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Gravel Burn stage 5 recap with Tom Pidcock Oct 30, 2025

Show notes

Stage 5 of Gravel Burn was slow despite being more than 50% paved, and it finished on a 2500-foot climb. Tom Pidcock took the stage win and joins Payson to recap the day. They also discuss the logistics of his Il Lombardia / UCI Gravel Worlds double-header earlier this month, why he decided to take a break from his off season to come to South Africa, and how he chooses which events and disciplines to put on his schedule.

This episode was made possible by TrainingPeaks.

Gravel Burn GC standings after stage 5:

Women:

1. Ashleigh MOOLMAN-PASIO - 19:39:21
2. Melisa ROLLINS - 19:43:41 | +4:20
3. Hayley PREEN 19:45:52 | +6:31
4. Lauren STEPHENS - 19:46:22 | +7:01
5. Axelle DUBAU-PREVOT - 19:48:15 | +8:54

Men:

1. Matthew BEERS - 15:46:42
2. Simon PELLAUD - 15:47:15 | +33
3. Hugo DRECHOU - 15:53:24 | +6:42
4. Lukas BAUM - 15:55:10 | +8:28
5. Tristan NORTJE - 15:56:01 | +9:19

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Gravel Burn stage 4 recap with Lukas Baum and Georg Egger Oct 29, 2025

Show notes

Stage 4 of Gravel Burn was 111 kilometres of near-constant headwind. Payson is joined by Speed Company duo Lukas Baum and Georg Eggers to get the lowdown on their moves that shook up the race early and how Lukas’s flat impacted his third-place GC position.

Lukas and Georg have been friends since they raced as juniors. After becoming XC Junior World Champion in 2013, however, Lucas fell out of love with the sport and quit altogether. It was Georg who convinced him to start again in 2022, this time on a two-person team and focusing on stage races. In their first attempt at the Cape Epic, they won, and it set them and their brand new, barely funded team on a new path. They tell Payson about how grassroots it all was in the beginning and why they chose to focus on marathon and stage racing. Plus, Lukas has an axe to grind with American gravel.

This episode is sponsored by TrainingPeaks.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Gravel Burn stage 3 recap with Simon Pellaud Oct 28, 2025

Show notes

Stage 3 of Gravel Burn was rough and tactical. Simon Pellaud, who has raced in just about every corner of the world this season and is hot off his second-place finish in the Life Time Grand Prix, took the stage win over Matt Beers and is currently sitting in second in the GC. He joins Payson to talk about how the stage played out, his strategy for securing the win, and the crash he witnessed.

Thank you to TrainingPeaks for making this episode possible.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Gravel Burn stage 2 recap with Haley Smith Oct 27, 2025

Show notes

Stage two of Gravel Burn was 108 kilometres from Avontuur to Willowmore and it was much drier than yesterday. Both Matt Beers and Axelle Dubau-Prévot managed to hold on to their leads, but there were shakeups in the rest of the field. Payson is joined by Haley Smith to break down the day, including her tight finish for third, why she was so excited to compete in the event, and how she's approaching this last race of the season after a challenging year.

Thank you to TrainingPeaks for making this episode possible.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Gravel Burn stage 1 recap with Axelle Dubau-Prévot and Hugo Drechou Oct 26, 2025

Show notes

Stage 1 of Gravel Burn is done and dusted -- a cold, rainy 84 kilometers with a spicy 2,000+ meters of climbing. Payson is joined by French gravel national champions Axelle Dubau-Prévot and Hugo Drechou to break down the race. Despite viewing this trip more as a holiday than anything else, Axelle took the win today over WorldTour legend Ashleigh Moolman and her fellow South African Hayley Preen. Hugo also landed on the podium, taking third in a sprint finish with Matt Beers and Andri Frishknecht. As he explains in this conversation, third is exactly where he wants to be.

This episode was made possible by TrainingPeaks.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Gravel Burn preview Oct 25, 2025

Show notes

Our daily Gravel Burn recaps start tomorrow, so we're bringing you an overview of the seven-day South African stage race, including a day-by-day breakdown of the route and a rundown of the start list, which features the likes of Tom Pidcock, Lachlan Morton, Alison Jackson, and Lauren Stephens.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Big Sugar recap with Paige Onweller Oct 25, 2025

Show notes

The 2025 Life Time Grand Prix finished with a bang thanks to a razor-thin margin in the men’s field and a last-minute course change due to weather. Payson is joined by Paige Onweller to break down how it all played out. Paige was sidelined from the season after she was hit by a car a couple of months ago, but as a Bentonville resident, she knows the route better than anyone, including the pros who had planned to race the 100-mile route before it was scrapped for the completely different 50-mile route at the last minute.

They talk about the many-sided tactical battle in the women’s race and how wild card rider Cam Jones managed to outfox three-time Grand Prix champion Keegan Swenson and former WorldTour rider Simon Pellaud to take the series overall title. Spoiler alert: the fireworks started long before that bunch sprint for the finish. Plus, Paige talks about her injury and how she’s hoping to turn the trauma of the accident into advocacy for rider safety on the roads.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Little Sugar recap with Andrew L’Esperance, points analysis, and listener experiences Oct 17, 2025

Show notes

The second-to-last round of the Life Time Grand Prix shook up the points chase in a big way thanks to a ruthless course that caused a never-ending series of crashes and flats. Payson walks through the standings before the final round this weekend, in which four riders in the men’s field could come away with the series overall. Then, he sits down with Andrew L’Esperance, who got third at Little Sugar and has been on top form all season after fighting his way into the Grand Prix via a wild card slot.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Dylan Johnson on the mental toll of injury recovery and the story behind his YouTube channel Oct 13, 2025

Show notes

Over the past handful of years, Dylan Johnson has emerged as one of the key voices in gravel through his YouTube channel, where he does deep dives on everything from drivetrain efficiency and crank length to tire size and science-backed training tips. At the same time, he’s been rising through the ranks of gravel racing, competing in the Grand Prix every year and taking a top 10 at Unbound in 2025. This year, however, he was sidelined with a broken tibia after being hit by a truck just before the second round of the Grand Prix.

Payson sat down with Dylan in Bentonville shortly before Little Sugar to talk about how his YouTube channel developed, how it fits in with his coaching business and training, and how much he’s improved as a cyclist since his early days in collegiate racing. They also talk about his ongoing road to recovery after his injury and how the mental toll might be the toughest part of all.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Todd Wells on bringing the mountain bike world championships back to Durango Oct 05, 2025

Show notes

What do Sepp Kuss, Christopher Blevins, Howard Grotts, and Asa Vermette have in common? They all grew up in the small town of Durango, Colorado. The list of cycling pros that now live there is formidable, and includes our guest, 3x Olympian and 15x XC and CX National Champion Todd Wells. Last week, it was announced that Durango would host the 2030 mountain bike World Championships, 40 years after hosting the very first edition in 1990.

Todd sat down with Payson to talk about how he and a group of others helped win Durango the coveted event, the logistics that went into their bid, and what he hopes it will bring to the town. He also talks about the impact that the first World Champs had on Durango, and all the hats he now wears in his post-professional cycling career.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

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