This week's episode is a special one. Matt de Neef takes control of the mic, along with Gracie Elvin and Georgie Howe, for an on-the-ground breakdown of Tour Down Under. The three talk about everything from the stage 1 non-chase to double Willunga Hill chaos to what Chloe Dygert can accomplish in 2025.

Georgie Howe joined Gracie and Abby to break down all the action from Aussie Road Nats and preview the upcoming Tour Down Under. For a full written preview ahead of TDU check out the Wheel Talk Newsletter at Escape Collective.

Obsessions: Georgie – being home in Melbourne with friends and family, and Zero 7, Gracie – swimming!, Abby – The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon.

For our first episode of the new year, and with Australian National Championships in mind, Gracie Elvin sat down with Lidl-Trek super-domestique Lauretta Hanson to talk about her experience as a domestique in the WorldTour, her journey to the Paris Olympics and being a hometown hero.

Aussie Nats kicks off with U23 and Junior time trials on January 8th, elite time trials the following day and road races over the weekend with the women racing on Sunday the 12th.

Loren, Gracie, and Abby are back this week for the last episode of the year. We chat about Demi Vollering joining FDJ-Suez, what that means for the French team and how they might divide leadership between the Dutchwoman, Evita Muzic, and Juliette Labous. We also reflect on our favorite moments of the season including Grace Brown’s Olympic and World Championship success, the Olympics in general, and of course Kasia Niewiadoma’s Tour victory.

Thanks so much for listening! This year has been insane, and we’re so happy to have helped guide you through it. We will be back on January 7th with another Conversation episode (with Lauretta Hanson and Gracie) before we dive into the Aussie Summer of Racing with the National Championships and Tour Down Under. There is a lot to look forward to in 2025!

This week Loren Rowney caught up with Shimano's Road Marketing Manager Alexa Cunningham to chat about sponsorship on the women's side of the sport, from grassroots to WorldTour, and how Alexa found herself in Valkenburg working for one of the biggest brands in cycling.

Alexa's obsessions: The Resident on Netflix and Liv's short film about Bonnie.

This week Loren and Abby sat down with Georgie Howe, former rower turned professional cyclist for Liv-AlUla-Jayco. Howe found cycling during the pandemic and her rise in the sport was rapid. That rise came with its pluses and minuses, and after a few wonderful years, Howe is leaving the professional peloton behind in 2025 ... for now. But she's not keen to hang up the bike just yet!

More information about the study Georgie mentioned from the 2023 Tour de France Femmes can be found here.

Matt de Neef also wrote a story about Georgie's rapid rise in cycling here.

This week on Wheel Talk, Abby chatted with Anna Henderson about her silver medal in the Time Trial at the Paris Olympics, the emotional come-down after she overachieved her goal, her switch to Lidl-Trek, and more.

This week Matt de Neef called up Grace Brown to chat about her career up to this year, her dream 2024 season that included Olympic Gold and a World title, and what she has planned for the future. Matt's written piece on the conversation can be found on Escape Collective here.