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Vuelta a España Stage 17: GC Truce Helps Frank Escape

Los Bigs keep a close eye on each other; Swiss profit from flurried attacks

By Jens Sep 7, 2016, 6:45am EDT

IAM Cycling's Mathias Frank held off the hard-charging Robert Gesink of LottoNL-Jumbo and Leopold Konig of Sky to win the 17th stage atop the Vuelta a Espana's most grueling four km track at Penyagolosa, Valencia. Frank, the veteran all-rounder who is off to AG2R next season, slipped away from the two dozen escapees on the day, drawing Dario Cataldo of Astana as they began the grueling ascent, only for Cataldo to fall away, leaving Frank alone all the way to the finish. Gesink, who won on Saturday and who also took second earlier in the race at the Lagos de Covadonga, keeps pecking his way up the KOM classification, but will likely just go home with a couple stage memories and hope for a better 2017. Konig, meanwhile, has been Chris Froome's top domestique, but was allowed to try his hand today, with Froome well capable of managing his affairs on this short, stabby stage. For Frank, it's his first victory since his debut season at IAM Cycling in 2014.

Speaking of Froome, he did little to dent Movistar man Nairo Quintana's solid advantage in the leader's jersey, as the top favorites all spent much of the day together, apart from a few anxious moments -- mostly for Froome -- on the final climb. Froome looked to be conceding a bit of time, but Quintana barely attacked or even changed his tempo, and Froome dug deep to reattach and even come past Quintana on the line. That may have restored a measure of the Englishman's pride, but it did exactly nothing for his current standing, either re Quintana or another Colombian, Esteban Chaves, who tried to close his gap on the second step of the podium. All of them plus Alberto Contador finished together. The most you can say about the stage is that, of all the top guys, Froome probably burnt the most matches in the process of ensuring the status quo.

Results:

1.	SUIFRANK Mathias	161	IAM CYCLING	04h 34' 38''
2.	CZEKONIG Leopold	26	TEAM SKY	04h 34' 44''	+ 00' 06''
3.	NEDGESINK Robert	46	LOTTO NL -JUMBO	04h 34' 49''	+ 00' 11''
4.	ESPBILBAO Pello	202	CAJA RURAL - SEGUROS RGA	04h 34' 52''	+ 00' 14''
5.	ITACATALDO Dario	62	ASTANA PRO TEAM	04h 34' 54''	+ 00' 16''
6.	ESPHERRADA Jose	5	MOVISTAR TEAM	04h 35' 07''	+ 00' 29''
7.	FRADOMONT Axel	105	AG2R LA MONDIALE	04h 35' 26''	+ 00' 48''
8.	BELDE CLERCQ Bart	121	LOTTO SOUDAL	04h 35' 35''	+ 00' 57''
9.	CRODURASEK Kristijan	175	LAMPRE - MERIDA	04h 35' 40''	+ 01' 02''
10.	ESPZUBELDIA Haimar	91	TREK - SEGAFREDO	04h 35' 42''	+ 01' 04''

GC:

1.	COLQUINTANA Nairo	7	MOVISTAR TEAM	69h 35' 32''
2.	GBRFROOME Christopher	21	TEAM SKY	69h 39' 09''	+ 03' 37''
3.	COLCHAVES Johan Esteban	51	ORICA BIKEEXCHANGE	69h 39' 29''	+ 03' 57''
4.	ESPCONTADOR Alberto	11	TINKOFF	69h 39' 34''	+ 04' 02''
5.	GBRYATES Simon	59	ORICA BIKEEXCHANGE	69h 41' 35''	+ 06' 03''
6.	USATALANSKY Andrew	141	CANNONDALE-DRAPAC PRO CYCLING TEAM	69h 43' 06''	+ 07' 34''
7.	ESPSANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel	37	BMC RACING TEAM	69h 43' 44''	+ 08' 12''
8.	ITAFORMOLO Davide	145	CANNONDALE-DRAPAC PRO CYCLING TEAM	69h 43' 45''	+ 08' 13''
9.	ITASCARPONI Michele	61	ASTANA PRO TEAM	69h 44' 00''	+ 08' 28''
10.	ESPDE LA CRUZ David	133	ETIXX - QUICK STEP	69h 44' 24''	+ 08' 52''