Cycling: O'Connor takes 17th stage as top contenders stay quiet

[ASFN Admin]

Australian Ben O'Connor won the 17th stage of the Giro d'Italia, a 203-km mountain trek from Bassano del Grappa as Joao Almeida retained the overall lead at the end of a quiet day for the top contenders on Wednesday. O'Connor gave the NTT team, who are looking for a sponsor for next year, a much-needed win as he prevailed from the day's 18-man breakaway ahead of Austrian Hermann Pernsteiner and Belgian Thomas de Gendt. Portuguese Almeida faced only one brief attack from Australian Jai Hindley in the final climb up to Madonna di Campiglio as he stayed 17 seconds ahead of Dutch Wilco Kelderman in the overall standings.

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