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ROWE REVEALS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED INEOS | RIDER SUPPORT

with Rider Support

32:26·22 November 2024

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MOUNTAIN BIKING

This week we're digging into what really went wrong at Ineos in 2024—and it's not what you'd expect. Luke Rowe's departure reveals serious organisational bloat at the WorldTour giant, plus we're tackling lactate testing, mental prep for big gravel events, disc brake squeaks, and whether carbon or aluminium makes sense for your first gravel bike.

Key Takeaways

Ineos's problems stem from bureaucratic bloat, not talent—multiple layers of departmental approval have replaced quick decision-making, which is why Luke Rowe left despite being offered more money elsewhere.
Pogacar, Remco, and Visma are the only game in town for Grand Tours right now; Ineos should consider clearing Pogacar's €4M salary to fund a move for Remco rather than hoping current roster delivers results.
Skip field lactate testing entirely and use FTP or VO2 Max instead—lab testing requires professional conditions or the downstream consequences of getting it wrong contaminate your entire training plan.
Mental preparation for big races beats physical preparation alone: use visualisation techniques (like the thumb-and-forefinger anchor) and pre-ride course familiarisation on platforms like Rouvy to build confidence.
Go wider on your tyres first before considering inserts—maximising tyre clearance solves more puncture problems than foam inserts, and keep sealant fresh because riding with dry sealant guarantees disaster.
For your first gravel bike on a budget, buy second-hand carbon rather than new aluminium—you'll get better specs and avoid the regret cycle of upgrading within six months.

Expert Quotes

"I just didn't want my time wasted...I was scared that I get lost in a big organisation. It's more than a cycling team now, it's part of a global business and it's owned by, not sponsored by them. — Luke Rowe"

"If you can walk through a door and walk back through the door, if it's reversible, you should take those decisions all day long. But if you get to the far side and the door locks behind you, you should take those decisions very slowly and very cautiously. — Anthony, on why lactate threshold testing matters"

"Pogacar is paid as well as Remco, Jasper Philipsen, Jonas Vingegaard...he's paid better than a chunk of those riders and he's not delivering anywhere close to it."

KEY QUOTES

“pockock was prox and stats he was the 30th ranked rider in the UCI last year so to give you an idea of the type of riders on front of them like they're not the biggest riders in the world van einfeld Mikel Landa Jo Almeida H Diego elisi Richard carapaz skel mosa Maxim vanill like they're good bike riders but they're not attracting a salary anywhere close to what pitock has doing pitock has a top three salary in the world”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“they used the trick where you press your tumb and your forefinger together so alter the season when he was away at altitude camps he'd make a connection between the sacrifice he was making away from his kids his wife press the to in the forefinger together later on the season where everyone's having dessert or beers and he's not Tom and for finger together time after time he made that connection between tumb and forefinger and then when it came time to perform he's in the bunch he's not feeling good but it's go time he like pressed the tumb and forefinger and everything came rushing back to him”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“speaking to the best coaches in the world Dan ples Olaf Buu H Dan langang they all talk about how easy it is to contaminate lactate test reading so if you're not going to get it done from a professional I say just don't do it and test the traditional way”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT2 SECTIONS

