Stage 17

The road

How it was won

1. 1127 km to go

   Twenty-eight go, and only three teams miss it

   It takes almost fifty kilometres for the move to stick, and when it does it is enormous: two Sky riders, two Movistar, two Orica, Gesink, Cataldo and more. Only Cannondale and Giant-Alpecin end up without a man in it.

2. 230 km to go

   Frank and Cataldo slip the leash

   The break has been attacking itself for kilometres when Mathias Frank and Dario Cataldo go clear on an unclassified climb with thirty to run — and Sky and LottoNL never let them more than half a minute.

3. 35 km to go

   'Hell starts here'

   The words are painted on the tarmac at the left-hand turn onto Mas de la Costa. Frank and Cataldo take it with twenty seconds, and the road immediately rears past twenty per cent.

4. 42 km to go

   Contador stings, Froome hangs on

   Frank pushes again and drops a flagging Cataldo. Below them Contador attacks the twisting climb repeatedly, Quintana glued to him each time, Chaves alongside — and Froome, initially distanced, hauls himself back onto the train in sight of the line.

5. 5At the line

   Frank grinds it out

   Riders are nearly at a standstill on the final ramps. Mathias Frank grinds to the line with König closing fast behind him and holds on by a hair for his first win in two years.

The result