Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP

Life in the Peloton has been cooking up something a bit different for you this week, I’ve thrown my press badge back on, and jumped in on the rest day press-conference action, to bring you the very first “Hot Off The Press”, Life in the Peloton’s Virtual Press Room from the Vuelta España. 

With so much action and suspense at the Spanish Grand Tour, which - I keep reminding everyone, was a favourite race of mine, I figured why not get on the phone, dial in to the pelo, and get the freshest possible take on what is going on. 

I was lucky enough to speak to some of the most important characters from this year’s race, including the current red jersey wearer, Ben O’Connor, stage winner Mike Woods, Richard Carapaz’s sports director at EF, Juanma Garate, as well as top domestiques Robert Gesink and Carlos Verona. 

Make no mistake this is a brutal edition of the Vuelta, and our guests fill us in on everything from what it takes to try and win at the race, to what it feels like to try to survive, and everything in between. 

This pod is a new one for us at Life in the Peloton and I’m delighted to be bringing you all these  hot-off-the-press takes as we head into the third week, where we can expect plenty of action from our guests and the rest of the Vuelta peloton. 

Sit back, relax and tune in before it cools off! 

Cheers! 

Mitch

----more----

The Dirty Docker is almost here! Dirty Docker is my multi-day event for all things cycling and running in the Macedon Ranges. For the last few weeks of winter, you can get an exclusive discount code by signing up to the Life in the Peloton Newsletter here. 

The Life in the Peloton book is OUT NOW! Get your copy now exclusively at maap.cc! Can’t wait for you to read it.

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP

It’s Race Communiqué time at Life in the Peloton, and this week Luke Durbridge, Tom Southam and I, are once again covering all of the latest action from inside and outside of the peloton as we move into the final big phase of racing for the year. 

First up, we dive into the latest news from the Vuelta a España. It’s been a thrilling race so far, and along with my take on all of the action from the commentary box, we also have some great behind-the-scenes info from Tom who has just come back from a stint at the race. From the breakaways to the brutal climbs, we break down all the key moments and what they mean for the GC contenders.

Next, we catch up with Luke Durbridge, who’s been on a rollercoaster ride to recovery. Luke opens up about his journey back from injury, the challenges he’s faced, and how he’s gearing up for the rest of the season. We also talk about how riders manage to return to racing and what it takes to come back from setbacks and injuries. 

Tom also takes us through the latest transfer news. The cycling world is buzzing with big moves and surprising switches, and we all share our opinions on who’s going where and what it means for the teams involved.

To top it all off, we’ve got a super special edition of the Communi-quiz - all about a rider who will close the curtain on his career very soon, the one and only Rigoberto Uran. 

So, grab your coffee, settle in, and join us for another epic episode of Life in the Peloton. 

----more----

This episode is supported by our friends at The Escape Collective.

Check out Escape Collective's Classifieds section of their website where thousands of used bikes, parts and accessories are being sold every day.

It's free for anyone to use, not just members.

Life in the Peloton listeners get 2 months of free access to Escape Collective. Just head to http://escapecollective.com/LITP and claim your 2 months free to get a feel for what the community and content is all about.

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP

In this week’s episode of Life in the Peloton, I’m learning more about one of the most important parts of life; sleep.

When I retired from the professional peloton a few years ago, we were already wearing sleep tracking devices and starting to tap into how we can improve our sleep and, therefore, our performance. Since then, professional cyclists have stepped it up another notch and are hunting out those 1% gains to help improve the quality & quantity of their sleep.

I spoke to Dr. Ian Dunican - an expert on the topic - to find out more about how important sleep is, what we can do to get better quality sleep, and what happens to us if we neglect it.

Dr Ian’s a keen ultra distance swimmer and practices jiu jitsu, so he understands the importance of recovery and sleep better than most. We spoke about the increased societal awareness of sleep, and how humans today are so much busier than they were a few decades ago - stretching themselves even more thinly and putting even more onus on getting good quality shut eye to keep ourselves healthy.

Sleep science is a relatively new discipline, and Dr Ian talked to me about the different phases and cycles of sleep, various sleep disorders that a huge percentage of the population struggle with, and seemingly minor environmental factors that can have a massive bearing on how well we’re sleeping.

I also wanted to know about sleep and pro cycling. Sometimes you’re so tired from a stage race that no matter how long you sleep for you never feel truly wide awake. Dr Ian gave me some great tips about optimizing sleep around competition, and debunked a lot of popular myths around wearable devices and biohacking - which I found super eye opening.

Next, I spoke to my old team mate; Lawson Craddock. Lawdog currently rides for Jayco AlUla and is one of the first riders I remember seeing pick up a wearable sleep tracking device and look more closely at his own sleep and what changes he could make to improve it. We spoke about how much things have changed in the pelo’ in just a few years, and how things Lawson was doing earlier in his career have become the new normal amongst other pro riders.

I was blown away by how much there is to learn about sleep, and what a massive difference it can make. I’ve always been someone who thinks they can get away with 5-6 hours sleep a night and still function pretty well throughout the day, but, after chatting to Dr Ian and Lawdog, I need to rethink my sleep schedule.

Cheers!

Mitch

This episode is supported by our friends at Pillar Performance.

The Life in the Peloton book is OUT NOW! Get your copy now exclusively at maap.cc! Can’t wait for you to read it.

Rapha presents Talking Luft!

I’m Talking Luft with the legend from London, Alec Briggs.

Alec grew up in SE London and has raced track, cross, MTB, road and made his way to fixed-gear racing in Red Hook Criteriums, or 'Moto GP on bikes’ as he was first introduced to it.

He’s hugely passionate about cycling & getting people involved in the scene. As well as being a super talented rider himself, Alec went on to start his own team, Tekkerz CC, as a place to support young guns coming into the sport. Make sure you head back and listen to last week’s episode to hear all about it!

I knew he would be a great guy to have on the podcast to not only hear his story but also to Talk some Luft.

