Stage 17 of the 2020 Tour de France, with its high altitude and severe gradients, was expected to be the centrepiece of Egan Bernal's bid to retain his title. Instead, the Colombian will not grace the Col de la Madeleine and the Col de la Loze at all after abandoning the Tour this morning. His GC challenge suddenly evaporated on the Grand Colombier on Sunday and Bernal lost another 27 minutes on the road to Villard de Lans yesterday. Ineos' announcement of his withdrawal early this morning came as little surprise. "Egan is a true champion who loves to race, but he is also a young rider, with many Tours ahead of him, and at this point, on balance, we feel it is wiser for him to stop racing," said manager Dave Brailsford. Alasdair Fotheringham has the full story here.
Bernal had been lying 16th overall after yesterday's stage. The revised general classification looks like this ahead of stage 17:
Stage 17 is 170km in length and brings the Tour to its highest point at the finish line. There are just two climbs on the route, but they are brutes. The 2,000m-high summit of the hors categorie Col de la Madeleine (17.1km at 8.4%) comes after 107.5km, while the finish atop the Col de la Loze is some 2,304m above sea level and comes after a vicious hors categorie ascent that is 21.5km in length with an average gradient of 7.8%. The first man to the top claims the stage honours and the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, and the climb might just decide the outcome of the 2020 Tour.
The sting comes in the tail of this stage. The steepest part of the Col de la Loze comes in the final 4km, when the road has already climbed above 1800m. “It's quite unlike anything that's found in the Alps,” Patrick Fletcher writes of the dramatic finale to this stage. “Suddenly the Loze path begins and everything changes.
The peloton is assembling on the start line in Grenoble for the roll out in a few minutes, at 12.15 CET. After a neutralised zone of 6.5km, they are due to reach kilometre zero at 12.30
Although the Madeleine, the Col de la Loze and - especially - those vicious final kilometres dominate most people's thoughts, there will be another race within a race in the opening kilometres. Sam Bennett still has a 45-point lead over Peter Sagan in the points competition, and the Slovakian will surely look to make inroads into that buffer at the intermediate sprint at La Rochette after 45.5km. It could be a high-octane opening hour...
Primoz Roglic carries a lead of 40 seconds over his compatriot Tadej Pogacar into today's stage, but he knows the final climb could change the complexion of their duel. "I think it’s the Queen stage of the Tour, we finish at the highest point of the race this year and it’s just crazy hard," Roglic said. "The last five kilometres are really difficult, it’ll be a fight for every second.
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Ben Hermans (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) are among the men trying to push clear in the opening kilometre.
De Gendt, Krists Neilands (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Pierre-Luc Perichon (Cofidis) get a gap of 5 seconds or so, but there are plenty of teams eager to chase behind on this uncategorised drag out of Grenoble.
Peter Sagan is among the riders trying to get across, and the green jersey of Sam Bennett is stuck like a limpet to his rear wheel.
A sizeable group of 20 or so riders has a small gap, including Sam Bennett, Sagan, Matteo Trentin, as well as the original attacker De Gendt. Sagan knows there is an unclassified climb of Saint-Pierre-d'Allevard (7.3km at 3.7%) after 30km or so, and he will be desperate to try to shed the Irishman there.
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Acceleration follows acceleration at the front. Cees Bol tries to snap the elastic for Sunweb. The peloton is lined out behind him. Ineos are very prominent in trying to get a man up the road here.
A potentially pivotal moment in the hunt for the green jersey. Peter Sagan wheels to a halt at the rear of the bunch to get a bike change. He is now chasing back on through the team cars after a quick change. Bennett and Matteo Trentin, meanwhile, are among the clutch of riders chasing Bol at the head of the race.
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De Gendt is fully committed to his lone effort. Behind, riders are struggling to escape the clutches of the peloton and set out in pursuit of the Belgian.
-150km
Van Avermaet, Rowe, Carapaz et al are still trying gamely to escape the clutches of the peloton and get across to De Gendt.
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This 21-man break has a lead of 22 seconds over a peloton where Movistar are leading the chase.
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At the back of the peloton, meanwhile, a number of sprinters, including Andre Greipel and Caleb Ewan, have been distanced. It could be a long and lonesome day for them if the race doesn't settle down soon.
Alaphilippe, Carapaz, Dan Martin, Kamna and Izagirre are the survivors of the initial move, and they have a lead of 20 seconds over a fragmented peloton. The quintet are combining well, but will they be granted the freedom to establish a lead?
Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Marc Soler (Movistar) and Dani Martinez (EF Pro Cycling) are trying to bridge across to the five leaders but they are struggling to escape a peloton that is right on their coattails.
-138km
Martinez and the chasers have been brought back and now Dylan van Baarle is trying to bridge across to the escapees. Meanwhile, Sam Bennett and Peter Sagan watch one another near the front of a reduced bunch. They are just over the top of the unclassified climb, and the intermediate sprints is about 12km away.
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Daryl Impey (Mitchelon-Scott) is now trying to forge across alone to the five leaders, who have 28 seconds in hand on the yellow jersey group.
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Situation
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Impey is in no man's land, 40 seconds down on the five leaders. Unless they knock off the pace a little, he will struggle to make it across.
At the very back of the race, a dropped Caleb Ewan knows the speed has dropped in the peloton and he is battling through the race convoy to latch back on.
-124km
Back in the peloton, 3 minutes behind the break, Sagan sits on the wheel of Bennett ahead of the intermediate sprint. Kasper Asgreen and Michael Morkov are there to lead it out for Bennett.
Sam Bennett wins the sprint for 7th and it looks like Morkov pipped Sagan to 8th, which would mean that the Irishman has picked up two points on his rival for the green jersey.
