Sir Bradley Wiggins guides us through the incredible finish to the Vuelta a España with Sean Kelly and Orla Chennaoui in tow.Primoz Roglic clinched a Vuelta hat-trick after another imperious display in Spain as he backed up his time trial gold medal from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with another stunning performance, even if he did have a minor hiccup en route.Wiggins, Kelly and Chennaoui give their expert reactions to Roglic's third coronation and much more after the third Grand Tour of what has been a breathless season.Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast.The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Bradley Wiggins Show by Eurosport

Remarkable Primoz Roglic races to third Vuelta title

In this special bonus episode of The Bradley Wiggins Show we've got a little treat for you. Brad sat down with Tokyo 2020 silver medal winner rower Jason Osborne who has just been signed by Deceuninck-QuickStep after winning the UCI Cycling Esports Championships.In this fascinating chat the man from Mainz tells Brad about his switch of sports and how much cycling he has in his background. . See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brad speaks exclusively with Jason Osborne, the Olympic rower joining Deceuninck-QuickStep

Brad is joined by Graham Willgoss and Sean Kelly to discuss the latest Vuelta action as  Miguel Angel Lopez was the strongest man in the misty mountains to take the Stage 18 victory.Despite an overall improved performance from Egan Bernal and no sign of the back issues that have been a problem for him for some time, Brad believes it will be a 'tall order' for the Colombian to claim a podium place in the race.Brad was also full of praise for Jack Haig and his attempts to push for the red jersey for Bahrain Victorious. 'He's rallied those guys round him really, he's become a real leader and shone this race'.There's a look at 'hot and cold' Adam Yates after a disappointing effort having promised more beforehandAnd finally, are Primoz Roglic and his Jumbo-Visma team almost too humble in playing down the Slovenian's success as he aims for back-to-back Vuelta titles? Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast. The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

'Yates didn't live up to the hype' | La Veulta enters its final crucial stages

Sir Brad is joined by Graham Willgoss to pick apart the Queen Stage of the Vuelta a España, and an explosive GC battle that saw Egan Bernal light the blue touch paper but Primoz Roglic emerge as red hot favourite to take his Spanish Grand Tour hat-trick.The brutal climb to the finish at Lagos de Covadonga set the stage for, in Brad's words, "an amazing finish, an amazing winner" as Jumbo-Visma's main man streaked away to ride back to the top of the GC standings and put his rivals almost out of sight.Huge credit, though, goes to Ineos Grendadiers' Bernal for animating the race and attacking with 60km to of the stage remaining."If it wasn't for him, Roglic would have had to make those moves on his own," says Brad. "[But] to go out there with Primoz Roglic and give it his all and fade in the final, I think that might be the last we see of Bernal this race in terms of GC aspirations."Roglic was on another level today. He now has a dominant lead, and even though he wasn't in the Red Jersey last week, we always knew this day would come."Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast. The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

'Red hot Roglic on another level' | Chapeau to swashbuckling Bernal

Sir Bradley Wiggins is joined by Daniel Lloyd and Graham Willgoss to discuss the latest action from La Vuelta ahead of a huge final week of the last Grand Tour of 2021.The team look back on Rafal Majka’s impressive and ultimately emotional dominant solo win in the mountains of Stage 15.Brad is not-so-quietly impressed by Odd Christian Eiking’s continued possession of the red jersey and suggests the Norwegian could end the next week with a podium finish, or perhaps more!There’s also a look at Egan Bernal and Adam Yates, and what lies ahead for the Ineos riders in the remaining stages of the race.Elsewhere, the Bretagne Classic took place on Sunday with Tadej Pogacar’s return to racing following the Olympics.Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast.The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

'Eiking has the red jersey on merit' | The latest from La Vuelta ahead of a final big week of racing

