Stanley St. Social | Cycling News and Interviews

Max Gawn sits down with Santos Tour Down Under race director Stuart O’Grady to go through the 2027 route, stage by stage, the morning after Max and Ed Langdon Everested Willunga Hill.
They talk leaving Willunga out of his first race as director. O'Grady explains how the men’s and women’s races will run on the same day, on the same course, for the first time in the Australian summer.
In this episode:
Max’s Everest numbers: 8,911 metres, 13,000 calories and 21 hours in the saddle
A short, steep climb three times in the final of stage one from Henley Beach
Corkscrew twice on stage three, now turning right like the women did this year
Willunga Hill from a new direction, and a Norwood to Stirling finale
How points farming has changed the TDU, and Max on Jayco’s Australian identity
The 2028 route Stewie’s already designed, and whether Pogačar is coming

CPA president Adam Hansen joins us fresh from the first UCI cycling reform meeting to talk rider safety, salaries and anti-doping from the inside.
Heads up: the audio isn’t our usual standard, but what he shares is well worth pushing through for.
Adam takes us through what was discussed at the reform table, and how rolling road closures actually work after a week of vehicles on course in the Italian races.
He lays out his top five safety priorities, from GPS trackers and hookless tyres to helmets only rated to around 22 km/h, and why he expects trackers in every race by mid-next year.
We also get into the ITA night tests on Tadej and Jonas at the Tour, the flaws in the ADAMS whereabouts system that riders fear more than testing itself, why he believes the peloton is clean, and where airbags fit into the future of racing.

Max Gawn's top five transfers of the trade period so far, from Giulio Ciccone to Q36.5 and Filippo Ganna to Lidl-Trek to Ben Turner at Soudal Quick-Step.
Plus Paul Seixas wins Il Lombardia, Per Strand Hagenes takes Paris-Tours, and Plappy is out of Guangxi with a fractured wrist.
In this Social Club:
Alex hits the wall at the Chicago Marathon, and Jimmy Whelan v Kipchoge in Melbourne
Max on being the heaviest Everester, and why no one over 115kg has beaten him yet
Gravel Worlds in Perth, and whether Paris-Tours should be the sixth monument
Remco's five-minute safety protest at Lombardia, ahead of our Adam Hansen interview
Ciccone v Mauro Schmid, and how Australia sells the Tour Down Under to the world's best riders

The Social Club is presented by Giant. Max's Giant garage now runs to two Propels, two TCRs, an Anthem, a Fathom and a Revolt.
Max is back on Zwift since his Everest, right next to the sauna.

Max Gawn has Everested Willunga Hill: 39 and a half laps, 8,851 metres, no power meter and 115 kilos, alongside Ed Langdon and Hamish Blake.
Plus Plappy on crashes and police motorbikes on the course in Italy, Remco v Ciccone at the Euros, and who wins Il Lombardia.
In this Social Club:
Max's Everest top five, the low points, and why the pub at the bottom matters
Hot laps with Stuart O'Grady and Darren Hicks, and a road closed by the SA Government
Ciccone's mid-contract move to Q36.5, Ganna to Lidl-Trek and Jordi Meeus
UCI points now on offer for track, mountain bike and gravel
Jimmy Whelan v Eliud Kipchoge at the Melbourne Marathon, and Plappy v Pidcock in China
The Social Club is presented by Giant. Max rode his Everest on the Giant Defy.

Former GreenEDGE rider Sam Bewley joins us for a look at what goes on behind the scenes at a WorldTour team. Sam is now Head Sports Director at NSN. His job covers race strategy from the car, deciding which DS goes to which race, and helping recruit the riders who will shape the squad in 2028.
We talk about how NSN is rebuilding into a balanced team after Derek Gee's departure, and how you create a single culture across 25 nationalities. Sam also explains why race calendars and support riders often matter more than salary to young leaders, and how the invite system can leave teams stuck at races they no longer want.
He goes inside Biniam Girmay's Tour de France campaign and explains why the team stayed motivated without a stage win. He also remembers his first race as a DS, directing Chris Froome at the Tour Down Under, and shares the beer-with-the-mechanics approach he took to building trust in the job.