Interview: Scott McGill on his breakout ride at the World Road Race Championships & his plans for the 2023 season
Plus, introducing a private space for us to converse and connect
Listen to The Scott McGill Interview Now
My Beyond the Peloton Podcast co-host, Andrew Vontz, and I were recently able to sit down with breakout American rider Scott McGill, who, despite only racing for the tiny US-based Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling Team in 2022, was able to infiltrate the early breakaway at the 2022 World Road Race Championships that stayed clear until they were caught, and subsequently dropped, by the eventual race winner Remco Evenepoel. McGill was able to leverage this impressive ride (along with two stage wins and the points jersey title at the Volta a Portugal), to land a contract with the second-division Human Powered Health team and give himself a chance to test his immense talents at top-level WorldTour races in the coming season.
During our chat with McGill, what stuck out to me was how straightforward his approach to the sport is and how unbothered he seems by modern training, fueling, and racing tactics. McGill’s straightforwardness might surprise quite a few fans, especially ones who have been exposed to the high level of seriousness in relatively low-level amateur racing, but this keep-it-simple strategy is likely at least part of the reason why McGill has found success while quickly moving into higher and higher level races.
The BTP Podcast is available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts (and anywhere else podcasts are distributed)
Beyond the Peloton Subscriber Chat Launch
Today I’m announcing a brand new addition to the BTP Substack publication: the Beyond the Peloton subscriber chat.
This is a conversation space in the Substack app that I set up exclusively for my subscribers — kind of like a group chat or live hangout. I’ll post short prompts, thoughts, and updates that come my way, and you can jump into the discussion.
While I’ve dabbled with BTP members-only chat options with third-party apps like Discord in the past, I’ve found that I struggle to consistently stay active. Hopefully, by consolidating the chat in the same ecosystem as the newsletter/blog, it will allow me to seamlessly communicate with readers, and for you to communicate with each other, throughout the season (and off-season) as topics arise.
To join our chat, you’ll need to download the Substack app (messages are sent via the app, not email). Turn on push notifications so you don’t miss a chance to join the conversation as it happens.
How to get started
Download the app by clicking this link or the button below. Chat is only on iOS for now, but chat is coming to the Android app soon.
Open the app and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a row for my chat inside.
That’s it! Jump into my thread to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.
I’ve already started the first chat thread so come on over and say hello!