The Frenchman wins solo in Canazei after a long stage where Dumoulin successfully retains his Maglia Rosa. Tomorrow’s stage TV live coverage starts from 13.15.
Canazei (Val di Fassa), 24 May 2017 – Pierre Rolland put an end to a long drought as he rolled out to claim the victory he seeked throughout many attacks. He rode away from km 0, waited for a counterattack and then found the route to success with 7km to go in another very long stage. Tom Dumoulin retained the Maglia Rosa after being threatened by the presence of Jan Polanç in the winning move.
RECORD NUMBERS ON TV AND WEB
Yesterday’s stage, with Mortirolo and double Stelvio climbs, saw record audience numbers for the Giro 100:
Yesterday, French TV La Chaîne L’Equipe bettered its own audience record thanks to the Stelvio stage: an average of 640,000 viewers between 12.32 and 17.12, with an average audience share of 7.9%. The impressive peak at the stage finish was 1,100.000 viewers and a 16.5% share, making La Chaîne L’Equipe the most viewed channel in France at that time.
giroditalia.it had more than 5,000,000 unique page views with 745,000 unique users, while the mobile app had over 3,000,000 unique page views with 140,000 unique users.
STATISTICS
Pierre Rolland won on the same day, 24 May, that his compatriot Antonin Rolland claimed a stage win of the Giro at Pescara in 1957 (they aren’t related!).
This is the 63rd stage win for French riders at the Giro. The last was stage 10 by Nacer Bouhanni at Salsomaggiore Terme in 2014.
Pierre Rolland’s first stage victory at the Giro comes after two stage wins at the Tour de France: stage 19 to L’Alpe d’Huez in 2011 and stage 11 to La Toussuire in 2012. He finished fourth overall in his first Giro d’Italia, in 2014.
The record of riders from 11 different nations winning a Giro stage – established in 2010 – is now equalled with France joining Austria, Germany, Colombia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Australia, Spain, The Netherlands, Luxemburg and Italy. The 11 nations in 2010 were: Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden and the USA.
Stage 17 Photo Gallery
Stage 17 Classifications
Stage 18 Maps
VELON DATA
Data collected by Velon’s devices on the riders’ bikes tell the detailed story of the stage. Data and an explanation guide can be downloaded here.
FINAL RESULT
1 – Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team) – 219km in 5h42’56″, average speed 38.316km/h
2 – Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (UAE Team Emirates) at 24″
3 – Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar Team) s.t.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 – Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb)
2 – Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) at 31″
3 – Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain – Merida) at 1’12“
4 – Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) at 2’38“
5 – Ilnur Zakarin (Team Katusha Alpecin) at 2’40“
JERSEYS
Maglia Rosa (pink), general classification leader, sponsored by Enel – Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb)
Maglia Ciclamino (cyclamen), sprinter classification leader, sponsored by Segafredo – Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors)
Maglia Azzurra (blue), King of the Mountains classification leader, sponsored by Banca Mediolanum – Mikel Landa Meana (Team Sky)
Maglia Bianca (white), young rider general classification leader, sponsored by Eurospin – Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Today’s stage winner Pierre Rolland said: “I woke up at 5am yesterday because I was very excited ahead of the Stelvio stage. This is my reason for being a cyclist, I love the history of my sport: this is the 100th Giro d’Italia. I love the great stages like yesterday’s. Unfortunately I had a bad day and I wondered if the good form I had at the beginning of the Giro was on the down but it wasn’t the case. Today, I felt great. I expected to perform yesterday or tomorrow but I decided to ride today as if there wasn’t any race tomorrow. Everyone was tired from the Stelvio stage. It was one of the hardest I’ve ever done. It was a question of courage today. Last winter I went to Colorado to discuss my season with Jonathan Vaughters, my team manager who is also my coach now, and we decided that I’d do the Giro and the Tour for stage wins. This is the kind of cycling that I truly like, more than racing for GC, which is stressful and doesn’t leave many opportunities to enjoy the racing. This sport is too hard for not having fun doing it. I enjoyed cycling a lot today!”
The Maglia Rosa, Tom Dumoulin, said: “I try not to be busy with how big the news of my troubles yesterday is in The Netherlands. I felt a bit insecure this morning. I was a little bit worried but I was completely fine during the whole stage. I knew it was a very long way from the second climb till the finish. I would have been very surprised if any GC rider tried to go from far out. Bahrain-Merida tried at the start, they did a good job because we had to work more than we hoped for. There could be attacks from the start tomorrow, we have to be ready for everything. I’m not here to make history for shitting in the bushes, I’m here to write history for taking the pink jersey to Milan.”
TOMORROW’S STAGE
Stage 18 – Moena (Val di Fassa)-Ortisei/St. Ulrich 137km – total elevation 3,700m
This stage across the Dolomites takes in 5 consecutive categorised climbs, with not even a single flat stretch in between: Passo Pordoi, Passo Valparola, Passo Gardena, Passo Pinei and Pontives (final climb).
The stage features a remarkable rise and drop of a little less than 4,000 m in 137km, with average gradients of approx. 7% and topping out at 15%. The roads are always moderately wide and well surfaced.
Final kilometres
The Pontives categorised summit (4km before the finish) marks the slope change in the closing climb.
Next on the route are a false-flat uphill drag, up to 1,500m before the finish, and a steep stretch up to 500m before the finish, with gradients topping out at 13%. The stage course then turns right and takes a short descent on setts-paved road, up to 150m from the finish, where the road levels out. The finish line sits on a 5.5m wide asphalt road.
#Giro100
PHOTO CREDIT: LaPresse – D’Alberto / Ferrari / Paolone / Spada
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