Mani Lettenbichler on chasing the perfect season

When Geraint Thomas first rode the Tour de France in 2007, he wasn’t even expected to make it past the first week. A track rider then, a year away from winning gold in Beijing, the Welshman gritted his teeth to survive the mountains of France and finish 140th. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to return 11 years later and win the famous yellow jersey. Thomas’s career has been remarkable in both its longevity and scope, winning gold on the track at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, conquering cobbled Classics on the road, before becoming one of the best Grand Tour riders of his generation. Now 37, he's still aiming for more success. Here at Just Ride, we thought what better way to kick-start season two than by inviting our first Tour de France winner onto the show! Rob and Eliot absolutely loved chatting to ‘G’, picking his brains on the intricacies of Grand Tour tactics, internal team conflict, and how easy it is for Geraint to pop down the shops in his native Cardiff – plus much, much more.

Rachel Atherton is a certified mountain bike hall of famer and if Rob and Eliot read out her entire list of achievements then we wouldn’t have time for anything else on this week’s Just Ride. The queen of downhill, Rachel made headlines in 2023 for returning to the World Cup scene after overcoming a long-term achilles injury and becoming a mother for the first time. Not only did she compete in Lenzerheide but, in typical Rachel fashion, she won. That was her 40th World Cup win, a remarkable 17 years after her first. As you might expect, this turned into one of Rob and Eliot’s longest-ever Just Ride chats. History books, retirement, Red Bull Hardline, motherhood… there was so much to discuss with the incredible Rachel and the guys got stuck in.

To say that Annemiek van Vleuten won it all is an understatement. The Dutch cyclist retired at 41, having accomplished pretty much everything in road cycling. In the coming years much will be written and spoken about Annemiek’s achievements: winning a world title with a broken elbow, overcoming illness to win the inaugural Tour de France Femmes, losing Olympic Gold due to a horror crash… and that’s just for starters. Rob and Eliot loved learning all about Annemiek’s life to date and her plans in the future.

When Joff Summerfield set out to ride around the globe on his handmade penny farthing in 2006, he sold absolutely everything he owned to fund the adventure – and start with a clean slate. As he set off, his whole world was packed into a small rucksack on his back and some panniers on top of his penny farthing. Joff’s story is one of the most stunning that Rob and Eliot have discovered on Just Ride so far. Most of it must be heard to be believed! From being robbed at knifepoint in Ecuador and accidentally eating dinner in a Chinese home, to freewheeling down the Himalayas and taking in the Millennium New Year in Paris, Joff’s journeys have been like no other. And that’s all while rolling round the world on a 49in fixed-gear penny farthing. His current steed has done nearly 40,000 miles. As you can imagine, Rob and Eliot couldn’t get their heads around it. As well as his physical feats, Joff also has a refreshing outlook on life – never travelled but want to? Do it! You’ll find a way.

When Covid hit and a global lockdown saw the whole world forced to adapt to a new normal, Matt Jones headed into his back garden and started building. A year later he’d crafted some incredible jumps in his yard and turned his YouTube account into one of the most must-watch mountain bike channels on the platform. Matt’s career has been fascinating. One of the world’s best slopestyle riders from a young age, the lure of content creation and the success of his YouTube channel took him down a path perpendicular to competing – yet the lure of competition is never far away for Matt. He joined Rob and Eliot to reflect on his varied career, educate the listeners on the intricacies of slopestyle, open up on his future competitive ambitions and chat all things content creation.

Lael Wilcox is an ultra-endurance legend. And yet, aged 20, she’d barely ridden a bike. It was only when she started a new job 6km from her home and realised cycling was the most efficient way of commuting that she turned to two wheels. A love affair was born, and then she realised she was damn good at it. Now 36, Lael’s won almost everything she could dream of: the 6,800km Trans Am Bike Race; holds the women’s course record for Tour Divide (4,418km); has the fastest known time for the Arizona Trail… the list goes on and on. And now she wants to smash the women’s round-the-world record – and is setting off from Chicago on May 26 to do just that. She aims to complete her trip around the globe in just 110 days. Lael spoke to Rob and Eliot about her spellbinding journey to this point – and how she plans to break an iconic record. We loved welcoming Lael to Just Ride and can’t wait to track her progress.

