The Rouge Report

This interview is from the 24th of January, straight after the Tour Down Under had finished, where Liane and I discuss Sunweb's objective for the Tour Down Under, her expectations for the race, how things played out and the rest of her race program for 2020. Liane Lippert just won the Cadel Evans Road Race, the first World Tour one day race of the season, in horrible conditions in Geelong. The young German rider for Sunweb had a breakout result in the Tour Down Under earlier in January, coming 2nd on GC, 2nd in the points classification and winning the mountains classification jersey. That was together with two podium results in stages 2 and 3. Lippert cemented that form and climbing ability with a massive attack during the Challambra climb in the Cadel Evans Road Race today, breaking away from Amanda Spratt, Ruth Winder and Wiles. I think Lippert is a big chance of causing some upsets in the Ardennes against Marianne Vos later in the year, as well as shaking things up in the European and World Championships and Olympic road race.

Alex Richardson might not be a name you are familiar with but he’s got one hell of a story. In 2015, Alex was enjoying a successful career in finance when he took up cycling as a hobby aged 26. Just a few months later and with a young family to support he put that all on the line, giving up his job and pursuing his new dream of becoming a professional cyclist which he achieved in just 12 months. Fast forward to the end of 2019, the 29-year-old has just signed with one of the most talked about teams in the pro peloton - Corendon-Circus - where he'll be supporting the likes of Mathieu van der Poel in the classics. This is his story.

Remco Evenepoel is cycling's hottest property. In today’s episode Pat analyses Evenpoel’s potential on the biggest stage and his double victory at the junior World Championships in Innsbruck last year. Will Remco be the biggest star of the next decade given his superior time trialing and next level watts per kg rating?

Mathias Norsgaard is a young cyclist riding for Pro Conti team, Riwal–Readynez, with big things expected of him in the coming seasons. The 22-year-old Dane was the 2018 u23 ITT World Championships bronze medallist and he attempted to break the Danish hour record on 6 October 2019 at a velodrome in Odense, Denmark. In today's episode Pat and Mathias discuss the hour record attempt, the suffering involved and analyse his power data.

Rory Townsend is a professional cyclist riding for UCI Continental team, Canyon dhb. 2019 was a hell of season for the 24 year old, placing well in major one-day races in Belgium, coming fourth in the Irish national champs and taking part in the World Championship road race where he represented Ireland. What's life like as a UCI Continental level pro?