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This is not a drill
Such is the excitement in the Pyrenean air today, we're firing up the CN live blimp early. There's just under an hour to go until the race gets underway, but once it does there'll barely be time to catch our breath, and we've got plenty of build-up to get through...
There's only really one place to start, and that's with Barry Ryan's stage preview.
We need to talk about the starting grid...
But will it make any difference?
This is the second of three mountain stages in the Pyrenees. Yesterday saw Julian Alaphilippe take his second stage win of this Tour, and indeed of his career. Meanwhile the GC contenders were all content to mark each other, perhaps keeping their powder dry with today's stage in mind.
And here's how things stand overall
Peyresourde/Peyragudes and Val Louron-Azet are both serious climbs, but today's final climb of the Col du Portet is causing almost all of the trepidation. "It’s probably one of the most brutal climbs we’ve ever done," says Dan Martin.
A few summit finish comparisons with the Portet:Col de Portet: 16km at 8.7%. Alt 2,115m.Ventoux: 15.7km at 8.8%. Alt 1,912m.Alpe d'Huez: 13.8km at 8.1%. Alt 1,850m.Finhaut-Emosson: 10.4km at 8.4%. Alt 1,960m.Col d'Izoard: 14.1km at 7.3%. Alt 2,360m.
— Baden Cooke (@badencooke)
Just about enough time to click play on our latest podcast. Daniel Benson and Ed Pickering discuss today's stage, along with what happened yesterday - including that astonishing farmer's protest - and what happened the day before that - including Dave Brailsford's even more astonishing comments at Team Sky's rest-day press conference.
As I mentioned, there's no neutralised section today. Most riders would warm up anyway for a stage like this, but today the organisers have ended sign-on a full 30 minutes before the start, and created a paddock area where the riders can warm up. Here's Tom Dumoulin and Sunweb.
The riders are milling around, slowly making their way to the grid. The maillot jaune will be in the pole position and is weaving his way through to the head of the line.
There's not too much stress apparent in the peloton - mountains classification leader Julian Alaphilippe is all smiles.
Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome are in position, and Tom Dumoulin has just threaded his way to third position.
The top riders are all in position and the tension is beginning to show a little. Mikel Landa has a stretch and a sigh.
Here we go then. We're moments away. This is weird...
They're off!
Bardet comes through but no attacks from the gun from the GC guys...
Sky's riders quickly make their way to Thomas and Froome.
We have attacks, but from the Pro Conti teams and breakaway hopefuls.
Well that wasn't too different to a normal stage...
Julien Bernard is among the attackers at the head of the race. Pierre Rolland too.
Tanel Kangert off the front now for Astana. Thomas De Gendt and Pierre Rolland are following.
Pellizotti has set off in pursuit of Kangert.
Sky have four riders ahead of Thomas and Froome. So much for the leaders being isolated early...
Valverde is in this breakaway group. The Spaniard is 11th overall.
Alaphilippe has sprung out of the peloton and is making his way up towards the break.
Adam Yates is also in this break. The Briton came so close to victory yesterday, only to crash half-way down the final descent.
Luke Rowe is leading the peloton.
Luke Rowe is leading the peloton.
More riders spring from the peloton. Mikel Nieve goes now, teammates of Yates. Darwin Atapuma, Mathias Frank, and Romain Sicard have just made it over.
Valverde is the headline name in that break. He has Marc Soler in there for company. Movistar have Mikel Landa and Nairo Quintana back in the peloton, both outside the top five and needing to produce something spectacular today.
Kangert has 25 seconds over this breakaway of more than 20 riders.
The breakaway has split slightly on the early section of the climb. The gradient eases now for a kilometre or so.
This was the scene earlier
Cofidis' Nicolas Edet has caught Kangert at the head of affairs.
Luke Rowe is still on the front for Sky. Peter Sagan is still in there. Sky's rivals aren't using this climb so far to try and shake things up.
Wout Poels drops back through the bunch. Not sure if he's struggling or heading back for supplies.
