Life in the Peloton, presented by MAAP

Rapha presents Life in the Peloton! Gravel racing scenes are taking off all around the world. It's something I've loved sinking my teeth into back here in Australia & as I begin to understand more about the scene I thought it'd be great to chat to someone who's been racing at the top end for a while now - American fixed-gear racer turned gravel legend, Colin Strickland. Colin came into cycling lat...

Rapha presents Talking Luft! Luke (Durbo) Durbridge has been on Talking Luft before – both 1.0 and 2.0, so this week it’s Talking Luft 3.0 – and I had something a little different lined up for him. It’s Cobbled Classics time, he’s up in Holland getting ready for Paris-Roubaix & I thought I’d test his knowledge on the race & a whole lot more. Can he name 5 Paris–Roubaix cobbled sectors? Does he kno...

Rapha presents Life in the Peloton! Photo: Zac Williams Christmas is here. And by that I mean: it’s Cobbled Classics’ season. If you’ve listened to the podcast you’ll have heard me bang on about the cobbled classics, Belgium, and especially the brutally beautiful Paris-Roubaix. It’s no secret that these races were a passion of mine throughout my career and being on the other side of the fence hasn...

Rapha presents Talking Luft! I’m Talking Luft with the legend from London, Alec Briggs. Alec grew up in SE London and has raced track, cross, MTB, road and made his way to fixed-gear racing in Red Hook Criteriums, or 'Moto GP on bikes’ as he was first introduced to it. He’s hugely passionate about cycling & getting people involved in the scene. As well as being a super talented rider himself, Alec...

Rapha presents Life in the Peloton! One of the great things about looking at cycling from a new perspective this season has been coming across people who are making their mark outside of World Tour racing, and are doing things their own way. Alec Briggs may not be the most well known name in the cycling world, but the Londoner is a truly great cycling personality and is one of the most passionate...

Rapha presents Talking Luft! Talking Luft is back for another week & following on from my first on-race episode at the MTB epic Otway Odyssey , I’ve got a MTB-themed Talking Luft, with local Aussie legend Brendan Johnston, also known as Trekky (who won the Otway Odyssey!). Brendan is a huge name on the Aussie Mountain Bike scene. He’s Australia’s most successful MTB marathon rider, consistently ta...

Rapha presents Life in the Peloton! My "Opening Weekend" of racing looked a little different this year. I swapped out the brutal cobbles of Belgium for the beautiful, yet unforgiving trails of the Otway Ranges in Victoria - swapping my classics bike for my Mountain Bike and Gravel Bike. It was my first race of the year, and one hell of a baptism by fire into the MTB/Gravel racing scene; a 100km ma...

Rapha presents Talking Luft! Talking Luft is back for another week of cycling culture chat. This week I’ve got none other than a legend of the sport, American ex-pro & super domestique, George Hincapie I grew up watching George race – staying up late here in Australia to see the big hitters of Team US Postal light up the TV. George has always been a lover of the cobbled classics, and for this I wa...

Rapha presents Life the Peloton Are the best pro cyclists simply born that way - if so, is it Mum or Dad whose genetics have the biggest impact? What would happen to riders if Grand Tours were six weeks long? Dr Andre La Gerche is a sports cardiologist whose work with top athletes - including many pro cyclists, gives us answers to these questions.  I talked to Dr La Gerche here in Melbourne for th...

Rapha presents Talking Luft! Photo: Mason Hender Talking Luft is back for another week of cycling style & lifestyle chat and learning a little bit extra about my guest from last week. Last week on the podcast I had Peta Mullens, Australian champion in multiple bike disciplines, talking about her diverse career and following her passion through the ups and downs in the sport. It was a super inspiri...

Peta Mullens is an Australian star of track and field – and anywhere else you can find to put a bike race on. From MTB to track to CX to road: if you can name the discipline then she’s probably won a national title in it. I spoke to Peta about her diverse career, making tough decisions to follow her gut, as well as her current role as an athlete and director of one of Australia’s most exciting tea...