What Went Wrong at Ineos

Welcome to this week's ryer support this week we're going to talk about the correct use of lactate monitors how you can make some easy gains with these visualization tricks but first anyos have made a huge huge mistake and we want to start out by talking about it Sarah Anthony okay let's jump into the first question hi Anthony with Team inos having had such a rough 2024 season and now making all these big changes what do you think went wrong for them was it a tactical issue the riders or maybe their focus was on the wrong type of races and do you think these changes will be enough to get them back to the top or are they missing something important okay so I know you were we're talking about this off air the Luke row Luke Row for anyone doesn't know he's been a stalwart in inos as a franchise sky before that really well liked the host of what's uring with gr Thomas as well so we're a big fan of that show and it was really telling for me when Luke row decided to retire and move into being a director sport Eve and opted not to do it with any else instead of going instead going over to ag2 to catalon that for me is hugely telling and the interview with him he spoke about organizational blo as the main reason and I'm friends with some of the guys in the inside as well and they've talked about how it's changed in the past few years from when Dave B was head of things he make a decision and get done now there's Department after Department after Department because something that a lot of people don't know about inos is inos isn't the sponsor of that team inos is the owner of that team so it's different that Lisa bike is sponsoring a team inos actually own it and it's under their wider Ino Sports Group which includes the runners the rowers and all these things so because of that you have layers and layers of you know you know from working in big Fara like there's compliance after compliance after compliance I think that's a huge problem and that's what Luke row was going to allude into yeah I agree I mean in an interview that I read with him he basically said that the biggest reason wasn't Financial that's why he he didn't go we would have expected him to stay with anyos it kind of feels like he he bleeds anyos at this stage he's been with him since your dot but he went on to say I just didn't want my time wasted and that was my biggest fear it wasn't Financial it wasn't any negativity towards an individual or the team as a whole I have a lot of time for them but I was scared that I get lost in a big organization it's more than a cycling team now it's part of a global business and it's owned by not sponsored by them so exactly just echoing what you said but yeah I mean there's been trouble of and inos for a while now and we've seen it really reflected in the performances and it feels like the cohesiveness of the team together we do have those flying the ball documentaries that we saw from Netflix last year um I know that you and I were at an event uh this year in Ireland and Steve uh Cummings was there who was was he director sportif yeah he's head of the performance I think he yeah he wasn't invited to go to the church of France this year there was some tensions between pockock and him and we don't know P but yeah it the way the season transpired it looks like pitock was a key character in The Descent getting left at home for lombardia to finish out the season but yeah I think cummin getting left at home for the Tour of France was really telling you heard a lot of Whispers you know H haer leaving the team at the end of the season you know didn't speak massively fondly of what's going on there interview again was very very uh heart on his sleeve about how he wasn't happy with it and kind of really delighted to jump jump ship from inos and inos would have been a team that people really would have like fought tooth and nail to get on yeah number only game in town if you were there was talk for quite a while that if braford decided he wasn't ready to make transfers in the offseason the entire transfer market would stop because they were all waiting to see what braford and team guy would do that was his power that he had on it he's no longer wielding that power at all well I think as you said his focus seems to be somewhere else within the organization they do seem to have hired 30 new members of staff and they've brought in a lot of New Riders I'm not sure what the number is so what are they missing what are they missing yeah like they're missing a rider to win a race yeah like yeah it's so obvious like pockock is their Marquee ruer pockock for me is just a massive underperformer relative to a salary now I don't want to say pockock isn't a good bike rider pockock is a good bike rider and he's especially allaround good bike rider he can ride cyc cross he can ride mountain bike he's Olympic mountain bike Champion World Cycle across Champion like he can ride Offroad but if we're analyzing him just on the road he's not delivering like pck coock was prox and stats he was the 30th ranked rider in the UCI last year so to give you an idea of the type of riders on front of them like they're not the biggest riders in the world van einfeld Mikel Landa Jo Almeida H Diego elisi Richard carapaz skel mosa Maxim vanill like they're good bike riders but they're not attracting a salary anywhere close to what pitock has doing pitock has a top three salary in the world so he is paid as well as Remco Taj yasper philipson yonas BM GMO matchu vand derpa Primos rogich he's paid better than a chunk of those Riders and he's not delivering anywhere close to it now in the YouTube comments below everyone's going come back and say oh he's won a classic he has won a classic Stevie Williams from Israel is also won a classic so are we saying Stevie Williams should be getting like pick oock on a report of 4 million a year at the moment so my hot take for anyos they got really unlucky they had a generational Talent Egan Bernal we thought he was going to win the next 10 to of Francis they got really unlucky and it was admirable that they stuck