan MailWhat is the worst, least hospitable city for cycling in the UK? While we’re sure you all have your own ‘favourite’ contenders for that particular accolade, in this week’s podcast episode – our 99th, if you haven’t noticed already – Ryan decides to settle the debate once and for all, by jumping on his bike (and pushing and walking it) along the questionably protected and poorly conn
“I was more stressed about Tom’s contract than my own!”: Tom Pidcock’s new teammate Rory Townsend on how “maverick” Olympic champ has lifted Q36.5 (and why you shouldn’t drink too much pickle juice)
Send us Fan MailOne of the cycling transfer stories of the winter – and possibly the decade – was Tom Pidcock’s decision to break his contract with the Ineos Grenadiers three years early to join Swiss second-tier ProTeam Q36.5 Pro Cycling.And, despite the messy, protracted saga that preceded the transfer, it’s fair to say the move has worked out pretty well so far. Pidcock’s debut for Q36.5 saw hi
“A bike race is complete madness”: David Millar on why cycling is “inherently dangerous”, the demise of CHPT3, and his new Factor role + Is TNT set to destroy cycling in the UK?
Send us Fan MailSince it was announced early last week, Warner Bros. Discovery’s controversial decision to ditch Eurosport in the UK and Ireland, after over three decades of quirky, wonderful broadcasting, and move all of its cycling coverage to the all-encompassing, £31-a-month TNT Sports (hiking the price up by 443 per cent in the process), has been the subject of intense debate among cycling fa
“Lance Armstrong didn’t invent doping. We all did the best we could”: Levi Leipheimer on coming to terms with cycling’s “grey” past, “making amends”, and why road racing in the US has to “adapt or die”
Send us Fan MailOn this week’s episode we’re delving into the past, present, and future of American cycling, with none other than former Tour de France podium finisher and current gran fondo organiser, Levi Leipheimer.A former teammate of Lance Armstrong’s at US Postal, Astana, and RadioShack, Leipheimer was one of the leading American pros during an era when the United States was planted firmly a
Is the cycling industry storm finally over? Why there may be fewer “disaster stories” in 2025 + Where did Adrian Chiles’ e-bike doc go wrong?
Send us Fan MailIt’s time for the first road.cc Podcast episode of 2025, and we decided to kick off the new year by mixing things up and delving into unexplored territory for the podcast – by analysing the ongoing struggles facing the cycling industry and assessing where the BBC went wrong in their latest controversial active travel take. Oh wait… Well, start as you mean to go on, I suppose.And to
“If you don’t want cycling on footpaths, support bike lanes and 20mph zones”: Town centre cycling bans and the fight against “cowboy” wardens + the year in cycling reviewed
Send us Fan MailIt’s the most wonderful time of the year… that’s right, it’s our annual podcast episode looking back over the biggest and most bizarre bike-related stories of 2024! Plus some less cheery but nonetheless important town centre cycling ban chat for good measure.In part one, Ryan, Jack, and Emily, paper party helmets firmly attached, discuss the stories and narratives that jumped out a
“You need a billionaire to say ‘I’ll save the sport’. But that won’t happen”: Matt Holmes on why British cycling needs a reset and his journey from WorldTour pro to the “world’s most reluctant YouTuber” + Does cycling have a litter problem?
Send us Fan MailWith British cycling in turmoil this winter, following the closure of the country’s two remaining UCI Continental teams, this week’s episode of the road.cc Podcast features one rider who’s forging an alternative path through the struggling domestic scene – former Lotto-Soudal pro Matt Holmes.After hanging up his wheels at the end of 2022, following a three-year spell racing for Wor
“A lot of it was caused by greed”: Factor’s CEO on navigating bike industry chaos, Chris Froome’s set-up complaints, trickle-down track tech, and why rim brakes are never coming back + Scott unveil new superlight Addict RC
Send us Fan MailWe’ve got a cycling industry and bike tech special for you this week on the podcast, as Factor CEO Rob Gitelis joins us to discuss the brand’s history and the latest cutting-edge tech, before we take a closer (audio) inspection of the brand-new Scott Addict RC.In part one, Rob joins us from sunny Girona to chat about his journey from racing cyclist to working in Taiwan’s fledgling
“The idea is to create a positive out of a negative”: Cancer My Arse’s Kev Griffiths on living with stage four cancer, Sir Chris Hoy, and why he’s encouraging everyone to ride out of the saddle for charity + Mark Cavendish’s greatest moments
Send us Fan MailLike Sir Chris Hoy, who last month revealed that he has terminal prostate cancer, Kevin Griffiths is determined to turn his own experience of living with stage four cancer into a positive. The Stoke-based cyclist, who hails from two of Britain’s most revered cycling families, launched the Cancer My Arse initiative this year after discovering that his bowel cancer was terminal, four
“The Tour is the only race that matters. And that’s gone now”: Ned Boulting on the end of free-to-air Tour de France coverage in the UK and why his new show is a piece of theatre
Send us Fan MailFrom 2026, the familiar sights of the Tour de France – the epic mountain ranges, fields of sunflowers, Tadej Pogačar riding off into the distance – will remain the same. But for many cycling fans in the UK, the sounds will be very different.Next year’s Tour, the 25th edition of the race to be shown live on ITV, will also be the final one to be broadcast on free-to-air television in
Are the cycling culture wars back? And did they ever go away? Plus: What’s next for Tom Pidcock after dramatic Ineos Grenadiers fallout?
