The road.cc Podcast

Send us a textFrom 2026, the familiar sights of the Tour de France – the epic mountain ranges, fields of sunflowers, Tadej Pogačar riding off into the distance – will remain the same. But for many cycling fans in the UK, the sounds will be very different.Next year’s Tour, the 25th edition of the race to be shown live on ITV, will also be the final one to be broadcast on free-to-air television in the UK, after it was announced last week that Warner Bros. Discovery and Eurosport have agreed a new exclusive TV rights deal for cycling’s biggest race from 2026 onwards.On this week’s episode, ITV’s lead cycling commentator Ned Boulting, who’s been working on the race for the channel since 2003, discusses the sad and poignant end of 40 years of the Tour de France on free-to-air British TV, the news of which he discovered while touring his new show, based on the 1923 edition of the race.Boulting reflects on why ITV’s long association with the race has come to an end, what effect this will have on the Tour’s viewership within the UK, and his own personal relationship with the race.He also chats about his new show, the ‘Marginal Mystery Tour: 1923 And All That’, which just so happens to celebrate ITV’s coverage of the Tour de France and why he’s crafted a piece of theatre about cycling and the context in which it takes place.

Send us a textWhen it comes to culture war discourse around cycling, things had become a bit quiet lately. Too quiet. After a brief period of respite following a general election campaign which saw cycling and active travel largely sacrificed on the so-called ‘War on the Motorist’ altar, the political and ideological conflict surrounding riding a bike kicked into gear again this month, with the Telegraph, Iain Duncan Smith, and even Thames Valley Police fanning the culture war flames with questionable public pronouncements. So, are the cycling culture wars back? And did they ever go away? Transport and sustainability journalist Carlton Reid and the London Cycling Campaign’s Simon Munk join us to ask why and how cycling become embroiled in the culture wars, assess the role of conspiracy theories and motonormativity in hindering cycling projects and policy, and offer up our own (somewhat ambitious) plans to put a stop to the cycling culture war once and for all.Oh, and maybe review a very cycling-focused chapter of Boris Johnson’s new book…And in the Week in Cycling, Ryan and Emily ponder what the future holds for Tom Pidcock, after the British star became embroiled in a transfer saga following his very public falling out with the Ineos Grenadiers.

Send us a textOver the past five decades, countless promising young riders have been bestowed and burdened with the tag of being the ‘Next Eddy Merckx’.  After an unbeatable 2024, Tadej Pogačar is the first to look even remotely close to matching, or even surpassing, Merckx’s until-now untouchable legacy.Which is why, since that 100km attack in Zurich, the question has raged on in social media debates, live blogs, and on weekend club rides: Is Pogačar the greatest male cyclist we’ve ever seen?On episode 88 of the road.cc Podcast, Dan and Ryan dissect the GOAT debate, the folly of comparing different eras, and Merckx’s own flip-flopping position on Pogačar’s place in cycling history.We also break out the stats to assess how Eddy and Tadej stack up against each other at the same age (spoiler – it’s closer than you think), what the current world champion has to do before he retires to compete for GOAT status, and to what extent Pogačar’s swashbuckling, devil-may-care style, and the brutally dominant manner of his victories, compares against other attacking greats such as Fausto Coppi.In part two, Ryan and road.cc founder Tony are joined by former GCN presenter and developer Cillian Kelly to discuss current cycling media landscape, why it’s changed (and changing), and whether we should be worried about the future. Oh, and why we miss the good old days of countless cycling magazines filling our local newsagents’ shelves.

Send us a textWe're coming at you with episode 87 of the road.cc Podcast in association with Hammerhead a whole week early, because... well, Rapha's 'Past Forward' 20-year anniversary bash at the Truman Brewery in London finishes on Sunday 22nd, and going live next week would mean numerous continuity errors in our interview! Anyway... as well as telling you about where and when you can stop by to take a look at the exhibition celebrating all things Rapha, the brand's co-founder and former CEO Simon Mottram sits down with Ryan and Jack for a wide-ranging interview that goes back to the very beginnings of Rapha in 2004 when a plucky young Mottram rocked up to the Cycling Plus newsroom, where none other than road.cc's co-founder Tony Farrelly was then the editor, to plug a cool new cycling brand (to a rather mixed reception, he claims!)Despite the reservations of cynical journalists and Cycling Plus forum members at the time, Rapha of course went on to be worn by over a million cyclists, became the kit sponsors to the most successful British road cycling team in history and is one of the most recognisable cycling apparel brands on the planet. Listen for Mottram's take on cycling and fashion, his thoughts on the brand's association with MAMILs, some tense moments with Team Sky and Dave Brailsford and what's coming in the future when it comes to cycling clothing. Enjoy!

Send us a textLike the British cycling world for a brief period earlier this month, episode 86 of the road.cc Podcast has gone Box Hill crazy. We sat down with Dom Jackson and Tobias Dahlhaus of the London-based team Foran Cycling – two of the figures behind arguably one of the most ambitious (and successful) Strava KOM/QOM attempts of all time – to find out how Dom, winner of the prestigious Rás Tailteann international stage race earlier this year, cracked the most attempted and arguably the most prestigious Strava KOM of them all, Box Hill. With meticulous planning, spreadsheets, a bunch of willing pals pulling turns on each bend or sweeping and marshalling corners, a curious pre-effort diet, and two immaculately shaved arms, Dom rode an outrageous time of 4:05, at an average speed of 33.7km/h – eight seconds quicker than pro cyclist Rory Townsend who had taken the KOM just days earlier. Will we see a sub-4 clocked soon on Box Hill’s slopes? It’s like the four-minute mile barrier all over again! We also squeezed some climbing tips out of Dom and Tobias, both highly accomplished bike racers, and got some further advice on locating and smashing some Strava KOMs for ourselves… when we’ve put some more training in.At the start of the episode, we also welcome tech writer Emily Tillett for our new regular opening section on the ‘week in cycling’ with presenter Ryan Mallon, which this week focuses on the current trouble at Ineos and asks: Are bikes becoming better value again? Let us know what you think of our new sound at podcast@road.cc

Send us a textIf you’re a fan of nerdy technical chat about shoe design and the joy of riding a bike through town in a suit with a multiple grand tour stage winner, then you’re in for a treat on this special bonus episode of the road.cc Podcast. Because, to mark the launch this week of the CHPT3’s Transit 2.0, we sat down with the brains behind the urban commuter shoe that aims to combine the “power of a pro cycling shoe and the comfort of a luxury sneaker” – pro cyclist-turned-commentator David Millar and ex-Adidas designer James Carnes – to discuss the inspiration behind the potentially revolutionary new cycling footwear, Millar’s rediscovered love for cycling, and whether you can wear the same shoe at the local nightclub and down a precipitous Swiss mountain.We chat about discuss the journey, both literally and metaphorically, that led them to the Transit 2.0, and the problems inherent in so many commuter or urban cycling shoes, and how Millar rediscovered his love of cycling by breaking out of his pro cycling bubble.We also ask the important questions: Do they look cool? Are they suitable for cycling and walking about the office and town? How do they fare on a downhill mountain biking route in the Swiss Alps, or in the most inhospitable of British town centres? And most importantly, can you wear them with a suit?

Send us a textFor episode 84 of the road.cc Podcast, we took a deep dive into one of the more curious, and headline grabbing, cycling tech studies of recent years – which discovered that your bike’s electronic shifters may be susceptible to hackers, who could even be lurking at the Vuelta a España, waiting to sabotage Primož Roglič’s next move to the big ring.That study, published earlier this month by three US-based cyber security experts, explored the security features of Shimano’s Di2 electronic shifting systems, the current most common method of changing gears in the pro peloton.The researchers rather worryingly concluded, through a black box analysis of Shimano’s systems and a roadside experiment, that they can be hacked by a relatively simple and cheap radio technique – one that potentially has the power to allow nefarious individuals by the roadside or in the peloton itself to change or jam a rival’s gears without their knowledge during a race, in a bid to scupper their chances of victory.In this week’s podcast episode, one of the researchers behind the much-talked-about Di2 analysis, Dr Earlence Fernandes, a cyclist himself, chats about what inspired him to delve into the security set-ups and flaws of wireless shifting, how hacking someone’s gears actually works, his subsequent interactions with Shimano, and how pervasive he thinks the threat of wireless doping could be to both the pro cycling world and us weekend warriors out on a Saturday group ride.

Send us a textFor episode 83 of the road.cc Podcast, we decided to don our analytical hats and delve into a recent survey which claimed that 49 per cent of British people do not believe they can afford to buy a bike, and that around a quarter reckon it would take around six months to save up for one.Are bikes, and the accessories commonly associated with cycling, perceived by the general public to be expensive, even as prices fall across an industry laden with sales at the moment? And is that belief a barrier to encouraging more people to ditch the car and adopt active travel for the commute?Also, why is a bike still considered by many to be a luxury, a ‘toy’ used for leisure purposes, and something that competes for our disposable income – rather than a mode of transport in its own right and possible replacement for the evidently much more expensive car?In part two, George has a chat with Grayson Pollock, a product manager at Hammerhead to discuss what it takes to make a new cycling computer from scratch.