Alaphilippe leads the chase of Kangert and Edet. The Frenchman is in a trio with Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) and Kristijan Durasek (UAE).
Kangert accelerates and drops Edet.
57km remaining from 65km
Some more names in the break
Edet is caught and passed by the Alaphilippe/Herrada/Durasek trio.
Kangert leads the race
Kangert is 4km from the summit of Peyragudes. Steady gradients of 7% here.
Alaphilippe briefly drops Herrada and Durasek. The Frenchman is known more as a puncheur, but with two high-mountain stage wins and the polka-dot jersey on his shoulders....
Luke Rowe continues to set the tempo in the yellow jersey group.
Yates is making his way back to to Valverde and Soler at the head of the third group on the road. The Briton lost contact for a kilometre or so.
Kangert comes over the top of the Col de Peyresourde. This isn't where the climb ends, however, as the riders continue on up the Montée de Peyragudes, which you may remember from last year.
Mechanical for Quintana!
The Colombian gets a wheel change - and a slow one - from Andrey Amador.
Quintana should be able to get back in relatively comfortably before the top of the climb.
50km remaining from 65km
Alaphilippe is next over, some 20 seconds down, to add a further 8 points to his lead in the mountains classification. He has Herrada and Durasek on his wheel.
Next over is the third breakaway group, containing Valverde, Soler, Yates, Pellizotti, Fraile, and a few others.
Quintana stops again to get a new bike.
Quintana rips past teammate Daniele Bennati, who'd paced him back the first time. He has Imanol Erviti to drag him to the summit.
The peloton cross the top of Peyragudes 3:30 down on Kangert.
The third group on the road thinned to eight by the top. It contains:
We saw Alaphilippe's descending skills yesterday. Matt White said he'd never seen some of the angles the Frenchman produced. Herrada can't match him, and now Durasek is drifting back too. Meanwhile Kangert is in sight up ahead.
I missed Pellizotti off that list of riders in the third group. Bauke Mollema has just made it over, too, on the descent.
40km remaining from 65km
40 kilometres to go! 40!
The leaders come off the descent. There's a brief section in the valley -and a somewhat incongruous intermediate sprint - before the road kicks up again for the Col de Val Louron-Azet.
Kangert leads Alaphilippe and Durasek through the sprint, but in truth it's the last thing on anyone's mind.
The leading trio hit the Col de Val Louron-Azet. It's 7.4km at 8.3%. Shorter than Peyresourde/Peyragudes but much more vicious.
Luke Rowe leads Sky and the peloton onto the climb, 3:30 in arrears. How long can the Classics specialist keep this up? Surely Sky's rivals can't settle for this pace up another first-category climb? If they want to win the Tour surely they have to start thinking about attacking here, and weakening Sky ahead of the Portet.
And, as if on cue, AG2R take it up in the peloton. Silvan Dillier, Oliver Naesen, and Pierre Latour are in front of Romain Bardet...
AG2R spoke a lot ahead of this Tour about taking the race to Sky and being the ones to 'destabilise' them. We haven't seen it so far, but now they're playing their cards, and Rowe is gone.
The AG2R collective has been weakened by the abandons of Tony Gallopin and Alexis Vuillermoz. Climber Mathias Frank is somewhere up the road. Naesen pulls away now. Latour will be key here. He's in the white jersey as best young rider but may have to lay that on the line here.
The change of pace has thinned the peloton dramatically.
Dillier is gone now, too, and Latour puts in a big acceleration for Bardet.
No more than 30 left in the peloton
Dan Martin is right behind Bardet. They have a small gap back to Sky, who are trying not to panic. Castroviejo is leading them.
Yates can't hold the pace of the Valverde group.
Bardet looks focused as he sits in Latour's wheel and bides his time. When will he make his move?
Quintana and Landa are towards the back of this GC group.
33km remaining from 65km
Latour begins to bob his head from side to side as has become his trademark. He looks comfortable, though.
Poels is still present but he's at the back of the group.
Dumoulin has latched onto the back of the Sky train. He has no teammates with him.