So this episode we jump into all the usual questions, how does he wear his casquette? Luft or no luft? He shares his favourite ‘training’ loop that’s a little more exciting than most, his favourite ever bike, we agree to disagree about the AG2R kit & he tells a war story that ends in triumph at a Red Hook Criterium. Plus a whole lot more!

This was a lot of fun and I know you’ll love hearing more from Alec. Enjoy guys!

And stay tuned next week as it’s time for some cobbled classics chat with Luke Durbridge.

Cheers,

Mitch

 

Listen

Listen & subscribe to this series on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Youtube or your favourite pod app.

Find show notes and more at the Life in the Peloton website.

Show Notes

Episode breakdown:

0:00min to 1:20 – Snippet from last week’s episode – Alec Briggs’

1:20min to 4:45 – Episode Intro

4:30min to 33:20 – Talking Luft with Alec Briggs

33:20min to end – Outro

. . .

Check out Alec’s Most Re-watchable race – Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2015 – where Ian Stannard outlasts a breakaway with 3 Etixx-Quick-step riders.

Watch the final 20km here:

https://youtu.be/RW2DoqVnxYU

. . . 

This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

. . .

Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

Listen on all good podcast apps, and now on Youtube.

Follow us on socials:

Instagram: @lifeinthepeloton

Twitter: @lifeinthepelo

Merch

Paris-Roubaix Caps are back for the classics! Jump over to our online shop to grab one in time for that Sunday in Hell!

Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more..

Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show. Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.

Subscribe 

Sign up to Life in the Peloton email updates to get the latest episodes and merch news straight to your inbox.

Rapha presents Life in the Peloton!

One of the great things about looking at cycling from a new perspective this season has been coming across people who are making their mark outside of World Tour racing, and are doing things their own way. Alec Briggs may not be the most well known name in the cycling world, but the Londoner is a truly great cycling personality and is one of the most passionate guests I’ve had on the pod.

As well as being a hugely talented cyclist himself, Alec is the founder of Tekkerz C.C. (if you don’t know you’ll have to have a listen to find out what that all stands for), and his unique outlook has made him a real name to look out for in the sport in 2022. 

I have been waiting to chat to Alec for quite a while as I love what he does, from the way that he promotes his team, to the philosophy that he’s created it with.  

... Read the full synopsis on lifeinthepeloton.com

Enjoy guys!

Cheers,

Mitch

Listen

Listen & Subscribe to this series on the Life in the Peloton website, at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Youtube or your favourite pod app.

(or listen below)

Show Notes

Episode breakdown:

0:00min to 2:30 – Episode Intro

2:30min to 17:30 – London Racing Scene & Herne Hill Velodrome

17:30min to 29:05 – Alec’s transition to Cross & Red Hook Crits

29:05min to 40:20 – Tekkerz CC

40:20min to 47:55 – Tekkerz kit

47:55min to end – Alec turns the mic on me & outro

. . .

Follow what the Tekkerz CC team is up to on their Instagram & check out the Tekkerz CC website to buy some of their awesome merch.

 

. . . 

This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

. . .

Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

Listen to our short spin off series Talking Luft presented by Rapha – much like DVD Extras, every second week.

Follow us on socials:

Instagram: @lifeinthepeloton

Twitter: @lifeinthepelo

Merch

LITP x ÇOIS Cycling: Find the last sizes of the Road Worlds Collection at coiscycling.com. Snapbacks have now been restocked. Shop now!

LITP Cycling Caps: Jump over to our online shop to grab one.

Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more..

Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show. Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.

Subscribe 

Sign up to Life in the Peloton email updates to get the latest episodes and merch news straight to your inbox.

Rapha presents Talking Luft!

Talking Luft is back for another week & following on from my first on-race episode at the MTB epic Otway Odyssey, I’ve got a MTB-themed Talking Luft, with local Aussie legend Brendan Johnston, also known as Trekky (who won the Otway Odyssey!).

Brendan is a huge name on the Aussie Mountain Bike scene. He’s Australia’s most successful MTB marathon rider, consistently taking the top step of the podium. But he not only races MTB -he also crosses over to other cycling disciplines – racing at the highest level on the Aussie road scene, having won the prestigious Melbourne-Warnambool and placing in the Australian National Road Championships – all this while working normal hours running his own business!

He’s a great guy and has overcome a lot to get to where he is today. I learn about his journey overcoming cancer at the age of 17 when his cycling career was just taking flight. It changed the path of his life but he never lost his love of cycling.

He’s a lover of all forms of cycling and I knew it would be fun to sit him down to Talk some Luft – MTB style.

I loved getting into the ins & outs of the mountain bike scene – we chat Peaks on Helmets, bikes, Bar ends, an epic MTB World Cup from 2013 & a whole lot more.

Enjoy guys!

Cheers,

Mitch

 

Listen

Listen & Subscribe to this series on the Life in the Peloton website, at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Youtube or your favourite pod app.

(or listen below) 

Show Notes

Episode breakdown:

0:00min to 2:08 – Snippet from last week’s episode – On-Race at Otway Odyssey

2:08min to 4:30 – Episode Intro

4:30min to 24:58 – Brendan’s Career

24:58min to end – Talking Luft with Brendan Johnston

. . .

Brendan’s Most Re-watchable race – The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup 2013 Albstadt. Watch highlights here:

https://www.redbull.com/au-en/videos/uci-albstadt-2013-highlight-programme

. . . 

This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

. . .

Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

Listen to our short spin off series Talking Luft presented by Rapha – much like DVD Extras, every second week.

Follow us on socials:

Instagram: @lifeinthepeloton

Twitter: @lifeinthepelo

Merch

LITP x ÇOIS Cycling: Find the last sizes of the Road Worlds Collection at coiscycling.com. Snapbacks have now been restocked. Shop now!

LITP Cycling Caps: Jump over to our online shop to grab one.

Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more..

Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show. Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.

Subscribe 

Sign up to Life in the Peloton email updates to get the latest episodes and merch news straight to your inbox.

Rapha presents Life in the Peloton!