by Bernal in his comeback and they had a clause in his contract to reduce his salary and they didn't they stuck by and paid him two .8 million per year even when he's off so that's admirable but now if you're looking at the franchise and you're like how do they get back from here gr tours is only where it's at you need to be winning grand Tours if you're a franchise as big as any see if T to France jro welta how are they going to win those with pogy yonas Remco it's like it's not happening at the moment unless you have one of those three Riders you're not going to get a homegrown Talent like arnsman where they can bring him up and spend four or five years developing them he's just not going to challenge those guys my hot on this is you needed to clear pick off that salary like they missed a chance to get rid of four looked like there was the sent in the camp he was left out of lomber I was like finally and he also are going to make a good decision you clear 4 million off the wage Bill maybe you clear Bernal with him that's 6.8 million in annual savings and you throw a kitchen sink at Remco and try and get him on board you're not getting yourest you're not getting pugy like what's pogy on at the moment 8.3 million just sign the New Deal you're not getting him you're not getting Yas 8.3 million and then if the if it fall a 200 million get out of the contract like it's just he's locked REM locked rem's getable for that sort of cash and he relaunches the franchise and he re-energizes the staff he re-energizes all the amazing young Talent they have coming up but they're not going to challenge pogy and I think I think at the moment what I would say is because the way inos is run and it is run like a business rather than a cycling team in the traditional sense where there's loads of sponsors who have very little to do it's more of a COR as as Luke gr said it's a corporation I would say at this point they're going back to the drawing board they're all sitting around the Board Room and they're thinking okay what's the plan for the next four five years the medium to long term and it's still got to be WR it's really do you think so there has to be some more talent coming that they can think how young The Lads are pogy these Lads they're in their early 20s still like pogy yonas rco they're the only game of town yeah are you sad to see the decline of any are you kind of no not really fair enough okay will we move on to the next question transform your indoor cycling with Ruby the platform that brings Real World Roots and augmented reality to your training whether you're preparing for a big event or you're just looking to explore Ruby lets you experience the legendary rids like altoz and Paso D stelvio from the comfort of your home Ruby's unique augmented reality technology uses real life video and GPS data to create the most realistic cycling experience available you'll feel every climb descent and Horn with precise terrain replication giving you an authentic outdoor ride indoors plus with ar elements like avatars and Banners the ride really feels totally immersive and interactive with over 1500 routs and 25 th000 kilm the world's most iconic cycling destinations Ruby is perfect for cyclists of all levels whether you want to enjoy Scenic routs participate in group rids or push your limits with Advanced Training plans ruy has you covered Ruby also offers flexible pricing allowing you to pause your subscription or choose duo or group plans to share the experience from exploring new places to Serious training Ruby has something for every cyclist ready to the world visit ruby.com and start your journey today hey Anthony and Sarah I heard you have big plans for events and racing next year I too am signed up for the rift gravel race in July the thing that I do suffer from is my mental health and I have issues such as anxiety this year I'm trying to push myself out of my comfort zone I've never brought my bike abroad or raced an event like this do you have any tips for mentally preparing for a big event like this so I can stay calm and actually enjoy the experience wow thank you so much for riding in and being open about your mental health struggles and I think on a on varying degrees traveling and racing or even racing in your own locality can bring up a lot of kind of anxious feelings because there's a lot to think about and lot uncertainty a lot of uncertainty and then throw into that traveling to a completely new country getting on a plane packing up your bag which is your bike into a bag which is potentially something you've never done worrying about that getting there getting your getting on the New Roads it it can be quite daunting simulation's massive I talked about this on the podcast with Alex HS and then Jeremy poers as well I'm not sure if the Jeremy poers one has been released assimilation is massive how had his best ever World Championships result when it was in Richmond USA because he didn't have to travel we don't put enough emphasis on how fatiguing mentally travel is how being around different environments different foods different people different accents Mel de Grange from ammani Project really hit that home to me when he talked about the he called them highly pressurized auditions the East Africans have when they come over to Belgium so imagine lining up for a race in a climate you're not familiar with you look around nobody looks like you nobody speaks the same language as you you don't recognize the food you don't recognize the culture and then you're judged on one performance and that's essentially what we have for amateurs it doesn't have the same consequences like the highly pressurized audition where it's you know sink or swim in terms of losing your job your career yeah but it still means you can go to an event like this and really struggle to enjoy it or not go at all like I know someone that tried to go to the airport and then they just Frozen by anxiety in the airport and had to turn home so two things I would say on this that are really interesting I had a friend who wrote for team Sky years ago and the