Stage 17 | Villadiego / Los Machucos | Vuelta a España 2017

Stage 17 of the Vuelta a España took the riders to previously uncharted territory and the steep Los Machucos climb.

In this episode of The Cycling Podcast, Lionel Birnie, Daniel Friebe and Fran Reyes are at the top of the climb having completed their won battle with the steep, rough, partially-concrete road, albeit with four wheels rather than two.

It was a dramatic day both in terms of the battle for the stage win and the race for the red jersey.

Austrian Stefan Denifl gave Aqua Blue Sport a fairytale stage win in their debut Grand Tour, as he held off a surging Alberto Contador.

Behind, Chris Froome faltered for the first significant time in the race and saw his overall lead cut by Vincenzo Nibali.

In this episode of The Cycling Podcast we hear from two of Denifl's team-mates - Lasse Norman Hansen and Conor Dunne - about what the stage win means to the team.

Team Sky's Nicolas Portal talks about Froome's performance plus we hear from Michael Woods on what it was like to ride the climb.

The Cycling Podcast is supported by Rapha and Science In Sport