Stanley St. Social | Cycling News and Interviews

Episode

• Pogy is Hungry, Baudin's Break & a Crash-Hit Peloton | TDF Stage 3 Recap 06.07.2026 33mnt

  Stage 3 into the Pyrenees delivered exactly what a first mountain day should — a mass crash inside the opening 15km, an hour-long fight to form the breakaway, and a GC shakeup as the race hit altitude in 41-degree heat.In this episode, Alex and Max break down:The early crash that caught out Decathlon, Ineos and Lidl-Trek ridersWhy the breakaway took so long to go clear, and who made the cutVisma's tactical head-scratcher and what it means for how UAE are racing this TourBourdon's stellar day in the mountains jerseyThe GC fallout — who's struggling, who's surprising, and who's cooked from the heatA UAE team that looks equal parts relaxed and ruthlessLast night's Giant sunglasses winner revealed 🕶️Stage 4 preview: Carcassonne to Foix — a stage that smells like a breakaway but might not be oneTonight's prize: a full Café du Cycliste kit up for grabs 🎽
• Del Toro Nearly Went Over the Edge | Stage 2 Recap | TDF 2026 05.07.2026 30mnt

  Barcelona put on an absolute show — 36 degrees, brutal wind, and a street circuit that turned into a proper GC selection race. Alex was trackside for the carnage, Max is calling it from Melbourne, and this one's got everything.In this episode:Brandon McNulty's ridiculous shift on the front — basically a one-man UAE train for 25kmA break that was never getting there, and why Q36.5 still sent a man up the roadThe final climb: who cracked, who attacked, and a corner that had Max white-knuckling his chairRemco's positioning headache and how close the sprint for it actually wasGC carnage: Ineos in chaos, an unlikely name now their top rider, Tiberi a bit lost Del Toro's team car chaos — the mechanical that had him waving down his own car like a fanStage 3 preview: bushfire smoke near Girona, 4,000m of climbing towards Andorra, and why the break might actually stick this timeLast night's Pillar Performance winner and how to get into today's Giant sunnies comp
• Stage 1 TTT Recap + Stage 2 Preview | Barcelona Chaos | Tour de France 2026 04.07.2026 34mnt

  Vingegaard draws first blood. Visma smash the Barcelona TTT to snatch yellow off Pogačar on day one - but it's Ineos who'll be gutted, with Vauquelin's puncture undoing a near-perfect ride and leaving Ganna to drag them home solo. Alex and Max break down the TTT chaos: Movistar's Uijtdebroeks losing over a minute, two crashes inside the neutral zone, and why the new individual-time format just changed team tactics forever.Plus — Stage 2 preview. Three trips up the brutal Montjuïc climb (9.3% average, kicking to 13%) sets up a puncher's paradise from Tarragona to Barcelona. Could we get a Van der Poel–Pogačar rematch of last year's sprint finish? Plappy gives his read on who thrives when the road tilts up three times in the closing kays.Daily comp is live — check our Instagram for how to enter and what's up for grabs.
• How 3 YouTubers Built a WorldTour Cycling Team | Bas Tietema | Unibet Rose Rockets) 01.07.2026 1j 5mnt

  Three YouTubers and a PowerPoint presentation. That's how Unibet Rose Rockets started in 2023 — and this year they lined up at the Giro d'Italia.Bas Tietema sits down with Max and Alex to unpack how a content-first team cracked professional cycling: signing Dylan Groenewegen, chasing UCI ranking points to guarantee a Tour de France start, why most WorldTour teams still don't understand content, and the uncomfortable truth about whether cycling teams can ever actually make money.Plus: a rapid-fire round covering dream signings, favourite races, and the one UCI rule Bas would scrap.New episodes every Monday and Wednesday, with daily coverage through the Tour de France.
• Sorry Bling | Tour de France 2026 Preview w/ Matthew Keenan 29.06.2026 1j 8mnt

