Los Machucos, the toughest climb so far of the Vuelta a España, saw the two Slovenians, Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar, ride away from their rivals. At the summit it was 20-year-old Pogecar who took his second stage win.

Richard Moore and Daniel Friebe were there and they discuss the stage and its implications on the battle for the red jersey, which currently Roglic is winning. We hear from his young American teammate, Neilson Powless, there are the latest instalments from our audio diarists James Knox and Nick Schultz, and, with Knox finishing 13th on the stage, we get an assessment of his performance so far from his sports director, Wilfried Peeters. 

The Cycling Podcast is supported by Rapha and Science in Sport

OUR SPONSORS For the past year, Lionel, Richard and Daniel have been bringing you their favourite thought-provoking and interesting articles from The Economist.  They have covered a range of subjects from sport and world politics, to science, technology, arts and the environment. The broad range of topics shows that there is something in The Economist for everyone.

As a Cycling Podcast listener, The Economist is offering you the opportunity to receive a free print copy. All you need to do is text CYCLING to 78070 to get your smart guide to the forces changing your world

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.