López soars to victory on stage 17: Daily Tour Digest
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Miguel Ángel López climbed to victory on a decisive stage 17 of the Tour de France, powering away from an elite group in the final kilometers of the Col de la Loze and holding on to get his first Tour stage win in his debut appearance at the race.
Race leader Primoz Roglic rolled across the line 15 seconds later for runner-up honors on the day while Tadej Pogacar arrived third, 30 seconds back. Roglic’s teammate Sepp Kuss was the only other to finish within a minute of López, with Richie Porte taking fifth at 1:01 down, and Enric Mas, Mikel Landa, and Adam Yates the next riders across the line.
López’s huge ride saw him move up the general classification standings from fourth into third, while Roglic continues to lead the race, now with a 57-second gap over Pogacar.
More to come …
In other news
| Bernal abandons the Tour de France
The 17th stage of the Tour got underway without one of the biggest stars in the race, Egan Bernal. The Ineos Grenadiers announced on Wednesday morning before the stage that the 2019 Tour de France champion would not continue at the race.
“We have taken this decision with Egan’s best interests at heart,” said team principal Dave Brailsford in a statement. “Egan is a true champion who loves to race, but he is also a young rider, with many Tours ahead of him and at this point, on balance, we feel it is wiser for him to stop racing.”
Bernal’s Tour did not go according to plan. He came into the race among the very top favorites for yellow, but he dropped out of GC contention on stage 15.
“This is obviously not how I wanted my Tour de France to end, but I agree that it is the right decision for me in the circumstances,” Bernal said. “I have the greatest respect for this race and I am already looking forward to coming back in the years ahead.”
| Vos wins stage 6 of the Giro Rosa
Marianne Vos picked up yet another stage victory at the Giro Rosa on Wednesday, powering to her third win of this year’s race on stage 6.
The 87.8-kilometer trek from Torre del Greco to Nola saw plenty of attacks that whittled away at the peloton, but a reduced lead group brought things back together in time for a sprint to the line. Just as she did on stage 5, Vos again proved fastest in the final kick.
Hannah Barnes took runner-up honors on the day with Lotte Kopecky in third.
Annemiek van Vleuten continues to lead the general classification with three stages left.
| Démare wins stage 2 of the Tour de Luxembourg, riders protest safety conditions
Arnaud Démare won a stage 2 of the Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg on Wednesday that saw riders protesting safety conditions with a long neutralized stretch in the early goings of the stage. As Groupama-FDJ’s Jacopo Guarnieri revealed Tuesday on Twitter, riders were unhappy with the number of parked vehicles along the road, even in the finale of stage 1.
After seeing further problems on stage 2, riders neutralized the race and then met with organizers and UCI commissaires to discuss their concerns.
Racing ultimately resumed and it was Arnaud Démare who rode to the stage victory over Jasper Philipsen and Alexander Krieger in Hesperange. Diego Ulissi continues to lead the race with three stages to go.
| Coming up at the Tour
Stage 18 will be another tough one at the Tour as the peloton takes on a succession of very hard climbs, including the Montée du plateau des Glières, whose 11.2% gradient will be a major test for the GC hopefuls.
In case you missed it
| Sagan’s green jersey hopes are still alive, but fading
We took a closer look at the stages ahead to gauge Peter Sagan’s chances of taking green.
Today’s featured image of Miguel Ángel López winning stage 17 of the Tour de France comes from Cor Vos.
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