Bernard Kerr doesn’t get many days off. The three-time Red Bull Hardline winner is one of the best downhill mountain bike riders in the world – while also running Pivot Factory Racing, one of the world’s premier downhill teams. Where does he find the time? Over a fascinating hour with Rob and Eliot at the recent Sea Otter Classic MTB festival, Bernard joined Just Ride to reflect on his lifestyle, future ambitions, and how he came to be one of the youngest team managers the sport – or any sport – has ever seen. The 33-year-old Brit has had a remarkable career to date, and something tells us that Bernard has still got a lot of new chapters to write.

Gee Atherton is one of the most decorated, all-round downhill riders the sport of mountain biking has ever seen. He’s also one of the most committed, hardest bike riders that cycling has ever seen. Full stop. His list of achievements goes on, and on, and on: two-time world champion, eight-time UCI World Cup winner, Red Bull Hardline winner, six-time national champion… but his list of difficult moments and brutal crashes is also a long one. Sadly, it goes with the territory of pushing the boundaries. Here on Just Ride, for the first time, Gee speaks in detail to Rob and Eliot about his awful crash while filming his Ridgeline series in North Wales in 2021. Gee was airlifted to hospital and had to fight for his life. Yet he returned to the saddle, as he has done numerous times before. His love of the bike shines through and for more than an hour the guys recapped a magical career while discussing that fateful day shooting Ridgeline, his subsequent return and crash at Red Bull Rampage in 2023, and what’s next for one of the greatest of all time.

In 2014, Christian Meier got the call from his road cycling team he’d always dreamed of: “You’re racing the Tour de France.” It was the culmination of the years of riding, sacrifices and dreams that so many young cyclists have, yet so few achieve. He’d made it to the summit of his sport. Ten years later, having hung up his competitive wheels at the end of 2016 to pursue other interests, Christian stands at the top of another sport. Having stumbled upon his love for trail running during the Covid lockdown, the Canadian became good. Very, very good. So good that in 2023 he won the legendary TDS race around the foothills of Mont Blanc: 145km, with over 9,000m of elevation. He won the race in a staggering 19 hours. Rob and Eliot couldn’t quite believe what they were hearing. This week’s chat with Christian is a fascinating exploration of what it takes to peak in two elite endurance sports, and how sporting journeys can be so changeable. Christian even started out as a downhiller!

We’re sure that most of our Just Ride listeners will know Eliot Jackson as the bike racer, the commentator – or both. But in typical Eliot fashion, he has another string to his bow that he doesn’t like to shout about. Four years ago, Eliot formed Grow Cycling, a foundation based in his home city, Los Angeles, with the intention of bringing mountain biking into town. Late last year Grow opened a Pump Track in the middle of Inglewood, LA – and it’s been an unprecedented success. We thought it was time Eliot told you all that story. It’s also a chance for both Eliot and Rob to reminisce about their entry points into the sport – and a mid-series chinwag on everything that they’ve been up to lately, as well as some bold predictions for the year ahead. We’ll be back in two weeks with a very famous downhiller, who we think you'll love…

Aged 14, Finn Iles took the world of mountain biking by storm. He won the famous Whistler Whip-off after a social media campaign (#letfinnin) swept through the community. That was the start of a Hollywood-style journey that saw him destined to reach the top of mountain biking. Winning almost everything before him in the junior ranks, his ascension to the top of downhill seemed assured. But not all Hollywood stories run smoothly. It took Finn four years on the pro circuit to win his first Downhill World Cup, but boy did he do it in style, on home turf at Monte-Saint-Anne in Canada, matched by iconic commentary from Rob Warner and Eliot Jackson. Ever since, Finn has demonstrated his consistency at the top level, coming within 10ths of a second of that elusive next win. He sat down with Eliot and Rob to reflect on his whirlwind career to date, his progression as a rider, the intricacies of a downhill season and what the future holds for the darling of Canadian mountain biking. As you can imagine, the guys had a lot of fun with Finn.

