Tour de France 2008/17. stage

00000 Result of the 17th stage 00000
		Carlos Sastre (TNK)	6:07:58 h
2.		Samuel Sanchez (EUS)	+ 2:03 min
3.		Andy Schleck (TNK)	equal time
4th		Alejandro Valverde (MOV)	+ 2:13 min
5.		Frank Schleck (TNK)	equal time
6th		Vladimir Jefimkin (ALM)	+ 2:15 min
7th		Cadel Evans (OLO)	equal time
8th.		Denis Menshov (TLJ)	equal time
9.		Christian Vande Velde (CPT)	equal time
10.		Bernhard Kohl (GST)	equal time
		Peter Velits (MRM)
Intermediate results after the 17th stage
		Carlos Sastre (TNK)	74:39:03 h
2.		Frank Schleck (TNK)	+ 1:24 min
3.		Bernhard Kohl (GST)	+ 1:33 min
		Óscar Freire Gomez (TLJ)	219 pts.
2.		Thor Hushovd (CA)	172 pts.
3.		Erik Zabel (MRM)	167 pts.
		Bernhard Kohl (GST)	125 pts.
2.		Carlos Sastre (TNK)	80 pts.
3.		Frank Schleck (TNK)	80 pts.
		Andy Schleck (TNK)	74:49:18 h
2.		Roman Kreuziger (CAN)	+ 1:58 min
3.		Vincenzo Nibali (CAN)	+ 15:24 min
		Team CSC-Saxo Bank	223: 50: 44 h
2.		Ag2r	+9: 27 min
3.		Rabobank	+1:01:06 h

Carlos Sastre alone in the lead on the ascent to Alpe d'Huez

The 17th stage of the Tour de France 2008 on July 23rd was 210.5 kilometers long and ran from Embrun to Alpe d'Huez . There were two sprint classifications as well as a mountain classification of the 3rd category and three mountain classifications of the Hors Catégorie on the program. This stage was the first tour stage in which three mountains of the highest category were climbed. It was therefore the queen stage of the 2008 tour.

Rémy Di Grégorio , Rubén Pérez and Peter Velits attacked at kilometer 3 and were able to pull away. Carlos Barredo tried to join but was not left out. Stefan Schumacher finally made it. The four of them could separate. Stéphane Augé and Geoffroy Lequatre then attacked from the field and tried unsuccessfully to pursue them. Schumacher was the first to reach the first mountain classification. The CSC-Saxo Bank team took over the chase. Di Grégorio won the first sprint classification. The mountain classification at Col du Galibier was won again by Schumacher. From the field, Thomas Voeckler , Bernhard Kohl and other drivers attacked around the mountain points, Kohl was the first in the field to cross the pass. Several drivers crashed on the descent, but were able to continue shortly afterwards. Voeckler attacked in the downhill, Amets Txurruka and Carlos Barredo followed, followed by Vincenzo Nibali , but they were caught again. At the refreshment station, the outliers achieved a maximum advantage of 7:20 minutes. Bernhard Eisel fell on a traffic island, but was able to continue driving with abrasions. On the climb to the Col de la Croix de Fer, CSC increased the speed again, which several drivers fell victim to. Di Grégorio was caught first from the field. Then Pérez and Schumacher also fell back one after the other and were overtaken by the field. Velits was the first to reach the pass alone. Kohl, who in turn led the group of favorites, drove over the pass in second place. Jérôme Pineau attacked in the downhill and reached Velits in the downhill and also won the second sprint classification. Meanwhile, those who had fallen back caught up with the group of favorites. In the final climb, CSC increased the pace again. Carlos Sastre attacked and managed to pull away, while Velits and Pineau were finally caught. In the favorite group there were several attacks in which Denis Menschow lost the connection and the favorite group only consisted of Kohl, Christian Vande Velde , Cadel Evans , Fränk and Andy Schleck , Alejandro Valverde and Wladimir Jefimkin . After a period of calm, in which several drivers were able to catch up, there were further attacks in this group. But these were countered again and again by Andy Schleck in order not to endanger the stage victory of his team-mate Sastre, who was at the top. The Schleck brothers did not show any ambitions to reduce the gap to Sastre, but did not let any other driver out of the leading group, which made the gap bigger and bigger. At the finish in Alpe d'Huez, which was reached on a 200-meter-long and 6.5-meter-wide home straight, Sastre finally had a lead of over 2 minutes, which meant that he was also able to secure the yellow jersey. Samuel Sánchez and Andy Schleck crossed the finish line before the rest of the favorites. Kim Kirchen had to accept another big deficit. Bernhard Kohl secured 40 points in the mountain classification on this stage, which put him in the lead in this classification and thus - assuming a finish in Paris - he was the winner of the dotted jersey .

