Cyclist Magazine Podcast

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...

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...

This episode is brought to you by Laka Bike Insurance , the specialist bike insurers This 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, dart...

This episode is brought to you by the Insta360 GO 3S action camera This 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...

This episode is brought to you by the Insta360 GO 3S action camera This 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...

This episode is brought to you by the Insta360 X5 action camera This 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 cyclin...

This episode is brought to you by the Insta360 X5 action camera This 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 Ma...

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 Mi...

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,...

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 Dav...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 Enhan...

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...

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...

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 skil...

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...

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...

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. Fame...

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...

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 d...

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...

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...