Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Andy McGrath on ditching his alias and becoming an award-winning author
Sigma Sports presents Matt Stephens Unplugged

Sigma Sports is proud to present Matt Stephens Unplugged, a regular catch-up with cycling’s favourite character, Matt Stephens, as he chats with special guests and explores the bowels of his own fruity mind. With lots of surprises along the way, the route-map has been torn up; so who knows what direction we’re going in, or where we’ll end up! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Episodes
Episodes
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
Mads Pedersen on Rainbow Stripes, Hot Tubs and not being from Aarhus
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
Matt Stephens and Mads Pedersen chat all about the great Dane’s wonderful UCI World Road Championship win, when he romped home in appalling conditions to win the road race in Yorkshire, 2019. The Trek-Segafredo rider had a wonderful 2022 season, adding 9 victories to his Palmares, and now looks forward to 2023 with just a tedious training camp to complete first. With a fascinating insight into how his mentality as a child was better suited to cycling than soccer, how he was inspired by seeing his dad on a turbo trainer, and his surprising use for a hot tub - this chat has it all. The refreshingly honest pro pulls no punches and tells it like it is, even calling out Matt’s error in researching the hometown quiz - it turns out he’s not from Aarhus after all.
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Matt Stephens and Niamh Fisher-Black discuss her route to glory at the UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia. The New Zealand native treated the race as a stop on her way home to Nelson, and enjoyed the rare treat of celebrating a massive win with her nearest and dearest around her. Now, the Under 23 world road champion is looking forward to the 2023 season and perhaps the prospect of racing the Tour de France Femme if selected by Team SD Worx. In the hometown quiz, Matt asks the same questions he asked of fellow Nelsonian George Bennett, to determine who’s the best at being from Nelson.
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Ned Boulting - 100th Episode Special
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Matt Stephens welcomes Ned Boulting to a tiny cupboard in Soho (masquerading as a hotel room) to record the 100th episode of this very podcast. The pair waste no time going off-script and enjoy flicking through the 2022 edition of The Roadbook; the pro cycling almanack for which Ned is the editor. With an impromptu quiz about the 2022 Giro d’Italia, some fantastic prize-winning questions from our listeners and backstage stories from Ned’s sold-out live show - this is a celebration not to be missed.
For more information on Ned's Cycling Almanack, visit www.theroadbook.co.uk
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Ethan Vernon on Adaptive Training, Sprinting Techniques, and Mankinis
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Matt Stephens and Ethan Vernon chat about his hugely successful first season as a World Tour pro. He got off to a great start on his first training ride with Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, beating Fabio Jakobsen in a town sign sprint. Following a fairly memorable team initiation task, he went on to win a couple of stages at the Tour of Slovakia, and another at Volta Catalunya too. Of course, none of this should come as a surprise given his pedigree on the track - he’s currently a Team Pursuit World Champion for Team GB. With an in-depth chat about adaptive training and sprinting techniques, along with the usual fun on the hometown quiz, this episode has something for everyone.
Friday Nov 18, 2022
Ashton Lambie on his Rainbow Stripes and his Astronaut Wife
Friday Nov 18, 2022
Friday Nov 18, 2022
Matt Stephens and Ashton Lambie reflect on his incredible Individual Pursuit World Record, as the first person ever to ride the 4km discipline in under four minutes. He’s also a decorated gravel racer and loves nothing more than heading off on multi-day adventures on his gravel bike. On the same day that he became World IP Champion, his wife Christina was accepted to NASA’s Astronaut Candidate Class. Ashton discusses the influence that training for short and long distances has on the two disciplines he excels at, and how having his fellow track racing partner Christina in his corner, helps him achieve his goals.
Friday Nov 11, 2022
Rouleur Live 2022 with Pidcock, Banks, Phinney, Haas and more
Friday Nov 11, 2022
Friday Nov 11, 2022
Recorded in the Green Room at Rouleur Live 2022, Matt Stephens enjoys a freeflowing chat with a range of guests from the top table of professional cycling. Tom Pidcock enjoys mixing it with the ‘Big Dogs’, Lizzy Banks discusses the merits Corduroy, Taylor Phinney and Adam Blythe rate one another’s teeth, and Nathan Haas explains the difficulty in finding the Green Room on behalf of the colourblind community.
Friday Nov 04, 2022
Friday Nov 04, 2022
In a cosy live setting on the island of Ibiza, Matt Stephens hosts a chat between some of the most successful riders of all time, and Adam Blythe. Mark Cavendish reflects on his career, and what annoys him about the record he shares with Eddy Merckx, Óscar Freire has a controversial opinion of his friends in the peloton, and Johan Museeuw flies the Belgian flag with all his might. With thanks to LeBlanq, ‘Tales of the Rainbow Jersey’ was part of their Ibiza Joyride package, recorded in front of a live audience.
Friday Oct 28, 2022
Thymen Arensman loves history and has a bright future
Friday Oct 28, 2022
Friday Oct 28, 2022
Matt Stephens chats to Thymen Arensman about the incredible impact of his first two seasons as a World Tour pro, and where he sees his career going with the Ineos Grenadiers in 2023. The powerful dutchman is perhaps a surprisingly capable climber, and his victory for Team DSM at the Queen stage of the 2022 Vuelta marked him out as a potential future Grand Tour winner. But he’s not letting it get to his head, as he explains to Matt he’s happy to try his best and see where he ends up. For a man who loves history, he’s got the potential for a very bright future.
Friday Oct 21, 2022
George Hincapie still loves riding his bike, but still hates intervals
Friday Oct 21, 2022
Friday Oct 21, 2022
Matt Stephens and Super-domestique George Hincapie chat about the highs and lows of his incredible career where he helped deliver Tour de France victories to three different teammates. However, it wasn’t all done cleanly, and George admitted to doping during a portion of his career which meant his Palmares in Lance Armstrong’s era of dominance were stricken from the record. George helped bring about positive change and is considered by many to be the best teammate of all time, including Mark Cavendish who shared a touching voice note that leaves George shaking.
Friday Oct 14, 2022
Friday Oct 14, 2022
Matt Stephens and Lizzy Banks discuss how the landscape of women’s pro cycling has changed for the better in the past five years. It hasn’t been all plain sailing for Lizzy however, who has been plagued by a serious case of concussion and more recently, pericarditis caused by a Covid infection continues to keep her off her bike. Having studied medicine before pursuing her career in the pro peloton, the Team EF Education–Tibco–SVB rider is well placed to impart wisdom on how to recover from concussion and has the grit to focus on her heart’s recovery by wild swimming and sharing her knowledge of the sport she loves on The Cycling Podcast and GCN Eurosport.

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