Philippe Gilbert claimed his sixth Vuelta a España stage win as the race reached Bilbao, the biggest city in the Basque Country, while Primoz Roglic held on to the red jersey of overall leader.

Richard Moore and Lionel Birnie discuss Gilbert’s win and ask whether he should be considered one of the favourites for the world road race championships in Yorkshire at the end of the month. There’s an interview with Frenchman Clement Chevrier, the latest instalments of the audio diaries being kept by James Knox and Nick Schultz, and an extended chat with Mitchelton-Scott sports director Matt White, who talks us through how Simon Yates won last year’s Vuelta. 

The Cycling Podcast is supported by Rapha and Science in Sport

Rapha has launched its new custom kit giving you the chance to design your own Rapha kit. Begin your journey now. Choose from the varied set of templates, pick your colours and add your logos. Make your mark with Rapha Custom at https://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/custom/

Pédaleur and pédaleuse de charme t-shirts, caps, and jerseys are in stock in all sizes on the Rapha website https://www.rapha.cc/fr/en/stories/the-cycling-podcast-rapha

You can nominate a rider for the Pédaleur de Charme award throughout the Vuelta a España.

Science In Sport are offering all listeners 25 per cent off their range of energy bars, drinks and gels at https://scienceinsport.com. Use the code SISCP25 when you reach the check-out.

In November, we will be going on a Grand Tour, with live events scheduled in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland. We still have a couple of dates to confirm but the schedule so far will take us to Bristol, Cardiff, Worcester, Dublin, Belfast, London, Edinburgh, Leicester and Manchester. For tickets to any of these shows – or our event in Harrogate during the World Championships – go to https://thecyclingpodcast.com/live-events

Tonight’s episode is sponsored by Roka sunglasses, as worn by Miguel Angel Lopez (and Lionel Birnie). If you would like to get 20% off, go to Roka.com/vuelta

The music in this episode is by Más y Más.