Life in the Peloton, presented by Rapha Mitch Docker

 
If you´ve been following me over the latter part of my career, and especially over the past couple of years, you´ll have seen my progression from pure roadie to lover of gravel riding and, more recently, mountain biking. I´ve lined up in a couple of MTB races, but next week, I´ll face my biggest challenge yet, at the brutal South African MTB race, Cape Epic.
 
But before I head off to Cape Epic, I really wanted to learn a bit more about the history of mountain biking, and the evolution that it has gone through to get to where it is today. I wanted to educate myself, and any others out there listening, that are in the same boat as me – just starting out in the sport of mountain biking but with your head still mostly in the road game, to understand the sport from the bottom up. I wanted to start at the beginning, and I wanted to know what it was like to race the sport and learn the etiquette from the inside out.
 
So I turned to a few greats of the sport. For history and background, I spoke with Ned Overend, one of the early adaptors of the sport. We chatted about the backstory of MTB, and the early legends, the ones who developed the iconic bikes - The Klunkers - those beach cruisers adapted into makeshift mountain bikes, which they then started racing downhill.  
 
Next, I wanted to learn about the beauty of mountain biking racing, and that meant I needed to speak to the best of the best, and in my mind, that is the GOAT, Nino Schurter. Nino´s been part of the evolution of the sport from its inception, so what better way to find out how the sport has changed – the racing, the bike development, the course structure, all the technical stuff.
 
Next, I spoke to someone who started a bit later in the sport but has been really entrenched in the professional racing side of things and that´s Haley Batten, a rider who is now just coming to the forefront of mountain biking, and Haley really helped me to understand the nuances of the sport, the unwritten rules and the etiquette.
 
Lastly, I wanted to speak to someone who was a roadie but had transitioned to MTB, like me. Lachie Morton, having come from the road and transitioned to MTB, understands what it´s like for someone like me who is coming across from the road and trying to understand the sport.
 
I´ve developed a bit of a love for this sport, and I can´t wait to get stuck into the challenge of Cape Epic. It´s happening next week, and I´m heading there with my roadie partner Ian Boswell. We will document throughout the time in South Africa at Cape Epic and bring it to you after the event, but for now, sit back and enjoy learning a bit more about the beautiful sport of mountain biking.
 
Cheers,
 
Mitch
 
Show notes-
Intro with Ian Boswell – until 15´44
Ned Overend – 15´50
Nino Schurter – 43´30
Haley Batten – 1´08´30
Lachlan Morton – 1´25´20
 

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work behind the scenes at some of the world’s biggest bike races, what happens back there in the crazy, chaotic realm of the race convoy, and what the world of a Directeur Sportif is like?
 
Obviously, I’ve worked up close with DS’s throughout my career, but I’ve never been behind the wheel, and when I was asked to support a couple of riders at this years’ Aussie Road Nats, I realised I didn’t really know that much about what goes into the job of being a Directeur Sportif.
 
So, before I made my big debut as a DS – in the car supporting Brendan Johnston, and Simon Clarke – I needed to learn the ropes, quickly. Fortunately, I’ve got a bunch of Directors at various stages of their careers that I could call on to help me get up to speed before the big day. For this episode, I chatted with seasoned DS’s Brett Lancaster, Gregory Rast, Tom Southam and Zak Dempster, as well as newly minted DS, Sam Bewley.
 
As an ex-pro it was also a chance for me to ask some of the questions about being a DS that really bothered me during my career – like hey mate, don’t you remember what it’s like to be out here riding?! But also, it gave me a glimpsde into how much work goes on behind the scenes, from the race prep, team communication, and logistics, to managing personalities, rosters and team expectations, and I have to say (spoiler warning), it was a lot more than I expected.
 
I asked all the big questions – what kind of rider makes the best DS? Do you even have to have been a rider at all to become a DS? And crucially, do former pros turned DS’s remember how hard it is out there?! Some of the answers surprised me, but it was fascinating to learn from experience, and get behind the wheel myself and road-test my new skills.
 
