The Domestiques

What does it take to get ready for Gravel Worlds? Mark O’Brien takes Matilda Reynolds inside his preparation: long climbing days, repeated efforts, technical descents and the challenge of fuelling when the course barely gives you a break. They compare indoor training with riding outdoors, discuss the value of changing your training stimulus, and debate what AI can offer a training plan—and where a human coach still matters.
Plus, their take on the Vuelta, racing in the heat, professional cycling’s reliance on sponsors and why cycling’s coaches receive so little public scrutiny.
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Lee “Hollywood” Turner is back from five weeks in Europe, and instantly back in the thick of it with Matilda Reynolds and Mark O’Brien.
The crew unpack Connor Wright’s junior XCO rainbow jersey, the elite mountain-bike showdown, Australian success at the Gran Fondo World Championships in Niseko, and a Vuelta already turned upside down. Plus: the transfer market, Jayco’s next move, Tour Bright challenges, Chamonix crop tops, Hollywood’s ten-kilo shred and a dating app for cyclists built around Strava.

From Tadej Pogačar taking red in Monaco to Matthew Brennan winning his first Grand Tour sprint, La Vuelta has started at full speed.
Matilda Reynolds and Mark O’Brien unpack the opening stages, the next generation of Australian talent, what Team Jayco AlUla needs to do next, and the best fit for Sarah Gigante if a move eventuates. They also reflect on Julian Alaphilippe’s retirement, Gravel Worlds preparation, indoor training and the local events worth supporting this spring.
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The episode opens with a difficult but important conversation about rider safety and the loss of Finlay Tarling at the Volta a Portugal.
EF Education-EasyPost sports director Tom Southam then joins Matilda Reynolds and Mark O’Brien for a look inside the Tour de France team car: how breakaways are planned, tactics change on the road, riders manage extreme heat and fueling, and the enormous staff effort behind a Grand Tour.
Tom also reflects on his journey from racing in Australia to directing at WorldTour level, before looking ahead to EF’s Vuelta ambitions.
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Tils and Marko are joined by Sarah Gigante for the final Tour de France Femmes debrief. They unpack Demi Vollering’s overall victory, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney’s challenge, the teams that raced boldly, those that missed their moment, and the domestiques who shaped the race. Plus: breakaway tactics, heat preparation, Sarah’s road back and what the 2026 Tour revealed about women’s cycling.

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