Since October 2022: At the helm of Antler’s Spotlight Series
In a successful bid to diversity my portfolio, I have been interviewing founders and co-founders to learn more about their start-ups and entrepreneurship journeys for the venture capitalist firm Antler. Antler was founded on the belief that people innovating is the key to building a better future. To honour them, a new content series—”It All Starts with People”—was commissioned for me to write to spotlight the exceptional founders Antler has the privilege of partnering with around the world. Each story is a window into their passions, motivations, and vision—the reasons they are building and the positive dent they are aiming to make on the world.
In the first spotlight, I sat down with Emilia Theye, the co-founder of clare&me—a mental health app that uses language-based AI to develop an innovative approach to virtual self-help.
Emilia Theye: The psychologist using AI to democratize access to mental health solutions
Next up, I met with Jamie Bubb, co-founder of Twirl, who—on the back of defeating Hodgkin’s Lymphoma—built an SaaS-enabled marketplace connecting brands with content creators.
Jamie Bubb: The tech marketing venture developer connecting brands and content creators
My third virtual sit-down was with Yaumi Fauziah Sugiharta, a brand builder and growth marketeer on a mission to make people more comfortable in their own skin through Base, a digitally native personalized skincare company based in Indonesia.
Yaumi Sugiharta: The brand builder revolutionizing skincare through tech and sustainability
I was seriously impressed with Tanika McLeod, one of the three co-founders of MinuteSkill, a Toronto-based social micro-learning platform that uses bite-sized content and knowledge-sharing communities to empower the next generation.
Tanika McLeod: The educator empowering the next generation with an on-demand social learning platform
It’s always nice to speak to someone as tall as I am, but that was far from the only reason why I instantly hit it off with Piet Hein van Dam, co-founder of Clear, who is using data—not pills—to help millions of people with type 2 diabetes eliminate the disease within three months.
Piet Hein van Dam: The seasoned data entrepreneur aiming to eradicate type 2 diabetes
The toughest assignment – for he keeps his cards very close to his chest – was trying to prise open Carl Prins, co-founder and CEO of Pathzero, on his personal quest to help avert the climate crisis through world-class carbon accounting.
Carl Prins: The financier on a mission to decarbonize the global economy
For my next assignment, I was taught a new term: the egg of Columbus. Even without that new nugget of information, it was a pleasure to speak to the incredibly laidback and approachable Abraham Burak, co-founder of Airalo, who ditched an inefficient legacy system to make connectivity accessible and affordable to millions of world travellers.
Abraham Burak: The digital nomad delivering instant connectivity worldwide
One of the nicest guys I’ve interviewed to date is Manuel Schönfeld, founder and CEO of PowerX, who's helping businesses save energy and money while combatting "the largest threat to our planet since the meteor wiped out dinosaurs.”
Manuel Schönfeld: The management consultant determined to save companies millions
Stay tuned for the next in the series: Daria Stepanova, the CEO and co-founder of AIRMO, who explains how her Berlin-based start-up is taking aim at climate change through a satellite constellation monitoring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the planet. In short, it’s an interview with someone for whom the old saying “it’s not rocket science” will not chime…
September 2021: Third season of Re-Cycle comes to an end
Back for a third year, my historical Re-Cycle series on Eurosport went up a level in 2021. Some of the stories were still quite fresh in the memory, such as the season opener for which I interviewed Ian Stannard about the time he out-foxed three QuickStep riders to retain his Omloop Het Nieuwsblad title in 2015, or Magnus Backstedt’s victory in Paris-Roubaix to deny Johan Museeuw a record fourth win in 2004, or Philippe Gilbert’s magnificent Ardennes clean sweep in 2011 (for which I spoke to the Belgian while he sat on a bench in Monaco after buying a new phone). I also spoke to Cadel Evans about his mud-spattered victory in Montalcino when the Giro d’Italia last used the famous Tuscan dirt roads back in 2010, and Sean ‘King’ Kelly about his seven-year reign in Paris-Nice.