My "Opening Weekend" of racing looked a little different this year. I swapped out the brutal cobbles of Belgium for the beautiful, yet unforgiving trails of the Otway Ranges in Victoria - swapping my classics bike for my Mountain Bike and Gravel Bike.

It was my first race of the year, and one hell of a baptism by fire into the MTB/Gravel racing scene; a 100km marathon MTB Race backed up by a 100km Gravel Race. It wasn't quite Belgium but it was for sure on another level of epic (that I was very underprepared for!) Join me for a bit of fun as I take you on the road at my Opening Weekend - Otway Odyssey 2022.

(Read full blurb at lifeinthepeloton.com)

. . .

Show Notes

Episode breakdown:

0:00min to 2:25 – Episode Intro

2:25min to 2:42 – Day 1 - 100km MTB 

2:42min to 39:00 – Day 2 - 100km Gravel

39:00min to end – Outro and next episode preview

. . .

Read more about Otway Odyssey:

https://otwayodyssey.rapidascent.com.au

. . .

This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

. . .

Listen

Listen & Subscribe to this series on the Life in the Peloton website, at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Youtube or your favourite pod app.

. . .

Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

Listen to our short spin off series Talking Luft presented by Rapha – much like DVD Extras, every second week.

Follow us on socials:

Instagram: @lifeinthepeloton

Twitter: @lifeinthepelo

. . .

My Opening Weekend at Otway Odyssey -  An On-Race Diary

When I finished my professional racing career last year, I knew there would still be an itch - a part of me that wanted that thrill of racing my bike. Even though racing at the highest level on the road was no longer for me, I just love riding and racing my bike too much to let it go completely.

Being back in Australia has allowed me to go back to the scene that I started in, and to discover some new forms of cycling that I had missed out on the first time around.

After getting involved and chatting to people here, I started to understand that the Otway Odyssey, held in the Otway Ranges south of Melbourne, was an event that I could not miss.

The Otway Odyssey is legendary for anyone who lives over here, and it is an amazing event. The first day is a 100km Marathon MTB race over the Otway ranges, starting and finishing in the Victorian town of Forrest. If that’s not enough then we had to back it up on the second day which was a 100 km gravel race in the same area.

The Otway Ranges are spectacular and there was some absolutely beautiful riding: but holy hell it was tough!

I went in unknowingly very under prepared, and I payed for it.

After being in the World Tour for over a decade I was in for a big shock to go well out of my comfort zone and step away form the luxury of team busses and a high group of staff dedicated to helping me go faster.

This was in fact my own "Opening Weekend" of racing: the start of my new adventure. It all came as a bit of a shock, and you can hear in the episode just how I got on (and how hard these things are!).

I also got the chance to meet a whole new crew of people, and be part of a new peloton (but this time it was me who was the total amateur). In the name of the pod, I threw the mic in there and started to document just what my new life in the peloton is going to be like..

I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride!

Cheers,

Mitch

. . .

Merch

LITP x ÇOIS Cycling: Find the last sizes of the Road Worlds Collection at coiscycling.com. Snapbacks have now been restocked. Shop now!

LITP Cycling Caps: Jump over to our online shop to grab one.

Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more..

Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show. Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.

Subscribe 

Sign up to Life in the Peloton email updates to get the latest episodes and merch news straight to your inbox.

Rapha presents Talking Luft!

Talking Luft is back for another week of cycling culture chat. This week I’ve got none other than a legend of the sport, American ex-pro & super domestique, George Hincapie

I grew up watching George race – staying up late here in Australia to see the big hitters of Team US Postal light up the TV. George has always been a lover of the cobbled classics, and for this I was especially keen to get him on the podcast.

In this episode I asked George a few more than the usual Talking Luft questions – I couldn’t resist asking about his love for the classics & his 2001 classics season, which was arguably a breakthrough year for him, and I hear about his win at Gent-Wevelgem and a muddy Paris-Roubaix in which he finished 4th.

We then chat a bit of style on the bike - how he wears his casquette, racing with no helmet, his favourite training loop from his Girona days, a cautionary tale about waving when out of the saddle, his best and worst roommate on tour and a war story from a very cold Col du Galibier. Plus a whole lot more!

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this chat, as you’ll hear he’s a great guy. I really hope you enjoy the listen.

Stay tuned next week for my first on-road diary of the season from ‘My Opening Weekend’ at the Otway Odyssey MTB & Gravel race.

For now, enjoy this episode with George.

Cheers,

Mitch

Listen

Listen & subscribe to this series on the Life in the Peloton website, or Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Youtube or your favourite pod app.

Show Notes

Episode breakdown:

0:00 to 1:30min – Snippet from last week’s Life in the Peloton episode with Cardiologist Dr. Andre La Gerche

1:40 to 3:45min – Episode Introduction

3:45 to 20:30min – George Hincapie Intro & Cobbled Classics chat

23:30 to 47:50 – Talking Luft with George Hincapie

47:50 to end – Outro & preview of next episode

. . .

Watch the full Gent-Wevelgem 2001, where George takes the win:

 https://youtu.be/cQYSOxpebtU

.

Watch a muddy Paris-Roubaix 2001, where George takes 4th:

 https://youtu.be/cRQtz-yI59E

.

Watch George’s ‘Most Re-watchable Race’: a muddy Paris Roubaix 2021:

Highlights below, or watch the full race on GCN

 https://youtu.be/56UTneSPyr8  . . .

 

This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

. . .

Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

Listen to our short spin off series Talking Luft presented by Rapha – much like DVD Extras, every second week.

Follow us on socials:

Instagram: @lifeinthepeloton

Twitter: @lifeinthepelo

Merch

LITP x ÇOIS Cycling: Find the last sizes of the Road Worlds Collection Tees and Snapbacks online at coiscycling.com!

LITP Cycling Caps: Jump over to our online shop to grab one.

Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more..

Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show. Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.

Subscribe 

Sign up to Life in the Peloton email updates to get the latest episodes and merch news straight to your inbox.

