Life in the Peloton, presented by MAAP

Sepp Kuss - More Than a Super Domestique

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by Rapha

 

It’s great timing to have this guy on the pod, he is the man of the moment and has been dominating the Vuelta a Espana – I’m talking of course about Sepp Kuss.

I was so excited to get Sepp on the pod to learn a bit more about this enigmatic American rider and hear the backstory of his meteoric rise to the top ranks of the World Tour. He’s something of an anomaly in the pro peloton, having tread a very different route to the top of the sport. He came through the junior ranks as a mountain biker, having grown up in the remote, mountainous city of Durango Colorado, which is known for its incredible trails and vibrant mountain biking community. On moving to Boulder to study at university, he discovered road cycling and started racing on the American circuit.

During his early days of racing, when he was just starting to capture the attention of American teams, it was a meeting with Jumbo-Visma DS Grischa Niermann that catapulted Kuss from a relatively unknown, new on the scene young American talent, to European pro, and one of the most sought-after domestiques in the sport - and more recently, bona fide Grand Tour contender.

He’s part of a new generation of incredible American talent coming through the ranks, which is so exciting to watch, and we delve into some of this to see what the cycling landscape is like in the US currently in the post-Lance era, and where the future of the sport is headed. We also chatted about the pressures that come with being a Grand Tour contender, and whether he feels the pull to ride as a GC contender himself. We talked about what it’s like being the main support to these superstar riders, as well as the personalities and quirks among some of the sport’s biggest names that Sepp has ridden for.

I hope you enjoy the listen!

Cheers,

Mitch

Talking Luft! With Andy White aka FYXO

Talking Luft is back, and I'm chatting with my friend Andy White aka FYXO, to put him through the full Talking Luft treatment!

Last week on Life in the Peloton I sat down with FYXO to talk about a whole range of fascinating things, from what it's like to work as a bike messenger, to the underground subculture of alley-cat racing, and all things fixed gear riding - plus a whole lot more. It was a super fun episode and I loved getting to know more about one of the more niche ‘pelotons’ out there. If you haven’t listened to it, head over and check it out.

But today, we’re on the Talking Luft program! You know the drill by now – I put FYXO through his paces with a little quiz, I tried to squeeze some extra fixie knowledge out of him, and he’s a bit of a style guru so it was a great chance to get a bit of a glimpse into what’s cool in the world of fixed gear bikes and alley cat racing.

I won’t spoil it for you but get ready to hear about FYXO’s love of the history and nostalgia of retro 90’s cycling– he’s a fan of the full Indurain casquette style, he loves a beanie, and he’s been known to be partial to a skin suit. I hope you have as much fun listening along as I had putting this one together!

Cheers,

Mitch

 

Fixed Gear Riding with FYXO aka Andy White

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We’ve finally got him on the pod – a spot that in his own words, he was born ready for, and I couldn’t be more excited to chat with my friend FYXO (aka Andy White), to take a deep dive into the fixie world. It morphs nicely into the trajectory that Life in the Peloton has taken this year, where I’ve been talking a lot about uncovering all the different pelotons out there, and this is one of the most niche pelotons of them all.

Andy and I go way back to our days racing the club scene in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, where he used to race on an old vintage steel bike. He spent time as a bike courier in London, where he worked during the ‘heyday’ of the profession – where businesses would courier documents around the city in the same way we now send an email. It was a bit of an unexpectedly cool, cult profession at the time, that came with a bit of street cred. It was also from within the world of bike couriers that alley cat racing kicked off – which is an underground subculture of unstructured night races around the city, usually starting from the pub after a few pints.

He has dabbled in all aspects of fixie riding since settling back in Melbourne, most notably setting up his brand FYXO, which was all about bringing fixed gear bikes into the country during the boom in fixie riding that happened a few years back and documenting his adventures around the world riding alley cat races. It’s fascinating to hear about how Andy became immersed in this world and raced the alley cats in the cities of London and New York, before eventually bringing alley cat racing Down Under, and typically in his own unique way - in a style that he calls alley cats for the masses. The largest of these is the Melburn - Roobaix, which is now in its 16^th year and has become synonymous with fixed-gear riding in Melbourne. It combines many of the different subcultures of cycling and the result is a fun, epic day of cycling, and something that I love being part of.

I hope you enjoy listening and learning more about the intriguing world of fixie riding!

Cheers,

Mitch

The Race Communique - Episode 2

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It’s just me and my old mate Luke Durbridge this week, with Tom Southam out on the road at the Vuelta a Burgos, but we’ve got plenty to get through on this edition of The Race Communique.

