Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) wins the 17th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2017

Pierre Rolland won his first race stage since two years, and probably one of the most prestigious of his career! A member of a 40 riders breakaway, Rolland rode perfectly all day, staying in the wheels and saving himself until the last kilometres. Always a man on the attack, the Frenchman escaped 7km away from the goal and did not look back until the finish line.

The peloton is already looking forward to tomorrow’s stage, a short but intense one. The 18th stage will contain five climbs (two 1st category climbs, two 2nd category climbs and a 3rd category climb).

Behind the Cannondale-Drapac rider, Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) came in second at 24″ and Izagirre (Movistar) in third.

7’53” after Rolland, the Maglia Rosa group crossed the line, with all the favourites in it. Polanc appears now on the GC Top 10 thanks to his presence in today’s early breakaway. Landa (Sky) stays on top of the KOM classification, Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) is still the Ciclamino leader, and Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) stays in white.

Rolland wins the 17th stage! The Frenchman from Cannondale-Drapac finished 24″ in front of Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) and Izagirre (Movistar).

1km Still a 25″ advantage for Rolland on the chase, it seems like Rolland will be today’s winner!

2km The gap slightly came down to 25″ as De Plus (Quick-Step) is working for Devenyns!

3km It is maybe a little late but Polanc for UAE Team Emirates is trying to push hard to come back on Rolland. The Slovenian is working for Rui Costa.

5km 29″ for Rolland, the chasing group is losing right now!

6km The chasing group is disorganised behind. The chasing group has to react to win in 6km.

6.5km The 30 years old rider from Cannondale-Drapac has now a 17″ gap on the chasing group, he may be today’s winner!

7km Rolland attacked and took a few seconds of advance on the chasing group! The Frenchman has an advantage of 12″.

10km The front group is now rejoined by the chasing group. About 15 riders are contending for the stage victory.

11.5km Izagirre, Van Garderen, Busato, Rui Costa, Woods joined Contiin front of the race!

12km Woods ( Cannondale-Drapac) joined Izagirre and Busato as Bernard (Trek-Segafredo) is chasing these three men!

13km The Italian rider has about 6 seconds of advantage on Izagirre (Movistar) and Busato (Willier), who are chasing the leader of the race.

14km After an attack from Izagirre, Conti (UAE Team Emirates) counter attacks, on his saddle, and takes a few seconds on the rest of the breakaway!

15km The first few attacks from Fraile, Polanc and Busato have been aborted.

17km Mohoric is done for the day! After his exceptional work, the youngster from UAE Team Emirates popped from the breakaway. Right after he is dropped, attacks start to sparkle!

19km Impressive work of Mohoric who is still setting the pace in the breakaway! The Slovenian is definitely on a good day, as he keeps extending the leading group, even if the peloton is coming back on him and the 24 riders in front. The pack is now 7’57” behind the first group, what means that Bob Jungels may still be in white tonight.

23km The road is going to go uphill all the way to the finish, it will be a tough end of stage. Difficult to predict who is going to take this one. Probably a rider that did hide all along the stage, such as Rui Costa, who is our favourite for the stage win.

25km The peloton is coming back. The breakaway’s lead is melting, only 9’11” of advantage for the front group. Polanc is still virtually in white, with a 2′ gap on Jungels, that is why the Quick-Step Floors team is pushing hard.

26km Reassuring for the Butterfly.

29km The peloton, still led by Quick-Step and LottoNL Jumbo, is gaining time on the breakaway, they are 9’46” away from the leading group. The Team Sunweb can thank these two teams because they would have never gained so much time on the breakaway without this precious help.

31km The chasing group is 5’37” behind the first group, they will not come back in the first group.

35km Here is the list of the riders that are in the first group, 10’14” in front of the bunch: Rui Costa, Valerio Conti, Matej Mohoric, and Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates), Omar Fraile, Daniel Teklehaimanot and Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo), Gorka Izaguirre and Rory Sutherland (Movistar), Fran Ventoso and Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), Jan Barta (Bora-Hansgrohe), Maxime Monfort (Lotto Soudal), Pierre Rolland and Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac), Dries Devenyns and Laurens De Plus (Quick-Step), Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky), Jeremy Roy (FDJ), Julien Amezqueta and Matteo Busato (Wilier-Selle Italia), Felix Gorsschartner and Branislau Samoilau (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), and Enrico Barbin (Bardiani CSF).

39km Jurgen Van den Broeck (LottoNL Jumbo) has joined the Quick-Step team and the Team Sunweb in front of the peloton. The Belgian and his team want to defend Steven Kruijswijk’s ninth place on GC.

41km The second intermediate sprint has been won by Daniel Teklehaimanot (DDD).

43km Mohoric is working hard for Polanc, he is sacrificing himself for his fellow Slovenian teammate while the rest of the early breakaway is 2 minutes behind the front of the race. The pack gained a little bit of time on the front group led by Mohoric, they are now 10’42” behind.

45km The Slovenian wants to gain as many places as possible on the GC.

46km Izagirre, Bernard and Fraile just rejoined the first group.

49km The Sicilian answering to the critics, after he did not wait for the pink jersey Tom Dumoulin in yesterday’s stage.

52km The first group has been joined by a chasing group. The front of the race contains now about 25 riders, who have an advantage of 11’01” on the peloton. Behind this first group, Fraile (DDD), Bernard (Trek-Segafredo) and Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar) are chasing.

59km The gap between the front group and the peloton just went under 13 minutes, thanks to Quick-Step who is now extending the peloton. The Belgian team is defending the white jersey, property of Bob Jungels, and virtually on the shoulders of Jan Polanc.

61km Mohoric is joined by the chasing group! The group is now composed of 12 riders.

