June represents peak season on the elite British road racing calendar: a fact reflected in this packed edition of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast.
![]() |
Latest Podcast: Brother Cycling UK
LINK: Brother UK Cycling Podcast
June represents peak season on the elite British road racing calendar: a fact reflected in this packed edition of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast. Co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones MBE, the Managing Director of Brother UK, are joined by VeloUK editor Larry Hickmott to look back on the Women’s Tour and look ahead to the Women’s CiCLE Classic and National Road and Time-Trial Championships.
Further input comes from Becky Storrie (CAMS-Basso), who was crowned best British rider at the Women’s Tour, from Dr Carlos Ludlow-Palafox, the CEO and founder of recycling firm Enval, from Colin Clews, the race director and founder of the CiCLE Classic, and from Mark Botteley, the manager of Team Brother UK-Orientation Marketing.
In a wide-ranging discussion, Tim, Phil and Larry reflect on the Women’s Tour’s closest-ever finish and the effect on the race of tactics, time bonuses and a gruelling parcours. Did the Trek-Segafredo team of winner Elisa Longo Borghini clinch her one-second victory with dominant riding? Or were the questionable tactics of the FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine team a contributing factor to their leader, Grace Brown, finishing as runner-up?
Becky Storrie’s emerging brilliance offers a more straightforward topic. The 23-year-old, who began her career with the Brother UK-OnForm development team, shone on the queen stage of the Women’s Tour by matching the strongest riders in the world on the cruel gradients of Black Mountain. Who better to describe the demands of the race and the challenges and opportunities of progressing from the domestic scene to the Women’s WorldTour than Becky?
Brother UK’s sponsorship of the race’s Green Zones opens another fascinating topic for discussion – recycling, sustainability and the circular economy – and how each of these aligned areas is likely to have a growing effect on professional cycling. Dr Ludlow-Palafox shares the importance of the circular economy to his company. As a recycler of flexible plastics, including the gel wrappers collected from the Brother UK-sponsored Green Zones, Enval is on the frontline of a critical debate.
Phil shares reports from inside the peloton on the impact of Brexit on the movement of British riders seeking to establish careers in mainland Europe, while Larry reveals that the impacts of Covid are still felt by British teams whose rosters are being decimated by infections among their athletes. Elite British road racing, it seems, is not immune from the wider issues that shape our lives.
The Women’s CiCLE Classic is a case in point: a race that almost folded when its principal backer decided to withhold further funds in a dispute with British Cycling over its policy on transgender cyclists. Crowdfunding and a new sponsor gained from the publicity generated by the stand-off saved the race, but did the threat posed to the Women’s CiCLE Classic only underline the fragility of cycling’s economic model?
British Cycling’s National Road and Time-Trial Championships offer a chance to consider Britain’s strongest riders. Phil, Larry and Tim consider every angle, from the course to the contenders to disciplines ranging from circuit races to time-trials. Can Dumfries and Galloway and the championships’ first foray north of the border in nearly ten years match last year’s spectacle in Lincoln? And should the federation have stuck with last year’s end-of-season calendar slot? Our experts debate the issues.
Listen now to episode 19 of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast for informed debate among expert witnesses. Subscribe via your podcast provider and never miss another episode.