Rapha presents Life the Peloton

Are the best pro cyclists simply born that way - if so, is it Mum or Dad whose genetics have the biggest impact? What would happen to riders if Grand Tours were six weeks long? Dr Andre La Gerche is a sports cardiologist whose work with top athletes - including many pro cyclists, gives us answers to these questions. 

I talked to Dr La Gerche here in Melbourne for the latest episode of the pod and got to ask the important questions about the heart and performance, as well as, for good measure, clarifying his position on choosing training or beers (never both!) 

... (Read full blurb at lifeinthepeloton.com)

Cheers,

Mitch

Listen

Listen & Subscribe to this series on the Life in the Peloton website, at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Youtube or your favourite pod app.

Show Notes

Episode breakdown:

0:00min to 1:30 – Episode Intro

1:30min to 2:42 – Intro to Dr Andre La Gerche 

2:42min to 51:20 – Episode with Dr. Andre La Gerche

51:20min to end – Outro and next episode preview

. . .

This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

. . .

Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

Listen to our short spin off series Talking Luft presented by Rapha – much like DVD Extras, every second week.

Follow us on socials:

Instagram: @lifeinthepeloton

Twitter: @lifeinthepelo

Merch

LITP x ÇOIS Cycling: Find the last sizes of the Road Worlds Collection at coiscycling.com. Snapbacks have now been restocked. Shop now!

LITP Cycling Caps: Jump over to our online shop to grab one.

Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more..

Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show. Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.

Subscribe 

Sign up to Life in the Peloton email updates to get the latest episodes and merch news straight to your inbox.

 

 

Rapha presents Talking Luft!

Photo: Mason Hender

Talking Luft is back for another week of cycling style & lifestyle chat and learning a little bit extra about my guest from last week.

Last week on the podcast I had Peta Mullens, Australian champion in multiple bike disciplines, talking about her diverse career and following her passion through the ups and downs in the sport. It was a super inspiring chat and I loved hearing Peta's story as well as her new role at Team Roxsolt Liv SRAM.

This week with Peta we dive into a bit of fun with Talking Luft – we chat cap style & kit style – where she makes a damning confession about her personal kit collection, her favourite training loop, her favourite race on the road and trail, plus some incredible stories and a war story from her favourite enduro mountain bike race, Tour of East Timor.

If you loved her episode from last week you’ll love this one!

Enjoy and stay tuned for my episode next week with Cardiologist Andre LeGerche, where we talk heart adaptations in athletes, heart health with exercise and much more.

Cheers,

Mitch

Listen

Listen & subscribe to this series on Life in the Peloton at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher or your favourite pod app.

Show Notes

Watch Peta’s ‘Most Re-watchable Race’: The 2018 Elite Women Val di Sole MTB World Cup:

https://youtu.be/n1FsZQht5fc

. . .

This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

. . .

Episode breakdown:

0:00 to 3:00min – Snippet from Life in the Peloton Episode 3 with Peta Mullens

3:00 to 5:00 – Episode Intro

3:00 to 33:30 – Talking Luft with Peta Mullens

33:00 to end – Outro

Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

Listen to our short spin off series Talking Luft presented by Rapha – much like DVD Extras, every second week.

Follow us on socials:

Instagram: @lifeinthepeloton

Twitter: @lifeinthepelo

Merch

LITP x ÇOIS Cycling: Find the last sizes of the Road Worlds Collection at coiscycling.com. Snapbacks have now been restocked. Shop now!

LITP Cycling Caps: Jump over to our online shop to grab one.

Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more..

Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show. Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.

Subscribe 

Sign up to Life in the Peloton email updates to get the latest episodes and merch news straight to your inbox.

Peta Mullens is an Australian star of track and field – and anywhere else you can find to put a bike race on. From MTB to track to CX to road: if you can name the discipline then she’s probably won a national title in it. I spoke to Peta about her diverse career, making tough decisions to follow her gut, as well as her current role as an athlete and director of one of Australia’s most exciting teams, Roxsolt Liv SRAM. 

Photo: Mason Henders

. . .

I have loved following the women’s racing across the Australian Summer of Cycling this year. From the Bay Crits at the start of January to the Santos Festival of Cycling which concluded a couple of weeks ago, the fantastic racing kept me glued to the TV over summer.

One of the standout teams has been Roxsolt Liv SRAM. After Nicole Frain won a memorable National Road Race title in Ballarat, the team followed up by helping their new National Champion onto the final podium at the Festival of Cycling in Adelaide, whilst placing two teammates inside the top ten.  

For this episode, I spoke to one of the driving forces of this team whose own story in cycling is as unique as her presence is inspirational for the athletes around her. 

Known simply as Mom by her teammates, Peta Mullens has been a national champion on the road, track, MTB and cyclo-cross. A well-respected figure in Australian cycling she has been a pro on the road and has represented Australia in multiple disciplines over the years in World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. 

Peta is without doubt a natural athlete. Beginning her sporting career by going on twenty-plus kilometre runs with her dad after school, she switched to track cycling as a youngster and simply never looked back. 

Her story is interesting to me because, as you’ll learn, she has always remained in control of her destiny on and off the bike, often refusing to bow down to pressure, despite people’s expectations. She explained to me what drove her to make decisions to step away from the sport at times, and how changing disciplines kept her passion alive. 

These days she is a director and athlete at the Roxsolt team, where she leads by example on and off the road, and she isn’t ruling out trying to take the team all the way to the biggest races in the world. 

It was great to chat to Peta, I found hers a fresh perspective on managing a cycling career & inspiring in her resilience and passion for the sport.

She was also good enough to explain to me what 'YOLO' means and why that underpins her and her team’s philosophy.

I hope you guys also enjoy her story and her take on life in the peloton.  

Cheers,

Mitch

Listen

Loved this episode? Subscribe and listen to this series on the Life in the Peloton website, or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Youtube or your favourite pod app.

Show Notes

Episode breakdown:

0:00min to 3:20 – Intro to Peta Mullens

3:20min to 32:20 – Peta's Story through cycling 

32:20min to 1:00:20 – Roxsolt Liv SRAM and the future

1:00:20min to end – Outro and next episode preview

. . .

