Tour de Todd

Matisse Julien is originally from a town called Laval a city in Quebec, Canada. This season he's racing for the French team CIC U Nantes Atlantique. It's a continental team. So far he's raced the Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille La Marseillaise, which is the traditional opener to the season in France. Plus, he just finished the Etoile Besseges stage race.Julien is racing the Coup de France season long series along with U23 races and he may do some races like the Tour de l' Avenir and Worlds in Switzerland with the Canadian national team. He says he's expecting between 45-60 race days this season. Definitely expect him to be in peak form for the French race Tro-Bro Leon. Nice in France is his base at the moment. Julien says the training is awesome there. He's not far from the Alps and if he needs to hit the flats that's possible too. Julien started racing his bike around 11 years old. He says he was pretty good when he started. Between 16-17 years old he nearly won everything in Quebec. That's when he got approached by Hot Tubes Cycling team for juniors. He says one of his teammates at the time was Magnus Sheffield who's currently racing for INEOS Grenadiers. From there he rode for Premiertech U23 then Team Ecoflo Chronos for 2023 and now CIC U Nantes Atlantique. Julien says a good season for him would be some good results in class two races and a good national championships.   

Norman Alvis is a Sacramento, California native. He started out as an athlete running cross country. At the same time he rode a bike to and from school. After riding a friends race bike he was smitten. He say it was the adventure, the sensation of being on the bike and having something of his own that drove him. He won his first race solo. He says he did very well from the beginning. 1981 he got his first look by the junior national team by having the teams coach spot him at a restaurant. He won the junior national time trial championship that year. After the 84 Olympic trials he was invited to the national team as an amateur. In 1987 Alvis won his first elite amateur national time trial championship. Then, in 1988 he made the Olympic team time trial team. A funny story he told me was his time racing the Tour of Morocco. If you get a chance ask him about the race. Eventually he turned pro for 7-Eleven and went to France. Alvis thanks Leonard Harvey Nitz for giving him Jim Ochowicz's number. His first race with the team was the La Jolla GP  which he won. His time in Europe was productive and hard. He would race the Tour, the Giro several times, and classics such as Paris Tours, Giro di Lombardia to Liege-Bastogne - Liege while riding for 7-Eleven and Motorola. By the 1995 season he was back in the states racing for Saturn. He would win the U.S. Pro Championship the same year. In 1997 Alvis won the Australian Sun Tour. In 1998 he retired from pro racing. Upon retiring Alvis went to school and got a degree in finance and marketing. He also started a family raising six kids. Alvis still had the competitive drive so he started racing masters races. He continues to win and has one of the best Instagram pages called "Crit Master." What you may not know is that he has multiple attempts at the hour record. But he actually still holds the hour record on an outdoor track. Cool thing though, he's planning to try it again.   

Let me say this first, I'm a history buff when it comes to cycling. I love learning about riders from the past, present, their stats, and who won what race when, where and how.  Willy Wauthle from the Netherlands helps me fulfill my fascination. He is one of the most captivating individuals I've ever met.  Wauthle has one of the most comprehensive Facebook page on the history of cycling, with pictures of the greats from the past to the present. He never misses the opportunity to wish a rider a Happy Birthday or remember someone in death.His Facebook page is only part of Wauthle's story. Here's where his life gets even cooler to me.  Wauthle recently retired as a motorcyclist for European races. I know all of you have seen the motorcycles buzzing by riders during a race or you've seen still photographers or TV camera people on the back of a motorcycle bringing you all the action in races. That was his job for over 40 years. Wauthle says he was there the day Fabio Casartelli died, he told me Guido Bontempi is a close friend, and he has a yellow jersey and bike from the GOAT, Eddy Merckx. 

Yoeri Havik and Jan-Willem Van Schip won the Madison World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland this year in fine fashion. To watch the race you would have seen a master class in how to race a Madison from start to finish.  This interview took place in the middle of the Copenhagen 3 Day. Havik is riding his new white Koga with his signature bars. He looks cool.  We literally went through the Madison they won discussing tactics, their patience for moves, and keeping a cool head while under pressure. We discussed the Copenhagen race, his preps for the European Championships on the track coming up in January in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, and the Olympics to follow in Paris. Havik is in the full swing of the six day season. 

Riley Sheehan is dope. This young man won Paris Tours 2023. I don't know if you're familiar with the race but it's 213.9 km long and starts in Chartres and ends in Tours. The 2023 version started with 157riders. Sheehan started the race as a stagiaire for Israel Premier Tech World Tour Team.  He got a chance to join the team for a training camp at altitude in July. After that he joined the team to race starting August 1st. Sheehan got a general outline of the races he was going to do. Paris Tours was on the list. His first race with the team was the Maryland Classic. The day of Paris Tours Sheehan says he woke up read to go and super motivated. His role in the are was to help Tom Van Asbroeck and Giacomo Nizzolo to the gravel sections. He also had some freedom  to get into a break which he did. At 2 km he realizes he's in the winning break. He says he had to really focus on what's next. He was confident in his sprint. No cramps. Sheehan says the final 50 meters he's freaking out. He says he was expecting someone to pass him but no did. So he posted up with his hands in the air. Sheehan says he finished his season at the Japan Cup. This interview was done once Sheehan finished his around the world trip to get back home and had a few days to relax and rest. 

