Velo Podcast

Daniel Holloway burst onto the track World Cup this year winning an omnium event in Chile. First of all, he explains what the omnium event is all about. Then, we discuss his role on the new USA Cycling National Team and his diverse background as a pro cyclist. He's done everything from European racing to Red Hook Crits.

Expectations are high for Richie Porte to podium (or win!?) the Tour de France. The trouble is, his past performances have been patchy. We debate the Australian's talents and weaknesses in the first half of this podcast. There are some reasons to be bullish and others to be skeptical of Porte's potential. Then, we look ahead to this weekend's USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships in Reno!...

Are you getting out to ride this winter? This podcast covers the physiological effects of training in the cold, from muscle damage to the increased caloric demands. We also discuss tips and tricks to set up your bike, stay warm, and even keep your bottles from freezing. And if it's too damn cold, we explain the best way to balance time indoors on the trainer with outdoor rides. We speak with Dr. S...

To kick off the new year, we examine the key stories to watch in 2018: Sagan vs. Van Avermaet, Froome's Salbutamol scandal, and much more. We are joined by our new reporter, Dane Cash of VeloHuman and the Recon Ride podcast to look ahead to the coming cycling season. Later in the show, Fred Dreier talks about a story he wrote for the January/February issue of VeloNews magazine about religion and c...

Rally Cycling's pro riders put their bikes away for this off-season team camp. Instead, they hiked, skied, played basketball, and bonded with teammates new and old. The team-building may prove to be an essential ingredient if they hope to succeed in 2018 because the team is moving up to the Pro Continental level of racing. This should mean harder races, more European racing, and higher expectation...

In this episode of Fast Talk, we tackle the always-popular topic of climbing. A listener in Iowa asked if he could become a better climber. Not only will we answer his question, we’ll describe ways in which anyone can improve their technique, efficiency, and power to refine their climbing. Surprisingly, climbing isn't as simple as dropping a few pounds or spending your days riding in the Rockies....

Chris Froome's Vuelta anti-doping test has thrown the 2018 cycling season into limbo. No one knows if he'll be allowed to race the Giro d'Italia as planned. It also remains to be seen if he'll have his 2017 Vuelta title stripped. We discuss. Also, Chris Case summarizes a conversation he had with an asthma doctor that tested Chris Froome. How could the Tour champ have gone so far over the limit for...

We break down the key storylines behind Chris Froome's doping test from the Vuelta. He went over the limit for Salbutamol. Now, Froome and Sky have a chance to explain themselves, but a pall of doubt has been cast over his four Tour wins and that Vuelta victory. We speak with Andrew Hood who has insider knowledge from an anti-doping expert and a lawyer. This is cycling's biggest story in years — s...

How will the UCI crack down on motor cheating? Why did it settle the case with Sagan over his Tour de France disqualification? Our special guest Jeremy Whittle just got back from an interview with new UCI president David Lappartient. He'll help us understand a few of the hot-button issues facing cycling. Plus, Whittle gives us an insider's perspective on how the British cycling fans are reacting t...

Recently, a big debate kicked up on the Internet. Some cycling experts were saying that Functional Threshold Power (FTP) was dead. Many of the big names in cycling got involved debating the value of FTP and what is and isn’t current when it comes to profiling riders and determining their training zones. We didn’t get involved because we consider everyone in the debate friends at Fast Talk, but we...

We've been poring over stage profiles and maps to decipher the 2018 Giro d'Italia route. But we couldn't do it alone. So, we called Italian insider Gregor Brown to talk about the key stages, the overall route design, and why the race has shunned trendy short stages. Gregor waxes poetic about all things Italian, from the Mount Etna volcano to the spectacular Zoncolon. In addition to our in-depth lo...

The future of mountain bike racing is bright. High school kids throughout the U.S. are turning out in droves for the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA). In this interview from our trip to Interbike, we sit down with NICA executive director Austin McInerny and Cody Phillips, a NICA graduate. They explain why the programs are so successful, the organization's plans for growth, and a...

Chris Froome is expected to race the Giro d'Italia. We talk to our man on the ground in Italy, Gregor Brown, to learn about this breaking news, how the fans will feel about Froomey, and whether he's a shoo-in to win the pink jersey. Also, we are deep into the winter 'cross season. That means wild, muddy races, and a few top Americans — Katie Compton and Ellen Noble — are thriving. As usual, we wra...