consequences of getting you know Bradley with W into the base of a climb in the tur of France at a perfect moment they trained an entire 12 if not 24 months for two or three moments inside the tur of France tur of France is only decided by moments it's decided by position into a clim it's decided by performance on a clim a time trial so his responsibility was guiding them into the bottom of this climb so how do you make sure you're switched on for that moment like it's a moment in three weeks inside a season how can you hope that your motivation is good that your legs are good they worked hard with sports psychologists to figure out and they used the trick where you press your tumb and your forefinger together so alter the season when he was away at altitude camps he'd make a connection between the sacrifice he was making away from his kids his wife press the to in the forefinger together later on the season where everyone's having dessert or beers and he's not Tom and for finger together time after time he made that connection between tumb and forefinger and then when it came time to perform he's in the bunch he's not feeling good but it's go time he like pressed the tumb and forefinger and everything came rushing back to him of like all the sacrifice he's made it's for this moment like wigg Go's got to be turret whale or second wheel or whatever it is into the base of it so visualization really matters and then I married that with a conversation I had with a friend who's gone to meorc this week and really anxious and what massively helped him he' never been to meorc before he never ridden on the wrong side of the road before so what I advise to him is use ruy in preparation for it so you can go and you can ride the routes you can see what the corners look like you can see what the runoff on the descents looks like cuz people are so scared of this going like what if I overshoot with descent but like when you ride on Ruby you go oh actually the descents are all barriered or none of the descents look very dangerous yeah or there's a wall here or yeah The Descent or the skyline or I'm going to see this across you know on the horizon Ruby actually they have uh new roots that just opened up in Iceland actually so this you need to be doing enough I should be doing this as well that's a really good point this listener should definitely go on to revie and check out those those rots because that is just it might seem very unimportant but all of these tiny little steps that you can take to make yourself more familiar with the place and more comfortable it's going to have remember we rode the lighthouse route when we were in New York it's fantastic if someone hasn't done it you don't want to do in mid day there's a lot of traffic but cap the formentor it's visually like stunning it's breathtaking and I was telling him how amazing this was was and he was just like building the anxiety up around how the cars were a problem and how I told him there was some rocks on some of the corners and then he rode it on Ruby and like he's absolutely pumped now he's heading out this week I've been chatting to him back and forth and he's like feels like he has no nerves because he now knows what to expect he knows what to expect that's a really good point all of the big routes all of the big climbs are on ruy as well so wherever you're going in the world you can go and check those out I think another thing as well that would be really good for this listener is to try if you can to ride a little bit of the course first like we're going out a few days beforehand we're going to be on course and testing out making sure our tire pressure is okay preparation preparation yeah and training that's really it isn't it and of course um I will reach out to you when we're over there and come for a training word with us and come and sus out some of the course and you'll already have a couple of friends there and the gravel scene is quite friendly as well it's not it's a little bit different it's not Road it's not like road racing so please try not stress out too much and look I will be in touch and the very best luck with you're training okay next question hey Anthony I love the recent podcast on lactate threshold and all the details about LT1 lt2 and lt3 don't know why you're getting the uh thank you for that that was my podcast I'm curious about something you mentioned how lab testing is the most accurate way to measure LT if a full Lab Test isn't impossible are there ways I can get fairly close with field testing and for someone who's not racing at the pro level how much should I actually be focusing on LT versus just getting in those endurance and intensity sessions so last week I did a full podcast on what lactate threshold is because we mention lactate threshold and then these like link it up below I'll link it below we mentioned on the podcast a few times what the LT inflection point is your first inflection point all that kind of stuff and I just said I'll do a full lactation threshold for dummies so I will uh do that below but can you can you get into the weeds of why a lab test is more important or do does field testing work at all in your opinion because the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos I love this story had when he was talking about employees and what decisions they can make and what decisions they can't make he said if you can walk through a door and walk back through the door if it's if you don't like what you see when you get to the far side of the door you should take those decisions all day long so make a decision if it has consequences that are reversible if you walk through a door and you get to the far side and you're like that didn't work out too well and you can't walk back through the door is locked behind you it's undoable he should take those decisions very slowly and very cautiously so what I kind of took from that story is we have upstream and we have Downstream consequences to decisions we make in sport so an example of this Upstream consequences if we set our lactate threshold wrong we have a lot of Downstream