Sir Bradley Wiggins is joined by Orla Chennaoui and Graham Willgoss to get right up to speed with the Vuelta a España after Brad's time away at the Tour de France and Tokyo.Brad's backing an unrecognisably relaxed Primoz Roglic to make it three Vuelta victories in a row, and says his Jumbo-Visma team "might as well be in the jersey, because they're riding like they have it". Rogla seems happy to attack the last week, says Brad, but must now show his hand in the mountains to take the lead back from Odd Christian Eiking. Orla, meanwhile, is enjoying the new Jumbo leader's new laidback style: "He's perceptively giggled twice [in interviews], and it's an odd thing to listen to, because he's usually so monosyllabic!" In another Grand Tour that is not going Ineos's way, there's a warning from Brad not to write off Egan Bernal too quickly. Praise, too, for the calm head on young Tom Pidcock's shoulders after his Olympic gold and his focus on the road ahead. Plus, the trio pick over Fabio Jakobsen's extraordinary reaction to being dropped by his Deceuninck–Quick-Step sprint train. Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast.The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The great La Vuelta re-cap | Red is Roglic's to lose

Sir Bradley Wiggins and Orla Chennaoui summarise an action-packed first week of cycling action at Tokyo 2020 with a look at both the men's and women's road races and time trials. There's also a look at the mountain bike event, won by Team GB's Tom Pidcock, as well as a reflection on how athletes deal with the mental weight of competing at the Olympics. Wiggins adds that he will never forget Tom Dumoulin’s post-race interview after the men's time trial.  The pair also take time to acknowledge cyclists from the Refugee Olympic Team and why their story is so important. Finally, there is a look ahead to the track events which kick off next week.Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Refugee athletes put everything into perspective | Dumoulin post-race words were beautiful

The Tour de France arrives on the Champs-Élysées for the most prestigious sprint stage in cycling. Sir Brad and Graham Willgoss were hoping for a bit of history from Mark Cavendish, but instead saw a thrilling finish in the heart of Paris and a third stage victory of the race for Wout van Aert. “I don’t think anyone would deny Van Aert,” says Brad. “What he’s done this race is truly exceptional. He’s won a mountain stage over the Ventoux, he’s won a time trial and he’s won a Champs-Élysées sprint stage. The kid is on another level in terms of his all-round ability.”And what about the resurgence of Mark Cavendish, who finished third on the day, the comeback story of the Tour?“I was disappointed for Cav,” says Brad. “I know he’s an absolute winner and he’ll be gutted with today. That was the one he wanted to win the most. But let’s look at what he’s come away with: equalling the record of Eddy Merckx, four stage wins and he’s taken the Green Jersey 10 years after he last won it.“It’s nice that he’s up there with Eddy Merckx… Sometimes things are best left as they are.”It’s Tokyo next for Van Aert. Can he carry his form into the Olympics? “Wout is the best rider in the world at the moment,” says Brad. “And the most versatile. The guy is phenomenal. I have huge respect for him. He’s now the favourite for the road race – he has to be. And I’d love to see him win it.”Brad, too, will be aboard the next flight to Japan with Podcast Pete. Catch him there for our next episode.Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast. The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

‘Phenomenal Van Aert favourite for Olympic gold’ | Maybe Merckx record is best left as it?

Sir Brad and Graham 'door destroyer' Willgoss are in a brand new van talking Stage 20 of the Tour de France, when Team UAE’s 22-year-old Tadej Pogacar won his second Yellow Jersey with another masterful performance beyond his years. “I actually got a little bit emotional on the bike,” says Brad, who followed Pogacar on the moto. “Listening to the roar of noise coming up the road, and him shooting through – and the crowd went crazy. “I followed him for the last 10km to the end then, and he was shifting. He was rocking and rolling. It just shows that after three weeks of racing, he is not infallible. He is beatable, on any given day.” It was a moment that also took Brad back to the 2012 time trial. “I remember it being the most lonely, solitary place being in that time trial. And the whole world is watching you, being the leader of the Tour de France. Everything that’s going through your mind after three weeks of racing, the closer you get to the finish. And I knew exactly what he was going through.” Elsewhere, Brad wasn’t impressed with the approach of Team Ineos’s main man: “I went to the start house, and Richard Carapaz looked terrified… then he got up to fist-bump Jonas Vingegaard. It showed a defeatist attitude before he set off that he knew he wasn’t going to get those six seconds back. “There’s psychological warfare going on, and it’s a moment you can really put your opponents off by not doing much… If I’m sat there as Vingegaard, that says a lot to me.” On to sprints, champagne and perhaps a record-breaking final stage on the Champs-Elysees. Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast. The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The loneliness of the Yellow Jersey | ‘Terrified Carapaz showed defeatist attitude’

