Andy McGrath - Editor of Rouleur Magazine
You've all heard of Il Pirata, The Animal, Super Mario, Monsieur Chrono, The Eagle of Toledo and the Manx Missile. Still, few of you know 'the Enigma' - Andy McGrath, Editor of Rouleur Magazine. He may not have won the Giro d'Italia or Paris Roubaix, however, he tells the stories of people who have. We've all read his words, but few of us know the person behind the pages.
A rare sighting of the Enigma. Well, the back of his head while chatting to Gregg ‘Le Monster’ at the Rouleur Classic.
After our recent LeBlanq feature in Rouleur Magazine 102, with Brad Wiggins, Sean Yates and Ashley Plamer-Watts, I caught up with Andy over a video call for some world-class wheel talk.
Me: "Hey, Andy. Sorry, I'm all over the place. I just got back from a ride, and I’ve been rushing to get ready. I just made the worst fried egg sandwich you’ve ever seen. It was burnt on the bottom and snotty on top. Never cook when you've bonked. You can't think straight."
"At least it didn't touch the sides. I think I swallowed it whole. Now I'm making a cup of tea while trying to 'come back to the real world'. "
"Anyway, sorry. How are you?"
Andy McGrath: "Pretty good. I've got a day off, actually."
G: "So you've got a day off today, and you're spending it with me? Lucky you."
A: "How was your ride?"
G: "It was great. Reps in the Surry Hills. It was pretty horrible but good-horrible.”
"Let's talk about you - editor of Rouleur magazine. No one knows anything about you other than your published words."
"How did it all start? When did you decide you wanted to write about cycling?"
A: "Um, I've been doing it for 20 years now - after I got hooked on cycling, which was the summer of 2002. Lance Armstrong caught everyone apart from Carlos Sastre on La Plagne.
G: "Was that the moment that you thought, ‘yeah, cycling is for me.’? "
A: "Yeah, that was the real moment that it gripped me. I was like, ‘What is this exotic sport with all these nationalities and colours and places?’ I was only fourteen. I always liked writing, so I got in touch with a US website called the Daily Peloton - I'm not sure if it exists anymore?"
"It was so ‘early noughties.’ It had a chat room, message board, and a small but loyal community of readers - and I just started dipping my toe by writing terrible features. They gave me a chance, basically."
"And that's how you get to know the sport. I did everything myself, like uploading race results from some tiny race in Portugal or writing about Mario Cipollini being world champion. Yeah, those first few years, you're really hooked on cycling. The memories are so vivid, like the champions, team names, random races, and it's all still there in my brain."
"Like the 2003 Tour de France. I can just think of Frédéric Finot on these pointless breakaways, which means nothing to anyone apart from maybe his mum or dad. And that's where it all kicked off."
"So I was doing that for seven or eight years - on the side of school and university. Then I got work experience at Cycling Weekly and Cycle Sport in the same office in my hometown of Croydon. Someone had to be from Croydon."
G: "Yeah, ‘a working-class hero is someone to be.’ - John Lennon”
A: "Kids from Croydon don't become the editor of Rouleur Magazine."
“Kids from Kilburn don’t win the Tour.”
Yeah, but I was meant to be there for two weeks, but I stayed for four years. They couldn't get rid of me."
G: "like a bad smell."
A: "Haha, hopefully, better than that. I definitely made bad tea there. Tea is very important in journalism."
G: "Cheers to that."
A: "It looks like the 'g' for the Guardian. Is it is supposed to be for Gareth?
G: Yeah, so I don't forget my name. Not to be mistaken for G (Geraint Thomas). I'm just G, not the OG."
A: "You're the second strongest G that I know."
📷: Russ Ellis
G: "Yeah, I'll take that. But I'm better a staying upright."
"Who were your heroes back in the day? You mentioned Lance. It's got to the point now where we're not allowed to say ‘Lance Armstrong’. He's like Lord Voldemort, isn't he?"
“After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great.”
G: "He had such an impact when I was young. My dad had dodgy paintings hung all over our house, that he bought from cycling classifieds. Watercolour shrines of Pantani, Boardman and Lance."
A: "Armstrong was kind of my way into the sport. I mean, I was 13, 14, and completely wrapped up in this Fairytale. It turns out it wasn't quite true, but still very powerful."
"He is still the biggest star cycling has ever had - for better or worse."
"Obviously, my perception has changed a bit. Quite considerably, actually."
G: "Yes, I think we all had the wool pulled over our eyes. As you go through life, things change, people change, circumstances change. You have to let go and move on."
