Stanley St. Social | Cycling News and Interviews

CPA president Adam Hansen joins us fresh from the first UCI cycling reform meeting to talk rider safety, salaries and anti-doping from the inside.Heads up: the audio isn’t our usual standard, but what he shares is well worth pushing through for.Adam takes us through what was discussed at the reform table, and how rolling road closures actually work after a week of vehicles on course in the Italian races.He lays out his top five safety priorities, from GPS trackers and hookless tyres to helmets only rated to around 22 km/h, and why he expects trackers in every race by mid-next year.We also get into the ITA night tests on Tadej and Jonas at the Tour, the flaws in the ADAMS whereabouts system that riders fear more than testing itself, why he believes the peloton is clean, and where airbags fit into the future of racing.

Max Gawn has Everested Willunga Hill: 39 and a half laps, 8,851 metres, no power meter and 115 kilos, alongside Ed Langdon and Hamish Blake.Plus Plappy on crashes and police motorbikes on the course in Italy, Remco v Ciccone at the Euros, and who wins Il Lombardia.In this Social Club:Max's Everest top five, the low points, and why the pub at the bottom mattersHot laps with Stuart O'Grady and Darren Hicks, and a road closed by the SA GovernmentCiccone's mid-contract move to Q36.5, Ganna to Lidl-Trek and Jordi MeeusUCI points now on offer for track, mountain bike and gravelJimmy Whelan v Eliud Kipchoge at the Melbourne Marathon, and Plappy v Pidcock in ChinaThe Social Club is presented by Giant. Max rode his Everest on the Giant Defy.

Brandon McNulty is the 2026 road world champion. Team USA's 8-man squad outplayed Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert at the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal, and Michael Matthews rode to a heroic silver for Australia with almost no team support. On this week's Social Club, Alex Clements and AFL captain Max Gawn break down the most chaotic Worlds road race in years. We cover how the race unfolded and how Team USA used their numbers perfectly, with Matteo Jorgensen and Quinn Simmons setting up McNulty's winning attack. We also get into why Belgium's plan fell apart, Isaac del Toro's huge workload for Mexico, and Tom Pidcock's late move. And we ask the big question: should Australia have sent a full team to back Bling?Plus we recap Demi Vollering's thrilling win in the women's elite road race, Talia Appleton's fifth in the women's U23s, Jack Ward's top 10 in the men's U23s, the junior races, and the rest of the week in pro cycling.

Aaron Gate made the WorldTour with Astana at 34. New Zealand's most decorated Commonwealth Games athlete joins us to talk through one of the most unlikely careers in the peloton. He won Olympic team pursuit bronze in London, then worked through a string of teams that folded underneath him, including Aqua Blue, which shut down with a single email in August, and Evo Pro, which still owes him half a season's pay.Aaron takes us from hacksawing time trial bikes together before De Panne, to riding Madisons around Europe with Shane Archibald to qualify New Zealand for the worlds, to finally landing a WorldTour contract with Astana at 34. He also relives this year's Tour debut: a teammate's disc wheel flying at his head in the Barcelona team time trial, stitches in his face after stage two, then leading out sprints in the final kilometres. Plus Stefan Denifl, a voice note from Vinokourov, and whether LA 2028 is next.

Australia's team for the world championships in Montreal has been announced, and there are a few names on it worth talking about — and a few that aren't on it at all. Alex and Max go through the selection rider by rider, look at how the squad might race in Canada, and get into a side of the selection process that doesn't get much airtime.Then the Vuelta a España wrap. Movistar win a home Grand Tour with Enric Mas, Roglič takes second off a time trial he hadn't trained for, and Sepp Kuss sneaks into fifth. Mikel Landa and Eddie Dunbar both save their seasons in the final week, Uno-X put six riders into a 69-man breakaway on stage 20, and Max rates every team at the race from Tier 1 down to Tier 6 — with three big names in the bottom bracket.Plus Max reports back from Amy's Gran Fondo: 122km, no training, a broken cassette 25km in, and a Top Five of everything he'd forgotten he hates about riding a bike. And a first look at Worlds off the back of Quebec and Montreal.

