Best Cycling Podcasts 2020: 8 you should listen to – Red Bull

Whether you’re looking for something to listen to at home, while working or even when out on the bike, podcasts are a great way of getting to know more about your favourite sport and the characters within them using only your ears.

Typically less polished than online articles or videos, podcasts range from interview-based episodes to informative chat shows, and with both established and new players in the cycling realm, there’s really something for everyone.

Ranging from inspirational stories to the latest professional cycling news, and industry insiders to digging deeper into some of the sport’s difficult questions, there really is a cycling podcast out there, whatever your chosen discipline. Here, Katherine Moore from the adventure and bikepacking-focused series Unpaved Podcast shares some of her favourites.

Extraordinary tales from both cyclists and other extreme athletes from around the world, How To Be Superhuman is a new podcast offering is certainly one for those endurance junkies. Hosted by the man who broke the record for running across the United States of America, Rob Pope, the weekly interview-style show includes runners, riders, swimmers, mountaineers and more, who are all linked by the pursuit of pushing the limit of the human body.

Early episodes include guests Mark Beaumont, who broke the round-the-world record by bike, Mollie Hughes on being the youngest woman to scale both sides of Mount Everest at age 26, and ultrarunner Jasmin Paris on taking the overall win at the brutal 268-mile Spine Race.

Perhaps one of the longest-established podcasts in the cycling genre, The Cycling Podcast is a professional road-racing orientated show hosted by the incredibly knowledgeable Lionel Birnie, Daniel Friebe and Richard Moore.

Although the original show started back in 2013, there are now several different series within its roster, including the women’s pro peloton-focused The Cycling Podcast Féminin, presented by Orla Chennaoui; the Service Course series on cycling technology from Tom Whalley; and the newer Explore series from Hannah Troop and recently retired-pro Ian Boswell, looking at the increasingly popular off-road and bikepacking disciplines.

The Cycling Podcast has also brought Life in the Peloton, a podcast by EF Education’s Australian pro Mitch Docker into the family, which offers some fascinating insights from Docker’s teammates and rivals.

UK-based mountain biker Chris Hall founded the Downtime Podcast in 2018 in an attempt to share the advice and training tips that he was learning from strength and skills coaches as he sought to improve his own riding.

Having interviewed a huge range of individuals – from World Cup athletes such as Loic Bruni and Tahnée Seagrave, to videographers, bike park owners, physios, strength and conditioning coaches and mechanics – Chris’ podcast is a go-to for any aspiring downhill mountain biker.

From new episodes to the huge back-catalog of fascinating interviews, this is a great place to learn more about what happens behind the scenes at both local and world-class levels of the sport.

Centred around bikepacking, adventure cycling and the great outdoors, US-based Bikes or Death is an interview-based podcast brought to you by boy scout-turned-cycling enthusiast Patrick Farnsworth.

It’s impossible not to get inspired to go and ‘ride your damn bike’ when you listen to Patrick’s chats with both riders and the people behind this alternative and understated niche of cycling.

Don’t miss Patrick’s series from the US Bikepacking Summit, which features episodes with well-known riders including ultra-endurance racers Lael Wilcox and Sofiane Sehili, and road racer-turned-gravel rider Jolene Holland.

Although not currently producing new episodes, Jack Thurston’s radio show from London-based station Resonance FM is a fantastic archive of stories from right across the cycling world. Dating back to 2004, there are few topics that Jack hasn’t covered, from inner city traffic debates to touring WW1 battlefields in the Dolomites.

Jack’s casual and easy-going approach combined with a fair bit of on-the-bike recording makes the podcast incredibly easy to listen to. Deep-dive into cycling history, explore bicycle poetry or take a fresh look at modern bike racing; it’s all there waiting for you at The Bike Show.

Brought to you by the women behind London’s Look Mum No Hands cycling cafe and London Bike Kitchen, the Wheel Suckers Podcast tackles some of the toughest questions in the game. Race, gender, and disability – how do we get more underrepresented groups into the cycling realm?

Jenni Gwiazdowski and Alex Davis invite some fascinating guests onto their show, as well as document some of the panel-led evenings at the Look Mum No Hands venue. If you’re interested in learning how we can improve the bicycle industry, while having a proper giggle, this is definitely one for you.

Straight out of Portland, Oregon, We Got To Hang Out is as relaxed as the name suggests. Lead hosts Annalisa Fish and Anna Grace Christiansen share stories from guests who are having a positive impact on the wider cycling industry, and from the kind of people that you often don’t hear much about in mainstream cycling media.

Favourite coffee chats include activist and tourer Nam, illustrator Bicycle Crumbs, Trek’s biomechanical engineer Kyle Russ and bikepacking queen Sarah Swallow. As you might be able to tell, there’s a huge breadth in the background of these guests, and the informal atmosphere makes you feel like you’re really getting to know the characters behind the Portland bike scene and beyond.

Celebrating the often overlooked achievements of little-known endurance athletes, the Hidden Athlete Podcast from Australian Ross Burrage is a truly inspirational collection of life stories from everyday people that push themselves to the limit.

While this one isn’t just about cyclists, but the broader endurance sports category, there’s a huge amount to learn from other disciplines. Favourite episodes include interviews with rising star of pro cycling Brodie Chapman, the 2019 Indian Pacific Wheel Race winner Jacob Fryatt, and former winner of the Trans Am Bike Race Abdullah Zeinab,.

Katherine Moore is a gravel rider, bikepacker and co-host of Unpaved Podcast – a podcast series that sees her and her co-host Tom Bonnett travel the length and breadth of the UK to seek out the riders, route masters, gear designers and creatives helping riders get the most out of leaving the tarmac behind. Find out more at www.unpavedpodcast.com