Roglic aces Stage 17, Kittel quits after bruising crash
FROOME CONSOLIDATES HIS OVERALL LEAD AFTER FINISHING SECOND
peeding downhill at 75 kph on unprotected Alpine roads, Tour de France rookie Primoz Roglic scaled the race’s highest peak and then barrelled down the other side while holding off the competition on the famed Galibier climb to win Stage 17.
Chris Froome consolidated his overall lead as Fabio Aru lost touch with the three-time champion’s group on the punishing gradients of the Galibier.
Froome finished just over a minute after Roglic in a group with Rigoberto Uran and Romain Bardet, who climbed to second and third overall. Aru dropped from second to fourth.
Roglic, 27, was junior world ski-jumping champion in 2007 but became a professional cyclist in 2014. He was part of an initial 33-man breakaway that was whittled down to just six riders when Roglic attacked solo 6.4km from the summit of the hors category Col du Galibier, which at more than 2,600 metres above sea level was the highest point of this year’s Tour.
He crested the climb, 28km from the finish in Serre-Chevalier, with a lead of just over a minute and half on a group of chasers including the top contenders.
Froome also took four bonus seconds for finishing third to help increase his lead.
Aru came 31sec later to drop to fourth at 53sec ahead of Thursday’s second straight Alpine stage with its brutal finish at the summit of the imposing Col d’Izoard. Sprint star Marcel Kittel earlier quit the Tour after a crash on the 183km, 17th stage in the Alps from La Mure to Serre-Chevalier.
The 29-year-old German was leading the sprinters’ green jersey competition at the time he abandoned having won five stages so far. (La Mure - Serre Chevalier, 183 km) 1. Primoz Roglic (Slovenia / LottoNL-Jumbo) 5:07:41”/s2. Rigoberto Uran (Colombia / Cannondale-Drapac) +1:13” 3. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 4. Romain Bardet (France / AG2R La Mondiale) 5. Warren Barguil (France / Team Sunweb) 6. Mikel Landa (Spain / Team Sky) +1:16” 7. Daniel Martin (Ireland / Quick-Step Floors) +1:43” 8. Alberto Contador (Spain / Trek-Segafredo) +1:44” 9. Louis Meintjes (South Africa / UAE Team Emirates) 10. Fabio Aru (Italy / Astana Pro Team) 11. Mathias Frank (Switzerland / AG2R La Mondiale) 12. Darwin Atapuma (Colombia / UAE Team Emirates) +1:59” 13. Serge Pauwels (Belgium / Team Dimension Data) +3:10” 14. Simon Yates (Britain / OricaScott) +3:14”