Cyclist Magazine Podcast

This week, James and Will are joined by Scottish ex-pro turned team manager, commentator and pundit, Brian Smith.

Brian cut his teeth in the 1980s at the school of cycling hardknocks, ACBB – Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt – in Paris, whose alumni include Jacques Anquetil, Stephen Roche and Pippa York, before turning pro with the legendary British Banana team in 1991. Three successful seasons followed including his first British national road race title, which led to Brian catching the eye of the Motorola team bosses. He signed for the American outfit in 1994, and went on to race alongside Lance Armstrong, Andy Hampsten and Phil Anderson. Brian won his second British national road race title that same year, but as we discuss in our chat, despite such success he found himself disillusioned and on the outside of a sport he loved as cycling embroiled itself in its darkest doping years – something Brian wanted no part of. He hung up his racing wheels in 1996 but returned to the pro-peloton in 2011 as directeur sportif for Endura Racing, where he stayed as it evolved into MTN-Qhubeka then Dimension Data, before retiring in 2014.

Today, Brian can be found with a microphone in hand as a commentator and pundit for Eurosport, and among other parts of that job, Brian discusses his love of commentating and watching the lesser-known Tour of Hellas, a five-stage race around Greece which this year takes place between 6th and 10th of May, so keep an eye out for that one.

There are probably few people with as much experience across the last four decades of cycling as Brian, and certainly few people who talk so candidly about everything from being invited into 'the program' by Lance Armstrong, to having a snake thrown into his shower by Shane Sutton. So get the kettle, pin back your lugholes and listen to this one.

Interview begins at 3.44

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The Tour of Hellas in Greece is a five stage race taking place from 6th - 10th May 2026. Find out more here, and check in with wherever you watch your cycling for broadcast times
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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)

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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 Lee Donaldson, filmmaker and passionate cycling fan, to discuss his upcoming documentary 525: The Unstoppable Eddy Merckx. Lee describes 525 as having ‘the greatest cast of racing champions ever seen in a cycling documentary', and it's hard to disagree. Contributors include Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins, Lotte Kopecky, Bernard Hinault, Sean Kelly, Roger De Vlaeminck, fashion designer Paul Smith and Merckx's old mechanic, Ernesto Colnago, plus Eddy Merckx’s family and, of course, the man himself.

As you might have guessed, Lee now has an encyclopaedic knowledge of The Cannibal to rival his personal passion, so plug in, sit back and enjoy our Merckx-centric chat, which covers everything from Merckx's insane Grand Tour performances, to his tragic crash in Blois, to what it was like going to lunch with the main man.

Interview begins at 3.44

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525: The Unstoppable Eddy Merckx is produced by Lee Donaldson and Simon Hardy's 6 Day Films. Find out more, including where you can watch it, here.

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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)

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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 at the beginning) is joined by Hunter Allen, co-founder of Training Peaks, long-time elite level cycling coach to pros and US national teams, and the man who literally wrote the book on power meters back when torque measurement was just a twinkle in an SRM engineer's eye. That book was, prosaically enough, called Training + Racing With A Power Meter, and it put Hunter at the pioneering frontier of what would become the gold standard in cycling metrics: watts.

Last year Hunter was back with his new book Training + Competing With A Continuous Glucose Monitor, and in this episode we discuss why continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are set to become the new power meter and how they and the sports science involved are already behind the uptick in speeds in the pro peloton. In short, CGMs can help a rider and coach work out precisely when to fuel, and to what extent, for maximum performance, and that means Pogačar and co are breaking more records.

Hunter also talks about how to understand training data, the relationship between heart rate and power, managing training loads and fatigue, and how to develop better nutrition strategies to ride faster. It's a get the kettle on kind of pod, plus maybe fetch a pen and paper, because Hunter knows his stuff and he goes pretty deep.

Find out more about Training + Competing With A Continuous Glucose Monitor here

Interview begins at 9.59

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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.

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 11.34

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).

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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 more

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 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 9.26

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).

------------------

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 more

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.