Luke Rowe on the Tour de France

Are you a mountain biker, roadie, BMXer, graveller, bikepacker or do you just love commuting on your awesome city bike? Then this brand-new cycling podcast from Red Bull is for you.

“It’s a slippery slope – you will get addicted”. Rob and Eliot’s tour guide is Payson McElveen; a professional mountain biker and serial champion. He talks about his love of endurance riding, the freedom that comes with gravel riding and what it is about the community that’s got everyone wanting to find out more. They compare gravel with the early days of mountain biking, and Rob and Eliot ask the questions we all want to know: how much of the course is gravel? Where did it come from? And, most importantly, what is the spirit of gravel?

On the eve of the World Championships in Glasgow, Rob and Eliot are joined by UK rider Evie Richards – one of the most positive, inspirational and infectious characters on the circuit. Evie has always been ambitious. She dreamed of competing at the Olympics as a child, initially as a hockey player, but after discovering a love for cycling in 2013, she made a switch to racing bikes and achieved her dream by representing Team GB in Tokyo. She’s one of Britain’s most promising cross-country and cyclocross stars as well as a World Champion after her 2021 victory at the UCI MTB XCO World Championships. But it hasn’t always been easy. In this episode of Just Ride, Evie talks openly and honestly about the physical and mental struggles she went through while chasing her dream and how, after working with coaches and sports psychologists, she has found a work/life balance that means she can focus on what really matters.

What happens when you realise the thing that has given you purpose and identity in life is no longer making you happy? That was a question that slopestyle icon Brett Rheeder had to contend with in 2019, as he first started to wonder about retiring from competition. Three years later he roared back to win Red Bull Rampage, an iconic freeride mountain biking competition held in the Utah desert, for the second time with a whole new mindset – and then finally stepped away from competing for good. Brett is regarded as one of the greatest slopestyle riders in mountain biking, a discipline where riders fly through the air, spinning their bikes and bodies in multiple directions with the aim of accumulating the highest points for their trick combinations in each run. Speaking to Rob Warner and Eliot Jackson in Whistler, Canada, at Crankworx – a multi-stop series of mountain bike festivals which brings together the best mountain bikers to compete in elite level competitions – Brett’s honesty and openness about the personal journey he’s been on over the past few years is fascinating – and lots of fun. From his eye-opening first competitions on the pro scene – including a spot of concussion mixed with altitude sickness – to becoming arguably the greatest slopestyle rider of all time, Brett’s been on one hell of a journey.

Harriet and Robin are two of the current and future stars of freeride – and they also happen to be best friends. Harriet was on-track to become a BMX Olympian before deciding that her heart lay in freeride, while Robin went from a full-time career in the army to become the first woman to land a back-flip in competition in 2021. Yet the duo don’t see themselves as trailblazers – they just see themselves as bike riders. Despite their modesty, Harriet and Robin are part of a wave of athletes bringing more and more awareness to female freeride and inspiring the next generation of female talent to come through and take the sport up at a younger age. Freeride is a mountain bike discipline encompassing almost every element of mountain biking you can imagine: speed, style, jumps, drops and so much more. Robin and Haz are the sport’s biggest fans – and they just so happen to be two of the best in the world at tackling it, too. Rob and Eliot sat down with Harriet and Robin in Whistler at Crankworx, a multi-stop series of mountain bike festivals which brings together the best mountain bikers to compete in elite level competitions, to dive into their back stories, discuss what’s next for them and the sport and dig into their friendship on and off the bike.

If you know mountain biking you’ll know Brett Tippie – and if you don’t know mountain biking, then you’re about to meet one of cycling’s true characters. The phrase ‘larger than life’ doesn’t really do Brett justice. A mountain bike pioneer in the 1990s, Tippie was at the forefront of the freeride movement, introducing a new genre of mountain biking uninterested in race results, but pushing the limits of what was possible on a bike. Brett became one of the world’s first fully professional freeriders and has seen the sport grow beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Freeride is a mountain bike discipline encompassing almost every element of mountain biking you can imagine: speed, style, jumps, drops and so much more. And Brett was right there at the beginning. An infectious character, Rob and Eliot have been determined to welcome Brett to Just Ride since the podcast’s inception – and of course, he didn’t disappoint. Chatting to the guys in Whistler, Canada, Tippie provided his typical energy, three wigs, a test on British Columbia's animals and a glimpse into the deeper side of life.

