Saar on Tour #3

The off season is here, cyclocross is on, and this week we talk to a rider who can’t wait for the mud. Zoe Bäckstedt from Great Britain excels at, the classics, time trial and cyclocross, and loves all of it. She tells us how her dad winning Paris-Roubaix the year she was born shaped her career, how it felt to out-sprint her hero Marianne Vos, and why her first pro season was a tough one. We talked about why she moved to Belgium at 18 and missing home. She also tells us how she became a Red Bull athlete. We get into women’s cycling and why it needs way more TV time. Plus a Lego idea for the Koppenberg.

This week Saar and Kristof talk to Kristen Arnold, sports dietitian, cycling coach and team nutritionist at EF Pro Cycling.Kristen takes us behind the scenes of how a World Tour team fuels its riders. We talk about EF’s belief that health is the foundation for performance, what pro riders really eat, and the team chefs who treat the riders like rockstars. She also explains why hydration is now the biggest fueling mistake, how the menstrual cycle and birth control can affect training, and what low energy availability means and how to talk about it without scaring a rider.In the news part, we talk about the sad loss of Hitec, an icon of the Conti teams, Lidl-Trek’s new development team, and some transfers.

Episode 90 of She Rides is here, and the off-season doesn’t stop us. Saar talks with Gaia Tortolina, a 29-year-old Italian rider who has raced in the women’s peloton for 11 years and works as a sports psychologist. At 19, after a bad experience in an Italian team, Gaia moved to Belgium on her own, planning to stay a few months. She never left. She tells us how that leap inspired her username lionhearted, why she and her boyfriend started their own club team, and how women’s cycling has changed since riders raced for free. Then Kristof joins Saar to talk about next year’s Tour de France Femmes route. Is it uninspiring? Is a finish without spectators a good idea? And what about no rest day? They also go through the latest transfers.

The road season is almost over, and this week we say goodbye to a rider who just finished her last one. Olivia Baril from Quebec rode for Movistar for the past three seasons, and now she’s retiring from the pro peloton. She tells us how she went from swimming to cycling, how she moved to Spain to chase her dream while finishing her osteopath studies, and what it was like to race Worlds in front of her family in Montreal. We talk about why a back injury and a missing spark made stopping the right call, her best and worst days on the bike, and what she definitely won’t miss. We finish with what’s next for her, including a new job helping riders. Plus a handstand.

Saar and Connie Hayes recap Worlds and Euros in one big championships episode. Marlen Reusser rode away with the Worlds time trial, and Demi Vollering won the rainbow jersey after a wild road race, with Kasia Niewiadoma taking silver. We also talk about the scary crash that took the fun out of the day. At Euros it was more Vollering, more Reusser frowning at her rivals, and a Dutch team that suddenly got very loyal. Along the way we get into why the junior girls got a 10 km time trial while the boys got 20 km, Connie's heartfelt rant about the team time trial, the latest transfer news (hello, Kasia at Lidl-Trek!), and the sad news of DAS closing and what it means for women's cycling. Connie also shares her plans for next season, and Saar tells the story of how she fixed a criterium podium herself. 

It's Worlds week!Sarah Gigante joins us this week. We talk about her recovery, being over 400 days out, a broken femur, and finally back racing (and back on the pod).We also preview the elite women's time trial & road race: Marlen Reusser going back-to-back, whether the Dutch National team can really deliver, and who will challenge Demi. Plus our picks for the juniors, U23s and the mixed relay.

This week Saar talks with Yilla Threels, a 22-year-old rider for O'Shea Red Chilli Bikes stepping in last-minute.They cover how she got into cycling, what kind of rider she is, and how she balances racing with "just normal life." She takes us back to 2024 when a bad crash left her with a skull fracture, a brain bleed, and a concussion with symptoms that lingered for years. She opens up about being told she might never race again, the rehab that changed everything, and the sensor she now wears to track head impacts. We close things off with some worlds hot takes and the more obvious predictions ;)

This week Saar & Kristof talked with Anabelle Thomas, a 21-year-old Canadian road racer for Liv AlUla Jayco, about her big jump from a small Belgian club team to a Liv's conti team.She talks about Zwift Academy, what it's really like moving to a bigger team (princess treatment included), and the visa headaches non-European riders deal with that nobody really talks about.We also go through the latest transfer news in the women's peloton, plus a quick recap of Tour of Britain and Lorena Wiebes doing Lorena Wiebes things again.

This week Saar chatted with Petra Stiasny - finally back on the podcast after a bad training crash.. We talk about her surprise Vuelta stage win, the recovery, and why climbing is where she feels most at home. Plus loads of Tour de France talk - the crazy final stage, the "Bra gate" , the UAE team, plus her thoughts on TV coverage and how long grand tours should be. Ooh and she's not only back in the podcast, but soon will also be back racing!

Saar & Connie discuss stage 6-8 of the TdFF