Simon Geschke has won stage 17 of the Tour de France as he was able to stay away on the final climb to the mountaintop finish.

Stage 17 was the first tough day in the Alps after yesterday’s rest day, with 5 ranked climbs and the mountaintop finish on Pra Loup. There was a turbulent start with constant attacks, followed by a large group, which got away with John Degenkolb and, for the third time-in-a-row, Simon Geschke.

Towards the Col d’Allos, the highest point of the Tour and the fourth ascent of the day, Simon Geschke attacked and climbed strong to enjoy 1’ advantage on the first chaser, while reaching the summit. Through a strong descent, Simon Geschke increased his lead to 1’40” at the foot of the final climb. He was able to stay away on the final climb to the mountaintop finish to win his first stage in a Grand Tour. Warren Barguil finished 30th and holds on to his 10th in the GC.

After passing the finish line Simon Geschke said: “I didn’t feel great. I joined the breakaway group together with John [Degenkolb], which was a strong group.

“After the sprint I attacked and started the final climb with an advantage. I had 1’30” for a long time, and I thought I’d just see what would happen. I knew it was a difficult descent and I went pretty fast. On the last climb I gave it my all and was able to hold on to my advantage. I suffered incredibly but I cannot put this feeling into words.

“This was a dream for me since I was 15 years old. After so many attempts it finally happened. I cannot believe it.

“It took me two or three minutes to figure out what I had done. It was important going into the break and then we had to figure out what to do after that. It was a very good group to be in, a lot of guys were hanging on. I had to try something. I went into a break on the long climb and I had to take my chances to win. It was beautiful. When I had so much of an advantage, I knew there was a chance. It was incredible.

“This is my third victory as a professional, to be at the Tour is… I was waiting for 15 years for this moment.

"It's incredible to win a stage of the Tour de France. I've been dreaming about it since I started cycling. But it wasn't easy. I'm not a sprinter, I'm not a climber, I'm just an all rounder. I got selected by the team to help in the first week and take my chance in the second or third week.

"It's a different tactic to race for a bunch sprint victory or the stage on the cobblestones with John Degenkolb or a top 10 with Warren Barguil. We were used to winning the first stage with Marcel Kittel in the past two years. That took pressure off the team. It's been harder to reach success this time but we never lost hope and the atmosphere in the team was always good. Nobody expected me to be the first stage winner of the team.

"I've had good results in Grand Tours before but always through breakaways. Today, had I stayed with Richie Porte, Thibaut Pinot or Andrew Talansky, they would have dropped me in the long climb (col d'Allos) so my only way to win was to go away before the climb. The downhill was really challenging but it's part of cycling. I was at the limit at the top of the climb. In every curve, I paid attention and it went well. 

“Only if I win the Tour de France my beard will go off so it will not happen today.”

Coach Marc Reef added: “What an incredible day. This is unbelievable. Simon [Geschke] rode an excellent, strong race, and the way he won after a solo of 50km was so great.

“It was a long battle before the break got away, and there were a lot of strong riders out there, some of whom were relatively high up in the GC, so at first it was a question of whether they would get the space.

“With John [Degenkolb] we went primarily for the intermediate sprint. Shortly before the sprint Simon came by the car to make a tactical plan.

“Simon attacked directly after the intermediate sprint, which was the ideal moment as the collaboration in the chase group was far from ideal and he immediately created a gap. The important thing then was to save energy and not give it all along the way.

“He rode a very fast descent and maintained his advantage at the line. It is unbelievable that we have won such a stage in the Tour. I have no words for it. It gives all the other results even more shine, as we have been close so many times already. We kept on fighting to reach our goal despite the bad luck we had.”

"Simon is in good shape, we know that already, this is a race for him when he is in the break," coas Rudi Kemna said. "And he made a fantastic, ballsy, attack and held it to the finish. He is already a real good rider, not directly a sprinter or a climber but he can do a lot at a really high level. I'm really happy that he had this success. It's really fantastic."

Ceo Iwan Spekenbrink said: “It was a traditional start to the stage. We had two riders in this break and Warren Barguil behind, who is well positioned in the GC. I was behind him with coach Marc Reef, and in watching the race develop we started to see the possibilities, but things don’t always work out.

“For someone like Simon [Geschke], who is not a pure climber, it is important to attack early to seize the opportunity and after the intermediate sprint it was the right moment to take advantage.

“Simon got more and more motivated. Marc did a great job behind him as coach and Simon had one of his best days on the bike.

“It is great to see our development as a team. We started winning sprint stages, and this year we even won monuments like Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix, and the next step is to develop our team in the mountains. We did not fully expect to win a mountain stage in the Tour already, but the victory is more than welcome.”

"The balance sheet is good," Barguil said. "It's about a good day. I hope it will continue like that with the good feeling I have. To be with the best on the Col d'Allos, I did not miss much."