Sigma Sports presents Matt Stephens Unplugged

Sigma Sports

A regular catch-up with cycling’s favourite character, Matt Stephens, as he chats with special guests and explores the bowels of his own meandering mind.

  • 58 minutes 11 seconds
    Rory Townsend on versatility, and racing efficiently to reach your potential

    Matt Stephens chats to Rory Townsend about his versatility as a rider, both in terms of his ability to win one-day classics and stage race sprints, but also in terms of his flexibility within UCI ProTeam Q36.5. Being on a team with limited resources requires a range of skills that can be called upon at short notice - and at the time of recording, Rory was waiting to hear if he or teammate Szymon Sajnok would be required for Ronde Van Vlaanderen, just three days later! Matt was also keen to learn if the former Irish national road race champion would be targeting that title again this season, and what other goals he set himself.

    19 April 2024, 4:00 am
  • 49 minutes 45 seconds
    Jasper Philipsen on how he’ll tackle Paris-Roubaix this weekend

    Matt Stephens previews Paris Roubaix with the 2024 Milan San Remo champion, Jasper Philipsen. Arguably in the form of his life, the Belgian Alpecin - Deceuninck sprinter looks forward to racing with his ever-humble teammates, reflecting on how it feels to have Mathieu van der Poel leading him out, and how timing is 95% of the job. Touching on tactics and how training for the Classics differs from training for Grand Tours, this is an insightful chat right in time for what promises to be the best race of the classics season.

    5 April 2024, 4:00 am
  • 1 hour 10 minutes
    Rod Ellingworth on the impact of his success at British Cycling and Team Sky

    Matt Stephens has a fascinating chat with Rod Ellingworth about his impact on British Cycling and how that helped lead to the period of dominant success at Team Sky in the mid 2010’s. The newly appointed race director for Tour of Britain explains how he had a holistic approach that valued the personality of the riders as much as their numbers, and shares some interesting stories about the likes of Mark Cavendish, Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins. But how can such an intelligent man be so awful at quizzes?

    22 March 2024, 5:00 am
  • 1 hour 2 minutes
    Kate Veronneau on the rewards of investing in Women

    In this International Women’s Day special, Matt Stephens chats to Kate Veronneau about her pioneering role in helping to deliver the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. From a basketballing background to riding fixies for 50 miles, Kate rose to the ranks of elite cycling but quickly learnt it was not a viable career option. Now, as head of partnerships at Zwift, she’s doing all she can to help break down the barriers and deliver parity for the next generation of female riders.

    8 March 2024, 5:00 am
  • 57 minutes 48 seconds
    Stevie Williams on how consistency makes the difference

    Matt Stephens chats to Stevie Williams about how his career is no longer defined by a plague of knee injuries since adding the General Classification of the 2024 Tour Down Under to his palmares. The Aberystwyth native is a shining example of determination and credits consistency for getting him beyond his form prior to several setbacks over the years. The Welshman claims he couldn’t have done it without the support of his friends and family, and has a refreshingly simplistic attitude when it comes to training.

    1 March 2024, 5:00 am
  • 1 hour 21 minutes
    David O’Doherty on the role of cycling in his comedy

    Matt Stephens is impressed by David O’Doherty’s cycling knowledge, and in particular, his obsession with the racing bikes of the late 1980’s that’s led him to own a collection so big he now operates on a ‘one in one out’ basis. David is famous for being one of the most successful Irish stand up comedians of all time, with a host of awards and appearances on QI, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Would I Lie To You, and the upcoming series of Celebrity Bake Off. But given his chosen subject on Celebrity Mastermind was The First 100 Years of The Tour De France, surely he’ll ace the hometown quiz?

    16 February 2024, 6:53 am
  • 1 hour 4 minutes
    Wout Poels on beating Remcos and other Wouts by using the art of racing

    Matt Stephens and Wout Poels chat all about his thus-far illustrious career. With recent stage wins at the Tour de France and La Vuelta Espana for team Bahrain Victorious, the 36 year old is enjoying a long career which he credits to keeping his routine fresh. The pair have differing memories when they raced together at the 2010 Tour of Britain, with Wout taking a stage win and Matt doing his best to keep up. Having grown up in a small town in the Netherlands, you’d expect Wout’s knowledge of Blitterswijck to come in handy in the hometown quiz - and when the questions feature his fan club’s favourite pizzeria hotspot, surely he can’t go wrong…right?

    2 February 2024, 5:00 am
  • 1 hour 5 minutes
    Alison Jackson on being the first Canadian to win Paris-Roubaix

    Matt Stephens and Alison Jackson discuss her incredible Paris-Roubaix victory and what it meant to the nation of Canada. Having proven her wisdom at the Spring Classics, Alison’s EF Education TIBCO-SVB teammates now listen closely to her tactical calls, but how would she go about winning Roubaix for a second time in 2024? Born competitive, Alison grew up on a Bison farm in rural Canada dreaming of one day becoming an Olympian - the only question was which sport to choose. Luckily for us fans, she chose cycling! The Canuck’s next goal is to have a street named after her in her native Vermilion, and Matt gets the idea of starting a petition to help make that happen…

    1 December 2023, 5:00 am
  • 1 hour 13 minutes
    Ben Swift on switching between the World Tour and the local 10-mile TT

    Matt Stephens chats to two-times British Road champion Ben Swift about his impressively long career, which has just been extended for another two years with INEOS Grenadiers. Having ridden with the team since the inception of Sky Procycling, Ben has seen the sport change exponentially in recent years, and claims he enjoys the thrill of racing now more than ever and continues to develop as a rider in his mid thirties. In a podcast packed with stories about teammates Adam Blythe and Geraint Thomas, Ben reflects on how his true idols are the heroes that taught him to ride on his local chain gang in Yorkshire.

    17 November 2023, 5:00 am
  • 1 hour 13 minutes
    Matej Mohoric on becoming UCI World Gravel Champion

    Matt Stephens chats with a humble and reflective Matej Mohoric, who was recently crowned UCI World Gravel Champion. The Slovenian explains how he grew up riding off-road and started racing in order to dodge working on his parents’ farm. But will he get to wear the famous rainbow stripes racing on gravel next season? And having won stages at all three grand tours, what’s next for the all-rounder? With a touching tribute to Gino Mäder, Matej explains how his whole Bahrain-Victorious team re-evaluated their lives after the tragic passing of their much loved teammate.

    20 October 2023, 4:00 am
  • 1 hour 22 minutes
    Sir Chris Hoy (Live) on turning self-doubt into a superpower

    Matt Stephens and Sir Chris Hoy are joined by a live audience at the Sigma Sports Electric store to discuss the incredible track cycling career which led him to become Britain’s most successful Olympian in his heyday, and brought him a knighthood for services to sports. Chris shares his approach to increasing his maximum power output, explains how his self doubt was a catalyst for success, and enjoys taking questions from the audience about all sorts. No stranger to the hot seat having appeared on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire for charity, can Chris survive the added pressure of Matt’s Murrayfield quiz?!

    6 October 2023, 9:19 am
  • More Episodes? Get the App
© MoonFM 2024. All rights reserved.