Carapaz earns his first Tour de France stage win

1 of 9 |

Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 177.8 kilometers (110.5 miles) with start in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux and finish in Superdevoluy, France, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

2 of 9 |

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, extended his lead on his main rival Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard, rear left, during the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 177.8 kilometers (110.5 miles) with start in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux and finish in Superdevoluy, France, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

3 of 9 |

Stage winner Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz climbs Noyer pass during the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 177.8 kilometers (110.5 miles) with start in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux and finish in Superdevoluy, France, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

4 of 9 |

Denmark’s Magnus Cort, front, leads before France’s Romain Gregoire, and Belgium’s Tiesj Benoot as they ride breakaway during the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 177.8 kilometers (110.5 miles) with start in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux and finish in Superdevoluy, France, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

5 of 9 |

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, climbs Noyer pass during the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 177.8 kilometers (110.5 miles) with start in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux and finish in Superdevoluy, France, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

6 of 9 |

The pack speeds downhill during the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 177.8 kilometers (110.5 miles) with start in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux and finish in Superdevoluy, France, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

7 of 9 |

Latvia’s Toms Skujins is followed by Netherlands’ Wout Poels and Britain’s Ben Turner during the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 177.8 kilometers (110.5 miles) with start in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux and finish in Superdevoluy, France, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

8 of 9 |

The pack rides during the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 177.8 kilometers (110.5 miles) with start in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux and finish in Superdevoluy, France, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

9 of 9 |

Britain’s Simon Yates climbs Noyer pass during the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 177.8 kilometers (110.5 miles) with start in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux and finish in Superdevoluy, France, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

SUPERDEVOLUY, France (AP) — Richard Carapaz claimed his first Tour de France stage win after showcasing his climbing prowess in the final ascents on Wednesday in the Alps.

Two-time champion Tadej Pogacar kept the overall race lead.

The 17th stage, covering 178 kilometers (110 miles) from Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Superdévoluy, started with a gradual 130-kilometer climb through the Drôme region and presented no major challenges for the peloton. However, the last part of the race was a different story with the climbs of Col Bayard and Col du Noyer.

Carapaz and Simon Yates led an early breakaway of 50 riders. As they approached the final climb, Carapaz launched a decisive attack on Yates before reaching the summit of Col du Noyer.

“For me today is very special,” the EF Education-EasyPost rider said after the race. “Winning a stage was the biggest objective for me and my team and we finally managed to do it.”

The 31-year-old Carapaz also became the first man from Ecuador to win a Tour stage. He won the men’s road race gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics but missed out on being selected for the Paris Olympics. He finished third in the Tour de France in 2021 and won the 2019 Giro d’Italia.

Not PARSE.LY: Cycling

Former cycling world champion Lizzie Deignan to retire at the end of next season

Sprint ace Mark Cavendish ends cycling career in style with Singapore win

Top sprinter Mark Cavendish announces retirement from pro cycling

British rider Simon Yates was second on Wednesday, 37 seconds behind Carapaz.

Paris Olympics

The Olympics are more than fun and games. They’re a billion-dollar business with political overtones.
Breakdance will make it’s debut as an Olympic sport in Paris.. Here’s what else will be different at this year’s games.
Follow all of AP’s coverage of the Summer Games.

Pogacar slightly increased his lead over Jonas Vingegaard to 3 minutes, 11 seconds, by launching two attacks on the Col du Noyer and a few meters before the finishing line. Vingegaard, currently second in the general classification, was once again unable to match Pogacar’s pace and conceded two more seconds overall.

“The climb was really steep today so I wanted to test my legs and see if they were still in good shape in the third week of competition,” Pogacar said about his repeated attacks in the Col du Noyer climb. “It was a good day.”

Biniam Girmay kept the best sprinter’s green jersey.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports

Olympic Hightlights

1 of 7 |

FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

2 of 7 |

FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

3 of 7 |

FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

4 of 7 |

Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

5 of 7 |

USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

6 of 7 |

Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

7 of 7 |

FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)