Gall wins stage, while Vingegaard all but wins Tour
Stage 17 report: The Austrian rider Felix Gall won stage 17 after the race leader Jonas Vingegaard increased his overall lead on Tadej Pogacar to seven minutes and 35 seconds with another display of power on the Tour’s highest ascent, the 2,304-metre climb of the Col de la Loze. Jeremy Whittle reports from Courchevel …
King of the Mountains: Giulio Ciccone has just finished the stage 24 minutes down but did enough to keep the polka-dot jersey on his back. He has 88 points and is six clear of Felix Gall. Jonas Vingegaard is third in that particular classification on 81 points.
The top five on General Classification
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 67hr 57min 51sec
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) +7min 35sec
Adam Yates (UAE Emirates) +10min 45sec
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +12min 01sec
Simon Yates (Jayco-Ulula) +12min 19sec
Pello Bilbao, Jai Hindley, Felix Gall, Sepp Kuss and David Gaudu make up the top 10.
Tadej Pogacar: The Slovenian limps over the line 7min 37sec behind the stage winner. He remains in second place on GC but is 7min 35sec behind Jonas Vingegaard.
The top three on stage 17
Felix Gall (AG2R-Citreon) 4hr 49min 08sec
Simon Yates (Jayco-UlUla) +34sec
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) +1min 38sec
Jonas Vingegaard: Simon Yates finishes second in the stage, Pello Bilbao comes third and the race leader crosses the finish line in fourth, having effectively rubber-stamped his victory in this Tour.
Felix Gall wins stage 17!
The Austrian AG2R-Citreon rider hits the final ramp well clear of Simon Yates, struggles up its 18% gradient and crosses the line. He raises an arm in salute as he crosses the line.
Updated
1km to go: Pogacar crests the top of the final climb over five minutes behind Vingegaard.
1.5km to go: Gall negotiates the short kicker then begins his final descent. The gap back to Yates is 14 seconds and we could be in for a sprint finish on the final ramp to the line.
4km to go: Felix Gall is on another hair-raising descent with Simon Yates hot on his heels, 16 seconds back. There’s another short kick-up in about a kilometre’s time followed by more descent and then the killer ramp up to the finish.
6km to go: Felix Gall leads Simon Yates by 20 seconds, with crowds lining each side of the narrow road, many of whom are hammered on a heady mixture of booze, high altitude and sunshine.
7km to go: Vingegaard is now on his own, picking off the stragglers from the original lead group one by one. He’s 1min 34sec behind Felix Gall.
7.5km to go: Pogacar is now almost four minutes behind Vingegaard. At the front of the race, Felix Gall is beginning his descent before the stiff ramp up to the finish with its gradient of over 20%.
8km to go: A race car gets caught up in human traffic at the apex of a corner near the top of the climb and Jonas Vingegaard and Wilco Kelderman are forced to stop behind it, more or less walk around it and then set off on their way again, getting push-offs from members of the crowd. This is bonkers!
8km to go: Felix Gall crests the top of the climb 19 seconds clear of Simon Yaters. Behind him, the crowds are misbehaving and one fan gets a left-hook from Pello Bilbao.
Pogacar: "I'm gone, I'm dead"
9km to go: “I’m gone, I’m dead,” says Tadej Pogacar on his race radio. His team boss orders Marc Soler to stay with the Slovenian and instructs Adam Yates to “fight for the podium”.
9.6km to go: Vingegaard latches on to the back wheel of his teammate Wilco Kelderman as the gap between himself and Pogacar goes out to 2min 30sec. It’s only going to get bigger.
10km to go: Riding at 1,900m above sea level and rising, Pogacar looks a completely beaten docket compared to the man in front of him on the GC. Pogacar is pedalling squares as he tries to stay on Marc Soler’s wheel, while Vingegaard is flying up a steeper section of the climb on his own and has just whizzed past Guillaume Martin.