Majka is forcing the issue in the chase group. Valverde, Fraile, and Martinez are the only ones with him.
32km remaining from 65km
Soler is caught by the yellow jersey group, having dropped from the Valverde group. The Spaniard looks for Quintana and Landa.
Pellizotti and Mulhberger have dragged their way back to the Valverde group.
Soler gets straight to work on the front of the yellow jersey group. He plonks himself in front of Latour.
Alaphilippe, Kangert, and Durasek are 50 seconds clear of the Valverde group, and 2:30 clear of the peloton.
Latour is done
30km remaining from 65km
Latour is clinging to the back of the group but he's losing the wheel now. just over 1km to the summit.
Mollema, Rolland, Izaguirre, and Geschke are caught by the GC group, having been in the break.
Muhlberger, after another big turn, drops from the Valverde group. With Soler riding hard behind, Valverde is sitting in and letting Bora work in this group - the second on the road.
Alaphilippe leads the race over the Col de Val Louron-Azet, adding to his lead in the KOM standings. Kangert is on the wheel, Durasek a few lengths back.
Valverde, Majka, Fraile, and Martinez come over the top 25 seconds down.
Soler still leads the peloton. Kwiatkowski is on the wheel.
Poels moves up now.
27km remaining from 65km
A really tricky descent to come now, 11km long.
Soler leads the GC group down the descent.
Alaphilippe leads the way, Kangert just about keeping pace. Durasek is losing more ground and is now 23 seconds down. He may soon be caught by the next group - Valverde, Majka, Fraile, Pellizotti, and Martinez.
Peter Sagan has crashed, according to race radio.
20km remaining from 65km
Soler is leading the GC group down, a few wheels clear of Sky. No one's taking any risks or making any moves here.
18km remaining from 65km
Col du Portet
Alaphilippe and Kangert hit the valley with a lead of less than a minute over Valverde, Majka, Fraile, Pellizotti, and Martinez.
We're hearing Sagan is back up and going.
And now the climb begins.
Alaphilippe is immediately dropped. The Frenchman waves goodbye to Kangert and waves his hand to his throat. His day is done, and he's made that polka-dot jersey even more secure on his shoulders.
So, we have a lone leader, Tanel Kangert. How far can he go? Valverde is pushing on in the chase, while the peloton is 2:46 back.
The GC group hit the climb, and it's Soler leading the way.
Big acceleration from Soler. Castroviejo marks him but the rest of the Sky train stays where it is.
Soler continues his effort, Castroviejo on his wheel. Sky have called the bluff, but Soler could provide a bridge for an attack from Quintana or Landa.
15km remaining from 65km
Dan Martin attacks!
Quintana follows Martin. They have a gap
Quintana accelerates now.
Here we go, it's finally kicking off
Sky aren't panicking but the gap is growing.
Martin can't hold Quintana's wheel.
Castroviejo leads the Sky train, Poels behind, then Kwiatkowski, Thomas and Froome.
Soler is dropped. His work is done.
Quintana has 20 seconds on his rivals.
Sky are riding tempo here, refusing to panic.
A reminder of the overall standings
Quintana catches Yates and other remnants of the original break. He's now 30 seconds ahead.
Dan Martin is still in between Quintana and the GC group.
Quintana springs away from Yates and now Alaphilippe.
Attack from Roglic!
Froome goes with him!
Dream scenario for Froome...
Sky disappear from the front and Dumoulin is forced to come to the front.
Thomas tucks in behind Dumoulin
This is a really interesting tactical situation. Rolgic is fourth overall and around a minute back on Dumoulin. Froome can follow, arguing he needs to gain time on Dumoulin, while Thomas will have to sit in and wait, hoping Dumoulin busts a gut and Roglic and Froome don't gain too much ground.
Dumoulin is digging in here and the GC group is thinning big time
Kwiatkowski, Poels, and Castroviejo are all gone now, out the back.
Froome is taking turns now with Roglic.
Quintana has 20 seconds on Roglic and Froome.
Dumoulin is dragging this back.
