Simon Geschke of Giant Alpecin has won stage seventeen of the 102nd Tour De France.
The stage after the second rest day and today’s stage was a 161km stage in the Alps from Digne-les-Bains to Pra Loup on a gloriously sunny day.
One hundred and sixty eight riders started, although Laurent Didier of Trek Factory didn’t on a stage of five climbs which saw a number of attacks including one from Peter Sagan from Tinkoff Saxo all fail.
Thirty one riders forced a small gap before Jeremy Roy put in an attack off the front after twenty five kilometres.
Eleven kilometres later and the peloton had pulled back all the escapers before, on the col des Lèques, Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) took the two points with one for Kristjian Durasek (Lampre).
After 64 kilometres, Tanel Kangert (Astana), Jan Bakelants and Mikaël Chérel (AG2R-La Mondiale), Thibaut Pinot and Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ), Richie Porte and Nicolas Roche (Sky), Rafal Majka and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), Jonathan Castroviejo, José Herrada and Gorka Izagirre (Movistar), John Degenkolb and Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin), Alberto Losada (Katusha), Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge), Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-Quick Step), Perrig Quémeneur (Europcar), Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo), Kristjian Durasek and Rafael Valls (Lampre-Merida), Andrew Talansky and Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling), Merhawi Kudus, Serge Pauwels and Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTNèQhubeka) formed a new break.
Serge Pauwels took the points on the col de Toutes Aures climb with Daniel Teklehaimanot second, as the gap to the peloton, which had the race leader Chris Froome tucked in safely, went out to 2.30.
With seventy kilometres left, illness forced Tejay Van Garderen of BMC out of the race and the American was in tears as he climbed into his team car, as did Jerome Coppell., Nathas Haas and Irishman Sam Bennett of Bora Argon, who was the lantern rouge.
The category two col de la Colle-Saint-Michel on the D908 road brought another five points for Serge Pauwels and three for José Herrada but when the sprint came at Beauvezer, it was Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ) who took the points ahead of John Degenkolb and Peter Sagan, who were less than happy with each other and were still pointing fingers at one another a few hundred metres later.
The big climb of the day was the Col d’Allos which had a fourteen kilometre climb with an average gradient of 5.5% and Simon Geschke of Giant Alpecin was the first to start on the climb, having got away with forty seven kilometres remaining.
Geschke was 7.30 ahead of the yellow jersey group seven kilometres later but was now being hunted down by Teklehaimnot.
Through Le Foux and Froome’s group, which was minus the World Champion Michal Kwiatkowski who was forced to abandon, were now 10.23 behind Geschke, who was taking the switchback climbs with ease.
Pinot, Frank and Talansky. Adam Yates and Kruijswijk were trying to bring back Geschke but as their efforts were coming to nothing, Thibaut Pinot decided he would have a go just as Geschke was going over the Col d’Allos climb.
Pinto went down on a left hand turn but was straight up and back on his bike on a road which had a number of different surface changes, whilst further down the road, Astana’s Vincenzo Nibali but in an attack which Froome, Quintana and Contador were able to mark.
As Nibali pushed on, Contador punctured but up the road, Geschke was 1.30 ahead of Uran and Talansky who got past Uran with Pinot 1.50 back with five kilometres.
Geschke kept going and sailed under the finish line and the German kept going to take the biggest win of his career in a time of 4.12.17 with Andrew Talansky second and Rigoberto Uran in third place.
Nicholas Roche was seventh with Adam Yates tenth.
Chris Froome, who finished 7.15 down coming in just behind Nairo Quintana but his lead had been preserved for another day.
“I think I am going to need a couple of years to realise what has happened to me. I did not feel well due to the heat but I thought I would break away and see what happens," said Simon Geschke.
"My coach told me to try something different and I know I needed a gap before the last climb. I have definitely rode beyond my limit today but I am happy.”