I hope you enjoy the listen and learning about one of the behind-the-scenes aspects of pro cycling.
 
Cheers,
 
Mitch
 
 

 
Rapha presents Talking Luft!
 
We’re back with Talking Luft, and I’m chatting with a well-known name in Aussie cycling, you might not have heard his name for a while but you’ll definitely know it. He’s one of only two Australians to win the Italian monument Milan-San Remo, and he’s a former teammate of mine, I’m talking of course about Matt Goss.
 
A born and bred Tasmanian, Gossy started his career on the track, and was a bronze medallist in the team pursuit at the World Championships in L.A. in 2005, before making the transition to the road and making his professional debut with Bjarne Riis at Team CSC in 2007. Throughout his career, he rode for other big teams including HTC Columbia, GreenEDGE, and MTN-Qhubeka. He is a two-time stage winner in the Giro d’Italia, and a Tour de France stage winner as part of the GreenEDGE TTT win in 2013.
 
He's also an all-around good bloke and I’m stoked I got the chance to chat with him as part of The Race Communique at this year’s TDU. He gave us his insight into the race’s sprint stages, we also tested his knowledge on things like Tasmanian beers and past winners of Milan-San Remo, and quizzed him in true Talking Luft fashion.
 
Enjoy the listen guys! 
 
Cheers,
 
Mitch
 

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by Rapha 
 
Well, here we are back with one of our biggest episodes for the year! I'm really excited to bring this one to life - it's not every day that you get a chance to chat with one of the all-time greats of the sport. With seven Grand Tour wins to his name, including four Tour de France victories, he is indisputably one of the best cyclists of our era. I'm talking, of course, about the legend himself, Chris Froome. Just after the TDU in January, I sat down with Froomey to talk about his incredible career, and take a deep-dive into the tactics behind his impressive win in the 2018 Giro d'Italia.
 
I was really excited to get the chance to chat in depth with Froomey. He is, of course, a seven-time Grand Tour winner, including four Tour de France wins, two Vuelta a España wins, and one Giro d'Italia win - but his career has been plagued by rumours and unfair treatment, which I was really keen to discuss with him. And whatever your personal opinion of Froomey is, he's inarguably one of the greatest Grand Tour riders in modern cycling, and in my personal opinion, one of the greatest cyclists of all time.
 
He's also a great bloke, but it's a side to him that not many people get close enough to know. After so many years in the pro peloton, I knew Froomey a bit, and I also know him by reputation through a few close cycling friends that we share. Even though the guy is as professional and polished as they come, I knew from his reputation that there was also another side to him - he's not just Chris Froome the multiple Tour de France and Grand Tour winner, he's also a super nice guy, pretty quietly spoken and unassuming, and even a little bit badass at times (thanks to Daryl Impey for the background stories).
 
So for this episode, I was really keen to go behind the mask, to uncover that other side to the guy that seems almost superhuman, and sometimes so efficient that he's methodical and even a bit robotic in bike races. We chatted about how he got his start in cycling, and what it was like growing up riding a bike in Kenya. We delved into how he made the leap from Africa, to racing in Europe. And we really got stuck into chatting about that epic stage during the 2018 Giro d'Italia, where he tore the legs off everyone in the race (mine included), and absolutely dominated the fearsome Monte Zoncolan, to come from behind on the GC and take the Maglia Rosa and eventually the overall win. And of course, we spoke about the controversy that has plagued him throughout his incredibly successful career, and what it felt like to be booed, harassed, and even assaulted, day after day, on the already intensely difficult stages and climbs of the Tour de France.
 
 
I really loved sitting down with Froomey and hearing from the man himself. Learning more about the trajectory that his career took, and the unbelievable highs that he was able to reach, made for a really fascinating chat. I hope you enjoy getting to know the man, and not just the myth and the legend, as much as I did, and I hope it inspires you to look at this great champion in a new light.
 
