Tour De France 2011, Stage 17 Results: Voeckler Hangs on as Boasson Hagen Wins

Edvald Boasson Hagen made it two wins in two days for Norway as the Team Sky man crossed the line in Pinerolo to comfortably take victory in Stage 17.

He now matches compatriot Thor Hushovd and has taken two stage wins in this year's tour after a well-timed attack on the final ascent before an impeccable descent down to the finish line saw him finish 40 seconds ahead of second-place Bauke Mollema of Rabobank.

A relatively flat start to the day saw early attempts to form a breakaway foiled as the peloton moved along at high speed in the first hour of the day.

The breakaway did come in time for the first climb of the day with 14 riders, including the now ever present FDR representative. The group was never reeled in by the peloton and finished ahead of the main field, but was scattered along the road. 

Jonny Hoogerland (Vacansoliel) showed signs of returning to the aggressive rider we saw in the first week of the race, before the horrific accident that saw the Dutchman catapulted into a barbed-wire fence. 

He joined Nicholas Roche (AG2R) and Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) in a valiant effort to catch the breakaway group, but he was eventually reeled in and finished along with the main group.

As the lead group of 14 neared the summit of the category one Sestrieres, Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskatel) made what seemed to be a break for the mountain points, but the Spaniard was obviously confident in his descending, taking advantage of the gap he built to move out into a solo lead on the long descent towards the final climb of the day and the finish line.

His lead stretched to over a minute at times on the descent, but at the start of the last climb, inside the final 15 km, the Euskatel man saw his lead over his fellow escapees drop to just 40 seconds—although he was still almost seven minutes up on the peloton.

As the breakaway group caught Moreno, French national champion Sylvian Chavanel (Quick Step) surged ahead, but he was quickly followed and passed by Edvald Boasson Hagen, who seemed determined to match compatriot Thor Hushovd and take a second stage win for 2011.

As the young Norwegian crossed the final peak and headed down to a comfortable stage win, Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) started to attack the peloton.

The Spaniard was followed by those leading him in the race for the yellow jersey, as a small group split from the main peloton. As the group of contenders all stayed very close, it seemed nothing would come of the attacks.

Whilst Boasson Hagen took the descent effortlessly, it was down to Frenchman Jonathon Hivert (Sojason) to provide some entertainment, taking a comical detour into a driveway after taking too much speed into a corner.

Just as it seemed that the group had calmed down, confusion reigned as Contador broke free along with fellow Spaniard Samuel Sanchez (Euskatel). Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) looked nervous on the descent, taking part in a detour into the same driveway that was visited by Hivert a few minutes earlier.

That unplanned detour saw Voeckler take a more dramatic route than Hivert (with the yellow jersey), looking more like a mountain-bike rider as he dropped down onto the paved driveway, only just avoiding a nasty fall.

The time taken to get back to the road ended up costing the Frenchman almost half a minute.

Contador just did not have enough to hold a break over his rivals; he crossed the line with both Schleck brothers (Leopard Trek) and Cadel Evans (BMC), leaving Frenchman Voeckler to come in 27 seconds behind his rivals; his lead dropped to just 1'18" as Evans closed in further.