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Stage 17, Thursday, July 19: Bagnères de Luchon - Peyragudes, 143.5 km. High mountains

Rated ascents:

• Km 27.5: Col de Menté (1349m), 9.3 km @ 9.1% - Category 1
• Km 55.5: Col des Ares (797 m), 6.0 km @ 5.3% - Category 2
• Km 76.0: Côte de Burs, 1.2 km @ 7.6% - Category 3
• Km 111.5: Port de Bales (1755 m), 11.7 km @ 7.7% - Category H
• Km 142.5: Peyragudes, 15.4 km @ 5.1% - Category 1

The Race: Again the winner came out of an early break. Nibali had been in it, but Alejandro Valverde explained that the escape would surely be hunted down if Nibali, third in GC,remained in it. Valverde and Nibali shook hands and Nibali returned to the pack.

Valverde went solo on the Port de Bales rode beautifully and powerfully to the finish. Behind him, Liquigas tried to thin out the field and strip Wiggins of some of his support, but the real attacks did not come from Nibali. Jurgen Van Den Broeck was the animator and his accelerations caused Nibali to be dropped.

In the final kilometers Froome drove the Yellow Jersey group hard to try to catch Valverde, but he had to wait several times for Wiggins, who seemed to be encouraging Froome to go on alone. Froome stuck with his captain, and his waiting for Wiggins was probably a gift to Valverde, who still had 28 seconds in hand when he crossed the line.

Thomas Voeckler marked Fredrik Kessiakoff while increasing his lead in the KOM. Bradley Wiggins will start tomorrow in yellow with a 2 minute, 5 second lead over teammate Chris Froome.

Results:

1. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 4hr 12min 11sec. 34.1 km/hr
2. Christopher Froome (Sky) @ 19sec
3. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.
4. Thibaut Pinaut (FDJ-Big Mat) @ 22sec
5. Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 26sec
6. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) s.t.
7. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) @ 37sec
8. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) @ 54sec
9. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 1min 2sec
10. Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) @ 1min 11sec
11. Andréas Klöden (Radi Shack-Nissan) @ 1min 14sec
12. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 1min 30sec
13. Jelle Venedert (Lotto-Belisol) @ 1min 39sec
14. Richie Porte (Sky) @ 1min 46sec
15. Denis Menchov (Katusha) @ 1min 55sec
16. Christopher Kern (Europcar) @ 2min 10sec
17. Janez Brajkovic (Astana) s.t.
18. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
19. Michael Rogers (Sky) s.t.
20. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 2min 37sec
21. Maxime Monfort (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 3min 17sec
22. Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack-Nissan) s.t.
23. Yury Trofimov (Katusha) s.t.
24. Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo-Tinkoff) @ 4min 10sec
25. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) s.t.
26. Michele Scarponi (Lampre) @ 6min 28sec
27. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 6min 46sec
28. Juan José Cobo (Movistar) s.t.
29. Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) @ 6min 55sec
30. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) s.t.
31. Sandy Casar (FDJ-Big Mat) s.t.
32. Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Movistar) s.t.
33. Blel Kadri (Ag2r) @ 7min 33sec
34. Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 8min 19sec
35. Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) @ 9min 6sec
36. Michael Schär (BMC) @ 9min 37sec
37. Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge) @ 10min 2sec
38. Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) @ 10min 42sec
39. Gorka izaguirre (Euskaltel) s.t.
40. Edvald Bosson Hagen (Sky) @ 11min 12sec
41. Dominik Nerz (liquigas) s.t.
42. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) s.t.
43. Jean-Christopher Peraud (Ag2r) @ 11min 21sec
44. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 15min 2sec
45. Andriy Grivko (Astana) s.t.
46. Simone Stortoni (Lampre) s.t.
47. Sergio Paulinho (Saxo-Tinkoff) s.t.
48. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) @ 16min 1sec
49. Francis De Greef (Lotto-Belisol) @ 16min 6sec
50. Marcus Burghardt (BMC) s.t.
    