Meet Australian Cameron Wurf and you quickly wonder: is there anything he can’t do? An Olympic rower turned pro bike rider, Cam is now one of the world’s best Ironman athletes – all while racing on the road for one of the leading men’s road teams, the INEOS Grenadiers. He’s raced in the world’s biggest gravel event, Unbound, and is planning an assault on the tortuous multi-stage mountain bike race Cape Epic with INEOS team-mate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. Now 40, he’s as determined as ever to keep competing and still firmly believes he can win the Ironman World Championships one day. Rob and Eliot welcomed Cam to Just Ride just one day after this year’s Ironman World Champs, held in Nice, France, and got a full debrief on his swim, ride and run to 14th – before discovering just how many more strings there are to his bow, while learning about the intricacies of triathlon along the way. One of the most idiosyncratic competitors in elite sport, the chat with Cam is up there with the most fun episodes of Just Ride so far.

Dame Laura Kenny’s list of achievements goes on, and on… and on. The most decorated British female Olympian of all time, the 31-year-old is the undisputed queen of the velodrome. So, who better to teach Rob and Eliot all about the ins and outs of track cycling than the woman with five Olympic golds, countless world titles, and who just so happens to be married to Britain’s most decorated Olympian and fellow track star, Jason Kenny? Anything Laura doesn’t know about riding on the track isn’t worth knowing… just don’t ask her how much air to put in your tyres! Currently on her way back to competition after the birth of her and Jason’s second child, Monty, Laura exclusively revealed to Rob and Eliot that she plans to compete in her fourth Olympics in Paris next year, opened up on the quirks and challenges of fame and detailed the juggling act of parenting alongside her training commitments, plus much more. A true sporting icon on and off the bike, it was a pleasure to welcome Laura to Just Ride and learn all about the wonderful world of track cycling.

Tom Pidcock has won world titles on his mountain bike, cyclocross bike, and taken an iconic stage of the Tour de France atop the fearsome Alpe d’Huez. And he’s only 24. The British superstar has the cycling world at his feet, so Rob and Eliot gave him a call ahead of his final Mountain Bike World Cup appearance of the season and welcomed him as the latest guest to Just Ride. The INEOS Grenadier spends his winter racing cyclocross and then switches between MTB and road racing across the rest of his campaign, like almost nobody else in the world. The guys discussed Tom’s ambitions for 2024, how he’s able to squeeze so much into a season, his iconic attacking descent that went viral in the Tour de France and – of course – Rob and Eliot tried to persuade him to take on an MTB Downhill World Cup one day. With Tom, you never know!

Emily Chappell had barely ridden a bike until she moved to London after university and became a cycle courier. Quickly discovering a love for cycling led her on a life-changing journey, which culminated in winning the fearsome Transcontinental Race. The British cyclist and author has led a remarkable life and joined Rob and Eliot on Just Ride to talk about ultra-endurance racing, attempting to race on no sleep for three days, and finding slugs in your helmet after a night snoozing in a field. The Transcontinental Race is the definitive self-supported bike race across Europe. Every rider is self-reliant for logistics and navigation, making it a true psychological test – let alone a physical one. The route is typically 4,000km and, in 2016, Emily completed it in an incredible 13 days. She told Rob and Eliot all about that, as well as her life as a cycle courier in central London, and what her next challenges could be.

When Rob Warner commentates on five-time downhill world champion, Loïc Bruni, he calls him the professor – and it’s easy to see why. The Frenchman is not just a serial winner, but also a deep thinker about what he calls the best sport in the world: downhill mountain biking. We’ve reached episode 11 in Just Ride season one, so Rob and Eliot thought it was about time they called up a legend of their own sport to tell the audience all about the complexities of downhill, from the technical challenges to the fascinating mental battles at the elite end of the sport. At 29 years of age, Loïc has won five world titles and has his sights set on winning two more, which would bring him level with Nico Vouilloz, his compatriot and seven-time winner. Loïc spoke to Rob and Eliot about chasing the great man while fighting off the incredible new young crop of downhill stars – and much, much more.

For the final episode of Just Ride season one we turned the microphones back on our two hosts: Rob Warner and Eliot Jackson. After welcoming 11 fascinating guests this season, we thought it was about time our audience got to know Eliot and Rob a little better. How did they go from racing downhill to becoming commentary stars? How did they find their transition from the bike to the commentary booth? And, of course, who has been their favourite Just Ride guest of the season?!