There was more than one moment on stage 17 of the Tour de France to SuperDévoluy that back in the EF Education-EasyPost car they may have thought Richard Carapaz’s chances of fighting for stage victory could have slipped away, but out front the Ecuadorian continued to calmly play his hand.
The battle for a place in the break on the 177.8km stage was unrelenting. Four riders got away and stretched a gap after more than 50km filled with attempts but those who had missed out still weren’t prepared to give up on this rare opportunity for the break.
He then went on to leave the Jayco-AlUla rider behind on the upper slopes of the Col du Noyer, with 13.3km of the stage to go.
Once the gap was taken, he did indeed keep it through the descent from Col du Noyer and on the climb to SuperDévoluy, crossing the finish line 37 seconds ahead of Yates and 57 seconds ahead of Enric Mas (Movistar).
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