Life in the Peloton, presented by MAAP

Talking Luft Top 6's! Milan San-Remo's Most Influential

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Ok guys, here we go, Classic season is almost here and to get things going we’ve torn up the old Talking Luft script, and come up with something new! 

So then, let me introduce Talking Luft’s Top Six… 

In this new format, we are going to focus on a single race with our guests and discuss the six most influential rides or editions that each of us can remember from that particular race. 

It doesn’t need to be the most famous or prestigious win that makes it, but instead some of those rides that made that race (or winner) stand out - either to the world or even just to our guest. 

I bet almost everyone has a different top six for every race out there. It could be the first edition that someone remembers, a year where a rider won against the odds or with real style, it could be a win that launched a rider’s career or changed the way race is raced. 

With the first Monument of the season just around the corner, I thought what better way to kick things off than to start with our Top Six Most Influential at Milan-San Remo. For this first edition, I was lucky enough to be joined by a very familiar voice for our Australian listeners, Dave McKenzie. 

Macca as we all know him, was a pro for nearly a decade in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s - and he knows a thing or two about racing in Italy, as he has a Giro stage win on the palmarés! These days he is best known as one of the most highly regarded cycling commentators in Australia. 

Macca was a great guest for this first-ever edition of the top six, he’s just that bit older than me so we cover a couple of generations and - like me, he also loved the challenge of nerding out on such a cool race. 

Even though I raced San Remo a couple of times myself, there was still a heap that I learned from hearing someone else view on which riders and how they had shaped a different person’s opinion of such an amazing race.

So if you want to find out what we started with, which editions and riders we agreed and disagreed on (and why it is a top six and not a top five) then give it a listen.

Cheers!

Mitch

Life in the Peloton Chronicles: Sauna life

This is a short excerpt from the longer episode. To listen to the whole thing and future episodes become a member of The Pelo. 

For our second subscriber special, in this episode of Life in the Peloton’s Chronicles, Sveino and I take a deep dive into the hot topic of sauna life. 

Saunas were something that both of us got into at a young age and also found ourselves getting into during our racing careers, and since then (but not because of us!) more and more people are being drawn to the many benefits of a good sweat followed by a duck into some freezing water. 

Even though we both knew that saunas were ‘good’, we weren’t ever really aware of why or how. This episode of Chronicles allows us to get stuck in to a really interesting topic that could have a benefit for every single cyclist out there. 

To kick things off, Sveino has gone native and talks to his good friend, and former racing buddy, Marsh Cooper about the culture of the sauna. Marsh is Canadian by birth but now lives in Finland where the sauna is as much a part of life as the pub is in Australia! He explains the many social functions of the sauna and how its use as part of daily life benefits millions of Finns every year. 

Going deeper into the potential benefits for athletes, I then spoke to EF Easypost’s Director of Sports Science Dr Kevin Sprouse. I asked him exactly what is happening in the body when you take a sauna and how this can help an athlete. I found this whole conversation fascinating. We discussed the how’s and why’s as well as the best way to implement using a sauna to benefit your own performance. 

Finally, staying local, I spoke to a neighbour of mine here in Lancefield, John Simpson the owner of Hello Sauna who actually builds saunas! I got to sit down (and have a sweat) while we talked about how they are constructed, the best wood to use to build them, and the actual process of making a sauna. 

‘Sauna life’ as Sveino and I have often called it, is a fast developing culture in the UK and Australia, going hand in hand with wild swimming and other healthy and simple pursuits that not just sportsmen but also the general public are getting the benefits from. 

So, whether you fancy working a bit of sauna action to your training program, if you are already on it and you want to know exactly what benefits it can have, or even if you are already on the verge of getting your own one built, then I think there is something in this pod for everyone. 

Sit back, chuck a bucket of water (or beer) on the coals, and enjoy! 

Cheers!

Mitch

Allen Lim the Skratch labs dude

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In this episode of Life in the Peloton I get to have a chat with one of the most interesting (and interested) people I’ve met in the world of cycling, co-founder of Skratch Labs, Allen Lim.

