Froome wins 17th stage of Tour of Spain

British rider Christopher Froome won the 17th stage of Tour of Spain, beating overall leader Juan Jose Cobo in a back-and-forth duel on a grueling final uphill climb.Froome pushed ahead of Cobo in the last metres (yards) of the 211-kilometre (131-mile) mountain course to finish the stage in 4 hours, 52 minutes, 38 seconds. The Spanish rider was just 1 second behind.The Kenyan-born Froome began the Vuelta supporting Sky teammate Bradley Wiggins, but now the 26-year-old cyclist has a shot at his first race title after reducing Cobos lead to 13 seconds.Froome said that with the Vuelta in its final week he knew the days stage was one of his last chances to position himself with a chance to win.Cobo, a native of the local Cantabria region, maintained the overall leaders jersey for the third straight day.The recent mountain stages have shed the other contenders. Wiggins is now 1 minute, 41 seconds back, and defending champion Vicenzo Nibali is 4 minutes, 31 seconds off Cobos pace.Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara withdrew from the race, along with Rein Taaramae of Estonia, Ignatas Konovalovas of Lithuania, and Spaniards David Lopez and Sergio Pardilla.Thursdays 18th stage is a 174.6-kilometer (108.5-mile) ride from Solares to the Atlantic coastal town of Noja.The 21-stage race then returns to the Basque country for the first time in 33 years before closing in Madrid on Sunday.They are going to be tough stages, Cobo said. But we are going to try to hold on until Madrid.