11km to go: At the front of the race, Felix Gall leads Simon Yates by 20 seconds but the AG2R-Citreon rider looks like he’s struggling. Jonas Vingegaard has set off on his own in search of the leaders and has a lead of 90 seconds and counting over Pogacar.
11km to go: Tadaj Pogacar has lost a minute on the yellow jersey group but is continuing to plug away, trying to minimise his losses. Having dropped out of the lead group, Tiejs Benoot is now pacing Jonas Vingegaard up the climb.
12km to go: Felix Gall pulls clear of what’s left of the lead group, opening a gap of 16 seconds. Chris Harper, Simon Yates and Rafal Majka are travelling together 20 seconds behind him.
13km to go: David Gaudau has been dropped from the lead group, until such time as I discover he hasn’t been. Pello Bilbao is also gone.
13km to go: Pogacar is dropped with seven kilometres of the final climb to go. Jumbo-Visma rider Sepp Kuss takes up position at the front of the yellow jersey group to pile on the pain.
Tadej Pogacar is in big trouble ...
14km to go: In second place on GC, the Slovenian has been dropped by the yellow jersey group and is being paced along by his teammate Marc Soler.
15km to go: The lead group is down to 12 riders with the gap to the yellow jersey group at 2min 30sec. Chris Harper takes up the running in the lead group, ramping up the pace and pressure in a bid to set his teammate Simon Yates up for the stage win.
16km to go: The leaders are now on the part of the climb with a similar profile and gradient to the alarming spike in NHS waiting lists under the Tory goverment over the past four years. And to think some people insist we should keep politics out of sport …
Rishi Sunak said today at #PMQs that rising NHS waiting lists is down to industrial action.
— The BMA (@TheBMA) July 19, 2023
Well how about the last 13 years of rising waiting lists? pic.twitter.com/jmTBqv3nxM
18km to go: It’s 11.7km to the top of the Col de la Loze, at which point the riders have a couple of descents before a stiff ramp up to the finish line. Bahrain Victorious’s Australian rider Jack Haig is dropped from the lead group.
19km to go: The green jersey group, seeing as you asked so nicely, is over 20 minutes behind the leaders: 20min 49sec, to be more precise.
20km to go: The gap from the leaders to the yellow jersey group is at 2min 30sec and the winner of this stage could come from either set of riders.
22km to go: There’s a bit of undulating up-and-down for the riders to negotiate before they board the Pain Train for the preposterously steep second half of this climb.
🏁24 KM
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 19, 2023
1️⃣4️⃣🚴♂️< 2'35" <🚴♂️🚴♂️🚴♂️🚗
🇦🇺@ben_oconnor95
🇦🇺@chrisharper94
🇦🇺@nick_schultz5
🇦🇹Felix Gall
🇧🇪@tiesjbenoot
🇪🇸@PelloBilbao1990
🇫🇷David Gaudu
🇫🇷@GuilmMartin
🇫🇷@MadouasValentin
🇫🇷@ThibautPinot
🇬🇧@SimonYatess
🇳🇱@W1lcokelderman
🇳🇴@TobiasJohannes1
🇵🇱@majkaformal#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/sKtk1yQD1a
24km to go: In the lead group, Jumbo-Visma rider Tiesj Benoot drops back to the team car and collects an extremely “sticky bottle” and some snacks, which also take some time to hand over.
25km to go: UAE Emirates rider Rafal Majka, a teammate of Tadej Pogacar, is in the breakaway group, despite failing to make my list two posts ago.
26km to go: Matt Dinham is dropped from the breakaway group.
28km to go: Giuliu Ciccone is dropped from the back of the yellow jersey group and won’t be accumulating any more KOM points today. The lead group is down to 16 riders, with some riding for stage glory and others acting as “satellite riders” who might be able to give their team leaders in the yellow jersey group a bit of support should the need arise further up the climb.
