Stage 17

The road

At the start

Thirty-two kilometres, and no flat

Yesterday was supposed to be a transition and turned into a fight; Froome still leads Mollema by 4:14 and Contador by 4:25. Thibaut Pinot has abandoned with illness. Today is a mountain time trial from Embrun to Chorges — thirty-two kilometres, two second-category climbs, and a decision for every rider about which bicycle to ride and when.

How it was won

1. 125 km to go

   Uphill from the ramp

   Thirty-two kilometres from Embrun to Chorges with two second-category climbs in them and barely a flat metre — a time trial where the choice of bicycle is a tactical decision.

2. 212 km to go

   Contador leads at every check

   Valverde, his overall race already gone, resets all three intermediate times and goes through the Réallon summit fifty-nine seconds up on Van Garderen. Then Contador beats even that. At this point Chris Froome is eleven seconds down on him.

3. 311 km to go

   The bike change that won it

   Contador and Kreuziger stay on road bikes with clip-on bars all the way to the line. Froome swaps onto a full time trial machine at the top of Réallon, tucks into the bars, and has twelve fast kilometres to use it.

4. 46 km to go

   Mollema into the barriers

   Second overall this morning, the Dutchman over-cooks a right-hand bend in the finale, hits the crowd-retention fence and comes to a complete stop without falling. He restarts, but the momentum is gone and so is his place on the podium.

5. 5At the line

   51:33, and nine seconds

   Froome erases the eleven-second deficit and adds nine, taking his third stage of this Tour from Contador and Rodríguez. Contador moves to second overall at 4:34, Kreuziger to third, and Mollema falls to fourth.

The result