Cycling Legends Podcast

Joël Kyaviro has already made history as the first Congolese rider to win a UCI race at this season’s Tour of Cameroon. His story, though, is about much more than results.

Journalist Bill Donahue followed Joël’s journey for Now Voyager magazine and Gary caught up with Bill and Joël to hear more about a story of talent, ambition, conflict, visas, money, opportunity and just how hard it can be simply to get to the start line.

🎵 A Month of Sleep, courtesy of Epidemic Sound.

📸 Joël at the Tour of Cameroon, June 2026. By kind permission of Oliver Farys - https://www.oliverfarys.de https://www.instagram.com/oliverfarys

Links

Revolutions by Bill Donahue https://nowvoyagermag.com/reporting/revolutions
Tumaini Cycling Academy https://tumainicyclingacademy.com/
Tumaini Cycling Academy crowdfunder https://givebutter.com/tumaini-academy

You can follow Joël at:
https://www.instagram.com/joel_kyaviro

You can follow Bill at:
https://billdonahue.net
https://www.facebook.com/bill.donahue.18
https://www.instagram.com/billdonahue13/

Get in touch
Drop us a line at cyclinglegendspodcast@gmail.com! We’d love to hear from you.

Social media
Cycling Legends - The untold story, the unseen photos
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X/Twitter @cyclinglegends1

Web
https://www.cyclinglegends.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

World Championships, breakthrough performances and big questions for the future of the sport. We look beyond the rainbow jerseys to the riders shaping what comes next, ask whether American cycling has finally turned young talent into elite success, briefly look at the UCI’s plans to rethink professional road racing, and discuss Rapha’s latest troubles. Plus, after Fin Tarling, has cycling really learned enough about safety?

📸 Alfredo Binda won the inaugural UCI Road World Championships in 1927, but it would be another 31 years before women were given the same opportunity. Luxembourger Elsy Jacobs won the first women’s title in Reims in 1958. Nearly seven decades later, women’s cycling looks very different — but the rainbow jersey remains the ultimate prize. (Harry Pot/Dutch National Archives Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 3.0 Netherlands license)

Recommendations and shameless plugs
Paul Letchworth (artist) - https://pletchworth.com/work
The Kelly Adventures - Alison Putman - https://alison-putman.com/books

Get in touch
Drop us a line at cyclinglegendspodcast@gmail.com! We’d love to hear from you.

Social media
Cycling Legends - The untold story, the unseen photos
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cyclinglegendsmedia?igsh=MW9ldTNhemF6aWVlcA==
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CyclingLegendsMedia?
X/Twitter @cyclinglegends1

Web
https://www.cyclinglegends.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Enric Mas finally wins the Vuelta — and somehow Movistar manage not to Movistar it. We look back at Mas v Roglič, ask what Spain has told us about the World Championships, and wonder whether Movistar have finally shaken off the ghosts of Vueltas past.

📸 Stage 18’s Individual Time Trial was a pivotal story in this year’s Vuelta and the race does have a habit of saving its biggest twists for the race of truth. In 2003, Roberto Heras started the Stage 20 mountain TT to Alto de Abantos 1:55 behind race leader Isidro Nozal. Twenty-five minutes later, he’d won the stage, taken 2:23 out of Nozal and seized the gold jersey by 28 seconds — with Madrid just a day away. (Manuel Bruque/EPA)

Get in touch
Drop us a line at cyclinglegendspodcast@gmail.com! We’d love to hear from you.

Social media
Cycling Legends - The untold story, the unseen photos
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cyclinglegendsmedia?igsh=MW9ldTNhemF6aWVlcA==
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CyclingLegendsMedia?
X/Twitter @cyclinglegends1

Web
https://www.cyclinglegends.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a month spent following the racing around France, The Feed Zone is back. David has a shiny new laptop, the Vuelta is underway, the transfer market is bubbling nicely, and there’s plenty to discuss from the Tour of Britain Women. We also reflect on the tragic death of Fin Tarling and the wider questions it raises about rider safety.

📸 Monaco 2026 marked La Vuelta’s seventh start outside Spain - and its third in succession. The first came in Lisbon in 1997. Alex Zülle is pictured placing fourth in the stage 9 Córdoba time trial that year, enough to take the race lead and carry it all the way to Madrid. (Graham Watson/Getty)

Get in touch
Drop us a line at cyclinglegendspodcast@gmail.com! We’d love to hear from you.

For Fin Crowdfunder - https://www.gofundme.com/f/for-fin-s2u87

SIMPSON RETRO 11-13 SEPTEMBER 2026 - Tickets still available at https://cyclinglegends.co.uk/pages/simpson-retro

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Cycling Legends - The untold story, the unseen photos
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Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CyclingLegendsMedia?
X/Twitter @cyclinglegends1

Web
https://www.cyclinglegends.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The dust has just about settled on a(nother) thrilling Tour de France Femmes. Katy Madgwick joins Chris, David and Gary to look back at Demi Vollering’s historic victory, Kasia’s Ventoux heroics, the riders who lit up the race — and the controversies that threatened (briefly) to overshadow it.

Read more insights on all things pro cycling from Katy at https://substack.com/@writebikerepeat

Get in touch
Drop us a line at cyclinglegendspodcast@gmail.com! Whether it’s your best of/worst of 2025 or just general bike chat, we’d love to hear from you.

SIMPSON RETRO 11-13 SEPTEMBER 2026 - Tickets still available at https://cyclinglegends.co.uk/pages/simpson-retro

Social media
Cycling Legends - The untold story, the unseen photos
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cyclinglegendsmedia?igsh=MW9ldTNhemF6aWVlcA==
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CyclingLegendsMedia?
X/Twitter @cyclinglegends1

Web
https://www.cyclinglegends.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.