Tour de France 2017: Primoz Roglic Wins Stage 17, Marcel Kittel Abandons

Primoz Roglic of LottoNL-Jumbo took one of the best wins of his career on Wednesday, winning Stage 17 of the 2017 Tour de France, while Marcel Kittel abandoned and Fabio Aru dropped out of the top three of the general classification.

The peloton had to battle in the high mountains of the Alps all day, and plenty of riders suffered as a result. Kittel crashed, while Aru and Dan Martin couldn't keep up on the Galibier.

Here's a look at the stage results, via CyclingHub:

The current general classification, per the Inner Ring:

Recap

Wednesday's stage was expected to be a tough one with several steep ascents, including the mighty Galibier. The Tour's official Twitter account shared the stage profile:

The peloton was shocked by an early crash that took a major victim. Kittel, the green jersey holder and favourite to win the points classification, spent minutes on the side of the road and was unable to continue.

Per former top sprinter Robbie McEwen, compatriot Michael Matthews is now the clear favourite for the green jersey:

A massive lead group escaped, including several star climbers, but all eyes were on the yellow jersey and the main contenders for the overall classification. Nairo Quintana tested Team Sky with an early attack, and Alberto Contador joined him when he tried again.

Contador's push took plenty of riders out of the peloton, but UAE decided it was a good idea to work for Sky despite having a leader in the break, and they helped stem the tide.

La Flamme Rouge didn't understand:

In the peloton, Martin started things with an early attack on the Galibier, and Mikel Landa put in a huge shift in service of Chris Froome. Romain Bardet also tried his luck, and his last push dropped Aru.

In the descent, the Italian had 17 seconds to make up on his rivals for the GC, while Roglic held a comfortable lead on the chasers.

Roglic took the solo win, and Rigoberto Uran won the sprint for second place ahead of Froome. The bonus seconds that came with the third-placed finish saw Froome extend his lead slightly ahead of another tough day in the Alps.