General Classification: 3,092 km raced so far at an average speed of 39.4 km/hr

1. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) 78hr 28min 2sec
2. Christopher Froome (Sky) @ 2min 5sec
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) @ 2min 41sec
4. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) @ 5min 53sec
5. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) @ 8min 30sec
6. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 9min 57sec
7. Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 10min 11sec
8. Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 10min 17sec
9. Janez Brajkovic (Astana) @ 11min 0sec
10. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-Big Mat) @ 11min 46sec
11. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 12min 58sec
12. Andréas Klöden (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ @ 14min 9sec
13. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 14min 22sec
14. Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo-Tinkoff) @ 18min 34sec
15. Denis Menchov (Katusha) @ 22min 42sec
16. Maxime Monfort (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 24min 24sec
17. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) @ 25min 32sec
18. Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Movistar) @ 29min 23sec
19. Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) @ 33min 7sec
20. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) @ 33min 38sec
21. Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 35min 59sec
22. Sandy Casar (FDJ-Big Mat) @ 41min 47sec
23. Michael Rogers (Sky) @ 48min 20sec
24. Jelle Venendert (Lotto-Belisol) @ 49min 42sec
25. Michele Scarponi (Lampre) @ 52min 36sec
26. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) @ 53min 1sec
27. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 54min 29sec
28. Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) @ 55min 0sec
29. Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 58min 30sec
30. Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 59min 2sec
31. Juan José Cobo (Movistar) @ 1hr 2min 5sec
32. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 1hr 8min 24sec
33. Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) @ 1hr 9min 8sec
34. Richie Porte (Sky) @ 1hr 10min 38sec
35. Gorka Izaguirre (Euskaltel) @ 1hr 11min 7sec
36. Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) @ 1hr 20min 30sec
37. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 1hr 20min 53sec
38. Gianpaolo Caruso (Katusha) @ 1hr 21min 35sec
39. George Hincapie (BMC) @ 1hr 25min 29sec
40. Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil) @ 1hr 27min 14sec
41. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) @ 1hr 28min 33sec
42. Philippe Gilbert (BMC) @ 1hr 32min 30sec
43. Peter Sagan (Liquigas) @ 1hr 33min 16sec
44. Andriy Grivko (Astana) @ 1hr 33min 52sec
45. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) @ 1hr 33min 54sec
46. Amaël Moinard (BMC) @ 1hr 34min 13sec
47. Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ-Big Mat) @ 1hr 34min 36sec
48. Michael Schär (BMC) @ 1hr 37min 58sec
49. Dominic Nerz (Liquigas) @ 1hr 37min 58sec
50. Fabrice Jeandesoz (Saur-Sojasun) @ 1hr 39min 0sec

Climber:

1. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar): 134 points
2. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana): 123
3. Chris Anker Sorensen: Saxo-Tinkoff): 77
4. Pierre Rolland (Europcar): 63
5. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar): 51

Points:

1. Peter Sagan (Liquigas): 356 points
2. André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol): 254
3. Matthew Harley Goss (Orica-GreenEdge): 203
4. Mark Cavendish (Sky): 130
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky): 127

Young Rider:

1. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 78hr 36min 32sec
2. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-Big Mat) @ 3min 16sec
3. Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) @ 1hr 0min 38sec
4. Gorka Izaguirre (Euskaltel) @ 1hr 2min 37sec
5. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 1hr 12min 23sec

Team Classification:

1. Radio Shack-Nissan: 235hr 40min 21sec
2. Sky @ 14min 9sec
3. BMC @ 36min 21sec
4. Astana @ 39min 20sec
5. Movistar @ 1hr 8min 4sec

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Stage 17 map and profile

Stage 17 map

Stage 17 profile

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Stage 17 Photos

Mark Cavendish before the start.

Wiggins is ready to start his last day in the high mountains.

Tour boss Christian Prudhomme

Panorama

Chris Froome leads Bradley Wiggins, who can't hold his wheel, on the final meters of the final climb. Valverde is a little more than a half-minute ahead.

A few seconds later...Jurgen van den Broeck leads Pierre Rolland and Thibaut Pinot.

Tejay Van Garderen saved his White Jersey .

Liquigas tried to set things up for Nibali, but Nibali didn't have the suds today.

Cadel Evans had another rough day.

Haimar Zubeldia and Maxime Monfort

Gorka Izaguirre

Thomas Voeckler amid the fans

Chris Horner

Andréas Klöden

Nicolas Roche

Denis Menchov

Janez Brajkovic

Ivan Basso

Michele Scarponi

Alejandro Valverde gets a spectacular stage win.

Chris Froome leads Wiggins over the line.

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