Hello and welcome to live coverage from stage 17 of the Tour de France. We head into the Alps for the first of two mammoth days of climbing. Today's stages heads from La Mure to to Serre Chevalier with four major climbs along the 183km route with the Col d'Ornon, Col de la Coix de Fer, Col du Telegraphe and the Col du Galibier all on the profile card. This could be the most decisive day of the Tour de France.
We're about 30 minutes away from the official roll out and there's certainly tension in the air ahead of today's action. No one really knows how it's going to play out as we've not hit these sorts of heights in the Tour yet. The altitude, and the sheer kilometres of climbing will break a few GC contenders' hearts today. Here's how things stand coming into the stage, with four riders within 30 seconds of yellow and Mikel Landa hovering just a little further back.
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 68:18:36 2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:18 3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:23 4 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:29 5 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky 0:01:17 6 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:02:02 7 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:03 8 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates 0:06:00 9 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:06:05 10 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:06:16
We are definitely going to see action from the gun though. Perhaps Michael Matthews will make it into the break again with an intermediate sprint at 47km. He can - if he has the legs - drop Kittel on the first climb and then pick up another 20 points. The Croix der Fer could be crucial too. There's a long valley between the climb and the next ascent but someone like Contador could certainly use the climb as a launchpad in the hope that a strong break go with him.
The Galibier at 17km in length, with the Telegraph just before it, are going to blow the race apart though. Team Sky and AG2R have been dominant in the mountains so far - in terms of numbers - and they'll be looking to put each other under pressure before the long descent to the finish. We could be left with just a handful of riders on the final climb of the day.
Beautiful scenes this morning
Sunweb have put a lot of energy into breaks in recent days and today could be another day for Barguil to move off the front with Matthews. The French rider has a healthy lead in the KOM competition and could wrap things up today if he picks up enough points. Landa could be the danger but the Team Sky rider is likely to stick with Froome or mark his rivals - as he did with Contador in the Massif Central.
1 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb 117 pts 2 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 38 3 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 38 4 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky 33 5 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 28 6 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 25 7 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 23 8 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 22 9 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 22 10 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data 20
This is a huge test for Team Sky. They will be expected to control the race throughout the stage. They've been put under pressure in this race but Froome certainly has numbers around him in Nieve, Kwiatkowski, Landa and Heano. Froome, though, is not on the same level as he was in 2013 or 2015 and although he has the TT later to come, he will want to win today and put time into his rivals.
Near the top of the climb, after the tunnel, a monument to Henri Desgrange, the creator of the Tour de France, can be found. #TDF2017
Is the race for white over? Yates has a decent buffer over the next placed rider but nothing can be taken for granted with so much climbing today. Yates is perhaps better suited to the shorter climbs so it will be interesting to see how he handles the Telegraphe and Galibier combo.
1 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 68:20:38 2 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:58 3 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:12:30 4 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:18:26 5 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 0:26:17
That's it from me as Susan Westemeyer will take us through the first part of today's stage.
Looks like we are doing a tag-team live report today -- but we are a strong team!
We already have one DNS today. Marcel Sieberg of Lotto-Soudal has come down with the intestinal problems that seem to be sweeping through the peloton. That will be a blow to sprinter Andre Greipel.
And the riders are on the road! We have the neutralized start. The field is rolling gently along, with many of them no doubt enjoying the stage for the only time today.
The weather forecast today is for sunny with clouds, 15°-25°C, and winds of 10-15 km/h. However we have also heard there may be rain and/or thunderstorms in the late afternoon.
We are now well and truly underway, and the pace is high. We can't say that a break has formed yet but many are trying.
Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie) was the first to give it a go, then Tiago Machado (Katusha). But it looks like they are all together again at the moment, after 5 km.
Dramatic scenery today, and it will become even better.
There are four climbs today, and the first one comes at km 30. But the road starts going upwards before then.
Marco Haller of Katusha is at the head of the pack at the moment. He is trying to get away, but no one is successful with that at the moment.
There was some sort of episode between Michael Matthews and John Degenkolb after yesterday’s stage, with Degenkolb saying the Australian cut him off in the sprint, and allegedly grabbing or hitting the Sunweb rider shortly after the finish. Greg Van Avermaet was not surprised.
