Stage 17: Digne-les-Bains > Pra Loup, 161km
It was on the final climb to Pra Loup -- made famous in 1975 when Bernard Thévenet ended the domination of Eddy Merckx -- in which Simon Geschke -- most famous before today for winning the second stage of the 2011 Critérium International -- took the biggest win of his career in a solo exploit that the likes of Merckx would have been proud of.
He attacked away from a large group of 28 (that once again included Peter Sagan) on the ascent to col d'Allos with 50km still to ride, and was never seen again. Thibaut Pinot briefly gave chase but a crash on the descent ripped his confidence and once again exposed a frailty that no doubt cost the young Frenchman the stage win. He was passed by Andrew Talansky and Rigoberto Uran, neither of whom would make enough in-road on Geschke, who struggled up the road to Pra Loup to take the first Tour stage win of his career and the 5th for Germany this year alone.
They often say that you never know how the body is going to react after a rest day in the Tour de France and we've seen it many times before when someone looking strong just two days before suddenly falls apart the day after a day off. No such issues for Geschke, but sadly the same couldn't be said of general classification contender, Tejay Van Garderen, who having picked up what seems to be a bug of some sort, was dropped early on the days stage and while he briefly regained contact with the peloton, he was soon dropped again and with less than 100km covered for the day, the man sitting second to Chris Froome, seen by Froome now as his biggest rival, and seen by himself as the fifth member of the now 'big five boy band', had abandoned the Tour.
It was a big shakeup and one which Alberto Contador must have felt willing to exploit as he began to throw caution to the wind, as only he can, in a bid to somehow overhaul his deficit to Froome or cement a podium place. He attacked on the col de la Colle-Saint-Michel and briefly established a gap but it was a long shot in more ways than one, and so it proved to be when he was later reeled in.
Indeed that was as good as it got from Contador. As Geschke was preparing himself for one last effort up to Pra Loup, Contador made a mistake and crashed on the downward slopes of the col d'Allos, proving that it isn't just the likes of Pinot who can be exposed on such a descent. His team-mates Michael Rogers and Peter Sagan waited on him and soon Contador was off on Sagan's bike as the Slovak unselfishly urged the Tinkoff-Saxo team car past him and on to Contador who needed to make a final bike change onto his spare bike.
The whole incident cost Contador 2mins 17sec to Froome, who finished with his new nearest challenger Nairo Quintana, despite the Colombians attempts to try and distance the Yellow jersey.
In 1975 Pra Loup had major implications on the race as Merckx cracked for good and would never wear the Yellow jersey again. 40 years on, there wasn't quite the same impact despite the earlier departure of Van Garderen and time loss for Contador, for Froome will once again ride in Yellow tomorrow.
| Result: | Classement: |
| 1. Geschke (TGA) in 4h 12' 17" 2. Talansky (TCG) +32" 3. Uran (EQS) +1' 1" 4. Pinot (FDJ) +1' 36" 5. Frank (IAM) +1' 40" 6. Kruijswijk (TLJ) +2' 27" --- 18. Quintana (MOV) +7' 16" 20. Froome (SKY) s.t. 21. Valverde (MOV) +7' 23" 22. Nibali (AST) +7' 31" 31. Contador (TCS) +9' 33" | 1. Froome (SKY) in 69h 6' 49" 2. Quintana (MOV) +3' 10" 3. Valverde (MOV) +4' 9" 4. Thomas (SKY) +6' 34" 5. Contador (TCS) +6' 40" 6. Gesink (TLJ) +7' 39" 7. Nibali (AST) +8' 4" |
