Simon Richardson

1969. July the 15th. Stage 17 of the Tour de France. A brutal stage from Luchon to Mourenx covering four of the toughest mountains in the Pyrenees. On this fateful day, Eddy Merckx catapulted himself into the history books with one of the greatest solo breakaways the sport has ever seen. Fast forward over half a century, and GCN’s Simon Richardson is in the Pyrenees to pay tribute to The Cannibal by recreating his ride. To make the 220km epic even more challenging, Si will do it aboard his 1969 spec Faema team bike and wearing their iconic red and white jersey. Eddy Merckx made this ride look easy, but will Si even make it to the finish line?

Simon Richardson and James Lowsley-Williams are heading to Nepal to tackle the Annapurna Circuit; a 230 km trail that circumnavigates the mountain. Known as the best long distance hike in the world, an experienced hiker will take around 20 days to complete the route on foot; Si and James are attempting to ride it in just 5. Joined by local Nepalese mountain bike legend, Mangal Lama, they’ll battle extreme weather conditions, treacherous single track, and perilous high altitude as they try to complete the iconic Annapurna Circuit.

Ex-pro cyclist Si Richardson heads to Ovaro in northern Italy to tackle the infamous Monte Zoncolan. Joining him is former professional, Dan Martin, who battled to a top 10 finish there at the Giro d’Italia in 2010. One of the toughest mountains in Italy, the Zoncolan was once considered too difficult for the Giro. It has featured eight times since its first appearance in the 1997 Giro Donne, but its hellish gradients immediately earned it a reputation as a bucket list climb to be feared by both amateurs and professional riders. This brutal climb averages an eye-watering 11.9% for 10.1km. WorldTour rider Alessandro De Marchi and journalist Antonio Simeoli, who both grew up at the foot of Monte Zoncolan, reveal why a climb so punishing is still so loved by the locals.

In a fierce battle of innovation and resourcefulness, two teams have just three days to go head-to-head over a pile of scrap bikes and used parts, on a mission to transform discarded relics into awe-inspiring tandem bicycles and create the perfect set of wheels for a picnic adventure. With just old bike parts and the tools available, UK framebuilders extraordinaire Paul Burford and Ted James team up with ex pro Alex Paton and Crit racer Alec Briggs to conjure up new bikes from old. Under the watchful eye of judges Si Richardson and expert Andrew Denham, as the action unfolds, everything that can go wrong, does go wrong - from wonky wheels, to faulty frames and crazy cranks! This all culminates in a day of wacky races but will either of the bikes be roadworthy? And will they look the part? Who will be crowned the winner?

A mythical mountain, and one of the Tour de France’s favourite battle grounds, the Col du Tourmalet is the jewel in the crown of the Pyrenees. Its slopes have seen champions crowned and dreams shattered by its brutal gradients, earning it the nickname ‘The Terrible Mountain’. Si Richardson heads to the Col du Tourmalet in search of the stories that have been written upon this most historic of climbs, to find out its importance to the local area, and the communities that call the mountain their home. Joined by ex-pro Dan Martin, he shares his own memories of success and heartbreak on the road to the summit of this iconic Pyrenean giant.

Tulsa Tough is one of the hardest, fastest, most prestigious criterium races in the United States of America. This high-octane, action packed film follows the Miami Blazers, and hears from sprinter and fast rising talent Dante Young, as they go toe-to-toe with the likes of L39ION OF LOS ANGELES on the downtown streets of Tulsa. It’s NASCAR meets bike racing as we see the best criterium racers in the world battle for supremacy.

The Rainbow Jersey is the crowning achievement of any cyclist’s career, proof that they are the very best in the world. GCN stats guru Cillian Kelly heads to Belgium in a lighthearted jaunt to chat to ex pros, pros and journalists about how the Rainbow Jersey undoubtedly brings with it greatness, but also the pressure to live up to the win. In 'Legend of the Rainbow Jersey’, Cillian uses his statistical nouse as he crunches the numbers and speaks with a selection of former world champions including Michal Kwiatkowski, Rui Costa, Philippe Gilbert and Johan Museeuw about riders wins and losses after winning this famous jersey. Finally, Cillian watches from the roadside as current world champions Remco Evenepoel and Annemiek van Vleuten take on the Ardennes hills in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Will they crown their season as world champions by winning in rainbows? Or will the jersey weigh heavy on their shoulders?

In 1939, driven by a desire for fame and fortune English amateur Tommy Godwin cycled a world record 75,065 miles in one year setting out from home each day through bitter winters and the blackouts of World War Two. He became the fastest person to cycle 100,000 miles in just 500 days. After this epic feat of endurance, Tommy had to learn to walk again and uncurl his hands! The madcap record has only been attempted by a handful of determined souls and Tommy’s record stood for 76 years making it one of the greatest, but also most overlooked sporting achievements. Ultra endurance athlete and round the world cycling record holder Mark Beaumont is on a mission to shine a light on Tommy’s ride. He delves deeper into Tommy’s story and finds out if he has the physical and mental stamina to take on Godwin’s record.