This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

. . .

Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

Listen to our short spin off series Talking Luft presented by Rapha – much like DVD Extras, every second week.

Follow us on socials:

Instagram: @lifeinthepeloton

Twitter: @lifeinthepelo

Merch

LITP x ÇOIS Cycling: Find the last sizes of the Road Worlds Collection at coiscycling.com. Snapbacks have now been restocked. Shop now!

LITP Cycling Caps: Jump over to our online shop to grab one.

Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more..

Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show. Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.

Subscribe 

Sign up to Life in the Peloton email updates to get the latest episodes and merch news straight to your inbox.

 

Rapha presents Talking Luft!

Talking Luft is back for another week of chat about cycling style & culture, bikes, kits, coffee stops and all the best bits about riding a bike.

I had Aussie legend Stuey O’Grady on the podcast last week, and this week I hear a little bit more about him; about his style back in the day, his favourite race, training loops and all-time favourite bike.

He raced in the era of casquettes and no helmets and contested many a sprint finish helmet-less – and even admits that it’s mind boggling to imagine that was the done thing.

It’s always great hearing stories from the guys that raced back in the wild 80s & 90s – it’s no secret that’s my favourite era of bike racing – and Stuey had no shortage of stories to tell, with an epic war story from the Tour de France 1997.

If you haven’t listened to my episode with Stuey from last week, be sure to head back and check it out, there are some incredible stories from his iconic victories in the Tour de France, Olympics and Paris-Roubaix (couldn’t skip that one!). You’ll hear a little snippet in this episode.

But for now enjoy Talking Luft with Stuey. And stay tuned next week for my episode of LITP with Aussie Pro with Roxsolt Liv SRAM Peta Mullens.

Cheers,

Mitch

Listen

Listen to this series on Life in the Peloton at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher or your favourite pod app.

Show Notes

Episode breakdown:

0:00 to 1:40 – Snippet from LITP Episode 2 with Stuart O’grady

1:40 to 3:50 – Episode Introduction

3:50 to 25:00 – Talking Luft with Stuart O’Grady

25:00 to end – Outro

. . .

Stuey's 'Most Re-watchable race' - or most watched race (he admits he doesn't watch many.) The race that planted the scene when Stuey was a boy & that he has on video cassette: Paris Roubaix 1983

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpSjmv6C6Dc

. . .

This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

Listen to our short spin off series Talking Luft presented by Rapha – much like DVD Extras, every second week.

Follow us on socials:

Instagram: @lifeinthepeloton

Twitter: @lifeinthepelo

Merch

LITP x ÇOIS Cycling: Find the last sizes of the Road Worlds Collection at coiscycling.com. Snapbacks have now been restocked. Shop now!

LITP Cycling Caps: Jump over to our online shop to grab one.

Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more..

Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show. Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.

Subscribe 

Sign up to Life in the Peloton email updates to get the latest episodes and merch news straight to your inbox.

Rapha presents Life in the Peloton 

Stuart O’Grady is an absolute legend of the sport: He’s a Roubaix winner, an Olympic Gold medallist, a trailblazer for Aussie pros in Europe, and now race director of Australia’s top cycling event, the Tour Down Under. In this episode, we go in-depth on all of this and more. It’s a fascinating insight into the career of one of the most accomplished people in cycling.  

(Read detailed summary below)

. . .

It’s January, I’m in Australia; it’s Tour Down Under time. 

As we all probably know, the World Tour peloton won’t be at the TDU this year, and I’m enjoying my first January in a long time not having to think about racing. However, I thought who better to bring on the pod than the legend himself, Adelaide’s Stuart O’Grady.  

Stuey wasn’t just a huge inspiration, but for the generations of Australian riders who followed in his wheel tracks, he was a real pioneer. 

Stuey went to his first Olympics as an eighteen year-old before turning pro with the French Gan team in the mid-nineties. In just a few years he went from being a risky signing for an almost entirely French team to a Tour de France stage winner and a mainstay of the team.  

I kicked off the pod by asking about these early days and how his career on the road began. I also wanted to know what it was like coming full circle and ending up finishing his career in Australia’s own World Tour team, a project that would never have come to life without his successes in Europe.   

We also go back to the track to get into his Gold medal ride in Athens, a crowning achievement for the six-time Olympian. 

Of course, I couldn’t not discuss his win Paris Roubaix. Stuey tells how the day unfolded, from puncturing in the Areneberg forest to winning alone in the Roubaix velodrome. 

These days he has a new career as the race director at the the Tour Down Under, and I used the opportunity to find out what the job of race director really entails, as well as ask a few questions about what the future looks like for this much loved race. 

There is so much to ask Stuey that it was honestly hard to cram it all into the hour, but it was great to be able to learn so much from someone who was a huge inspiration for myself, and go into detail about those unforgettable wins - I got the feeling that he enjoyed the chance to reminisce too! 

So here it is, I hope you guys enjoy this as much as we did: Stuart O’Grady - The Pioneer of the New Generation. 

Stay tuned for Talking Luft with Stuey next week!

Cheers,

Mitch

 

Show Notes

0:00 to 4:20 – Intro

4:20min to 10:05 – Stuey intro & TDF Stage win 1998

10:05 to 18:20 – Racing as an Aussie in a French team

18:20min to 27:42 – Athens Olympics Madison Gold

27:42min to 43:30 – Paris Roubaix Win

44:50min to 53:33 – Finishing his career at Greenedge

53:33min to 1:00:00 – Retirement and transitioning out of Pro life 

1hr to 1:10:10 – Tour Down Under 

1:10:10 to end – Outro

. . .

• Tour de France Stage 5 win 1998: Watch the final kilometres of Stuey’s win at 37min in: https://youtu.be/cOnIphGlSPM?t=2255

• Watch Stuey’s interview with Phil Liggett pre a wet Paris Roubaix in 2001 at 4min: https://youtu.be/cRQtz-yI59E?t=193

• Athens Olympics: Watch the final 20 laps of Stuey’s Gold medal ride in the Madison with Graham Brown (in French): https://youtu.be/CueSvBqXIG4

. . .

