Tour de France: Trentin solos to victory on stage 17 in Gap
Breakaway sticks as overall contenders cool their heels
Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) claimed victory on stage 17 of the Tour de France after soloing clear of the break on the road to Gap, while Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) retained the yellow jersey after a day of relative truce among the general classification contenders.
On a day of two races within a race, Trentin rode to his third stage victory at the Tour – he previously won in 2013 and 2014 – after punching his way clear of the breakaway group ahead of the final climb of the Col de la Sentinelle. Alaphilippe and the podium contenders, meanwhile, rolled home more than 20 minutes behind, content to spare themselves for the rigours to come in the Alps over the next three days.
Trentin was part of a 33-strong break that amassed an unassailable lead over the peloton on yet another day of soaring temperatures, and he proved the strongest and savviest of their number when the move began to fragment in the final hour of racing.
The Italian forced the initial split when he responded to Nils Politt's acceleration with a little over 30km to go. Now operating from a group of ten riders that also included Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) and dangerman Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Trentin seized his opportunity when he attacked forcefully with 14km remaining, just before the category 3 haul up the Sentinelle.
He began the ascent with a 10-second buffer over the chasers, and he proceeded to extend that advantage to half a minute on the 5km ascent. Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis) attempted a lone pursuit on the lower part of the climb and he was caught and then passed by the effervescent Asgreen over the summit, which came with 8.5km to go. Asgreen had contributed little to the workload of the original break as he was there primarily to police the move on behalf of the maillot jaune Alaphilippe, and Trentin had pinpointed the Dane as the man to watch in the finale.
Asgreen could make no inroads on the descent, however, as Trentin rode into Gap with 37 seconds to spare to claim Mitchelton-Scott's fourth stage win of this Tour after Daryl Impey's triumph in Brioude and Simon Yates' Pyrenean brace.
Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) won the sprint for 3rd, 41 seconds down, just ahead of Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida), Gorka Izagirre (Astana) and Daniel Oss (Bora-Hansgrohe), while the remnants of the original move followed home.
"I was scared of Asgreen and I was right because he finished second after getting a free ride in the break," Trentin said afterwards. "It was really an emotional finish because I've only won two races alone in my whole career before now. Doing it here on the Tour de France on this finish line, winning against this group, it was amazing."
After whittling the unwieldy original group down to more manageable dimensions, Trentin felt he could take advantage of the ongoing uneasiness of their collaboration in the finale.
"I knew there was no collaboration and I thought with maybe a ten-second gap, they'd start to watch each other and then maybe I could finish it off," Trentin said. "I took ten seconds, which was enough to take the climb on my own and it was probably the most important thing to stay at my pace and not have to follow anyone."
There were no accelerations among the general classification contenders when they tackled the Col de la Sentinelle some distance behind Trentin et al. The only frissons came when Tony Martin (Jumbo-Visma) and Luke Rowe (Ineos) squabbled over position at the head of the bunch. The German appeared to veer into Rowe's path on the lower slopes of the climb, though both riders had made their peace by the finish. "We rode the last 10k together," Rowe said. "No stress. We shook hands at the finish."
How it unfolded
With only the trio of stages in the Alps and the grand finale on the Champs-Élysées to follow, Wednesday's stage offered the final opportunity for a hefty chunk of the peloton to make an impression on this Tour, and most of their number appeared to be on the offensive in the rapid opening hour once the race was flagged away from the shadow of the imposing Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard.
Some 34 riders eventually had their day passes stamped and were allowed to escape the clutches of the peloton: Daniel Oss and Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r La Mondiale), Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Omar Fraile, Gorka Izagirre and Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana), Simon Clarke and Tom Scully (EF Education First), Chris Juul-Jensen and Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott), Greg van Avermaet and Michael Schär (CCC), Sven Erik Bystrom, Rui Costa, Sergio Henao and Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE Team Emirates), Bauke Mollema, Thomas Skujins and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Nicolas Roche (Sunweb), Natnael Berhane, Jesús Herrada, Anthony Pérez and Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis), Thomas de Gendt and Jens Keukeleire (Lotto-Soudal), Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin), Xandro Meurisse and Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Edvald Boasson Hagen and Ben King (Dimension Data).
Total Direct Energie were notable absentees from the move and their riders massed at the head of the peloton to keep the gap at two minutes before eventually relenting, realising that the pursuit would be a costly one in temperatures soared of 37°C.
The break's lead extended gradually thereafter despite the loss of Magnus Cort, who was forced out of the move by a puncture. With 100km remaining, their buffer was up to 10 minutes, and it was long since apparent that the winner would come from their number.
A short but heavy rain shower offered some respite from the intense heat ahead of the finale, where Nils Politt kickstarted the attacking with 34km to go. The German's acceleration was a strong one, but he missed the decisive split that formed shortly afterwards, when Trentin, Laengen, King, Périchon, Van Avermaet, Izagirre, Scully, Asgreen, Gougeard and Oss forged clear. Trentin would outmanoeuvre to claim the spoils, despite Asgreen's late pursuit.