Dr Lim… Allen… or Al (as you can call him) may not be the first person who springs to mind when we think of the transformation of the sport over the past couple of decades. However, as he explains in this pod, his thinking and approach to the sport helped cycling move forward beyond a very traditional world to a much healthier and professional sport, from the use of power meters at Phonak to the development of the bio-passport at Garmin - Slipstream.

I first met Allen whilst riding for EF Pro Cycling after a huge day in the saddle at training camp. I was blown away by how he managed to stand in front of a bunch of tired bike riders and an hour later have the whole room wide-eyed listening to his story. He is so passionate about helping athletes improve. What is more his own story is genuinely fascinating and includes some of the most important characters and periods in the sport in recent times.

Allen is a guy who has made a career from listening to people and finding ways to solve what he calls the ‘bottlenecks’ to performance. I love chatting with Allen because he asks questions that others don’t seem to be able to ask, and his philosophies around nutrition are based on real food and supplying what athletes really need.  This is pretty much the exact reason that he ended up making sports nutrition after spending one race in Ireland having to feed the riders with only boiled potatoes!

As well as discussing his background with me, Allen also took the time to answer some of your questions at the end, and - as you’ll hear, his answers as always are worth a listen!

There is a lot in this one: whether you love the details of sports science & nutrition, the history of cycling, or even just a great story. Sit back relax and enjoy.

Cheers!

Mitch

The Race Communiqué - Episode 2

We’re back this week with the Race Communiqué; getting the inside track on what is happening in the pro peloton with myself and my good mates Luke Durbridge and Tom Southam.

The last month has been a busy one for the pro peloton. We’ve had the first European races, some stage race action in the Middle East, plus of course the most important bit - the classics season finally got going over the weekend in Belgium, at Het Niewsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. 

Naturally we had a load to catch up on and we managed to pack a heap into this pod. As well as the racing news, I ask what we can really learn from Opening Weekend - what it feels like to ride it, and whether it is worth skipping if you want to win big later on? 

Durbo – who was fresh (or as fresh as you can be) off racing the Opening Weekend himself, has some great insight as to what happens when a race is impacted by severe weather and what the process looks like to change a race on the go. It’s something that fans rarely get to hear about but something that impacts everyone involved – including those of us watching at home. 

Talking of harsh weather, Tom has just returned from O Grand Camino in Galicia, where he saw up close the condition of defending Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard and draws a few conclusions from the action there – as well as nominating his favourite tactical ploy of the month.

There was so much to chat about, and we covered much more in our conversation but most excitingly (for me) we have a new format for (the newly retitled) Communiquiz!

As well as a new name Durbo also takes over this month as question master – meaning that I get to go head-to-head with Tom in the new format. I’ll leave it to you to have a listen and see who comes out on top!

We had a lot of fun with this, and we hope that you guys do too.

Cheers!

Mitch

The Aussie Monument - Melbourne to Warrnambool

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The Melbourne to Warrnambool is a race like no other. It may not get a huge press outside of Australia, but the 129-year-old event truly is an iconic race.

Starting off as a handicap back in 1895 the race route has never included any major climbs, instead it is a race that is shaped by its brutal length and frequent crosswinds. In years gone by it was the biggest race of the year for generations of domestic Australian professionals, in recent years it has been a direct stepping-stone to the professional world for riders like Cam Scott and Jensen Plowright. 
 
In this edition of Life in the Peloton we get stuck in to all the things that make this great race so special. I tracked down and spoke to some absolute legends of the race; Tim Decker, Peter ‘Bulldog’ Besanko and Simon Gerrans. 
 
There was so much great stuff that came out of what these three very different riders had to say about the race. We covered some of Bulldog’s wild stories from a much different era in the handicap events in the seventies and eighties – when the riders used to do the three hundred kilometres on three (yes three) bidons! 
 
Tim explained how he was probably the last of a generation of riders who used to prepare specifically for the event, and what the race meant to him. While Gerro – who turned pro off the back of beating some top Euro pros at the race in the early 2000s explains what an impact winning the race can have even now. 
 
But that isn’t all! Not content with never having done the race myself, I managed to get ‘hands on’ in this year’s edition behind the wheel of a team car as DS for Team Duda, a local Melbourne outfit.  It was a great day out in the team car (my first one behind the wheel!) and it finally gave me a great taste of what this race really is about.  
 
