Cyclist Magazine Podcast

This week, James and Will are joined by journalist, author and cyclist, James Witts. James writes for a host of prestigious titles including the most prestigious of them all, Cyclist magazine, along with The Guardian, GQ, Rouleur and Men’s Health to name but four more. James also edits the annual official Tour de France guide and has penned four books including his most recent, Dope, which explores the doping landscape of sport, from opium and the Ancient Greeks to modern athletes and micro-dosing EPO.

In this episode, James explains what constitutes a banned substance; how performance enhancers such as EPO work; how the biological passport catches cheats; how evasion might still happen at altitude camps; and what ‘legal’ methods athletes might still use. We also discuss the recent night-time testing at the Tour de France and what it might mean; how anti-doping agencies are funded and why that model is so murky; why athletes dope in the first place (it’s not what you might think); and that million-dollar question – is cycling actually clean?

Dope by James Witts (Blink Publishing) is out now

We also discuss the tragic news of the death of cyclist Finlay Tarling at the Volta a Portugal. A GoFundMe page in memory of Fin has been set up here.

Chat begins at 7.11

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This episode is brought to you by Boyd Cycling, whose full range of hand-built wheels can be found at boydcycling.com...

...and the Maserati Grecale SUV car. For more information, go to maserati.com

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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 door
We're also a really 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.

This week, James and Will are joined by cyclist and author Simon Warren. It seems mad to think it, but when the idea of a clickbait listicle was just a twinkle in the internet’s eye, Simon was busy writing an actual book about cycling, which quickly became the text that defined a genre: 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs released in 2010. Featuring everything from Box Hill to Bealach na Bà, 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs documented – you guessed it –one hundred of the greatest cycling climbs across Britain in meticulous style, from statistics and geography to descriptions of the roads themselves. Simon has written more than a dozen books since, all dedicated to discovering and documenting the best climbs around the world, from Tour de France stalwarts to dusty tracks in Tuscany and cobbled bergs in Belgium.

In this episode, Simon talk about what makes good climb good but a great climb better; elevation versus length; the importance of the struggle; how Simon finds his climbs; how to plan your attack on a daunting climb; and of course, what the best climbs in the world are.

Simon has just re-released an updated version of Cycling Climbs of Scotland (Adventure Books). Plus, you can check out all of Simon's UK climbs in his one mega app, 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs App, available in all the usual places.

Chat begins at 5.57

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This episode is brought to you by Boyd Cycling, whose full range of hand-built wheels can be found at boydcycling.com...

...and the Maserati Grecale SUV car. For more information, go to maserati.com

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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 door
We're also a really 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.

This week, James and Will are joined by Cannondale’s Advanced Projects Engineer, Chris Dodman. Chris has been working for Cannondale for the last three decades, and though he might not exactly be a household name, you’ll know who he is if you’re Mario Cipolloini or Peter Sagan – Chris is the brains behind those glorious red Saeco CAAD bikes of the 1990s that saw Cipo dominate sprints, and the radioactive-green cobble-bashing Synapse in the 2010s that gave Sagan countless podiums. Or put it another way, Chris was a pioneer who made aluminium race bikes look viable amid a sea of steel, and who all but invented the endurance bike category (who said all-road?). Chris also holds countless patents in cycling; helped invent the first press-fit bottom bracket, the BB30; and led the charge on Cannondale’s latest CAAD bike, the CAAD 14 – living metal proof aluminium still has its place on the road, and we’d wager one of the cleanest looking road bikes released in years. Who doesn’t love a horizontal top tube?

In this episode, Chris talks us through the potted history of Cannondale, from private jets to failed motorcycle projects to the fabled Volvo-Cannondale mountain bike team. We also talk about the difficulty of furthering design for such a simple machine as a bicycle; convincing Mario Cippollini to ride an American-made, aluminium frame; what he thinks about car manufacturers making bicycles; the smoke and mirrors of things like graphene and carbon nanotubes; and why the derailleur was probably dreamed up by two guys in a pub, is mechanically basic as hell, but is somehow completely brilliant.

Chat begins at 12.14

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This episode is brought to you by Laka bike insurance, the specialist bicycle insurers. see laka.co for more details

...Boyd Cycling, whose full range of hand-built wheels can be found at boydcycling.com

...and the Maserati Grecale SUV car. For more information, go to maserati.com

...and the Green Commute Initiative, the leading provider of the Government's Cycle to Work Scheme, which can help you save up to 47% off the cost of a new bike. See greencommuteinitiative.uk for more details

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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 door
We're also a really 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.

This week, Robyn and Will are joined by one of British Cycling’s most decorated track riders, Victoria Pendleton. Over a career that spanned more than a decade, Victoria won two Olympic gold medals and one silver, nine World Championships, two European Championships and the Commonwealth Games, although arguably her biggest contribution to cycling was her legacy. Along with Team GB alumni such as Laura Kenny, Joanna Rowsell, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy, Victoria helped inspire a generation of young riders and helped put British cyclists on the map, and propelled cycling as a sport into the British mainstream.

However, Victoria’s relationship with cycling hasn’t always been a happy one. She retired after the 2012 Olympics stating she’d achieved everything she set out to do on a bike, only later to reveal that she found the British Cycling programme increasingly difficult to be a part of, and latterly coming out in support of former teammate Jessica Varnish's allegations about the BC culture, which in part led to the resignation of coach Shane Sutton amid wider allegations of sexism and discrimination.

In 2015, Victoria switched a bike for a horse, and by 2016 she had completed ‘probably the greatest achievement of my life’ when she finished fifth in the Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham. Occasional sports commentary and multiple TV show appearances have kept her busy since, and earlier this year she released her psychology book,The Fear Opportunity, which draws on her experiences as both an athlete and in day-to-day life. In this episode, Victoria discusses her own fear of failure and change, the impact of the media and external noise, women’s progress in sport and the psychology of mental resilience.

Chat begins at 6.44

Check out Victoria's new book, The Fear Opportunity (Pan Macmillan) here

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This episode is brought to you by the Maserati Grecale SUV car. For more information, go to maserati.com

...and the Green Commute Initiative, the leading provider of the Government's Cycle to Work Scheme, which can help you save up to 47% off the cost of a new bike. See greencommuteinitiative.uk for more details

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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 door
We're also a really 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.

This week Robyn and Will are joined by Ned Boulting, a man who needs no introduction but hey, here's one anyway: Ned broadcasts, commentates, pundits, orates, performs and writes about all things cycling. This year is Ned's first away from the ITV commentary box at the Tour de France (RIP), and instead he's taking his passion for two wheels on the road with his podcast For The Love Of Cycling, where this summer he's joined by friends and former pros David Millar, Pete Kennaugh and Lizzie Deignan as he follows the Tour around France, analysing the stages and telling the stories of the greatest cycling race on earth.

In this episode, Ned talks us through the most important and set-to-be pivotal stages at this year’s Tour, the riders to watch out for and the inevitable battle for third place, while Robyn introduces Ned to her self-styled ‘Vibes Classification’, which will is surely set to get a UCI points system and jersey all of its own.

Chat begins at 3.30

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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

...and the Green Commute Initiative, the leading provider of the Government's Cycle to Work Scheme, which can help you save up to 47% off the cost of a new bike. See greencommuteinitiative.uk for more details

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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 door
We'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.