Tour de France Stage 17: A Clean(?) Slate

So far so good on the Tour front. It seems they've made it through a day without expulsions, explosions, and other abnormalities (or should we call them normalities at this point?).

Italian Daniele Bennati's quick stride shot him into first today during the final sprint of the 17th leg of the race giving him the first Tour stage win of his career. The 114-mile stage from Pau to Castelsarrasin took the Lampre Fondital team member four hours, 14 minutes, and four seconds to complete. Germany's Markus Fothen came in second with Martin Elmiger, of Switzerland, right behind in third.

Sliding into the position of overall leader is Spain's Alberto Contador. He had been trailing Michael Rasmussen in second up until Rasmussen's dismissal from the race after Wednesday's leg. Contador leads with one minute, 53 seconds over Cadel Evans of Australia. American cyclist, Levi Leipheimer, is in third, two minutes and 49 seconds behind.

As reported on the Tour's Web site, it's been 16 years since a stage began with no yellow jersey holder—that was when Rolf Sorenson crashed and was too injured to continue racing.

(Left, Daniele Bennati celebrates the win; right, Alberto Contador in the yellow jersey,)

Photos by Beth Schneider