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Max Gawn picks his All-Australian team of the 2026 cycling season: Tadej Pogačar captains, with Isaac del Toro, Sepp Kuss, Felix Großschartner, Tim Merlier, Jasper Stuyven, Wout van Aert and Andreas Leknessund in the eight. Plus the Titan Patagonia wrap from South America, with Max's top five and bottom five from the trip, from Jacket Gate to his final-stage chase in the GC battle. Also this week: Primož Roglič is still unsigned. Where does he land, and at what price?The 2027 Giro d'Italia route against the Tour de France, and why the uphill time trial suits Luke PlappPogačar Down Under rumours, Australia dropping out of the top 10 nations, and the Pogačar docoCyclocross: Thibau Nys wins the European title, and Lucinda Brand takes the win after Marie Schreiber's relegationPaul Magnier or Matthew Brennan in 2027, and how Lidl-Trek splits its leaders between the Giro and the TourComing Wednesday: former Ineos Grenadiers CEO John Allert. Social Club is brought to you by Giant. Max's top five is presented by Pillar Performance. New customers get 15% off with code STANLEY15.

Jake Lever and Sean from Beagle & Hound join Alex Clements and Max Gawn after the final stage of Titan Forest Patagonia, presented by Zwift. The first take got lost when nobody pressed record, so this is take two. Jake trained for the trip on Zwift in his runners with flat pedals. He calls it the hardest thing he’s done. He takes us through stage two in full: six crashes in 42km, most of them still clipped in, including the slatted bridge. Sean gets his right of reply on the hip tap, and explains why he dropped Jake two kilometres from the finish when Jake didn’t know the way. Max catches Alex on the last single track, takes the stage in the Stanley Street Social Cup, and says Alex drank all the Coke at the aid station. Also in this one: Jake’s gels turning out to be 50 grams of carbs, not 30, the roadworks Jake called great gravel, and 45 minutes of Jake talking to himself on a camera Sean forgot to turn off. Presented by Zwift, and thanks to our Patagonia partner UFinancial: financial advice, mortgage broking and financial planning under one roof on St Kilda Road. Content by Beagle & Hound.

Nick from St Cloud, the Fitzroy bike shop owner who built all our Giant Revolts, joins Alex Clements and Max Gawn after stage three of Titan Forest Patagonia, presented by Zwift. Nick came to Patagonia planning to win, then found out he was racing former Flèche Wallonne winner Dani Moreno. Max rode four hours in a rain jacket and it never rained. Nick explains the Revolt SL range and why he went for 50mm tyres. You’ll also hear how Jake Lever rides Zwift in his runners, whether Tour riders get saddle sores, and how Max made Spanish news with a photo of the Peter Sagan who ignored him for five days. Presented by Zwift, and thanks to our Patagonia partner UFinancial: financial advice, mortgage broking and financial planning under one roof on St Kilda Road.

Max Gawn punctures in the final single track at Titan Forest Patagonia and tries to run his bike to the line. Ed Langdon joins Alex Clements after stage two, presented by Zwift, as the new leader of the Stanley St. Social Cup. The Chileans don’t do steady climbs. They go 1%, 8%, 3%, 25%. This stage had a concrete wall at 25%, an aid station halfway up a 15% gravel climb, and a farm-track single track that was no place for a gravel bike. Jake Lever came off six times, once after his front wheel dropped into a gap in a slatted bridge. Then there was the 15km headwind across the valley at 11km/h, where Sean’s hip gave out right as his turn came up. Max ran down part of the single track before taking the car for the last kilometre. That makes him officially a DNF, but he’s third on bunch time in the Stanley Street Social Cup. Max also tells the Titan doco crew why Patagonia is a poor man’s Queenstown, and better for it. Presented by Zwift. Ed’s training before the Everest was a few Zwift rides at home, and he rates the setup. Thanks to our Patagonia partner UFinancial: financial advice, mortgage broking and financial planning under one roof on St Kilda Road.

The dailies are back. Alex Clements and Max Gawn report from day one of Titan Forest Patagonia, presented by Zwift, with Ed Langdon, Jake Lever, Nick from St Cloud and Sean riding for Team Stanley Street Social. It was 120km on Giant Revolts, finishing with a 10km climb where the Garmin read 5km/h. Max rode tempo at the back all day and still finished a minute behind Alex, Ed and Nick. Also in this one: 10km of roadworks Max swears was Roubaix, a camp where the showers run cold and one charger blew the village’s power, the Colombian tentmate who moved out overnight, and Max’s two bikes getting searched at Santiago customs. Presented by Zwift. Max does his training on Zwift at home, and it’s what got him race-ready for Patagonia. Welcome UFinancial, our new partner for the Patagonia trip. Financial advice, mortgage broking and financial planning all under one roof on St Kilda Road, and Max has been with them for years.