62km Update on the members of the chasing group. 11 riders are chasing Mohoric : Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing), Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac), Rory Sutherland (Movistar), Laurens De Plus, Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Floors), Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Rui Costa, Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates), Matteo Busato et Ilia Koshevoy (Wilier-Selle Italia),Jeremy Roy(FDJ) and Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF).

67km The Team Sunweb cannot apparently accelerate, whereas the chasing group can! As a consequence, Polanc is now virtual leader of the GC.

70km Only eight riders are now chasing Mohoric and they are 1’24” away from the 22 years sold Slovenian! With Polanc and Rui costa in the first chasing group plus Mohoric in front the race, UAE Team Emirates is riding perfectly so far!

71km Jan Polanc is the big winner of the day so far. The Slovenian will be on the podium tonight if the Team Sunweb does not pick up the pace.

72km Brutt will be caught by the chasing group pretty soon as the Russian is 2′ behind Mohoric.

74km The Team Sunweb keeps losing time on Mohoric, they are 13’33” behind th Slovenian. The Pink jersey’s team is overwhelmed.

76km Nairo Quintana (Movistar) nearly crashed after he threw a water bottle in the Giovo.

77km The peloton, still led by the Team Sunweb, is 13’12” behind Mohoric, who maintains a steady effort. The young rider from UAE Team Emirates is determined to arrive in solo in Canazei.

78.6km There were a few attacks in the chasing group, what brought the gap down to 2’58” between Mohoric and the chasing group.

81km Mohoric is done with Giovo. For his partner in crime Pavel Brutt, it is much harder. The Russian is probably going to wait for the chasing group.

83km As the riders are now in the last difficulty of the day, Giovo, Brutt has popped and Mohoric is now alone in front of the race!

84km The first chasing group is composed of: Valerio Agnoli (Bahrain-Merida), Ben Gastauer, Enrico Barbin, Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani-CSF), Francisco Ventoso (BMC Racing), Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac), Felix Grosschartner, Lukasz Owsian, Branislau Samoilau (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Sergey Firsanov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Jérémy Roy (FDJ), Maxime Monfort (Lotto Soudal), Gorka Izagirre, Rory Sutherland (Movistar), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Orica-Scott), Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Floors), Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Martijn Keizer (LottoNL-Jumbo), Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky), Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo), Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates), Matteo Busato (Wilier-Selle Italia).

85km The chasing group split into two groups.

86km Sacha Modolo (UAE Team Emirates) withdrew from the race earlier in the stage.

90km Matej Mohoric, 22 years of age, is in a goo shape in this Giro d’Italia. The Slovenian has been in several breakaways since the start of the Giro, maybe this one will be the good one. Mohoric was seen as one of the most talented riders of his generation , after he won back to back the Junior World Championship title and the U23 World Championship title in 2012 and 2013. Since he turned professional in 2014, he struggled to confirm.

93km The Team Sunweb of Tom Dumoulin is leading the peloton. The Dutchman has six of his teammates chasing behind the breakaway.

96km Update on the gaps: the chasing group is maintaining the gap with the front of the race (5’13”) while the peloton keeps losing time on Mohoric and Brutt, they are 11’50” behind the duo.

103km Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) and Maxime Monfort (Lotto-Soudal), both members of the chasing group, are the best-placed riders on GC. Polanc is 12:13 down on Dumoulin in 13th place, and Montfort is 15th at 14:46 of the pink jersey. The Slovenian and the Belgian have a good chance of entering the GC Top 10 tonight considering the configuration of the race right now…

105km Brutt and Mohoric, the two men in front, keep increasing the gap with the chasing group, which is disorganised.

107km It seems like the Maglia Rosa group is not interested in catching the breakaway today. It is understandable when we see the profile of the last stages, and that may be why the Team Sunweb is leading the bunch at a moderate pace so far.

111km The peloton is 10’30” behind the duo.

113km Mohoric and Brutt have 5’07” of advantage on the chasing group , which includes 41 riders : Valerio Agnoli (Bahrain-Merida), Ben Gastauer and Quentin Jaurégui (Ag2r La Mondiale), Jesper Hansen (Astana), Enrico Barbin and Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani-CSF), Tejay Van Garderen, Manuel Senni, and Francisco Ventoso (BMC Racing), Jan Barta and Jose Mendes (Bora-hansgrohe), Felix Grosschartner, Lukasz Owsian, Branislau Samoilau and Michal Schelgel (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Pierre Rolland, Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac), Jérémy Roy (FDJ), Maxime Monfort (Lotto Soudal), Gorka Izagirre and Rory Sutherland (Movistar), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Orica-Scott), Laurens De Plus and Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Floors), Natnael Berhane, Omar Fraile, Jacques Janse Van Rensburg, Kristian Sbaragli, and Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data), Martijn Keizer (LottoNL-Jumbo), Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky), Simon Geschke (Team Sunweb), Peter Stetina and Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo), Rui Costa, Valerio Conti and Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates), Julen Amezqueta, Matteo Busato and Ilya Koshevoy (Wilier-Selle Italia), and Sergey Firsanov (Gazprom-Rusvelo).

120km The race started fast and a few riders escaped from the peloton early in the stage. A trio formed, with Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac), Mohoric (UAE Team Emirates) and Brutt (Gazprom-Rusvelo). Behind these three riders, a chase group of 37 riders. After the second difficulty of the day, Mohoric attacked his two fellow breakaway mates, and only Brutt joined him, Rolland dropping back and rejoining the chasing group, 5 minutes behind.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the 17th stage of the Giro d’Italia 2017. This medium difficulty stage will connect Tirano to Canazei. Today’s route will contain 3 climbs: Aprica (2nd category), il Passo del Tonale (2nd category) and the Giovo (3rd category). The riders will be on a slightly uphill road for the last 65km of the stage.