Stage 16 | Le Puy-en-Velay / Romans-sur-Isère | Tour de France 2017

During the 16th stage of the Tour de France, the wind blew and caused more than a bit of disruption at the end.

In this packed episode of The Cycling Podcast, Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau discuss the race as it resumes following the rest day.

Michael Matthews of Australia gave Team Sunweb their third stage win in four after some fantastic team-work. But it was not a good day for Quick Step. Marcel Kittel’s hopes of a sixth stage win were ended early in the day when he was dropped and then Daniel Martin slipped from fifth to seventh after being caught out when the crosswinds split the group in the final hour of racing.

In this episode, we hear from John Degenkolb, who finished third but was unhappy that Matthews appeared to move across his line in the finishing sprint. We also hear from Matthews’ sports director Luke Roberts and Brian Holm on Quick Step’s jour sans. There’s also a word from AG2R’s Oliver Naesen, who was credited by Romain Bardet for saving his Tour de France ambitions in the crosswinds.

In part three we discuss Team Sky’s PR strategy and the row between Dave Brailsford and Cycling News which blew up on the rest day.

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