Illness Forces 3rd Place American Out Of The Tour

The tragedy of the Tour's stage 17 happened to American Tejay Van Garderen. After spending many days among the top three overall Tour leaders, Van Garderen started stage 17 with a severe headache. By kilometer 31, he had fell behind the lead group. He struggled, but caught back up. Then on the category 2 climb at about 91 kilometers, he again fell far behind and was forced to withdraw -- a very tough break after the wonderful Tour he had been having. Maybe he can have an even better ride (and better luck) in 2016.

The hero of the day was German Simon Geschke, who pulled away from a large lead breakaway group about 50 kilometers from the finish -- and held that lead to win stage 17. He finished 32 seconds ahead of American Andrew Talansky (who moved up to 12th place overall), and a minute ahead of Colombian Rigoberto Uran Uran.

Stage 18's 186.5 kilometer ride through the Alps will be even tougher. It has three category 3 climbs, three category 2 climbs, and one climb so difficult it can't be rated.

Here are the standings after stage 17:

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Leaders)
1. Christopher Froome, Great Britain (Team Sky)
2. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas, Colombia (Movistar)..........3' 10"
3. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte, Spain (Movistar)..........4' 09
4. Geraint Thomas, Great Britain (Team Sky)..........6' 34"
5. Alberto Contador, Spain (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........6' 40"
6. Robert Gesink, Netherlands (Lotto NL-Jumbo)..........7' 39"
7. Vincenzo Nibali, Italy (Astana Pro Team)..........8' 04"
8. Frank Mathias, Switzerland (IAM Cycling)..........8' 47"
9. Bauke Mollema, Netherlands (Trek Factory Racing)..........11' 47"
10. Warren Barguil, France (Giant-Alpecin)..........13' 08"

GREEN JERSEY (Best Sprinter)
1. Peter Sagan, Slovakia (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........420 pts
2. Andre Greipel, Germany (Lotto-Soudal)..........316 pts
3. John Degenkolb, Germany (Giant-Alpecin)..........281 pts
4. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain (ETIXX-Quick Step)..........192 pts
5. Bryan Coquard, Francee (Europcar)..........122 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Best Climber)
1. Christopher Froome, Great Britain (Team Sky)..........61 pts
2. Joachim Rodriguez Oliver, Spain (Team Katusha)..........52 pts 
3. Jakob Fuglsang, Denmark (Astana Pro Team)..........41 pts
4. Serge Pauwels, Belgium (MTN-Qhubeka)..........40 pts
5. Richie Porte, Australia (Team Sky)..........40 pts 
6. Romain Bardet, France (AG2R La Mondiale)..........38 pts

WHITE JERSEY (Best Young Rider)
1. Nairo Alenander Quintano Rojas, Columbia (Movistar)
2. Warren Barguil, France (Giant-Alpecin)..........9' 58"
3. Romain Bardet, France (AG2R La Mondiale)..........12' 54"

TEAM LEADERS
1. Movistar (Spain)
2. MTN-Qhubeka (South Africa)..........16' 57"
3. Team Sky (Great Britain)..........33' 41"
4. Tinkoff-Saxo (Russia).........38' 46"
5. Astana Pro Team (Kazakhstan)..........46' 31"