Podcast
Cyclist Magazine Podcast
Hosted by Cyclist Magazine · EN
From the team behind Cyclist Magazine, this is a podcast for lovers of all things cycling, whether you’re a sucker for a sportive, a carbon fibre connoisseur or just Bernard Hinault’s biggest fan.
Host James Spender brings you in-depth conversations from within the world of cycling by the people that know it best, with new episodes every other Thursday. Guests have included the likes of Greg LeMond, Tyler Hamilton, Sean Kelly, Krishnan Guru-Murthy and more.
Make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to listen first!
Join us for the ride on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Check out our website at cyclist.co.uk and be sure to subscribe to Cyclist Magazine here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
15episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
157. Rob Britton: Slave to the road turned gravel supremo
2w ago01:15:41Tap to summarizeThis 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 second Tour of Gila in New Mexico and the Canadian National Time-Trial title. Given such strong showings in such hot, long and multi-day races, Rob was a safe bet when he – like lots of his road colleagues – moved into gravel. At first riding as a privateer – sponsored with a bit of kit but essentially riding team-less – Rob finished 6th in his first big gravel race, Unbound, in 2022, then the following year won Badlands – all 800km and 16,000 vertical metres of it. 2023 saw an incredible result at Traka, where he finished second behind fellow ex-road pro Pete Stetina, however arguably his best result so far came when the then 40-year-old beat Lachlan Morton at Unbound XL, finishing the 578km course at an astonishing average speed of 32.4kmh, smashing the course record by 12 minutes in the process.Such rides have seen Rob become part of the OVRLND adventure team, with backing from Easton Cycling, Castelli and Factor bikes, who’s radical aero suspension gravel bike, the Sarana, Rob rode at this year’s Traka 560.Whatever bike Rob rides he manages to make gruelling long-distance look easy, but as we chat about in this episode, his journey in cycling has been anything but, fraught with the difficulties of racing for smaller teams, the US’s ever dwindling race calendar, and having to reinvent himself as a gravel racer, from canvassing for sponsors to looking after his own bikes. We caught up with Rob in Italy ahead of racing at The Hills Gravel Race in Treviso in March.Chat begins at 6.54-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)This episode is also brought to you by the Maserati Grecale SUV car. For more information, go to maserati.com------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorWe're also a really lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk, plus over the next few months we're running our very own Cyclist Track Days and Cycling Electric Demo days, where you can test ride the best bikes around purpose-built, closed-circuit tracks. For a full list of dates and venues across May and June, check out Cyclist Track Days and Cycling Electric Demo Days Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →156. Guy Martin: Getting kidnapped, land speed records and defying death on two wheels
4w ago01:16:15Tap to summarizeThis 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 records (spoiler, 135mph), rebuilding First World War tanks and travelling the globe in the Our Guy in… series, where Guy visits the Chernobyl reactor in Ukraine, cycles across the desert in China, travels through India on a motorcycle and much more - we haven't even got to the drug cartels in Colombia yet.Guy is also a keen cyclist, from enduro-mountain biking to breaking the British land speed record on a special steel road bike, to his own self-styled ultra-cycling challenges, although he’d just call them ‘long rides to get me head straight’. And he’s also an author, his new book All the Medals Have Been Handed Out is out on 7th May, which along with charting his adventures and misadventures on two wheels, recounts being kidnapped in Colombia and waterboarded; his soul-crushing, death-defying bicycle ride to Azerbaijan; and his continued ‘300 miles per hour job’, an ongoing project to turn a street bike he bought for £5,000 into a record breaking motorcycle that he’ll ride at over 300mph. And he's tightened all those nuts and bolts himself.We talk about all this and more, so buckle up your four-point harness and drop the clutch. Or just put the kettle on.Chat begins at 5.36Guy's new book, All the Medals Have Been Handed Out (Penguin books) is out on 7th May. More details plus where to buy can be found here-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)This episode is also brought to you by the Maserati Grecale SUV car. For more information, go to maserati.com------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorWe're also a really lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk, plus over the next few months we're running our very own Cyclist Track Days and Cycling Electric Demo days, where you can test ride the best bikes around purpose-built, closed-circuit tracks. For a full list of dates and venues across May and June, check out Cyclist Track Days and Cycling Electric Demo Days Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →155. George Hincapie: Paris-Roubaix, elbows out racing and his Modern Adventure