12km remaining from 65km
Froome and Roglic are caught.
Bernal comes to the front now for Sky. Kruijswijk is in there as well for LottoNL. Bardet is present and correct too.
Dan Martin is still out in front of the yellow jersey group but he's slipping back from Quintana.
The only riders left in the yellow jersey group are:
Kangert continues to lead, 1:50 ahead of the GC riders.
Quintana has 35 seconds on the GC group. Dan Martin is in between.
Poels comes back to the GC group.
The Sky train is back on track.
Valverde is leading Quintana, with Majka hanging on.
Kangert takes a gel. He has just over 10km to the finish now, but his lead is falling all the time. 1:35 back to the GC group now. and just a minute to Quintana.
Quintana realises he needs to leave Valverde and raise the pace. 10km to go now and he needs to find some serious ground.
Poels looks steady for Sky in front of Bernal, Thomas, and Froome.
Pellizotti has tagged onto the back of the GC group. It's gone quiet again.
Dan Martin goes past Valverde.
Kangert is holding on admirably here. He's 1:20 clear of the GC group.
But the slowing of the pace in that group under Poels has seen Quintana extend his lead, and the Colombian is in fact closing in on Kangert....
8km remaining from 65km
Quintana rips past Kangert, who tries to cling to the wheel of Majka.
Kangert is dropped.
Quintana and Majka lead the race. They have 15 seconds over Dan Martin and 1:05 over the yellow jersey group.
As it stands, Quintana would jump above Kruijswijk, Landa, and Bardet into 5th overall.
This is some ride from Martin. He lost Quintana early but has held his own ever since. In the past kilometre or so he has made up ground and is now just 15 second back. He's just gone past Kangert.
Bardet is right at the back of the yellow jersey group.
Still Poels leads
Froome is slipping down the group.
Poels, Bernal, Thomas, Kruijswijk, Roglic, Dumoulin, Froome, Landa, Bardet.
Bardet doesn't look in any position to attack. Landa won't, with Quintana up the road. What have Roglic and Dumoulin got?
Quintana drops Majka!
Quintana leads the way, with Martin at 20 seconds, and the yellow jersey group at 1:10
Bardet loses the wheel...
Dear oh dear. Bardet is in real trouble here.
Bardet is gone. This is about damage limitation now but he's going to fall down the standings and hopes of the podium are fading fast.
Quintana now has 30 seconds over Martin.
Bardet is digging in, 10 seconds down.
Chris Froome comes up with a mini acceleration to keep the others on their toes.
5km remaining from 65km
Kruijswijk attacks.
Poels is dropped but Bernal is able to set about dragging Kruijswijk back.
Thomas and Froome both look comfortable.
Bardet is now 25 seconds down.
Martin claws his way back to 20 seconds of Quintana.
Bernal neutralises Kruijswijk's attack.
Quintana still has 1:10 over the yellow jersey group.
Bernal leads that group with Froome and Thomas there. Roglic and Kruisjwijk are there for LottoNL, while Dumoulin and Landa are the other members.
4km remaining from 65km
The fans thicken towards the top of the Col du Portet.
Froome drops to the back of the group again.
What a ride by Bernal, again.
3km remaining from 65km
Dumoulin looks comfortable but is at the back of the group. Will he attack? Surely Roglic will roll the dice again.
And again on cue, Roglic goes!
Thomas follows it
Froome distanced...
Wow. Bernal zips through and comes back to the front, neutralising the Roglic attack. Kruijswijk is also in touch, as is Dumoulin.
Landa is a few wheels back but getting back in. Froome a few further back and now shouting on the radio. He should get back in now.
Froome is back on.
Bernal is riding this mountain no-handed, as he fiddles with his earpiece. He's back in control.
But here goes Dumoulin!
Thomas follows. Froome dropped!
Roglic and Kruijswijk go with Thomas and Dumoulin.
Bernal drops back to pace Froome. Landa tags on.
Dumoulin is riding himself onto the podium here.
And the Sky leadership conundrum is being definitively settled right here.
