The road.cc Podcast
The official podcast of road.cc sponsored by Hammerhead, dedicated to looking at the things that impact real cyclists. Brought to you by road.cc, the UK's number one website for independent reviews, buying advice and cycling news. Covering road cycling, gravel riding, cycle commuting, leisure riding, sportives and more!
Episodes
130 episodes
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig: “I’m a bit silly, I’m a bit weird but, you know, it’s what you get” + Was Milan-Sanremo epic Tadej Pogačar’s finest hour?
Have we reached the peak of the Pogačar era? That’s the question posed on this week’s episode, following the world champion’s epic crash-maybe break bike-chase-attack-attack again-outsprint Tom Pidcock victory at Milan-Sanremo, a race that was ...
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1:15:13
Chasing Brennan: Chapels, wonderkids, and Status Quo + The pros discuss race safety (and the UCI’s tech interventions) as the road.cc Podcast hits the Spring Classics
The spring classics are here – and the road.cc Podcast is hitting the road. Or the narrow, treacherously cobbled and ridiculously steep Flemish lane, to be exact. Yes, this spring we’ve set ourselves the somewhat lofty aim of traversin...
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54:44
Shimano launches a NEW 11-speed Tiagra groupset! What's going on??
In this spontaneous edition of the road.cc Podcast, Ryan is joined by Jack Sexty, Mat Brett and Stu Kerton to discuss Shimano's surprising revamp of its popular fourth tier Tiagra groupset. The reason this is so surprising to us is ...
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Episode 128
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27:58
‘No, I’m not the new Cycling Mikey’: Britain’s most infamous camera cyclist councillor on holding bad drivers to account, dealing with trolls, and not caring what the Daily Mail thinks + Riding the Tour de France (as an amateur)
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59:24
“Cheating will be part of cycling forever”: MPCC president Emily Brammeier on anti-doping, tackling the ‘grey area’, and making clean sport the norm + How to design a time trial bike from scratch
Cheating in cycling… should we just accept it will always happen?Four months into her new role as the president of the anti-doping Movement for Credible Cycling, Emily Brammeier joins us to discuss the MPCC’s aims and ambitions, 19 years...
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1:06:38
'Oscar Onley shouldn’t have gone to Ineos’: Brian Smith on Britain’s Tour de France TV paywall (and why it’s a shame), calendar congestion, and how pro teams “use and abuse” riders
On this week’s episode, we’re joined by one of the most recognisable voices in cycling: former two-time British champion and TNT Sports pundit Brian Smith.Brian chats about the struggles involved in promoting smaller races from outside c...
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1:55:49
“The cycling industry needed a good shake-up”: Can bike brands finally breathe again in 2026? Why the industry is back on track and “wiser” after years of turmoil + Tour de France UK Grands Départs reaction
On this week’s episode of the road.cc Podcast, bike industry stalwart Rory Hitchens joins us for our annual cycling market health check-up – and tells us why brands being “honest” with themselves have brought the industry back to where it needs...
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1:22:47
Is Keir Starmer ignoring cycling? Labour’s Road Safety Strategy discussed + Simon Yates’ shock retirement, British Cycling’s cyclocross paywall, and we rank the 2026 peloton’s new kits
It’s fair to say the opening nine days of the new year have been fairly frenetic when it comes to news. And I’m only talking about our niche, little world of cycling (if you’re looking for Ruben Amorim or Trump chats, I’m sure there are a few f...
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58:59
How Cycle to Work was saved: The battle to stop Labour’s Budget spending cap and “dispelling the myth” that Cycle to Work is for rich Surrey MAMILs + The year in cycling reviewed
Christmas is fast approaching (gulp), and that means only one thing… in podcast land, anyway – it’s time for us to don our best paper party hats, break open the archives, and reflect on the biggest cycling stories of 2025.In part two, th...
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1:30:12
“Gear restrictions are a no-brainer”: Cadel Evans and Stuart O’Grady on cycling’s safety debate, how the sport has changed, protests, and why fans should “just enjoy watching Pogačar’s greatness”
On this week’s episode, Ryan is joined by 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans and 2007 Paris-Roubaix victor Stuart O’Grady, two of Australia’s greatest ever cyclists.The dynamic Aussie duo chat about what they’re up to these days, inc...
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1:00:37
“I’m proud that Dave Brailsford doesn’t like me”: Emma Pooley on the Tour de France’s weight debate, growing women’s sport, and battling cycling’s old-school “f***wits”
Former world time trial champion, Olympic medallist, and endurance sport all-rounder Emma Pooley joins the podcast to discuss her new recipe book/memoir Oat to Joy, her own up-and-down relationship with food, the ‘weight debate’ that erupted in...
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1:26:15
“I’ve done some stupid things in my life, but this was beyond stupid!” Ultra-endurance cyclist Sofiane Sehili on breaking into Russia, 51 days in jail, and cycling’s most dramatic failed record attempt ever
“This is crazy. It’s Russia, you don’t illegally enter Russian territory. You don’t do that!” says Sofiane Sehili. Except he did… And the ultra-endurance legend tells us all about it on this epic episode of the podcast.In September, Sehi...