Angelo Furlan is a sprinting legend. In the early 2000's until 2013 Furlan was racking up big wins in the European cycling world. It was a time where Mario Cipollini, Alessandro Petacchi to Robbie McEwen were winning races at will. Furlan beat all three in races. Injuries in BMX is what led Furlan to road racing. Furlan raced BMX when Italy only had 10 tracks and about a thousand riders. He was no slouch whatsoever. He was European Champion, Italian Champion and he won more or less than 100 races.During his road career he won races like stage 2 of the 2009 Criterium de Dauphine, 2 stages in 2002 Vuelta a Espana and stages in the Etoile de Besseges , Circuit de la Sarthe to the Tour de Serbia and Coppa Bernoochi. He finished his career in 2013 with Christina Watches - Ofone after riding for such teams as Alessio, Domino Vacant, Lampre to Credit Agricole.Today at 46 years old Furlan runs his own cycling center "Angelo Furlan 360" with indoor cycling, coaching to bike fitting.    

Serghei Tvetcov is living with Leukemia. He was diagnosed with cancer in September 2022. He was racing with his Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling Team in the Tour of Romania when he got the results. He says he knew something wasn't right. Tvetcov simply couldn't put out the numbers he was used to doing. So he went and got tested. The test revealed he was living with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. He says the result were a kick in the head. For treatment he takes chemo directed pills twice a day. Every three months he has a genetic test that shows him his response to the meds. He says it's a cancer that's not curable rather it's something he'll live with for the rest of his life. Tvetcov says he plans to race in 2024. His plans include racing gravel and spreading a message of survival. He wants folks who have the same disease to know you can live and thrive while living with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Also in this episode we also touch on his start in cycling, coming to America, racing in Italy, and France. And racing for the famous Gianni Savio. 

Henri Uhlig recently signed his first pro contract with Alpecin Deceuninck. For the past two years he's been riding for their development team. His season just ended after racing the famed Paris-Tours elite race. So, this interview takes place while he's on vacation. Uhlig told me he's not happy with the season he had. He feels there were way too many wins left on the table. His first race of the season was Gent Wevelgem U23. Uhlig says it was his best day on the bike. He got 3rd in that race.  Uhlig got his first win at the Province Cycling Tour in July on stage 3. He followed that up with another win in the Baltic Chain Tour in August on stage 2. He also won the youth and points classifications in that race.  Uhlig's dad was a racer. He says they held him back from racing but eventually got him a mountain bike and then road bike. His first coach was his dad. He was extremely successful as a junior and amateur. He joined the German National Team when he was a junior. He rode for the Rad-Net Rose Team before joining the Alpecin Deceuninck Devo team. Uhlig says he's always wanted to go pro and signing his contract is a dream come true. He says he's ready to get back to training for the new season.   

It's been five years since Simon Gerrans retired from professional cycling.  2018 was his last season. Gerrans says it was a big transition leaving elite cycling. He says it forced him find a new purpose in his life, goals, and new ambitions. He says it wasn't easy so it forced him to stay busy. At first he did an internship at Goldman Sachs and currently he finds himself running "The Service Course," and doing some commentary on the Tour de France.Gerrans grew up on a farm. It was the great Phil Anderson who helped, coached, and mentored him in the beginning of his cycling journey. He would leave for Europe at 19 years old to race for a small Italian amateur team. He would eventually end up in France. He turned pro in 2005 and wound up living in Monaco. Gerrans rode for teams like AG2R Prevoyance, Credit Agricole, Cervelo Test Team, Sky Pro Cycling, Orica GreenEDGE, Orica-Scott to BMC Racing Team. The wins in his career are plenty so I'm only going to mention a few. He won two stages in the Tour, one in the Giro, and one in the Vuelta. Classics? No problem, he won Milan San Remo and Liege Bastogne Liege. I think his most underrated win is his victory in the Melbourne to Warrnambool race in 2003.At 43 years old Gerrans has a young family, he's back in Australia, and he's more than content with his legacy amongst the greats of cycling. 

Grant Koontz started racing a bike in his senior year of high school. He was diving and then jumped on a bike. The Houston, Texas native says his physical talents didn't mesh with football to basketball. By the time Koontz got to college he'd won a national time trial championship. He credits the riding community of Houston for giving him direction and guidance. He says several older riders taught him riding etiquette. Koontz got so good for 10 years he raced on the road. He eventually went pro and landed not the Holowesko - Citadel team for a season. In 2019 he went  to a national track camp. Koontz eventually went to T-Town to race and train. He ended up winning a National Championship in 2019 and 2021 in the team pursuit. Koontz killed at nationals in 2022 by taking titles in scratch race, points race, and the Omnium. He even won the scratch race at the Pan American Track Championships. This year he recently won the Madison Cup at T-Town. At the moment he's focused on racing in Europe this winter.  

Alexi Ramirez is from Trinidad & Tobago. She is one of their top cyclist. Recently she raced in the Indy Crit weekend races. She finished 12th on Friday and 13th on Saturday. Ramirez has a bit of down time and then she heads to the Gateway Cup in St. Louis. This year has been a banner year for Ramirez. She won both the national road race and time trial championships for Trinidad & Tobago. She also came in second in the omnium in the Pan American Championships. That omnium was one of her top goals of the year. Now she's beginning her preps for the Pan American Games in Chile at the end of October. After three years of racing with the CWA Racing Team Ramirez moved over the Miami Blazers team. They always look super dope in their kits. Alexi got into cycling through her dad. He was on the national team back in the day. She started at 21 years old for fun. Her first race was a team pursuit on the track. Now years later she's traveling the world racing Nations Cups, international stage races and big time criteriums here in the U.S.

