Stage 16: Rogers delivers for Tinkoff in the Pyrenees

From Bagnerres-de-Luchon the latest Telegraph Cycling Podcast, supported by Jaguar, reflects on another dramatic stage of the Tour de France, won by Australian veteran Michael Rogers, while the young Frenchman, Thibaut Pinot, showed his climbing class to move up to third overall.

Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe look back on the first day in the Pyrenees and ahead towards the remaining two, both summit finishes.

There are interviews with Geraint Thomas and Romain Bardet from the stage start in Carcassonne, and Rogers and his Tinkoff-Saxo team boss Oleg Tinkov at the finish in Luchon. We also have an interview with Peter Sagan’s coach, Sebastian Weber.

“This is a stage that I’d been thinking about for a while, it was either today or tomorrow,” said Rogers. “It was tough to get into the [early] break and I attacked on the climb many times, but it was on the descent I made the difference.”

Before he attacked alone, in the final 4km, Rogers had words with Thomas Voeckler, who was also in the breakaway. “He told me he wasn’t going to pull because he had a rider behind,” explained Rogers, “but I said, ‘We’re not playing games today.’ I’ve been in this position too many times to play games. He made an error: there was a situation he could control, but once [others joined the group] all of a sudden you can’t control it.”

Tinkov, meanwhile, reveals that when he lost his leader, Alberto Contador, he called a meeting of the team, where he told them he wanted two stage wins. With Rafal Majka’s win on Saturday, and now Rogers’, it is mission accomplished.