Brother UK Cycling Podcast

Road cycling podcast focused on the UK domestic scene hosted by Timothy John and Phil Jones. Featuring interviews with team managers, riders and stakeholders in the sport.

Welcome to the first episode of the new Brother UK Cycling podcast. Co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, talk to Dean Downing, a legend of the British road scene. Dean is the former British circuit race and madison champion and is now among the sport’s most sought-after coaches. In part one, Dean talks about the early phases of his career. He begins by des...

Episode two of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast continues a fascinating conversation with Dean Downing, the former British Circuit Race Champion and British Madison Champion and now a sought-after coach.  Dean shares more stories from his riding career, including his most cherished victory, and offers his thoughts on the challenges faced by the domestic road scene: the structural and financial i...

The UK's elite road race scene is built on talent, dedication and enormous reserves of goodwill. In the third episode of the new Brother UK Cycling Podcast co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones talk to three people with first-hand experience of the value of family and community support.     Team Brother UK-OnForm's manager Simon Howes and his partner Michelle Jenner join us to describe long we...

Hill climbing is arguably the hardest discipline in cycling - an event in which the riders literally race to collapse. It is a brutal and compelling spectacle for the thousands of spectators who line the hill at events like Monsal Head, but the inner battle waged by the competitors is equally demanding. In this fourth episode of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast, co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jon...

E-racing has become cycling’s most popular discipline since the introduction of Covid-mandated lockdowns. Cyclists using so-called ‘smart’ trainers compete online in digital worlds. Watts transmitted from real-world riders power avatars around virtual courses. Exhausting races force indoor cyclists to ‘go deep’ for success. E-cycling is fundamentally an athletic endeavour and, therefore, the mo...

Join co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones MBE, and a panel of expert witnesses, for a detailed examination of the future of British domestic road racing.

Join co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones MBE, and a panel of expert witnesses, for a detailed examination of the future of British domestic road racing.

In this episode, co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, are joined by regular contributor Larry Hickmott, the founder and editor of VeloUK.net, to talk through several of the issues raised in our in-depth investigation of elite British domestic road racing, The Way Ahead.    Tim, Phil and Larry listen to clips taken from parts one and two of episode six and...

Episode Eight of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast examines management. Co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones lead an insightful discussion. The guests are the managers of our three sponsored teams. We examine the challenges of leadership in sport and business. And we consider the rewards, too: personal, professional and sporting. Simon Howes is the experienced manager of Team Brother UK-OnForm. I...

In episode nine of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast, co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones MBE, the Managing Director of Brother UK, are joined by members of a Brother UK-sponsored cycling team in a hurry. The elite Crimson Performance-Orientation Marketing squad are planning to make 2021 a season to remember.   Guests Matt Hallam, the team’s founder and owner, manager and rider, marquee signing...

Rebecca Richardson is the special guest in this tenth edition of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast. Rebecca’s hill climb prowess has made her a familiar face to Brother Cycling’s followers (she’s the reigning Welsh hill climb champion, after all). Now, she’s added another string to her bow: setting endurance records.   Rebecca joins co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of ...

The eleventh edition of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast celebrates the return to national road racing after an absence of more than a year with the 2021 Women’s CiCLE Classic. Brother UK will have an unmissable presence at this superb race with three sponsored teams in the peloton and the Neutral Service p/b Brother UK in-race support crews in the race convoy.    Co-hosts Timothy John and Phil...

The Brother UK-sponsored Tour Series is Britain's biggest circuit racing series. It's brought adrenaline-fuelled racing to town-centre circuits the length and breadth of the country since 2009. Many household names gained prominence at the Tour Series, including Anna Henderson, the Brother Cycling 'graduate' now winning races in the UCI Women's WorldTour.   Our guests for this investigative e...

The Tour Series is Britain’s best-loved series of city centre circuit races. Since 2009, it’s granted an early opportunity to blossoming British talent. Brother UK has sponsored The Tour Series since 2014 and served as Official Print and Results Partner since 2016. We proudly sponsor the Brother Fastest Lap competition, too.    This episode is the second instalment of a two-part preview of th...

This episode of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast offers an in-depth preview of the 2021 Tour of Britain. Its documentary-style investigation features an impressive cast of expert witnesses. Riders, sponsors, route planners, neutral service providers and journalists combine to provide a thought-provoking prelude to the latest edition of Britain’s biggest bike race.    Phil Jones, the Managing Di...

This episode previews The Women’s Tour: a top-tier stage race, widely considered the most well-organised in the women’s sport. Brother UK has sponsored the event since its inception in 2014 and served as Official Print and Results Partner since 2016. This year, the Neutral Service p/b Brother UK in-race support crews will take their place proudly in the race convoy.   Phil Jones, the Managing...

This special edition of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast previews the 2021 National Hill Climb Championships. Winnats Pass, a savagely beautiful climb at the heart of the Derbyshire Peak District, will host the championships for the first time in 40 years. This year, a female athlete will be crowned national champion on its slopes for the first time. Brother UK will proudly serve #Winnats21 as an...