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1:31:38
“I lost sponsors after riding with Lance Armstrong – but it did us more good than bad”: Ex-footballer Geoff Thomas on 20 years of tackling the Tour de France route for charity, tears on the Galibier, and enjoying cycling more than ever
20 years ago, former England footballer, Crystal Palace captain, and cancer survivor Geoff Thomas first made his mark on the cycling world by completing all 21 stages and 3,593km of the 2005 Tour de France, a day before the Lance Armstrong-led ...
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1:05:12
Top tips for recovering from the cycling yips: How to regain your confidence on the bike after a bad crash + Double Alpe d’Huez! Ventoux! 2026 Tour de France routes analysed… Are they boring?
It may have been sorely lacking in recent years, but the 2026 edition of the Tour de France Hommes will be all about suspense. Or, as the race’s press release put it, it’s going to be a ‘crescendo’. Whether it’s one that could build to a great ...
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32:55
“Is sport a force for good? Or for battering people into submission?” Former UCI president Brian Cookson on Israel, sportswashing, banning nation state sponsors, and why protests highlight bike race security failures
Following Israel-Premier Tech’s decision to change both its name and nationality for 2026, in the wake of a season dominated by protests and controversy surrounding the team’s participation in races amid the conflict in Gaza, former UCI preside...
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1:35:27
“I told myself, just let Robert Millar go!” Pippa York and David Walsh on gender, following the Tour de France, and why pro cycling isn’t Disneyland
Buckle up for a truly epic episode of the road.cc podcast! We're delighted to be joined by legendary cyclist Pippa York and arguably cycling's most well-known journalist, David Walsh, for episode 115. After York agreed to spend thre...
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Episode 115
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1:38:31
“Timothée Chalamet can’t replace me in this one!” Actor behind Cadel Evans one-man show on taking the Edinburgh Fringe by storm, cycling “full gas” on stage, and why creating a play is like riding the Tour de France
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1:19:46
Is China ready to take over the cycling industry? We chat to Chinese bike brand Yoeleo about challenging the old guard, changing Western perceptions, building trust, and “pushing the limits”
This week, we're exploring one of the big cycling tech stories of 2025: the rise of Chinese bike brands. And why they could, through better tech, research and design, and affordable prices, very quickly threaten the traditional western brands a...
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1:16:34
“It would be a tragedy if we abandoned time trialling in Britain because of bad drivers”: Lawyers discuss duty of cycling clubs after rider seriously injured by motorist during time trial – and why cyclists should “expect better” from the police
On the evening of Tuesday 23 May 2019, Ben Hetherington’s life changed forever. Ben, then 23-years-old and one of the most exciting young prospects in British cycling, was racing a local 10-mile time trial when he was struck by a mo...
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58:59
How to build a Tour de France team from scratch: Tudor Pro Cycling’s CEO on reaching the biggest race in the world within three years and creating a squad that’s “here to stay” + Inside the mechanics’ truck at the Tour
This episode of the podcast is in association with Schwalbe...How do you go about building a Tour de France team effectively from scratch? That’s the question I asked when I popped around to the rest day hotel of Julian Alaphilippe’s Tud...
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1:20:05
Is Tadej Pogačar too good? We discuss the Tour de France leader’s Pyrenean dominance + Ben Healy on returning to “doing what I like” after two days in the yellow jersey
Tadej Pogačar, already four stage wins to the good this year and chasing his fourth Tour de France title at the age of just 26, is busy cementing his status as one of cycling’s greatest ever riders, with yet another dominant, cannibal-esque per...
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43:20
“When I quit, I was done with all the pressure and suffering. But I like cycling again”: Anna van der Breggen on her comeback and “feeling stupid” in the peloton + Pink jersey Anna Henderson, Pfeiffer Georgi, and Mia Griffin talk Giro d’Italia debuts
It’s July, it’s hot, the men’s and women’s pelotons are both deep into grand tour season – and the road.cc Podcast is hitting the road and embracing all the stage racing madness, as part of a new mini-series we’re calling… errr, ‘road.cc on the...
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34:24
Chris Boardman talks e-bikes, road safety, and why Reform UK has made cyclists “nervous” + Is Tadej Pogačar vs Jonas Vingegaard the greatest Tour de France rivalry in history? Bumper TDF preview
Coppi versus Bartali. Anquetil versus Poulidor. LeMond versus Hinault. Armstrong versus Ullrich. Contador versus Schleck. Does Tadej Pogačar’s epic rivalry with Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France beat them all?That’s the question we...
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Episode 108
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53:17
“Get that bike back in the van!” Tour de France tech tales from the Dauphiné, Factor’s radical bike, and the backlash to new UCI rules + Does Cycle to Work still… work?
For most of the pro cycling world, June is all about altitude camps, warm-up races, and fine-tuning that all-important preparation ahead of the big one: the Tour de France. But here at road.cc, it really means only one thing: our annual tech-sp...
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1:14:18
Should brands stop claiming gravel bikes “can go anywhere”? Lawyer discusses £4.5m Planet X fork failure case, its implications for the cycling industry, and the need for transparent marketing + Is Simon Yates one of Britain’s greats after Giro win?
On this week’s episode, we’re joined by Julian Chamberlayne, a partner at Stewart’s, the UK law firm who last month secured a £4.5m settlement case against Planet X’s insurers, after cyclist Dr Daniel Gordon was left paralysed in a crash caused...
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1:14:38