Italian cyclist Paolo Savoldelli has won the 239.5-kilometer 17th stage of the Tour de France, but his Discovery Channel teammate, Lance Armstrong of the United States, remains the overall leader.
Savoldelli outsprinted Kurt-Asle Arvesen of Norway down the final straightaway Wednesday to win the longest stage of the race in 5:41:19. Arvesen was credited with the same time while Simon Gerrans of Austria finished eight seconds back in third place.
Armstrong finished near the front of the peloton, 22:28 behind Savoldelli and earned the yellow jersey for the 79th time in his career. That ties him for second place with Bernard Hinault of France. Only Belgian rider Eddie Merckx (Merx) has won more, with 111.
The six-time defending champion Armstrong maintains his 2:48 lead over Italy's Ivan Basso in the overall standings. Denmark's Michael Rasmussen is third, 3:09 back, followed by Jan Ullrich of Germany (5:58).
Some information for this report provided by AP.
