Tour de France: Bennati wins Stage 17, Condador pulls on yellow jersey

Despite all the drama that's been going down in the Tour de France, the race has continued: Italy's Daniele Bennati won Stage 17 on Thursday - his first-ever stage victory.
There was no yellow jersey in the field at the start of the day, but Spanish rider Alberto Contador got to sport the coveted "maillot jaune" after finishing in the peloton almost 10 minutes behind.
The day's racing went on without leader Michael Rasmussen who'd been removed from the tour by his Rabobank team for lying about his whereabouts when it came to missing drugs tests.
His teammate Denis Menchov abandoned the Tour two hours into the stage.
Just a few kilometres into the racing, a group of eight riders broke clear and established a lead in just over three minutes.
With none of the general classification contenders in the breakaway, the peloton made no attempt to reel them in as they rode through the tranquil countryside.
The leaders were eventually whittled into four and the power of Lampre sprinter Bennati proved decisive.
The Italian star clinched his first ever Tour stage win,and Alberto Contador got to pull on the yellow jersey after finishing in the peloton.
With close to two minutes in hand over nearest rival Cadel Evans, Contador is a favourite to wear the jersey down the Champs Elysee in Sunday's finale.