  The last Social Club before we go daily for the Tour. Matthew Keenan joins Max and Alex for the full Tour de France 2026 preview — Pogačar, Vingegaard, Remco, Del Toro, Ben O'Connor and Luke Plapp, team-by-team, with GC tips and every jersey battle.From UAE's B-team being better than everyone's A-team to Caja Rural's 39-year comeback. The Paul Seixas v Del Toro white jersey scrap, green, polka dots, and who's actually winning the stages. Plus the national champs wash-up, the Matt Hauser and Jimmy Whelan interviews, and a Top 5 current Aussie riders that left Bling off. Sorry, Bling.
• Jimmy Whelan | EF to the Australian Marathon Record 25.06.2026 1j 15mnt

  Jimmy Whelan's back for a third time on the show — except he's not a bike rider anymore.Last time he was on EF. Now he's a full-time pro runner, banging out 200km a week off the back of treadmill sessions in Barcelona, chasing LA 2028.We chat professional cycling, the bunch challenges, learning from the sport, 2nd place to Plappy at Nationals, the Queen stage win at the Volta a Portugal and the Dauphiné crash that finally killed the fire.Then the second act: the viral 20x400 session, the Salomon deal to 2028, 'brand Jimmy' and why running barely tests anyone for doping.Plus the marathon debut he's deciding on right now — and whether that means taking on Kipchoge at the MCG.Recorded up in Andorra, where he used to train on the bike.
• Pogačar's Tour de Suisse Statement | UCI has another shocker | Social Club 22.06.2026 51mnt

  Twelve days from the Tour and the big one lands live on the pod. Luke Plapp gets the call pre-episode to confirm he's officially in the Tour de France team. We get into his week off the bike, the Girona TTT camp, and how the build's shaping up.Then the usual Monday wrap:Wout van Aert ruled OUT of the Tour — the elbow infection and the hole it leaves in VismaPogačar's monster return at the Tour de Suisse (Max does the maths on 7.2 w/kg for 25 minutes)Van der Poel's surprise time trial, his €500 "shirt off" fine, and a rough week for the UCI on safetyThe sprinters light up the Baloise Belgium Tour — Girmay's upset opener, with Merlier, Magnier, Kooij and Philipsen all grabbing a stageRed Bull bossing it in Slovenia, Pidcock taking the Andorra climbers' race, Quinn Simmons' one-man show at US nationals, and a big rap for the Giro Next GenThe LA28 Olympic course finally revealed — and who it suitsStill no reply from LeBron, MaxThen Max's Top 5 cycling formats, presented by Pillar Performance — and yes, he's got gravel at number two. Take it up with him.Coming up this week: Jimmy Whelan on the pod this arvo, and Bass from the Unibet Rockets later in the week. Missed Matt Hauser last week?
• Matt Hauser | Going Head-to-Head with Yee & Wilde 18.06.2026 1j 12mnt

  World triathlon champion Matt Hauser sits down with us in Andorra mid-altitude camp — three weeks of climbing, dodging PlayStation hours and chasing the 1-percenters that turned a 'part-time athlete' into the bloke who ended Australia's 20-year world title drought in Wollongong. We chat, why triathletes are 'too dumb to be cyclists' and just drill it on the front, what 15 hours a week up Pas de la Casa actually does to your engine, racing crits on the Gold Coast, the brutal first five minutes out of T1, and why working harder on the bike makes the run easier.Plus the mental side - owning the work, the keywords he leans on when he's staring down the barrel above threshold, and the very real question of going head-to-head with Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde off the bike at LA 2028 and Brisbane 2032.
• Put Someone In The Break. Seriously | Social Club 15.06.2026 58mnt

