The Knowledge: Rohan Dennis on the need for speed

The Knowledge: Rohan Dennis on the need for speed

Featuring Mini Coopers, Ducatis, the Hour Record, and Willis the Akita


Rohan Dennis (Team Ineos) and Willis

It’s a 1998 Mini Cooper. It has hit 165kph, that I know of, but it gets a bit of wobble in the front end at that speed… We got it in 2014.

I probably drive my Ducati motorbike slower than I ride my bike. I know how dangerous it can be and it’s not really worth it.

I don’t think I am OCD, but I might be on some kind of spectrum. I count a lot, but it is always in fives. I don’t know why. The radio volume has to be on five, ten, 15, whatever. Same with the TV. I always try to get up stairs in multiples of five. Our house has six, ten, ten, then three. But if I go from the garage, I try to make it 15.

I will count pedal strokes on training rides and in races. The whole thing I thought about during my Hour Record was: hold, float, pedal and accelerate out of the bend. For 209 laps. Over and over.

Mentally, you are fried after a Grand Tour. Completely gone. I was more tired after any Grand Tour I have finished than after the Hour. But I couldn’t sit on a saddle for four days after. And sitting generally was difficult. If not for the saddle issues, I could do it again the next day. I might not perform as well, I might do better – I don’t know – but it’s like a big time-trial. That’s all it is, really.

 

The post The Knowledge: Rohan Dennis on the need for speed appeared first on The world's finest cycling magazine.

READ MORE

The race to a million: are seven-figure salaries the best way to grow women's cycling?

The race to a million: are seven-figure salaries the best way to grow women's cycling?

Will it be Paula Blasi? Or have Demi Vollering and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot already beaten the Spanish sensation to the million-Euro annual salary mark? That's only...

Read more
How Franziska Koch became cycling's latest big star: 'It's taken me by surprise'

How Franziska Koch became cycling's latest big star: 'It's taken me by surprise'

FDJ United-Suez scouts deserve a raise: Franziska Koch has been nothing short of a revelation in the 2026 season

Read more
Business as usual: Does the Tour de France ever get old for riders or their families?

Business as usual: Does the Tour de France ever get old for riders or their families?

The average number of Tour de France appearances per rider this year is approximately 3.4 participations. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed debutants have been making headlines enough...

Read more
'Haters gonna hate': Pogačar steals the show on Bastille Day

'Haters gonna hate': Pogačar steals the show on Bastille Day

France dreamed of a local victor on its national day. Instead, Tadej Pogačar lit up stage 10 with another trademark attack. Begrudged 'chapeaus' abound in...

Read more
Tadej Pogačar celebrates on the podium in the yellow jersey during the 2026 Tour de France.

'It's not Pogačar's fault he's so good' - Eddy Merckx on the Tour de France's current generation of GC stars

The five-time yellow jersey winner is still an avid watcher of the sport – he tells Rouleur his thoughts on the Pogačar-era of bike racing

Read more
Bastille Day at the Tour: can a Frenchman end the wait?

Bastille Day at the Tour: can a Frenchman end the wait?

Bastille Day is the biggest day of the year for French cycling fans, and the wait for a home winner has dragged on since Warren...

Read more

READ RIDE REPEAT

JOIN ROULEUR TODAY

Get closer to the sport than ever before.

Enjoy a digital subscription to Rouleur for just £4 per month and get access to our award-winning magazines.

SUBSCRIBE