Polish Rider Wins Difficult Stage 17

Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali once again proved he is the favorite to win the Tour de France this year. This time he did it by finishing third in stage 17, ahead of all his closest competitors. Fellow Italian Giovanni Visconti finished the stage in second -- and the stage winner was Polish rider Rafal Majka, claiming his second stage victory.

There are only four more stages -- another mountain stage, a flat stage for the sprinters, a 54 kilometer time trial, and then the ride into Paris. If anyone is going to challenge Nibali, they need to gain a lot of time on him in stage 18 (which finishes with two extremely difficult unrated climbs). Here are the current standings:

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Race Leader)
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Astana Pro Team
2. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain) Movistar Team..........5' 26"
3. Thibaud Pinot (France) FDJ.FR..........6' 00"
4. Jean-Christophe Peraud (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........6' 08"
5. Romain Bardet (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........7' 34"
6. Tejay Van Garderen (United States) BMC Racing..........10' 19"
7. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands) Belkin Pro Cycling..........11' 59"
8. Laurens Ten Dam (Netherlands) Belkin Pro Cycling..........12' 16"
9. Leopold Konig (Czech Republic) Team Netapp-Endura..........12' 40"
10. Pierre Rolland (France) Team Europcar..........13' 15"
11. Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spain) Trek Factory Racing..........14' 26"
12. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Belgium) Lotto-Belisol..........16' 08"
13. Frank Schleck (Luxembourg) Team Sky..........18' 03"
14. Yuri Trofimov (Russia) Team Katusha..........28' 00"

GREEN JERSEY (Best Sprinter)
1. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) Cannondale..........408 pts
2. Bryan Coquard (France) Team Europcar..........233 pts
3. Alexander Kristoff (Norway) Team Katusha..........217 pts
4. Marcel Kittel (Germany) Team Giant-Shimano..........177 pts
5. Mark Renshaw (Australia) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........153 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Best Climber)
1. Rafal Majka (Poland) Tinkoff-Saxo..........149 pts
2. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Astana Pro Team..........118 pts
3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain) Team Katusha..........112 pts
4. Alessandro De Marchi (Italy) Cannondale..........66 pts
5. Thomas Voeckler (France) Team Europcar..........61 pts 
6. Jean-Christophe Peraud (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........57 pts

WHITE JERSEY (Best Young Rider)
1. Thibaud Pinot (France) FDJ.FR
2. Romain Bardet (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........1' 34"
3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........30' 41"

TEAM STANDINGS
1. AG2R La Mondiale (France)
2. Belkin Pro Cycling (Belgium)..........28' 43"
3. Movistar Team (Spain)..........52' 30"
4. Team Sky (Great Britain)..........56' 55"
5. BMC Racing (United States)..........59' 33"