Here on Just Ride, we love bikes. All of them. So we thought it was about time we devoted an episode to them – and their future. Rob and Eliot are joined by lifelong bike designer and founder of RIDE Studio, Craig Dent, to chat about the evolution of bikes and what types of bikes we could be riding in five, 10, 50 years from now. How much of a role will electrics play? Will everything be designed by AI? Are we going to see the shape change? Rob, Eliot and Craig got stuck into all of that, while marvelling at the development we’ve seen since Rob started racing downhill in the 90s. We could have kept Craig in front of the microphone for hours – but there’s still so much fascinating insight squeezed into this hour with Craig. Enjoy.

Sofiane Sehili wasn’t a cyclist until he went travelling around Southeast Asia and realised he wasn’t made to be cooped up on a bus or a train for hours at a time. He bought a second-hand bike for US$100 and started riding. He’s hardly stopped since. Initially a cycling courier in Paris, Sofiane was encouraged to start entering the world’s gnarliest bikepacking events, like the Tour Divide in the United States, and the Silk Road Mountain Race in Eastern Europe. Now, aged 43, Sofiane is a three-time Silk Road winner and a legend for his unconventional approach to some of the world’s hardest bike races. Happy to forego sleep for days on end in his quest to win, Sofiane dropped into the Just Ride studio to tell Rob and Eliot all about his career to date. Staggered by his dedication to the cause, Rob and Eliot were bowled over by Sofiane – and we’re sure you will be too. You don’t want to miss this chat.

There aren’t many more famous bike riders in the world than Mariana Pajón. A two-time Olympic Gold medallist and a household name in her native Colombia, Mariana is an icon in her sport of BMX. Since day one of Just Ride she has been a dream guest for us, so it was a true pleasure to finally welcome her to the studio. With Rob away, it was Eliot who spoke to the queen of BMX all about her upbringing, the highs and lows of her remarkable career, and the fascinating world of BMX.

We usually welcome the world’s best and gnarliest bike riders to Just Ride, but this week we’ve got someone who helps those riders get to the very top. Alan Milway is one of the world’s most decorated cycling coaches and he’s worked with some of the biggest names in mountain biking. From the Atherton family to the iconic Greg Minnaar, Alan’s CV is unmatched. He spoke to Rob and Eliot about his methodology and the individual nature of every rider, and he also had some handy tips for you, our Just Ride listeners.

Nicknamed the godmother of women's freeride, Casey Brown joins us to discuss the incredible life she’s lived. From her remote New Zealand upbringing to becoming a global MTB icon, Casey’s story is all about chasing her dreams. She dives into what it meant to work on ANYTIME with Anthill Films, the thrill of Red Bull Rampage, and how such experiences shape her career. Casey discusses the rapid growth of the women’s freeride movement in mountain biking, the importance of representation in the sport, and how events like Red Bull Rampage are changing the landscape for future riders.

Ahead of Red Bull Rampage, which takes place from October 10-12, Polish superstar Szymon Godziek is hoping to land the biggest back flip of his career and take the title. Szymon is a Red Bull Rampage warrior, so who better to preview 2024’s edition?

Nine-time BMX flatland world champion (first time at just 19) and Olympic torch bearer for the Games in Paris (his home city), there’s little doubt that BMX rockstar Matthias Dandois has transcended his sport. And he’s starred in a Hollywood film!

At the age of 19, Ed Pratt set off from home on a unicycle – and three years later he’d circumnavigated the globe. Ed’s sense of adventure and remarkable stories from the road made for a fascinating chat with Rob and Eliot.

Superstar trials rider, entrepreneur and video creator, Fabio Wibmer has collected a huge YouTube audience with his daring exploits. Fabio’s changed the face of content creation in cycling over the past decade, and Rob and Eliot hear his story.