Kaia Clemente is a household name in MTB racing here in the Sunshine State. She's always loved riding her bike with friends to the beach. But when her dad, Raphael Clemente, took her and a cousin mountain biking at 12 years old she was hooked. When she started getting serious about racing it wasn't fitness that was the biggest challenge but rather the racing itself. Her first race at Dyer Park here in Palm Beach County, Florida in the junior women's class she won. Going into high school Kaia began racing NICA or the National Interscholastic Cycling Association. Then she began racing the Florida State Championships Series. In 2022 she won the entire series as the youngest competitor for women. This season she's focusing on specific events instead of the entire series. This season she's going to target on college admissions. Some day this young lady would like to race the MTB World Cup Series. But at the moment she's got to finish high school. 

Rene Wenzel has a long history in the sport of cycling. He started out as a junior rider in Denmark. He was quite successful as a junior by winning Danish and Scandinavian Junior Road Championships. Once he moved up to the senior ranks he eventually moved to Belgium and France to race. By the end of 1980 Wenzel says he had mono. He says that was a tough 12 to 14 months. Wenzel would recover and eventually come over to the states with a friend and race. He would race track and criteriums quite successfully. By the late 80's he was back in Denmark and he would eventually retire with over 300 plus wins to his credit. Coaching would take over for Wenzel. In the 90's he would work with the U.S. Junior National Team, work with the Saturn team twice, and own and run the Subway team.Wenzel would eventually walk away from cycling. He says it was disappointing to see the drug situation in Europe when he would bring his team over for some early season racing. Wenzel and Angus Fraser would later be accused and sued for allegedly giving illegal substances to Greg Strock and Erich Kaiter when they were juniors. Wenzel denies the accusations. He recently left a position with the Indian Cycling Federation. 

Ashton Lambie is a busy man. He recently completed a 1,000 mile gravel race and is now preparing to be a cyclor on one of the worlds most prestigious Sailing teams. Lambie grew up in Nebraska. He began racing gravel and even ventured into road racing. He quickly realized road racing wasn't his thing. While living in Lawrence, Kansas he was introduced to grass track racing. And he quickly realized he was good on a track bike. A chance meeting with former Olympian Carl Sundquist sparked an interest in Lambie racing in T-town. In 2017 Lambie's debut at Track Mats he got first in the pursuit and second in the omnium and points race. That same year he got third in a World Cup in Santiago, Chile in the team pursuit. Along the way he picked up more national titles and wins at the Pan Am Championships.In 2021 he was pursuit  World Champion beating the likes of Jonathan Milan and Filippo Ganna. Soon after his world title Lambie walked away from the track. Currently Lambie is living in Houston. He's riding a bike and sailing while his wife is working towards being an astronaut. 

Raphael Clemente is a Florida legend. In high school he was a swimmer but got burned out. So, he bought a bike. His first race was an open race in either 88-89. He won. From then on Raphael progressed quickly through the ranks. Olympian Carl Sundquist would help him out with training. In 1991 Raphael hit the national circuit. He got picked up by a great team called "Bicycle Sport" out of Vero Beach, Florida. He ended up doing big races against the likes of Mike McCarthy, Thomas Craven, to the New England legends and brothers Mark and Frank McCormack. Eventually Raphael would race in Europe. He raced for a team in the Netherlands for a year called ASC Olympia. Raphael eventually turned pro in 1995. His goals was to make it to the Olympics. Even though he didn't make it on the team his time as a top athlete has served him well in life. He eventually left the sport in 1996 to pursue a different career. He's currently working in West Palm Beach, Florida. He has a daughter who's also a beast on the bike like her dad. 

Steve Brunner is the man behind the Maryland Cycling Classic. Brunner grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This midwest guy has worked with some of the biggest bike races in the world. He's worked with the Tour de Georgia, Olympics, Amgen Tour of California to the Tour of China just to name a few. Brunner started King of the Mountain Sports based out of Colorado in 2006. He's got over 30 years experience putting on world class events. The Maryland Cycling Classic is his new project. The road race is one day, 120 miles long, with World Tour and Pro Tour teams participating. The first race was won by Sep Vanmarcke in 2022. In this episode Brunner and I talk about getting the race off the ground, why Baltimore, and will the race ever be more than a one day event. 

TW Carbon started in 2014. They do carbon repair and custom paint. Most of their business is in the bike industry but they will venture out and do work on a boat or car. The Kirkwood, Missouri company gets business from across the country. They do ultrasonic scans to check for damage. Owner Nick Hand says it's not the crack that's going to get you but the delamination of the carbon fiber. When it comes to custom paint jobs creativity with TW Carbon is job one. Hand told me carbon is easy to paint. He says a paint project involves the customers vision and their painters skills.

In this episode Dave and I talk about his racing career, getting his start in race promoting and starting "Winning" magazine with Jack Simes. What I can say about Dave is that he's one hell of a story teller. 

I'm gong to let you know up front that this interview with Dave Chauner is going to be in two parts. Dave is an icon in the sport of cycling. He not only participated in two Olympics, 68 and 72. But he also won a bronze medal in the Pan Am games in the team pursuit.  Once he retired from racing in 1975 Dave eventually found his way into promoting bike races. Promoting bike races is something he continues to do with his new venture "TeamTrak Cycling League." The league is about promoting track racing in a new team style league format on an indoor velodrome in arenas across the nation. We also continue the conversation about road racing in America. Who would be better to speak with than Dave as he's put on such big races as Philadelphia, the San Francisco Grand Prix to the Million Dollar Triple Crown. 