Send us Fan MailWhen it comes to culture war discourse around cycling, things had become a bit quiet lately. Too quiet. After a brief period of respite following a general election campaign which saw cycling and active travel largely sacrificed on the so-called ‘War on the Motorist’ altar, the political and ideological conflict surrounding riding a bike kicked into gear again this month, with the
Is Tadej Pogačar the greatest cyclist who’s ever lived? Plus we ask: What the hell’s going on with cycling media in 2024?
Send us Fan MailOver the past five decades, countless promising young riders have been bestowed and burdened with the tag of being the ‘Next Eddy Merckx’. After an unbeatable 2024, Tadej Pogačar is the first to look even remotely close to matching, or even surpassing, Merckx’s until-now untouchable legacy.Which is why, since that 100km attack in Zurich, the question has raged on in social media d
20 years of Rapha: Co-founder Simon Mottram on tiffs with Team Sky, MAMILs and cycling's skin-suited future
Send us Fan MailWe're coming at you with episode 87 of the road.cc Podcast in association with Hammerhead a whole week early, because... well, Rapha's 'Past Forward' 20-year anniversary bash at the Truman Brewery in London finishes on Sunday 22nd, and going live next week would mean numerous continuity errors in our interview! Anyway... as well as telling you about where and wh
Ultimate Strava KOM hunting: The painstaking prep that went into bagging THAT Box Hill KOM (plus bonus climbing tips!)
Send us Fan MailLike the British cycling world for a brief period earlier this month, episode 86 of the road.cc Podcast has gone Box Hill crazy. We sat down with Dom Jackson and Tobias Dahlhaus of the London-based team Foran Cycling – two of the figures behind arguably one of the most ambitious (and successful) Strava KOM/QOM attempts of all time – to find out how Dom, winner of the prestigious Rá
“I’ve rediscovered my love of cycling”: David Millar and James Carnes of CHPT3 on appealing to every cyclist and designing a commuter shoe you can wear with a suit… and down a Swiss mountain
Send us Fan MailIf you’re a fan of nerdy technical chat about shoe design and the joy of riding a bike through town in a suit with a multiple grand tour stage winner, then you’re in for a treat on this special bonus episode of the road.cc Podcast. Because, to mark the launch this week of the CHPT3’s Transit 2.0, we sat down with the brains behind the urban commuter shoe that aims to combine the “p
“The Tour de France needs to do a proper security review”: Academic behind Shimano electronic gears hacking study on why “it’s hard to tell” if wireless doping has taken place in pro cycling – and why us amateurs shouldn’t be worried
Send us Fan MailFor episode 84 of the road.cc Podcast, we took a deep dive into one of the more curious, and headline grabbing, cycling tech studies of recent years – which discovered that your bike’s electronic shifters may be susceptible to hackers, who could even be lurking at the Vuelta a España, waiting to sabotage Primož Roglič’s next move to the big ring.That study, published earlier this m
Can 50% of Brits really not afford to buy a bike? Cycling and affordability discussed, plus how to make a new bike computer with Hammerhead
Send us Fan MailFor episode 83 of the road.cc Podcast, we decided to don our analytical hats and delve into a recent survey which claimed that 49 per cent of British people do not believe they can afford to buy a bike, and that around a quarter reckon it would take around six months to save up for one.Are bikes, and the accessories commonly associated with cycling, perceived by the general public
Was the 2024 Tour de France a bit rubbish? Pogačar’s ghostbusting climbs, podcast poltergeists, and Cav’s Vino problem
Send us Fan MailIt's episode 82 of the road.cc Podcast sponsored by Hammerhead, a certain big old race across France has ended for another year, and so it's only right that we do a full debrief of Tour de France 2024! What was good and what was not so good about this year's Tour, what have we learnt, and how would we make the 2025 edition even better? Find out what George, Emily and
Mark Cavendish makes history, Dylan Groenewegen’s bizarre (and stage-winning) aero beak, and the weirdest things we’ve ever seen at the Tour de France
Send us Fan MailWe’re almost a week into the 2024 Tour de France, so to celebrate – and inspired by Dylan Groenewegen’s peculiar, Batman-inspired aero beak – in the latest episode of the road.cc Podcast, we decided to unbuckle the Grande Boucle and focus on the strangest, daftest, and most crazy things, both on and off the bike, that we’ve witnessed at cycling’s biggest race over the years.Oh, and
Cycling and the General Election: Do the UK’s political parties care about cycling and active travel? We take a deep dive into the 2024 manifestos
Send us Fan MailUnless you’ve been living under a rock, or become adept at turning off the TV as soon as you hear Question Time’s twinkly theme, then you’ll be well aware that the next UK general election is fast approaching. And with under two weeks to go until the polling stations open, all of the main parties have launched their manifestos, setting out the key reasons why you should vote for th
road.cc CANCELLED by Ineos! What happened when we tried to take pics of the new Pinarello Dogma + Does cycling policy need a reset after the election?