“Degenkolb is not by best friend anyway,” Greg Van Avermaet told Sporza. “I've had problems with him in the past. He certainly had enough space to pass Matthews. If Degenkolb was really stronger he would have passed Matthews."
The attempts to set up a break group continue. At times one or more riders get a few meters, but that is all.
Hm, we are still looking for the sun that was forecast.....
A UAE rider is the next to give it a go.
He too, of course, is caught.
Who is going where? Or not? We have the answers! Take a read of this look at the transfer market -- there might be some surprises in there!
165km remaining from 183km
The first climb has not yet officially started, but somehow the road has started going up already.
QuickStep can be happy, Kittel is still in the field.
Crash, mid-feld. With several going actually int the field. Many riders down.
Barguil was involved, but does not appear to be injured. Kittel was in tehre, too.
Di Data's Van Rensberg is getting medical attention, but is standing up.
Kittel is still standing on teh side of the road. Just now got a new bike. He looks to be in pain and unhappy.
Wrong bike? INjured? He has stopped, now started again....
A group of maybe 20 riders has gotten away, the yellow jersey is not there. Michael Matthews is in the group.
Kittel must change his right shoe. There is also some blood dripping down his leg.
He is now far back, few riders to help him back up, and up front the pace is very high.
The day's intermediate sprint comes after the first climb. With Matthews in the first group and Kittel thrown far back, the Australian could make a huge move towards the green jersey. If he wins the intermediate sprint, he will pick up 20 points, and that would cut Kittel's lead to only 9 points.
159km remaining from 183km
WE have our lead group, a chasing group, and then the peloton with Froome at 1:45. We will try to get some names for you.
KOM Barguil is back in the peloton. Kittel has caught up with the medical car and is havinghis right shoulder tended to. And his right elbow. And probably his knee, too.
The lead group of 30 now has 3 minutes on the peloton. Sky seems happy to let them go.
No one seems to know what is really going on, as letour.fr tells us simply: "The front group comprises about 30 riders, including Matthews, Voeckler, Ten Dam, Chaves, De Gendt, Roglic, Frank, Gautier, Gallopin, Roche, Molard, Navarro..."
Sky has now moved to the head of the peloton, so we assume the lead group now has the Official Seal of Approval.
A crash in the front group, as two riders lock wheels.
Roglic was the one who hit the pavement. He is fine and going again, but has to scurry to catch up on the ascent.
De Gendt sprints for the mountain points, but Matthews sprints around him to grab the points and protect his teammate KOM Barguil.
Matthews and De Gendt stay away in the lead, and have a bit of a chat.
The field comes across the mountaintop exactly 5 minutes later.
Matthews and De Gendt are still in the lead, but eh chase group is approaching.
At last we have the list of those in the lead!
The next crash in the peloton, this time affecting Alexander Kristoff (Katusha).
The intermediate sprint. Matthews makes an easy sprint and De Gendt makes no move to contest it. 20 points for Matthews, and he is now only 9 points down on Kittel in the running for the green jersey.
The chase group was 39 seconds back at the sprint, and the field at 5:10.
131km remaining from 183km
And now the gap to the two leaders is said to be 1:21.
The road is heading upwards again, although the offical climb starts only in 1 km.
What do we have to look forward to on theCol de la Croix de Fer? Our stage preview tells us "Despite a couple of downhill sections offering some reprieve, it's a hard climb, and at 24km it's long. Its gradient also varies and the 5.2 per cent average includes those descents and veils long sections at nine, 10, even 11 per cent."
Froome at the back of the peloton.
Out two mountain goats up front now have nearly two minutes on the chase group and six minutes on the peloton.
Nairo Quintana attacks! Along with LeTour of AG2R.
You must admit, LaTour has the perfect name for this race!
An AStana rider has joined Quintana and Latour. And now Kittel is falling off the back. He does look quite banged up, this can't be fun.
Sky catches the Quintana Group.
Also in the back are Degenkolb, T. Martin and a handful of others.
Apparently we have transferred Tony Gallopin to BMC, when he of course actually is with Lotto Soudal. We blame it on too many red jerseys in the peloton, and not enough coffee.
Quintana and Contador jumped togehter from the front of the field. and they are getting away!