consequences to flow from that decision so now our training stress score for every session is wrong now our chronic training lad Performance Management chart is wrong now we're making poor deductions about when we're arrested when we're recovered when we're injured when we're not so it's a it's a decision that we should put a lot of emphasis on and speaking to the best coaches in the world Dan ples Olaf Buu H Dan langang they all talk about how easy it is to contaminate lactate test reading so if you're not going to get it done from a professional I say just don't do it and test the traditional way like we talk about you know we've had loads of podcasts where we talk about how to set your lactate threshold heart rate or your lactate threshold power that's a much better way to approach it and it's you can replicate it again and again so you can do a block of training like one of the ways I'll set of training for uh an athlete is a reverse periodization model where we'll test Sprint power at the beginning of a block then we'll do a Sprint block and we'll retest Sprint power at the end of the block so you need to have a test that's repeatable at the start of the block and the end of the block to see if the if the trash like if the stimulus you're given to the athlete is actually working so I'd say no stay away from lactate thresholds and you see a lot Pro science Instagram dudes doing it it's like just it's too many Downstream negative consequences when you get it wrong yeah I mean the whole the the whole point of lactate threshold and doing testing is that it's super precise that's what you're paying for when you're going to the lab is this absolute precise moment of when that buildup of lactate becomes a problem or when it starts building up faster than your body can clear it so if you're doing a field test or using I covered it again in the podcast any of the wearables that they actually use an algorithm based around the intensity and try and get your lactate threshold from that and the ramping up of intensity and your heart rate and your HRV and again they're just like wildly wildly different every time you test with them so there's a long way to go with that I think at the moment and you don't know what affects it is your problem like you don't know what you don't know so what effect does a poor night sleep have on your first inflection point what effect does a slightly alkaline diet in the days into it have it needs to be done in a controlled environments by a professional yeah so why bother if you're not going to do it correctly doing it at all use FTP or V2 Max to actually train with instead okay Ro man I know how serious you take your goal setting whether they're Fitness or life related goals if you're looking for a powerful alloy to support you on this journey look now further than hu hu has become my secret weapon for when I don't have time to prepare a balanced meal ensures I get the nutrition I need without sacrificing time or taste plus it stops me from reaching for that takeaway menu I always throw a bottle into my backpack when I'm heading into the city to work and it stops me eating junk convenience food snacking on crossons and bars of chocolate because I know they don't support my training goals it's a nutritious meal on the go and it's got over 22 gram of protein hu is perfect for athletes that don't have time to cook or prepare food before a training session it's convenient nutritious fuel at your fingertips ensuring you hit your daily fueling needs for that session hu ready to drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals in every single bottle you're getting a whopping 175 health benefits plus it's made from natural ingredients like Topeka sunfair seed coconut and more the best part it's the flavors there's eight crazy beautiful flavors iced coffee is what's in my backpack right at the moment you can get hu directly to your home all you got to do is head on over to the hu website hu.com Roan question number four well this doesn't seem like much of a question it starts off with a statement Public Service Announcement can all those bellends with squeaking disc brakes please sort them out and then there's numerous exclamation Mar it ruins everybody else's ride Anthony can you please give these morons some tips as to how to fix this does it ruin everyone's ride I don't know I've never had a ride ruined by squeaking disc brakes prob my brakes that's why probably yeah bit annoying but little bit annoying come on I think it's more bad's your day gone I think it's a bit more embarrassing if my I think put my my gravel bik together a few weeks ago and when I went out I hadn't used it in a while when I went out it was squeaking every time I pulled the brakes I was a little bit more mortified you know I don't think I don't not sure it was bothering anybody else you do on sportifs or mass participation uh it is like a load of whales it's like that whale music coming towards you it can get a little bit much cuz it's super super loud what you don't do by the way another public service announcement is put oil on them I have heard of people doing that you cheered and was that you no not me I confession I did do that I borrowed a ma bike years ago in in Toronto I think one of the first times I ever went mountain biking and the shop just gave me a lend of it it was a really nice demo bike they had and I was super like cautious to give it back to them clean so I like spent hours obsessing to get this back like cleaner than they gave it to me and I cleaned down the bike with not oil but some sort of like Sol it was like a mck off solvent or something and just yeah absolutely ruined correct okay so to remove the squeak you got to wipe down the rotors with an alcohol based robe to remove any dirt grease contaminants for people who don't know what the rosers are by the way that's the flat metal disc cuz I wouldn't have known which part the rotor was okay yeah also they are super sensitive to contaminants so even if you're using a rag that you've used with like Mr Sheen for cleaning your table and then you put