"When I worked in the Sky Cycling sponsorship team, we had someone from a Sky Sports football background who didn't know much about cycling. When Froomie won the Tour de France, they said, "I've got a great idea. Why don't we make loads of yellow wrist bands with Team Sky printed on it."
“I was like, ‘Let me stop you right there. That’s a fucking terrible idea.’ ”
A: “Hahaha, that would have been interesting.”
G: "To contradict myself, I've still got my Livestrong band. I use it to hold my innertube and my pump together in one neat little package to fit in my back pocket. It gets some odd looks at the cafe. People are like:
“What the fuck are you doing with that?”
"I'm not some deluded fan. I’m not entirely sure what it means to me? ‘LIVESTRONG' is a powerful sentiment. Despite Lance’s gaping flaws, I am still mesmerised by his strength; the way he fought cancer, dealt with the pressure, always attacked, coped with the media and the haters, eventually admitted the truth, etc.
It’s also a nod to the loved ones in my life who have fought/are fighting cancer, like my dad."
“Everyone has flaws, some bigger than others. That’s why I don’t idolise or replicate my heroes. I draw strength and inspiration from their good traits and filter out the bad, such as Lance’s inner strength. Not his ability to lie.”
“If you replicated someone else, you’d just end up disappointed when you discover something about them you don’t agree with - or worse, blindly defend their wrongdoings because you have rose-tinted lenses on.”
“I think that’s what people mean when they say, ‘Don’t meet your heroes.’ - I think it’s great to meet your heroes if you accept them for who they are, not who you want them to be.”
“I like David Bowie’s hair and style, he probably informs my look. But as soon as you tell someone that this person is your ‘hero’ - they just start listing all the things that are wrong with them - like Bowie’s abuse.”
“I just take a little piece of other people and use it to build myself into who I aspire to be. Stuff that aligns with my values. Negative attributes are a good way to say, ‘That’s definitely NOT who I am.’ and keep your internal compass pointing North.”
“I think that’s a long-winded way of explaining my feelings towards Lance.”
G: "Look at people like Meghan Markle and Britney Spears - they are an example of how the media is obsessed with lifting people to the top and then dragging them back down to make a good story. To make us all feel better about our comparative lack of achievement."
"I hate it. Why can't we support people and be inspired by their success rather than jealous?"
"Lance's 'LIVE-STRONG' mentality has helped him survive it all. Whereas Jan Ullrich and Marco Pantani, two of cyclings most prominent names, involved with doping scandals - they couldn't see a way through it."
"The passing of Pantani and the mental health challenges Jan Ullrich faced are heartbreaking. I hope their experiences can be learnings for future generations. Not a taboo subject that can't be mentioned - for fear of being tarnished with the same brush."
A: "It's funny and interesting you mention that because I'm just finishing a biography about Frank Vandenbroucke, and I'm just writing a chapter about the media. Mentioning Britney Spears rings a bell because it's a similar period where the internet was taking off, and big brother blurred the lines between public and famous. This is very broad to say, but that was the change of public interest and what sells newspapers, gets hits, that kind of thing."
"Vandenbroucke had stories of the paparazzi waiting outside his house, while he was just trying to plant some fir trees with his sister - during a time when he was experiencing an acute mental health crisis.”
"People like rollercoaster journeys. When someone's at the very top of their game, and they're a goody-two-shoes for too long, 'they're boring'."
"If there isn't an edge, they’re dull. Everyone has flaws, and people like to see them. It can easily go the wrong way, like with Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears, and so many sportspeople.”
“Where is the line? We've gone way over the line.”
G: "That was passed years ago. What do you think, as a writer and a journalist, your responsibilities are within this world?”
A: "To have empathy."
"Words matter when you're writing. Every single word you put down. I guess we could be sued or done for libel firstly. Secondly, you're still writing about a human being. Having some empathy is a really fine line to tread because you have to be objective. It's my job to share interesting things and give insight."
"I think it's become way too easy to blurt out words, put them online and count the views. There are not enough journalists acting with balance."
G: "Yeah, because Rouleur acts with that integrity, I don't really see you as 'the media'. I see you as a voice in the cycling community - an amplifier of the voices that matter."
"What made you want to want to write about Frank?”
A: "I always liked him as a teenager. I had (not for him) a Fassa Bortolo jersey. You think it's a sexy Italian team, with the sprinter winning 40 races - and then you realise Fassa Bortalo is a cement company in Northern Italy, classic cycling, super unsexy."
