Stage 17

The road

At the start

Three seconds, and the Monterovere

Aprica cut Richard Carapaz's lead over Jai Hindley to three seconds. João Almeida is 44 back, Mikel Landa 59, and Vincenzo Nibali has ridden himself up to fifth. Today opens uphill out of Ponte di Legno, drops for seventy kilometres, and then stacks two category-one climbs at the end: the Passo del Vetriolo, 13.5 kilometres at 7.5 per cent, and the brutal Monterovere to Lavarone.

How it was won

1. 179 km to go

   Bouwman extends his lead

   After nearly 70km of descending and valley false flat, the day's first categorised climb arrives with the break 4:45 clear. As expected, Bouwman skips clear for the points and pushes further ahead of Ciccone in the mountains classification.

2. 265 km to go

   Van der Poel launches

   The break has been splitting and reforming for twenty kilometres when Van der Poel puts in a huge attack up the right-hand side. Martin, Covi and Gall counter across, and as the four take thirty seconds the gap to a relaxed peloton climbs beyond six minutes — the stage is theirs to fight for.

3. 343 km to go

   A minute on the rest of the break

   Martin leads the four across the intermediate. Jumbo-Visma are chasing behind but the leading quartet now have a minute on their former companions and seven on the bunch.

4. 431 km to go

   Bahrain muscle past Ineos

   11.8km at 7.7%. Carthy drags a strong selection across to make it nine at the front, and Bouwman helps himself to forty more mountain points at the summit. But the real news is behind: Bahrain Victorious shoulder Ineos off the front of the peloton and lift the pace, and Valverde, tenth overall that morning, is an early casualty.

5. 59 km to go

   Buitrago attacks on the 9.9%

   Leemreize and Van der Poel had descended clear and taken 1:15 onto the Monterovere, but Van der Poel is fading badly on its brutal slopes. Behind, Carthy forces the issue and drops Bouwman and Martin — then with three and a half kilometres to the top Santiago Buitrago goes past him and starts eating into the gap.

6. 65 km to go

   Past Van der Poel, onto Leemreize

   The Colombian sweeps past a spent Van der Poel on the upper reaches and hauls in Leemreize all the way to the summit, catching him in the final five hundred metres.

7. 7At the line

   Buitrago wins in Lavarone

   He attacks immediately; Leemreize answers once, then bows his head at the second kick. A first Grand Tour stage at 22. Behind, the GC trio of Carapaz, Hindley and Landa cannot be separated until the final kick, where the Basque struggles across and Almeida loses real time at last.

The result