Send us Fan MailOi, you there! You can’t record your podcast around here…We’ve got a special bonus Dauphiné and election edition of the road.cc Podcast this week, because surely you didn’t think we were going to ignore THAT incident, involving a seemingly super top secret new Pinarello Dogma and a stubborn British team at the key pre-Tour tune-up race, did you?So, with everyone (including a few ot
Making our way around the National Cycle Network (and why it’s really all about the people you meet) with Laura Laker + Is active travel in Britain heading in the wrong direction?
Send us Fan MailFor episode 78 of the road.cc Podcast, we donned our reading glasses, grabbed our bikes, and headed over to the National Cycle Network, that underfunded, unwieldy, often fractured, but very important collection of routes used by cyclists across the UK and which forms the subject of Laura Laker’s brilliant new book, Potholes and Pavements. Part one features an in-depth behind the ke
"You’re not going to legislate away these sort of incidents": Martin Porter KC on cycling and the law + cycling and mental health for Mental Health Awareness Week
Send us Fan MailIt's episode 77 of the road.cc Podcast, and arguably one of our most thought-provoking episodes to date. In part 1, Jack and George sit down with leading barrister Martin Porter KC on the same week that the Government announced tougher laws are set to be introduced for 'dangerous cyclists' who kill or injure. Highlighting recent high profile and exceptionally rare ca
Is cycling treated fairly in the media? BBC AntiSocial goes cycling discussed with ‘the cyclist' + the future of indoor bike racing with IndieVelo's founder
Send us Fan MailIn episode 76 of the road.cc Podcast, we're talking about... another podcast! Well, we'd like to think it goes a bit deeper than that, because our discussion with Lauren O'Brien - representing 'the cyclist' in a recent debate title 'Should cyclists stay in their lane?' with researcher and journalist James Woudhuysen - delves into how cycling is ge
The history of folding bikes with Mark Bickerton (+ the real story behind THAT very 80s TV ad) plus a weekend in Hell: Tales from Paris-Roubaix
Send us Fan MailIt's time for episode 75 of the road.cc Podcast, a two-parter that is as chalk and cheese as we've ever recorded in cycling terms... but that's how we like it!Part 1 is all about folding bikes, and more specifically a fascinating chat with Mark Bickerton, whose father Harry invented arguably the first properly practical, lightweight folding bike in the early 70s. By
“It’s Paris-Roubaix!” Zoe and Magnus Bäckstedt on “blood, mud, and tears” at the Hell of the North, plus cycling and climbing from the lowest to the highest point of each continent (and avoiding getting arrested) with Oli France
Send us Fan MailWith Paris-Roubaix, arguably the most hotly anticipated weekend on the pro cycling calendar, approaching fast around the next cobbled bend, episode 74 of the road.cc Podcast features two representatives of the past, present, and future of the Queen of the Classics: Canyon-Sram’s father-daughter duo Magnus and Zoe Bäckstedt, 20 years on from Magnus’ career-defining Roubaix victory.T
Why is it so hard to get a bike on a ferry? Why is Strava's 'Weekly Snapshot' annoying cyclists?
