In this special crossover episode between Performance Process and Wheel Talk, Ronan Mc Laughlin is joined by Escape Collective's Abby Mickey and former world champion Lizzie Deignan to unpack an unusual challenge. Abby has set herself the goal of returning to Mont Ventoux and riding it faster than she did during her professional career.

There’s just one complication. She’s now a full-time journalist, a parent of two, and juggling the realities of normal life rather than the controlled environment of professional sport.

To guide the process, Abby has asked Lizzie Deignan – recently retired world champion and now coach – to take her on as an athlete. The conversation begins with the first step of any coaching relationship: understanding the athlete. Together they discuss goals, constraints, postpartum physiology, training with limited time, the psychological side of coaching, and how performance can still improve long after a pro career ends.

This episode explores a bigger question that applies to every amateur athlete: How do you pursue meaningful performance goals when life, work, and family come first?

It’s the start of a project that will unfold over the coming months. And it begins with a simple but difficult question: Is it possible to beat your pro self?