Stage 15 | Castelrotto/Kastelruth to Alpe di Siusi/Seiser Alm | Giro d'Italia 2016

In the latest episode of The Cycling Podcast from the Giro d’Italia, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe are joined by former rider Dan Lloyd and journalist Ned Boulting to discuss the stage 15 mountain time trial from Castelrotto to Alpe di Siusi in the Dolomites.

The identity of the stage winner was a surprise – 24-year-old Russian Alexandre Foliforov who rides for the Gazprom-Rusvelo team. It was Foliforov’s first grand tour stage win and it came by the narrowest of margins, less than a second from the race leader Steven Kruijswijk.

The Dutchman, who took the pink jersey on Saturday, extended his lead and now has an advantage of two minutes and 12 seconds from Colombian Esteban Chaves.

But it was a bad day for Vincenzo Nibali, the 2013 Giro champion. He was already losing time to Kruijswijk and Chaves when he had a mechanical problem with his bike on the climb. His chain slipped, he stopped to try to sort it out himself but then had to take a spare bike. At the start of the day, he trailed Kruijswijk by 41 seconds, now his deficit is two minutes and 51 seconds.

In this episode, the podcast team discuss all the key events from the stage, with expert analysis from Dan and Ned.

Earlier in the day, Daniel and Lionel had visited a cheesemaker who explained that the best cheese is made by cows that graze at the highest altitudes. Having a couple of stages in this Germanic north-eastern corner of the Italian Dolomites has given the Giro a distinct flavour this weekend.

There’s also another instalment of the Shark’s Tale, the award of the daily Pédaleur de Charme prize and a chat with the Giro’s race director Mauro Vegni, who looks ahead to the final week of the race and, in particular, the possibility of snow affecting next weekend’s stages in the high Alps.

The Cycling Podcast is supported by Science in Sport and Eurosport.