Italian Diego Ulissi of the Lampre team won the 17th stage of the Tour of Italy over 230km from Feltre to Tirano yesterday after Giovanni Visconti was demoted for pushing in the finish.

Visconti was first over the line but after going for a non-existent gap down the inside between Ulissi and the barriers in the run-in, he pushed his 21-year-old rival out of the way.

That also forced Pablo Lastras to swerve out of Ulissi’s path.

Italian champion Visconti was then demoted to third with Ulissi given the victory and Lastras second place.

Overall race leader Alberto Contador, the reigning Tour de France champion, kept hold of the pink jersey after finishing in the peloton.

Although the stage was hilly there were no punishing mountains and the leading contenders spent the day in the peloton, leaving Michele Scarponi still second, almost five minutes back, with fellow Italian Vincenzo Nibali third.

Jan Bakelants found himself leading out the sprint as a game of cat and mouse was being played out.

Eventually Ulissi made the break for home with Visconti trying to hook onto his wheel.

However, he swept across from the right hand side of the road to the left and then tried to go down a gap that was gradually closing as Ulissi veered towards the barrier.

Visconti pushed Ulissi out of his way and gesticulated wildly in a bizarrre finish in which both he and his young rival sat up before the line while only Lastras, who by now was having to take a long route around, was still going flat out.