  Plappy's back in the Social Club fresh off the Dauphiné, and not in the best conditioning, battling gastro and a flu two weeks out from the Tour. Alex, Maxi and Plappy break down a strange eight days of racing: the team time trial's return, breakaways staying away everywhere you look, Luke Tuckwell's stunning ride into the yellow jersey (and Paul's post-race disrespect), Del Toro cruising to the win, and whether the Dauphiné was actually any good to watch this year.Plus: the inside word on Green Edge's Tour long list and TTT prep, Max slides into LeBron James' DMs, the Luke Lamperti crit appreciation society, wraps on the Copenhagen Sprint, GP Cycling and Circuit Franco-Belge, and Max's Top 5 — riders who still haven't won a World Tour race (you'll be surprised who's number one).
• Luke Lamperti | Great American Dream 10.06.2026 1j 32mnt

  American sprinter Luke Lamperti joins us on Stanley St Social for a ride through one of cycling's most intriguing young careers. We go back to the beginning — growing up in Sonoma County, California, swapping motocross dirt bikes for road cycling at age 11, and the junior racing days that put him on the map (including that top-10 at Paris-Roubaix Juniors).Luke takes us through his Trinity Racing apprenticeship alongside future stars like Ben Healy, his big move to the Belgian Wolfpack at Soudal Quick-Step, a Giro d'Italia debut, and the leap of faith that took him to the American outfit at EF Education-EasyPost for 2026 — a switch that's already paid off with a stunning Stage 1 win at Paris-Nice.We chat sprinting, the cobbled classics he loves, what it's like racing for an American team as an American rider, and where his monument dreams might take him.
• All Duck, No Dinner | Social Club 08.06.2026 58mnt

  Fresh off an eight-point King's Birthday win over Collingwood at a packed MCG, Max Gawn and Ed Langdon join Alex.We map out our daily TDF coverage plan, break down the big four (and why there's no head-to-head showdown before Paris this year), and dig into a chaotic stage at the Dauphiné where Plappy snuck into the move and finished seventh. Plus: the latest batch of UCI rule changes that have Max fired up again, Arnaud De Lie's thousand-watt heroics at Wallonie, the Lidl-Trek shake-up, transfer whispers, and Max's Top Five one-week stage races.
• Finn Fisher-Black | I just want to race (and win) 03.06.2026 43mnt

  Finn Fisher-Black is a professional road cyclist from New Zealand, currently riding for Red Bull–BORA–Hansgrohe. A former junior world record holder in the 3000m pursuit, he turned heads across the cycling world as a teenager before signing with UAE Team Emirates alongside Tadej Pogačar. Winner of the Muscat Classic and a stage at the Tour of Oman, he is widely regarded as one of the most versatile and exciting young talents in the WorldTour.
• 5 UCI rules to change tomorrow (or today) | Social Club 01.06.2026 1j 8mnt

  Giro d'Italia 2026 final week recap with Matthew Keenan: Vingegaard's five-stage dominance, the Ciccone vs Rubio KOM feud, Sepp Kuss's historic stage win, and Milan's Rome sprint. Plus a Neil Danaher tribute, Kooij's return, and Max's UCI rules Top Five.
• Tobias Foss | Norwegian law 27.05.2026 1j 12mnt

  Tobias Foss joins the Stanley St. Social to talk Norwegian culture, his career, and what it takes to reach the top. The Netcompany INEOS rider and 2021 World Time Trial Champion opens up about life in Andorra, the Epstein-Barr diagnosis, and why he believes his best racing is still ahead. He breaks down Norwegian cycling's rise, the Uno-X effect, double session training, lactate testing, and what Dave Brailsford's return means for Ineos.
• Social Club | Leadouts are back 25.05.2026 1j 3mnt

  Alex Clement joins Plappy from 2,450m up in the Andorran mountains while Max Gawn holds it down in Melbourne, as the boys break down a massive week in cycling.This week: the Giro d'Italia's wild Stage 15 neutralisation controversy in Milan, Ghana's dominant 42km TT win and what watts-per-CDA actually means, Alex Segaert perfectly planned stage 12 attack, Visma's textbook Stage 14 domination, and Uno X sneaking a stage win. Plus - Max's Top 5 Most Underrated Things in Cycling.
• Max Gawn | Embrace your difference 20.05.2026 1j 12mnt

