Stage 17 - Bourg St Maurice to Le Grand Bornand, 169.5km
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By Chris Bevan
**1136: ** A few early attacks on the slopes of the Cormet de Roselend but nobody has succeeded in escaping yet - Sylvain Chavanel is the latest to try his luck. This stage is going to be tough enough as it is but it looks like the weather will play its part too - it’s sunny and windy at the moment for the riders, but there is torrential rain at the finish, which could make things interesting later…
****Lance Armstrong, a few hours ago, on Twitter:](http://twitter.com/lancearmstrong) “Just heard from Frank Schleck that Jens is doing ok. Good news.”
****Bradley Wiggins on Twitter:](http://twitter.com/bradwiggins) “My thoughts go out to big Jens Voigt, hope you’re ok man.”
**1130: ** Speaking of crashes, we’ve had another one already - riders are scattered all over the road. You might remember one of them, Vladimir Karpets, from yesterday’s stage. He went down as though somebody had pulled a rug from under him but he’s back on his bike now.
**1127: Some news on Jens Voigt, who you might remember crashed heavily on the descent down the Col du Petit St Bernardyesterday. **](http://www.paklinks.com/sport2/low/other_sports/cycling/8161794.stm)The German Saxo Bank rider was flown to hospital in Grenoble with a fractured cheekbone and an injured right elbow - his Tour is over, but he seems to be on the mend already.
1628: TOUR DE FRANCE 2009 AFTER STAGE 16:
Yellow jersey : Alberto Contador (Spa/Astana)
Green jersey: Thor Hushovd (Nor/Cervelo)
Polka dot jersey: Franco Pellizotti (Ita/Liquigas)
White jersey: Andy Schleck (Lux/Saxo Bank)
1126: GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 16:
- Alberto Contador (Spa/Astana) 67 hrs 33 mins 15 seconds
- Lance Armstrong (USA/Astana) + 1 min 37 secs
- Bradley Wiggins*(GB/Garmin) + 1 min 46 secs*
- Andreas Kloden (Ger/Astana) + 2 mins 17 secs
- Andy Schleck (Lux/Saxo Bank) + 2 mins 26 secs
**1124: **
wooley7 on 606:](http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A54744852)“Looking forward to this one. Wiggins looked as fresh as anyone yesterday dealing with the attacks, as they came, with ease. Dare we dream that he could match the big boys again today or even try and make a few attacks of his own”
1121: We’ll be keeping a close eye on Bradley Wiggins too of course - he is still third overall and will be looking to cement his bid for a place on the podium in Paris on Sunday.
1120: Alberto Contador in the yellow jersey is sure to face some attacks somewhere down the road, so we will find out if he can fend them off as effectively as he managed yesterday…and, who knows, he may even stage another assault of his own1118: The riders are about to roll out of the neutral zone and get today’s stage under way - they start by going straight up, to the top of the Cormet de Roselend.1117: Today really should be a cracker - there are five climbs in the 169.5km between Bourg St Maurice and Le Grand Bornand, and four of them are category one. There’s only a single short flat section in the entire stage, in the Sallanches Valley - apart from that, the riders will be either climbing or descending all day.1115 BST: Morning all, who’s looking forward to another day in the mountains then