Your leaders: Thibaut Pinot, Matthew Dinham, Nick Schultz, Chris Harper, Pello Bilbao, Guillaume Martin, Simon Yates, Tiesj Benoot, Wilco Kelderman, David Gaudu, Valetin Madouas, Jack Haig, Felix Gall and Ben O’Connor.
32km to go: “Im pretty sure I broadly understand what is meant by ‘a very technical descent’ but would appreciate a brief explanation of what it means in specific terms,” writes Karl Winterstein.
Well Karl, I suspect I broadly understand in the same you do, in so far as a technical descent is one that involves lots of corners and tight bends, often of the hairpin variety. Add narrow roads and rain, and we’re left with a descent that requires elite bike-handling skills if one is to negotiate it at speed without coming a cropper. Even then, you are relying to a large extent on blind luck, hoping that you won’t suffer a mechanical, or have a wheel slide out from under you, or come into contact with a rival who isn’t concentrating as much as they should be.
32km to go: The lead group has been reduced to 19 riders, with Rigoberto Uran and Julian Alaphilippe among those who have been shelled out the back. The gap back to the yellow jersy group is 2min 47sec.
33km to go: Giulio Ciccone is dropped by the lead group as they begin their ascent of the Col de La Loz. This is going to hurt.
34km to go: The final climb of the day doesn’t “officially” begin for another kilometre but the riders are already going uphill. The hors category Col de la Loze is 2,304m high and 28.1 kilometres in length with an average gradient of 6%.
...and finally, the 4th segment, Col de la Loze, held by @TamauPogi : https://t.co/ZzLbPNqkwZ pic.twitter.com/nbYQifWMR0
— Strava (@Strava) July 19, 2023
Updated
34km to go: His work done for the day, Matteo Trentin (UAE Emirates) is dropped by the yellow jersey group. He salutes the TV audience as he’s overtaken by a Tour motorbike.
35km to go: Bora-Hansgrohe rider Nils Politt takes up the cudgels at the front of the yellow jersey group, his team getting anxious that Jai Hindley’s fifth place on the GC is coming under threat. Simon Yates, Pello Bilbao, D**** G**** and Felix Gall are all in the top 10 but behind Jai Hindlay. Guillaume Martin, who is 11th on GC, is also in the lead group.
44km to go: The terrain flattens out … a bit, with 16 kilomtres to go until the official beginning of the final climb of the day. Marc Soler is at the front of the lead bunch. A few of those at the back are struggling to keep up. Egan Bernal has lost over two minutes on the yellow jersey group since crashing.
45km to go: “Why would you put a banner marking the top of a climb below the top of the climb?” asks Ben Bull. “That’s just cruel. It reminds me of the many false summits I rolled over on the Cabot Trail in Canada, wobbling my bike from side to side, clutching my chest. There is surely no darker feeling in the world than reaching a ‘summit’ only to see another summit dead ahead.”
49km to go: Bernal has lost over 90 seconds on the yellow jersey group and after his fall, is travelling down the descent with extreme caution. The road is narrow, tight and twisty, with low concrete walls on some of the corners.
52km to go: In the yellow jersey group, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) loses his front wheel at the first of them and hits the deck. He’s OK to remount and continue.
54km to go: The lead group beging their descent begins and it’s a long, steep one with over 20 hairpin bends.
55km to go: Great news. I can confirm categorically that David Gaudu is in the lead bunch, as Thibaut Pinot has just escorted him to the front of it. Now let’s never speak of him again unless he actually goes on to contest the end of the stage. The riders are still ascending, despite having passed the banner marking the top of the third climb. Ineos Grenadiers have taken over at the front of the yellow jersey group.