In episode 17 of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast, co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, look ahead to the 2022 season, paying particular attention to the Tour Series, the Lincoln Grand Prix and the Women's Tour.  In 2022, Brother UK will again be at the side of elite British road racing, maintaining its vital financial support in the form of sponsorships for...

Co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, use episode 18 of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast to look back on the recent Tour Series, look ahead to the 2022 Women’s Tour, share more information on Brother UK’s Green Zone sponsorship at the Women’s Tour and Tour of Britain, and celebrate a second national title in three months for Brother UK - Orientation Marketing....

June represents peak season on the elite British road racing calendar: a fact reflected in this packed edition of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast.    Co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones MBE, the Managing Director of Brother UK, are joined by VeloUK editor Larry Hickmott to look back on the Women’s Tour and look ahead to the Women’s CiCLE Classic and National Road and Time-Trial Championships....

Episode 20 of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast finds Phil Jones MBE, Brother UK’s Managing Director and this podcast’s co-host, in conversation with the writer Sophie Smith. Phil seizes the coincidence of a visit to central London to interview Sophie, who is passing through the city en route to the Tour de France, about her new book, Pain and Privilege: Inside Le Tour. In a wide ranging convers...

No one is closer to Brother UK-sponsored Tour of Britain than its Route Director, Andy Hawes. We caught up recently with Andy  in Ferndown, which will host the finish of stage seven of this year's race on Saturday September 10, as he neared the end of his second full route recce. Listen to Andy share insights from a drive of nearly 2000km, begun six days earlier in Aberdeen, where this year’s T...

Episode 22 of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast reflects on the National Road and Time-Trial Championships, the exponential growth of women's racing, Brother UK's comprehensive sponsorship of elite domestic road racing, and the 2022 National Road Series. Co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, are joined by experts from the Brother UK Cycling family to discuss t...

Grace Lister is a young rider in a hurry. Already this year, she’s represented Team England at the Commonwealth Games, pulled on a Team GB jersey for the junior European track championships, and won four British titles in the colours of Team Brother UK - Orientation Marketing. We caught up with Grace during a rare week at home in Shrewsbury as she prepared to fly to Israel for the world junior...

Episode 24 of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast sets the scene for the 18th edition of the modern Tour of Britain. Co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, are joined by Brother UK-sponsored athlete Adam Kenway, the former national hill climb champion, and Tony Barry, the manager of Neutral Service p/b Brother UK. The group discusses topics beyond the traditiona...

Dan Martin is among Ireland’s most successful cyclists. A winner of five Grand Tour stages, two Monument classics, two WorldTour stage races and numerous other accolades, he enjoyed a brilliant career by any standard. Newly retired, Dan is enjoying life to the full, spending time with his young family in Andorra and on the Isle of Wight. He’ll attend this year’s Brother UK-sponsored Tour of Br...

Adam Kenway, a Brother UK-sponsored athlete, joins co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, to look ahead to the 2022 hill climb season. Adam, a former national hill climb champion, offers insights into the pain and pleasures of cycling’s most demanding discipline: one that routinely pushes competitors to collapse. This light-hearted but informative conversat...

Fred Wright is a leading member of a group of young British riders already being hailed as a new golden generation to succeed, and perhaps even surpass, the likes of Wiggins, Cavendish, Thomas et al. This year, Wright, 23, lit up both the Tour de France and La Vuelta a Espana with relentlessly combative displays, earning 11 top-10 finishes and three podiums across the two Grand Tours. For much...

Oscar Onley, a 19-year-old from Kelso, is a dazzling cycling talent and a rider supported by The Rayner Foundation. Riding for Team DSM’s WorldTour squad, he lit up the Brother UK-sponsored Tour of Britain before heading to Croatia and racing wheel-to-wheel with Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard. He concluded his season at Paris-Tours Espoirs, a fitting finale for a young rider who has...

The Rayner Foundation must be among the most successful charities in all of sport. Established in 1995, it has issued £1m in support via 521 grants and helped 84 young British riders to become professional cyclists. Its most successful graduates have won some of the biggest prizes in professional cycling. The Rayner Foundation occupies a special place in the affections of the Brother UK Cyclin...

Harrison Wood might be described as a living, breathing definition of resilience. As such, he is a defining example of the qualities inspired by The Rayner Foundation, a charity funding young British riders to race abroad. Phil Jones MBE, Brother UK’s Managing Director, cycled the entire route of the Tour of Britain in 2018, one day ahead of the race, to raise funds for the foundation’s excelle...

Sam Watson is one of British cycle sport's most exciting young talents. The 21-year-old will begin 2023 with the UCI WorldTour team, Groupama-FDJ. His graduation from its development squad completes the first stage of a rapidly advancing career that even a global pandemic has been unable to slow. Sam's rise might be described as meteoric, but there is no sign of him crashing to earth. Instead,...

Oliver Knight seems certain to be among the next cohort of young British riders to enter the elite UCI WorldTour. He ended last season by racing as an apprentice with the UAE Team Emirates squad led by two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar and now seeks a professional contract. We caught up with Knight in January 2023 on the day he returned to Aix, the Provencal town he has called home ...