It’s a bit of a tricky part of the year –  it has been a long season and the hype and glory of the biggest races have subsided following the TDF and the World’s, it’s the summer holiday month of August in Europe which lends itself well to lying around on the beach and relaxing, but there’s still plenty of races on the calendar and you need to keep your head switched on.

We recap the incredible ‘Super World’s’ with all the action from the road, track, and the spectacle of having all disciplines of cycling together in one giant festival. We really dig into the incredible World’s Road Race – epically long at over 270km, a 57-minute stoppage due to protesters, and the 48-plus corner circuit around the streets of downtown Glasgow with the atmosphere and the unbelievably high level of racing – there was a lot to unpack.

And we chat about the lead into the upcoming Vuelta a España, with a look at the course and some predictions about the types of epic battles we can expect when it hits the slopes of the Tourmalet and l’Angliru.

So, sit back and enjoy this insight into the pro peloton and the world’s biggest races on The Race Communique!

Cheers,

Mitch

 

Understanding Nutrition with Will Girling

 

It’s hard to find someone more knowledgeable about sports nutrition than Will Girling – he has been a nutritionist at all levels of the professional cycling world, from Continental to pro-Continental, up to World Tour level, and he’s been the nutritionist at EF Education-Easy Post for the past several years, where we first crossed paths. He also holds a Master of Sports Nutrition and is currently working towards a Doctorate – in short, he knows his stuff.

 

So while he knows top-level nutrition as well as anyone out there, what I mostly wanted to talk to Will about was how amateur and weekend warrior cyclists should approach their nutrition, to prepare for racing and maintain optimal nutrition in general, and how they should approach recovery nutrition - since they need to get themselves back to work on Monday morning following an event, rather than having time at home to recover like the pros. Will has some fascinating insights and learnings that he applies from the pro level back to the everyday cyclist (and athlete), as well as heaps of personal experience of his own preparing for and doing the ultra-distance bike-packing expeditions around Europe that he loves.

 

Turns out there’s a bit more to it than just carb-loading the day before the event, so sit back and enjoy the listen and I hope you get a few tips for your next race!

 

Cheers,

 

Mitch

 

Talking Luft! Tour de France History Edition

This week on Talking Luft we’re taking one last look back at the 2023 TDF, where I took my History of the Tour de France quiz to the masses! Or better put, to a whole bunch of current pros and DS’s that I managed to pull aside for a chat on the roadside of the Tour, to put them through their paces - including Caleb Ewan, Mat Hayman, Ian Stannard, Jai Hindley, Luke Durbridge, and Neilson Powless, among others.

It required a bit of specialist TDF knowledge, and a bit of historical insight, plus a few just for fun, like whose legs would you want in this year’s TDF, would you go full polka dot with the KOM jersey, which is the hardest of the Grand Tours, what does ASO stand for, and can you name the five winners of five or more Tours?

I’ve gotta say, some of the efforts were a bit woeful, and a couple were a little bit controversial, but we had plenty of laughs and I hope you enjoy listening along!

Cheers,

Mitch

Maghalie Rochette - The Cycle

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I’ve got something a bit different for you on the pod this week, but it’s a fascinating topic and one that has really gained traction in women’s sport over the past few years.

I’m chatting to Maghalie Rochette - she’s a Canadian cyclo cross rider and mountain biker, she came to the sport from a background in running and triathlon, and she also has her own successful podcast called Fever Talk. But what sets Maghalie apart is that she is known for talking openly about racing as a female and all the struggles that come along with that. On her pod she launched a super successful series where she goes into depth about the challenges for women racing during their menstrual cycle, and in doing so she has created a whole platform where people feel comfortable talking about this topic that was previously something of a taboo.

It’s so refreshing to hear how open she is about it, and fascinating to hear how she has used the science to figure out that not only is it something that does not have to hold you back, but it’s something that can actually make you stronger. We are so aware of the difference between men and women in the professional sense – the prize money, the racing, the equality and the wage gap, but it’s interesting to hear about the physiological differences. And it’s refreshing to hear Maghalie’s take, that racing as a female doesn’t necessarily mean it is harder – it just means it’s important to understand your body so that you can turn it into an advantage. 

It brings up some interesting questions that are relevant to both male and female athletes on how we can use science to understand our bodies better, and in the process learn how to get the most out of ourselves during training and racing, to learn to listen to your body, and how to find the balance between performance and wellbeing.