Other episodes were tales very much from yesteryear, such as Eugène Christophe’s 1910 Milan-San Remo victory in blizzards that made it “probably the toughest bike race ever”, Charly Gaul’s win on Monte Bondone in the 1956 Giro in equally hellish conditions, or Bartali beating Coppi in the first post-War edition of the Giro. A bonanza two-parter looked into the colourful career of Mario Cipollini and how he overtook Alfredo Binda as the leading Giro d’Italia stage winner of all time. Memorable Tour episodes included the day Rini Wagtmans accidentally took the yellow jersey from teammate Eddy Merckx in the second of three split stages at the start of the 1971 race. There was also the mythical tale of Algerian trailblazer Abdel-Kader Zaaf and a bottle of wine that needed uncorking from 1951. My favourite interview was with Eros Poli about his unlikely victory over Mont Ventoux in 1994, while the unpicking of Floyd Landis’s stirring (albeit drug-fuelled) comeback win on the road to Morzine in 2006 proved very popular for listeners, as did the story of Robert Millar’s “stolen Vuelta” for which I spoke to Philippa York.
I’ve put together a holding page of all 51 episodes to date with links through to the individual features as well as the podcasts here.
Just what I wanted
“Really well presented and written. Perfect amount of detail, quotation and moves along at a decent pace. They have all been excellent.” Enrique H
Great podcast
“These podcasts are excellent. A real trip down memory lane which provides a snippet of bygone races which make the events we watch today what they are. Superb.” Steve Mayerhoff
Excellent listen
“This podcast ticks all boxes for me as an historian (albeit a garden historian) and a keen cyclist. It’s just a really interesting listen and very enjoyable. I love it keep it coming.” Ribble 872
A walk down memory lane
“Thoroughly enjoy this podcast. Well-presented snippets of cycling history. Well worth a listen, especially with a nice glass of wine.” Capella-161
Captivating content
“For those who wish to understand the underlying facts of some of the greatest races this pod has captivating content. Provides many of the back stories of the riders, and the teams, as they navigated the races.” R Mark Calvert
Totally engaging
“Love this podcast, even when I think I won’t be entertained I get involved in each story. Love the commentary.” Dilidog
Is it worth it? Yes
“Well researched, real quotes from the protagonists and a rich narrative that is about so much more than who won what. This is solid journalism and I’ll be going back to plunder the archives for more.” Spoke and Word
August 2021: Olympic Essential Stories turned into a podcast
The next wave of Essential Stories translations for Eurosport kept me busy in the build up to the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics. First up was the story of Australia’s greatest female athlete, Dawn Fraser, the first of only three swimmers in history to win individual gold medals for the same event – the 100-metre freestyle – at three successive Olympics. Known as ‘Granny’ because of her advanced years – she was 27 at her last Olympics – Fraser secured her place in history in the Tokyo Games in 1964, before a run-in with the authorities after stealing a flag on a booze-fuelled night out… Subsequent episodes featured the bravery of American gymnast Kerri Strug, the rapid rise and sad demise of Ugandan 400m tyro John Akii-Bua, the burdensome secret of American diving sensation Greg Louganis, American long-jumper Bob Beamon’s leap of the century, and Olympic achievements of Muhammad Ali – from winning gold in Rome as Cassius Clay to lighting the flame at Atlanta.
It was only after the 2021 Games that I discovered that the entire 10-part Olympic Essential Stories series that I translated – almost 90,000 words in total – had been turned into a podcast. Available on all your preferred podcast platforms, including here and here.
April 2021: Chapter published in Ride
Off the back of my distant ride between Barcelona and Rome in the footsteps of Hannibal – way back in 2013 now! – I contributed a chapter to a new hard-back coffee table book called Ride, published by DK Eyewitness. Covering 100 incredible routes, Ride bills itself as the perfect way to start cycling the world, whether you’re an experienced road cyclist or have just started cycling in lockdown. Awe-inspiring images and compelling descriptions of each ride promise to have you ready to jump in the saddle, while handy maps, elevation profiles and practical information will help you plan the nitty gritty of your trip. So whether you want to power up mountain passes in Italy, tackle Bolivia's infamous Death Road, go island-hopping in Japan or follow in the elephant tracks of Hannibal like I did: Ride has all you need to start your cycling adventure. You can pick it up here:
Amazon (UK & US friendly) | Bookshop.org (UK & US friendly) | Waterstones (UK) | Barnes & Noble (US)
August 2020: More Olympic-themed Essential Stories
The COVID-19 pandemic may have postponed the Tokyo Games, but I was asked to keep the Olympic pages ticking over by translating a second batch of Essential Stories from the French Eurosport website. The series started with an exploration into how Michael Phelps pulled off an unprecedented clean sweep of eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics thanks to a tiny victory of 0.01 seconds in his final event, the 100m butterfly. Next up was the story of Dutch giant Anton Geesink, who denied Japan’s judokas a clean sweep of four gold medals at the Tokyo Games of 1964. Then it was the night world champion Donovan Bailey became an Olympic champion and world record holder in the 100m at Atlanta in 1996. And finally, the tale of how gymnast Nadia Comăneci captured the Olympic imagination by achieving the impossible with a perfect and unprecedented 10 during the Montréal Games of 1976 – before dramatically escaping the clutches of Ceauşescu’s dictatorship.