Cycle Division’s Shop
Send your results as well as club, team & event news here
Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)
- Features, Reports, Results
- Track Result: 2025 Manchester Regional Track League
- TRACK EUROS REPORT (DAY 3)
- TRACK EUROS REPORT (DAY 2)
- CX Result: Leicestershire CX League Rd 7
- TRACK EUROS REPORT (DAY 1)
- STARTLIST: Azets Spring Classic (February 23)
- Entries: Clayton Spring Classic Handicap 2025
- Crit Result: Sussex Cycle Racing League Circuits 1/14
- Result: Hillingdon Slipstreamers Spring Series Event 1
- Crit Result: Full Gas Winter Circuit Series #15
- RESULT: 2nd Portsdown Classic
- Track Result – Manchester Regional Track League
- News: John Barclay Academy Launch
- Crit Result: Full Gas Winter Circuit Series #14
- QUIZ TIME! Q&A with Zack Lowe (Prologue Race Team)
- NEWS: 2025 ELITE DEVELOPMENT TEAMS
- Crit Result: Odd Down Winter Series Rd 1
- Crit Result: Chilly City Crits Rd 2
- CX Result: London/South East CX League 10
- Track Result: 2025 Manchester Regional Track League
- Another World Title for Zoe Backstedt
- TRAGIC NEWS: Aidan Loses His Life in Training Accident
- Tom Pidcock wins the AlUla Tour
- Q&A with Elliot Fraser (360cycling)
- GB Team Win World Title at CX Worlds
- Second stage win for Tom Pidcock in AlUla Tour
- 2025 West Midlands road race league
- NEWS: Ribble Cycles Bike Sponsor for Smurfit Westrock Team
- QUIZ TIME! Q&A with young talent Mark Ketteringham
- Startlist: RCR Portsdown Classic Road Race (February 9)
- Crit Result: Full Gas Winter Circuit Series #13
- Crit Result: Chilly City Crits Rd 1
- CX Result: Linlithgow Cross 2025
- QUIZ TIME!! REBECCA WOODVINE
- CX Result: London and South East CX League 9
- CX Results: Eastern Region CX League Rd 10
- CX Result: Wessex Cyclocross League Round 12
- QUIZ TIME! Q&A with Oscar Nisbett
- CX Result: NWCCA League Round 11
- Track Result: Manchester Regional Track League
Other News on VeloUK
- TRACK EUROS REPORT (DAY 3)
- TRACK EUROS REPORT (DAY 2)
- STARTLIST: Azets Spring Classic (February 23)
- Entries: Clayton Spring Classic Handicap 2025
- News: John Barclay Academy Launch
- NEWS: 2025 ELITE DEVELOPMENT TEAMS
- Another World Title for Zoe Backstedt
- TRAGIC NEWS: Aidan Loses His Life in Training Accident
- Tom Pidcock wins the AlUla Tour
- 2025 West Midlands road race league
- NEWS: Ribble Cycles Bike Sponsor for Smurfit Westrock Team
- Startlist: RCR Portsdown Classic Road Race (February 9)
- CYCLOCROSS: 2025-26 LLOYDS NATIONAL TROPHY SERIES CALENDAR
- 2025 British CycloCross Championships Day 2
- 2025 British CycloCross Championships Day 1
- TEAM NEWS: RAPTOR FACTORY RACING
- STARTLIST: 2025 British Cyclocross Championships
- Q&A: Louis Herring (Prologue Junior Race Team)
- BRITISH CYCLOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS RIDER LIST
- NEXT WEEK: BRITISH CYCLOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS – CYCLOPARK
- 2025 EVENTS: RTTC 10 mile TIME TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
- THIS WEEKEND: NATIONAL TROPHY SERIES 2024/25 ROUND 5
- BMCR Newsletter January 2025
- TEAM NEWS: BCC Race Team 2025 Squad Announcement
- TEAM NEWS: 2025 Handsling Alba Development Road Team
- Q&A with Paul Opie & Tom Mead
- Team News: New Junior team for West Lothian Clarion
- 2025 Events: Plymouth Corinthian
- News: Junior/Youth National Series 2025
- Startlist: Round 4 National Trophy Cyclocross (Dec 7/8)
- ELITE ROAD AND CIRCUIT RACES CALENDAR
- Sad News: No Saint Piran team for 2025
- News: The Pedal Club Lunch (November)
- Team Update: Brother UK / Onform 2025
- 2025 NATIONAL TRACK CALENDAR ANNOUNCED
- CHS CICLISMO – Complimentary daily massage and spa!
- Team News: Fensham Howes – MAS Design 2025
- National Trophy Cyclocross: Round 3 (Torbay)
- Tofauti Everyone Active announces new partners and new name for 2025
- Rider News: Matt Thompson signs for French Team BMC Bezier