Stage 3 | Granville to Angers | Tour de France 2016

The Tour de France had a virtual off-day for much of stage three – barely a pedal was turned until Angers.

On American Independence Day, Richard Moore and Lionel Birnie are joined by VeloNews journalist Andy Hood to discuss a 223.5-kilometre long stage from Granville to the edge of the Loire Valley.

The stage was won by Britain’s Mark Cavendish and it was his second victory of this race and 28th Tour stage win in total, drawing him level with Bernard Hinault in second place in the all-time list.

In the podcast, we discuss how Dimension Data, a team that does not have the sprint train resources of Etixx-Quick Step or Lotto-Soudal but has managed to win twice in three days.

And we hear from three of the people closest to Cavendish – Rod Ellingworth, Rolf Aldag and Brian Holm – about what taking the yellow jersey and returning to winning form at the Tour means.

There was not a lot of other action but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lively discussion about whether Armindo Fonseca of Fortuneo-Vital Concept deserved either the coveted Pédaleur de Charme award or the Tour’s combativity prize (which went to Thomas Voeckler). Yes, Fonseca was out in front for 141km but he was also pedalling quite slowly.

We also mull over why the peloton were in such a leisurely mood, and whether the final kilometres of sprint stages are being made more hazardous by the teams hoping to keep their overall contenders out of trouble.

The Telegraph Cycling Podcast is supported by Rapha and Eurosport.