Key events
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 .
⛰️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— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 19, 2023
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.
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
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Yellow: Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
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Green: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
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Polka-dot: Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek)
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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
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Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 63hr 06min 53sec
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Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +1min 48sec
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Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +8min 52sec
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Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +8min 57sec
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Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +11min 15sec
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Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) +12min 56sec
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Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) +13min 06sec
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Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla) +13min 46sec
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David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +17min 38sec
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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).