tasks

• 123 Jimmy Casper - timed out

Sprint ratings

• 1st intermediate sprint in Le Monêtier-les-Bains (km 57.5) (1463 m above sea level)

First	Rémy Di Grégorio	6 pts.
Second	Peter Velits	4 pts.
Third	Stefan Schumacher	2 pts.

• 2nd intermediate sprint in Le Bourg-d'Oisans (kilometer 195) (715 m above sea level)

First	Jérôme Pineau	6 pts.
Second	Peter Velits	4 pts.
Third	Kurt Asle Arvesen	2 pts.

• Target sprint in Alpe d'Huez (kilometer 210.5) (1850 m above sea level)

First	Carlos Sastre	20 pts.
Second	Samuel Sánchez	17 pts.
Third	Andy Schleck	15 pts.
Fourth	Alejandro Valverde	13 pts.
fifth	Frank Schleck	12 pts.
Sixth	Vladimir Yefimkin	10 pts.
seventh	Cadel Evans	9 pts.
Eighth	Denis Menshov	8 pts.
Ninth	Christian Vande Velde	7 pts.
Tenth	Bernhard Kohl	6 pts.
Eleventh	Roman Kreuziger	5 pts.
Twelfth	Tadej Valjavec	4 pts.
Thirteenth	Stéphane Goubert	3 pts.
Fourteenth	David Moncoutié	2 pts.
Fifteenth	Nicolas Vogondy	1 point

Mountain ratings

• Côte de Sainte-Marguerite, category 3 (kilometer 31) (1185 m above sea level; 3.5 km at 6.0%)

First	Stefan Schumacher	4 pts.
Second	Rémy Di Grégorio	3 pts.
Third	Rubén Pérez	2 pts.
Fourth	Peter Velits	1 point

• Col du Galibier , HC category (km 79) (2645 m above sea level; 21.9 km at 5.6%)

The first is also the winner of the " Souvenir Henri Desgrange ".

First	Stefan Schumacher	20 pts.
Second	Rémy Di Grégorio	18 pts.
Third	Peter Velits	16 pts.
Fourth	Rubén Pérez	14 pts.
fifth	Bernhard Kohl	12 pts.
Sixth	Thomas Voeckler	10 pts.
seventh	John-Lee Augustyn	8 pts.
Eighth	Amets Txurruka	7 pts.
Ninth	Kanstanzin Siuzou	6 pts.
Tenth	Carlos Barredo	5 pts.

• Col de la Croix de Fer , HC category (kilometer 156) (2067 m above sea level; 29.0 km at 5.2%)

First	Peter Velits	20 pts.
Second	Bernhard Kohl	18 pts.
Third	Kurt Asle Arvesen	16 pts.
Fourth	Andy Schleck	14 pts.
fifth	Christian Vande Velde	12 pts.
Sixth	Frank Schleck	10 pts.
seventh	Chris Froome	8 pts.
Eighth	David Moncoutié	7 pts.
Ninth	Kim churches	6 pts.
Tenth	Carlos Sastre	5 pts

• Alpe d'Huez , HC category (210.5 km) (1850 m above sea level; 13.8 km at 7.9%)

First	Carlos Sastre	40 pts.
Second	Samuel Sánchez	36 pts.
Third	Andy Schleck	32 pts.
Fourth	Alejandro Valverde	28 pts.
fifth	Frank Schleck	24 pts.
Sixth	Vladimir Yefimkin	20 pts.
seventh	Cadel Evans	16 pts.
Eighth	Denis Menshov	14 pts.
Ninth	Christian Vande Velde	12 pts.
Tenth	Bernhard Kohl	10 pts.