Rapha presents Talking Luft! Talking Luft is back for another week of chat about cycling style & culture, bikes, kits, coffee stops and all the best bits about riding a bike. I had Aussie legend Stuey O’Grady on the podcast last week , and this week I hear a little bit more about him; about his style back in the day, his favourite race, training loops and all-time favourite bike. He raced in the e...

Rapha presents Life in the Peloton  Stuart O’Grady is an absolute legend of the sport: He’s a Roubaix winner, an Olympic Gold medallist, a trailblazer for Aussie pros in Europe, and now race director of Australia’s top cycling event, the Tour Down Under. In this episode, we go in-depth on all of this and more. It’s a fascinating insight into the career of one of the most accomplished people in cyc...

Rapha presents Talking Luft! G’day everyone, Talking Luft is back for 2022! But what is Talking Luft ? Well, it’s really just a little extra chat I have with guests that I speak with on Life In the Peloton the previous week. A bit like the DVD Extras, it’s the break away series where I try to find out that little bit more about them and their cycling style. It's a little bit laidback and a lot of...

Photo: Theo Clarkes Rapha presents Life in the Peloton Well, here we are at the start of a New Year – and this is a big one. It’s the start of my life after professional road racing: it’s a new era for me, and of course for the pod!  As you might also know by […]

It’s the final episode of Talking Luft for the year. And officially my final episode of Talking Luft as a professional cyclist. After so many of you asked how I wear my cycling cap, I thought I would get my good mate Luke Durbridge to flip the mic on me and ask all the usual […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton It’s the final episode of the year on The Cycling Podcast, and my final episode as a pro as I pack up life in Europe and head into my retirement from cycling. This final year of professional racing for me has been a transitional phase in many […]

Talking Luft is back for another week and this time I’ve got Bert De Backer behind the mic, or Backsie as I like to call him. Bert is a Belgian Pro and good mate of mine who I first raced with back in the days of Skil-Shimano, and who also retired this year, riding his […]

Photo: Pipe Cano The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton Since announcing my retirement from Pro cycling earlier this year, I knew I would draw my 13 year career to a close at the end of the 2021 season. At that point I didn’t know what my last race might be. Then fate stepped […]

Talking Luft is back for another week & I’m chatting with British pro Hannah Barnes, who rides for Canyon-SRAM. In true Talking Luft style we chat a bit of life outside of the peloton & the good things in life. As you can see, Hannah runs some sensational Luft in her cap so I was […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton I’m back this week with one of the most experienced riders in the Women’s Pro Peloton, British rider Hannah Barnes. After turning pro with United Healthcare in 2014, Hannah has ridden for Canyon-SRAM for the past six seasons and is set to move on to the new […]

Niamh and Finn Fisher-Black are siblings from New Zealand, both currently racing in the World Tour. I had this brother-sister combo on the pod last week over at The Cycling Podcast chatting about making the jump across from NZ to Europe to live the pro life. Which, as I remembered, isn’t all that smooth sailing. […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton Life in the Peloton is back after a break during the Vuelta a España and for this episode I spoke to two young Kiwi champions who are going to have very big futures. If you don’t know the name Fisher-Black yet, I reckon you’re going to hear […]

Talking Luft is back for another week, this time I’m chatting to Japanese Pro Cyclist and teammate of mine at EF Education-Nippo Fumiyuki Beppu – or Fumy as he’s known. Fumy is in his 17th (!!) year as a professional, having ridden for 6 different Pro Teams, starting with the iconic Discovery Channel team back […]

Today I’m Talking Luft with Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, a South African Pro riding for Team SD Worx. I had Ashleigh on the podcast last week over at The Cycling Podcast chatting all things Olympics, her path to the World Tour and her Girona project – Rocacorba Cycling – named after her favourite climb, of which […]