The debate continues on whether road racing is dead in America. In this episode a roundtable discussion is had with Sean Wilson, the registrar with Redlands, Bruce Dunn, who puts on the Joe Martin stage race, and Michael Engleman with the Tour of Gila. Each one of them comes with their own insight into road racing and stage races. We touch on topics like sustainability, community involvement , funding to future plans for their races. 

A few weeks ago I did a roundtable discussion about road racing, where it's at and how do we bring it back to its glory days here in America.  Within that discussion junior racing was brought up by Jame Carney, John Eustice and Dieter Drake spoke about getting back grass roots efforts, local efforts to draw in more kids to the sport. Freddie Rodriguez was listening. He got me in touch with Sean Wilson. Wilson is a professor a Loma Linda University School of Medicine.  But he's also the head registrar with the Redlands Bicycle Classic, He's a Level 1 Coach, former top level racer, director of the GS Andiamo Junior Cycling Development Program, and He's the founder and President of the Youth Cycling Association which I urge you to look into. In this episode Sean and I discuss junior racing, efforts to recruit and funding. 

Les Barczewski was born and raised in West Allis, Wisconsin. He and his brother Leigh started out as speed skaters and quickly progressed through the ranks. By 1974 he was competing at the juniors worlds. In 1979 he was 3rd in sprints beating Jerry Ash 2-1. His brother Leigh won that year.  In 1980 Les was a member of the Olympic track team but it was boycotted. 1981 he becomes national sprint champ beating Mark Whitehead. 1983 it was a silver medal in the match sprint at the Pan Am Games. Tandem sprints was also a big deal with Les. He either teamed with his brother Leigh or Nelson Vails. He and Vails won a national title in 1985 and a silver medal the same year at worlds. In 1986 he turned pro but the end was near. He got 7th at the Pro World Sprint Championships. Koichi Nakano won. That same year Les was the pro world record holder for 200 meters and then he retired.  Les is currently living in Mexico. This year he'll be inducted into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame. 

In this episode of the Tour de Todd Cycling podcaster have our first annual roundtable discussion. The topic? What's  happened to road racing in America, is it dead, how did it die and what needs to be done to bring it back. Joining me for this discussion is Charlie Issendorf, the former top amateur has over 400 races he's promoted in the New York area like Floyd Bennett Field to the Harlem Skyscraper criterium. Then there's Dieter Drake, the founder of the Tour of the Catskills to the Tour of the Battenkill. Next is John Eustice, a former pro, race promoter and TV analyst, and last but not least is Jame Carney, he's a former Olympian, worlds team member and current coach of Piedmont University Cycling Team. 

Yanto Barker began racing at 15. Some people would say he stared late. But by the time he was 18 he was a junior national champion. He got picked up by the GB national team which helped him transition into the U23 ranks seamlessly. He did the U23 worlds multiple times. He even moved to France to race. Riding for three separate teams. Yanto turned pro for DFL in 2005. Yet in 2006 he retired. His love of cycling and racing brought him back in 2009. At first he raced as an independent for a company he created called "Le Col." From that point on he sponsored every pro team he raced for with his premium clothing company. Genius. Once back racing full time he was doing races like Kurne Brussels Kurne, the Dubai Tour to the Rutland Classic. In 2016 he decided it was time to move on and pursue his goals in business. In comes "Le Col," his clothing line he had been working on since 2008. Le Col is now one of the top premium cycling clothing lines in the world. Le Col currently is the clothing sponsor of the World Tour team Bora Hansgrohe.  

Eddy Gragus was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His family eventually moved to Tampa, Florida. He got into cycling in his senior year of high school. He went to Colorado to visit his brother and saw the Coors Classic. Then he went home and while riding his bike to school he was passed by a group of racers from the University of South Florida. He says the second time it happened he jumped on the back and they simply couldn't drop him. The group was so blown away they actually started taking him to races and he killed it. Eddy ended up winning several races for a junior world's camp at the OTC in 1986. He ended up getting a letter in the mail to attend. He went and got hammered but he ended up moving to Colorado right after graduation. Eddy would continue to race and train in Colorado but didn't take it too serious. But a chance meeting with someone who had a few connections to race in France changed his perspective. He raced in France for a number of seasons and even won some races. He actually got to race with the national team. Winning the Tour of Yugoslavia helped Eddy get a pro contract with Montgomery Bell. Eddy won a number of races during his pro career like stages in the Tour of Willamette, Tour of Poland but his big win came in 1996 when he won the U.S. Pro Champs in Philadelphia. By 2001 Eddy says it was time to move on. He went to school and got a degree and his masters. He currently works for Amazon. Eddy lives in Colorado with his wife and two boys. He still rides but mostly mountain bikes with the boys. 

John DeLong fell in love with cycling at an early age. I think his love of the bike was nurtured through the simple fact his dad owned a bike shop. John met a kid who raced for the "Future Champion Cycling Club." He began heading up from Virginia to Pennsylvania to race and train with the club. John says he had a hard time with junior racing because it was too short. But once he started race with adults he did much better. His first season racing seniors was pretty tough. John says he went to college and thought about quitting racing for a normal college life. He stuck it out and continued to race. John eventually made it on the Saturn Development team which gave him a chance to race abroad. He says Belgian racing was his cup of tea. In 2005 John turned pro. John has participated in such famous races as the Tour of Rwanda, Unvest Grand Prix, and the Holy Saturday Classic in Belize. 