G: "I think that’s Adam Blythe’s favourite kit?”
"But yeah, Vandenbroucke - the highs and lows. When I came to him, he was already a fallen hero. I was drawn to his optimism. He was having ‘his last chance’ about five times with five different teams."
"But at the root of it, you have this hopeful, positive person. Despite everything, and he really went through a lot of problems - a lot of shit mentally, drugs being found at his home, etc. He was really no angel, but in spite of all that, it seemed like he was going to go the right way, and he nearly won the Tour of Flanders.
"I was drawn to finding out more stories. Half the people I went to see in Belgium were like, "Why are you doing another book on Frank?" Bearing in mind, there's already been like three or four books already in Dutch or French. And the reason is, there are more stories out there. All you have to do is find the right people and ask the right questions."
G: "Did you ever meet Frank or watch him race on the roadside?"
A: "No, I never met him. I don't think I ever watched him race unless he rode the Tour of Britain? I'm thinking probably not. But obviously, he's crystalised on VHS tapes of the David Duffield era. I've still got some of those in my childhood bedroom - old recordings of Flanders and Roubaix, going back nearly 20 years."
G: "They're my favourites to watch. When I need some inspiration to dig a bit deeper on the turbo trainer (that I've been glued to for the past year) - that's where I go looking. I watch old races, and then I'm like, ‘Right, now I'm ready to go lay down the hammer.’ “
A: "It's a cool, cool area with cool, cool characters for sure. But there's a lot of darkness and somewhat endemic doping, but Franks' bio has been a lot of fun to write. Really interesting."
G: "How's the progress?"
A: "It's finished. It's due to hit the shelves next March."
G: "Congratulations, I look forward to reading that."
“Has the pandemic helped or hindered finalising your book? Lot's of video calls, etc?"
A: "I actually did most of the interviews pre-pandemic in 2018/2019. It's a bit old-school, and it wasn't cheap - but there's a lot to be said for going somewhere in person, shaking someone's hand, looking them in the eye and building that connection. That will always be true, and this is the thing, with the pandemic, are we going to return to the journalism and the access we used to know in cycling?"
"That's one of the great things about cycling, as a fan, let alone a journalist - it's just unlike any other sport I can think of. You are just so close to the riders. They give you so much of their time and space. Like, there's no security. It just wouldn't happen in any other sport."
"Post-pandemic, it's going to be harder to have that intimacy, and that's what Rouleur thrives off. Yeah, we talk about cycling, but that's only half the story. We like to get to know the person, not just the rider."
G: "While you were out in Belgium, did you ride on Frank's roads?
A: "No, maybe I should have. I would have liked to, but I was pretty vigorous while I was out there; I was like, 'Right, you've got four of five days, and we're going to meet as many people as possible, do the interviews.' But I did drive one of his training routes."
"He’s from the middle of nowhere, right on the French-Belgian border. His cousin (in the book) calls it the 'Arsehole of the world.' "
"I drove out to Cassel, often used in the Four Days of Dunkirk. There's this nice cobbled climb into a medieval village. I got lost so many times trying to follow his route on these tiny farm roads, past piles of turnips, cows and tractors. Getting stuck behind farm machinery was about eighty per cent of my time in Belgium."
"That gives you an impression of who he is. That's his landscape. That's where he rode all the time, even as an adult. It would have been easy for him to go and live on the French Riviera, but he chose to stay in this one-horse town."
"I say that with fondness because it's a nice town and the people are very friendly. He was a boy from the town, and that's why everyone loved him. There's something to be said for not forgetting your values."
G: "It's odd, isn't it? All of these amazing cycling destinations around the world, and it's still Belgium that breeds some of the best cyclists."
"Why is that? In our feature in Rouleur 102, Brad describes Belgians as 'cycling perverts'. Maybe that's it? They just love it more than everyone else."
A: "They are definitely pervs, yeah. In a good way. An enviable way. Just imagine if we had that kind of perversion in the UK?"
"Part of it - is growing up with it. You can say that about the next generation of British kids, but they will still be outliers from the UK."
"Belgium is just... every town has a cycling hero. It's hard to generalise, but I get the impression there's a greater sense of community."
G: "I first sensed that Belgian community in 2017. Ahead of the Rouleur Classic, Johan Museeuw took us out on his home roads before we all travelled over to London for opening night."
"Everywhere we went, he was treated like royalty - bars, restaurants, cafes, even in a bus stop when we stopped for Johan to adjust his cleats. He was recognised and admired by all. People who look like they have no connection to cycling whatsoever knew who he was and treated him as we would treat Queen Elizabeth II."
