Welcome to the Bank Holiday edition of the RCB Sports show. This week we have a special guest, 2023 Italian Gravel Race National Champion, Matteo Cigala who was also 6th at the first ever UCI Gravel World Championships and 2022 European Amateur Rd Race Champion. Matteo is based in Wicklow, Ireland and a former Italian International With 25 years of experience in cycling, hundreds of victories in his name, a Business Management Degree (BA) and Diploma in Science and Sports. In 2017, Matteo was the highest Elite ranking domestic rider in Ireland by winning the Cycling Ireland A1 classification. In 2018, Matteo raced Pro with British Professional Team Holdsworth Pro Racing, partecipating also in China’s biggest cycling event, the Tour Of Qinghai Lake.

Gravel bikes have exploded in popularity in recent years. These wide-tyred, drop-bar machines open up a whole new world of riding possibilities and have also spawned a new bike-racing discipline – gravel racing. There are now gravel races across all four corners of the globe, from single-day events to multi-stage epics. Crucially, however, gravel racing centres around fun and community just as much as it does competition.

Adrian chats with Matteo about Gravel Racing.
Tune in every Friday evening at 7pm on 92.5fm – 94.8fm and Internet live stream