Send us a textIt's episode 82 of the road.cc Podcast sponsored by Hammerhead, a certain big old race across France has ended for another year, and so it's only right that we do a full debrief of Tour de France 2024! What was good and what was not so good about this year's Tour, what have we learnt, and how would we make the 2025 edition even better? Find out what George, Emily and Ryan thought of the race, and their takes on the more contentious subjects such as carbon monoxide 'rebreathing', safety and some seemingly super-human performances...

Send us a textWe’re almost a week into the 2024 Tour de France, so to celebrate – and inspired by Dylan Groenewegen’s peculiar, Batman-inspired aero beak – in the latest episode of the road.cc Podcast, we decided to unbuckle the Grande Boucle and focus on the strangest, daftest, and most crazy things, both on and off the bike, that we’ve witnessed at cycling’s biggest race over the years.Oh, and there was maybe a bit of chat about a certain Manx sprinter and the number 35…

Send us a textUnless you’ve been living under a rock, or become adept at turning off the TV as soon as you hear Question Time’s twinkly theme, then you’ll be well aware that the next UK general election is fast approaching. And with under two weeks to go until the polling stations open, all of the main parties have launched their manifestos, setting out the key reasons why you should vote for them on 4 July.Which leads us to the big question in this week’s special election-themed episode of the road.cc Podcast: What are the parties saying about cycling?Helping him dive headfirst into the key parties’ manifestos – and scavenge any scrap of detail from them about active travel (which was more difficult than you might think) – Ryan was joined by road.cc stalwart Simon MacMichael and Sarah McMonagle, director of external affairs at Cycling UK.With Cycling UK launching its own five-year plan for active travel recently – which has called on whichever party takes the keys next month to No. 10 to boost cycling funding considerably and reconsider how our cities, towns, and neighbourhoods are planned – Sarah, Ryan, and Simon dissect the good, bad, ugly, and frankly non-existent of the different parties’ pledges related to getting about by bike.

Send us a textOi, you there! You can’t record your podcast around here…We’ve got a special bonus Dauphiné and election edition of the road.cc Podcast this week, because surely you didn’t think we were going to ignore THAT incident, involving a seemingly super top secret new Pinarello Dogma and a stubborn British team at the key pre-Tour tune-up race, did you?So, with everyone (including a few other podcasts) talking about our tech team’s run-in at the Dauphiné with the Ineos Grenadiers – who were steadfastly obstinate about refusing to allow any filming or photography around their shiny new bikes (despite said bikes appearing on TV all this week) – Jack, Ryan, Jamie, and Mat decided to go behind the scenes (or the team car, or the hedge) to discuss what really went on in France, and why pro teams continue to ‘play the game’ when it comes to new bike tech. We also chat about the other new bikes Mat and Jamie spotted at the Dauphiné, and where bike tech is headed in the future. Oh, and why white handlebar tape is back in fashion…Meanwhile, in part two, Ryan and Jack were joined by Cycling UK’s Sarah McMonagle to discuss that other big topic of the moment, the general election, and why cycling policy needs a reset come next month – before digging out our crystal balls to find out what active travel pledges (if any) will pop up in the major parties’ manifestos over the next few weeks…

Send us a textFor episode 78 of the road.cc Podcast, we donned our reading glasses, grabbed our bikes, and headed over to the National Cycle Network, that underfunded, unwieldy, often fractured, but very important collection of routes used by cyclists across the UK and which forms the subject of Laura Laker’s brilliant new book, Potholes and Pavements. Part one features an in-depth behind the keyboard chat with Laura, a respected journalist and longstanding road.cc contributor, discussing her inspiration for the book, the pros and cons of the NCN, how to make cycling infrastructure better, the cycling culture wars, and why riding a bike is really all about the people we meet along the way.We then turn our attentions in part two to the upcoming general election, and what its outcome may mean for cycling and active travel, with Dr Maya Singer Hobbs, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, a think tank that earlier this month claimed the UK was “travelling in the wrong direction” when it comes to transport.

