Key events
Tomorrow’s stage – 171.5km between Vif and Courchevel de la Loze – contains a ludicrous 5,450m of climbing. Friday’s stage is a beast, too … Albertville to La Plagne will bring a further 4,550m of vertical ascent. Saturday’s “hilly” stage will mean another 2,900m of climbing. It is going to be brutal and I’ll be here tomorrow and Friday. Thanks for reading and see you then.
Here is today’s stage report:
Top 10 GC after stage 17
1) Pogacar 61hr 50’ 16”
2) Vingegaard +4min 15sec
3) Lipowitz +9min 03sec
4) Onley +11min 04sec
5) Roglic +11min 42sec
6) Vauquelin +13min 20sec
7) Gall +14min 50sec
8) Johannessen +17min 01sec
9) Healy 17min52sec
10) Rodriguez +20min 45sec
“Fairly quiet? It was still a hard day,” says Pogacar. “Not an easy one. With really bad weather, visibility, it was hectic. I am happy we stayed safe. I finished the stage quite OK, and I am looking forward to the next days.
“The bad weather is here. I think also the next days shouldn’t be pretty good, as well. For me it suits well the cold-ish weather, but as I get older, I prefer sunshine.
“I think it is both Slovenian weather and Danish weather. We will see tomorrow.”
This was Pogacar’s 50th day in the yellow jersey.
The TNT Sports team are discussing Pogacar, and his competition for the points classification. Luke Rowe was saying he could easily have picked up a few points at today’s sprint but chose not to. Why? Rowe doesn’t have the answer but he says if it was him, he’d be trying to win everything possible including the green jersey, because “you never know when that moment is going to come when you stop winning”.
It seems an individual managed to get on to the course, on a bike, and rode to the finish line. The picture below appears to show him being tackled at the finish line banner.
“I’m without words, I have to say,” says today’s stage winner Milan. “I didn’t survive [to this point in the race] alone, I survived with the help of my teammates. Without this, I would have been dropped on one of the climbs.
“Today was a tough stage. We controlled it from the beginning, also with the help of some other teams … then it was a difficult final, also because of the weather, and we had to get to the roundabouts in first position.
“My team helped me, they supported me … it was a team victory and I have to thank them, from the bottom of my heart. Super, super happy for all of us.
“I actually didn’t know there was a crash. I hope everyone was OK. The team left me in the best position. I was really focused for it. I was looking forward to it. It’s a big achievement for all of us.
“It’s not ended [the points classification battle], we have some tough days awaiting us. but for the moment, we had a lot of fun, and I am really happy with how it’s going. We will keep fighting every day for the intermediates, and then on the last day, maybe for the stage. I have to say I am a bit more relaxed [with the standings] but I will keep fighting, and keep trying to score as many points as I can.”
Points classification: top five
1) Milan 312pts
2) Pogacar 240pts
3) Girmay 179pts
4) Merlier 156pts
5) Vingegaard 150pts
“We wanted a sprint,” says Steven de Jongh, Lidl-Trek sports director. “It wasn’t easy but it was nice, a super job.”
What is the strategy for Jonathan Milan’s green jersey tilt on the way to Paris?
“The next two days we have to pick up the 20 points from the start [the intermediate sprints] … we have to remember that Tadej can pick up 50 points in Paris as well.”
“It was super-nice to hear on the radio that Jonny won, after a hard day,” says Quinn Simmons.
“My girlfriend, this morning, was wondering why I was so nervous. I said: ‘If I have a really good day, I think I can set up a sprint for Jonny, and I think he can win.’
“I’m not a fan of racing in the rain … I did my work in the first 150km, and then let the big boys do the work at the end. It looks like they nailed it.
“He [Jonathan Milan] is one of those guys who is easy to suffer for.”
“With the rain it was just a bit more chaos,” says Jasper Stuyven. “Hard day. They didn’t make it easy for us, but we moved at the right time … it was nice, Jonny trusted me today, but I put him in the wheel with Jordi, and I think he did perfect. With the rain, it was not getting easier, but it was a nice one. We have a unified team, one unit, all committed to the goal. It paid off.”
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché–Wanty) was one of the riders who crashed. It’s not been a happy race for him or his team. He rides over the line with a couple of teammates for company.
Lidl-Trek’s Quinn Simmons “was the man of the day” says Sean Kelly on commentary for TNT Sports. “He did so much work.”
Simmons now rides across the line with a teammate, looking very pleased, no doubt having had the good news over the radio. What a shift he put in.
Top 10 on stage 17
1) Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
2) Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe)
3) Tobias Lund Andresen (Team PicnicPostNL)
4) Arnaud De Lie (Lotto)
5) Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana Team)
6) Alberto Dainese (Tudor)
7) Paul Penhoet (Groupama-FDJ)
8) Yevgeniy Federov (XDS Astana Pro Team)
9) Clement Russo (Groupama-FDJ)
10) Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek)
Jonathan Milan wins stage 17!