July 2020: The King’s Road – second Romania “Big Ride”
Cyclist magazine held back my second ‘Big Ride’ from Romania – the Transalpina Pass – until the summer of 2020, which was just as well given the pandemic put a hold on foreign cycling jaunts for staff and freelance writers. I rode this back in July 2019 with Silviu (see previous entry) and found it far more otherworldly and secluded than the more popular Transfăgărășan pass, which (thanks to Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson) is also a mecca for petrolheads. That said, the day we rode up the Transalpina, we shared the road with a series of clapped-out bangers doing something called the Gumbalkan rally…
The pass was built in the 1930s by King Carol II, earning it the name of Drumul Regelui – The King’s Road. Its lofty altitude is also responsible for another nickname: Drumul Dintre Nori – The Road Between Clouds. Which is odd, for on the day we became only the 501st and 502nd riders on Strava to reach its summit, there wasn’t a single cloud to be seen. You can read the full feature online here, or click on the image for the PDF.
April 2020: Re-Cycle back for a second year; now also a podcast
The first series of Re-Cycle went down so well that Eurosport decided to record them as a podcast, narrated by Graham Willgoss (host of The Bradley Wiggins Show) and produced by Pete Burton. All 13 episodes of the first series were recorded – and then a second season was commissioned.
Highlights of the 20 episodes from season two include Jacky Durand’s 217-kilometre solo win in the 1992 Tour of Flanders, the last wet edition of Paris-Roubaix (Johan Museeuw’s mud-spattered triumph in 2002), the sad demise of Frank Vandenbroucke following his Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory in 1999, and the equally tragic tale of Marco Pantani after his own fall from grace in the same year.
One different approach to the second series came in my research: where I had previously heavily relied on books in my cycling library for added colour, this time round I carried out more interviews with cyclists, protagonists or the specialists and authors covering the story. In this way, I spoke to Sean Kelly about his perilous descent of the Poggio to win Milan-San Remo in 1994, Geraint Thomas about his crash in the wind-swept edition of Gent Wevelgem in 2015 and Marco Pantani’s biographer Matt Rendell about Il Pirata – to name a few. The most widely listened episode across all podcast platforms was the enjoyable look back at Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France-saving ascent of Luz Ardiden in 2003 following his crash half-way up the climb.
You can listen to all the shows here.
April 2020: Siblings in cycling feature published in Rouleur
“We remember always the image of Andy waiting for Fränk. You can’t always be looking for your brother when you want to win a race.” I’m talking to Cofidis manager Cédric Vasseur about siblings in cycling and it’s not long before the subject inevitably turns to the Schlecks…
In a decade riding on the same team, the brothers from Luxembourg were virtually inseparable. They followed a similar race programme, shared the same website and rode, it seems, as if tied at the hip – prompting some fans to refer to them, rather cruelly, as a single entity named Frändy.
The younger Schleck swats this familiar criticism away like a fly. Instead, when we speak, the de facto 2010 Tour winner describes his “great privilege” riding alongside an older brother throughout his career. “I wouldn’t have gone as far as I did without Frankie,” he vouches.
Standing either side of Cadel Evans in Paris in 2011, the Schlecks are the only brothers to grace the same Tour de France podium. “That was something unique in the history of cycling,” Schleck says with pride. “I don’t think it will be done again quickly.”
