Happy New Year to all of you — here’s to 2024. There's so much to look forward to: the Classics, Grand Tours, the Paris Olympic Games, plus the intrigue, rumour and spectacle of professional cycling...
Sadly, we start, though, with the distressing story of the death of Australian Olympian Melissa Hoskins in Adelaide on New Year’s Eve. Her husband, two-time world time trial champion Rohan Dennis, was subsequently arrested on charges of causing death by dangerous driving. We look back on Hoskins' garlanded racing career, which included a world record and world title on the track and multiple sprint victories on the road.
In an examination of what's next for Dave Brailsford and the Ineos Grenadiers after Jim Ratcliffe's Manchester United takeover, we speak to Matt Slater, who reports on finance in football for The Athletic. We hear about Brailsford's likely role at Man Utd following the £1bn deal, the reaction to the takeover in Manchester and beyond, and what impact this massive investment and Brailsford's key part in it could have on the future of the franchise's cycling team, the Ineos Grenadiers
In our final story we focus on Mathieu van der Poel, fined for spitting at fans during a Cyclo-Cross World Cup race, and discuss whether the world and cyclo-cross world champion has attained untouchable status off the bike as well as on it. We also gauge the reaction to the incident from his peers, including Wout van Aert and Sven Nys.
RadioCycling has also been shortlisted for Best Sports Talk Podcast 2023!! You can vote for us (and we'd be extremely grateful if you would) at sportspodcastgroup.com – just look for RadioCycling under the ‘best sports talk podcast’ category.
This podcast is brought to you with the support of our sponsor, Saddle Skedaddle.