Send us a textIt's episode 77 of the road.cc Podcast, and arguably one of our most thought-provoking episodes to date. In part 1, Jack and George sit down with leading barrister Martin Porter KC on the same week that the Government announced tougher laws are set to be introduced for 'dangerous cyclists' who kill or injure. Highlighting recent high profile and exceptionally rare cases involving cyclists and pedestrians as a focus for the discussion, listen to get the view of one of Britain's leading personal injury specialists on why he thinks bringing in tougher laws for cyclists will be detrimental. It's also Mental Health Awareness Week,  so in part 2 Jack is talking to Elaine Curtin - not only road.cc's commercial director, but also a trained Human Givens psychotherapist - about how cycling can be great for your mental health. Elaine also tells us more about the human givens approach, and how you can identify if you or someone you know might be struggling with mental health. If you need help, the NHS has a fantastic Your Mind Plan feature. For more direct help, other NHS services can be found here, and for more urgent assistance The Samaritans can be called for free on 116 123. For more information on the human givens approach, visit the Human Givens Institute website.

Send us a textIn episode 76 of the road.cc Podcast, we're talking about... another podcast! Well, we'd like to think it goes a bit deeper than that, because our discussion with Lauren O'Brien - representing 'the cyclist' in a recent debate title 'Should cyclists stay in their lane?' with researcher and journalist James Woudhuysen - delves into how cycling is generally portrayed in the non-cycling media. Do debates like this lead to progression, or just drag up disagreements that are already there? Was cycling fairly represented on the show? Tune in for a fascinating behind-the-scenes discussion. In part 2, Dave sits down with George Gilbert, the founder of fledgling indoor cycling platform IndieVelo, and e-sports journalist Christopher Schwenker to discuss the progression of indoor cycling, and Indievelo itself.  What can be done to take cycling e-sports to the next level at the elite level, and where is virtual cycling heading for the rest of us? If you’re partial to riding indoors, this chat is well worth a listen. PS: You may have also seen Tony’s blog about our decision to stop flying out to bike/product launches, and there’s a bit of an explainer from George on this between our two main segments. Enjoy!

Send us a textIt's time for episode 75 of the road.cc Podcast, a two-parter that is as chalk and cheese as we've ever recorded in cycling terms... but that's how we like it!Part 1 is all about folding bikes, and more specifically a fascinating chat with Mark Bickerton, whose father Harry invented arguably the first properly practical, lightweight folding bike in the early 70s. By the early 80s the Bickerton Portable was a big British success story, boosted by a certain low-budget TV ad that became embedded into the public consciousness for various reasons (listen to find out why!)While Bickerton isn't the folding force it once was, the brand name and bikes are still going strong, with Mark also now the main man in the UK behind the very popular urban bike brand Tern. The chat with road.cc editor Jack covers a brief history of Bickerton and folding bikes in general, what's going on with Bickerton and Tern today and Mark's take on these turbulent times for the bike industry. In part two, Ryan and Dan delve behind the scenes at last week’s Paris-Roubaix, where Ryan was lucky enough to head over to northern France and hitch a lift in a team car. Up for discussion is whether the world champ Van der Poel’s domination of the cobbled classics is ‘boring’, British star Pfeiffer Georgi’s hopes for the future, and the thrills and spills of watching a monument from the team car.During his time at the race, Ryan also caught up with 18-year-old Yorkshire-raised Irish rider Patrick Casey, who was making his debut at the Junior Paris-Roubaix for the Grenke-Auto Eder team. Casey’s path to the pro ranks is somewhat different than other riders from these shores in the past, but the lessons he’s already learned during his time in Europe – such as the folly of turning up with two right-hand track mitts to the hardest race of the year – are steadfastly old school…

Send us a textWith Paris-Roubaix, arguably the most hotly anticipated weekend on the pro cycling calendar, approaching fast around the next cobbled bend, episode 74 of the road.cc Podcast features two representatives of the past, present, and future of the Queen of the Classics: Canyon-Sram’s father-daughter duo Magnus and Zoe Bäckstedt, 20 years on from Magnus’ career-defining Roubaix victory.The 2024 Paris-Roubaix not only marks the 20th anniversary of Bäckstedt Snr’s victory at the Hell of the North, but also the first time the Canyon-Sram sports director will be taking on cycling’s most famous one-day race with daughter Zoe as one of his charges, after the 19-year-old joined the German team from EF Education last autumn. The pair discuss Magnus’ 2004 win, what it’s like working together, Zoe’s adjustment to the Women’s World Tour after dominating as a junior, and why Roubaix is the race everyone wants to win.Meanwhile, in part two, British adventurer and explorer Oli France joins us, mid-marathon packing session, just before setting for the west coast of the United States, where he will be taking on phase two of his record-breaking attempt to travel from the lowest geographical point to the highest on every continent, by bike and on foot.He chats about his approach to training and preparing for extreme temperatures and the different physical demands of cycling and climbing, and why – after six weeks slogging through deserts, over tough, sapping roads, and in the freezing cold on his bike – climbing a mountain at the end of it all seems like the “easy part”…