📷 : Robbrecht Desmet
A: "It sounds like bullshit, doesn't it? But when you're there, and you see how they are treated - like gods. Even now, Museeuw, twenty years after retiring."
G: "Yeah, and the people who approached or acknowledged him just looked like normal folk, not 'cyclists'. Just an elderly man waiting for a bus or a mother and daughter eating Mattentaart at a local cafe."
A: "That's the thing, though. That's the essence of it, that cycling and society in Belgium are one and the same. It's a sport of normal people. Whereas in other countries, as a cyclist, you are a different tribe. You stand out in your lycra with a carbon bike."
"Cycling is ingrained, as you well know, in Belgium. Flanders especially."
G: "You've been writing about cycling/cyclists for twenty years. What are your career highlights? Moments when you've had to pinch yourself and say, 'Fuck, am I really doing this?’ "
A: "In 2018, we put a lot of effort into planning a Bradley Wiggins and Eddy Merckx joint interview. At one point, it looked like it wasn't going to happen, but when it came together, and they started talking, and the room went silent, it was like, 'Fucking hell, this is amazing.' "
📷: Michael Blann
"Oh, and meeting Lance Armstrong."
G: "Don't say his name out loud!"
A: "I briefly asked He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named a question. It was really weird. It was the 2010 Critérium International, Corsica - one of my first foreign races. Our car had been towed the morning before because we parked on the race route. Such a classic ‘young reporter’ mistake. Armstrong was there racing with Contador. He invited journalists to his hotel post-race. It felt like you were entering… what’s that James Bond baddie? Goldfinger’s lair. He was sat waiting for us.”
G: “Was he stroking a hairless cat?”
A: “That was the only thing missing, the cat. These journalists were all lined up and we only got one question to ask Lance.”
G: “Wow. One question. How on earth do you decide what question you’re going to ask Lance?”
A: “Well, I just bit the bullet and asked:
“Can you comment on how your relationship with Contador is at the moment?”
And he said something like:
“Oh, I think we’ll take a pass on that one.””
G: “Haha. Fuck.”
A: “But even then, his charisma and ora stick in my memory.”
“To be honest, the longer you are in the industry, the more it becomes ‘normal’. “
G: “At the beginning of the pandemic, Rouleur was in a bit of a bad place. But now, it seems to have exploded. It’s bigger than ever.”
A: Absolutely, yeah. We had a tricky period last March. Advertising fell out for the whole industry. But we had a really encouraging response from our readers, thousands of subscriptions, which was so heartening and we are all grateful for.”
“We’ve really changed things over the last twelve months. We’ve added Rouleur Italia and bought Volata (a Spanish publication).”
“Every edition is a big idea. We’ve changed the structure, so each magazine has a theme. Rouleur 102 with your fabulous Eddy Merckx chat with Brad, Sean Yates and Ashley Palmer-Watts - that theme was ‘True Grit’. You don’t get many people grittier than Sean Yates and Brad Wiggins, for example.”
G: “Gritty as they come.”
A: “The next issue is ‘speed’. Yes, we’re talking about cycling, but we’re trying to broaden it out, to learn from other sports and society. We have a four-way chat between Mark Cavendish, Formula one runner-up Valtteri Bottas, Moto GP stalwart Cal Crutchlow and female motorsport star Jamie Chadwick. So we’re drawing on different sports and champions to talk about speed. Oh, and they all love cycling, that’s the thing.”
G: “Of course they do.”
A: “That’s a ‘pinch-me moment. How did we manage to get these people together in one Zoom room? And we had Orla Chennaoui doing the interview. I really hope the readers enjoy it.”
“We’ve got an interview with Filippo Ganna, who is crushing everyone, but no one seems to know much about him. He’s just this nice lad from Northern Italy.”
“Maybe I’m biased, but we’re number one. I’m not ashamed to say it. It’s kind of like Cav saying he was the best sprinter in 2010. But we always have to be thinking of new original ideas, so we’re not resting on our laurels.”
G: “As a cycling nerd that lives it and breathes it every fucking day, reading about cycling can get a bit boring. You know, the post-race interviews where the journo is like, ‘How are you feeling?’, and the cyclist is like, ‘Yeah, the legs felt good today.’ or, ‘The legs felt bad today.’ and you’re like, ‘Great, another thrilling interview.' “
“So when Rouleur does something a bit disruptive, about the person or about a concept or idea, like ‘speed’ for example, I’m learning something new, rather than listening to a record on repeat. Sharing a different perspective is what makes Rouleur the best.”