60km to go: “Gaudu moves in mysterious ways,” writes Bruno Rabl. Wearing a polka-dot helmet, shirt, shorts and socks, Giulio Ciccone crests the summit of the third climb of the day unopposed to take maximum points for the third time today. He could still lose the jersey if Jonas Vingegaard is first over the top of the last climb of the day and he doesn’t collect any more points today. Were that to happen, there are a sufficient number of climbs left on the Tour for him to win it back.
😍😍😍#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/C3TLjf8ACX
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 19, 2023
63km to go: Halfway up the Côte de Longefoy, our group of leaders have dropped Julian Alaphilippe and are almost three minutes clear of the yellow jersey group.
Your leaders: Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Giulio Ciccone and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Ben O’Connor (Ag2r-Citröen), Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla), Stefan Kung, Valentin Madouas and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Magnus Cort and Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Dries Devenyns (Soudal-Quick Step), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Felix Gall (Ag2r) and Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla).
Bizarrely, debate continues to rage over whether David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) is in this group or not. The current thinking is that he definitely is and the Tour’s rider tracking gizmo appears to back that up.
Côte de Longefoy is the 3rd iconic segment during this stage: https://t.co/wxOMB06cTS pic.twitter.com/LNSkBRDL34
— Strava (@Strava) July 19, 2023
69km to go: The leaders are approaching the foot of the day’s penultimate climb, a comparative hillock compared to the monster lying in wait later. The category two Côte de Longefoy is 1,174m high and 6.7 kilometres in length with an average gradient of 7.5%. Easy!
Schrödinger’s Gaudu: “David Gaudu seems to be the Tour’s most elusive rider,” writes Chris Taine. “He’s in a group until you look for him in a group, at which point he’s not in that group. Or not not in that group. Meow.”
We are all, in our own way, waiting for Gaudu.
Updated
72km to go: “Much has been written about Vingegaard’s performance yesterday but it’s worth noting that he gained a substantial amount of time on the downhill sections,” writes Michael Forbes. “Cycling isn’t only about climbing but also about descending. Frankly, I’d rather investigate how he stayed on the bike around some of those corners!”
76km to go: Withg two of today’s four climbs behind them, the lead group of 33 riders has a lead of 2min 10sec over the yellow jersey group, which is 35-riders strong. THere’s another group of around 20 riders between them and the green jersey group, which is nine minutes behind the leaders.
82km to go: While we’re on the subject, the Irish journalist Paul Kimmage posted a tweet today, showing what I presume is a genuione page from today’s L’Equipe in which they had a photo of Vingegaard accompanied by the headline “D’une Autre Planete”. They have used that headline in the past, accompanying a story aboout … Lance Armstrong.
I always had my doubts about Lance and often got woeful abuse from his fans for expressing my cynicism. I really want to believe today’s best riders are on the level but also think it’s fair to ask questions in the face of some almost superhuman performances.
As my old friend David Walsh once said: “We reserve the right to applaud.” pic.twitter.com/dJjneLmcvA
— Paul Kimmage (@PaulKimmage) July 19, 2023
An email: With the riders on a long descent it’s time to dip into the mailbag. “Very sad and a bit confusing to see so much on social media about Vingegaard’s amazing performance yesterday – particularly from fans of Pogacar?” writes Jeremy.
“Both are great riders and both seem to have the utmost respect for each other – shame the same can’t be said of some of Pogi’s fans who have thrown the doping card into what should merely be a discussion of which planet Vingegaard actually hails from!
“I think they are both a credit to modern day cycling - mind you, I have just discovered he is a big Liverpool fan - which I think does need some explanation in my book.”
It’s an interesting email but while there isn’t a shred of evidence to suggest that Vingegaard has done anything dodgy, I think that given the sport’s extremely murky past, there are legitimate questions to be asked about his performances. Yesterday’s was out of this world.
Vingegaard himself has welcomed questions from sceptics and this very subject was addressed on Eurosport’s pre-stage coverage this morning.
All concerned arrived at what I think is the fair conclusion that, until we see any evidence that Vingegaard (or indeed Pogacar) might be cheating in some way, we have to presume they are not. Other opinions are available.