the alcohol on it that's going to contaminate it and it's going to totally ruin the even oil on your fingers you have to have your hands completely clean like absolutely no oil oil whatsoever near the roers and the brake pads brake pads you need to check them for wear as well it's could be another issue if they're significantly worn down or if they have oil or contaminants on them they need to be replaced and even a small amount or of oil or dirt can totally ruin the pads and give you that squeaking sound misalign pads could also be giving you the squeak uh you can sand down the pads which is something I actually haven't done but people have often said it to me if the pads aren't too worn out like they quite a new set of pads like you just get your new bike and that's starting to squeak which we see a lot of time and the pads look very shiny or glaze slightly sanding them with a very fine grit sandpaper until they have more of like a matte finish will help check rotor warp this is something for like almost a travel tip as well like you can be taking off your rotors when you're traveling because a small bit of rotor warp basically like a Buckle in your rotor that's going to give you also squeak and then just basically it's going to give you squeako it's all you'll be able to hear that there's going to be rub yeah and just making sure everything is tight yeah but contaminant system anything I to give yeah I agree I think it's just uh trying to be very very careful keep oil away and yeah just try and keep them clean and yeah I hope that public service announcement helped there okay hey Anthony I'm a road looking to dive into gravel riding and I'm stuck on one big decision carbon or aluminium for my first gravel bike frame I know carbon is lighter but I'm also thinking about durability and budget since gravel riding can get rough what's your take on the pros and cons of each for a gravel setup and is one better for a roie making the jump to gravel I would answer the question with a question no no what are you using for my mom used to always do that with me what's he using it for I don't think you can answer that too well without knowing what he's using it for if you're just using it to go riding with your buddies for two three hours on a Saturday I think that's type A of bike I don't know if distinguishes like material aluminium to carbon but it's just different stuff you'd want to look out for or are you going like I'd say you're looking nothing too flashy or no extra requirements that I can think of if you're doing that from standard grav a bike but if you're going longer races like Unbound you know now you want to start thinking about well does this bike have a place to put three maybe four bottle cages if you don't want to carry hydration pack on the back or you do multi-day events like Badlands so do you have the ability to mount stuff on your forks or you going to use something like a tail fan rear which is going to be compatible with everything but mounting then becomes an issue where if you're looking to do multi-day stuff because you're going to want to put luggage on it same for bike pack and you're going to want to put luggage on it I would say if I was buying a gravel bike now I wouldn't distinguish between aluminium and gravel I would look for and car carbon sorry I would look at clearance Tire clearance it's going bigger and bigger and bigger Alex Hells was talking about 55 tires so people are now using Johnson's using 1.2 mountain bike wheels which are bigger again I would go clearance clearance clearance would be my main that's your first consideration if you're jumping from Road into gravel if I'm on a budget like regardless of I'm on a budget if I'm going carbon or aluminium clearance is the first thing I'm looking for now if I'm that's the choice and I'm on a budget I'm probably just shopping second hand if I'm on a budget because there's a lot of value at second hand and I'm looking for things that are making my life easier based off like what I want to do with that bike reading into this and as someone who was newish to gravel bike and riding bikes at all I think his fear here is is the carbon is it going to get damaged because we know how well you know how rough and kind of how technical gravel riding can be so I what I'm getting from this is that he's maybe a little bit nervous that if he goes carbon yes it's lighter but it's got not going to be as sturdy no I think it's fine you think it's super strong like yeah it's fine I wouldn't have a worry about it yeah he's looking for a bit more value I'm not sure if it's there in the second half Market in aluminium there just more carbon bikes so I you think you just second car I would go carbon because I think it's like you know if you buy your first road bike you spend a th000 year on it and within 6 months you're you're looking for an upgrade and you're not happy with it and you're eyeing up your mates lovely carbon grab a bike and it feels like the previous six months and that thousand Euro or whatever is just like bad money so I think my advice as the non voice of reason is go carbon go cheaper second hand and spend the extra cash on having a couple of sets of tires yeah okay we are so excited to announce that we are partnering with whoop whoop are changing the game when it comes to wearable technology and health monitoring whoop is a wearable health and fitness coach that provides you with feedback and actionable insights into your sleep your recovery your training your stress and your overall health Sarah and I have been using whoop for years and we love the insights it provides into our body's inner workings it really gives us a look under the hood and you're going to see Matthew Vander paaul Richard carass and other Elite level cyclist wearing whoop but it isn't just for those Superstars all the data is personalized to your unique physiology and fitness levels if you're interested in taking control of your health and your Fitness so that you can exhale in all all aspects of your life you have to go and check out whoop go to the URL now which is join.