This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

. . .

Check out episode sponsor Restrap – Yorkshire based makers of top quality, handmade and sustainable bike packing accessories. I used their bags on my bike packing trip riding the length of Sweden and can tell you I was blown away by the quality and functionality, every detail has been thought out. Whichever way you prefer to carry things on your bike, they’ll have a solution. 

Use the discount code at checkout: PELOTON10 for 10% off your order. Shop now at restrap.com

. . .

Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

Listen to our short spin off series Talking Luft presented by Rapha – much like DVD Extras, every second week.

 

Follow us on socials:

Instagram: @lifeinthepeloton

Twitter: @lifeinthepelo

. . .

Merch

• LITP x ÇOIS Cycling: Find the last sizes of the Road Worlds Collection at coiscycling.com. Snapbacks have now been restocked. Shop now!
• LITP Cycling Caps: Jump over to our online shop to grab one.
• Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more...

Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show. Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.

. . .

Subscribe 

Sign up to Life in the Peloton email updates to get the latest episodes and merch news straight to your inbox.

 

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP

This episode is supported by our friends at The Escape Collective.

The Tour de France is here, and this week’s Race Communique podcast is our Tour preview with a difference!

I’m joined, as always, by Luke Durbridge and Tom Southam, who’d literally just got their fresh TDF haircuts, to discuss our takes on the race. 

Luke will be on the start grid of his 10th Tour in a row, and Tom will be hopping into his air-conditioned team car and directing what will be his 8th. 

The two of them have a huge amount of experience in and around the race, and we get right in behind the scenes as a rider and a DS at the big show! 

Before we got into the details of the Tour, there was plenty of action to catch up on in recent races, and I asked what their take was on the performances they had seen at the warm up events in France, Switzerland and Slovenia. 

Luke also took us through what it takes to get ready for the race and how it feels to make selection for the Tour, which is something every rider wants but not everyone gets to do. 

Meanwhile, Tom explains how this process works from the other side of the fence, what influences decisions and how it is to make the calls on who is at the Grand Depart and who isn’t. 

As well as our Tour tips and a hint of our tactics for the Escape Collectives Fantasy Competition (which we will be hoping to smash the armchair pundits in!), we also bring you the Communi-quiz, where Tom managed to find a board game to help him out as quiz master. 

We recorded right before we all hopped on flights to the Tour, so it’s as fresh as the boys Tour haircuts! 

Have a bit of fun with this one, and get involved in the Escape Collective Fantasy league here.

Cheers!

Mitch

 

The Life in the Peloton book is OUT NOW! Get your copy now exclusively at maap.cc! Can’t wait for you to read it.

Rapha presents Talking Luft!

G’day everyone, Talking Luft is back for 2022!

But what is Talking Luft? Well, it’s really just a little extra chat I have with guests that I speak with on Life In the Peloton the previous week. A bit like the DVD Extras, it’s the break away series where I try to find out that little bit more about them and their cycling style. It's a little bit laidback and a lot of fun.

This season I've broken the episodes up into 4 topics: Style, Bikes, Culture & About You - with an exciting bunch of new questions for 2022. 

On last week's episode “How not to train like a Pro," I spoke with my old coach, and returning guest, Kevin Poulton about entering a new era of my life - life after pro cycling - and how I go about training now while still keeping as much form as possible. Both Kev and I had already featured on Talking Luft, so I was searching for a new guest that would fit. 

Meet local Melbourne cycling legend Allan ‘Alby’ Iacuone. He was previous Australian champion in 1994, rode professionally overseas many moons ago and has continued to hold his form while rejoining the rat race of normal life. He has mastered the 'How to not train like a pro' while continuing to hold pro form! The perfect guest.

Alby has a very likeable personality as you'll hear, he is currently the coordinator of the Rapha Cycling Club and is known around the Australian cycling scene as a real local legend - the perfect guy to talk some Luft with.

It was great recording at the Melbourne Rapha Clubhouse and I loved hearing Alby's stories.

Enjoy the first ep of 2022 and stay tuned next week for a great new episode of Life in the Peloton with Stuart O'Grady.

Cheers,

Mitch

 

Show Notes

Watch the highlights that we chat about for Alby's 'Most Rewatchable Race' - the Tour de France 1992 - Stage 13, it's epic!

https://youtu.be/JbDLVTMr0V4

. . .

This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

. . .

Episode breakdown:

0:00 to 2.30 Snippet from LITP Episode 1- How Not to train like a Pro with Kevin Poulton

2:30 to 6:10 Introduction to Talking Luft presented by Rapha

6:10 to 19:55 Introducing Alby Iacuone

19:55 to 43:20 Talking Luft! with Alby

43:20 to end Outro

Listen

Listen to this series on at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher or your favourite pod app.

Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

Listen to our short spin off series Talking Luft presented by Rapha – much like DVD Extras, every second week.

Follow us on socials:

Instagram: @lifeinthepeloton

Twitter: @lifeinthepelo

Merch

LITP x ÇOIS Cycling: Find the last sizes of the Road Worlds Collection at coiscycling.com. Snapbacks have now been restocked. Shop now!

LITP Cycling Caps: Jump over to our online shop to grab one.

Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more..

Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show. Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.

Subscribe 

Sign up to Life in the Peloton email updates to get the latest episodes and merch news straight to your inbox.