Updated
King of the Mountains: Giulio Ciccone is now on 83 points, with Neilson Powless next in the pecking order on 58. Jonas Vingegaard is one behind the American in third.
In the entirely plausible scenario that Ciccone doesn’t take any points on today’s final climb and Vingegaard is first to the summit of the Col de la Loze, it is the Dane who will be top of the King of the Mountains standings at close of play this afternoon. Ciccone would continue to wear the polka-dot jersey, but only on Vingegaard’s behalf.
Updated
97km to go: In the polka-dot jersey, Giulio Ciccone is first over the Cormet de Roselend, followed by his teammate Mattias Skjelmose. I can confirm that David Gaudu is not in the lead group.
102km to go: We have three riders from the top 10 on GC in the lead group, the highest placed being Pello Bilbao, in seventh. Simon Yates (eighth) and Felix Gall (tenth). David Gaudu seems to have been vanished off the face of the earth, as there’s no sign of him in any of the first three groups. He’s definitely in one of them and I’m pretty sure it’s that of the leaders, which would make it four from the top 10.
105km to go: “What the heck happened to Neilson Powless!?” asks Joe Pearson. “A couple days ago he was in polka dot; today he’s in the Green Jersey group, over six minutes back. Is he ill or injured? Do we know?”
We can’t know for sure Joe, but he tried to escape early on in a group with Giulio Ciccone, who relieved him of his KOM jersey two days ago, but just didn’t seem to have the legs. He started going backwards very quickly at the first application of pressure. Probably just one of those bad days at the office.
106km to go: With a shimmering, emerald green lake to their right and slightly darker green mountains to their left and straight ahead, the riders continue their journey towards the summit of the Cormet de Roselend. The lead group is comprised of 34 riders, who have put 1min 23sec into the yellow jersey group behind them. The climb is about to ramp up quite viciously.
108km to go: The German Bahrain Victorious sprinter Phil Bauhaus has abandoned the race after being distanced at the back of the field. He cut an extremely forlorn figure while riding through the intermediate sprint zone all by himself.
An email: “I’ve been following the Tour for years now and I can’t ever remember hearing the phrase Queen Stage,” writes Lizzi. “What does it mean?” The Queen Stage is the toughest, most gruelling mountain stage of any Grand Tour.
109km to go: There’s another 10 kilometres to go up the second climb of the day with the gap from the leaders to the yellow jersey group at 1min 10sec. The green jersey group is currently toiling almost six minutes off the pace.
110km to go: Correction, there are way, way more than 12 riders in the yellow jersey group. Jumbo-Visma have six riders at the front, with the riders of UAE Team Emirates behind them and the lads from Ineos Grenadiers next in line. Christophe Laporte is towing them up the mountain, making a punishing pace.
113km to go: The two lead groups have come together to form one big 33-rider festival of pain. The 12-man yellow jersey group is only 1min 19sec back.
114km to go: Your chase group: David Gaudu, Stefan Kung, Valentin Madouas and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Magnus Cort and Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Dries Devenyns (Soudal-Quick Step), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Felix Gall (Ag2r) and Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla). My humble apologies go out to David Gaudu, who I erroneously reported had been dropped. They have 14.5km of the second climb remaining.
115km to go: We have a lead group of nine readers who have opened a gap of 1min 10sec on the yellow jersey group, with a chase group in between.
Your leaders: Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Giulio Ciccone and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Ben O’Connor (Ag2r-Citröen), Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla).
Updated
Key event
Intermediate sprint: It went uncontested in the valley between the first two climbs and Julian Alaphilippe took maximum points, for all the good they are to him. Assuming he finishes the race, Jasper Philipsen won’t be caught in the points classification. Alaphilippe does, however, also win €1,500 for the team kitty, which will pay for a few righteous beers in Paris on Sunday night. Probably not too many, given how expensive everything is around the Champs Elysees.
