Backstage at the Tour de France 2022 - Mitch Docker & the peloton

Rapha presents Life in the Peloton!

The Tour de France is a beast! A beautiful beast. It is the biggest annual sporting event in the world. Cycling fan or not, everyone knows about the Tour de France.

When I was a professional it was obviously a marked goal for all the guys in the peloton. An achievement to simply get to the start line. Although never having ridden the Tour myself, the last couple of years I have been able to to visit the race from the inside – as a journalist with media eyes on.

Working with my old mates from The Cycling Podcast last year and over these first 7 days of the Tour de France 2022 I have been able to absorb the energy the Tour gives to everyone who is a part of it. I wanted to try to take you, as listeners, backstage. To speak to as many different people around the start and finish lines as I could. To try to paint the whole picture for you – that, even if you’ve never been on the sidelines, allows you to understand why so many people want to flock to witness this race pass by.

But most of all, I wanted take you inside the red tape, into the paddock with the buses, on course at the start/finish line, up close and personal to chat to riders and staff to hear what their experiences are from day to day travelling on tour.

Join me as I make my way through the first week of the Tour de France 2022 – from the Grand Depart in Denmark, to the cobbles of Roubaix and then to the first mountain climbs of the race.

It’s an episode jam-packed with guests and I hope you feel like you’re right there at Le Tour with me!

Big thanks to all those who gave me their time and insight while on the busy race:

Gregory Rast (DS Trek Segafredo), Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Mat Hayman (Team BikeExchange), Luke Durbridge (Team BikeExchange), Nick Schultz (Team BikeExchange), Neil Stephens (DS UAE Team Emirates), Matti Breschel (DS EF Education First), Simon Clarke (Israel Premier Tech), Zak Dempster (Israel Premier Tech), Michael Rasmussen (Retired Pro), Bradley Wiggins (Retired Pro), Raj (Mechanic EF Education First), Chris Hamilton (Team DSM), Brett Lancaster(DS Team Ineos), Dylan Van Baarle (Team Ineos), Owain Doull (EF Education First), Bernie Eisel (Ex Pro/Commentator/DS), Michael Woods (Israel Premier Tech), Ben O’Connor (Team AG2R Citroen), Carlos Verona (Team Movistar), JJ (Mechanic EF Education First), Tom Cools (Çois Cycling), Matt Stephens (Commentator), Luka Mezgec (Team BikeExchange), Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo), Richard Spink (Physio Team BikeExchange), Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) & the amazing fans that I met along the way!

Stay tuned next week for an extra special Talking Luft, with the riders of the Tour de France.

Cheers,

Mitch

Listen

Listen & subscribe to this series on the Life in the Peloton website, at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Youtube or your favourite pod app.

Show Notes

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This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

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Merch

Our Tshirt collab with Çois Cycling for the Tour de France is now live! Shop exclusively at coiscycling.com

Our first release of our new Talking Luft cap has now sold out. Stay tuned for the next drop in the coming weeks.

Loved the Roubaix stage at the tour? Get ready for next year’s cobbles with our Paris-Roubaix Cap. Jump over to our online shop to grab one.

Shop LITP casual Merch anytime online at our store. From casual caps to mugs, embroidered tees, logo tees, sweaters and much more..

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