A stacked breakaway, a young French rider given the hometown blessing to attack, a runaway neutral service motorbike causing chaos, and a proper GC scare for one of the favourites heading straight into the Queen Stage.In this episode:FDJ's hometown gift to their young French talent, and EF's near-miss with their own descending specialistPuck living her absolute best life — press conferences, breakaway points, GC top-15, all at onceA genuinely bizarre day for Visma — best 10-minute power ever, still gets dropped from the groupThe neutral service motorbike incident that nearly took out the breakaway multiple timesCanyon-SRAM's tactical dilemma — using the white jersey to chase when GC is what matters mostLongo Borghini's one-woman chase effort, and what it says about her prioritiesA tight, well-earned bunch sprint finish and what it means for the GC top fiveMont Ventoux preview: the Queen Stage, three GC contenders, and a genuine head-to-head shaping upAnother broadcast coverage miss — right before the biggest stage of the race🚴‍♀️ Daily Tour de France Femmes coverage with Amy Jones🎧 New episode every stage — follow so you don't miss one🎙️ Send us your voice notes — link in bio, speakpipe.com/stanleystsocial🔦 Comment your Stage 7 tip for a shot at Nog Lights💻 Tip the most stage winners across the Tour for a chance to win a Zwift smart trainer setup#TourDeFranceFemmes #TDFF2026 #StanleyStSocial #CyclingPodcastDescription

Max is back from a Gold Coast win and straight into it — Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's baffling time trial position gets torn apart, a fresh UAE leadership headache deepens, and a UCI aerodynamics scandal that's somehow gone properly mainstream.In this episode:Pauline's TT position — "overrated helmets," and why it might be the most telling sign yet of where her focus has beenA surprise TT winner puts down the ride of the day, ahead of every big nameThe UAE leadership saga deepens — a near-photo-finish result that somehow makes things messier, not clearerKasia Niewiadoma's quietly brilliant ride against the clockBuilding out a full mock Australian and New Zealand women's team, Uno-X stylePuck's mysterious tactics — going for KOM points then insisting it wasn't the plan"Bra-gate" — the UCI aero padding controversy that's made UK mainstream pressMax's Everesting plans, a mountain bike horror story, and Patagonia gravel vs MTB debateStage 5 preview: eight climbs, a genuine GC showdown, or does everyone save it for Ventoux?🚴‍♀️ Daily Tour de France Femmes coverage with Amy Jones🎧 New episode every stage — follow so you don't miss one🎙️ Send us your voice notes — link in bio, speakpipe.com/stanleystsocial👟 Comment your Stage 5 tip for a shot at Giant shoes (Australia only)💻 Tip the most stage winners across the Tour for a chance to win a Zwift smart trainer setup#TourDeFranceFemmes #TDFF2026 #StanleyStSocial #CyclingPodcast

The Blasi contract drama just got a lot juicier — a 100K buyout clause, a "stupid mistake" quote, and a team principal stepping down mid-Tour. Plus a genuinely brutal blow for the Australian contingent, and a deep dive into why some stages get full broadcast coverage and others don't.In this episode:Rihanna Marcus's brave long-range move — how close did she come to holding on?SD Works' dominant sprint continues, and why nobody's doing their chasing for them anymoreBrodie Chapman forced out ill — a huge loss for both the team and the broadcastThe UAE saga deepens: a 100K buyout clause, a "divergence in strategic visions," and a team principal on the way outOld guard vs new guard — unpacking whether this is really about age, or about who's earned their stripesWhere does Dominika Włodarczyk fit into UAE's three-way leadership question?The broadcast coverage debate — why aren't all stages shown start to finish, and what does that say about the sport's economics?A genuine discussion on race calendars, stage counts, and building a proper season-long package for women's cyclingStage 3 preview: could this finally be the day a breakaway wins, or does Wiebes make it three from three?🚴‍♀️ Daily Tour de France Femmes coverage with Amy Jones🎧 New episode every stage — follow so you don't miss one🎙️ Send us your voice notes — link in bio, speakpipe.com/stanleystsocial🕶️ Comment your Stage 3 tip for a shot at our last pair of Tour de France edition Oakleys💻 Tip the most stage winners across the Tour for a chance to win a Zwift smart trainer setup#TourDeFranceFemmes #TDFF2026 #StanleyStSocial #CyclingPodcast