John Slover started racing BMX in Southern California. He says he got a chance to ride and hang out with some top pros like Eric Rupe to Byron Friday. He raced BMX until he was 22 years old. Once stepped away from racing BMX he went to roller skating and eventually started racing inline skates. Inline skating opened the door to racing a road bike. Once he witched to racing on the road he came across another group of talented riders like John Tomcat to Thurlow Rogers. When he started racing he won 15 straight races as a cat 4. Within a year he was a cat1. John became a top amateur in the county and began racing internationally. He fondly remembers racing the Tour of Guatemala. He even earned a pro contract but that was pulled out from under him. Years later and John is still racing. This time he's ripping off legs as a masters racer in Southern California. 

Peter Stetina raced 10 years at the highest level of road racing, the World Tour. This man had a great career racing a total 8 Grand Tours, Liege Bastogne Liege, to Strade Bianche to name a few races. In 2019 he decided it was time to do something else. He decided to race gravel races. He recently won the Grasshopper Adventure to start his 2023 season off on the right foot. Along the way he's telling stories, engaging with others, and drinking a little craft beer for the fun of it. Peter is a thoughtful man when it comes to answering questions so I hope you enjoy this interview. 

Andreas Muller was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. He started racing at 14 years old  which he considered late. At the time the scene in Berlin was full of crits, road races and track races every weekend. He didn't have to travel far to get his fill of races. Andreas says he wasn't very good when he first started so he's a great example of hard work really does pay off. He started getting results because of his sprint and his tactical fitness. Andreas was eventually picked up by the German national junior track team. Once on the national team he began to focus on the team pursuit. This is a man who has multiple German national championships in the Madison, points race, scratch and team pursuit. In 2007 he switched citizenship to Austria and the gold medals continued.  Andreas spent a total 10 years on the German national track team and another dozen with the Austrian national track team.  Andreas' name is forever linked to six day racing. He's competed in Ghent, Moscow, Berlin to Manchester six day to name a few. Andreas retired after the Tokyo Olympics. 

Chris Lillywhite started racing when he was 14 years old. His first love was football. But he began to get into some trouble and his dad made the decision they were going to do something together so he bought them bikes. Shortly after getting a bike he began racing. In a two year span as a junior Lillywhite won 21 races and a national kilo championship on the track. From that kilo ride he made the national junior track team for G.B. From that point on Lillywhite's career began to snowball. Making the transition from juniors to seniors in the U.K. wasn't much of an issue for him. Crazy enough he didn't train much. Not because Lillywhite was lazy but because he held down a job while racing. So he was killing it racing purely on talent. He considered himself an all-around with a good sprint. Since he couldn't win to many stage races on GC Lillywhite says he focused on winning jerseys like best climber or sprinter. Some of his notable wins include the Milk Race in 1993, the British National Circuit Race Championships the same year to the Tom Simpson Memorial Road Race in 1994. Literally I can't name all of his wins because it would be long a prolific. Lillywhite doesn't think he fulfilled his talent. He says the money was so good in the U.K. racing crits he didn't see the need to leave and race on the continent. Let me make this clear...he got offers. Lillywhite's last season racing as a pro was 1999. He took a job working for the Linda McCartney Racing Team. He would eventually work with Team Wiggins. Currently he runs his own business and Lillywhite is still on the bike.    

Len PettyJohn got started with bike racing while in school in Wisconsin. His first race was in 1974 in Colorado. He would eventually take a break from racing and riding. But the draw of organizing a team pulled him right back in. In the beginning he set up teams like Aspen Skiwear/Dia Coupe, McDonalds to Lowery's Meat Snacks. Len stepped it up in the 80's with teams such as Lowenbrau, Crest, and the Coors Light. Managing teams meant PettyJohn had to manage riders. He would work with Greg Lemond, Alexi Grewal, Doug Shapiro, Davis Phinney to the mercurial Michel Zanoli to name a few. In the six years Coors Light existed they won over 500 races!PettyJohn says by the mid 90's he was disillusioned with cycling and its drug culture so he moved on. He began organizing races like the Tour of Denver, Bannock criterium to the Saturn cycling classic. PettyJohn eventually turned his attention to coaching. Coaching is something he's had great success with. And if you're looking for a great coach he's got a couple spots open at the moment. 

Mark McKay got interested in racing bikes by watching the 1984 Olympics here in America. He vividly remembers Alexi Growl and Steve Bauer coming to the line. Mark says within two weeks he'd quit football, had his mom buy him a bike and did his first race, a time trial. The kid from Northampton was hooked on bike racing. For the first three years Mark focused on time trials and yes he broke the hour. But by 1989 he got deep into road racing. Mark got so good at road racing it was suggested to him that he go race abroad. To most folks that meant racing on the continent. Instead Mark went to Canada and the U.S. He eventually returned to the U.K. to try and make the national team. He made the national team and represented his country off and on for nearly 10 years. Before Mark turned pro he raced the Tour de L' Avenir, amateur worlds to the Tour of Canada. When Mark did turn pro he raced for Diamond Back, Harrods, to Ambrosia to name a few. Mark retired mid 1999 but he wasn't done being an athlete. He won a duathlon national title and made the worlds podium in 2005 in Italy in the same event. Because of injury he had to stop. Mark eventually started his own coaching business in France. He also worked for British triathlon to Scottish Cycling. At the moment he and his wife live in Scotland and Mark runs a corporate cycling company. 

