Michael Hutchinson
Michael Hutchinson is a writer, journalist and former professional cyclist. As a rider he won multiple national titles in both Britain and Ireland and competed at the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. He was a three-time Brompton folding-bike World Champion, and once hit 73 mph riding down a hill in Wales. His Dr Hutch columns appears in every issue of Cycling Weekly magazine
As a writer, he wrote the award winning The Hour about his attempt on the sport’s most famous and sought-after record. He followed that up with Faster, about the training, the science the genetics and the luck behind the world’s fastest riders, and Re:Cyclists, a history of cyclists from 1816 to the present day.
He’s written for outlets ranging from Cycling Weekly to the New York Times, and has presented and and commentated for the BBC, Eurosport, Channel 4, and Sky Sports.
Before he did any of that he was a legal academic at Cambridge and Sussex universities. He now lives with far too many bicycles in London and Cambridgeshire.
Latest articles by Michael Hutchinson
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Bikes have got more expensive - but - we no longer start every ride wondering how long they'll remain functional
Modern machines take all the jeopardy out of leaving the house
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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'There are a lot of ways of using a wind tunnel to get the result you want': The science of PR watts
CW's columnist punctures the power-saving hyperbole
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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The real reason TV interviews start with 'talk us through it', and not, 'what a result!'
Good results are all in the eye of the beholder
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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Is Pogačar the greatest? The truth is it’s still a bit too soon to tell
The Triple Crown winner is yet to prove himself, according to Cycling Weekly's columnist
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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Cycling has never really worked out what to do with the team time trial
Unloved it may be, CW's columnist is a fan of the mixed TTT
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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I can’t even remember the price of my latest bike — the trauma is too deep
Dream bikes are best left locked up in fantasy land, argues CW's columnist
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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TV coverage of a bike race can leave you with a strange impression of a country
TV footage is deceptive so choose your illusion wisely
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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Strava activities are the only way I know some of my friends are still alive
Cycling Weekly's columnist uses the app to keep track of his friends - he always knows when one of them is doing their weekly shop
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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Handing out advice to a stranger is the last word in power without responsibility
Cycling Weekly's columnist, The Doc, enjoys offering guidance to young riders
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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Sport is a multi-billion pound industry designed to achieve a pile of things that don’t actually need doing
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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Dr Hutch: 'You can only have so many painful body parts'
Racing for 24 hours is more torment than Zen-like trance
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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This was the sort of puncture that demands you remove the tubeless tyre and put an inner tube in — the mess would have been visible from space
CW's columnist is a convert to fat tyres and tubeless set ups — less so his friend Bernard
By Michael Hutchinson Last updated
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Dr Hutch: Carbohydrate intake and mid-race nutrition is a sport in itself
I once ate a gel that tasted of slugs compacted into a wrapper. The pro peloton has trained itself to eat like Homer Simpson
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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The only thing Visma-Lease a Bike’s Control Room didn’t have was a 'Ban Me! Ban Me!' decal
Normally when a team concocts a new marginal gain, they are at least a tiny bit secretive about it
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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Dr Hutch: How to prepare for disastrous underperformance at a bike race
It’s all rather easy when you know how...
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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Dr Hutch: ‘Henri Desgrange came up with the perfect 21st-century bike race... in 1903’
Shorter stages be damned. What the Tour needs is more suffering
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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Dr Hutch: ‘I once thought ketones were so good they’d rendered training obsolete’
The deeper your pockets, the better the placebo effect
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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If the bike design department were making the same progress as the marketing guys, they’d be able to fly by now
Cycling Weekly's columnist can see through the choreography of the modern bike launch but it’s still got him dancing to its tune
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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I wish I could forget my favourite ever bike ride, my cycling perfection
A great ride can quickly turn from cherished memory to nagging reminder of your subsequent inadequacy, bemoans Dr Hutch
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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If family members demand to see your sportive medal you've got problems that finishing a ride won’t solve
If there’s no eventual glory, what’s the point in suffering on your bike? It’s complicated, says the Doc
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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It’s been fun watching others deal with Pogačar's un-ignorable excellence
If Tadej Pogačar’s Giro d’Italia dominance has taught us anything, says the Doc, it’s how to lose with style and grace – or not...
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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It's OK for pro cyclist to hate cycling - my affection for the sport has had ups and downs, too
Amateur cyclists' relationship with the sport is less than simple, so why should professionals be expected to love it all the time?
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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'I’m too good a rider to tell one bike from another': Why our columnist will never write a good bike review
The Doc's useless at reviewing bikes but finds himself possessed by a pedantic, critical voice that's landing him in domestic hot water
By Michael Hutchinson Published
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Riders who exceed the limits of a polite margin spoil everyone's day with their showboating victories
At what point does a brave show of strength become brazen showboating? The Doc ponders the etiquette of the long solo break
By Michael Hutchinson Published