Send us Fan MailOn episode 73 of the road.cc podcast, we hear from two cyclists who tell us their trials and tribulations of trying to get their bikes on the ferry... something that appears to be a tad more difficult that boarding one by car! Our original story about Elaine Baker's ordeal with Irish Ferries ignited much debate, so we thought it was only right to follow up and get all the deta
Mike Ashley buys Wiggle CRC: Ex-employee talks “shock” at retail giant’s demise and staff’s “hard and fast goodbye”, plus THAT Visma Giro helmet discussed
Send us Fan MailWhile the two topics discussed on episode 72 of the road.cc Podcast are both high on the cycling world’s list of talking points this week, they notably sit at opposite ends of the seriousness spectrum (unless you take your time trial helmet debates very seriously, of course). In part one, George and Ryan are joined by a former Wiggle Chain Reaction Cycles employee, one of the 450-o
“Our sport will wither and die if we refuse these sponsors”: Sportswashing and pro cycling’s carbon footprint discussed, plus LTNs vs dodgy data
Send us Fan MailIn episode 71 of the road.cc Podcast, we’ve got two great guests and two great topics to discuss… namely sportswashing and low traffic neighbourhoods. We’re arguably missing a debate about helmets, but otherwise it doesn’t get much more road.cc Podcast than this! In part 1 Ryan is joined by Darach McQuaid, the former chairman and current advisor to pro cycling outfit GreenEDGE Cycl
“We’ve learnt to normalise rubbish behaviour”: What stops women cycling? Abuse, intimidation, and how to make cycling safe for everyone
Send us Fan MailAt the start of 2024, the London Cycling Campaign’s Women’s Network, a coalition of cycling groups in the capital, published a report, titled ‘What Stops Women Cycling in London?’, which detailed the shocking extent to which women riding their bikes in the capital face a barrage of verbal and physical abuse, sexual harassment, and intimidation from motorists and other road users.Th
“Some drivers see safe cycling as a character flaw”: the fight for fewer close passes + the UK's booming gravel scene
Send us Fan MailOn episode 69 of the road.cc Podcast, we delve into the reasons and behavioural patterns that underpin most, if not all, of the 887 (and counting) examples of close passes and dangerous driving that make up our Near Miss of the Day series, aided by a road safety expert currently undertaking a PhD study on the relationship between motorists and cyclists on the road. Will Cubbin, the
Bike industry chaos, part 2: What lies ahead in 2024? More expert analysis plus our Cycling Sgt. Pepper image discussed
Send us Fan MailIt’s episode 68 of the road.cc Podcast and we’re turning our attention once again to the troubling state of the bike industry and its worryingly shaky prospects for the year ahead, following the news that Orange Bikes – one of the UK’s most iconic cycling brands and a staple of the mountain bike scene – has appointed an administrator.To discuss what lines in store for the bike indu
Seeing the person behind the cyclist: More Than A Cyclist Campaign aims to inspire behaviour change with powerful new film, plus our top cycling Christmas gifts
Send us Fan MailIt's episode 67 of the road.cc Podcast, and we're turning our attention to cycling safety ahead of the festive season. It's perhaps not the cheeriest of subjects, but a crucial one - and there is hope for the future thanks to hard-working activists such as the folks at the More Than A Cyclist Campaign.We speak to Rob Anderson, who tells us the main aims of the More T
Is cycling ‘woke’? Cycling and culture wars discussed with a Conservative aide, plus Lucinda Brand and Eli Iserbyt on the future of cyclocross racing
Send us Fan MailThe two subjects we're discussing on episode 66 of the road.cc Podcast are arguably chalk and cheese, but equally as interesting we hope you'll agree! In part 1, Jack and Ryan are joined by Jack Gebhard, Chief of Staff for the Conservative MP for Worcester, Robin Walker, about cycling's curious relationship with 'wokeness'. With 'woke' having morp
Why the 20mph zone time trial ban could be the “tip of the iceberg” for British racing + Chris Froome’s bike set-up mystery explained
Send us Fan MailCould the widespread implementation of 20mph speed limits across the UK spell the end of Britain’s long and venerable history of time trialling? On episode 65 of the road.cc Podcast, Ryan and Dan are joined by solicitor and club chairman Jonty Gordon to discuss Cycling Time Trials' recent refusal to sanction courses that feature 20mph zones, and the serious impact this new pol
Broken bikes, riding the wrong way, and losing track of time: Tales from the 2023 Transcontinental Race ultra-distance cycling epic!
Send us Fan MailFor episode 64 of the road.cc Podcast, Ryan is talking to the intrepid and indefatigable Han Lu, who has many a story to tell from her epic Transcontinental adventure. When many others would have 'scratched', Han carried on despite many setbacks and finished the mammoth Transcontinental Race route across Europe after a whole month of riding, and approximately 4,000km cove
Wiggle administration shocker: What the hell is going on in the bike industry?? Plus pro cycling's idiot problem
Send us Fan MailEpisode 63 of the road.cc Podcast is coming at you a week early, because hot off the press are shocking reports regarding the future of Wiggle Chain Reaction Cycles. What happens if the cycling and multisport retail giant folds, and are we surprised about the reports considering the turmoil the whole bike industry has found itself in throughout 2023 so far? George and Jack are join