Scott Monger got involved in riding and racing through his dad. At the time Scott's family lived in Wichita, Kansas. BMX is where he got his start. Eventually he moved on to road racing when his BMX bike got stolen. He used the insurance money to buy a road bike. At 14 Scott started doing club rides. By the time he was 15 he had taken out a license with the USCF and began racing as a junior. Scott's first junior of racing was in 1982. He says he got a whole lot of 2nd places that season. By the time he hit his last season as a junior he was winning some races and making podiums at Pro 1,2 races. His transition into senior races didn't go so smooth. Scott says it was a frustrating year until he moved to Boulder, Colorado. Into his second and third years as a senior racer he started getting some results and riding for composite teams in big races. In 1988 he got the call from Len Pettyjohn to ride for Team Crest. Team Crest was an amateur team that was a feeder team to Coors Light. Scott got the call up to Coors Light in 1990. His pro career would begin in 1991 and last till 2007. In between that time Scott would win 275 races and ride for such teams as BMC, Mercury, Navigator to Health Net to name a few. At 56 years old Scott is riding, coaching and still traveling the world. 

Dave Towle grew up in Boulder, Colorado. It was a time when the Coors Classic was the biggest bike race outside of Europe. The race was a big influence on Dave. It's actually off of the reasons he ended up getting into the bike industry. By his account he was until his 20's a journey man mechanic/bike shop guy. Dave ended up taking a hiatus from the bike industry to follow the Grateful Dead around the country. Eventually the pull of the bike industry drew him back to his first love.  Dave worked for Raleigh and then Shimano in 1997/98 as a mechanic on the MTB circuit. In 2002 Dave got his first chance at announcing. He worked for Saturn cars doing virtual reality bike races at car shows around the country. Two decades in and Dave has announced for most if not all the big races in America like the Tour of California, Tour of  Utah, Tour of Missouri to Tulsa Tough over the years. Dave says announcing is like being a story teller. Now he's applying his gift working with Zwift announcing virtual races on the platform. I wasn't sure what to make of Dave because I hadn't met him before. But now I think I've made a friend for life. 

Ed Clancy is from a place called Barnsley, in the U.K. He's a guy who didn't come from a cycling family so his accomplishments are that more amazing. Ed says he was the bike as  freedom.  His very first race was a club 10 mile time trial. He didn't do so well but it didn't deter him from pursuing his dreams. Ed was just starting his A-levels for school when he got not the British Cycling system. He says the team pursuit always came easier to him than any of the other disciplines on the track. His haul of medals in big races is simply mind blowing. In the Olympics he has 3 golds and 1 bronze, World Championships his tally is at 6 golds, 5 silver medals and 1 bronze. If you look at his European Track Champs haul it stands at 5 gold and 2 bronze and then lets throw in 8 world record times in the team pursuit. Ed didn't push for a road career because he always had his eyes on the track. But don't be fooled, he was probably one of the best criterium riders in Europe. The U.K. Crit scene is no joke. And if you don't believe me just listen to my interview with Daniel Holloway who spent some time over there. In this interview Ed and I talk about marginal gains, pursuit training, his decision to retire and life after a pro career.  Ed is one of my favorite interviews because he's such a cool ass dude. 

Red Walters is a cool dude. I noticed him a few years back while reading about U.K. road racing. I've followed Red ever since. When I see Red Walters I see the faces of Maurice Burton, David Clarke to Russell Williams. All black cyclists from the U.K. and extremely talented. Walters earned a bike from his dad with good grades. Two weeks later he did his first race. He was restricted to the small chainring, got lapped twice and finished second to last. All that race did was fuel his fire to improve. In 2018 Walters says he started to see a change in his riding. So, he deferred going to college and focused on cycling. Since he has dual citizenship with Grenada, his mom is from the Caribbean country, he switched over and has been on a terror ever since. He's been the national champion in the road race and time trial in 2022. Walters' first pro team was Vitus Pro Cycling 2019. The next year he raced with the top tier Hagens German Axeon team with the assistance of World Tour rider Tao Geoghegan Hart. In 2022 he switched to Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling and for 2023 he will ride for Speed United Continental Team out of Belgium. 

Mathieu Hermans is a Dutch legend. He started racing in 1971 when he was 8-years-old. He didn't win right away when he was young. But by the time he was 15 he was raising his hands while riding across the finish line quite often. As an amateur he raced a number of World Championships for cyclocross and on the road. He even raced the great Tour de L' Avenir. He credits that race for making him realize he wasn't a climber. In 1984 Mathieu decided to turn pro for the Orbea - Campagnolo team. He says his first three years were all about learning his craft. Once he focused on sprinting he hit the ground running. You honestly have to think about the competition his was facing. I'll drop a few names for you like Guido Bontempi, Sean Kelly, Olaf Ludwig to Eric Vanderaerden. This man won 6 stages in one La Vuelta and 9 stages overall. Because he raced for mainly Spanish teams many people mistakenly believe he only won in Spanish races which is simply not true. He's won a stage in the Tour de France, Tour de Romandie, and Paris Camembert to name a few. In 1993 Mathieu retired. Over the years he's works as a commentator for Dutch TV, a team director and for the last 25 years he's been working for cycling clothing company Bio Racer. I hope you enjoy this interview with one of the greats of cycling. 

Yoeri Havik comes from a cycling family. His uncle is the great six day Danny Stam. He started racing when he was nine years old. he raced all over Holland. He says he didn't really start to win until he was around 14 years old. By the time he was 16 he was racing with the Dutch national track team. At 17 Yoeri began training with his uncle Danny and travel internationally to race. Between the ages of 18-25 he focused on the road but the track was always lurking. Over the years Yoeri has won 24 national titles. He's even won a European Madison Championship  with Jan-Willem Van Chip. And recently he won the points race at the world championships.In this episode Yoeri and I spoke about his training leading up to worlds, his big win and what's his next big goal. 