Matej Mohorič wheeled away from the break to take a second victory on Stage 19 of the Tour de France on a day when Yellow Jersey Tadej Pogačar showed the pack who’s the boss.“It was good to see him taking control of the race from the leader’s point of view, because everyone looks up to him now, he’s clearly the best rider, and I think that’s a good sign of the next few years, of what’s to come,” says Brad. “I think we’ve got a patron back in the peloton.“Marking his dominance, at the front of the peloton, in the Yellow Jersey, on world TV, I thought that’s exactly what he should be doing. There’s no unity in the peloton.”Brad also gives co-host Graham Willgoss a crash course in crash tactics from his 2012 playbook, and questions whether there is unrest in the Team Ineos camp.Break, or bunch sprint? That was the question on a stage where the big question was whether Mark Cavendish would surpass Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 stage victories.“It doesn’t work out every day,” says Brad. “The team has done quite a big job to get him to this point and the racing’s frantic. It’s not always as easy as just making it become a sprint when you’ve got the whole race against you, which I think he has, reading between the lines. It’s very difficult. Everyone will know it was the last-chance saloon for a lot of people today, so it was always going to be difficult to control and martial it.” So, where does that leave Cav? “The record is still on,” says Brad. “He’s got the Green Jersey sewn up.” Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast.The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pogačar the patron of the peloton | ‘Cav has the whole race against him’

Stage 18 of the Tour de France saw a second dominant victory for Tadej Pogačar in the clouds of the Pyrenees, on the summit finish of Luz Ardiden – where Sir Brad and Graham Willgoss are marooned in a traffic jam for their latest look back at the day’s racing. Did a short and sharp stage – just short of 130km with two HC climbs – play into the champion elect’s hands? “He didn’t really have to blow his rivals away, he just did the last bit,” says Brad on Pogačar’s supremacy. “They could have done with another climb in there really, instead of having 60-70km on the flat beforehand. “Stages like that, with climbs like that, almost need another two climbs in there to make it a proper Pyrenean stage. It lends itself to everyone being fresh at the end.”Questions, too, for Ineos, still empty-handed at this Tour. We saw the familiar Ineos (/Sky) mountain train of old going full gas on the final climb, but that just meant Pogacar willingly climbed aboard. “Is it worth doing that knowing they were going to get beat in the end? There was no way they were going to crack him.”Brad says it would have been a very different Tour had G and Roglic not crashed. But as things stand, Pogačar not only holds the Maillot Jaune but also the Young Rider’s and Polka Dot Jerseys. But not the Points Jersey. Full of praise for Mark Cavendish’s Deceuninck – Quick-Step team for guiding the Green Jersey through the mountains, Brad says his old friend is in the perfect position to make history with two more flat stages to come. Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast.The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

‘No way to crack Pogacar’ | Cav perfectly poised

Brad welcomes back Bernie Eisel to talk over how the blue touch paper was lit on the Col du Portet for a statement victory from Tadej Pogacar over his nearest General Classification challengers on Stage 17 of the Tour de France.In the company of Graham Willgoss, the pair discuss how Pogacar's UAE team are finally showing themselves to be the strongest in the race: "UAE isolated Richard Carapaz, and we expected it to be the other way around," says Brad."Pogacar wanted to put a mark on it: 'I'm here to win this Tour,'" says Bernie. "And it makes it easier for the team in the coming days... his team just took it on. It was great to watch, and it was the first time they had to do something in the mountains."But was Pogacar, at one point, going to let Carapaz have the stage? Brad thinks that might have been on the cards, but after Carapaz refused to pull his wait on the front, Brad wonders whether Pogacar called his bluff, "got pissed off and went for it himself". The 2012 Tour de France winner also asks: are we seeing a change of mentality at Ineos?"They're kind of smiling and accepting that some of their riders aren't up to the standard," says Brad. "And it never used to be like that. Sean Yates would come off afterwards and he'd want answers as to why you didn't do your job."Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast.The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

'Pogacar sees red to take win in Yellow' | A change of mentality for Ineos?