Spencer Powlison sits down with Katie Compton in Louisville, Kentucky ahead of the Pan-American Cyclocross championships at the beginning of November, 2017. The 13-time national champion talks about her new approach to this cyclocross season, the new races she's been able to start, and up-and-coming American racers to watch. She also answers questions on gender equality in bike racing.

We cyclists can get a little lost in the weight room. That doesn't mean strength training doesn't have important benefits though. We are joined by Jess Elliott, who is the sports performance coach and biomechanist at the University of Colorado Sports Medicine and Performance Center. She helps us understand the fundamentals of strength workouts in the weight room: what to do, how to do it, and how...

This week, the Fast Talk podcast went live! Hosts Trevor Connor and Chris Case fielded questions on Facebook from podcast listeners like you. Here are a few (of the many) topics they covered: How to fit in training around a busy work schedule. What to do in base training period How do deal with hot weather Training tips for older riders The effects of high altitude on training. All that and much m...

In this week's episode, we have an impromptu book club after reading Phil Gaimon's new book, "Draft Animals." His controversial memoir calls out Fabian Cancellara, and now Gaimon is in the hot seat. The book provides a personal, in-depth — and sometimes depressing — look at what it's like to be a pro cyclist trying to make the WorldTour. We discuss this and other notable cycling autobiographies. A...

Former cyclocross national champion Ryan Trebon was the driving force behind the new US Cup-CX cyclocross series. We catch up with him at the Derby City Cup. He talks about how the first year went, where the series is headed, and why American 'cross needs a national series. The always-opinionated Trebon also sounds off on why he doesn't object to Lance Armstrong's donation to support the US Cup pr...

This year is starting to wrap up, which means that pro cyclists are heading to sunny Southern Spain for team camps. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood was at Movistar's recent camp. He explains what happens at these camps and has an update on how the team will handle its wealth of GC contenders. (Somehow they're all going to race the Tour!?) The US Cup-CX cyclocross series also just wrapp...

Illness can be a big setback for cyclists at all levels. What causes us to get sick, and how do we avoid it? If we train too hard, will it ruin our immune system, or can we power through it and ride with the sniffles? We are joined by Dr. Jason Glowney of CU Sports Medicine to answer these questions and better understand the science of illness and how it can make us better, healthier cyclists.

It's our first-ever Mail Musette episode! You sent in scads of great cycling questions, and we picked out the very best queries. For this episode, we got our European correspondent Andrew Hood on the horn to lend his expertise on the Tour de France, the drama between Quintana and Landa, why Vino and Astana are suing Aru, and much more. Plus we've got our usual segments: Ask a Cat 3 and the VN Podi...

This is the Taiwan KOM Challenge, 105 kilometers and nearly 11,000 feet up into the heart of Taiwan. Sea level to the top of the world in one go. A brutal, seemingly Sysiphean symphony that builds over 90 kilometers to a crescendo in the final ten, where pitches over 20% stretch on forever and no gear feels quite low enough. It is one of the most spectacular rides in the world. One of the hardest,...

Phil Gaimon is retired from pro racing, but he's busier — and maybe faster — than ever. In this week's interview, Fred Dreier talks to the former Slipstream rider about how he left the sport sooner than he'd wanted to. They also discuss what to make of ex-dopers who return to racing. And of course, we also get Gaimon's take on stealing Strava KOMs from the locals. All that and much more!

The cyclocross season is underway. Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel has been dominating the European scene, especially the World Cup. The women's field, on the other hand, has afforded more surprises and even a few fresh faces. On the domestic scene, Sho-Air has formed a new series in the US Cup-CX. Fred Dreier and Chris Case have traveled to the first two stops and share their insights. We take a lo...

Ouch, it burns! But what is "it" — the root cause of the pain in your legs when you smash it up a hard climb? For the longest time, we colloquially called "it" lactic acid. It turns out that was wrong. Coach Trevor Connor and Caley Fretz examine the chemistry that occurs in our muscles while riding and racing. They talk to Dr. Iñigo San Millán, who is the director of Colorado University's exercise...