The passion and the history of this race really comes across from everyone I spoke to for this pod, and I just love some of the stories that came out. It really is epic stuff. It may not be a Monument in the context of the big five European Classics, but I think that it is a race that has earned the title: The Aussie Monument.

Talking Luft! TDU Special

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We’ve got a bumper edition of Talking Luft for you this week, as I had the chance to hit up the 2024 World Tour peloton with some of our favourite - and most important, questions from the show, at the Tour Down Under.

The TDU starts are famously laid back, so it was the perfect place for me to mill about and get some answers from some World Tour heavyweights, lightweights and everything in-between. We’ve got the likes of Bernie Eisel, Bauke Mollema, Dan McLay, George Bennett, Danny Van Poppel and Kellan O’Brien, to name just a few of the amazing group that we got for this pod.

I hit them up with the big racing issues of course; what are the best (and worst) parts of a race, and why? What is it like starting the season Down Under - and why is it so good? Being Talking Luft, I also cross examined the guys on some key style issues like, how do you wear your casquette? And shoes, black or white?

You’d think that in 2024 everyone would know not to wear their cap swimming hat style, or not to choose black shoes and white socks… but you’d be surprised!

As always this was a really fun one to make, with some great names from the peloton.

Have a listen, enjoy and judge the sock choices as harshly as you like!

Cheers!

Mitch

Life in the Peloton Chronicles: Making it

Chronicles is a new podcast that I’m excited to be bringing as exclusive member content for 2024. This is a short excerpt from the longer episode. To listen to the whole thing and future episodes become a member of The Pelo. 

For this series, I’ve got together with my good friend and former team (and room) mate Svein Tuft. As a few of you will know, ‘Sveino’ is a fascinating guy, with a unique perspective on pretty much any subject out there. 

Both Svein and I love to dive into new topics – take them apart and discuss ideas, theories, and trends from every possible angle. Back in our racing days, we would spend hours - in the saddle or hotel rooms, chewing over ideas, challenging each other, and looking at ways to learn and develop our understanding of the sport. 

This is what we wanted to recreate with Chronicles. It’s a chance for us to get together and get stuck into the topics that interest us in and around pro cycling. We’ll be listening to people’s stories, asking questions, doing the research, and gathering the information that allows us and you to get to grips with these key parts of the sport and the wider culture of pro cycling. 

First up, this month we started with a question that we have both been looking for the answer to: how do you turn professional? 

This was something that jumped out at us when we thought: why us? How did we make it, and not others? What did we do so differently or well? Or was it just luck? 

To unpack this subject, we wanted to get as many angles of the conversation as possible, and we have a whole host of people with a range of opinions and expertise. 

We kick things off with a man who wrote the book, ‘How to Become a Pro Cyclist’, Jack Burke and asked the question, if turning pro really is something that you can engineer, or if it’s too random even for people who ‘get’ how the system works? 

Svein spoke to a key figure in the US racing scene Jonas Carney, the former manager of Human Powered Health, to discuss what a team looks for when selecting riders, whilst I spoke to my old boss Matt White of Jayco Alula about how teams work with agents to find new talent. 

Sticking inside the teams, we also caught up with Sebastian Langeveld from EF Education Easypost who oversees scouting riders for EF and asked him if it was all numbers and data these days or if there is such a thing as the X factor. 

We also spoke to two current riders, James Whelan of Q36.5 and Riley Sheehan of Israel Premier Tech, who gave us opposing stories of what happens when you get to the World Tour too easily and how hard it can be to have to battle through the ranks. 

Just as we hoped there was so much great stuff that we could get stuck into here, turning pro and how you do it is a massive topic that certainly doesn’t have a simple answer. And as always with Svein, the fun part was exploring the subject! Have a listen as we do our best to understand all about it. 

Cheers!

Mitch

Grassroots to World Tour with Luke Plapp

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As things are wrapping up on a fantastic Aussie summer of racing, I’ve got one more piece of Australiana for the pod: three-time Aussie national road champion Luke Plapp. 