After a long and meandering journey, I drew a line under a particular project by getting my first feature in Rouleur published in April. Initially, I put together a book proposal for a history of brothers in cycling through the ages. My publisher didn’t bite. Seeing that I had done a lot of research and written a sample chapter, it seemed a shame to let it all go to waste. So I carried out some extra interviews - most notably with Andy Schleck, Cedric Vasseur and Jonathan Caspi, an American specialist in the sibling dynamic - and cobbled together this entertaining and informative feature on the roles of siblings in cycling through the ages. For full PDF click the photo below, or here’s a link to an abridged version on the Rouleur website.
November 2019: Extreme Weather feature for Cyclist
After a freak hailstorm abruptly ended a two-week heatwave and saw the Tour de France route engulfed in a landslide during stage 19 to Tignes, Cyclist magazine asked me to speak to some meteorological specialists for a piece on the potential impact of global warming and extreme weather conditions on cycling. This involved the burning question of whether climate change needs to be factored into race planning going forward – as well as hypothetical questions of how differently riders may approach races in extreme weather. There was also the elephant in the room: the sport’s contribution to the crisis, what with the race’s huge entourage including 1,800 accredited vehicles – as well as the huge carbon footprint of the fans travelling to watch the race. Online link here, PDF via the image to the right.
October 2019: First “Big Ride” for Cyclist – Romania
At the end of June I got the nod from Cyclist to go to Romania with photographer Alex Duffill and ride two of most legendary climbs in the Balkans – the Transfăgărășan and the Transalpina passes. These would be my first “Big Ride” cover features for the magazine. Despite a slight setback – Wizz Air sent my bag to Skopje, via Hannover, and not to Bucharest – I was able to borrow some bits and bobs and complete both rides. My host was Silviu Martin, a lovely Romanian chap who got in touch with me via my friend Oli Broom, the so-called Slow Cyclist. Silviu runs Martin Cycling Adventures, offering bespoke cycling tours and guiding all over the Balkans, and sorted out all the accommodation, travel and bike hire. Thankfully, he didn’t embarrass me too much when the road edged uphill.
The first of the two Big Ride features came out in October’s edition of Cyclist. It was on the Transfăgărășan pass – dubbed by Jeremy Clarkson as “the best road in the world”. Click the image below for the full PDF or here’s the link for the online version.
June 2019 – Re-Cycle historical series kicks off
In 2019 I started writing the Re-Cycle retrospective series of features for Eurosport. It delves into the most compelling, controversial and extraordinary riders and races in cycling history – anything from little-known tales of yesteryear to record-breaking endeavours worth revisiting. As it was my idea, I was given free reign to come up with the ideas for topics tying into the major races during the season.
The first episode came out the week before the Paris-Roubaix cobblestone classic and looked into the year when there were two winners of the so-called Hell of the North. Controversial scenes saw Frenchman André Mahé and Italy's Serse Coppi both win – at least officially – the 47th edition of Paris-Roubaix, which struck me as a story worth telling. Things evolved from there. The second episode looked back at the freezing 1980 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in which Bernard Hinault braved blizzards and snow to win by almost 10 minutes from a field of just 21 finishers. To tie in with the Giro d’Italia, I wrote features on Fausto Coppi’s majestic solo raid from Cuneo to Pinerolo in 1949 and Andy Hampsten’s epic ride into pink on the snow-capped Gavia pass in 1988.
For the Tour de France, I interviewed the lovely Brian Robinson, Britain’s first Tour de France stage winner in 1958, and wrote about the day he won a Tour stage with a 20-minute margin over the pack. I also looked into the career of Frenchman Eugène Christophe, the first man to don the Tour’s yellow jersey in 1919. I kicked off the Vuelta a Espana episodes by looking at Belgium's Gustaaf Deloor and his brother Alfons – pedalling pioneers whose careers were cut short by war. Gustaaf won the first two editions of the Spanish race before emigrating to the United States, where he ended up working for NASA and helped put a man on the moon. Tales of kidnappings and controversy surrounded Colombia’s Luis ‘Lucho’ Herrera, South America’s first Grand Tour winner, while Frenchman Jacques Anquetil was the focus of an episode looking into his unprecedented Tour-Vuelta double in 1963.
