JOIN THE PELO
The Life in the Peloton Club
Sign up to become a member of ‘The Pelo’, and you’ll get a ton of extra pods, exclusive offers and gifts, and access to the whole LITP episode back catalogue. More than that though, you’ll become part of my peloton – sharing a love of riding, racing, and cycling stories with others around the world.
MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS
Where will you sit in The Pelo?
There are two membership levels, each named after my love of racing in crosswinds.
The Echelon
AU$120 per year
Come and ride with me off the front in ‘The Echelon’. This is where everyone wants to be, the pointy end of the racing, putting everyone behind into the hurt box. Riding here earns you respect in the bunch, and it’s a beautiful feeling.
By joining The Echelon, you’ll be at the heart of everything to do with Life in the Peloton. You’ll receive a limited edition version of my upcoming book, due for release around the 2024 spring classics! Get your own official ‘The Pelo’ member number, exclusive discount codes for cool brands associated with LITP, as well as everything else that ‘The Doom Line’ members receive.
You’ll also get exclusive access to the whole LITP episode back catalogue, and an awesome upcoming The Pelo members-only cycling kit!
BENEFITS:
Receive a limited edition Life in the Peloton book (due for release in April 2024)
Official ‘The Pelo’ member number
Exclusive discount codes for brands associated with LITP
Ten extra podcasts a year: ‘LITP Chronicles’ with Svein Tuft
Exclusive access to the whole LITP back catalogue
Exclusive access to the new ‘MAAPxLITP’ cycling kit
Extra club member benefits throughout the year
The Doom Line
AU$60 per year
Become a ‘Doom Line’ member, and you’ll be living on the edge – just how I liked it when the wind was up. The Doom Line is the last wheel of the echelon, and it’s a bit of fun back there, but risky business.
By joining The Doom Line, you’ll get exclusive access to ten extra podcasts, a new series called ‘LITP Chronicles’ that I’ll be hosting with my old teammate and good friend Svein Tuft throughout 2024. More info on that below.
You’ll also get exclusive access to the whole LITP episode back catalogue, and an awesome upcoming The Pelo members-only cycling kit!
BENEFITS:
Ten extra podcasts a year: ‘LITP Chronicles’ with Svein Tuft
Exclusive access to the whole LITP back catalogue
Exclusive access to the new ‘MAAPxLITP’ cycling kit
Extra club member benefits throughout the year
THE LITP CHRONICLES
One of the main benefits of joining ‘The Pelo’ is exclusive access to a new series of pods I’ll be hosting with my old mate Svein Tuft in 2024. We raced together – and against each other – for several years, and he was always my go-to for a great chat in the bunch.
The LITP Chronicles will be ten episodes a year, with each one based on a different topic. ‘Sveino’ and I are going to dive deep into some of the most interesting subjects in cycling. The eps will be longer than normal LITP episodes: we’ll research the theme, understand it through interviews, and then add our thoughts and experiences.
Examples of what the shows might be about include ‘making it pro’, ‘retirement – taking the next step’ or ‘the pro cycling arms race for the best young talent’. We’re looking forward to giving you some really informative and entertaining pods around life in the peloton. Nothing is off the table, we’ll talk about whatever we think is interesting.
I can’t wait to get it going with Sveino, and for members of ‘The Pelo’ to hear it.
ON ECHELONS
During my time racing, I would back myself any day there were crosswinds – I loved them. It's a great feeling to be in that front echelon, dishing out hurt, part of a unit all working together.
If it was during a stage race or a grand tour, I’d be thinking: “Finally, my time to get one back on everyone after the mountains. I can be in the front for once!” But you have to have respect in the bunch to make the front echelon, it’s not as simple as being tough and strong – people can make it harder for you to get in there if they don’t rate you.
When the echelon forms, riders fan out across the road at an angle to the wind with the last guy at the front sitting in the gutter on the far side. That rider is the ‘gatekeeper’, and they don’t have to do any work, as they let all the riders who’ve been working on the front swing back through into the line. It’s a sweet spot to be.
Behind the gatekeeper, there’s a line of riders who are desperately trying to hang onto the front echelon. That’s the ‘doom line’, because you’re exposed and copping the crosswind, so you have to work hard to just stay in the wheel. Ultimately, you can only stay there for so long before you get spat out the back. And if the guy in front loses the wheel, he risks taking everyone behind him out too – they have to sprint round the side to make it back on.
It’s fun back there in the doom line. It’s risky, it’s dangerous – you’re playing around at the edges of the bike race. It’s the place where you start to learn the workings of the echelon.
But a spot in the front echelon is where you want to be, and I managed to ride some epic days there during my career.
But what makes a good crosswinds rider? You’ve got to have a strong threshold ability, a bit of a punch to make sprints when needed, and, more than anything, you’ve got to be a bit of a d*ck. It’s dog eat dog out there, me or him. And if you can’t smell a crosswind about to form, you’ve got no chance either. You see the motorbike turning into the wind up in front? Or the energy in the bunch changing? It’s about to go down…
The best crosswinds riders tend to be on teams from the north of Europe. Back in the day, Rabobank were the best at it. When I saw them taking off their rain jackets while it was still raining, I knew it was about to hit the fan. Quickstep have always been good at it, and Team Sky too, with Luke Rowe, who’s definitely one of the best crosswinds riders in the bunch. Any Dutchie can ride the winds – they love it. And then you have the anomalies, the guys you’d never expect – like my old teammate Rigo Uran, or Nairo Quintana. Tough as nails, and smart, those two.
These days, whenever there’s the potential of a crosswinds day, you can guarantee I’m tuning in on TV, thinking back to some of the hardest, most fun, and most rewarding days of my career.