This was a really cool pod for me to record. Both Luke and I are members (and started out) at the Brunswick Cycling Club, here in Melbourne. I happily took the opportunity to go back to the Brunswick Velodrome to catch up with Luke a few weeks ago, in what was the early phase of his build-up to what he hopes will be a breakout season. 

Even though he’s still only twenty-three, it seems like ‘Plappy’ has achieved a lot in a short space of time. Before turning pro with Ineos in 2022, he was a decorated track cyclist, picking up Olympic and Commonwealth Games medals, as well as a junior world title. 

It’s been such a fast rise, I was really keen to get the whole story from Luke: going from a sports-obsessed kid in Melbourne, his time on the track, and turning pro with one of the biggest teams in the world. 

I also wanted to know about how he’d adapted to life as a pro in Europe and to hear about the challenges that he faced having turned professional with limited exposure to racing and living over there. 

Like a lot of champions, Luke has a great ability to recognise and work on the things that will help him improve. It was really eye-opening for me to have such a humble conversation with someone in his position. I think it’s a great listen because of this, and there is a lot in his approach that could be of real interest to you guys at home. 

Indulge in the last rays of the Aussie summer, and give this a listen; you’re gonna love it!

Cheers!

Mitch

The first Race Communiqué of the season

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Welcome to the first Communiqué for the 2024 season!

First off, I’m delighted to say that my good mates Luke Durbridge and Tom Southam are back with me for another year.

If you haven’t heard it yet, the Communiqué is our pro racing specific podcast, and I couldn’t think of a couple of better guys to have on board to get some great insight into the races.

As well as being good friends of mine these two have years of experience in pro cycling with Luke currently racing for Jayco Alula and Tom who is a DS at EF Education Easypost.

All through the racing season we will be diving inside the pelo with Luke, hearing the view from the team cars from Tom and, of course, I’ll be providing my own armchair style take on the racing!

For this first episode we’ve got an early season theme. After a good few weeks at home Luke is well settled in Perth, getting ready to start racing without having done any racing back in Australia – something he’s – amazingly – never actually tried before!

He reflects on the difference between starting early at races like TDU or kicking off in the more traditional European style.

We discuss our thoughts on the way that the top riders tackle the off-season these days (or don’t!). He also has some cracking tales from his legendary local bunchie - which I’ll leave for you to enjoy. 

I’ve been on the ground at the Tour Down Under of course, and I’ll bring you up to speed with the latest racing news, as well as a few of the things that grabbed my attention at the first World Tour race of the season.

It’s also been a busy period for Tom, who was DS-ing the early season Australian races. He takes us a bit deeper into the world of the DS and talks about some of the tactical detail of the recent races, as well as getting our thoughts on the why recently retired riders do so well in the team car. 

It was really great to get things going again making this pod. We all love the racing, whether we are doing it ourselves, talking about it, or even just watching and reading about it.

Getting back together and getting into talking about the races was really exciting after the short break. Let’s hope it’s the start of a big year to come.

Sit back, relax and have a listen to The Communiqué.

Cheers!

Mitch

Talking Luft! With Pat Drapac

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We’re right in the middle of the Aussie cycling summer so - keeping with the local theme - for Talking Luft I caught up with my riding buddy Pat Drapac, down in Adelaide’s central market during the Tour Down Under.  

If you’ve not had a listen to the podcast about the adventure that Pat and I had riding across from Melbourne to Adelaide, then go and give it a listen! Pat’s a great talker with a huge range of interests, and he’s also one of Melbourne’s most well-known cycling figures. 

He’s been a rider, a team owner, a team sponsor and as well as many other things, he’s the son of Michael Drapac, whose team I began racing for in 2006, and who went all the way to the podium of the Tour de France as a sponsor of the Cannondale Drapac team. 

Like me, Pat is a child of the nineties and like me, he’s big into his food, so he’s just about the perfect guest for Talking Luft! 

What I loved about Pat’s interview was hearing just how much he goes against the grain of a lot of current riders. He’s also a former chef, so he has the booze questions pretty well covered too! It’s a refreshing listen, and an interesting take on the sport and the surrounding culture. 

So, check it out, and enjoy.

Cheers!

Mitch