It was a day of climbing and one where Stage 16’s disappointed second placer took his chance again. This time, Ben O’Connor showed the NTT jersey proudly as he went over the finish line first and alone. However, once again, the GC rivals left the maglia rosa in peace except for a tiny flutter in the last few hundred metres that made no difference at all to the overall standings. Saving their matches for tomorrow’s Stelvio …
How the stage went
DQS rode a lot on the front. Then Sunweb rode a lot on the front. Wilco Kelderman, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Jai Hindley hardly ever left Joao Almeida‘s pink-jerseyed side. While up the road, Ben O’Connor had another crack at stage victory glory … and hot damn, he did it.
Full gas crying
Another popular win this Giro, with the whole of Twitter screaming Go Go Go as Ben O’Connor rode away from the Thomas De Gendt break. The stage win never looked in doubt. Let’s hope this gets NTT a sponsor for next season so Ben doesn’t need to trawl around for a berth.
Want more about Ben? Here you go!
Sunweb keeping their powder dry
But have they left it too late? The Stelvio will be the test.
Pink stays with Almeida
The DQS boys kept their leader safe and sound and Joao Almeida is still in pink, looking strong and comfortable. Will he survive the Stelvio? What about the re-imagined Stage 20 (three times up to Sestriere instead of Colle dell’Agnello and Izoard? Can he take it all the way to Milan? (Personally, I am ALL IN for him to win the whole thing!)
Question of the day
Stage 17 results
1 Ben O’Connor (NTT) 5:50:59
2 Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain McLaren) +0:31
3 Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) +1:10
4 Ilnur Zakarin (CCC Team) +1:13
5 Kilian Frankiny (Groupama-FDJ) +1:55
GC Top 10
1 Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quickstep) 71:41:18
2 Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) +0:17
3 Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb) +2:58
4 Tao Geoghegan hart (Ineos Grenadiers) +2:59
5 Pello Bilbao (Bahrain McLaren) +3:12
6 Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) +3:20
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) +3:31
8 Domenico Pozzovivo (NTT Pro Cycling) +3:52
9 Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe) +4:11
10 Fausto Masnada (Deceuninck-QuickStep) +4:26