Tire Inserts for Gravel Riding

Woop.com roadman I'm going to pop that in the description below and you're going to get a free month access to whoop membership on me I promise you won't regret it okay last question hi Anthony I've been gravel riding for a while and I'm curious about Tire inserts I see some pros using them to prevent pinch flats and improve ride feel but they add weight and see like overkill for non-competitive Riders are they worth it for long endurance rides or multi-day gravel events or should I stick with tubeless only and if I go for inserts any advice on setup you what I'm going to say here go wider on your tires go wider on your tires that's it yeah like but what if he doesn't have clearance if he doesn't have clearance get a new bike go Wi on your tires it's going to solve a lot of problems if you can max out your tires like get them to no I'm going to retract I'm going to walk that statement back from maxing out your tires because you can like if you have clearance for a 47 like I just about have clearance for a 47 I'm using specialized Pathfinder 47s on my Factor just B have clearance for them but on certain events Iceland they're going to be fine because I know it's not really a Mooky event but if I was going to do one in Ireland Lakeland gravel grinder I know it's or Unbound I know they're going to be mcky events and I haven't got clearance for the mo between the frame and the tire so I'm walking that back but if you have the ability to go at wider tires that's going to stop more punctures and put inserts in if you aren't super I just don't see there downside ring inserts like there's not very much extra weight it's saying here they add weight but surely they're only a couple of GRS a couple of grams yeah it's a rotating weight which kind of would get into my head a little bit but right now I would say like a psychological thing you'd be thinking oh this feels slugish or something a heavy pedal yeah anything that's like rotating around every right okay like heavy shoes heavy pedals something like that me but I would say inserts good idea but like you can do more basic things than that like we talk about going as wi as you can on the tires like topping up your sealant so many people are riding dry sealant like making sure you're actually putting sealant in and your tires are in good condition before you go even for a ride at the weekend you know we were guilty of it a couple of weeks ago we hadn't Riven gravel bikes in ages we went out and then you ended up puncturing it was like a disaster getting home he's you know double puncture nothing is working when you've no sealant in there so I'm a little bit confused by the inserts you put an insert into a tubless tire and you've still got you've got your so you've got your insert in there which is like a foam then you've got all of your sealants spashing around there the ceant doesn't catch the puncture the the the foam kind of will expand a little bit it's like a foam uh like you know things you go swimming with oh like a a noodle yeah exactly so one of those expands a little bit it doesn't give you much pressure like you're not going to race on a boat it's just to roll to get to roll before you roll get home or you could roll to an aid station or like if you weren't super drilling it in Corners whatever you might make the end of the race but they're not really designed to get to the end of the race on think you're I don't know what PSI to give you about it's or PSO equivalent but it's going to feel quite low okay okay yeah no they not a bad idea I haven't tried them myself but I will try them Ro man thank you for tuning in to another episode of ryer support if you enjoyed this conversation there's another one up here you're going to love it and click down here and subscribe to the channel because we have amazing upcoming guests over the next few weeks and months soon

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why did Luke Rowe leave Ineos Grenadiers?+

Luke Rowe left Ineos Grenadiers for AG2R due to frustration with excessive bureaucracy within the broader Ineos Sports Group structure. Because Ineos owns the team rather than simply sponsoring it, decision-making runs through multiple organisational layers, which Rowe cited as a key reason for his departure. The Rider Support podcast uses his exit as a symptom of deeper structural problems inside the team.

What went wrong at Ineos Grenadiers in 2024?+

Ineos Grenadiers' troubled 2024 season is largely attributed to organisational bloat rather than poor race tactics. The Rider Support podcast argues the team's ownership model, sitting inside the wider Ineos Sports Group, creates too many management layers that slow down decisions and frustrate riders. This structural problem is considered a more significant cause of decline than any single sporting failure.

Is Tom Pidcock worth his salary at Ineos?+

The Rider Support podcast argues he is not. Despite earning a salary near £4 million per year, one of the top three wages in professional cycling, Pidcock sits ranked 30th on the UCI rankings. The hosts propose Ineos should offload Pidcock and use the freed budget to pursue a transfer for Remco Evenepoel instead.

