Stage 17

The road

At the start

Four climbs in 124 kilometres

The short, savage stage the organisers now write into every third week: 124 kilometres, the Portillon, the Peyresourde and the Val Louron-Azet, then ten kilometres at 8.3 per cent to Pla d'Adet. Vincenzo Nibali's 4:37 over Alejandro Valverde looks safe enough; the podium does not. Pinot, Péraud and Bardet are covered by a minute and a half, and the mountains jersey is up for grabs too.

How it was won

1. 123 km to go

   Ten points, and a grudge

   Rodríguez throws his wheel forward on the line at the summit and takes the mountains points off Majka by inches. The Pole is furious — the fifty on offer at Pla d'Adet are what actually matter.

2. 219 km to go

   Bardet dives off the Azet

   The young Frenchman attacks on the descent hunting the two compatriots standing between him and the podium, and has thirty seconds in a moment.

3. 310 km to go

   Pla d'Adet begins

   10.2 kilometres at 8.3 per cent, and Rolland, Roche, Visconti and Moinard hit it fifteen seconds up on the rest. Visconti attacks at once and only Roche can even try to follow.

4. 45 km to go

   Nibali looks around and goes

   Péraud has jumped to protect his placing and Nibali has followed him without effort. Then the Italian glances back, sees Valverde is not there, and attacks anyway — five kilometres from the summit, in the maillot jaune, on a mountain lined with people, simply because he can.

5. 54 km to go

   Majka reaches Visconti

   Having shed Rodríguez at last, Majka storms up to the Italian with 4.2km left and sits on him for barely a minute.

6. 6At the line

   A wink at the camera

   Majka lifts the tempo, drops Visconti and rides the last kilometres to Pla d'Adet alone, winking at the moto as he comes to the line. Twenty-eight seconds later Visconti, then Nibali — and the polka-dot jersey is settled.

The result