123km remaining from 183km
We now have our two leaders; the chase group at 2:00; Contador and Quintana at 4:58; and the peloton at 5:28. There is 123 km to go.
Quintana can't stay with Contador, who looks back and encourages him on. That helps, and the Colombian comes back.
Quintana can't do it though, and Contador takes off alone.
Meanwhile the peloton is shedding riders off the back with regularity.
Contador is flying up this mountain.He is now less than two minutes behind the large chase group, and one and a half minutes up on the peloton.
Only 15 km to the top -- at least for De Gendt and Matthews. Further for everyone else, of course.
And that's it for Susan today! Handing things back to Dan Benson, who will climb all those mountains and fly down the descents for you!
Real intent from Contador as he pushes on alone. He has three men up the road in the break and once he catches them the hunt for the stage win will be on. He has about a minute to reverse, with the bunch another 90 seconds back.
The yellow jersey group is down to less than 40 riders, with Latour back on after struggling for a few moments. He'll be needed later on by AG2R as Contador weaves through the team cars. He would have wanted Quintana to hang around but the Movistar rider was just slowing him down.
Team Sky have meanwhile lost Rowe but they still have the numbers as they keep Contador in check. He's not a threat on GC as there's an attack from the break. Roche goes clear as he wants to make it hard for Contador to make contact. Good luck stopping Contador make contact. The gap continues to come down.
Cannondale have at least two men with Uran at the moment as he sits towards the back of the yellow jersey group. He could be in yellow by the end of the day...
RT @dnlbenson: Latest transfer deals from the Tour de France. Quintana, Aru, Martin and the ins and outs at Team Sky & Orica https://t.c…
And Gogl drops back and paces Contador up to the main break. Textbook stuff from Trek Segafredo, while Mollema and Pantano give each other a knowing look. The know that the next few hours are going to really hurt. Meanwhile Froome is having a sandwich.
Aru still has two men with him. Neither look that comfortable, it has to be said as we catch sight of Quintana who is riding in the maillot jaune group.
Kiryienka has been in on the front of the Froome group since the climb started and he's holding the break at 3'51 as up ahead Matthews and De Gendt continue to lead the race. Contador hasn't made contact with the main break just yet but he's getting closer.
Gogl blows up and Contador accelerates and passes Chaves. For the briefest moment I thought that they might rider together but the Orica rider will not help give up Yates' GC spot. Plus he's cracked. Big time.
113km remaining from 183km
Out of the saddle and on the big ring, Riis-ing his way up the climb on a slightly gentler section and Contador makes contact with a group that contains Pantano. The Trek rider hits the front and it's race on. This is getting quite exciting.
Team Sky down to four workers, including Landa as they lead the chase with Kiryienka churning away on the front of the group.
The break are about to blow apart as Contador and Pantano catch the main body of the move. Trek's top three climbers are going to go full throttle now. This is also helping Uran, and Bardet for later, with Team Sky having to do all the work.
112km remaining from 183km
As we see Navarro catch the leading pair on the climb. Good effort from the one-time top-ten rider in the Tour.
Pinot has gone home. The Frenchman leaves the race. I think that's just three men left in the race for FDJ.
108km remaining from 183km
23 men left in the Contador group. They're 30 seconds off the leaders with the Sky collective two minutes down on Contador. He has both his teammates on the front setting the pace in the group.
And Matthews is dropped. Another brave ride from the Australian as we watch him weave up the climb. He doesnt have to worry about his line right now, Degenkolb is nowhere to be seen.
Chaves has been caught by the Froome group as well as we see De Gendt and Navarro push on. They have Trek chasing them down at under a minute with 2.7km to go until the summit of the climb.
The two leaders know that Contador is hunting them down but they'll want to dispute the KOM points at the top of the climb.We still have 106km of racing but we have a long downhill section and then valley before we start climbing the Telegraphe. Kiryienka is still doing all the work on the front of the yellow jersey group.
The two leaders have 28 seconds, while Contador has almost three minutes on Froome. He's back into the top ten but that's not the aim today. He wants the stage win.
De Gendt leads over the top and snaffles up the points like a hungry hippo as we see the maillot jaune group reduced to less than 30 riders.
The year is 3050 and Vasil Kiryienka leads the peloton up another Alpine climb.... the Team Sky rider is still there, still doing all the work as the two lead groups contest the long descent off the climb.
Kwiatkowski moves to the front now for Team Sky as the main field - or what's left of it - start the long descent.
Television commentators are waxing lyrical on Contador's long range seemingly unaware he's done this several times in Grand Tours, in Paris-Nice this spring, and even during this Tour already. Contador has just under three minutes on the Froome group but the reality is that he and his group will probably need double that before the start of the Galibier.
The Contador group are about to latch onto the two leaders. 89km to go.
It's Pantano who leads the charge from the main break with just over a dozen riders in the Contador group - three of whom are from Trek.
Pantano goes right by them and continues to push on but the gap to the break is down to 3'06. Team Sky are getting closer.
We're still on the long descent but there's still a few bits of climbing along this section. The problem for Contador is that all the other riders in the break are just sitting on and letting Trek do all the work. Kiryienka is back on the front and the gap dips under three minutes.
Breaking now. Kittel has quit the Tour de France. He crashed earlier in the stage, he's won five times during the Tour but he's heading home. That means that Matthews will wear green tomorrow.
81km remaining from 183km
Another uphill section to break up the long descent as Mollema hangs with Contador near the front of the group. They'll use Pantano until the lower slops of the Galibier and then Mollema will take over. There's still a long way to go, with two major ascents left in the stage.
Pantano is holding Team Sky at just over three minutes as we head towards the foot of the Galibier. Back with Sky and Froome has three men left. Bardet can just tick off the Team Sky riders one by one as they drift back. Froome is slowly becoming isolated.
Mollema moves into second wheel as Contador gogls down a gel from his back pocket.
And Mollema moves to the front and gives Pantano a well-earned rest. The gap is 3'15 as the bunch hit the feedzone.
No letting up. Vasil no need food. Vasil ride.
UAE are working for Team Sky. Has there been a more negative team in this year's Tour de France? They have a rider up the road. They'll argue that they're protecting Meinjtes overall position but this has been their tactic throughout the mountains. Why are they not allowing Team Sky to do all the work?
The gap moves out to 3'22 as a few more UAE riders move to the front of the maillot jaune group. A Team Sky rider jumps on the radio 'yeah they're really riding for us. I know.. I can't believe it either'...
A few more seconds for the Contador group as the lead pushes out to 3'38 with 62km to go. As we see that Pantano has blown up.
That means Mollema reaches into his man-bag of courage and starts tapping out a strong tempo on the Team Sky controlled bunch.
Contador sits second wheel as we start the Telegraphe. It just feels like the Tour de France is about to be burst wide open as rider after rider is dropped from the Contador group. Around 10 riders left, including Pauwels.
And Contador needs a bike change.
That look a long while but he's up and running again. Pauwels even had to ride up and tell Mollema to cool it as the rest of the break start to work. Contador is climbing back through the team cars. Bike change for Contador a very crucial point in the race.
And Kiryenka has run out of gas at the foot of the climb. UAE still on the front of the main field as Contador picks his way through the break.
Pauwels is on the front for the break and just setting a steady tempo. Contador has 15 seconds to make up but he's climbing well and even getting some help from a FDJ rider. 9.7km to go until we hit the summit of the climb.
And Contador makes it back to the break. Froome has Nieve, Landa and Kwiatkowski left. Bardet is waiting in the wings.
Rudy Molard was the FDJ rider as Mollema inches his way to the front of the break, the gap at 3'46. Pantano scans the Team Sky train as he's caught and dropped. Aru has one man left but Bardet still has three or four.
59km remaining from 183km
59km to go.
Contador group has 3'40 on the bunch with 8.7km to climb on the Telegraphe.
Frank, Roglic and a few other climbers are still within the break and they're holding the Mollema pace, which is steady rather than spectacular. He's keeping Team Sky at 3'44.
Kwiatkowski moves to the front for Froome and begins to set the pace with 6'6km to go until we reach the summit. Contador is sitting about half-way down the group and looking relatively comfortable. Feillu is in the break! He won a mountain stage back in 2009 when Contador won the Tour at Astana. The Frenchman is sitting second wheel and also looking strong.