The thirteenth and last piece of the season focused on Greg LeMond’s infamous attack to reel in American teammate Jonathan Boyer in the 1982 World Championships road race, won by the Italian Giuseppe Saronni. It was great fun choosing the topics and reading around the subjects and researching these features before putting finger to keyboard. Hopefully the series will be recommissioned for a second season.
February 2019: Essential Stories series for Eurosport
I was commissioned by Eurosport.fr to translate some long-reads from their Grands Récits series. The first batch dealt with sporting stories which hinged on a last-minute – or second – turnaround, starting with the legendary “play that beat the band” in 1982 as the University of California beat its rival Stanford in the closing moments of an enthralling college football final.
The series went on to cover the American boxer Meldrick Taylor’s agonising loss to Mexican champion Julio César Chávez just two seconds from the bell in 1990; Reggie Miller’s eight points in nine seconds as Indiana beat the New York Knicks in Madison Square Gardens in 1995; Christian Laettner’s last-gasp shot – universally known as ‘The Shot’ – as Duke sunk Kentucky in 1992; and the unbelievable last-lap turnaround as Lewis Hamilton pipped Felipe Massa to Formula One glory at Interlagos in 2008. I loved translating this series. Not only was I using my French in a professional capacity, I was revisiting – or, for the most part, discovering for the first time – these fantastic stories from the past.
April 2018: Remembering Michele Scarponi
I remember the death of the Italian cyclist Michele Scarponi vividly because the news came through while I was on my stag weekend just days after my mother passed away. Scarponi was only 37 years old when he was killed when being stuck by a car driven by an old man on the outskirts of his hometown of Filottrano. He was out training the day after he’d finished fourth in the Tour of the Alps, where he’d won the opening stage. Three months earlier, my own sister died of a heart attack. She was also 37. All this meant added extra poignancy to me riding the inaugural Granfondo Michele Scarponi for Cyclist magazine. It was being held in Le Marche to commemorate the former Astana rider on the anniversary of his tragic death.
It was a beautiful spring day and the terrain was really challenging – including a number of spiky climbs, as well as the highest peak of the Monte San Vicino. It had been a long time since I’d ridden 135km in one sitting – and when my friend, Mike Curtis (who runs, with his wife Kelda, the nearby Casale Volpe B&B where me and photographer Mike Massaro stayed), caved in and decided to ride the shorter 90km route, I was very much left in the lurch. I managed to get through to the end after palling up with a nice chap called Andrea at the final feed zone. You can read about the memorable ride in my feature in Cyclist magazine here.
November 2017: Fear and Loathing in Ashgabat
Off the back of my feature in the Calvert Journal, I wrote a second whimsical piece from my time in one of the world’s least-visited nations. Here’s the intro – and a link – to the article on Eurasianet:
When the opportunity arose to travel to Turkmenistan and cover the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, I didn't need much convincing. It's not often you get to visit one of the most closed countries in the world, one run by regime that watchdog groups describe as among the most repressive in the world. Little did I know that my four-day visit would end with $3,000 of the organizers' money burning a hole in my pocket. But more on that murky development later…
October 2017: Turkmenistan - Ashgabat 2017
When I was offered the chance to go to Turkmenistan for the niche 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, I could hardly say no. After all, it's not every day that the repressive former Soviet state opens its doors. Officially, I was there to write sponsored content hosted on Eurosport's website, which I did here and here. But having made the most of my four days in Central Asia - including taking a series of eye-catching images - I managed to snare some other more creative commissions on my return to London. One was for The Calvert Journal - an award-winning online magazine dedicated to exploring the culture and creativity of the New East: eastern Europe, the Balkans, Russia and Central Asia. My Letter From Ashgabat was a slightly satirical look at my time in Turkmenistan and included a raft of photos taken during the Games.
July 2017: The remarkable tale of the Tintin of the Tour
Since uncovering the absorbing story of Alex Virot for my chapter in The Cycling Anthology, I was always keen to develop the tale of this little-known pioneer of French radio. If the slew of images and documents relating to Virot's life made the story better suited to a magazine or online feature, then the 70th anniversary of Virot's death presented itself with an ideal opportunity to write a special long-read article for Eurosport ahead of the Bastille Day stage of the 2017 Tour de France. The piece included some superb illustrations as well as an audio file of Virot's last ever radio broadcast before his death.
