Trentin wins stage, Alaphilippe leads

GAP, France, July 24 

European champion Matteo Trentin won the 17th stage of the Tour de France, a hilly 200-km ride from the Pont du Gard today as his Mitchelton-Scott team celebrated their fourth victory in this year’s race.

The Italian jumped away from a reduced group of breakaway riders at the foot of the last climb and powered clear in the descent to claim his third stage victory on the Tour after previous wins in 2013 and 2014 .

It was another good day for Mitchelton-Scott following on from Simon Yates’ two stage wins and Daryl Impey’s victory on stage nine, which goes some way to make up for Adam Yates’s failure to contest for the overall victory.

“This win is worth two wins because after stage 10 to Albi, I thought my chances to win a stage were today,” said Trentin.  The top contenders stayed quiet, finishing in the peloton, just over 20 minutes off the pace behind Trentin, as France’s Julian Alaphilippe retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey. 

He leads defending champion Geraint Thomas by 1:35 in the general classification.  

Team Ineos’ Luke Rowe and German Tony Martin have been disqualified from the Tour de France for shoving each other during the 17th stage, organisers said . 

Both riders were seen tangling near the top of the last climb of the day as they appeared to fight for position, which led to their disqualification by the race stewards. — Reuters