Velo Podcast

In 1996, Bobby Julich thought his career was over - as it was just beginning to take off - because of a heart arrhythmia.

Instead, George Hincapie introduced him to cardiologist Mike Lepp, he had a heart ablation procedure, and went on to have a very successful career.

In the wake of the untimely death of young Belgian rider Niels De Vriendt (VDM), Mike joins Bobby and Gus Morton to talk about various personal instances of how cycling can exacerbate heart issues, and what can be done about it.

Mike Lepp is currently the senior athletic advisor to Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR, but his involvement in sports physiology and heart health goes back decades to his time as director of a cardiology clinic for many years in the 1980s.

It's official: Chris Froome is leaving Team Ineos to join Israel Start-Up Nation for 2021 and the foreseeable future. This blockbuster transfer is one of the biggest in pro cycling's recent history, and on this week's episode we examine every angle of the move.

Andrew Hood and James Startt join the podcast to discuss the Froome news. What does Froome's decision mean for his legacy and the legacy of Team Sky/Ineos? How does the move impact Israel Start-Up Nation's ambitions within the WorldTour? And what are the other historical transfers of this nature in cycling's history?

And, do we think that Chris Froome will win his record-tying fifth Tour?

Then, we catch up with rising American star Magnus Sheffield, who won bronze at the 2019 UCI junior men's road world championships. This year was supposed to be Sheffield's big season on the domestic and international stage, and the coronavirus pandemic has sidelined him. What impact will the shutdown have on the country's system for developing young talent like Sheffield?

The Tour de France is just around the corner, and the 2020 VeloNews Tour de France guide is now available for pre-order. This year the guide is again packed with insight and analysis on all 21 stages and 22 teams. We also have feature stories that examine the Tour's history with global crisis, and the simmering battle between Team Ineos and Jumbo-Visma. You can order yours now at www.velopress.com.

Jurgen Landrie has been wrenching on bikes for WorldTor teams for decades, so he has seen how much bikes have changed over the years. But just in the last five years, it seems like that evolution has accelerated.

Landrie joins VeloNews tech editor Dan Cavallari on the VeloNews tech podcast to give us a sense of how and why bikes have evolved so rapidly in the last few years, and how mechanics at the top levels of the sport are adapting and taking on new roles to ensure riders get all the benefits from aerodynamics, body positioning, materials, and more.

Zwift has redefined indoor cycling.

What started in 2014 with a 5km virtual track and a handful of users is now a global phenomenon. Just this weekend, for instance, Zwift had nearly 90,000 people sign up to ride one of the company's Virtual Tour de France social rides.

On this episode of Put Your Socks On, Bobby and Gus speak with Zwift co-founder and CEO Eric Min about where they company came from, and where it's going.

Some of the hurdles are technological: How do you ensure power-measurement accuracy and consistency with riders around the world using different equipment? And some of the hurdles are sociological or psychological: It took six years for the Zwift community to accept the idea of a burrito Power Up that makes them un-draftable for a few seconds.

"So we've taken baby steps [in adding game enhancements], but now I think if you took away all the gamification in the game, it would just be boring," Min said. "We even went to ASO to ask professionals, 'do you want these events to have have power ups or not?' They overwhelmingly said yes, we want power ups because why wouldn't you want to have a gift of an arrow power up? You know, ahead of a sprint. It's a freebie."

Organizers of gravel cycling's marquee event, the Dirty Kanza, recently announced their intention to change the race's name.

The decision has come after months of turmoil for the event. In April a petition was circulated asking the race to change its name; the petition stated that the event's name represented a slur against the local indigenous population, the Kaw Nation. Then, in June, the event's co-founder parted ways with owner Life Time after making insensitive comments on social media about the shooting death of an African American man at the hands of the police.

On today's podcast Senior Editor Betsy Welch and Editorial Director Ben Delaney join the show to discuss the recent news stories surrounding the DK, and what a name change could bring to the event.