Description Max Gawn joins from Thailand for a Wednesday Social Club. He reckons if Pogačar comes to the Tour Down Under, he falls in love with it and comes back three years running. And if anyone has the mail, it's Michael Matthews. We unpack the points system and why being a top-three ProTeam is now the money spot in cycling. That brings in Euskaltel's late points dash for Mikel Landa, and the Oceania Champs heading to Adelaide in January with 250 UCI points up for grabs. Also in this episode: Reflections on the Stuart O'Grady interview and the state of Australian cyclingMax's 2015 Player Revue, and what free drink cards will get youWidar beats Pidcock in Guangxi, Simmons v Healy at the Japan Cup, Campenaerts wins the Eneco Tour and McNulty finally wins in the rainbow stripesAnother car on the course, Adam Hansen's battle for rider safety, and the NOS investigation into Picnic PostNLCarapaz to NSN, EF's finances, Ayuso's tough first year at Lidl-Trek, Roglič playing the field and Matt White leaving MovistarMax's Patagonia prep, Zwift top-ups between running sessions, and why he might be a Giant Defy man for lifeThe Social Club is presented by Giant.

Max Gawn sits down with Santos Tour Down Under race director Stuart O’Grady to go through the 2027 route, stage by stage, the morning after Max and Ed Langdon Everested Willunga Hill. They talk leaving Willunga out of his first race as director. O'Grady explains how the men’s and women’s races will run on the same day, on the same course, for the first time in the Australian summer. In this episode: Max’s Everest numbers: 8,911 metres, 13,000 calories and 21 hours in the saddleA short, steep climb three times in the final of stage one from Henley BeachCorkscrew twice on stage three, now turning right like the women did this yearWillunga Hill from a new direction, and a Norwood to Stirling finaleHow points farming has changed the TDU, and Max on Jayco’s Australian identityThe 2028 route Stewie’s already designed, and whether Pogačar is coming

CPA president Adam Hansen joins us fresh from the first UCI cycling reform meeting to talk rider safety, salaries and anti-doping from the inside. Heads up: the audio isn’t our usual standard, but what he shares is well worth pushing through for. Adam takes us through what was discussed at the reform table, and how rolling road closures actually work after a week of vehicles on course in the Italian races. He lays out his top five safety priorities, from GPS trackers and hookless tyres to helmets only rated to around 22 km/h, and why he expects trackers in every race by mid-next year. We also get into the ITA night tests on Tadej and Jonas at the Tour, the flaws in the ADAMS whereabouts system that riders fear more than testing itself, why he believes the peloton is clean, and where airbags fit into the future of racing.

Max Gawn's top five transfers of the trade period so far, from Giulio Ciccone to Q36.5 and Filippo Ganna to Lidl-Trek to Ben Turner at Soudal Quick-Step. Plus Paul Seixas wins Il Lombardia, Per Strand Hagenes takes Paris-Tours, and Plappy is out of Guangxi with a fractured wrist. In this Social Club: Alex hits the wall at the Chicago Marathon, and Jimmy Whelan v Kipchoge in MelbourneMax on being the heaviest Everester, and why no one over 115kg has beaten him yetGravel Worlds in Perth, and whether Paris-Tours should be the sixth monumentRemco's five-minute safety protest at Lombardia, ahead of our Adam Hansen interviewCiccone v Mauro Schmid, and how Australia sells the Tour Down Under to the world's best riders The Social Club is presented by Giant. Max's Giant garage now runs to two Propels, two TCRs, an Anthem, a Fathom and a Revolt. Max is back on Zwift since his Everest, right next to the sauna.

Max Gawn has Everested Willunga Hill: 39 and a half laps, 8,851 metres, no power meter and 115 kilos, alongside Ed Langdon and Hamish Blake. Plus Plappy on crashes and police motorbikes on the course in Italy, Remco v Ciccone at the Euros, and who wins Il Lombardia. In this Social Club: Max's Everest top five, the low points, and why the pub at the bottom mattersHot laps with Stuart O'Grady and Darren Hicks, and a road closed by the SA GovernmentCiccone's mid-contract move to Q36.5, Ganna to Lidl-Trek and Jordi MeeusUCI points now on offer for track, mountain bike and gravelJimmy Whelan v Eliud Kipchoge at the Melbourne Marathon, and Plappy v Pidcock in ChinaThe Social Club is presented by Giant. Max rode his Everest on the Giant Defy.

