147. David Millar: The Christmas special (sort of)

In this week's episode, Will and James are joined by David Millar, a man who needs no introduction, but just in case: David's career in cycling spans decorated rider (he was the first Brit to wear all three Grand Tour jerseys) to fallen hero (he admitted to, and was suspended for two years for doping in 2004) to risen phoenix (he returned to the pro peloton as an outspoken 'clean' rider and raced successfully until 2014) to writer, broadcaster and commentator (up until this summer he was 'the voice' of ITV cycling along with co-commentator Ned Boulting) to business owner (with clothing brand Chpt III) to brand director at Factor bikes (finally nothing more to write in brackets). Here, David chats about turning pro back in the 1990s and those difficult earlier years; the devastation of ITV losing its TV coverage and him his job; his new life at Factor bikes and the science behind Factor's new superbike, the Factor One; Factor parting ways with Israel-Premier Tech for political reasons; what it's like having your sister, Fran, as CEO of Rapha; whether he's duty-bound to ride the Rapha Festive 500; and his general and utter love for cycling.Merry Christmas, and thanks for listening for a whole year (or just reading this bit, possibly never having listened at all).Interview begins at 11.34This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------This episode is also brought to you by Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride, am epic, four day, 250-mile trip around Belgium and Northern France that raises money for Armed Forces veterans and their families. See helpforheroes.org.uk for moreDid you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, James and Will are joined by Dr Hutch, the legendary British time-trial rider (second only to Beryl Burton in national wins) turned Cambridge-educated doctor turned journalist. Dr Hutch is a longstanding columnist in Cycling Weekly (other cycling magazines are available, see our link to Cyclist below y'know), commentator, pundit, voice of cycling authority and author of several books including the critically acclaimed The Hour, a warts-and-all account of his ill-fated attempt at the Hour record, Faster: The obsession, science and luck behind the world's fastest cyclists, and most recently, Further: Seeking the distant limits of cycling endurance (Atlantic).In this episode, Dr Hutch explains the moment he 'cried for seven hours on a bike', how Haribo jelly-snakes saved his bacon, the mental madness and fortitude of endurance racing from national 24hr TTs to the Transcon, what makes a endurance specialist special, and why failing to take the Hour was exactly what it says: a failure, but one that rewarded him with lifelong lessons that have shaped his cycling ever since.The interview begins at 9.26This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------This episode is also brought to you by Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride, am epic, four day, 250-mile trip around Belgium and Northern France that raises money for Armed Forces veterans and their families. See helpforheroes.org.uk for moreDid you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week James and Will are joined by Alistair Brownlee, legendary triathlete turned Ironman champion turned gravel racing extraordinaire turned sports scientist turned... If there was a personification of the polymath endurance athlete, Alistair is it, from being the only triathlete to hold two Olympic individual triathlon titles, to sacrificing his own race to carry his exhausted brother, Jonny, across the finish line, to starting his own sports nutrition company, TrueFuels, to top-tenning some of the most notorious gravel events in the world, to... Here we go again with the listing, so you should probably just listen to the episode.Interview begins at 9.00This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------This episode is also brought to you by Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride, am epic, four day, 250-mile trip around Belgium and Northern France that raises money for Armed Forces veterans and their families. See helpforheroes.org.uk for moreDid you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Robyn and Will are joined by Emma Pooley, Tour de France women's winner in 2009 (or the Grande Boucle Féminine as it was then), Olympic medallist, UCI world time-trial winner, multiple national road and time-trial champion and triathlon and duathlon champ, plus a first class honours student at Cambridge and University Challenge contestant to boot. Oh, and Emma also won the Brompton bike racing world championships and held the Everesting record in 2020 - 8,848m climbed in 8h 53m 36s, or ten loops of a 6.8km, 13% climb back-to-back plus descents. Incredible.In this episode, Emma talks about the psychological difficulties inherent in being a pro; the pressure of conforming to ideals like weight for riders; her highs and lows throughout her career; plus her new book, Oat to Joy, in which she explains the role of the humble grain in a cyclist's diet, along with recipes and stories about her life on a bike.Interview begins at 5.16Emma Pooley's Oat to Joy, a recipe book plus stories of her cycling life, is available now at emmapooley.net-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week James is joined by Dr Xavier Disley, sports scientist, aerodynamicist, national masters track champion and founder of AeroCoach, a UK collective of coaches, scientists and engineers who are all obsessed with one thing: making cyclists go faster. To that end, Xavier has worked with WorldTour teams and winners of all three Grand Tours, track champions, Hour record breakers, component manufacturers and clothing makers, all with one goal in mind: going faster.In our chat Xavier explains the basics of aerodynamics and the pursuit of speed from the ground