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On this week’s episode of the road.cc Podcast, bike industry stalwart Rory Hitchens joins us for our annual cycling market health check-up – and tells us why brands being “honest” with themselves have brought the industry back to where it needs to be.

And in part two, Ryan and Dan pore over the details of next summer’s festival of bike racing. Apologies in advance to the people of Carlisle...

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It’s fair to say the opening nine days of the new year have been fairly frenetic when it comes to news. And I’m only talking about our niche, little world of cycling (if you’re looking for Ruben Amorim or Trump chats, I’m sure there are a few football and politics podcasts knocking around the internet).

Which means there was lots to discuss when we convened for our first podcast discussion of 2026. In this week’s episode, we discuss everything from the surprise retirement announcement of one of Britain’s greatest ever cyclists, British Cycling’s decision to construct a paywall for the national cyclocross championships, and the very important matter of ranking this year’s fresh batch of cycling kits.

Oh, and something inconsequential about the government’s attitudes to cycling...

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Christmas is fast approaching (gulp), and that means only one thing… in podcast land, anyway – it’s time for us to don our best paper party hats, break open the archives, and reflect on the biggest cycling stories of 2025.

In part two, the Cycle to Work Alliance’s chair Steve Edgell joins us to discuss Labour’s plans to re-introduce a spending cap on purchases made as part of Cycle to Work – and how the group ‘mobilised’ to stop those plans.

Steve also chats about the continued support for Cycle to Work within the government, how it is key to attracting new cycling converts (especially when it comes to making e-bikes accessible), and why the alliance is working hard to “dispel the myth” that Cycle to Work is catered to rich MAMILs in the Surrey Hills.

Meanwhile, in part one, Ryan, Jack, Dan, and Emily sign off for the year by assessing some of the other big stories from the worlds racing, tech, infrastructure, politics. Happy Christmas!

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On this week’s episode, Ryan is joined by 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans and 2007 Paris-Roubaix victor Stuart O’Grady, two of Australia’s greatest ever cyclists.

The dynamic Aussie duo chat about what they’re up to these days, including O’Grady’s role as Tour Down Under organiser, and reflect on how their perspectives on cycling have shifted since retiring and how much the sport has changed, from increasing professionalisation to greater focus on nutrition and aerodynamics.

They also weigh in on cycling’s ongoing race safety debate (and why gear restrictions and wider handlebars are “common sense”), Tadej Pogacar’s dominance (and why it’s a good thing), the impact of this year’s anti-Israel protests on organisers, teams, and riders, the future of Australian racing… oh, and why we shouldn’t expect a theatre production commemorating O’Grady’s Roubaix victory any time soon.

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Former world time trial champion, Olympic medallist, and endurance sport all-rounder Emma Pooley joins the podcast to discuss her new recipe book/memoir Oat to Joy, her own up-and-down relationship with food, the ‘weight debate’ that erupted in women’s cycling this year (and what she regards as the gender-based hypocrisy surrounding it) and her times spent fighting the sport’s ‘idiots’… especially when it came to a celebratory post-win hot chocolate.

We also chat about Pooley and her generation’s role in growing women’s cycling, the battle for the Tour de France Femmes, getting used to riding slowly on the morning commute, and why sometimes making enemies is a sign you’re doing a good job…

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“This is crazy. It’s Russia, you don’t illegally enter Russian territory. You don’t do that!” says Sofiane Sehili. Except he did… And the ultra-endurance legend tells us all about it on this epic episode of the podcast.

In September, Sehili was a day away from breaking the world record for the fastest Eurasia crossing by bike when he was refused entry to Russia at the country’s border with China. Undeterred, he forged on through a forest, through streams, and over barbed wire across the border. After handing himself in, he was arrested, spending 51 days in a Russian jail before being sent home.

Now back home safe in France, Sehili talks in depth about that dramatic conclusion to his latest record attempt, his 51 days in a jail in Russia’s Far East, and the response he’s got since returning home.

We also chat about the logistical planning that goes into these mammoth, ultra-cycling rides, how his perspective on life has changed since his time in Russia, and – most importantly – what happened to his bike when he was in jail…

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20 years ago, former England footballer, Crystal Palace captain, and cancer survivor Geoff Thomas first made his mark on the cycling world by completing all 21 stages and 3,593km of the 2005 Tour de France, a day before the Lance Armstrong-led peloton.

Since then, Thomas’s Tour 21 has developed into a huge deal, and every year groups of amateurs follow in his wheel tracks and ride the Tour route one week before the pros, raising millions of pounds for Cure Leukaemia. And this summer, Geoff marked two decades since his first French summer by riding his seventh Tour 21.

In a wide-ranging chat, Geoff discusses his own cancer story, the origins of his Tour rides, the highs and lows of 20 years of riding a bike around France, his experiences with a certain Texan, his relationship with cycling beyond the Tour, and why cycling in a group isn’t that far removed from being part of a football changing room.