Asgreen will be pressed into action once again on Thursday as he rides in defence of Alaphilippe's yellow jersey. Alaphilippe still has 1:35 in hand on Geraint Thomas (Ineos), 1:47 on Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and 1:50 on Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), but he will face a robust test on the Vars, Izoard and Galibier.
"I hope I will have some energy left for the next three days in the Alps, it's for sure going to be a tough and hard day," said Asgreen, who laughed when asked to describe the challenge on stage 18 to Valloire: "Hard – and long."
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott | 4:21:36 |
2 | Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:00:37 |
3 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team | 0:00:41 |
4 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
5 | Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida | |
6 | Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team | |
7 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:00:44 |
8 | Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits | 0:00:50 |
9 | Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo | |
10 | Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits | 0:00:55 |
11 | Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First | 0:01:23 |
12 | Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
13 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data | 0:01:26 |
14 | Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | |
15 | Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates | 0:01:35 |
16 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb | 0:01:44 |
17 | Ben King (USA) Dimension Data | 0:02:53 |
18 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo | |
19 | Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | |
20 | Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | |
21 | Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team | |
22 | Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits | |
23 | Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:03:00 |
24 | Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team | 0:03:02 |
25 | Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert | 0:03:55 |
26 | Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis Solutions Credits | |
27 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:05:49 |
28 | Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates | |
29 | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:06:59 |
30 | Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott | 0:08:04 |
31 | Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team | |
32 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
33 | Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First | 0:09:23 |
34 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:20:10 |
35 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
36 | Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
37 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Ineos | |
38 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos | |
39 | Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos | |
40 | Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Ineos | |
41 | Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos | |
42 | Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos | |
43 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | |
44 | Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo | |
45 | Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ | |
46 | Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
47 | Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
48 | Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | |
49 | Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
50 | Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
51 | Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
52 | Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | |
53 | Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
54 | Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
55 | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
56 | David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
57 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team | |
58 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Dimension Data | |
59 | Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
60 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
61 | Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates | |
62 | Florian Vachon (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
63 | Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
64 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data | |
65 | Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
66 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
67 | Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First | |
68 | Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team | |
69 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
70 | Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
71 | Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team | |
72 | Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert | |
73 | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First | |
74 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First | |
75 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert | |
76 | Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First | |
77 | Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie | |
78 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
79 | Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
80 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
81 | Amael Moinard (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
82 | Paul Ourselin (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
83 | Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team | |
84 | Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | |
85 | Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
86 | Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | |
87 | Wout Poels (Ned) Team Ineos | |
88 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team | |
89 | Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | |
90 | Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
91 | Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ | |
92 | Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
93 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
94 | Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Dimension Data | |
95 | Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
96 | George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
97 | Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data | |
98 | Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | 0:23:09 |
99 | Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits | 0:24:02 |
100 | Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
101 | Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:24:30 |
102 | Lars Bak (Den) Dimension Data | 0:24:38 |
103 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
104 | Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team | 0:25:13 |
105 | Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:25:55 |
106 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos | |
107 | Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
108 | Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
109 | Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
110 | Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | |
111 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott | |
112 | José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin | |
113 | Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
114 | Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
115 | Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
116 | Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
117 | Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team | |
118 | Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
119 | Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
120 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
121 | Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team | |
122 | Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team | |
123 | Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
124 | Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | |
125 | Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team | |
126 | Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team | |
127 | Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits | |
128 | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First | |
129 | Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team | |
130 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:26:27 |
131 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
132 | Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:26:34 |
133 | Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin | |
134 | Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
135 | Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
136 | Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
137 | Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb | |
138 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
139 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
140 | Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott | |
141 | Romain Sicard (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
142 | Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
143 | Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Gobert | |
144 | William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
145 | Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott | |
146 | Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
147 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | |
148 | André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa Samsic | |
149 | Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
150 | Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb | |
151 | Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
152 | Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb | |
153 | Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin | |
154 | Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal | 0:27:45 |
155 | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
156 | Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal | |
157 | Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:30:05 |
158 | Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
159 | Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
160 | Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie | |
DNS | Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team | |
DNS | Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert | 20 | pts |
2 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 17 | |
3 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo | 15 | |
4 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team | 13 | |
5 | Ben King (USA) Dimension Data | 11 | |
6 | Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team | 10 | |
7 | Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First | 9 | |
8 | Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits | 8 | |
9 | Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | 7 | |
10 | Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 6 | |
11 | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 5 | |
12 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data | 4 | |
13 | Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | 3 | |
14 | Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | 2 | |
15 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott | 50 | pts |
2 | Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 30 | |
3 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team | 20 | |
4 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | 18 | |
5 | Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida | 16 | |
6 | Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 14 | |
7 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | 12 | |
8 | Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits | 10 | |
9 | Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo | 8 | |
10 | Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits | 7 | |
11 | Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First | 6 | |
12 | Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 5 | |
13 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data | 4 | |
14 | Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | 3 | |
15 | Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates | 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott | 2 | pts |
2 | Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 4:22:13 |
2 | Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:02:23 |
3 | Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:19:33 |
4 | Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos | |
5 | Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos | |
6 | Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
7 | Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
8 | Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
9 | David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
10 | Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
11 | Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
12 | Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert | |
13 | Paul Ourselin (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
14 | Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
15 | Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:23:53 |
16 | Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:25:18 |
17 | Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
18 | Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | |
19 | Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:25:57 |
20 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
21 | Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
22 | Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
23 | Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb | |
24 | Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal | 0:27:08 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team |
---|---|
1 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott |