Maciej Bodnar today took his first Tour de France stage victory in the Marseille time-trial and BORA-hansgrohe’s second of the race as yellow jersey wearer Chris Froome (Team Sky) increased his overall lead over Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) to 54″.
The penultimate stage of the 2017 Tour de France was 22.5km long on a challenging course with its long straight sections, a steep climb, along with some twists and turns on a circuit through the streets of Marseille, starting and finishing in the famous Orange Vélodrome.
In spite of three weeks of racing in the riders’ legs though, this would be the last day that there would be a chance to go full gas, ahead of the traditional procession into Paris for the race’s grand finale.
The first riders out on the course were setting times around the half-hour mark, with the early leader Taylor Phinney (Cannondale-Drapac) having set a time of 29:21. The former Polish national time trial champion Bodnar then smashed the provisional first position’s time by more than a minute, finishing in 28:15.
Bodnar stayed in the hot seat for a considerable amount of time and the last rider who could beat him was the Maillot Jaune, Froome, but as the overall leader came to the finish six seconds down, Bodnar’s first stage victory at the Tour de France, and BORA-hansgrohe’s second of the race, was confirmed.
Having waited three hours in the Orange Vélodrome for his win to be confirmed, Bodnar could finally celebrate his first victory. “It was a really amazing day for me today. I’ve waited a long time for this moment, for my first stage victory at the Tour de France. When I was a child, my dream was to race in the Tour de France, and now I’ve taken a stage! It is a fantastic moment.
“I’d like to thank my girlfriend who always stood by me, my mother and, of course, my father who, unfortunately, passed away and wasn’t able to watch this great moment. Thanks go also to my team, BORA-hansgrohe. This victory is for them. We had a tough start at the Tour this year and this victory goes also to Peter and Rafał. We have shown we are a great group.”
Tomorrow, after three weeks of hard racing, the 2017 Tour de France comes to an end. The final stage into Paris is more of a procession than a serious road stage, but in spite of the short distance – the stage covering just 103km – the Champs-Elysées is where the race will come to life. The day finishes with eight circuits in central Paris before the final sprint – one of the biggest spectacles of the whole race. With the reduced field for the bunch sprint, the final stage is really up for grabs.
