Tour: Quintana wins, Thomas celebrates

The Brit extended his lead over his closest rivals for the yellow jersey on the 17th stage in the Pyrenees at the Tour de France. Four days before Paris he is well ahead of the new runner-up Tom Dumoulin. Froome slipped back to third place on Wednesday. The day's victory on the only 65 kilometer long mini stage from Bagnères-de-Luchon to the Col du Portet went to the Colombian tour favorite Nairo Quintana, who is already too far behind in the overall standings.

The tough section over three difficult climbs was one of the last opportunities for the aspirants to turn the ranking on its head again. Ultimately, however, the Sky Armada, which was once again difficult to defeat, confidently parried all attacks - except for those from Quintana. Primoz Roglic tried, but initially couldn't shake Froome. Three kilometers from the finish, the Slovenian dared to attack, but was caught again.

Geraint Thomas is getting closer and closer to his big goal. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

When the Dutchman Dumoulin started a good two kilometers from the summit, Thomas went with him, but Froome had no more strength. In the sprint for third place, Thomas prevailed, defending champion Froome finished 48 seconds behind his Sky colleague. This means that the hierarchy in the British super team has finally been clarified. The new starting variant does not bring any additional tension The organizers wanted to add spice to the stage with a new starting variant similar to the procedure in Formula 1 or motorcycle racing. However, the starting grid with yellow-wearing Thomas at the front and his pursuers right behind did not provoke early attacks from the top drivers as hoped. Instead, the podium contenders rolled off calmly and quickly had their teammates and helpers with them - as with any normal stage.

Before the last Pyrenees mountain stage and the time trial on Saturday, the top riders can treat themselves to a quieter day on Thursday, when there is a flat stage with an expected mass sprint on the 18th section from Trie-sur-Baise to Pau over 171 kilometers.

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Tour: Quintana wins, Thomas celebrates

Thanks to a confident climbing performance and a weakness from teammate Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas can dream more than ever of the biggest victory in cycling.

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