And the lead is going out to almost four minutes. Mollema is burying himself for Contador on the Telegraphe.
Sky are picking up a few stragglers from the break but the danger men for the stage are still up the road. It's all Mollema though, as Contador sits back as we see Bardet lose a domestique from the main field. 4.6km to go until we hit the summit of the Telegraphe.
4'44 for the Contador group. It's starting to get interesting for the break but the stage is still in the balance. I would think they need around 5-6 minutes at the base of the Galibier.
1.8km to the summit as Team Sky lift the pace once again. After this climb it's a really short descent before we climb the Galibier. The gap to the break is back down to 4'09. You'd expect Mollema to last until the summit, and then Contador to push on once more at the base of the final climb - assuming that he has the legs to do so.
And Roglic hits the front as he wants the points at the top of the climb. Mollema is second and Contador is close enough as we start the short descent.
50km remaining from 183km
50km to go and the gap between Contador and Froome is 3'40.
Bardet has lost another teammate on the top slopes of the Telegraphe. That leaves him with just one man at the moment. A couple of AG2R riders should be able to make contact on the descent but this isn't a good sign.
Mollema has lasted longer than expected and leads the break on the short descent to the foot of the final climb of the stage. The stage, the race, it's all up for grabs.
We're going to climb to the highest point in the race as we see Contador ease towards the front of the break. He has Roglic, Pauwels and Molllema just ahead of him. We're going to average 6.9 percent but there are pitches well over 9 per cent near the summit.
28km descent from the summit, to the finish and there's a headwind. That could be just as crucial as the climb itself. Orica are now riding on the maillot jaune group because Contador is threatening Yates's GC position.
The gap to the break is coming down with Impey leading the peloton. It's at 3'40 with 44k to go. I still think the stage winner will come from the bunch as we see Roglic attack as we start the climb.
Contador has to react and he jumps out of the saddle has Mollema drifts backwards. Now we have Roglic, Contador and Pauwels clear with 43km to go.
This is a decent trio but the gap is still coming down. It's at 3'33 with 15.7km to go until we hit the summit.
Out of these three, I'd say Contador is the weakest descender - based on what we've seen this year - so he has to be well clear at the top if he's to win the stage. For now the three leaders are sharing the workload. They want to make sure that no one comes back to them from the main break.
Riders start drifting off the back and Talansky is the latest to slip back. Frank as well is struggling from the main break. We have riders all over the road and Quintana has cracked again. The Movistar man is off the back and so is Aru's last teammate, as Kwiatkowski continues to set the pace for Froome.
Caruso, Yates, Martin, Barguil, and Uran are all still with Froome.
Up ahead and Contador is sharing the workload with his two breakaway companions. We still have 13.2km to go until we even crest the top of the climb. We're still on the 'easier' sections.
39km remaining from 183km
39km to go and the three leaders have 3'18 on the bunch. 11.6km to go until we hit the summit. Roglic, it must be said, looks very comfortable indeed. It's Contador who looks a little ragged to me.
And Frank and Atapuma make contact so we have five leaders at the front of the race with Pauwels taking a nice long turn with Contador on his wheel. The gap is at 3'15.
Contador is grimacing and Roglic has attacked. Too many games at the front of the race and Contador forced to make a big effort to respond. The Lotto rider is looking like the strongest man in the break but there's no cooperation as they re-group once more. The gap is at 3'15 with 10,2km left of the climb.
Froome, Aru, Bardet are riding close to each other with Uran, Yates and Martin a few wheels back. Back up the road and Contador takes a big pull and bottle from the race moto. Half the bidon is poured down his chest, the rest saved for later a the pushes on. He cracked big time here in 2011, if I remember correctly.
Contador is taking more control at the front of the break. He doesn't want a stop-start rhythm because each acceleration hurts his chances. The leaders have a gap and they need to just work with it. 36km to go, the gap at 3;01.
And now Pauwels attack. Roglic responds and so does Contador and the rest of the break.
The gap is at 2'52 with 8,2km to go until we hit the summit. These leaders could be caught before the summit at this rate as Pauwels goes again. And he's clear. Contador can't close the gap.
Roglic moves to the front and starts to chase. We've seen attacks from Roglic and the Dimension Data. Contador hasn't attacked once on this climb. Is that experience or is he starting to slowly crack?
