In this episode of The Cycling Podcast, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe recap the eighth stage which finished at a small hill-top town in the middle of Spain called Almadén. And, as is so often the case with uphill finishes like this, Spaniard Alejandro Valverde triumphed – making it his second stage win of the race. Lionel and Daniel disagree over whether this was a typical Valverde finish or not. We also hear from LottoNL-Jumbo’s young American Sepp Kuss, who has had a good first week at his debut grand tour, and from Antoine Duchesne, team-mate of red jersey holder Rudy Molard. In the final part, Fran Reyes makes an appearance to explain what to expect at Sunday’s mountain-top finish at La Covatilla. The Cycling Podcast is supported by Rapha and Science In Sport.