Updated
117km to go: It’s time for the second climb of the day. The category one Cormet de Roselend is 1,968m high and 20 kilometres in length with an average gradient of 6%. “Fuel, cool and hydrate,” are the instructions from the Ineos Grenadiers team boss, who orders his troops to slow down and let Jumbo-Visma do the donkey work at the front of the yellow jersey group.
119km to go: Alaphilippe, Ciccone and Neilands have a lead of 49 seconds over the yellow jersey group, with a chasing posse of four riders on the road between them.
125km to go: The descent continues and Alaphilippe, Ciccone and Neilands have put 18 seconds between themselves and the yellow jersey.
David Gaudu, my outside bet for this Tour, has been dropped by the yellow jersey group in a state of affairs that could jeopardise his place in the top 10. The Groupama-FDJ rider, who starred in one of the episodes of the Netflix Tour de France: Unchained series, is currently ninth overall.
129km to go: The riders continue to zoom down this quick descent, the needle on the speedometer hitting 93km per hour as they negotiate the hairpin bends.
134km to go: The lead group, now with added Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar and other GC heavyweights, are about 35 seconds clear of the next bunch. Julian Alaphilippe is out in front descending the Col de Saises at a speed that is little short of terrifying.
137km to go: With Neilson Powless dropped and pedalling through treacle, Giulio Ciccone takes maximum points at the top of the first climb, the category one Col de Saises. He’ll almost certainly keep the polka-dot jersey unless one of the GC contenders robs him of it in their bid to secure yellow.
138km to go: Our breakaway group of Rafal Majka, Thibaut Pinot, Rigoberto Uran, Julian Alaphilippe, Jack Haig, Giulio Ciccone, Mattiasd Skjelmose, Felix Gall, Rui Costa, Victor Lafay, Kevin Vermaerke, Krists Neilands, Simon Yates, Lawson Craddock, Chris Harper, Clement Champoussin and Jonas Gregaard have an 18 second lead over the yellow jersey group.
Jumbo-Visma aren’t giving them much more than an inch; they’re really pedalling hard and making life difficult for everyone else in the group. Their own rider, Wout van Aert has been dropped.
140km to go: There are groups scattered all over the road following a brutal start to a brutal stage. The green jersey group of stragglers is already two minutes off the pace.
142km to go: Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) is dropped.
143km to go: Second in the King of the Mountains standings behind Giulio Ciccone, Neilson Powless has been dropped by the lead group with six kilometres of the first climb to go. Their lead is now at 26 seconds but Jumbo-Visma rider Dylan van Baarle is towing the peloton along at a rate of knots.
145km to go: A big breakaway group of about 20 riders have opened a gap of 19 seconds on the peloton. Neilson Powless, Giulio Ciccone, Thibaut Pinot, Julian Alaphilippe, Ben O’Connor and Simon Yates are among them.
147km to go: There are already plenty of riders, Peter Sagan and Dylan Groenewegen among them, getting shelled out the back of the bunch in the early stages of this first climb. It’s the life they have chosen but they’re in for a very long and extremely unpleasant afternoon. Ineos Grenadiers rider Tom Pidcock is also struggling to stay in touch.
148km to go: Mads Pedersen and Luka Mezgec drop out of the breakaway and three kilometres into the first climb, it looks like their three companions, Powless, Ciccone and Gregard are about to be collared too.
Tadej Pogacar crashes ...
149km to go: It looks a minor one. The Slovenian rider hits the deck after clipping a wheel but is able to remount his bicycle and continue.
151km to go: Our five-man breakaway – Ciccone, Mads Pedersen, Luka Mezgec, Jonas Greegard and Powless – have opened a gap of 35 seconds on the bunch. At the front of the bunch, Tim “The Tractor” Declercq is putting in a ferocious shift in order to help his Soudal-Quick Step teammate Julian Alaphilippe bridge the gap to the breakaway.