Does Ineos own their cycling team or just sponsor it?+

Ineos owns the Ineos Grenadiers outright rather than acting as an external sponsor, which is central to the team's current difficulties. This ownership model embeds the cycling operation inside a much larger corporate group, adding layers of bureaucracy that a traditionally sponsored team would not face. The Rider Support podcast identifies this distinction as the root cause of the team's organisational dysfunction.

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Key Takeaways

Ineos's problems stem from bureaucratic bloat, not talent—multiple layers of departmental approval have replaced quick decision-making, which is why Luke Rowe left despite being offered more money elsewhere.

Pogacar, Remco, and Visma are the only game in town for Grand Tours right now; Ineos should consider clearing Pogacar's €4M salary to fund a move for Remco rather than hoping current roster delivers results.

Skip field lactate testing entirely and use FTP or VO2 Max instead—lab testing requires professional conditions or the downstream consequences of getting it wrong contaminate your entire training plan.

Mental preparation for big races beats physical preparation alone: use visualisation techniques (like the thumb-and-forefinger anchor) and pre-ride course familiarisation on platforms like Rouvy to build confidence.

Go wider on your tyres first before considering inserts—maximising tyre clearance solves more puncture problems than foam inserts, and keep sealant fresh because riding with dry sealant guarantees disaster.

For your first gravel bike on a budget, buy second-hand carbon rather than new aluminium—you'll get better specs and avoid the regret cycle of upgrading within six months.

Expert Quotes

"I just didn't want my time wasted...I was scared that I get lost in a big organisation. It's more than a cycling team now, it's part of a global business and it's owned by, not sponsored by them. — Luke Rowe"

"If you can walk through a door and walk back through the door, if it's reversible, you should take those decisions all day long. But if you get to the far side and the door locks behind you, you should take those decisions very slowly and very cautiously. — Anthony, on why lactate threshold testing matters"

"Pogacar is paid as well as Remco, Jasper Philipsen, Jonas Vingegaard...he's paid better than a chunk of those riders and he's not delivering anywhere close to it."

KEY QUOTES

“pockock was prox and stats he was the 30th ranked rider in the UCI last year so to give you an idea of the type of riders on front of them like they're not the biggest riders in the world van einfeld Mikel Landa Jo Almeida H Diego elisi Richard carapaz skel mosa Maxim vanill like they're good bike riders but they're not attracting a salary anywhere close to what pitock has doing pitock has a top three salary in the world”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“they used the trick where you press your tumb and your forefinger together so alter the season when he was away at altitude camps he'd make a connection between the sacrifice he was making away from his kids his wife press the to in the forefinger together later on the season where everyone's having dessert or beers and he's not Tom and for finger together time after time he made that connection between tumb and forefinger and then when it came time to perform he's in the bunch he's not feeling good but it's go time he like pressed the tumb and forefinger and everything came rushing back to him”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“speaking to the best coaches in the world Dan ples Olaf Buu H Dan langang they all talk about how easy it is to contaminate lactate test reading so if you're not going to get it done from a professional I say just don't do it and test the traditional way”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why did Luke Rowe leave Ineos Grenadiers?+

What went wrong at Ineos Grenadiers in 2024?+

Is Tom Pidcock worth his salary at Ineos?+

Does Ineos own their cycling team or just sponsor it?+

ROWE REVEALS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED INEOS | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

What Went Wrong at Ineos

Tire Inserts for Gravel Riding

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

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WHY LEMOND THINKS MOTOR DOPING IS DESTROYING CYCLING | RIDER SUPPORT

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TOUR DE FRANCE KEY STAGES | RIDER SUPPORT

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WHY LEMOND THINKS MOTOR DOPING IS DESTROYING CYCLING | RIDER SUPPORT

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LIKED THIS EPISODE?

ROWE REVEALS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED INEOS | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

What Went Wrong at Ineos

Tire Inserts for Gravel Riding

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

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2.Tire Inserts for Gravel Riding

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LIKED THIS EPISODE?

What Went Wrong at Ineos

Tire Inserts for Gravel Riding

What Went Wrong at Ineos

Tire Inserts for Gravel Riding