Apr 1601:15:26Tap to summarizeThis 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 and his first pro season, with Motorola, in 1994.At first a self-confessed bunch of American upstarts, Motorola morphed into one of the most formidable teams of the 90s and 2000s, US Postal. There, George forged his status as one of cycling’s strongest and most dependable riders, supporting team leader Lance Armstrong as road captain and lieutenant across all seven of Armstrong’s Tour wins – though of course that’s wins in inverted commas.George retired from the pro peloton in 2012 after 19 seasons in which he started the Tour de France 17 consecutive times, finishing it 16 times and winning one team-time-trial stage. He also rode 50 Monuments including finishing second at Paris Roubaix and third at Tour of Flanders; he won Gent-Wevelgem in 2001; and was three-time US National Champ.Today, George is bringing all that experience to his new team, Modern Adventure Pro Cycling, with the express intention of giving young riders a shot at the big time while becoming 'the next great American team', who might one day compete in the Grand Tours. We spoke to George ahead of Paris-Roubaix, where Modern Adventure had the first big wildcard entry of its inaugural season.Our chat begins at 10.24-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)This episode is also brought to you by the Maserati Grecale SUV car. For more information, go to maserati.com------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorAnd it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →154. Harry Tanfield: Baptisms of fire, keeping the faith, and the Ribble Outliers
Apr 201:15:30Tap to summarizeThis 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 track title and World Cup wins on the track plus an all-important stage win at the Tour de Yorkshire, making him the first Yorkshireman to win a stage of the race. The following year Harry joined WorldTour Team Katusha-Alpecin on a two year contract, but by the end of the season the team had folded. A few more unsettled seasons followed with moves to AG2R in 2020 then Qhubeka for 2021, but by 2022 Harry was back racing ProConti with Ribble-Weldtite, TDT then Saint Piran. Then, in 2025, he reacquainted himself with Ribble as part of the Ribble Outliers gravel team, for whom he still rides.In this chat, Harry talks about the good old days of elbows-out crit racing, mulls over the British race calendar’s seeming implosion, speaks candidly about his tumultuous time at the WorldTour and how he handled team collapse and personal tragedy, plus what the gravel scene offers to riders coming from the road.Our chat begins at 6.19-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)This episode is also brought to you by the Maserati Grecale SUV car. For more information, go to maserati.com for more details------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorAnd it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →153. Aero mutinies and secret shorts with Castelli's Steve Smith
Mar 1901:15:58Tap to summarizeThis 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 Steve and his team have been responsible for some of the biggest game-changers in cycling, from creating some of the earliest, wind-tunnel designed aero kit to the now infamous Castelli Gabba, which revolutionised foul weather cycling gear and spawned a whole new genre of clothing along the way.In this chat, Steve explains how those early aero jerseys sparked a mutiny within Castelli’s sponsored pros; the day Castelli blew everyone’s minds – including the race commissaires – with turquoise shorts; what the fastest kit would really look like if riders could only put it on properly; what changes in the law around PFC chemicals have really meant for cycling clothing; and how waterproof kit actually works – and why some jackets lose it, while others will be waterproof forever.Our chat with Steve begins at 10.34------------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorAnd it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →152. Zoe Bäckstedt: Why I love Sundays in Hell
Mar 500:48:03Tap to summarizeThis 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 cyclocross, before turning pro with EF Education-Tibco-SVB in 2022.The following season saw her big move to Canyon//Sram zondacrypto, where she took her first pro win a season later with a stage at the Simac Ladies Tour. A string of top results and showings has followed across all three cycling disciplines, but at just 21 years old, colleagues, managers and pundits are all sure of one thing: Zoe’s best is yet to come.In this episode, Zoe talks about how her multi-discipline abilities have converged on Classics specialist; how dad Magnus and mum Megan have made her the rider she is, along with the British rain; why, despite the chaos and carnage, Paris-Roubaix is still her favourite race; and just how difficult it is to play boardgames in a family that's so competitive.Zoe's chat begins at 7.38------------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorAnd it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →151. UCI rules, design evolution, and why bikes are so expensive, with Pieter Potters