Send us a textOn episode 73 of the road.cc podcast, we hear from two cyclists who tell us their trials and tribulations of trying to get their bikes on the ferry... something that appears to be a tad more difficult that boarding one by car! Our original story about Elaine Baker's ordeal with Irish Ferries ignited much debate, so we thought it was only right to follow up and get all the details. Were Irish Ferries really guilty of "pure discrimination against people on bikes" when Ms Baker was unable to board with a bicycle as opposed to a motorbike? Strap in for a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion. In part 2, George, Jamie and Jack discuss a seemingly innocuous Strava update that has drawn the ire of numerous cyclists on social media. Does it bother you that Strava is now giving us up or down arrows to tell us whether we've done more or less riding than the previous week? We discuss what it means for us, and also bring you news of yet another Strava update that may or may not be more useful than the controversial Weekly Snapshot... At the time of broadcast, our listeners can also get a free Hammerhead Heart Rate Monitor with the purchase of a Hammerhead Karoo 2. Visit hammerhead.io right now and use promo code ROADCC at checkout to get yours.

Send us a textWhile the two topics discussed on episode 72 of the road.cc Podcast are both high on the cycling world’s list of talking points this week, they notably sit at opposite ends of the seriousness spectrum (unless you take your time trial helmet debates very seriously, of course). In part one, George and Ryan are joined by a former Wiggle Chain Reaction Cycles employee, one of the 450-odd staff members laid off as part of the online retailer’s demise and recent rumoured purchase by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, who discussed what life was like behind the scenes at the beleaguered brand as Wiggle CRC lurched from crisis to crisis in recent months following the collapse of its parent company. The ex-employee also chats about the contrast between Wiggle’s grand expansion plans and the struggling state of the bike industry, the “shock” of the company’s collapse (amid hopes that it could continue on), and the abrupt, “hard and fast goodbye” dished out to its staff, and the future for Wiggle’s house brands such as Vitus and dhb.Meanwhile, in an altogether more frivolous part two, Ryan and Jamie sit down to discuss the topic that’s dominated the agenda at Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico this week: Visma-Lease a Bike’s bonkers new Giro Aerohead time trial helmets (oh, and Bahrain-Victorious’ fire service-style helmets, too). We ask the important questions: Has helmet design finally jumped the shark? Do these increasingly extravagant air-cheating shapes actually make a difference? Will the UCI ban Giro’s bold new look? And, finally, was it designed by a five-year-old?

Send us a textIn episode 71 of the road.cc Podcast, we’ve got two great guests and two great topics to discuss… namely sportswashing and low traffic neighbourhoods. We’re arguably missing a debate about helmets, but otherwise it doesn’t get much more road.cc Podcast than this! In part 1 Ryan is joined by Darach McQuaid, the former chairman and current advisor to pro cycling outfit GreenEDGE Cycling, to discuss some big elephants in the room when it comes to the dichotomy between professional cycling and cycling as a mode of transport. Find out why, according to Darach, that cycling’s “terrible” business model makes it very difficult to turn down any significant investment, and what he thinks should be done to make cycling as a sport align with its environmentally-friendly routes as one of the most sustainable ways to get around. In part 2, we build on our recent coverage of a very local battle that has garnered national attention. Lorna Devenish, an active travel campaigner and spokesperson for the Heavitree and Whipton Liveable Neighbourhood Group, talks us through the battle against misinformation since active travel schemes were introduced in and around the city of Exeter, and attempts to explain why such strong feelings were whipped up by the introduction of LTNs in the area. Vandalism, protests, intimidation of local politicians, “dodgy” data… this saga has it all, and at the heart of it, many residents simply want to be able to walk, cycle and wheel around their local area in a safer environment. At the time of broadcast, our listeners can also get a free Hammerhead Heart Rate Monitor with the purchase of a Hammerhead Karoo 2. Visit hammerhead.io right now and use promo code ROADCC at checkout to get yours.