up - underlying principles, how a rider/bike works, mistakes people make that slow them down, the best bang for buck when it comes to kit, and the all-important holy grail, how to go faster for free. It's a techie subject but Xavier explains it in a brilliantly relatable way, so put the kettle on and settle into you favourite chair. Or onto your turbo. Whatever works for you.Interview begins at 7.03-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Robyn (and Will for the intro) is joined by Uno-X’s expert hotel reviewer and star racer, Magnus Cort. Winner of stages at all three Grand Tours, Magnus is now experiencing a new lease of life in the Classics with recent podiums at both Eschborn-Frankfurt and the Bretagne Classic, plus 6th place at Milan-San Remo this season. In this episode, the Dane speaks about his transition from stage hunter to one-day specialist, how he became a social media star, dyeing his moustache blue for a bet, the Monument he dreams of winning and his penchant for breakaways.Interview begins at 3.20-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, James is joined by cycling coaching guru Joe Friel. Joe started coaching amateur and elite riders in the US in the 1980s, before becoming a household name in training in 1996 as author of The Cyclist's Training Bible, arguably the most successful cycling training guide of all time and still in print today in its fifth addition. In 1999 Joe founded TrainingPeaks with son Dirk and friend Gear Fisher, the training and analysis platform that most would agree still sets the bar for digital coaching tools, used by WorldTour pros and amateurs alike. This summer, Joe released his new book High-Performance Cyclist, and here he discusses many of its themes, including how to ride slower to get faster and measuring progress with on easy metric, to the importance of sleep and eating tricks for weight loss.Joe Friel's latest book, High Performance Cyclist (Bloomsbury) is available to buy here.Interview begins at 6.07-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Robyn (and James, but just for the intro) is joined by Kasia Niewiadoma Phinney, winner of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes and all-round star rider at Canyon–SRAM zondacrypto. That is, Kasia can win stage races, one day races, Classics, national titles, World titles... you name it, the Polish ace has a trophy and a jersey for it. Here, Kasia candidly talks about dealing with disappointment at this year's TDFF, where she finished third, her evolving definitions of success, her fearlessness as a rider, her hopes for the upcoming World Championships in Rwanda and the legacy she hopes she and her fellow riders will leave future generations of cyclists. Interview begins at 7.43-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, James is joined by cycling journalist and author Chris Sidwells, to explore the life and times of Britain's most storied rider, Tom Simpson, on the eve of Simpson's historic World Championships win, 60 years ago, almost to the day.As Simpson's nephew (his mother was Simpson's sister), Chris is uniquely placed to tell us the tale of the miner's son from County Durham who'd become the first Briton to wear the yellow jersey in, winning countless races including three of the five Monuments along the way. As most will know, the end of the Simpson story is a tragic one, but while Chris talks candidly about that day on Mont Ventoux and the situation leading up to it, he's also here to remember Simpson as the trail-blazing, mercurial rider, whose palmarès deserves to be the thing we remember him for most.So sit back and enjoy stories you may have heard before, only uniquely told with hidden insights, plus many more stories you haven't, as we celebrate the extraordinary feats of Mr Tom.From 7th-14th September, Chris and his Cycling Legends friends will be hosting an extended Tom Simpson Cycling Festival in Harworth, Nottinghamshire, which includes sportives, cycling talks and films, the Tom Simpson Museum reopening, and the return of the Retro Weekender, replete with Simpson Retro Ride, Best in Show vintage bike competition and all manner of cycle-centric fun, from grass track racing to the retro bike jumble. See cyclinglegends.co.uk .Interview begins at 5.40-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, James and Will are joined by three-time Olympic gold medallist Ed Clancy. At 16, Ed had been scouted by British Cycling’s Academy, where he came up with riders like Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas, and by 2008, aged 23, he’d won his first gold medal in the Olympic Team Pursuit. Two more golds followed in same event, at London 2012 and Rio 2016, as well as a bronze in the Omnium in 2012, making Ed one of the most successful British cyclists of all time, and one of only a handful of athletes to have won golds at three successive Olympics.Over a career spanning two decades, Ed won dozens of track medals at World and National level and broke multiple world track records, and enjoyed an illustrious career racing on the road for one of Britain’s most successful domestic teams, Rapha-Condor, before retiring in 2021.Today, Ed works as the active travel commissioner for South Yorkshire, advises British Cycling on various projects, mentors, coaches and has just written a new book, Full Gas Forever, a 40+ Cyclist’s guide to riding faster and further, co-written with Lexie Williamson.In this episode, Ed tells us about life under Dave Brailsford, having people joke about breaking his shoulders for aerodynamic gains, turning 40 and how that’s changed his cycling mentality, accidentally ‘winning’ the Fred Whitton sportive, and what it was like competing in his day versus what riders have to go through now.Ed's new book, Full Gas Forever, is published by Bloomsbury and available here.Interview begins at 12.20-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.