Belgian Serge Baguet has won the 17th stage of the Tour de France from Brive-la-Gaillarde to Montlucon as once again Lance Armstrong played it safe to protect his overall lead. The 31-year-old veteran, a member of the Lotto team, won the sprint to the finish line, beating Dane Jakob Piil of CSC and Italian Massimiliano Lelli of Cofidis in the process.
The top three riders were part of a group of 16 cyclists who decided to pull away from the peloton at the 5km mark despite the blistering weather conditions. Because none of the 16 cyclists posed any threat to Armstrong and the other cyclists at the top of the overall standings, no counter move followed their sudden break. The three then made their decisive move towards the end of the 194km stage with the peloton closing in only seconds behind.
Baguet is only back in cycling less than a year after a three-year break from the sport but he was thrilled to have captured his first stage win in the Tour de France. "I'm really happy, it's quite unbelievable," he said afterwards. "I knew it was a lot of work to come back but I was training with my friends and that helped."
Defending champion Armstrong maintained his five minutes five seconds advantage over Jan Ullrich and with only three days to go in the premier cycling event, the Texan now looks unbeatable as he heads for his third consecutive Tour de France title, while Ullrich also looks secure in second spot. However, the battle for the final podium placing looks set for an interesting finish. Andrei Kivilev of Kazakhstan currently lies in third place but Joseba Beloki of Spain is only 80 seconds behind him.
Australian rider Stuart O'Grady holds an 11-point advantage over his arch rival Erik Zabel of Germany in the race for the green jersey after both riders came in 13 seconds adrift in today's stage although Zabel did gain a point on his rival thanks to his sixth-placed finish. "The race for the green jersey is going to go all the way to the Champs Elysees. It's stressful for us every day now and today was no different," said O'Grady afterwards.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