Pauwels is holding a gap at around five seconds with Roglic grinding a huge gear as he leads the chase. The gap is at '245 with 7.3km to go until we hit the summit.
And Navarro is close to catching the Contador group. This climb is just relentless.
And Roglic kicks and Contador responds. The leaders are back together but Frank is in trouble.
And Dan Martin attacks from the bunch with 34km to go.
He started the day in 7th place, 2'03 off yellow as Roglic attacks and he has a gap as Contador forces Pauwels to chase.
Martin has nine seconds on Froome at the moment but Kwiatkowski beings to crack. Nieve is also in trouble and falls to the back of the group.
Up ahead and Roglic has 11 seconds on Contador.
32km remaining from 183km
Kwiatkowski blows spectacularly and Landa takes over. The gap from him to Roglic is 2'36 with 5'2km to go until we hit the summit. Nieve has also cracked.
Roglic has a massive 31 seconds on the Contador group.
The GC group is down to the top ten riders, other than Quintana and Martin - the latter on the attack, the former much further down the mountain.
And Atapuma attacks Contador and creates a little gap. Contador just doesn't have the legs after the early efforts.
Dan Martin is being pulled back, and only has a few seconds on Landa, who has Froome on his wheel.
And Barguil moves to the front and sets the pace for the Froome group as Martin is caught with 4km to go until we reach the summit. And Barguil attacks. He wants the KOM points.
With that move Landa moves to the front once more for Froome. Atapuma appears to be the only opposition for Roglic but he's 47 seconds down on the Lotto rider.
And Bardet attacks!
Out of the saddle and Froome leads the chase. Only Uran can follow. Martin ties to give chase as well.
Aru is forced to chase and the yellow jersey group comes back together. A massive warning for Aru. Surely Bardet will go again and he does.
Froome and Uran lead the chase, and Landa makes it, Martin as well. Aru is coming back but he's on the ropes. One more attack could finish him off.
Martin leads Froome and the group with Aru still not able to make contact. Yates has been dropped but Meintjis hasn't. That's massive for the white jersey competition as Martin launches an attack, just as Aru looked to be closing.
Martin leads the group but Aru isn't throwing in the towel just yet. Way up ahead and Roglic holds a healthy lead from Atapuma and then then Contador group.
29km remaining from 183km
Aru makes contact. Only Yates is left out there and left to chase.
Roglic is motoring up this climb and is putting over a minute into the chasers on the road. Contador and co only have about 45 seconds on the Froome group as Landa moves up again and sets the pace. Barguil has attacked.
Caruso has been dropped. I didn't spot that one but Yates is coming back and is about to make contact with the Yates group.
Roglic only has 800m to go until the summit as Contador and Frank drop Pauwels. Roglic has well over a minute though, as he closes in on the summit. The stage should be his if he can keep it together.
One last push from Contador but the stage slipped through his fingers long ago.
He's dropped Frank as Bardet attacks. Uran closes it and Froome goes with him. Another push from Bardet.
Bardet, Froome, Aru, Martin. The rest have been dropped slightly as Roglic crests the top of the climb. 28km to go for the lone leader.
Bardet pushes again and Aru is about 30m back. And now Bardet links up with Frank near the top of the climb but the yellow jersey group are about to catch Contador.
Atapuma goes over the top as Barguil takes third on the climb, Contador fourth. Aru is about 8 seconds off the maillot jaune group.
24km remaining from 183km
Inside the final 24km. Roglic has 1'35 on the chase. Aru is 1'54. Atapuma has been caught by the chase group of Froome and Bardet.
Contador has been dropped by the Froome group - Froome, Bardet, Uran, Barguil. Roglic is holding that 1'30 lead but the stage is still wide open.
Aru has Meintjis with him but Yates is losing ground with Uran moving onto the podium if things stay like this.
19km remaining from 183km
Aru has 17 seconds to close on the yellow jersey group. That's doable as we see Landa close in on the Froome group as we continue this rapid descent.
14km remaining from 183km
Landa has made contact with the yellow jersey group as we see a second group of Martin, Aru, Contador, Meintjis and I think Yates is in there. Roglic has 1'26 with 14km to go.
