Stage 17 | Bern to Finhaut-Émosson | Tour de France 2016

As Chris Froome moved a day closer to his third Tour de France victory, Richard Moore and Lionel Birnie were joined at Finhaut-Émosson by Ciro Scognamiglio to discuss a stage that offered Froome’s opponents no encouragement.

Bauke Mollema’s challenge faltered, Nairo Quintana’s has never really got started, and only Adam Yates, the 24-year-old on the Orica-Bike Exchange team, seems to be getting stronger, consolidating his third place overall and moving to within thirty seconds of second place.. We hear from Yates’ experienced teamamte Mat Hayman, this year’s winner of Paris-Roubaix. “He’s ridden very intelligently,” says Hayman.

“He’s still going into the unknown but he’s racing with a very mature head,” Hayman continued. “He’s pretty driven, he knows what he wants, he knows what he needs. He’s bold enough to say what he needs. He’s staying relaxed and he’s in a bit of a situation where he’s got everything to gain, there’s no expectation from the team.”

We also hear from the Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford. “The big challenge on the big stage is that you’ve got to turn up with your A-game. Sometimes you don’t quite get it right. The strength of the Movistar team – they’ve above us in the WorldTour, they’ve won more races than us, they’re a brilliant team, but I think for the moment they haven’t turned up with their A-game.”

And there’s an interview with Peter Sagan’s wife, Katarina, who was at the start of the stage in Berne. Sagan went three years without winning a stage of the Tour but this year, his first Tour since getting married, has won three. Katarina’s explanation: “The positive karma is coming back,” she says. She also tells us what she meant when she described her husband as “simple in a complex way.”

The Telegraph Cycling Podcast is supported by Rapha and Eurosport.