Velo Podcast

On this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast, Ben Delaney explains the latest controversy involving elite Zwift racing. The virtual cycling platform recently sanctioned two different elite riders on grounds that the riders had allegedly tampered with their riding data.

The story, and the rebuttal from the riders, has left more than one cycling fan scratching his or her head in confusion. Delaney is here to take us inside this story and offer some explainers on how and why Zwift made this decision.

Then, Andrew Hood discusses the strange offseason that Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar is about to have. While most TDF champions party in the months following their victories, Pogačar has been grounded, due to COVID-19. Will this allow him to regroup and focus on 2021?

Finally, junior phenom Magnus Sheffield joins the podcast to discuss his recent record attempt at the 3,000-meter individual pursuit. Sheffield set a time that appears to be both a new U.S. and world record, and he discusses his motivation, training, and power numbers.

All that and more on this week's VeloNews Podcast.

Skylar Schneider started riding bikes at age 4, and by age 18 she moved to Holland to race professionally. Now with three years at the powerhouse squad Boels-Dolmans under her belt, the American is returning to race domestically for 2021 with L39GION of Los Angeles, the expanding team run by Justin and Cory Williams.

On this episode of Put Your Socks On, Schneider talks about learning her way in Holland as a teenager with the help of other racers — she now has Dutch residency — and how the opportunity with L39GION of LA came about.

"I've admired what Justin and Cory are doing with Legion for a while," she said. "And this summer, Justin and I just got on the phone, and he had some good advice. At that time, Legion didn't really have a women's program. So he really liked the idea. And then we put together a budget. And from there, it moved pretty quickly. And I'm really excited about this opportunity to have a new adventure, but also come back to the U.S."

In addition to her own racing, Schneider said L39ION represents a broader opportunity in the sport for others.

"With 39ION, there was this new opportunity to do something really special within the sport. Their mission is to increase diversity and inclusivity. There's plenty of little girls that need a role model as well," she said. "Right now it's really small and just kind of starting, but I think it can grow into something really big. And that's ultimately why I was really excited to join."

At the junior world championships in 2016, Schneider took silver in the road race and fourth in the time trial. Looking ahead, a win at the world championships remains a goal.

[This podcast was originally uploaded with last week's audio. We apologize for the confusion and have fixed the problem. - Ed.]

On this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast, Fred and Andy discuss the bizarre 2020-2021 transfer season, which has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a typical year, most riders would have their contracts signed for the coming season well before November. That's not the case this year, due to the season's delay amid the virus. And, the ending of CCC Team plus the unknown future of NTT Pro Cycling has sent many riders scrambling for jobs in 2021. How is this impacting the rider market, and what changes will this have on the 2021 season? We discuss all angles of the transfer season.

Then, American rider Lauren Stephens of Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank joins the podcast to take us inside her topsy turvy 2020 season. Like all pro road racers, Lauren's season was derailed in March by COVID-19. Rather than wait things out, Lauren made a dramatic change in her racing focus, becoming the first ever woman to win the Zwift Tour de France. The change in focus had a dramatic impact on the rest of Lauren's season.

All that and more on this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast!

Factor Bikes' Graham Shrive has helped design some of the fastest bikes in the pro peloton. He joins VeloNews tech editor Dan Cavallari on this episode of the VeloNews Tech Podcast to reveal the truth about frame flex: Do you really need the stiffest frame? Can frame flex be a benefit for certain riders? How do engineers tailor a frame for stiffness?

Find out on this week's episode.

Stuart O'Grady has done more on the bike than just about any other rider. The Australian's 19-year pro career began on the track in the ’90s, where he racked up Olympic medals in the 1992 and 1996 Games. He then moved to the road where he wore the Tour de France yellow jersey and won Paris-Roubaix in the course of a long career. And now retired from racing, O'Grady has taken the helm at the Tour Down Under, the Australian stage race and traditional season opener.

Put Your Socks On caught up with O'Grady to talk about his career, his aims with the Tour Down Under, and how the Australian race is coping with the various complications related to the coronavirus pandemic.

PYSO co-host Bobby Julich raced with O'Grady twice in their careers, and he recalls how O'Grady had to leave the Tour twice, including once in a helicopter and once after riding the last 70km of a stage with a broken collarbone.

The helicopter ride came in 2007 helicopter as O'Grady was doing 90kph down the Cornet de Roseland. "I went over the top in the front group," O'Grady recalls. "I went back to get bottles for [CSC teammate] Carlos [Sastre]. While coming back, [a rider] swerved to miss a hole as I was coming by, and took out my front wheel. I hit a pole, and that exploded everything. I had no feeling in my legs, and spent two weeks in the ICU."

O'Grady also talks about some of his favorite moments from racing. "My lifelong ambition was the Olympics," he said, admitting that the Tour de France wasn't even on his radar early on. "I competed in six Olympics, which i think is a record for anyone who's not riding a horse. And riding solo into the Roubaix velodrome was pretty cool as well."

As for the current state of racing, O'Grady says he is glad he is retired.