I hope you enjoy the listen!

Cheers,

Mitch

The Race Communique

I’m back with something brand new for you this week, the first of a new monthly series called The Race Communique.

 

The idea is to get back to our roots, since LITP has moved on from the pro peloton with me, I wanted to get back amongst the action and back to chatting about the World Tour. We’ll be unpacking the trends, the race results, all the news and happenings in the pro peloton – to try to get the lowdown for you, the listener.

 

Joining me on the pod each month will be one of two guys who need no introduction to this podcast – my friends Tom Southam, DS at EF Education-EasyPost, and Jayco-Alula’s Luke Durbridge. We’ll chat race results and analytics, in true LITP style – taking a deep dive into what life is like as a pro, and notable things that have happened at races, from the varied angles of DS, rider, and me – the guy on the outside of the peloton trying to get a glimpse back in to see what’s up and how things have changed.

 

For episode one, we’re talking all things Tour de France, unpacking the amazing Tour that we just witnessed, and looking ahead to the Worlds and other upcoming races. Hang in there for a cheeky quiz at the end, and most of all enjoy the listen to the first Race Communique!

 

Cheers,

 

Mitch 

History of the Tour, with François Thomazeau

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It’s nearing the end of the Tour de France for another year, and I have been in the box seat for the first two weeks of this phenomenon of an annual sporting event, following the Tour with The Cycling Podcast. Along the way, I had the chance to chat with an absolute expert in cycling history – François Thomazeau. His encyclopaedic knowledge of all facets of the Tour is extraordinary, and I am so excited to have him on the pod today walking us through the fascinating history of the Tour, from the earliest iterations of the race, up until this, the 120^th edition.

While we have all become so familiar with the modern Tour, it is an event that is steeped in so much history - over a hundred years of evolution, scandal, and drama - and the idea was to try and get a complete picture of the Tour, from how it came about, to the subtle nuances of the race, and how it has evolved over time. In my opinion, there is no one better in the world of cycling than François to answer all my questions.

We start with the origins of the event, from its inception as part of the early cycling newspaper, Le Vélo, with its epic, 300km long stages, 2 am start times, and famously ingrained methods of cheating, like jumping on the train or skipping whole sections of the course. And we chat about just how important the Tour de France is to the French people, who are bathed in TDF coverage from a young age to the point that July is synonymous with the Tour, and the race itself is a French symbol of fun, of childhood, and of long summer days.

We chat about the recovery of the Tour after its war-induced hiatus, and of the emergence of a new generation of post-war riders that redefined the sport, including the likes of Fausto Coppi – likened to a type of gold dust for the sport, with his forward-thinking methods and slick media appeal – and the beloved Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and later, Raymond Poulidor, and of course the arrival of the great man himself, Eddy Merckx, whose commanding hold on all classifications of the TDF earned him the nickname, The Cannibal.

It was fascinating to hear how this history has culminated in the version of the great race that we now know and love so much – how it became the show for television, how its riders started to emerge as household names, the evolution of the media in cycling, and how riders themselves have had to adapt, in order to succeed in the Tour de France.

I absolutely loved the chance to soak up so much of the history of the Tour de France and to get under the skin of this iconic race with François, and I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into the history of the Tour!

Cheers,

Mitch

Talking Luft! with Adam Blythe

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This week on Talking Luft I’m chatting with an old friend and teammate of mine – he is a former UK national champ, he has ridden for some of the world’s biggest teams, and – I’m calling it – he's the new voice of cycling. I’m talking about Adam Blythe and I can’t wait to put him through the full Talking Luft treatment!

 

I have always admired his crafty racing style and his ability to read a bike race, and when the conditions got tough, he was someone I would always look for because you could bet, he would be reading the conditions and riding smart. It’s a result of having mastered the art of race craft early on, and his insights have really translated well to the commentary box. He's unapologetic about his approach, and about his love of picking apart a race and calling out even the biggest names in cycling when they’re guilty of making questionable tactical decisions – and I just love that about him and his race commentary.

 

He’s also renowned for his retro style and some of these TL questions that I have put to so many riders now are right up his alley, so I can’t wait to get stuck into it. I put a few of the more important Talking Luft themes to him – he’s gravel bike for life, loves plenty of Luft, has strong feelings on all matters of cycling style, and confirms once and for all that, like it or not, the short leg length trend is back in the pro peloton.

 

I hope you enjoy listening along as much as I enjoyed putting this one together!

 

Cheers,

 

Mitch