Vincenzo Nibali fights to hold on to top ten Tour spot

Vincenzo Nibali fell one place to seventh overall yesterday in Tour de France's stage 17 to Le Grand Bornand. He lost ground when rival Carlos Sastre attacked at the base of the Col de Romme, 38 kilometres before the finish.

Nibali proved stronger than Wiggins as the Italian set off behind Armstrong, after the American attacked in the final kilometres of the Colombière. He used his strong descending skills to catch the seven-time tour winner on the 15 kilometre run down into Le Grand Bornand.

Nibali was able to pull back nine seconds on Andreas Klöden and 49 seconds on Wiggins. He now sits seventh, 5:09 behind Contador in the overall classification, 25 seconds behind Klöden and 16 seconds behind sixth-placed Wiggins.

Nibali is likely to lose time to the favourites on Thursday, but will expect to perform strongly on the penultimate day to Ventoux.

For images of stage 17 click here