Bobby and Jens sit down for their annual review of the year, hand out the gongs and get ready for 2025 by rewarding the biggest names ahead of the new season.

Special thanks to everyone who subscribed, listened and shared our podcast in 2024. In particular a big thanks to our fantastic Pateron members:

Scott

Steven Kimbrough

Marie Teixeira

Jeff Kralik

Brian Colon

Chris Merritt

Tim Farriss

Jim

David Swartwout

Bill Babcock

Randy Corbett

Nancy NesS

Michael TerblancheJim Burns

Swim School Bob

Steve

Scott Nabors

JOSEPH

PHILIP SHAMA

Mark Payne

Steven Martin

Jeff Seckendorf

Jeff Hartley

Chris turner

David

Olivia Beattie

who supported us throughout the 2024 season. If you want to sign up for add free podcasts and more - head to Patreon.com/OddTandem

Mentioned in this episode:

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Remember during December you can sign up for our Patreon by heading to Pateron.com/OddTandem and entering the code ODDTANDEM to get 10% off

Team Visma–Lease a Bike entered 2024 as the undisputed kings of the male peloton. Their riders had won every Grand Tour in 2023, their star rider Jonas Vingegaard looked was aiming to win his third straight Tour de France, amongst their 72 race victories.

Instead, the gods of cycling had different plans. The team suffered misfortune with star riders Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard amongst the team's riders who suffered serious, season altering crashes. That was before factoring in a resurgent Team UAE Emirates led by Tadej Pogacar - who enjoyed one of the greatest seasons ever in pro cycling.

Following the departure of team boss Merijn Zeeman the leadership of the men's team will fall largely on the shoulders of Grischa Niermann. He joins Bobby and Jens and shares his reflections on a challenging year, and why he thinks the team is set to return to the top of the World Tour standings in 2025.

The Odd Tandem is a Shocked Giraffe production and is produced by Mark Payne. The podcast theme is written and performed by Taylor Phinney.

If you enjoyed the podcast please consider subscribing wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode. You can also back us by joining our Patreon page by heading to Patreon.com/OddTandem

You can join the Odd Tandem by following us on our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram or TikTok.

You can also catch this podcast in video - by heading to the Odd Tandem Youtube channel.

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Remember during December you can sign up for our Patreon by heading to Pateron.com/OddTandem and entering the code ODDTANDEM to get 10% off

Ned Boulting is a British journalist, author, presenter and commentator. His voice has been heard on UK TV covering the Tour de France since 2003, his first foray into the sport. As he reveals to Bobby and Jens, the sport hooked him, and since then he's been on a mission to tell it's stories to the world.

Since 2018 he's been creating a record of those events in the form of the Road Book. A mighty tome that tells the tale of a season with every race result, articles from top cycling journalists and the pros themselves. In this episode Ned reveals the process of the road book's annual creation, shares his favourite stories from the roadside and why he became obsessed with an edition of the Tour from over 100 years ago.

You can order the 2024 edition of the road book here

https://theroadbook.co.uk/

To sign up to the Odd Tandem Patreon head to

https://www.patreon.com/c/OddTandem

and remember to send your questions for our next mailbag episode to

[email protected]

Mentioned in this episode:

Sign up to our Patreon

Remember during December you can sign up for our Patreon by heading to Pateron.com/OddTandem and entering the code ODDTANDEM to get 10% off

Just over a week ago, Harry Tanfield was preparing for the 2025 season like most professional riders have been doing. Any thoughts of training camps and offseason rest were cancelled however, when his team Saint Piran announced their sudden closure. Saint Piran were one of two British UCI Continental teams competing in 2024, the other, Trinity Racing, had announced the closure of it's road offering the week prior.

This left Harry, and British cycling in a dire situation. Below world tour level Ineos Grenadiers, the UK no longer had a single professional outfit. Harry joins the Odd Tandem to share his plan to build a brand new team, from the ground up on the tightest of deadlines.

We investigate the challenge in front of Harry and take stock of the domestic scene in the USA and Germany in the process. This is a must listen for anyone who's ever wondered how a cycling team is formed.

