Stage 18 | Suances / Santo Toribio de Liébana | Vuelta a España 2017

The Vuelta a España headed deep into the Cantabrian countryside and at last a breakaway was given a big advantage so they could fight for the stage.

A group of 20 got clear and as the end approached, five men broke away. It was eventually Sander Armée of Lotto-Soudal who got the better of Julian Alaphilippe and Alexey Lutsenko – both stage winners earlier in this Vuelta – to give his team their third victory of the race.

Behind them, Fabio Aru went on the attack, almost as if to prove a point. We hear from the Astana sports director Alexandr Shefer about a strange 24 hours for the Italian champion.

And we speak to the Dutchman Wilco Kelderman of Team Sunweb, currently lying third overall and locked in a battle with Ilnur Zakarin for the final place on the podium.

There’s also a chat with Italy’s Matteo Trentin, who has won three stages and has a chance to win the green jersey.

There’s also the shortlist for the final week’s Pédaleur de Charme.

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