The Piste Take

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We are back! We might have missed a week in our release schedule but we certainly didn't miss any quality with our latest guest, former world champion in the once conquering Aussie Men's Team Sprint Team and now endurance hero - Thomas Cornish. We hear all about his 10 year plan from sprint to enduro, what it was like behind the scenes in Team Aus during the Paris Olympics and you guessed it... The AUS->GBR transfer of Matthew Richardson. 

We were also delighted to hear about how his progression from sprinter to track endurance rider is going, his exploits in the Euro race scene and how he plans to break into the all conquering Men's Team Pursuit team in Australia.

Thanks once again to our incredible sponsors at the VelodromeShop for their ongoing support of the Pistetake.

For anyone interested in Tom's extensive palmares on the road, click the link below:
https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/thomas-cornish/2026

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On this weeks episode we speak to our first ever coach from an asian nation, Boris Clark. Formerly, of the New Zealand Cycling Team, Boris is now the Head Endurance coach at China Cycling. He took up the role last year, and has quickly had some incredible results, including World Cup gold, and establishing China as a serious contender in endurance for the first time. Join us as we find out more about his past, and a programme we don't know a huge amount about. 

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This week on The Piste Take, we pay tribute to one of the greatest track cyclists Britain has ever produced. Katie Archibald, two-time Olympic gold medallist, four-time world champion, has announced her retirement, and we think she deserves her flowers. After 13 years at the very top of the sport, she walks away with 51 major medals, seven world titles and a record 21 European crowns. We reflect on a career that was like no other, and the impact she's had on the sport not just as an athlete, but as a person. 

Then we turn to a story that has the track cycling world furious. Cycling Canada has told its women's team pursuit squad, two years out from the Los Angeles Olympics, that they will not be sent to the UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai this October, the first qualifying event for LA 2028, and that the program will not be supported through to the Games. We break down what's happened, why it matters, and what it says about how national teams understand (or don't)  what it's like to be on of their athletes. 

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We return to the podcasting world with a blockbuster episode where we're joined by Aussie Track Sprint sensation Alessia McCaig. As the keirin winner at the recent Perth World Cup, we catch up with Alessia. We chat through her journey with the Australian Sprint Programme, her keirin racing identity & the recent impact of Women's Sprint Coach, Kaarle McCulloch. Alessia has went from strength to strength in the last few years, winning World Championship medals & making the keirin final at last years Worlds' in Santiago, Chile. We also learn about her dream training group from riders past and present - it doesn't disappoint!

Tune in to find out all about our thoughts from our listener questions too. Please feel free to ask us any questions you have via our social media channels @thepistetake!

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Hot off the press, we welcome back to the podcast 2x Olympic Champion and top TNT Sport Commentator, Joanna Rowsell to debrief the last 3 rounds of Nations Cups. 

We tackle the series as a whole, look at the progress the UCI has made in delivering a 3-round series & some of the pitfalls along the way. Tune in to hear the expert analysis of some of the racing trends too - from the Rise of China, to the new sprint wars on both Men & Women's side. Listen right to the end to hear our thoughts on all the implications of this World Cup series on the upcoming Olympic Qualification for team events. 

Thanks again to the Legendary Joanna Rowsell for jumping on with us, and as always our sponsors at the Velodrome Shop. You can check them out today at www.velodrome.shop

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We are back with breakout German Men's sprint star Luca Spiegel. We hear all about Team Deutschland's 4 week training camp in Perth before the recent World Cup, his experiences with riding with the best at Paris Olympics and the long road since. 

This was one of our favourite episodes to record with one of TrackSprinting's good guys, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Thanks again to our sponsors at the Velodrome Shop!

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This week we welcome back to the podcast track cycling legend and newly anointed Belgian Cycling Sprint coach, Theo Bos. We hear all about his exploits as a World Tour road racer, the transition from track sprint. Theo tells us about his shock return to the track in 2016 and his unique road to the Rio Olympic Games. We also learn about his hobby project of BEAT cycling and his route into coaching.

This was a fascinating conversation and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

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We are back with our normal episodes with a BANG! This week we take our longest ever intro to discuss the recent doping ban of Colombian track star, Martha Bayona Pineda before welcoming on Team USA superstar and human Adonis, Mr Anders Johnson. 

As a bronze medallist in last year's Individual Pursuit in Chile, Santiago, Anders is in a great place to tell us about the USA Men's Endurance Programme; their development from anonymity to thrusting themselves into the spotlight. We chat all things from his route into track cycling, the origins of their hodge-podge team pursuit group and their ultimate professional start-up mentality as they build towards a home Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028.

It was a pure pleasure chatting with Anders and we wish Team USA all the best in their quest to qualify and perform in LA. 

Special shoutout as always goes to our sponsors at The Velodrome Shop. Check them out today at www.velodrome.shop

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We bring you our final British Track Nationals Special episode with a short interview too with triple British champ, Emma Finucane. We discuss her race performances, upcoming competitions and the excitement of being back repping the famous Welsh Green Dragon!

As the audio corrupted on our initial roundup, we bring Lewis back in in the studio to chat through the other events of the day - from a controversial Men's Points race, Richo ripping the face off the Men's Keirin and a standout statement performance form Emma Boothman in the Women's Elimination. 

With thanks as always to our sponsors the Velodrome Shop for all their help in keeping the show on the road. Check them out at www.velodrome.shop and take your track cycling to the next level, today!

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In our next wrap up, we're again joined by the calming presence of Tom Davidson to chat through Day 3 of the 2026 British Track Nationals. 

We are joined by podcast stalwart Will Tidball to talk through THAT elimination race where he believes he was robbed of national title. In other events the ususal suspects like Emma Finucane, Matty Richardson, Sophie Unwin, and Finn Graham all added national titles to their names, while rising talents elsewhere showcased the depth of British track talent.