Former GreenEDGE rider Sam Bewley joins us for a look at what goes on behind the scenes at a WorldTour team. Sam is now Head Sports Director at NSN. His job covers race strategy from the car, deciding which DS goes to which race, and helping recruit the riders who will shape the squad in 2028. We talk about how NSN is rebuilding into a balanced team after Derek Gee's departure, and how you create a single culture across 25 nationalities. Sam also explains why race calendars and support riders often matter more than salary to young leaders, and how the invite system can leave teams stuck at races they no longer want. He goes inside Biniam Girmay's Tour de France campaign and explains why the team stayed motivated without a stage win. He also remembers his first race as a DS, directing Chris Froome at the Tour Down Under, and shares the beer-with-the-mechanics approach he took to building trust in the job.

Brandon McNulty is the 2026 road world champion. Team USA's 8-man squad outplayed Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert at the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal, and Michael Matthews rode to a heroic silver for Australia with almost no team support. On this week's Social Club, Alex Clements and AFL captain Max Gawn break down the most chaotic Worlds road race in years. We cover how the race unfolded and how Team USA used their numbers perfectly, with Matteo Jorgensen and Quinn Simmons setting up McNulty's winning attack. We also get into why Belgium's plan fell apart, Isaac del Toro's huge workload for Mexico, and Tom Pidcock's late move. And we ask the big question: should Australia have sent a full team to back Bling? Plus we recap Demi Vollering's thrilling win in the women's elite road race, Talia Appleton's fifth in the women's U23s, Jack Ward's top 10 in the men's U23s, the junior races, and the rest of the week in pro cycling.

Max is fresh off fourth in the Brownlow, the best vote count of his career, and a red carpet interview that started with a question about the world wheelchair championship. He also talks Everest prep: seven laps of Mount Dandenong, roughly 40 climbs to go in South Australia, and a possible pub stop for a parma halfway through. Plappy's back in Spain after an underdone return in Italy, and he's lining up in China next month, where a certain mountain bike world champion has just appeared on the start list. He also walks through the mechanics' nightly group chat, chainrings, cassettes and the tyre pressures that will horrify anyone still running 120 psi. Then it's Worlds. With Pogačar out and Carapaz withdrawn, the road race is wide open. We break down Belgium's two-leader plan, whether the French can make it hard enough to drop Van der Poel and Van Aert, and why Del Toro might beat Remco and Paul Seixas in a sprint. Max gives his tips, Alex backs Lorenzo Finn as a smokey, and Plappy is dreaming of a Van Aert rainbow jersey. Plus: the TT verdict on Ganna's future, Felicity Wilson-Haffenden's junior title, the Oceania Championships landing in Adelaide in January, a transfer round-up including Gall, Mühlberger and a possible Welsford move to Jayco, and Max's Top Five presented by Pillar Performance: the best fluffers in cycling.

Aaron Gate made the WorldTour with Astana at 34. New Zealand's most decorated Commonwealth Games athlete joins us to talk through one of the most unlikely careers in the peloton. He won Olympic team pursuit bronze in London, then worked through a string of teams that folded underneath him, including Aqua Blue, which shut down with a single email in August, and Evo Pro, which still owes him half a season's pay. Aaron takes us from hacksawing time trial bikes together before De Panne, to riding Madisons around Europe with Shane Archibald to qualify New Zealand for the worlds, to finally landing a WorldTour contract with Astana at 34. He also relives this year's Tour debut: a teammate's disc wheel flying at his head in the Barcelona team time trial, stitches in his face after stage two, then leading out sprints in the final kilometres. Plus Stefan Denifl, a voice note from Vinokourov, and whether LA 2028 is next.

Luke Tuckwell's first Grand Tour was a three-week apprenticeship. He rode the Vuelta a España as Primož Roglič's climbing support, spent most of it on his wheel, and came out the other side named in Australia's team for his first elite world championships. He's 22. Roglič wanted him sitting behind rather than leading, which turned out to be the better classroom - Luke could watch where a nine-time Grand Tour podium finisher puts himself in a bunch, and when he spends energy and when he doesn't. By the final week the two of them had stopped needing to speak. He also gets into what Roglič passed on off the bike, the bus conversations, and why a rider that decorated was still thanking his teammates on stage 21. Then Montreal. Luke wasn't expecting selection, what Matt Hayman told him about bringing young riders through early, and a very honest answer on why the green and gold never moved the needle at junior and U23 level — and why it does now. Plus why he thinks a chaotic race suits an Australian team without a superstar. And the road that got him there: the Simon Clark message in 2021, an Italian team where nobody spoke English, learning how to train in Girona, and the night at the Baby Giro when Red Bull said his results didn't match his power numbers.