Tour de France: Daniele Bennati wins stage 17
{{date|July 26, 2007}}__noTOC__
{{Tour de France 2007}}{{missing image|Image:060404 beloki contador.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Joseba Beloki, Alberto Contador, [[w:Vuelta al País Vasco|Vuelta al País Vasco]] 2006. {{Image source|Liberty Seguros}}}}
[[Image:Cristian Moreni.jpg|left|thumb|180px|Christian Moreni in the 2006 Tour de France.{{Image source|[http://www.flickr.com/people/94721091@N00 Shane McGregor]}}]]
[[w:Daniele Bennati|Daniele Bennati]] of [[Italy]] has won stage 17 of the [[w:2007 Tour de France|2007 Tour de France]] in a time of 4h 14' 04".

[[w:Alberto Contador|Alberto Contador]] of [[Spain]], who finished with the peleton gets the [[w:Yellow jersey|yellow jersey]] since [[w:Rabobank (Cycling)|Rabobank]] pulled the previous leader, [[w:Michael Rasmussen|Michael Rasmussen]] from the Tour.

The 188.5 [[w:Kilometre|km]] road stage, from [[w:Pau, France|Pau]] to [[w:Castelsarrasin|Castelsarrasin]], leaves the mountains behind and turns north towards [[w:Paris|Paris]]. This stage has a series of small climbs, but should give those sprinters who have survived the chance to earn some points.

==Cofidis team leaves Tour after Moreni fails blood test==
High blood levels of testosterone were found in the blood of [[w:Cristian Moreni|Cristian Moreni]], and his team [[w:Cofidis (cycling)|Cofidis]] consequently decided to pull all their riders out of the Tour after yesterday's stage. 

Media sources in [[France]] and other countries are discussing whether or not the Tour should be canceled. ''France Soir'' called the last 48 hours "a living nightmare" in a mock obituary of the 104-year-old Tour de France. 

[[w:Alexander Vinokourov|Alexander Vinokourov]] and the entire [[w:Astana Team]] on Tuesday because Vinokourov failed a blood doping test conducted after Saturday's stage.

[[w:Rabobank|Rabobank]] pulled overall-Tour-leader [[w:Michael Rasmussen|Michael Rasmussen]] on Wednesday after winning that day's stage for violating team rules on reporting whereabouts during training. The rest of the Rabobank team is still in the Tour.

"Obviously this gives a disastrous image of the Tour de France, but at the same time, if we encourage the organizers, we can clean up French sports and in particular cycling," said French PM [[w:François Fillon|François Fillon]].

[[w:Bradley Wiggins|Bradley Wiggins]], a British rider for the Cofidis team said, "I don't want to continue in the Tour de France anyway, it is not supposed to be like this."

A public network in [[Germany]] has stopped broadcasting the Tour de France, and a [[Switzerland|Swiss]] newspaper no longer covers the event. [[w:World Anti-Doping Agency|World Anti-Doping Agency]] vice president Jean-François Lamour said on Wednesday that maybe cycling should no longer be an [[w:Olympic Games|Olympic]] discipline.

==Stage 17 result==
{| class="wikitable"
!Rank!!Rider!!Team!!Time
|-
|'''1'''
|'''[[w:Daniele Bennati|Daniele Bennati]]'''
|'''[[w:Lampre-Fondital|Lampre-Fondital]]'''
|align=right|    '''4h 14'04"'''
|-
|2
|[[w:Markus Fothen|Markus Fothen]]
|[[w:Team Gerolsteiner|Team Gerolsteiner]]
|align=right| s.t."
|-
|3 
|[[w:Martin Elmiger|Martin Elmiger]]
|[[w:AG2R Prévoyance|AG2R Prévoyance]]
|align=right| s.t."
|-
|4 
|[[w:Jens Voigt|Jens Voigt]]
|[[w:Team CSC|Team CSC]]
|align=right| s.t."
|-
|5
|[[w:David Millar|David Millar]]
|[[w:Saunier Duval-Prodir|Saunier Duval-Prodir]]
|align=right| +2'41"
|-
|6
|[[w:Matteo Tosatto|Matteo Tosatto]]
|[[w:Quick Step-Innergetic|Quick Step-Innergetic]]
|align=right| +2'43"
|-
|7
|[[w:Manuel Quinziato|Manuel Quinziato]]
|[[w:Liquigas|Liquigas]]
|align=right| +3'20"
|-
|8 
|[[w:Daniele Righi|Daniele Righi]]
|[[w:Lampre-Fondital|Lampre-Fondital]]
|align=right| s.t."
|-bgcolor=limegreen
|9
|[[w:Tom Boonen|Tom Boonen]]
|[[w:Quick Step-Innergetic|Quick Step-Innergetic]]
|align=right| +9'37"
|-
|10
|[[w:Sylvain Chavanel|Sylvain Chavanel]]
|[[w:Française des Jeux|Française des Jeux]]
|align=right| s.t."
|}

==[[w:Yellow jersey|General classification]] after stage 17==

{| class="wikitable"
!Rank!!Rider!!Team!!Time
|- bgcolor=yellow
|'''1'''
|'''[[w:Alberto Contador|Alberto Contador]]'''
|'''[[w:Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team|Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team]]'''
|align=right|    '''80h 42' 08"'''
|- 
|2
|[[w:Cadel Evans|Cadel Evans]]
|[[w:Predictor-Lotto|Predictor-Lotto]]
|align=right| +1' 53"
|-
|3
|[[w:Levi Leipheimer|Levi Leipheimer]]
|[[w:Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team|Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team]]
|align=right| +2' 49"
|-
|4
|[[w:Carlos Sastre|Carlos Sastre]]
|[[w:Team CSC|Team CSC]]
|align=right| +6' 02"
|-
|5
|[[w:Haimar Zubeldia|Haimar Zubeldia]]
|[[w:Euskaltel-Euskadi|Euskaltel-Euskadi]]
|align=right| +6' 29"
|-
|6
|[[w:Alejandro Valverde|Alejandro Valverde]]
|[[w:Caisse d'Epargne|Caisse d'Epargne]]
|align=right| +10' 18"
|-
|7
|[[w:Kim Kirchen|Kim Kirchen]]
|[[w:T-Mobile Team|T-Mobile Team]]
|align=right| +11' 36"
|-
|8
|[[w:Yaroslav Popovych|Yaroslav Popovych]]
|[[w:Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team|Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team]]
|align=right| +12' 50"
|-bgcolor=pink 
|9
|[[w:Mauricio Soler|Mauricio Soler]]
|[[w:Barloworld|Barloworld]]
|align=right| +13' 31"
|-
|10
|[[w:Mikel Astarloza|Mikel Astarloza]]
|[[w:Euskaltel-Euskadi|Euskaltel-Euskadi]]
|align=right| +13' 42"
|}

==Sources==
*{{source|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6917411.stm
|title=French press reacts to Tour scandal
|author=
|pub=BBC News
|date=July 26, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/07/26/bc.cyc.tourdefrance.rea.ap/
|title=The dope show - French newspaper calls for cancellation of Tour
|author=AP
|pub=Sports Illustrated
|date=July 26, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/6917940.stm
|title=Contador inherits yellow jersey
|author=
|pub=BBC Sport
|date=July 26, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/6917073.stm
|title=Stage sixteen - as it happened
|author=Andy Nicolson
|pub=BBC Sport
|date=July 26, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/LIVE/us/1700/index.html
|title=stage 17 - Pau - Castelsarrasin 188.5 km
|author=
|pub=Tour de France
|date=July 26, 2007}}

{{publish}}
{{archived}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniele Bennati wins stage 17}}
[[Category:Sports]]
[[Category:Cycling]]
[[Category:2007 Tour de France]]
[[Category:Europe]]
[[Category:France]]
[[Category:France Soir]]
[[Category:François Fillon]]
[[Category:Doping]]
__noTOC__

Christian Moreni in the 2006 Tour de France.
Daniele Bennati of Italy has won stage 17 of the 2007 Tour de France in a time of 4h 14' 04".

Alberto Contador of Spain, who finished with the peleton gets the yellow jersey since Rabobank pulled the previous leader, Michael Rasmussen from the Tour.

The 188.5 km road stage, from Pau to Castelsarrasin, leaves the mountains behind and turns north towards Paris. This stage has a series of small climbs, but should give those sprinters who have survived the chance to earn some points.

Media sources in France and other countries are discussing whether or not the Tour should be canceled. France Soir called the last 48 hours "a living nightmare" in a mock obituary of the 104-year-old Tour de France. 

Alexander Vinokourov and the entire w:Astana Team on Tuesday because Vinokourov failed a blood doping test conducted after Saturday's stage.

Rabobank pulled overall-Tour-leader Michael Rasmussen on Wednesday after winning that day's stage for violating team rules on reporting whereabouts during training. The rest of the Rabobank team is still in the Tour.

"Obviously this gives a disastrous image of the Tour de France, but at the same time, if we encourage the organizers, we can clean up French sports and in particular cycling," said French PM François Fillon.

Bradley Wiggins, a British rider for the Cofidis team said, "I don't want to continue in the Tour de France anyway, it is not supposed to be like this."

A public network in Germany has stopped broadcasting the Tour de France, and a Swiss newspaper no longer covers the event. World Anti-Doping Agency vice president Jean-François Lamour said on Wednesday that maybe cycling should no longer be an Olympic discipline.
Sports Cycling 2007 Tour de France Europe France France Soir François Fillon Doping