No. Yates is around 30 seconds down on The Aru group. But the Aru/Martin/Contador group still have 15 seconds to make up on Froome.
Atapuma is leading the Aru group as the Froome, Uran, Bardet selection realise that they can put time into the Italian champion.
11km remaining from 183km
Aru is almost 30 seconds down on Froome and Bardet.
8km remaining from 183km
No let up for Roglic. He has 8km to go and the gap is at 1'23. Much further back, Yates is with Pauwels for company. The Orica rider will keep the white jersey but he's losing significant time to his main rival from UAE.
The road flattens and Roglic leans over the bars in full TT mode. Froome is leading the charge at 1'28. 6km to go!
Aru is trying to muster a chase there's no help from Contador. He's cooked. Roglic though is on course for the win. 1'25 is the gap with 4km to go.
Aru is losing almost a minute and this is a huge dent to his hopes of winning the race. 3km to go for Roglic.
Inside the 1km to go banner for Roglic. Now 500m. He gets out of the saddle, raises his hands and wins stage 17 of the Tour de France.
Sprint for the bonus seconds now... Uran leads out. He has gears this time so watch out!
Now Froome takes over.
He and Landa chat on the front.
Landa leads out.
Uran takes 6 seconds, Froome takes 4.
Dan Martin leads home the group containing Aru and Contador. No sign of Yates just yet. I think Martin lost around 30 seconds on the line. Aru a few more.
And Yates comes over the line. Huge effort but he's lost major time on GC.
In GC Uran is up to second, and Bardet at third, both of them at 27 seconds down on Froome.
1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 5:07:41 2 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac 0:01:13 3 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 4 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 5 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb 6 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky 0:01:16 7 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:43 8 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:44 9 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates 10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
General classification after stage 17
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 73:27:26 2 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:27 3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:27 4 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:53 5 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky 0:01:24
Our quick fire race reports, results and photos is just here.
Here's the full top 10
General classification after stage 17
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 73:27:26 2 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:27 3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:27 4 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:53 5 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky 0:01:24 6 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:37 7 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:04:07 8 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates 0:06:35 9 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:45 10 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb 0:08:52
Roglic:
It’s crazy, incredible. There are no words. Right now I cannot really form all these feelings. Later probably I will know how big it is.
So much to digest from a massive stage at the Tour. The big loser of the day has to be Aru. He shipped time and dropped to almost a minute down on yellow. His Tour is far from over but in race that's separated by just a few seconds, that time will be difficult to regain. Froome came through the stage by using his team perfectly. He didn't attack once while Bardet's move helped to distance Aru but he couldn't crack Froome or Uran.
Uran looked good once again. He responded to every major move and picked up 6 seconds in the sprint for the line.
Contador:
Contador: It’s a shame. We had some riders out in the breakaway and they had more than five minutes. We started the climb and I thought that I would try to do something today. I was feeling strong and my legs were good. It was like doing a time trial and I think that I really paid for my efforts on the Galibier. It really is a shame for my team because they worked really well for me with Pantano , Bauke was really impressive. I know that I couldn’t win the stage but it was a beautiful stage.
The descent was crucial as we see the grupetto cross the line. That's where Martin was dropped and he was forced back into the Aru group. On the climb Martin looked like he was one of the strongest riders.
The big news from earlier in the stage is that Marcel Kittel crashed and later abandoned the race. It means that Michael Matthews will wear the green jersey tomorrow. Here's the latest on Kittel.
Kristoff finishes the race with the grupetto after crash but is a mess - black eye, grazes across face and blood-stained jersey. #tdf2017
Our gallery with 42 images images from the stage, is just here.
Froome:
Froome: I expected it was going to be a shadow chasing match between the main GC gys and that was my mentality going to the final climb. Just following the guys and not doing too much with tomorrow in mind. It’s interesting to see this late in the game some of the guys struggling out there. Fabio Aru was the most noticeable GC contender who lost a bit of time today. Tomorrow is the last hard, hard stage with a mountain top finish on the Izoard and I expect it to be a very tough day.
Wegelius:
Tour de France: Stage 17 finish line quotes https://t.co/YL21qW2hN3 #TDF2017 https://t.co/HIa8fGImcW
