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Starting to Chase
Stage 17 may have been the shortest road stage of this Tour de France, but it featured 4 major climbs, 3 Category 1 and the finale a Haute Categorie mountain top finish. If you combined that with the prior day's longest stage of the Tour with its multiple climbs, there were some very tired legs in the peloton today. Joaquim Rodriquez (Katusha) has made it clear to all who will listen that he is after the King of the Mountain's Jersey in Paris. Today he matched his legs to his mouth on the first climb of the day, the Col de Portillon. With the break away less than a minute up the road, he set out to catch and pass them, planning on being the first to summit the climb. The Spaniard on the Russian team pulled a rider from AG2R and Frank Schleck (Trek Factory Racing) along on the attack. The Luxemburg National Champion has been riding himself back into form in the latter stages of this Tour, regaining some of his climbing prowess of old.