...
 
Cheers,
 
Mitch
 
Image: courtesy of Graham Watson 
 

Rapha presents Life in the Peloton

How does exercise affect the heart, and what does that mean for elite athletes when they stop training? Is it true that you need to 'de-train' the heart when you retire? I head into the lab with Dr. Andre La Gerche to put my heart through its paces and get some answers.

If you're a regular listener to the pod, you might recall the episode around this time last year where I caught up with Sports Cardiologist Dr. Andre La Gerche, to learn more about how the heart functions in elite athletes. We went through the physiology of the changes that happen in elite athletes' hearts, and what some of the routine cardiac checks are looking for.
 

I first met Dr. Andre La Gerche while doing my UCI pre-season E.C.G testing with Team GreenEdge in 2013. Through his work as Head of Clinical Research at Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Dr. La Gerche has worked closely with numerous high-level athletes including many professional cyclists. He also has a 2h 29’ marathon to his name, which I think you’ll agree qualifies him as pretty athletically gifted himself!

During our last chat, I brought up the idea of repeating the cardiac testing one year on from retirement. I was really keen to discover what happens to a trained heart when - like I did just over a year ago - you retire. Would my heart simply go back to normal? Or is it true that a pro athlete needs to ‘de-train’ their heart?

So here we are, one year on. I was a little apprehensive about lining up and putting myself through the pain of this testing now that I'm no longer pro. But, in the name of research, and a good pod, I put my heart through its paces with a host of tests including a fasting dexa scan, blood tests, a resting E.C.G electrocardiagram, a Vo2 Max test, and a supine cardiac MRI while pedalling, which checks for scarring of the heart.

For the episode, we studies the test results, and had a fascinating chat that delved into the changes that have occurred in my heart since retiring, and drew some comparisons between myself and other pro cyclists, as well as the average healthy person of the same age, and other changes that have occured now that the intense stress of training has been removed from my body for the first time in 20 years.

Dr. La Gerche’s incredible knowledge of the workings of the heart in an athlete, and his insight as a keen athlete himself, made it a really fascinating chat for me, we covered many more topics around the heart and exercise which answered a lot of burning questions. So sit back and enjoy the listen, and I hope you learn a thing or two along the way (like me!)

Cheers,

Mitch



 

 
Rapha presents Talking Luft!
 
Well, it’s the first episode of Talking Luft for the year, and I’ve got something a little bit different for you first up! We’ve kicked off with a recap of our live daily pods from last week’s TDU, as presented at the Rapha pop-up in the race village.
 
At Tour Down Under, I presented a live daily wrap-up of all the race action, in The Race Communique with my friend and Sports Director Tom Southam. We also chatted with a few special guests, including the legend himself Phil Liggett and caught up with my old mate Matt Goss.
 
I hope you have a few laughs and enjoy listening along to all the TDU action as much as I enjoyed recording these. And a heads up – don’t miss Phil’s phantom Paris-Roubaix call, where I make it to the finish in a three-up sprint against Luke Durbridge and Tom Boonen and get to live out my dream of winning the Hell of the North.
 
I want to say a big thanks to all of you out there for getting back on board with Life in the Peloton and Talking Luft this year! It’s great to be back, and I can’t wait to bring all our ideas to life for all of you listening along out there in 2023. Thanks for all the feedback so far, and most importantly for wearing your LITP caps with lots of Luft!
 
Cheers,
 
Mitch
Listen
Listen & subscribe to this series of the Life in the Peloton website, at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Youtube or your favourite pod app. 
Show Notes
Listen to the Rat to Radelaide episode here.
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This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the world's largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.
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Merch
Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, logo tees, sweaters and much more..
Keep in touch
Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com
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Life in the Peloton’s Theme Music
The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show.
I grew up watching those highlights and the music became part of my childhood. When I set out to create Life in the Peloton I knew that theme song was what would set the scene and capture the essence of Life in the Peloton.
Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.