 

 

Photo: Theo Clarkes Rapha presents Life in the Peloton Well, here we are at the start of a New Year – and this is a big one. It’s the start of my life after professional road racing: it’s a new era for me, and of course for the pod!  As you might also know by […]

It’s the final episode of Talking Luft for the year. And officially my final episode of Talking Luft as a professional cyclist. After so many of you asked how I wear my cycling cap, I thought I would get my good mate Luke Durbridge to flip the mic on me and ask all the usual […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton It’s the final episode of the year on The Cycling Podcast, and my final episode as a pro as I pack up life in Europe and head into my retirement from cycling. This final year of professional racing for me has been a transitional phase in many […]

Talking Luft is back for another week and this time I’ve got Bert De Backer behind the mic, or Backsie as I like to call him. Bert is a Belgian Pro and good mate of mine who I first raced with back in the days of Skil-Shimano, and who also retired this year, riding his […]

Photo: Pipe Cano The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton Since announcing my retirement from Pro cycling earlier this year, I knew I would draw my 13 year career to a close at the end of the 2021 season. At that point I didn’t know what my last race might be. Then fate stepped […]

Talking Luft is back for another week & I’m chatting with British pro Hannah Barnes, who rides for Canyon-SRAM. In true Talking Luft style we chat a bit of life outside of the peloton & the good things in life. As you can see, Hannah runs some sensational Luft in her cap so I was […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton I’m back this week with one of the most experienced riders in the Women’s Pro Peloton, British rider Hannah Barnes. After turning pro with United Healthcare in 2014, Hannah has ridden for Canyon-SRAM for the past six seasons and is set to move on to the new […]

Niamh and Finn Fisher-Black are siblings from New Zealand, both currently racing in the World Tour. I had this brother-sister combo on the pod last week over at The Cycling Podcast chatting about making the jump across from NZ to Europe to live the pro life. Which, as I remembered, isn’t all that smooth sailing. […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton Life in the Peloton is back after a break during the Vuelta a España and for this episode I spoke to two young Kiwi champions who are going to have very big futures. If you don’t know the name Fisher-Black yet, I reckon you’re going to hear […]

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP

This week on Life in the Peloton we have a dead set legend of a guest, Geraint Thomas might be a Tour de France winner, but the Welshman is also, so, so much more. These days you could think of him as a Grand Tour guy, but ‘G’ has not only had an incredible career, but an amazingly varied one.

He went from being a young Olympic trackie, to a (very good) Classics rider by the time he was in his mid-twenties, finishing in the top ten at Flanders in his second attempt at the race. But while, like me, he is a passionate classics man, unlike me, he has also had the energy and skills to win almost every major stage race going, including of course the Tour de France!

We’ve seen him do some amazing things on the bike, not just winning for himself on all sorts of terrain - he’s won at E3 and on Alp d’Huez… but also pulling some truly exceptional leadouts for others, doing things in the bunch the rest of us could only dream of. Most recently, we’ve seen those measured efforts that keep him right at the pointy end of racing in the world of modern cycling, scoring two Giro podiums in the last couple of seasons.

I loved the chance to speak to someone who has had such an incredible career, and has adapted to the changes in the sport over such a length of time. His story is exceptional for his longevity and also his ability to adapt and just get on with things in his own - pretty cool, style.

To top things off G also has his own Watts Occurring podcast with Luke Rowe, and he’s handy at that too, which meant he was a great guest. This really is a bumper pod, and I am stoked to bring it out for you all this week.

Cheers!

Mitch

The Life in the Peloton book is OUT NOW! Get your copy now exclusively at maap.cc! Can’t wait for you to read it.

Talking Luft is back for another week, this time I’m chatting to Japanese Pro Cyclist and teammate of mine at EF Education-Nippo Fumiyuki Beppu – or Fumy as he’s known. Fumy is in his 17th (!!) year as a professional, having ridden for 6 different Pro Teams, starting with the iconic Discovery Channel team back […]

Today I’m Talking Luft with Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, a South African Pro riding for Team SD Worx. I had Ashleigh on the podcast last week over at The Cycling Podcast chatting all things Olympics, her path to the World Tour and her Girona project – Rocacorba Cycling – named after her favourite climb, of which […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton Ashleigh Moolman Pasio is a South African pro riding for Team SD Works. She’s not only made her mark on the Women’s World Tour but is also a qualified chemical engineer, and since racing in Europe, has founded local Girona cycling destination Rocacorba Cycling with her husband […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton 2115,2km, 7 days and the length of Sweden. Back in July I had the opportunity to head up to Sweden to ride an event that only comes around every four years: Sverigetempot – a self-supported, endurance road ride that covers the length of Sweden from top to […]

Following on from our episode last week at The Cycling Podcast, this week I’m Talking Luft with Danish pro cyclist and teammate at EF Education-Nippo, Magnus Cort Nielsen. In case you missed our chat last week, I heard the story of how Magnus made his way from an island off Denmark to make waves in […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton Life in the Peloton is back after it’s break during the Tour de France. I had a great time covering that final week on the ground with The Cycling Podcast. Be sure to head over and have a listen if you missed it. But we’re back to […]

This week I’m Talking Luft with Aussie Brett Lancaster, who was an ex-teammate of mine on Orica-Greenedge, and had a 15 year career as a pro cyclist. He’s now a Director Sportif at Team Ineos. He’s a good mate of mine, and you might remember hearing him on the podcast when I relived that epic […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton Simon Mottram is one of the co-founders and Chief Executive of cycling brand, Rapha. Who, if you haven’t heard of them, are one of the foremost brands of cycling apparel in the industry. In 2004, Simon launched Rapha, focusing on sleek, paired-back cycling kit; filling a gap […]

This week I’m Talking Luft with Ethiopian, and legend of a guy, Tsgabu Grmay, who rides for Team BikeExchange. In case you missed it, I heard his story last week on The Cycling Podcast. He’s a super inspirational guy, and as you’ll hear, it’s hard not to love him. His positive attitude and fun loving personality is infectious and I […]

Photo: Kristof Ramon The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton The pod is back on The Cycling Podcast after taking a break while the Giro d’Italia was on, which gave me a chance to sit down with someone I’ve wanted to get on the podcast for a long time. Tsgabu Grmay is an Ethiopian […]

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP

I’ve been loving doing the Top Sixes on this show lately, but this week I thought it would be fun to go back to the old-school style of Talking Luft! So this week it’s back to the rapid-fire questions, having some fun and putting our guest under a bit of pressure while we work out what their cycling style is all about.