  Melbourne Football Club captain and cycling analyst Max Gawn joins his pod to go deep on his cycling journey, his leadership journey, and the practices he'd apply to build a winning cycling team culture - when (not if) Stanley St. Social gets a WorldTour squad.From accidentally discovering the Tour de France on SBS as a kid to breaking down monument tactics and GC battles, Max traces how he became one of AFL's most genuine cycling obsessives. Then he gets honest about leadership - what it really took to become Melbourne's captain, the late Jim Stynes' influence on embracing his difference, and why the best culture he's ever been part of was built in the hard years, not the good ones.And then we build the team. Max lays out exactly how he'd approach culture, connection and leadership in a WorldTour cycling squad - and it's more practical than you'd expect.We chat:Max's cycling journey from SBS late nights to monument obsessiveLeadership, identity, and embracing your differenceJim Stynes and the mentor who shaped a captainType A vs Type B leaders and why both need a seat at the tableBuilding team culture across a globally scattered cycling rosterThe Triple H framework and why storytelling changes everythingCelebrating the lead-out rider as loudly as the GC winner
• Social Club | Crosswind specialist Luke Plapp 18.05.2026 1j 14mnt

  Luke Plapp calls in fresh off a third place finish at the Tour de Hungary — long travel, wet roads, and a GC that got away thanks to a cancelled stage and 50km/h crosswinds. We break down the drama of stage four, the cinema of stage five, and what Cosnefroy bonus second dominance.Then it's a full Giro d'Italia wrap through stage nine — Narvaez back to winning ways, the Arrieta and Afonso cobblestone chaos, Felix Gall's blockhouse charge, Ciccone in pink, and why Jumbo-Visma look completely dialled in. Plus the transfer rumour mill is spinning — Hindley to Visma, Turner to Soudal, Frigo to UAE and more.Maxi's top five this week? The most overrated things in cycling as a spectator — from "racing on instinct" to neutralised starts, the most combative rider award, and watts per kilo obsession.Presented by Giant Bicycles and Pillar Performance — use code STANLEY15 for 15% off at Pillar Performance.
• Heinrich Haussler | Decathlon’s international evolution 12.05.2026 40mnt

  Heinrich Haussler is a Sports Director at Decathlon). We chat as the team prepares for the 2026 Giro d’Italia starting in Bulgaria. Haussler dives into the logistical challenges of the early Bulgarian stages and the transfer to Italy, the role of a DS handling logistics, hotels, vehicles, and performance, plus how the team has stayed injury-free heading into the Grand Tour. He breaks down Decathlon’s impressive 2026 classics campaign, the rapid rise of Tobias “Toby” Lund Andresen, the incredible maturity and potential of 19-year-old sensation Paul Seixas (already turning heads with podiums and massive watts), Felix Gall’s ambitions, and building a strong team culture with Luke Rowe and others. Topics include:• Evolution of cobbled classics (nutrition, tubeless tyres, training, and why races are faster and harder)• Creating a “Cervelo Test Team” style selfless atmosphere• Differences between Red Bull and Decathlon environments• Australian cycling• Haussler’s hot takes on riders to watch, his favourite races, and bold Giro predictions for Toby and Felix
• Social Club | Paris-Roubaix of May 11.05.2026 1j 7mnt

  Ed Langdon join Max and Alex to review the first 3 stages of the Giro.
• Zak Dempster | Red Bull’s High-Performance Culture 06.05.2026 1j 6mnt

  Zak Dempster is the Chief of Sports at Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe.He raced at the WorldTour level for over a decade before transitioning into team management, rising quickly through roles at Israel Cycling Academy and INEOS Grenadiers to now oversee all sporting and performance operations for Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe.