Stage 17

The road

At the start

Wind on the road to Burgos

Nibali cracked inside the last three kilometres at Formigal and his lead is down to twenty-eight seconds over Horner and 1:14 over Valverde. Today looks like a rest before Peña Cabarga and the Angliru: a hundred and eighty-nine kilometres to Burgos across long, open country. Wind is forecast — and Saxo-Tinkoff have a leader in sixth and a memory of Saint-Amand-Montrond.

How it was won

1. 1130 km to go

   Two men, seven minutes

   Adam Hansen and Javier Aramendia go inside three kilometres, into a block headwind, and the bunch is delighted to let them. With a hundred and thirty kilometres left they have seven minutes and a very steady rhythm.

2. 240 km to go

   The road turns into the wind

   Lampre have been chipping away for Richeze and the gap is under two minutes when the route swings from headwind into crosswind. A Movistar delegation moves up just behind them and sits there for ten kilometres, waiting.

3. 328 km to go

   Saxo-Tinkoff do it again

   Twenty-eight kilometres out, exactly as they did at Saint-Amand-Montrond in July, Saxo-Tinkoff hit the front as a team and split the race — with Fabian Cancellara, of all reinforcements, in the move. Nibali, Horner and Valverde are all alert enough to be there. Pinot and Pozzovivo are not.

4. 410 km to go

   Vanotti and Tiralongo on the last hill

   Mindful of how narrow his lead has become, Nibali sends his two most reliable men to the front on the uncategorised climb ten kilometres out. Only Diego Ulissi gets away, and only for four kilometres.

5. 5At the line

   Mollema at seven hundred metres

   A classic finisseur's move on the Calle Vitoria: Bauke Mollema jumps clear of a reduced peloton with seven hundred metres left while David Tanner sits behind and stalls the chase, and he holds off Boasson Hagen, Richeze and Farrar. Pinot and Pozzovivo lose 1:30, and Nicolas Roche's day of work moves him up to fifth.

The result