We were lucky again to have grabbed Aussie star Jack Haig for this one. You will know by now that he loves a top ten in a ridiculously hard stage race, but at Talking Luft we wanted to get the really important stuff out of him: how does he wear his cassette? What is his all-time favourite kit? Who does he think is the most stylish rider? (Of course, he just went for a tall redhead!)

Talking Luft is always great fun to record and listening to this reminds me why I love making these episodes so much. Aside from the important questions on style, I also got to hit him up about some of the things that he loves and hates in the races; turns out he’s not a fan of echelons in the neutral… And we also got to share a great war story of his hardest day on the bike - which incidentally I shared with him in a grupetto in Poland (what feels like) a long time ago!

Anyway, I’ll let you have a listen. It’s a really fun little blast through a few of the things that I love about the sport with a great guest!

The Life in the Peloton book is OUT NOW! Get your copy now exclusively at maap.cc! Can’t wait for you to read it.

Cheers,

Mitch

He’s a crowd favourite and a good friend of mine, fellow Aussie and teammate Lachlan Morton. We had a lot of fun on our first episode of Talking Luft back in 2020, so I had to get him on for round two – Talking Luft 2.0 to be exact. In true TL 2.0 style, we […]

Ben Perry is a Canadian pro cyclist in his 5th year of racing World Tour, now with Astana Premier-Tech. He’s a funny guy and as I was riding along with him one day I realised he would be great to have on the pod – especially Talking Luft 2.0. And he didn’t disappoint. This was […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton The first grand tour of the season, the Giro d’Italia, is just around the corner so I wanted to speak to Dr Kevin Sprouse about his role as a team doctor at one of the great stage races. Kevin is my team doctor at the EF Education-Nippo team […]

In case you’ve not heard of him (which will have been hard), Tom Pidcock is a young Brit in his first year of racing in the World Tour, with Team Ineos Grenadiers. He’s in some major road form at the moment, taking his first WT victory last week at De Brabantse Pijl then second in […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton This week’s guest is a young guy who’s made a big splash in his first couple of months racing in the World Tour this year. I knew the name Tom Pidcock because he’s been racing cycle-cross on the coat tails of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout […]

He’s a man that needs little introduction over here at Life in the Peloton. My mate, and Aussie pro for Team BikeExchange, Luke ‘Durbo’ Durbridge. This week I’ve got a whole NEW series of Talking Luft questions and I thought Luke would be the perfect guy to try them out on. I can tell you […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton We have the Belgian classics back in Spring time and, as usual, the racing has not disappointed! My race schedule has meant I’m not up there for the smaller races this year, but my good mate and fellow classics lover Luke Durbridge is up there giving it […]

Photo: Jojo Harper It’s a new week and I’ve got a new episode of Talking Luft, where I sit back and chat all things cycling lifestyle and get to know my guests off the bike. This week I’m chatting with my Danish EF Education-Nippo teammate Michael Valgren. He’s a super talent on the bike, having […]

Photo: Graham Watson The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton Robbie McEwen doesn’t do many podcasts, so I was really happy when he said yes to coming on Life in the Peloton. He’s a good friend of mine as well as an ex-teammate and fellow Aussie. He’s also someone I looked up to as […]

Tom Scully, or Scud as he’s known, is a Kiwi who’s been a teammate of mine on EF Education-Nippo for several years. I heard his story of turning pro last week on The Cycling Podcast and we chatted our love-hate relationship for the Belgian classics in an on-road diary to Opening Weekend in Belgium. We […]

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP

Jack Haig is one of only a handful of Australian riders to have stood on a Grand Tour podium. An almost accidental pro who fell into a career on the road whilst surfing and mountain biking back in his home in Australia as a teenager, he has been a constant presence in the biggest stage races in the world since his breakthrough ride, winning the Queen stage of the 2017 Tour of Poland as a second-year pro.

While his consistency as a stage racer is pretty standout (he’s been fifth at the Dauphiné three times, which is eye-opening when you know how bloody hard that thing is!) his story off the bike is just as - if not more, fascinating.

There can be a lot of pressure to conform in professional road cycling but there is something a little bit unique in a lot of pros, and the best ones are the ones who accept that part of their character and embrace it to be a better rider.  With Jack, it’s been clear since the very early days (when we were teammates at Orica) that he was a rider who did things his own way and didn’t feel the need to fit into what was expected.

I love getting behind the scenes with characters like Haigy here on the pod. These are the guys, the opinions, and the stories that make the peloton such a fascinating place, and prove that you can do things your own way off the bike whilst being hugely successful on it. 

As well as the big results, Jack has dealt with some pretty serious setbacks too, crashing out of the Tour in 2021 when in the best form of his life. We talk about how he dealt with this and other setbacks, as well as what keeps him coming back to be in the mix in those super hard week-long stage races that he loves (watch out Dauphiné - he’s currently lurking just outside the top ten of this years edition…)

It’ll hopefully be a big European summer for Jack so chuck the pod on and get to know one of the peloton’s true characters!

 

This episode is supported by our friends at HVNM.

The team at HVMN have an offer for all Life in the Peloton listeners with a whopping 30% offer for orders when you visit hvmn.com/lifeinthepeloton.

Head across to RESTRAP.com to check out all their amazing products, and use the code Pelo10 for a cheeky discount.

RESTRAP have now opened an Australian-specific store! For Aussie listeners AU.RESTRAP.COM.

 

Cheers,

Mitch

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton The season is underway and it was time to hit the cobbles for the first time this year with Opening Weekend up in Belgium. That’s two races in one weekend; Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday. I was travelling from Girona to Belgium with […]

Nate Wilson is a Performance trainer on my team, EF Education Nippo, and I had him chatting training and all things performance over on The Cycling Podcast last week. Be sure to go check that out on their channel. Nate also raced back in the day so I was keen to get him Talking Luft. […]

The Cycling Podcast presents Life in the Peloton The year has officially kicked off, having just finished our EF Education-Nippo start of season training camp. And while my mind was fully set on training and the year ahead, I thought it would be great to dive into some insights with one of our team Performance […]