And it's farewell to...
Daniel is joined by Larry and Joe to give a final curtain call to some retiring riders
Every rider reaches the finish line eventually and calls time on their professional racing career. In the pursuit race of life, age catches us all in the end, and this week’s episode focuses on some of the men who are retiring from the peloton this winter.
Daniel is joined by Joe Dombrowski, who went through the transition from pro athlete to ex-pro athlete this time last year, and Larry Warbasse, who has secured (at least) one more year with Tudor Pro Cycling, to talk about some of the high-profile riders who have climbed into the team bus for the final time.
Top of the list, of course, is Mark Cavendish, who quashed any speculation that he might continue by announcing his retirement before winning his final race, the Tour de France Criterium in Singapore. There’s not room here to do his extraordinary career justice and it gave me pause for thought when I realise that when we started The Cycling Podcast in 2013, Cavendish had already won 23 Tour de France stages, Milan-Sanremo and the world title. When we started the podcast, the big Cavendish-related talking point was how he would reboot his career after leaving Team Sky for Omega Pharma-Quick Step. Our sixth episode, covering stage five of the 2013 Tour de France, which finished in Marseille, answered that question succinctly but I don’t think any of us foresaw Cavendish remaining one of the sport’s central characters for another decade.
In an episode packed with anecdotes and encounters, Daniel, Larry and Joe remember not just Cavendish but Thomas De Gendt, who came close to winning the 2012 Giro d’Italia when he took the Stelvio stage by storm, then won the curtailed Mont Ventoux stage of the Tour in 2016 – a day when the actual victor was overlooked because of the sight of Chris Froome running up the mountain – Luis Ángel Maté, Cesare Benedetti, the enigma that is Edvald Boasson Hagen, and Luke Rowe.
FURTHER LISTENING
Don’t mention the record – Covering the Mark Cavendish story (2021)
Hail, Cesare! – An episode of KM0 about Cesare Benedetti made at the 2019 Giro (For FOTP subscribers)
The Lynx’s Last Dance – An episode of KM0 about Luis Ángel Maté made at this year’s Vuelta (For FOTP subscribers)
The Cycling Podcast presented by Shokz
A warm welcome to Shokz, our new title sponsors who are supporting our coverage until the end of the year.
Shokz are pioneers in bone-conduction headphone technology and their open-ear models give great sound quality while allowing you to maintain awareness of your surroundings, making them ideal for when you’re exercising.
Among their sporting ambassadors is Eilish McColgan (above), the Scottish middle- and long-distance runner who won the 10,000m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Shokz are also partners with England Athletics and Parkrun.
I’ve been using Shokz’s flagship model the OpenRun Pro 2 for the last few weeks and my first impression was the combination of fantastic sound quality and comfort. They are different to more conventional headphones in that nothing goes in your ear, which means they are much more comfortable to wear – especially when getting sweaty on the turbo trainer or out on the trails. They hook securely over the ears and the sound passes through the bones behind the ear. A speaker than sits in front of the ear to give the deep bass you want when listening to music, ensuring a richness of sound whether you’re listening to your favourite artists or your favourite podcasts.
There’s even a model made for swimmers, the OpenSwim Pro, which currently has 30% off at uk.shokz.com.
And our all listeners can get £10 off any model, including the already discounted OpenSwim Pro, with the discount code CYCLING10 at uk.shokz.com.
A big thank you to Shokz for supporting what we do.
The Cannibal & Badger offers Friends a warm welcome
Our virtual pub, The Cannibal & Badger, opened its doors earlier this week and is offering a warm welcome to all current Friends of the Podcast subscribers.
The Cannibal & Badger is a deliberately lo-fi forum intended to provide a space away from the distractions and diversions of other social media platforms to discuss professional cycling and the podcast with fellow listeners.
With the new season a couple of months away we’re hoping that by the time the World Tour kicks off again in 2025 Friends of the Podcast will want to drop in regularly to discuss the racing.
As some social media platforms become shoutier and more divisive, we hope The Cannibal & Badger will be characterised by the things that bring us together, a love of cycling and The Cycling Podcast. That’s not to say debate is discouraged – far from it – but we hope that people will consider it a place to swap views as they would face-to-face, with kindness and respect.
There’s a thread encouraging participants to introduce themselves so if you are a Friend of the Podcast log in and join the discussion.
The virtual pub serves cappuccino round the clock and the name should be self-explanatory – inspired by two of the greatest riders of all time.
How to log in
Go to thecyclingpodcast.com
Click on the Friends of the Podcast login
Login using the email address you used to register
Check your inbox and follow the link to your inbox
Find The Cannibal & Badger in the menu
The Grand Tour Diaries – Last 75 copies available
I’ve posted out around 20 or so signed copies of The Grand Tour Diaries, together with a special gift. If you’d like a copy, there’s 75 left, so order now before they all go.
Give the gift of a Friends of the Podcast subscription
Perhaps you’d like to drop a hint to a friend or loved one that you’d like a Friends of the Podcast subscription. Or maybe you’d like to gift a subscription to a fellow cycling fan? Well, you can do so by clicking the button below:
The 12 Hills of Christmas
A reminder that Friend of the Podcast Laurent Audibert is inviting listeners to join him riding the 12 Hills of Christmas route on Sunday, December 8 in memory of our friend Richard Moore. Laurent will be setting off from The Hub cafe in Redbourn High Street at 9am on Sunday, December 8. Everyone is welcome to join the ride and donations to the British Heart Foundation are appreciated. Santa hats, tinsel and other Christmas decorations optional. If you want to listen to the original 12 Hills of Christmas episode of Explore I made, you can do so here. There’s also a link to a GPX file of the route in the show notes.
MAAP’s Black Friday sale is now on
Our clothing partners MAAP recently launched their annual Black Friday sale and there are some fantastic discounts to be had, with 50% off some items. Check it out at maap.cc
Finally, a big thank you to all the listeners to who stopped me to say hello at Rouleur Live in London last week. It was a pleasure to meet and chat to you all. While I was there I met up with a lot of old friends and colleagues including Sean Kelly, and two-thirds of our 2024 Tour de France trio, Young Richard Abraham and Graham Willgoss (not pictured). Richard presented me with a bottle of something drinkable and I think we can tell from the look on his face that it was a gesture of thanks for me laying on the character-building Kebab Shop Experience in Agen during this year’s Tour… LB