Rico Rogers is from New Zealand but currently lives in Australia. To be exact he raised in Palmerston North. Rico started out on mountain bikes and was quite successful at it. Eventually he took a break and started real life. By the time he was 28 the bike racing bug had bit him again. This time he decided to focus on road racing. Rico decided if he was going to race he might as well do it in the heartland of bike racing better known as Belgium. He did quite well in Belgium but eventually ended living and racing France. He didn't quite enjoy the racing there so much so he ended up leaving and moving to Melbourne, Australia. Once in Australia the wins came quick and fast. The opportunity to race the Asian circuit presented itself and he jumped feet first. He raced in Tour of Hainan, Tour of China to the Tour de Langkawi to name a few big time races on the circuit. Some of the interesting teams he raced for range from Giant Asia racing team, Synergy Baku Cycling Project to OCBC Singapore Continental Cycling Team. Rico officially retired in 2016. He's currently the CEO at Box Altitude High Performance where some of their clients include some the world's top cyclists. It's awesome to meet someone you admire and they turn out to be really cool.  

Alex Stieda is a Canadian cycling legend. He was a hockey player first. To keep up his fitness in the off season he turned to riding a bike. He bought a $20 bike and started doing long rides. Simply by chance a neighbor who was involved in cycling suggested he race a local 10 mile time trial. Each week Stieda says he just continued to get faster and faster. Then someone suggested he try track racing. Once he got on a velodrome it was a match made in heaven. A short time after that he was winning national championships on the track. He even went to junior worlds soon after. Moving up to the seniors racing he eventually was chosen to ride for the national team and train for the 1984 Olympics. Before doing the Olympics he would race a season in Belgium and join the coveted 7-Eleven amateur team.  He says racing the Olympics was a huge disappointment. Instead of going pro he decided to race one more year as an amateur. Alex Stieda would turn pro for the 7-Eleven team in 1986. He would ride the tour and claim not one but five different jerseys including the yellow jersey. He would finish that tour in 120th place. Here's the thing, Alex chose to race the rest of his career predominantly in North America after that season. He says he realized he wasn't built for that type of racing. Stieda says racing in North America was fun. He won stages in the Coors Classic, Tour of Texas, and multiple big time crits. Alex would eventually retire at the young age of 31. He would become a sales rep for Softride, help organize the Tour of Alberta, and beat prostate cancer. He recently qualified and competed in the Grand Fondo Worlds.  

Dr. Jason Galeah is with a program called "Headset Sports." They work with elite athletes. He also has a private practice working with people dealing with anxiety, depression as well as working with athletes with focus and confidence issues. But for this interview we're discussing issues around concussions and concussion rehabilitation. Dr. Galeah has a long standing working relationship with with former pro and team owner Danny Van Haute. The two worked together to be the first to bring concussion testing protocols and baseline testing program to professional cycling. In this interview with Dr. Galeah we touch on what is a concussion, what does a concussion do to the brain, what are the symptoms, and how a concussion is treated. 

Thomas Craven was raised in Winston Salem, North Carolina. At first he had not interest in racing bikes. He played soccer. Yet, there was a bike race held in front of his childhood home. That race would lead to his family hosting guys like Australian great Danny Clark. Once he watched Athens Twilight criterium in person he knew he wanted to race a bike. Once he got started he progressed quickly. As time passed he would eventually turn pro. He would eventually ride for teams like Wheaties - Schwinn, 7-Eleven, Poland Spring - Globar Travel, to Chevrolet L.A. Sheriff. He would eventually retire from racing. Once retired he learned how to cook, went into business but eventually came back to cycling as a director sportif for Hincapie and recently Best Buddies.  

Jason Allen is a kiwi legend. He was initially into soccer before he discovered the bike. He got on the bike to stay in shape for soccer. He quickly gravitated towards track cycling. He got good at racing a bike pretty quick. In 1998 he did the Junior worlds in Cuba. He says he began traveling the world to race an it opened his eyes. Eventually he decided to race in the U.S. He based himself at T-Town. Jason says he struggled a bit in the beginning. Jason turned pro after he won the U23 time trial Champs in New Zealand along with a 2nd in the road race. His destination? Italy for the Miche team. He says his time there was a disaster. He ended up moving over to a Belgian team. Jason did several stints in Europe racing for teams like Marco Polo to Plowman Craven team. On and off he did five years racing in the U.S. with McGuire -Langdale, Kodak Gallery - Sierra Nevada to Land Rover - Orbea. Jason eventually returned to New Zealand to race the track. And he ended up racing for one of the most iconic teams in New Zealand, the "Subway - Avanti Cycling Team.  The team was stacked with heavy hitters like Hayden Godfrey to hard man Gordon  McCauley. He would eventually retire and currently Jason is working as an electrician.  

This is the third and last episode with Freddie Rodriguez. We sit down and talk about the foundation he started after retiring, coaching, his clothing line, and life with his wife and three kids. 

In the 2nd part of my interview with Freddie Rodriguez we start where we left off at, coming off the Poggio in Milan San Remo in 2002. We dig into what he was thinking, feeling, and his positioning to set him up for the sprint. From there we talk about Ghent Wevelgem, his first ride in Paris Roubaix, and whether he did anything special to his bike for that race. Eventually we touch on him leaving Domo Farm Frites. Why he ended up riding for Vini Calderola and the Aqua & Sapone to the Lotto teams. Freddie eventually had enough of Europe and decided with having kids it was time to head home. That adventure brought Rock Racing, Team Exergy and his final team Jelly Belly. 

