Tour de France peloton off on short, steep Stage 17

The Tour de France pack has embarked on Stage 17, the shortest leg of the three-week race featuring three tough climbs plus an uphill finish in the Pyrenees.

Vincenzo Nibali is again in the yellow jersey that he's worn for all but two stages this year for Wednesday's 124.5-kilometer (77-mile) trek.

It covers three hard Category 1 ascents from Saint-Gaudens and a final push up to Pla d'Adet ski station above the town of Saint-Lary-Soulan.

The Italian leader had little trouble keeping his top rivals in check on Tuesday.

Nibali leads Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde by 4 minutes, 37 seconds.

-- Associated Press