In the mid-1980s, one team dominated the cycling headlines: La Vie Claire. Despite a ferocious internal power struggle between two of the sport’s biggest stars, they racked up more than 100 wins. Wearing their iconic Mondrian jersey, Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond won two of the most infamous Tour de France victories of all time. Bankrolled by the controversial businessman, Bernard Tapie, La Vie Claire rewrote the rulebook on both bike racing and fashion. Dan Lloyd is joined by special guests Pippa York and William Fotheringham to discuss how the team turned a recipe for disaster into a period of complete dominance.

The Atherton family name has been a staple in British mountain biking for 2 decades, with huge success in international racing and multiple world championship titles between them, mountain biking's most successful family are have had their ups and downs. With insight from MTB journalists and family friends, we'll be reminiscing on their past achievements, and looking at what the future has to hold. With a sawmill, a bike park and a bike brand recently added to their name, their life in mountain biking is beginning a new chapter. We went to visit them in the Dyfi valley to take a look at how the Atherton drive has turned passion projects into fully fledged businesses.

A fascinating insight into the role of the bicycle in the First World War - from reconnaissance to transporting ammunition, historian and cycling enthusiast Jeremy Banning explores stories from the battlefield. Ollie Bridgewood discovers the role cycle scouts played in the Army Cycling Corp and rides the original bikes used in the conflict. Mark Beaumont meets the grandson of a WW1 soldier who rode for the Highland Cyclist Battalion and survived brutal combat on the front line.

Bordeaux-Paris was the best bike race you’ve never heard of: a midnight start, 550km-long, and ridden behind motorised ‘dernys’, with winners including Jacques Anquetil and Tom Simpson. More than thirty years since Bordeaux-Paris was last raced, pro cyclists Mitch Docker and Sam Bewley are aiming to recreate the infamous 1965 edition. How will they fare at the ‘Derby of the Road’?

Neil Laughton, cycling enthusiast, adventurer and record-breaker is joined by cycling experts Scotford Lawrence, Edwin Knight and Jon Cannings to explore the history of the bicycle. They explore every twist and turn of the bicycle’s journey of development through history, including some major successes, and the odd failure! The journey begins with the Laufmachine in 1817 right through to the safety bicycle that has developed into the high-performance machines we know today.

Biniam Girmay’s recent successes have shown that African cycling is on the up, ready at last to follow athletics and football into the big time. But why has it taken so long, and what’s needed to take it all the way? Set against the beauty and battles of the Tour du Rwanda, we explore the past, present and future of riders from Eritrea, South Africa, Rwanda and more, meeting Girmay and the rising stars hot on his heels, as well as the people passionate about giving these riders the opportunities they deserve. This is the story of the next great continent in cycling - Africa.

Standing proudly amongst the pantheon of cycling’s most revered mountains, the Stelvio boasts some of the longest and most challenging climbs in bike racing. Relentless switchbacks over impossible gradients beneath extremes of weather. It is on the relentless, technical, and often treacherous slopes of the Stelvio where the most famous and revered battles have decided the fate of the Giro d’Italia’s coveted Maglia Rosa. Jon Shubert explores the history and legends of the Stelvio and the surrounding regions, meeting people whose lives have been shaped by the mountain, and ex-professional Adam Hansen joins him as he makes his own attempt to conquer the coveted mountain.

It created one of the most memorable days in grand tour history. Riders such as Andy Hampsten and Franco Chioccioli share their extraordinary experience of a day they'll never forget.

Ex-pro cyclist, Ted King has a lot of love for his home state of Vermont. With its rolling landscapes, rugged gravel roads and its fantastic craft beer scene, he was never unhappy to return home after his time spent in pelotons around the world. As beer and bike enthusiasts, Ted and elite road and CX racer Regina Legge, are taking their gravel bikes down the road less travelled, touring brewery to brewery and learning what puts Vermont’s craft beer ahead of the bunch. As they head north to south, we'll take in some of Vermont's challenging climbs and learn a thing or two about beer along the way.

GCN's James Lowsley-Williams and GMBN's Blake Samson are trading in their usual bikes for ones with much smaller wheels, as they try their hand at two variations of the incredibly varied sport of bicycle motocross. We'll explore the history of BMX to learn about the rise, fall and rebirth of one of cycling's most explosive forms. From racing on the track to landing tricks in skate bowls, what does it take to make it to the top level of BMX?