Roglic accelerates now. Dumoulin on the wheel, then Thomas, then Kruijswijk.
1km remaining from 65km
Roglic attacks again. Thomas goes past Dumoulin as he follows the move.
Dumoulin is a few wheels back.
Kruijswijk a few wheels behind Dumoulin.
Meanwhile Froome is losing ground.
Quintana is on his way to the stage win here.
Dumoulin has clawed his way back to Thomas and Roglic with 800 metres to go.
Last 400m for Quintana, who's out of the saddle. This would be his first win on the Tour since 2013.
Froome is panting
Quintana comes towards the line, his face as inscrutable as ever.
Quintana crosses the line and raises his arms in the air.
Nairo Quintana (Movistar) wins stage 17 of the Tour de France
Here comes Martin. He crosses 28 seconds down.
Thomas attacks Dumoulin and Roglic!
Thomas takes third, 48 seconds down.
Roglic fourth, Dumoulin fifth, a few seconds down on Thomas.
Kruijswijk is next home, 10 seconds or so down on Dumoulin/Roglic.
Here comes Froome, with Bernal and Landa.
Froome loses 1:35 to Quintana. He loses more than 30 seconds to Dumoulin and is off the podium.
And now Bardet is across the line. A miserable day for the Frenchman, who ships 2:35 to Quintana.
Stage 17 top 10
Here's Thomas, who has just taken a huge step towards winning the Tour de France.
General Classification after stage 17
Stick with us and we'll bring you all the instant post-race quotes and reactions, along with the best photos from the mountain.
Winner's shot
Tom Dumoulin has moved up to second overall, but Thomas has only pulled away at the top of the standings.
Peter Sagan crosses the line with jersey ripped.
And now we can hear from Quintana
Dan Martin was exhausted at the line
Quintana on the move
And now we can hear from the yellow jersey, Geraint Thomas
Interesting that Thomas says it was in the plan for Froome to "try something". The road, however, proved who had the strongest legs and it seems clear now that Thomas is the main man for Sky, and Froome won't be winning a fifth Tour de France, though stranger things have happened... and not that long ago...
More from Thomas, who tries to keep the giddy realisation that he could well win this Tour de France at bay.
Here's our report page
Remember the grid start? Has anything been so over-hyped, only to prove such a let-down? Expect everyone secretly knew it would be a massive let-down all along. Fair play to ASO for trying something new, but I don't think that'll be catching on...
So, where does this leave the race?
You can find plenty more photos in our stage gallery
Here's what Dan Martin had to say
"A terrible day," says Romain Bardet, who sees his hopes of a third straight podium evaporate. "My legs just didn't respond on that final climb. It's difficult to accept, but that's sport."
Arnaud Demare finished 29 minutes behind Quintana and thanks to an extended time cut - given the brevity of today's stage - stays in the race. However, get a load of this tweet from Andre Greipel....
Here's all the snap post-stage reaction in one handy place
The full results are also available to browse here
While we're waiting for today's news to come in from the team on the ground in France, you can listen to our most recent podcast that discusses the stage 17 farmers' protest and Dave Brailsford's extraordinary rest-day Team Sky press conference. We also hear from Adam Yates, Heinrich Haussler and Steven Kruijswijk. Listen to the podcast HERE
Peter Sagan has confirmed that he will go on despite crashing on a descent in stage 17. We'll have a report soon.
Video highlights of today's exciting stage are in. You can watch them HERE
We're hearing that a gendarme saw Chris Froome descending off the final climb back toward the buses, thought he was a spectator on course without authorisation and knocked him off his bike. We'll have a report soon.
In the meantime, you can read what Sagan had to say about his crash HERE
Tom Dumoulin told reporters after today's stage the Geraint Thomas is the strongest rider in the race. Read Barry Ryan's story HERE
After his performance on stage 17, Geraint Thomas says Team Sky are working for him now. Read our report HERE
Sky are now saying Chris Froome fell on his way to the team bus. The intrigue at this year's Tour de France continues.
You can read our updated report on Chris Froome's very bad day HERE
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