"There's no real control [in the peloton]. You know, back in the day, there was a lot of respect for the kind of elder riders, especially in the classics," he said, alluding to a patron who would tell the riders when to ease off, or when it was okay to race. "These days is just it's like the gloves are off. You know, it's like a UFC cage fight. There's no rules. They attack at random moments. You see a group attacking and I'm like, what the hell are they doing that for? Next minute they got six minutes and they win the race."

Now O'Grady is the race director for Tour Down Under, which was held with great success at the beginning of this year, but has already been postponed for 2021.

"Being a part of the race from day one, the last couple of years of my career, I guess I started thinking, you know, I'd like to take on the reins of this, I think I can make a pretty cool race, because we haven't actually raced down a lot of the roads," he said.

O'Grady and the TDU team looked into holding the race at its normal time in 201 with heavy quarantine protocols. But the logistics of that — plus the act that the UCI announced that the race next year would not be mandatory for WorldTour teams — meant that they decided to ultimately just postpone the race.

Tune in to listen to O'Grady on Put Your Socks On.

The Vuelta a España wrapped up this weekend, with Primož Roglič surviving an onslaught by Richard Carapaz on the final mountain stage to win the overall. On today's episode of The VeloNews Podcast, we digest the final grand tour of the season, and examine what the final result means for Roglič, Carapaž, and the race's other protagonists.

Then, have you ever wondered what goes into a name change? The world's most visible gravel race just went through a branding change, switching its name from DK (formerly Dirty Kanza) to Unbound Gravel. We speak to the race's co-managing team of Kristi Mohn and Lelan Dains to go inside the name change, and discuss the process they went through to choose the new name. Plus, what were some of the names left on the cutting-room floor? Mohn and Dains share with us some choices that came up short.

All that and more on this week's The VeloNews Podcast.

On this episode of the VeloNews Tech Podcast, tech guru Lennard Zinn joins tech editor Dan Cavallari to talk about his in-depth sunglasses clarity test.

What makes a pair of sunglasses good? Is it the clarity? Is it the polarization? What about UV protection? Zinn breaks it all down for us, and gives us insight as to whether you actually need any of these things.

Zinn also walks us through what he did to test many of the most popular sunglasses on the market. Be sure to listen to get a sense of what matters when you buy a pair of sunglasses, according to Zinn.

Next year, 2021 should be the year of the postponed Olympics Games, and certainly will be the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin. American diabetic Mandy Marquardt is on the long team for track, hopes to be in Tokyo racing in the stars and stripes.

Marquardt has been racing at a high level since she was 10 years old, and has 18 national titles to her name. But she was a little concerned that she might be aging out of her prime shape. Then she placed ninth overall in the World Cup standings last season, then set a national kilo record, and was named to the US Olympic long team.

"Representing my country next year at the Olympic Games would definitely be the pinnacle of my athletic career. And 2021 is the hundredth year of the discovery of insulin. In ways I'm like, are the stars aligning?"

Marquardt is now 29, and certainly not past her prime. PYSO host Bobby Julich shared his own story of missing out on the Olympics as he got older.

"I missed the Olympics in 1992. I missed the Olympics in 1996. I missed the Olympics in 2000. And then finally, at the age of 32, I made the Olympics in 2004," said Julich, who earned a medal in the time trial. "And so just... just never say never."

In this episode of PYSO, Marquardt tells her story of being diagnosed with diabetes at age 16 and being told that she would never compete at a high level again.

She talks about setting the U.S. kilo record, beating the time set by her friend and former national team roommate, the late Kelly Caitlin.

She talks about the long and sometimes lonely road of a track sprinter, but how she is proud of having raced clean her entire career.

And she talks about having a continuous glucose monitor is like "an SRM for my body."

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. Tune in to Put Your Socks on.

The Vuelta a España has entered its thrilling final week, and we are breaking down the slugfest between Primož Roglič and Richard Carapaz on this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast.

The Vuelta's dramatic stage 12 up the Alto de l'Angliru produced a thrilling battle, with Hugh Carthy taking the win and Carapaz seizing the red jersey. Then, two days later, Roglič won the ITT to take the jersey back. We break down the action from both stages, and examine Ineos Grenadiers' new strategy of going on the attack.

Then, we analyze the 2021 Tour de France route, which was announced this week. Next year's route serves up a classic battle, with two ITT races, three summit finishes, and a double ascent of Mont Ventoux.

Then, we hear from two North American riders who are racing the Vuelta: Sepp Kuss and Michael Woods. Kuss takes us inside the Angliru battle with his perspective on the brutal fight. Then, Woods relives his stage 7 victory at the Vuelta, and explains why this Vuelta a España has helped him overcome the disappointment of being left off EF Pro Cycling's Tour de France team.

All that and more on this week's podcast!

Gravel drivetrains now exist to accommodate the ever-burgeoning gravel market. The question is, do we really need them?

VeloNews tech editor Dan Cavallari and editorial director Ben Delaney discuss the ins and outs of gravel drivetrains and help you decide whether you need one or not. Is a road drivetrain okay to use on a gravel bike? What are the benefits of a gravel drivetrain?

Listen to this week's episode to find out.