Oliver Knight seems destined to be among the next cohort of young British riders to enter the elite UCI WorldTour. He ended last season by racing as an apprentice with the UAE Team Emirates squad led by two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar and now seeks a professional contract. We caught up with Knight in January 2023 on the day he returned to Aix, the Provencal town he has called home...

Domestic cycling’s winter of discontent and the green shoots of recovery represented by a thriving National B scene fall under the microscope of co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones MBE in an episode to preview the 2023 National Road Series. Promoter Deb John and rider Sian Botteley offer additional insights. Phil and Tim discuss the setbacks endured by elite British road racing, from the canc...

The 2023 season has offered action and intrigue. In this latest episode of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast, co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, are joined by rider Sian Botteley (Hutchinson - Brother UK) to consider developments ranging from Jon Dutton’s appointment as the new CEO of British Cycling to the postponement of the Women’s Tour. Phil offers insi...

Deb John is the co-founder of Cold Dark North and a race organiser with many cherished events on her palmares, including the Proper Northern Road Race Series and the national masters championships for men and women. This year, Cold Dark North will also support the National Hill Climb Championships. In this in-depth interview, Deb discusses her motivations for becoming a race organiser and, lat...

Leader meets leader in this special edition of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast, where co-host Phil Jones MBE, the Managing Director of Brother UK, heads across town from our headquarters in Tameside to interview Jon Dutton, British Cycling’s new Chief Executive, at Manchester’s National Cycling Centre. A fascinating conversation follows. Phil presents the questions that matter to road cyclists ...

The 2023 National Road Championships in Redcar and Cleveland could be one for the ages. Stacked fields in the three disciplines, a relentlessly hilly road course, a fast and flat time-trial course, and a circuit that takes in town centre and seafront, it promises excitement and intrigue, challenge and reward. In this episode, co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Broth...

One for the ages? The 2023 National Road Championships delivered attritional road races, exhilarating circuit races and blisteringly fast time-trials. Ten new champions were crowned over the five-day championships in Redcar and Cleveland: a celebration of elite British road racing that ended in spectacular style. Co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, reflec...

With a ground-breaking world championships and a rejuvenated National Circuit Series to reflect upon, and the Ryedale Grand Prix and Tour of Britain to look forward to, co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, have much to talk about in this packed episode of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast. Highly-qualified sources offer additional insights. Who better than Pe...

Who knows more about the Ryedale Grand Prix than 2022 winner Abi Smith (EF Education - Tibco - SVB)? Having grown up just two kilometres from historic Ampleforth Abbey, the race HQ and its start and finish location, it’s fair to say that Abi has local knowledge in abundance. Not that she needs it. With victories in the three biggest domestic races and experience as a professional in some of th...

This packed preview of the 2023 Brother UK-sponsored Tour of Britain takes you to the heart of Britain’s biggest bike race, as well as considering its economic and environmental context. Co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones MBE, the Managing Director of Brother UK, hear from a host of expert witnesses. Connor Swift  (INEOS Grenadiers) will start his sixth Tour of Britain on Sunday September 3....

Sustainability is a critical issue in every walk of life, from business to professional cycling. Major corporations and sports federations alike are committed to addressing issues such as waste and energy usage and implementing new protocols to measure and manage carbon footprint and environmental impact. In this episode, Ben Barrett, the UCI's Sustainability Consultant, discusses in detail th...

From wise heads to rising stars, this episode of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast includes reflections from inside British Cycling’s domestic road racing Task Force and insights from Lukas Nerurkar, the 19-year-old from Brighton who next year will race in the UCI WorldTour with EF Education-EasyPost. In a packed episode, co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones MBE, the Managing Director of Brother ...

Lukas Nerurkar is one of a handful of young British riders who will graduate to the UCI WorldTour in 2024. The Brighton teenager is the son of the British Olympian Richard Nerurkar and spent the first seven years of his life in Ethiopia. Mount Entoto hosted his formative cycling experiences. In June, Lukas won a stage of the Baby Giro, a prestigious U23 race featuring some of the mountain pass...

Co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, attended the 2023 Rayner Foundation dinner and charity auction. The pair shared a table with former world champion Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) and her husband Phil, a Grand Tour stage winner, and key members of the Foundation’s organising committee. Despite enjoying the awards ceremony, charity auction and key note speec...

Lizzie Deignan is among Britain’s most successful cyclists. A world champion on track and road, an Olympic silver medalist and winner of the most prestigious races in professional cycling, she has consistently been among the peloton’s strongest riders in a period of exponential growth and transformational change in women’s cycling. In a wide-ranging interview, Lizzie describes pivotal moments ...

Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) is the two-time and reigning British women’s road race champion and the leading rider in a young and talented generation of female cyclists from the UK. Still only 23, Pfeiffer is about to begin her sixth season as a professional. Some of the biggest prizes in the sport are now within her grasp. In the relaxed and informal setting of Calpe’s Hotel Di...