Feb 1901:18:39Tap to summarizeThis 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 and aggressive forward positioning of the rider (don't worry, Pieter explains it better).Pieter is also in charge designing Eddy Merckx bikes, so here he discusses plans to rejuvenate that once great marque, along with answering questions around how much input pro-riders really have into the bikes they ride, how to design bikes for the modern age, how to negotiate potentially ruinous UCI rule changes, and that perennial question, just why are bikes so expensive?Interview begins atThis episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorAnd it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →150. Brian Smith: National champ, racing with Lance, saying no to EPO, and snakes in showers
Feb 501:07:07Tap to summarizeThis 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 followed including his first British national road race title, which led to Brian catching the eye of the Motorola team bosses. He signed for the American outfit in 1994, and went on to race alongside Lance Armstrong, Andy Hampsten and Phil Anderson. Brian won his second British national road race title that same year, but as we discuss in our chat, despite such success he found himself disillusioned and on the outside of a sport he loved as cycling embroiled itself in its darkest doping years – something Brian wanted no part of. He hung up his racing wheels in 1996 but returned to the pro-peloton in 2011 as directeur sportif for Endura Racing, where he stayed as it evolved into MTN-Qhubeka then Dimension Data, before retiring in 2014.Today, Brian can be found with a microphone in hand as a commentator and pundit for Eurosport, and among other parts of that job, Brian discusses his love of commentating and watching the lesser-known Tour of Hellas, a five-stage race around Greece which this year takes place between 6th and 10th of May, so keep an eye out for that one.There are probably few people with as much experience across the last four decades of cycling as Brian, and certainly few people who talk so candidly about everything from being invited into 'the program' by Lance Armstrong, to having a snake thrown into his shower by Shane Sutton. So get the kettle, pin back your lugholes and listen to this one.Interview begins at 3.44------------------The Tour of Hellas in Greece is a five stage race taking place from 6th - 10th May 2026. Find out more here, and check in with wherever you watch your cycling for broadcast times------------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorAnd it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →149. The legend of Eddy Merckx, with Lee Donaldson
Jan 2201:05:59Tap to summarizeThis 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, fashion designer Paul Smith and Merckx's old mechanic, Ernesto Colnago, plus Eddy Merckx’s family and, of course, the man himself.As you might have guessed, Lee now has an encyclopaedic knowledge of The Cannibal to rival his personal passion, so plug in, sit back and enjoy our Merckx-centric chat, which covers everything from Merckx's insane Grand Tour performances, to his tragic crash in Blois, to what it was like going to lunch with the main man.Interview begins at 3.44------------------525: The Unstoppable Eddy Merckx is produced by Lee Donaldson and Simon Hardy's 6 Day Films. Find out more, including where you can watch it, here.------------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorAnd it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →148. Hunter Allen and the future of training and racing
Jan 801:23:44Tap to summarizeThis 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 the pioneering frontier of what would become the gold standard in cycling metrics: watts.Last year Hunter was back with his new book Training + Competing With A Continuous Glucose Monitor, and in this episode we discuss why continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are set to become the new power meter and how they and the sports science involved are already behind the uptick in speeds in the pro peloton. In short, CGMs can help a rider and coach work out precisely when to fuel, and to what extent, for maximum performance, and that means Pogačar and co are breaking more records.Hunter also talks about how to understand training data, the relationship between heart rate and power, managing training loads and fatigue, and how to develop better nutrition strategies to ride faster. It's a get the kettle on kind of pod, plus maybe fetch a pen and paper, because Hunter knows his stuff and he goes pretty deep.Find out more about Training + Competing With A Continuous Glucose Monitor hereInterview begins at 9.59------------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorAnd it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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