Giro d'Italia: Rolland takes solo victory on stage 17

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Finally, after so many near misses, and so many setbacks, Pierre Rolland delivered in Cannondale-Drapac colours to win stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia in nail-biting fashion. The 30-year-old was certainly forced to do it the hard way – attacking as part of a three-man move at the start of the 219-kilometre stage before jumping clear once more from a group of around 25 with 7.6 kilometres to go.

The Frenchman, who signed to Cannondale at the start of 2016, ended his team's two-year wait for a Grand Tour stage win, as well as his own five-year drought – to solo across the line for a memorable win as Rui Costa (UAE Emirates) and Gorka Izagirre (Movistar) rounded out the top three on the day.

For race leader Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), it was a relatively calm day in the saddle with the majority of his rivals deciding to rest their legs after stage 16 and an epic encounter on the Stelvio. There were some changes inside the top 10 as Jan Polanc (UAE Emirates) used his chance in the break to ruffle some feathers but the day was eventually decided by the near 40-strong break that formed in the first half of the day.

Yet the stage belonged to Rolland, and Cannondale – a team that simply don't know how to win easy. For a squad that have certainly had their struggles, this ride was built on tactical nous and excellent teamwork and was finished off by the pure determination of their talismanic Frenchman.

Rolland, who has been a presence in several breaks during the race, attacked from the gun alongside Matej Mohoric (UAE Team Emirates) and Pavel Brutt (Gazprom), with the trio establishing a over a large chase group that contained almost 40 riders. Rolland picked up points on the two classified climbs before sitting up and waiting for the safety of the chase as Brutt and Mohoric continued ahead.

Given the distance and the lack of firepower, it was the smart move, and when a general regrouping took place it was Rolland and teammate Michael Woods, who carefully marked a number of key attacks inside the final 25 kilometres. When Rolland's decisive move came with 7.6 kilometres to go it was quickly apparent that the Frenchman had the legs to go the distance. A late chase from Dimension Data and Quick-Step Floors threatened to spoil Rolland's party, but Woods, who made a nuisance of himself whenever the speed in the second group threatened to reel in Rolland, hounded down any counter-attacks before the Frenchman was able to celebrate with the line in sight.

"I'm just so happy. I've waited for this moment for such a long time. In 2015 I finished second in a Tour de France stage, and last year was just a year to forget for me - I crashed twice in the Tour. It's been a long wait. I've worked so hard this winter with Jonathan Vaughters, my new coach. My winter was so, so hard, and now I've won because of my work," a jubilant Rolland told compatriot and journalist Jean-Francois Quenet at the line.

"Today I thought 'Okay, yesterday was a super hard stage and everyone is completely tired'. Sometimes after a hard stage I go from the start, but I didn't think there'd be just three of us. I took the first climb easy, the second climb easy, then waited for the big group. Those big groups are never easy to manage – they're like a big lottery. At the end everyone is dead, you follow attacks, again, again, again. One moment I went, I had my teammate Michael Woods back there for the sprint if it came back. With one kilometre to go I knew I'd won, and I'm just so happy, it's difficult to explain."

How it unfolded

Long before Rolland began the difficult task of explaining his relief and joy, the peloton rolled out on stage 17 with an intriguing race profile ahead of them. After stage 16 and the bruising day in the mountains the bunch were faced with two climbs inside the opening 60km of racing. Depending on your legs, or your team orders for that matter, it was either the perfect place to attack or the opportunity to hide.

Rolland, Brutt and the young Mohoric slipped clear almost instantly, and that might have been the end of it had it not been for a large contingent of almost 40 riders leading a bold counter attack.

Valerio Agnoli (Bahrain-Merida), Ben Gastauer and Quentin Jaurégui (Ag2r La Mondiale), Jesper Hansen (Astana), Enrico Barbin and Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani-CSF), Tejay van Garderen, Manuel Senni, and Francisco Ventoso (BMC Racing), Jan Barta and Jose Mendes (Bora-hansgrohe), Felix Grosschartner, Lukasz Owsian, Branislau Samoilau and Michal Schelgel (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac), Jérémy Roy (FDJ), Maxime Monfort (Lotto Soudal), Gorka Izagirre and Rory Sutherland (Movistar), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Orica-Scott), Laurens De Plus and Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Floors), Natnael Berhane, Omar Fraile, Jacques Janse Van Rensburg, Kristian Sbaragli, and Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data), Martijn Keizer (LottoNL-Jumbo), Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky), Simon Geschke (Team Sunweb), Peter Stetina and Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo), Rui Costa, Valerio Conti and Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates), Julen Amezqueta, Matteo Busato and Ilya Koshevoy (Wilier-Selle Italia), and Sergey Firsanov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) made up the group and as Rolland crested the second climb of the Passo del Tonale he sat up and waited.

It proved to be decisive moment, as Brutt rode himself into the ground and Mohoric enhanced his reputation with a ride full of character and strength, Rolland drifted through the wheels and saved his legs for the second half of the stage.

Behind the lead group Dumoulin posted his men to the front, but the orders were to simply contain the break and protect pink. If Dumoulin's main rivals were going to enjoy a day off then so was the race leader himself. The only threats for the top 10 came in the forms of Jan Polanc and Maxime Monfort, who both started the day inside the top 15.

The break established a lead of almost 14 minutes at one point with Polanc the virtual leader on the road. When Brutt cracked in dramatic fashion, it left Mohoric on his own out front but when he was finally caught by the Polanc group with 55km to go the race in the peloton sprang into life.

With three men in the lead, UAE had the chance to vie for a stage and catapult Polanc up the standings. Bob Jungels stood to lose the most – both his place on GC and his white jersey – with Quick-Step eventually deciding to chase the break inside the final 50km. They quickly made inroads, cutting minutes off the leaders' advantage, with LottoNL providing welcome support.

Up ahead, the break split and reformed several times, with Mohoric pulling his companions along despite almost 200km of riding at the front. With just 16 kilometres remaining, the 22-year-old, who has blossomed in this race, pulled over. The move triggered the collaboration in the break to collapse with the remnants of the move - around 25 riders – all watching each other as one-by-one they probed and attacked.

Fraile and Barbin were among the early movers, but it was Conti who sparked the most dangerous attack with a move that gained both distance and help in the form of Sutherland, Rolland, Rui Costa and van Garderen. However, Dimension Data and Quick-Step still had strength in numbers, and they pulled back each and every attack back before Rolland hit for home with 7.6km to go.

It looked like the winning move almost as soon as the gap went out to 15 seconds, but first the Frenchman had to see off the chase from first de Plus, Van Rensburg and finally van Garderen before he could finally relax and roll across the line to take a much needed, and much deserved, stage victory.

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