Rachel Neylan, Creating an elite sporting career, a curiosity for health and performance and the evolution of women's cycling

The Supersapiens Podcast

In this episode, we’re talking to Rachel Neylan, Professional cyclist for team Cofidis. In her early twenties, Rachel was a Physiotherapist with Australian national teams but knew she was on the wrong side of the fence and had a burning desire to be a world class athlete and an Olympian herself. In 2010 without a pro contract and a little bit of savings, she packed her bags to Europe in chase of a dream of becoming a professional cyclist. Through years and years of hard work, patience and determination she made it to the very top in cycling, earning a silver medal at the World Championships and achieving a lifelong dream of becoming an Olympian.

Rachel is also a health and sports industry advisor, winner of the inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan and 6x World Championship representative for Australia.

2:32 – Tour de France Riders using Ice slushies for cooling
5:34 – Community
9:05 – Training discussion of time off and offseason vs not
15:00 – Rachel Neylan Introduction
16:17 – Rachel’s Sporting Beginning
18:00 – How Rachel got into Physiotherapy
20:14 – Track & Field experiences
21:30 – Transition from Track & Field to Cycling
28:05 – Moving to Europe
29:34 – Transitioning to becoming a Professional Cyclist
30:50 – Making the World Championships and Winning a Silver medal
33:04 – Career trajectory post World Championships Silver
34:35 – Making mistakes in training
35:36 – Getting hit by a car and bike accidents
37:01 – The difficult year of 2019
39:05 – Training during the Pandemic
41:47 – Professional Cycling for Women vs Men
45:10 – Tour de Femmes significance
46:13 – Career in 2022 and Beyond
47:26 – Rachel’s Wisdom and Mentoring
49:00 – Advice for a young Female Rider
49:39 – Normal Training Week
51:04 – Why Rachel Lives in Italy
53:17 – Biggest Change since Using Supersapiens
56:16 – Why Supersaspiens appealed to Rachel
58:23 – Rachel on Training Load
1:01:17 – Glucose Behavior when at Home vs Travelling
1:02:30 – Rush Round
1:10:00 – Summary