CyclingTips Podcast

This week we chat about e-racing's ability to lower barriers in Africa, debate whether Chris Froome should make Ineos' (sorry, Grenadier's) Tour de France team, and look into what a new freehub body from Campagnolo tells us about future groups from the Italians.

Bike racing approaches, and with it plenty of bike racing-related news. We run through news from the Tour de France, La Course, and the Virtual Tour de France, plus dig into Chris Froome's decision to jump to Israel Start-Up Nation. 

Then, a spirited debate: How do our podcast hosts stack up as home mechanics?

This week's episode is overflowing with news, from Chris Froome's departure from Ineos to Emma Pooley and Alberto Contador's run at the Everesting record.

We open up this week's episode with the news, including discussion of Chris Froome's decision to stick with Ineos, Zwift's virtual Tour de France, and Tour de France Podcast host Rupert Guinness's virtual Race Across America. 

Then, the great base layer debate. Should you wear one when it's hot? What do the pros do?

Paul Hartner is 21 years old, races for the Project Echelon elite team, and has legitimate dreams of a pro career. This makes him one of the most accomplished openly queer male cyclists on earth.

This is his coming out story and, more broadly, the story of being out in the cycling world. It's told with the help of Trek-Segafredo pro Tayler Wiles and the man who guided Paul out of the closet, Owen McGrath.

It's been a wild week in bike news. We actually had to re-record most of this episode, as the 24 hour gap between recording and publishing saw two major news stories make abrupt U-turns. 

Manuela Fundacion will not be Mitchelton-Scott's new sponsor, and Lachlan Morton didn't actually set the Everesting record. We discuss. 

Plus, we chat with Justin Williams about a new podcast collaboration between CyclingTips and his L39ION of LA team.

We open this week's episode with the News, including CCC's decision to pull out of its men's WorldTour team and rumors that Romain Bardet may be leaving AG2R. 

Then, Shoddy Dave explains how he kitted himself out, head-to-toe, for $200 USD. Helmet, shoes, shorts, jersey, socks, gloves - everything.

Was the gear any good? What did he learn from shopping at the bottom end of the market?

We open this week's episode with the news, from both the cycling world and the rest of the world. We hear from Justin Williams again, this time with a short story we all need to hear. Then we discuss Lachlan Morton's FKT on the Kokopelli trail and, finally, provide some tips on buying and selling used bikes.

How does a sport make heroes? How does cycling build superstars? This is the focus of our third Roadmap Episode, digging into the future of pro cycling at a time when the future is anything but clear. 

We speak with Justin Williams, who has built his Legion criterium team into a mini media house, and to Helen Wyman, who understands the lessons road cycling can learn from cyclocross. And finally, we talk to Kimo Seymour of Life Time, the company that owns North America's largest gravel events.

We take a break from our Roadmap Episodes this week (they'll be back next week) to bring you a news roundup, including doping positives and rumors that Chris Froome is looking to change teams, plus a chat with SRAM about the future of its drivetrains.