This week’s episode is sponsored by Whoop, the performance tool that is changing the way people track their fitness and optimize their training. Whoop tracks your heart rate and gives you a strain scores that lets you know how strenuous your training was on your body, with additional information around your sleep and recovery to tell you how well your body rebounds from training. Right now, listeners can get 15 percent off a Whoop device by going to www.whoop.com and using the code ‘VELONEWS’ at checkout.

Can dark fabrics keep you cool? It used to be standard practice to err on the side of light colors in hot weather, but with modern fabrics, it's entirely possible to stay cool and dry even if you're wearing black clothing.

Of course, that comes with a caveat: The clothing needs to be designed specifically to keep you cool. Makes sense, right? Rob Pickels from Pearl Izumi joins VeloNews tech editor Dan Cavallari on the tech podcast to wade through the science that makes a cool fabric, and how you can stay cool and dry on your next summer ride.

After being elected by her racing peers to serve on the athlete's commission for the UCI in 2015, Iris Slappendel quickly realized that there was no overarching structure of support for female riders. So, she created one. The Cyclists' Alliance was founded in 2017 to support female racers during and after their careers.

The Cyclists' Alliance is a union funded by donations and subscriptions. Approximately one third of the women's peloton are paying members, Slappendel says.

As a veteran former racer, Slappendel talks with PYSO hosts and former racers Bobby Julich and Gus Morton about the discrepancies between women's and men's unions for riders, and how they all interact with the UCI.

"It took me 10 years, but I realized there's no one holding teams or anyone accountable for how the riders are treated," Slappendel said of her thought process behind starting The Cyclists' Alliance. "And I think that was the spark that started me thinking about a union or at least having a better representation of the riders and the stakeholders."

Slappendel says that while the sport has made strides forward since 2004 when she began racing — "there are more top riders, more riders who are able to live from the sport, more good races" — that the sport still has a long way to go.

"It's becoming a professional sport, but it's not there yet," she said.

Listen in for a fascinating conversation on the dynamics of life as a female professional rider.

Bicycle racing is slowly returning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and Austin's Driveway Series criterium events have been some of the first to come back. The Driveway held its first race since the shutdown on June 18, and then held another one on June 25.

Why has the series returned, and what safety protocols is it following? On this week's episode we link up with series founder Andrew Willis to discuss the Driveway's return to racing. As it turns out, Willis' decision to come back isn't as straightforward as you may assume.

Before we hear from Willis, Andrew Hood and James Startt come on the podcast to discuss pro cycling's sprint to the Tour de France, which is less than two months away. Teams are finalizing rosters and organizing pre-race training camps. The race has yet to publicize its health precautions, which has left riders and journalists playing the guessing game.

This week’s episode is sponsored by Whoop, the performance tool that is changing the way people track their fitness and optimize their training. Whoop tracks your heart rate and gives you a strain scores that lets you know how strenuous your training was on your body, with additional information around your sleep and recovery to tell you how well your body rebounds from training. Right now, listeners can get 15 percent off a Whoop device by going to www.whoop.com and using the code ‘VELONEWS’ at checkout.

Tech guru Lennard Zinn joins VeloNews tech editor Dan Cavallari on this episode of the VeloNews Tech Podcast to explain the concept of moment of inertia, and why it matters when you ride your bike.

Zinn walks us through the basic physics of the way weight moves on your bicycle, and why rotational weight can affect how quickly you get your bike up to speed. More importantly, Zinn gives us a general guide as to what's better for you: deep section wheels, or climbing wheels.

As racing returns to the real world with the Slovenian national championship, Bobby and Gus cover all the happenings in the Zwift community. Also, Gus's brother Lachlan Morton is an absolute madman! Gus gives his perspective on Lachlan Everesting not once but twice in one week to set the world record.

Hear all about these stories and listen to an exclusive interview with director Steven de Jongh of Trek-Segafredo. We talk to Steven about his calm, cool demeanor, and how his recovery from a scary cycling accident has added more perspective to his approach to directing and life.

It's time to Put Your Socks On.