Sigma Sports presents Matt Stephens Unplugged

Matt Stephens chats to David Millar about retirement, maturity and finding solace in the quiet life. The former British national champion won multiple stages and wore the leader's jersey of all three grand tours during his illustrious career. In a candid and honest conversation, David opens up about his recent alcohol problem, and how the bike played a big role in his rehabilitation. Now in a much better place thanks in no small part to the help of his sister Fran, he has fallen in love with the bike again by tackling challenges that scare him.

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Matt Stephens discusses career highlights with Victor Campenaerts, including his UCI Hour Record and that amazing victory on stage 18 of the 2024 Tour de France, which he credits to the joyous psychological boost that came with the birth of his son. Recorded in the off-season, Victor is about to move from Lotto Dstny to Visma Lease a Bike, where he explains his goals for 2025 include helping Jonas Vingegaard beat Tadej Pogacar at the Tour. In the hometown quiz, the Belgian phones a friend in the Antwerp diamond trade and convinces him he’s actually on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - this one is not to be missed folks!

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Matt Stephens chats to Nathan Van Hooydonck about the heart attack that changed his life forever, prematurely ending his professional cycling career for Team Jumbo Visma. Having enjoyed a hugely successful career with highlights that include helping Jonas Vingegaard win the Tour de France in 2023, he is now embracing life as a business development manager for Team Visma Lease a Bike. Discussing the importance of treating team members as people, Nathan explains that their philosophy of ‘helping each other win’ extends beyond the peloton and into life itself.

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Matt Stephens chats to Tiffany Cromwell about her impressive road racing career and her switch to gravel racing in recent years. The Canyon//SRAM pro has some great advice for anyone getting into gravel, and lives by the rule of constantly challenging herself. Having set up events in her homeland of Australia and her partner Valtteri’s homeland of Finland, she’s helping grow the whole gravel scene, emphasising the importance of all the fun stuff around the racing too.

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Back in France with his portable recorder, Matt Stephens brings us clips from behind the scenes at the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift 2024. From the grand depart in the flatlands of Holland to the hilly Ardennes and onto the high mountain finale of Alpe D’Huez, the biggest grand tour on the women’s calendar was like a week-long ramp test. And while the racing was nothing short of breath-taking, Matt was busy finding his usual flavour of obscure and wonderful distractions to chat about; Dutch sweets named after pickpockets, frog’s legs in Belgium, and the closest GC winning margin in history - this is a podcast not to be missed.

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Matt Stephens is back behind the scenes at the Tour de France with his portable recorder, capturing the sights and sounds of the race and the caravan. While dodging chicken goujons and other projectiles, he catches up with Hannah Walker, Adam Blythe and Alberto Contador as they review the feast of racing we’ve been treated to over the past three weeks. Matt also reflects on Tadej Pogačar’s scintillating performance, considering him to be the strongest rider he’s ever seen. Roll on 2025.

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From behind the scenes at le Tour de France, Matt Stephens has been having the time of his life reporting on the race from the back of a motorcycle for Eurosport WBD. As the Tour entered week two, Jonas Vingegaard completed his incredible comeback to put Tadej Pogacar under serious pressure for the GC. Meanwhile Matt has enjoyed an adrenaline fuelled reportage while sitting on the back of a motorcycle surging ahead of the peloton at breakneck speeds. 

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Matt Stephens reports from behind the scenes of the 2024 Tour de France, where history has been made and records have been smashed. On a week when Biniam Girmay became the first ever black African to win a stage of the Tour de France, and Mark Cavendish extended his record to 35 wins to go clear of Eddy Merckx - there was a lot to talk about! So if you like hearing about Cav, Biniam, and Bardet with a side order of good parking, nugget temptation, and butt-cheek numbness avoidance advice, then this is the podcast for you!

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Matt Stephens chats to Luke Rowe about his decision to retire just months after signing a contract extension with team INEOS Grenadiers. Luke is candid and open, explaining how easy it was to make the decision following a chat with his neurologist. Ever the optimist, the Welshman has loved his career and knowing how hard successes are to come by, he offers some sage advice to enjoy every single thing you achieve. There’s a first in the Cardiff quiz when Luke phones a friend of his live on air - but will he know what Cardiff City football club were originally known as?!

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Matt Stephens is back behind the scenes at the Giro d’Italia 2024 to bring us clips from his experiences in the final week of his favourite grand tour on the calendar. In this episode he encounters a garden gnome from the lofty heights of a scary chairlift, gets stuck on a mountain, manages to create a race with some team buses after stage 19, and takes us into the commentary booth to call the race home in Rome.

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