Brad steps off the bike after Stage 16 of the Tour de France to talk over the day's events with Graham Willgoss in Toulouse – Brad's home when he first signed for the Linda McCartney Racing Team."It was quite an anti-climatic day for the GC on a stage where everyone is pre-empting the next two days," says Brad. "It might have been one stage too many. The race is in bits already. The harder you make the course... it almost neutralised the race today with what they've done already and what's to come."Bora-Hansgrohe's Patrick Konrad proved strongest on the day, with another breakaway win. It is, says Brad, an impressive turnaround: "Kudos to Bora! They've had a great race since Peter Sagan went home."With time running out for Ineos to make up time with Richard Carapaz, Brad is certain the next two summit finish stages will provide a platform to take the fight for the yellow jersey to Tadej Pogacar."I think the next two days, Ineos are looming to do something."And what of the race for green - can anyone really challenge Mark Cavendish?"Michael Matthews is the one," says Brad. "He's been in the break the last two days... He's not going to win a stage – he always falls short because of the severity of the stages and he's kind of halfway between being a sprinter and a puncheur. But by notching up points like he has been, he's become a serious threat to Cav's green jersey."Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast.The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ineos threat looming | 'Matthews a serious threat to Cav's green jersey'

Stage 15 of the Tour de France was another brutal affair, ending in a brilliant breakaway victory for Jumbo-Visma's Sepp Kuss. Sir Brad and Bernie Eisel look back on an epic day of racing in the Pyrenees in the company of Graham Willgoss. But is Kuss too nice to be a killer on the bicycle? Brad thinks so. Bernie’s not so sure: "Riders, when they put their cycling shoes on, put their helmet on, they're absolutely a different person," he says. "Trying to be that leader, and delivering at the moment it's expected? Chapeau." In what could have been a big day for the GC shake-up, Brad says Ineos played into Tadej Pogacar's hands: "They did the job UAE should have been doing, but they don't have the leader to match him and finish it off. They have to change tactics. I'd have liked to have seen G and Richie Porte in the break, and see how that panned out.”There is no doubt who will be happiest heading into the rest day. Especially with the mountain tests ahead – with or without back-up.“Pogacar has the solo ability to do what he likes,” says Brad. “Whereas I really relied on my teammates.” Brad and Bernie agree that, for Mark Cavendish, the Green Jersey is coming home – and more stage wins could well be on their way for the Manx Missile.“Cav’s got through the worst of it now, he’s going to be fine,” says Brad. “I think we could see him take two more stages, with Paris.”Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast.The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Chef's kiss for Sepp Kuss | 'Ineos have to change tactics’

Sir Brad and Graham Willgoss look back on Stage 14 of the Tour de France, and Bauke Mollema's 40km lone attack that saw him climb to victory in the foothills of the Pyrenees."That was the most impressive race I’ve seen him win," says Brad. "He had a lot of work to do, and I’m surprised there weren't more attacks from behind to try and bring him back in."The Trek-Segafredo man picked his moment to take advantage of a peloton Brad believes has many riders running on fumes:"There were so many tired legs today. A lot of people are really spent now, on this Tour. The race has just been frantic – they got through 100km in the first two hours."On a day when UAE were happy for the break to go, there was some criticism as to why they wouldn’t commit earlier to driving on the front. But Brad believes Yellow Jersey Tadej Pogacar’s right to say other teams have got to take up the riding with Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), the day's big winner, jumping from ninth to second overall.“That’s put more pressure on Ineos and EF Education First from Rigo Uran’s point of view,” says Brad. “And it was either a tactical coup, or they bluffed it.”Brought to you by Zwift, where fun is fast.The Bradley Wiggins Show is produced by Pete Burton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Swashbuckling Mollema goes solo | Tadej’s tactical coup

Join Sir Brad, Adam Green and special guests every Monday throughout La Vuelta for unrivalled insight into the year’s toughest Grand Tour, plus hot topics from the world of cycling.

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The Bradley Wiggins Show by Eurosport

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