First Tour Stage Win for Zakarin, Froome keeps Yellow Jersey

First Tour Stage Win for Ilnur Zakarin of Katusha

Ilnur Zakarin (Team Katusha) won his first Tour de France stage victory today in Finhaut, Switzerland at the top of a Hor Categorie climb that was the finish. Zakarin swept past Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling) and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) with 6.5 km to go to win by nearly one minute. Team Sky and Chris Froome paced the peloton keeping other top contenders at bay. Among the top GC contenders, only Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) tried to pull away from Froome at the end of the stage. Froome increased his lead on many of the contenders today. Tomorrow there is the second time trial, a 17 km mountain time trial from  Sallanches to Megève .

Stage 17 of the 2016 Tour de France stayed in Switzerland today with a 184.5 km (115 miles) from Berne to Finhaut-Emosson, near the French - Swiss border.This stage was a mountain stage, with 2 Category 3 climbs; Côte de Saanenmöser (6.6 km, 4.8%) and Col des Mosses (6.4 Km, 4.4%) and 1 Category 1 climb, Col de la Forclaz (1 527 m,, 13 km, 7.9%) and one Hors Categorie climb, Finhaut-Emosson (1 960 m, 10.4 km, 8.4%). Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) picked a good day to abandon the Tour to prepare for the upcoming Rio Olympics. Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) has also abandoned to prepare for the Olympics. This stage is a climbers stage and sprinters will have to keep an eye on the Stage time limit.

Gorka Izagirre (Movistar) broke his collarbone in a crash at the beginning of the stage. He was taken away in an ambulance. Repeated attempts at forming a breakaway group failed as the peloton kept a fast pace in beginning of the stage. 78 km into the stage, a group of 11 riders formed a breakaway. The group included; Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal), Rafal Majka and Green Jersey leader Peter Sagan (Tinkoff). Another group of 8 riders chase after the 11. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida), Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick Step) and Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) were in that group. On the second categorized climb, the Col des Mosses, the gap was 9 minutes to the lead group from the peloton. Fourteen riders remained in the breakaway group after the climb. After taking the maximum points in the intermediate sprint in Martingny Sagan drops back from the breakaway group. The gap to the peloton was 12 minutes. Gallopin attacked with 28 km to go. He is joined by Alexey Lutsenko (Team Astana), who soon drops Gallopin. They are both caught by the breakaway.

Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) has a history of poor performances after a rest day. Today van Garderen was dropped from the leading group with about 20 km to go. Zakarin attacked with 6.5 km to go on the last climb of the day. Zakarin wins Stage 17 with Pantano and Majka failing to catch him. Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) attacked just before the 1 km mark and Froome moves to catch him. Froome and Porte crossed under the Flamme Rouge together. Nairo Quintana (Team Movistar) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) could not keep up.

Stage Results

1	Ilnur Zakarin	Team Katusha	4:36:33
2	Jarlinson Pantano	IAM Cycling	0:00:55
3	Rafal Majka	Tinkoff Team	0:01:26
4	Kristijan Durasek	Lampre - Merida	0:01:32
5	Brice Feillu	Fortuneo - Vital Concept	0:02:33
6	Thomas Voeckler	Direct Energie	0:02:46
7	Domenico Pozzovivo	AG2R La Mondiale	0:02:50
8	Stef Clement	IAM Cycling	0:02:57
9	Steve Morabito	FDJ	0:04:38
10	Richie Porte	BMC Racing Team	0:07:59
11	Chris Froome	Team Sky
12	Adam Yates	Orica-BikeExchange	0:08:07
13	Romain Bardet	AG2R La Mondiale	0:08:10
14	Fabio Aru	Astana Pro Team	0:08:18
15	Louis Meintjes	Lampre - Merida
16	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	0:08:27
17	Wouter Poels	Team Sky	0:08:39
18	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo
19	Dan Martin	Etixx - Quick-Step	0:08:46
20	Mikel Nieve	Team Sky	0:08:57

General Classification Standings

1	Chris Froome	Team Sky	77:25:10
2	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	0:02:27
3	Adam Yates	Orica-BikeExchange	0:02:53
4	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	0:03:27
5	Romain Bardet	AG2R La Mondiale	0:04:15