Race Report Stage 17: Simon Geschke took an exceptional win as he broke clear of the day long breakaway on the Col d’Allos to hold off a group of fast closing climbers. It was an unfortunate day for Van Garderen who was forced to abandon after an overnight sickness that led to him losing time from the opening climb. The GC guys once again played out a stalemate as, despite superior manpower, Quintana was unable to gap Froome.The first of the four Alpine stages we have which should bring the race to a thrilling denouement. The stage, from Dignes-les-Bains to Pra-Loup, is a carbon copy of the Dauphine stage that Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) won last month. Facing the peloton will be 161km of Southern Alpine riding featuring five categorised climbs; 3rd category Col des Leques (6km @ 5.3%), 3rd category Col de Toutes Aures (6.1km @ 3.1%), 2nd category Col de la Colle Saint-Michel (11km @ 5.2%), 1st category Col d’Allos (14km @ 5.5%) and finally the second category Pra-Loup (6.2 km @ 6.5%). The two main keys to the day are the descent of the d’Allos and the oppressive heat. Bardet used the descent from the first category climb to get away from the main peloton. Chris Froome (Sky) is not the best descender in the peloton so expect to see Nibali (Astana) or even Quintana (Movistar) try to isolate the yellow jersey. The heat is also a factor, as I write this I am heading into Chambery...
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