A record-breaking stage on the #TDF2023 .
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 19, 2023
⛰️Highest point (Col de la Loze - 2304m)
📏Longest climb (Col de la Loze - 28.1 km)
🏁Highest stage finish (Courchevel - 2003m)
⚪🔴Most available KOM points (65)
📈Biggest positive gradient (+5100m) https://t.co/aOSlN4a5Wf
155km to go: A group of five riders, including Mads Pedersen, Neilson Powless and Giulio Ciccone, a vision in polka-dots, have escaped off the front of the bunch. Adam Yates and his UAE chums have managed to rejoin the yellow jersey group.
156km to go: The peloton is still more or less intact, albeit stretched out in a very, very long line. There has been a bit of a split and a couple of UAE Emirates riders, including Adam Yates, have been caught out. Tadej Pogacar is not among them.
Updated
159km to go: Mads Pedersen makes a break for it with the stage still in its infancy and yet to settle down. There are plenty of riders trying to escape the peloton. With the Alpine backdrop, the scenery is quite breathtaking, even if the riders don’t have time to appreciate it and will be cursing it through gritted teeth later.
161km to go: THere are plenty of riders trying to get in a breakawayand the peloton is strung out like clothes on a washing line. Valentin Madouas seems to have thought better of his attempt at escape and has sat up briefly.
163km to go: Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) and Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) open a lead of 13 seconds on the bunch with five or six riders on the road between the two leaders and the bunch and others trying to jump across.
The peloton is racing on stage 17 ...
The first attack goes straight from the gun, with five riders pulling away from the bunch at the first available opportunity. Valentin Madouas and Magnus Cort are among them.
Not long now: The riders have just a kilometre more to complete in the neutral zone before Christian Prudhomme waves his yellow flag to semaphore the signal to begin racing. Today’s stage is a monster, boasting four tough climbs, the last of them the hors category Col de la Loze, with it’s 24% gradient in the final kilometres, which are more than 2,000m above sea level. Ouch.
Today's roll-out has begun
Hello everybody! The riders journey through the neutral zone ahead of today’s Queen stage has begun and they will be given the signal to begin racing once they’ve covered about four kilometres.
Christian Prudhomme on today’s stage: “The stage will be a great challenge, with more than 5,000 metres of vertical gain to deal with or exploit across the day,” writes the Tour director. “The finale will feature the Tour’s second visit to the impressive Col de la Loze, then plunge into Courchevel, where the final battle will take place on the altiport’s 18% runway.”
Who's wearing what jersey
Yellow: Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
Green: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Polka-dot: Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek)
White: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates)
Vingegaard leaves rivals trailing in his wake
Stage 17 report: Jonas Vingegaard crushed Tadej Pogacar’s hopes of reversing his 10sec deficit in the Tour de France by opening up a huge overall lead in the stage 16 time trial, dramatically ending days of shadow boxing through the French Alps. Jeremy Whittle reports from Saint-Gervias Mont Blanc …
The top 10 on General Classification
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 63hr 06min 53sec
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +1min 48sec
Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +8min 52sec
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +8min 57sec
Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +11min 15sec
Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) +12min 56sec
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) +13min 06sec
Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla) +13min 46sec
David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +17min 38sec
Felix Gall (AG2R-Citreon) +18min 19sec
Stage 17: Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc to Courchevel (165.7km)
William Fotheringham on stage 17: The final Alpine stage ends over the longest climb of the week, the 28km Col de la Loze, with an unremitting final 6km topping out at 24%, and after the descent into Courchevel there’s a short, stiff pull to the finish line.
If an early break gains ground watch out for pure climbers such as Pello Bilbao, otherwise it’s all about Jonas Vingegaard and Tadaj Pogacar, who between them won four mountain stages last year. Today’s stage is due to roll out at approximately 11.30am (BST).
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