If you enjoyed this, consider joining our Patreon to enjoy ad free audio offerings - and throughout December - enter the code ODDTANDEM to get 10% off at the checkout.

https://www.patreon.com/OddTandem

Remember to follow the Odd Tandem wherever you get your social media - we have accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Bluesky and Instagram just search for  @OddTandem 

And you can watch the video version of this chat over on our Youtube channel

youtube.com/@oddtandem

Mentioned in this episode:

Sign up to our Patreon

Remember during December you can sign up for our Patreon by heading to Pateron.com/OddTandem and entering the code ODDTANDEM to get 10% off

Bobby and Jens return to the El Tour de Tucson and host a special episode looking back at 40 years of Olympic history.

Back in 1984, Nelson Vails became the first, and to date, only black American cyclist to achieve an Olympic medal when he won a sprint silver in Los Angeles.

20 years later, Bobby himself earned an Olympic silver on the streets of Athens.

In 2024, Chloe Dygert earned her second Olympic gold medal on the boards in Paris - as a key part of the US team pursuit squad.

Bobby and Jens tie these three very different eras together and discover what makes an Olympic medallist, what makes the experience unique and what do fans have to look forward to when the Olympic torch returns to US soil in four years time.

Join our Patreon now to get an ad free version of the podcast and your name in the titles

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See this special video episode over on our Youtube channel - youtube.com/@oddtandem

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Bobby and Jens take their monthly dip into the mailbag and answer your questions on managing family life, the jerseys they'd love to add to the peloton and whether the US will host a major race on home soil again soon.

Join us on social media by searching for @Oddtandem on Twitter, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok.

And if you want an ad free version of this podcast head to Patreon.com/OddTandem

You can watch the video version of this episode on the Odd Tandem Youtube channel - youtube.com/@oddtandem 

Antonia Niedermaier's sporting career began on the ski slopes of Germany. She won the U20 ski mountaineering world cup before transitioning to cycling full time in 2021. Just three years into her pro career she has a palmares that many would envy - two U23 titles in the time trial as well as medals in the U23 road race in Zurich this year - and to top that she won the queen stage of the 2023 Giro Donne.

She joins Bobby and Jens to discuss all this, her future in the sport and more!

Join our Patreon now to get an ad free version of the podcast and your name in the titles

patreon.com/OddTandem

Find us on social media by searching ‪@OddTandem‬ on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook

Pavel Sivakov has found comfort in change. After six years at Ineos and Sky he traded one super team for another - joining UAE Emirates for the 2024 season.

A key lieutenant to Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France and Il Lombardia he faced off against his teammate in national colours at the World Championships this year and was the only man capable of sticking with the dominant Slovenian in the middle phase of the race. Pavel shares the difference between two of cycling's biggest teams, why he made the change and why he chose to represent France instead of Russia on the international stage.

The Odd Tandem is a Shocked Giraffe production. This episode was produced by Mark Payne with music provided by Taylor Phinney.

You can hear an ad free version of the podcast on the Odd Tandem pateron Pateron.com/oddtandem You can also find us on social media by searching @OddTandem

Brennan Wertz is the latest American to don the stars and stripes for the gravel discipline after overcoming rivals including Keegan Swenson Colby Simmons. In this wide ranging chat with Bobby and Jens - he talks about why he's welcoming the world tour riders to the peloton and the radical changes he predicts for the discipline in the immediate future.

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and wherever you get your podcasts by searching for The Odd Tandem.

To get your name in the titles and get an ad free version of the podcast - just head to Patreon.com/OddTandem. and check out the video version on the Odd Tandem youtube channel

Cadel Evans has achieved many accolades during his career, part of a small select group of riders who've won both the rainbow bands and the yellow jersey - Australia's first Tour de France winner and now - the first guest to appear alongside Bobby and Jens three times.

We discuss what a route announcement is actually like for riders, whether Mark Cavendish could come back and who the route actually suits!

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Find us on social media by searching ‪@OddTandem‬ on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook