13. Hayman triumphs at a classic Paris-Roubaix

April 12 | In this week’s episode of The Telegraph Cycling Podcast our hosts, much like the international peloton, are split between the cobbles of north-eastern France and the green hills of the Basque Country.

It’s a point in the season where the contrast between the different types of road racing in professional cycling could not be starker.

Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe headed to Paris-Roubaix to witness one of the greatest one-day Classics of modern times. An exciting, aggressive race reached a dramatic conclusion when the five last men standing contested the sprint in the famous concrete velodrome at Roubaix.

Meanwhile, Richard Moore was at the Tour of the Basque Country where the climbers and stage race specialists continued their build-up towards the Grand Tours later in the season.

In Roubaix, it was the 37-year-old Australian Mat Hayman who won, preventing Tom Boonen from becoming the first five-time winner of a race nicknamed the Queen of the Classics. And what a victory it was.

Lionel, Daniel and Richard analyse the race plus we hear from Hayman’s Orica-GreenEdge team-mate Luke Durbridge, Tom Boonen’s manager Patrick Lefevere and Roger Hammond, sports director of fifth-placed Edvald Boasson Hagen.

After dissecting the Hell of the North it’s time for Richard’s despatch from the Basque Country, where he witnessed Alberto Contador win a thrilling race.

He spoke to Team Sky’s leader Mikel Landa and coach Xavier Artetxe, American rider Larry Warbasse, Orica-GreenEdge sports director Neil Stephens and Dimension Data’s Steve Cummings, who pulled off another late stage victory that is rapidly becoming his trademark.

The Telegraph Cycling Podcast is supported by sigmasport.co.uk and Eurosport.