Freddie Rodriguez followed in his dad's footsteps when it came to racing his bike. His dad was a racer in Colombia in 50's and 60's. His inspiration came during the 1984 Olympics when he saw Alexi Grewal win the road race and a gold medal. At 11-years-old he got a used bike from his dad. Freddie quickly realized the freedom of riding. His first race was a criterium and his first club was out of the Montrose bike shop. Freddie says the first bit of interest from the junior national team was after racing the La Vuelta de Bisbee. He was invited to a national team camp.  From there he would be given the chance to race in Europe He says one of his greatest accomplishments as a junior was helping Jeff Evanshine win the Junior Worlds Road Race in 1991. During his Under 23 years Freddie rode for Spago and the national team racing all over Europe. At 18 he was living in Ghent, Belgium learning the ropes of kermesse racing. From 92-95 he continued to ride with the national team with Rene Wenzel as his coach. In 1996 he turned pro with Saturn. The team gave Freddie an opportunity to mature as a rider and man before heading to Europe to ride for Mapei.This is one of two interviews with Freddie about his career and what he's doing now.   

Today's episode is all about music. Since I'm having  road bike issues I'm forced to get on my trainer in the garage and go at it. Music is a must so I've created a few playlists. I'll be sharing them as time goes on and hope to hear from you about what you like listening to. Maybe ya'll can introduce me to some new music. 1) Artist: A. Billi Free & The Lasso, Album: Holy Body Roll, Song: Thrive, Despite2) Artist: Alison Wonderland, Album: Run, Song: Run3) Artist: Amine, Album: One point five, Song: Hiccup featuring Gunna4) Artist: Animal, Album: Retrospective, Song: Don't let me be misunderstood5) Artist: Apathy, Album: Honkey Kong, Song: Check To Check6) Artist : Augustos Pablo, Album: Augustos Pablo, Song: King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown7) Artist: Big Remo & 9th Wonder, Album: 9th Wonder Presents Wonderbread, Song: Wonderbread (featuring Big Remo)8) Artist: Big Tone, Album: Business, Song: Business9) Artist: Borns, Album: Dopamine, Song: 10,000 Emerald Pools10) Artist: Chaz Emphatic, Album: Postcard, Song: NyQuil on Ice11) Artist: Coconut Records, Album: Night timing, Song: Night timing 12) Artist: Cymande, Album: Second time around, Song: Crawshay13) Artist: De La Soul, Album: Grind Date, Song: No14) Artist: Death, Album: For the whole world to see, Song: Where do we go from here15) Artist: Dice Raw, Album: Single, Song:10016) Artist: Electric Citizen, Album: Sateen, Song: Light years Beyond17) Artist: Gary Numan & tube way Army, Album:Replicas, Song: Heartbreak18) Artist: The James Hunter Six, Album: Minute by Minute, Heartbreak19) Artist: Kid Ink, Album: Missed Calls, Song: Rain Dance 

The "Star Track Youth Program" is based around the Kissena Velodrome in Flushing, Queens. The program focuses on kids between the ages of 8-16 from under resourced communities. Star Track is a 100% free program. The kids set goals, participate in a weekly training schedule and become part of a competitive cycling team. In 2022 Star Track starts a UCI track team. Members on the team include current national team member Josh Hartman, Grant Koontz, who just won a gold medal in the Pam Games scratch race to Joe Christiansen. This program is  funded by sponsors like Felt Bicycles and private donations. Star Track is a program solely focused on bettering the lives of kids whether they go on to race or not. 

Tommy Nankervis comes from a cycling family. His dad raced and his grandfather raced. But, it was the great Sid Patterson who first got him on the track. Patterson was a world champion as an amateur and professional. He also won countless Australian national championship titles. And it was Tommy who won the 1st ever Sid Patterson Grand Prix  which is held annually. In his younger years he rod for the famous Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club. Track was Tommy's bread and butter. But he had his eyes on crits and road races. He progressed quickly. Once he made the move to the road his eyes turned to America. Former Tour de France green jersey winner Baden Cooke helped get him to the U.S. Tommy rode for teams like Priority Health, Jittery Joe's  to Bissell to name a few. He also did a stint  in Belgium with Cinelli-Down Under with Frank Vandenbroucke. After years of living abroad it was time to head back down under. He would ride for Team Budget Fork lifts. He would eventually retire in 2016. He's still riding, married with two wonderful kids, and he works for Tineli Custom Cycling Clothing. 

Michael Maarten started out knowing he always wanted to be a biker racer. His parents made him wait to race. Michael's parents wanted him to focus on school. He did get started at 17 years old and a few years later he won a silver medal in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal in the kilo. Here's what you didn't know, he won without ever having coach to guide him. Track racing was always his favorite discipline. But Michael raced road races at a high level. He also raced multiple events on the track like the Madison, points race, kilo, sprints, six days to the keirin. in fact he was a keirin world champion. Vaarten raced in Japan on the keirin circuit and race for many years here in the states. Once he retired Michael says his friend and former coach Patrick Sercu asked him to become a derny pilot in the six days. Now days he's enjoying retirement and his granddaughter.  

Eamon Lucas is in the midst of his season riding for a UCI continental team, Evo Pro Racing. At the moment he's close to 40 races so far this season. Eamon says he's raced in ZLM Tour to the Belgian semi-classic Scheldeprijs. The team is Irish registered but based in Belgium. We also touch on his time with the national track pursuit team earlier this year. With a midseason break Eamon spoke with me while vacationing with his wife in Greece.