Giro d'Italia: Giro d'Italia Stage #17: Breakaway coup by Pierre Rolland

Cycling: Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) secured stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia. Shortly before the finish, the Frenchman was able to break away from a huge group of leaders and celebrate as a soloist at the finish in Canazei. Austria's Felix Großschartner (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) finished seventh. The classification drivers arrived together in the main field.

More than 40 drivers escape

After yesterday's most exciting 16st stage should today's section - as already in our Preview of the third rest day suspected—belonging to the outliers. The drivers had to cover 219 kilometers from Tirano to Canazei. The aim was to climb three categorized mountains along the way. The climb to Aprica, the Passo del Tonale and the climb to Giovo should drop mountain points. Then it was about 80 kilometers slightly uphill up the Val di Fassa. Pavel Brutt (Gazprom-RusVelo), Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) and Matiej Mohoric (UAE) formed a leading trio, while behind them there were no fewer than 40 men in a chasing group. Rolland therefore let himself fall back into this. The peloton agreed with this constellation, since no driver from the top ten was represented in the group. The Katusha-Alpecin team could also live with it, although they were the only team not to have anyone in front. The lead quickly grew to well over ten minutes. It was clear that the escape would be crowned with success.

Jan Polanc puts the pressure on

Although Mohoric resisted the merger for a long time, the time had come after the climb to Giovo. In the huge group, attacks came again and again. Some drivers were gradually left behind, caught up again and then had to be pulled off again. This led to a race situation that was extremely difficult to keep track of throughout the day. It was clear that the German Simon Geschke (Sunweb) was also among the escapees, as was the Austrian Felix Großschartner (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) and Jan Polanc (UAE), who already had the 4st stage of this year's Giro d'Italia. The Slovenian had several teammates with him and was also the most dangerous man in the overall standings. He was 12th before the start, 13:13 minutes behind. In the meantime, he was virtually wearing the Maglia Rosa. No wonder that in the peloton, a few teams gradually increased the pace.

Pierre Rolland plays all his experience

In the leading group, Team UAE, represented by Mohoric, set the pace. The Quick-Step Floors team in the peloton ensured that the lead was reduced to less than ten minutes. They wanted to defend Bob Jungels' white jersey. When Mohoric finished his work about 17 kilometers from the finish, he dropped back. From then on there were constant attacks in the lead group, which was still around 25 strong. The group flew apart. Finally, with eight kilometers to go, Frenchman Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) broke away. His pursuers disagreed. This quickly increased the gap to half a minute. It was about the stage win. The Cannondale-Drapac team can finally look forward to another great success. Second was Rui Costa (UAE) ahead of Gorka Izagirre (Movistar). The peloton crossed the finish line 7:53 minutes after the day's winner. Bob Jungels was able to successfully defend his white jersey. There were no gaps among the classification drivers.

The result of the 17st stage of the 100th Giro d'Italia 2017

The overall standings of the 100th Giro d'Italia 2017 after 17 of 21 stages