Edvald Boasson Hagen attacked on the category two Côte de Pramartino before soloing to victory to secure his second stage of Tour de France.

Boasson Hagen, who earned Team Sky their first Tour win on stage six, was left smarting after finishing second to fellow Norwegian Thor Hushovd on stage 16.

But the 24-year-old hit back with a vengeance 24 hours later to once again make his way into the decisive break before powering to victory in Pinerolo.

Team Sky had to reset their sights after leader Bradley Wiggins crashed out on stage seven and the British outfit have bounced back with Boasson Hagen’s brace of stage wins, while Rigoberto Uran leads the young rider classification.

Meanwhile, yellow jersey Thomas Voeckler lost 27 seconds to a group of favourites that includes defending champion Alberto Contador and both Andy and Frank Schleck after running off the road on the technical final descent.

Fourteen riders formed the day’s break – including Boasson Hagen, Bauke Mollema (Rabobank), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Sylvain Chavanel (Quick-Step), Sandy Casar (FDJ) and Julien El Fares (Cofidis) – which went on to establish a lead of more than seven minutes over the category two Col de Montgenèvre.

After crossing the border into Italy, Perez attacked on the category one climb to the ski resort of Sestriere, before a super-fast, 46km descent to Villar Perosa.

French national champion Chavanel, who has three Tour de France stage wins to his name, attacked from the front of the leading group on the final climb to overhaul Perez before Boasson Hagen bridged the gap and went on to launch his own bid for glory, establishing a 15 second lead at the summit, just leaving the 8km descent to the finish.

Jonathan Hivert (Saur-Sojasun) and Mollema led the chase on the descent but were unable to overhaul Boasson Hagen, with the former falling out of contention after coming off the road twice.

Back in the peloton, Contador put in a series of digs on the climb but, unlike the previous stage when the SaxoBank rider gained more than a minute, was unable to shake the Schlecks.

Andy Schleck had labelled the descent into Pinerolo as ‘fatally dangerous’ before the stage got underway and Contador took advantage of the Leopard-Trek rider’s nervousness, attacking on the tight, twisting descent.

Voeckler lost contact after overshooting one corner, while Contador continued to press on with Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), only for a seven-strong chasing group, including both Schleck brothers and Cadel Evans, to reel in the Spanish duo on the line.

Evans, second overall, now trails Voeckler, who has held the yellow jersey for nine days, by one minute, 18 seconds with four stages remaining.

Stage 17

1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/Team Sky) 4h 18m 0s
2 Bauke Mollema (NED/Rabobank) +40″
3 Sandy Casar (FRA/FDJ) +50″
4 Julien El Fares (FRA/Cofidis) same time
5 Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/Quick-Step)
6 Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/Astana) +1’10”
7 Maciej Paterski (POL/Liquigas-Cannondale) same time
8 Dmitriy Muravyev (KAZ/RadioShack)
9 Jonathan Hivert (FRA/Saur-Sojasun) +1’15”
10 Borut Bozic (SLO/Vacansoleil-DCM) +2″20′

General classification

1. Thomas Voeckler (FRA/Europcar) 73h 24m 34s
2. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC Racing) +1’18”
3. Frank Schleck (LUX/Leopard-Trek) +1’22”
4. Andy Schleck (LUX/Leopard-Trek) +2’36”
5. Samuel Sanchez (SPA/Euskaltel-Euskadi) +2’59”
6. Alberto Contador (SPA/Saxo Bank) +3’15”
7. Damiano Cunego (ITA/Lampre-ISD) +3’34”
8. Ivan Basso (ITA/Liquigas-Cannondale) +3’49”
9. Tom Danielson (US/Garmin-Cervelo) +6’04”
10. Rigoberto Uran (COL/Team Sky) +7’36”