Tour de France 2016: Stage 17 Results, Updated Standings and Highlights

Katusha's Ilnur Zakarin put in a brilliant climbing display to take Stage 17 of the Tour de France while race leader Chris Froome strengthened his grip on the yellow jersey as he made time on all his main rivals on Wednesday.

In a first foray into the Alps for the peloton, Froome dropped the likes of Bauke Mollema, Nairo Quintana and Adam Yates to further his lead at the top of the general classification.

Zakarin managed to join and then drop Rafal Majka and Jarlinson Pantano in the final few climbing kilometres to take the stage on a gruelling day.

Here is the stage result and the latest standings after Wednesday's action, per Sky Sports Cycling:

Recap

A brutal trip into the Swiss Alps with an interminable final climb, Stage 17 always looked set to be a run for the pure climbers, and so it proved.

VeloUK.net provided the profile of the final two climbs:

The inevitable initial breakaway with just under 100 kilometres of the stage to run included some high-profile names, with green jersey Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), King of the Mountains Majka (Tinkoff) and IAM Cycling's Pantano—winner of Stage 15—all involved as they established a lead on the peloton.

Team Sky ran the show early on in the main group as they looked to protect Froome's lead on a day when attacks from the Briton's main rivals were expected.

Sagan dropped from the leading group 29 kilometres out, and Majka and Pantano formed a lead pair as they descended the Col de la Forclaz.

Zakarin was able to bridge the gap to the front two from the remainder of the dropped breakaway and then put in a huge burst of speed to leave Majka out of the race for the stage, per ITV Cycling:

Another burst from Zakarin proved too much for Pantano, and the Russian soon struggled home to take the stage, per Le Tour:

Among the GC contenders in the peloton, Astana looked to be setting up for Fabio Aru to make an attack as they grouped at the front.

However, the move never emerged, and attempts from Etixx–Quick-Step's Dan Martin and Movistar's Alejandro Valverde to distance themselves and make a dent in the yellow jersey's lead also failed.

Eventually, BMC's Richie Porte made a move stick, and the only rider who could successfully respond was, inevitably, Froome.

The former team-mates headed to the finish together, with Mollema, Quintana and Valverde all losing time in the GC race.

Earlier in the day, BMC's Tejay van Garderen had cracked and dropped out of the back of the peloton to put paid to his hopes of a decent race finish, per the Inner Ring:

White jersey Adam Yates, 23, responded impressively to the late attack and only lost eight seconds to Froome in the end, while more experienced contenders, most notably Quintana, could do little.

The Movistar man has struggled all Tour to prove that he can deal with Froome, and it now seems highly unlikely he will be able to catch the race leader.