A: “Yeah, it’s all about variety. If we keep surprising ourselves, then hopefully we surprise the readers. We have this motto:
“If it was easy, it wouldn’t be worth doing.”
“Ian Cleverly (Executive Editor of Rouleur) and I, have this internal radar for what is a good Rouleur story, and what isn’t. For example, if a cyclist wanted to write a column, ‘So I rode for five hours in Tenerife and I pushed three hundred watts, then I had Nutella on my pancakes, it’s totally fine - but it’s not a Rouleur story.”
“We’re international too. We want to be read from Tokyo to Texas, you know?”
G: “I’m trying to remember the first time I read Rouleur magazine. It was black and white, full of illustrations with no advertising. I picked it up and was like, ‘Where the hell has this been all my life?’ It was beautiful.”
“I ditched all the other magazines.”
“My grandad used to collect all the cycling magazines. Even when health complications stopped him from being able to ride his bike, he was still more a cyclist than I am - or will ever be.”
“When he was done with the mags, he gave them to my dad, then me. So, I have read a lot of different cycling magazines through the decades. With the insurgence of advertising and product reviews, they all began to deteriorate. To be honest, I’d rather read about Brexit and COVID-19 in a red top newspaper than a paid-for-review. They are so predictable, ‘New carbon wheelset. Deep rims make you faster. These ones are great - they are not the best in the world, but we recommend them for the price range.’ They always sit on the fence, they never say, ‘This is shit.’ They write for their wallets, not their audience.”
“Then I picked up Rouleur, and I was like, ‘Finally, someone is writing something worth reading.’ “
A: “I don’t want to do down the industry, they are all friends. There’s a place for product reviews, but that place isn’t Rouleur. But the story behind a brand, like Colnago, that’s an interesting story.”
“You mentioned passing down magazines. That’s kind of how I got into cycling, my French teacher gave me loads of Cycle Sports. I was really sad when that magazine went, six or seven years ago, but I fear there will be less and less magazine sharing. This natural, really special process of being handed down is almost religious. It really fired my passion and knowledge in a big way. You can’t do that by sharing a web link, can you? It isn’t the same.”
G: “In my place, wherever there is a flat surface - there is a stack of Rouleur magazines. What should I do with them all, Andy? My collection is overtaking my living space.
A: “When Becky says, ‘It’s me or the magazines’ - you’re in trouble.’ “
G: “We’re getting there. Actually, when we moved here, five years ago, I made Becky throw away her Vogue collection - which rivals my Rouleur collection. So I’ve got it coming. I loved her collection too though, Vogue is all about the cover. I can still picture at least fifty Vogue covers vividly in my mind. They are works of art."
“I’m sitting on a mountain of Rouleur magazines, I could make a throne out of them like some kind of hoarding lord. Maybe I should offload a few.”
A: “Pass them down. Share the love.”
G: “Yeah, so being able to write a feature with LeBlanq, for Rouleur 102 was a massive moment for me. Working at Sky, I have created so much stuff for television, documentaries, promos, big news reports, all kinds of stuff - so I have become completely desensitised by my achievements in broadcasting. I barely acknowledge my work when I see it on TV, I’m just like, ‘what’s next?’ “
“To see my words printed in Rouleur 102 made me feel proud, for the first time in a long time. So that was nice.”
A: “Yeah, it was great to have you in there. It was just such a fantastic piece. To get those people together in the first place was an achievement in itself, but to have them so engaged and passionate - it comes through.”
“Brad should be on TV or live at the Apollo doing cycling impressions.”
G: “He’s got a photographic memory of every race he watched, every person he’s met, every pedal stroke he’s made. When he relives these moments with charismatic impressions, it’s Gold.”
G: “Well, Andy, I can’t wait to share the road, coffee, dinner table with you this year at one or two of our LeBlanq events. Like you say, It’s just not the same over Zoom.”
A: “Yes, there’s a lot more to come from LeBlanq and Rouleur.”
G: “This is just the start. Enjoy your ‘day off’ - I’m sure you’ll pay for it, one way or another. There’s no rest for the wicked.”
A: “Haha, yes. Catch you later.”
If you haven’t caught our feature, ‘Dinner with Eddy’ - a four-way conversation between Brad Wiggins, Sean Yates, Ashley Palmer-Watts and myself, grab a copy of Rouleur 102 here: rouleur.cc
Thanks for reading.
Gareth.