The green-jersey wearer takes it for Lidl-Trek! There was chaos on the run to the line with a big crash exactly a kilometre from home. Milan was on his own, but had more than enough in the sprint. Is that the green jersey secured for the Italian? That was his second stage win of this year’s race and he also won the sprint at the intermediate sprint, after the break had gone through.
1km to go: Crash under the flamme rouge! I think Merlier is down. Milan made it through, so did De Lie and I think Groves. It was a big crash that took several riders down.
2km to go: Dylan Groenewegen and Team Jayco–AlUla are prominent at the front … Milan and Merlier are both there.
3km to go: Abrahamsen gets a pat on the back from a teammate as he falls back through the peloton. The bunch negotiates another big roundabout. There is little in the way of organised lead-out trains, it appears to be something of a free-for-all.
4km to go: Abrahamsen is done. We’re all together with 4km left.
4.5km to go: The catch is moments away and we’ll have a bunch sprint.
6km to go: The technical nature of the closing section of the course will be a reason that certain breakaway riders fancied this. The gap is 9sec. Luke Durbridge of Jayco–AlUla has stepped up the pace at the front of the bunch. Abrahamsen looks doomed …
8km to go: Jonas Abrahamsen has gone all-in. It’s a brave move. He’s got 10sec on his chasers. Could he make it two wins at this Tour?
9km to go: The gap is 12sec between peloton and Abrahamsen. Albanese has given up chasing and is about to be caught.
10km to go: It looked to me like Abrahamsen took it quite easy in the break compared to the other riders. So perhaps not surprising that he’s got more in the tank now. On commentary, Sean Kelly thinks it’s an error for Abrahamsen to drop his fellow breakaway riders this far out, saying it would be better to up the pace but keep them on board for a bit more help. We shall see.
12km to go: The gap is 22sec. It’s a mammoth effort from these four riders. Albanese apparently nearly loses it on a roundabout. Abrahamsen attacks his companions! He powers away from them, riding at 61km/h.
14km to go: Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal–Quick-Step) is one of the riders working hard up front. It’s 24sec for the break, Abrahamsen now setting the pace.
15km to go: The gap is 29sec. “A lot of teams are waiting for their moment, wanting to keep their power for the very end,” says Sean Kelly of the sprinters’ teams who are hunting this break down. On a long, straight stretch of road, the bunch an easily see the breakaway up ahead.
16km to go: Albanese won a Tour de Suisse stage this year. Burgaudeau won a stage of Paris-Nice three seasons ago and also won the Tour of Istanbul last year … Pacher, it appears, has never won a pro race but has two second-places at the Vuelta. The stakes are high …
19km to go: Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education–EasyPost), Quentin Pacher (Groupama–FDJ), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) are the riders up front. The average speed of the race is 45.8km/h and it looks like the riders will be finished at the predicted fastest time.
Abrahamsen, as a reminder, already has a stage win at this year’s race.
20km to go: It’s 30sec for the break. Pacher, again, is setting the pace on the front. It looks inevitable that this four-man break will be caught, but you never know.
23km to go: On commentary Robbie McEwen is pouring praise on Simmons of Lidl–Trek, who is still up front and now working to close the gap between break and peloton as quickly as possible.
“He’s been so strong … he’s been unstoppable,” McEwen says. “I don’t really recall him having a day off.”
24km to go: It’s 42sec for the break now. The peloton snakes gingerly around a sodden roundabout, accompanied by a couple of race motorbikes.
27km to go: The rain, if anything, will boost the chances of this break staying away. The gap is 55sec though and the peloton is getting their chase more organised. A reminder that Sunday’s stage in Paris, with three ascents of the Butte Montmartre, will not be the usual bunch sprint. So this is likely the final chance for the fast men.
30km to go: The gap is 1min 07sec. Quinn Simmons is STILL on the front for Lidl-Trek. He’s been there all day and has certainly earned his money.
31km to go: Raining! The heavens have opened and it looks like we’ll have heavy rain from now until the finish.
33km to go: Van Aert is swept up by the peloton. The breakaway has 1min 02 sec, and they have a puncher’s chance of staying away. The peloton is completely strung out further back, with a slightly bigger group up at the front.
35km to go: We are going to get some rain. It’s falling at around 10km to go, one of the teams reveals on radio. Van Aert is still trying to bridge across to the break, but has 50sec to make up. The fact they are pulling away from Van Aert, riding at full gas, shows you how well they are working together.
43km to go: Van Aert is 20sec behind the four-man break. The break is about to reach the summit of the climb. Albanese takes the 1pt on offer atop the Col de Tartaiguille. The gap between break and peloton is 53sec.
45km to go: Van Aert, of Team Visma-Lease A Bike, fancies a crack at the stage win, clearly. And he has the power to close down this leading group of four.
45.5km to go: Michael Woods (Israel-PremierTech) has appeared at the front of the peloton on the climb. Quinn Simmons, who’s had a busy day, is on his wheel. The gap has shrunk to 57sec … and Wout van Aert attacks!