Fine riding from Morkov, who led out Bennett and kept going to make sure Sagan lost out on a point. Bennett now has a 47-point lead in the points classification and he has overcome another obstacle on the road to Paris. Now he'll need to make it over the Madeleine and Col de la Loze, of course, but he has been surviving the mountains well to this point.
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One of the finest writers at the Tour de France also happens to be in a team car behind the peloton. Tom Southam is part of the EF Pro Cycling management and his rider Rigoberto Uran is currently third overall, 1:34 off Roglic. His race has been consistent rather than spectacular thus far, but his ability to last the course in a hard race like this means that he is well positioned to claim the second podium finish of his Tour career.
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The race is a little over 20km from the base of the Col de la Madeleine, the first of the day's two, brutally tough classified climbs. Tadej Pogacar and his UAE Team Emirates squad sit in line behind Jumbo-Visma for the time being.
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Dan Martin fractured his sacrum in a crash at the Dauphine and his participation in the Tour was uncertain until days before the start. He understandably struggled in the opening phase of the race but he was up the road on Friday and now looks to be finding his rhythm. He's given himself a chance of competing for the stage today and he is also hitting upon some form ahead of a very demanding World Championships road race in Imola a week on Sunday.
Landismo lives. Bahrain-McLaren come to the front of the peloton on the lower slopes of the Col de la Madeleine. Mikel Landa has one of the best climbing support outside of Jumbo-Visma on this race - Damiano Caruso, in particular, has been very impressive thus far - and he seems to reckon that he may as well make use of them.
-77km
Jumbo-Visma's Tony Martin and Amund Grondahl Jansen are among the riders distanced by Sonny Colbrelli's pace-making for Bahrain-McLaren. The sprinters, including both Sam Bennett and Peter Sagan, have also relented.
-76.5km
Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) has been dropped by the yellow jersey group. The Colombian is in the company of Connor Swift and he appears to be in some difficulty. There are at least 40 or so riders still in the yellow jersey group, where Bahrain-McLaren are setting the tempo.
Sonny Colbrelli still sets the tempo in the peloton while Nairo Quintana loses more ground. This could be a very unusual day of racing. The break's lead is down to 4 minutes with 13.3km of the Madeleine still to go.
Thibaut Pinot and king of the mountains Benoit Cosnefroy are also among the riders jettisoned out the back by Colbrelli's tempo on the front.
-75km
Alaphilippe leads Martin, Izagirre and Carapaz on the Madeleine, while Kamna loses ground. Colbrelli keeps leading the peloton, which has closed to within 3:33.
-74km
Situation
Colbrelli has always had the ability to get over a hill, but this is the Col de la Madeleine and he continues to set the tempo after 7km of climbing. Landa still has five Bahrain-McLaren teammates for company, while Jumbo-Visma sit behind them.
Landa began the day in 7th overall, 2:16 off the maillot jaune, and he gives the impression that he is willing to risk everything to move up on this, the toughest stage of the race. Colbrelli keeps channeling Wout van Aert on the front.
-72km
There are still 30 or more riders in this yellow jersey group, which is 3:30 down on the escapees. Bahrain-McLaren still lead, with delegations from Jumbo-Visma, UAE Team Emirates and Trek-Segafredo lined up behind them.
-71km
Wout Poels leads Matej Mohoric, Pello Bilbao, Damiano Caruso and his leader Mikel Landa with 8.5km of the Madeleine to go. Poels, remember, crashed heavily on the opening day and looked to be struggling to stay in the Tour during the opening week, but he has managed to ride his way into this race. Poels was given the most combativity prize for his travails to remain in the Tour on stage 5.
Adam Yates, meanwhile, has lost an important support rider as Mikel Nieve abandons the Tour de France.
-70km
Lennard Kamna, incidentally, has been caught and - it seems - dropped by the yellow jersey group, which would appear to thwart his hopes of challenging for the king of the mountains jersey. The man in possession, Benoit Cosnefroy, has been dropped by the yellow jersey group, which he now trails by a little under a minute.
-68.5km
Bahrain-McLaren's pace-making is still chipping away at the break's buffer, which has dropped to 2:35 with 5km of the Madeleine left to climb.
Matej Mohoric takes over for Bahrain-McLaren, though Poels has tucked in just behind him. The yellow jersey group is still sizeable but this pace will take the sting from many riders' legs even before the race hits the 2,000m altitude mark.
The impressive debutant Harold Tejada (Astana) has been dropped from the yellow jersey group. Miguel Angel Lopez has only one teammate - Omar Fraile - with him and another - Gorka Izagirre - up the road in the break.
I thought Lennard Kamna had already been caught by the yellow jersey group, but the German has only just been captured by the chasers and he is sitting in at the back.
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-64km
Wout van Aert and Tom Dumoulin wear some signs of suffering on their faces as they sit behind the Bahrain cohort on the front, though they are far from the only ones. Roglic also has Sepp Kuss, George Bennett and Robert Gesink for company in this group.
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-62.5km
Tadej Pogacar leads the yellow jersey group over the top of the Madeleine, 1:24 down on the four leaders. The Slovenian has eyes on the king of the mountains jersey as well as the white jersey and, of course, the yellow.
The break climbed the 17.1km Col de la Madeleine in 59:22, while the yellow jersey group went up in a notably quicker time of 54:48.
Alaphilippe leads the break on the sweeping descent of the Madeleine, but with barely 90 seconds in hand, the leading quartet will surely struggling to hold off the chasers on the Col de la Loze.
-55km
Pogacar's 5th place across the top of the Madeleine puts him into the provisional lead in the king of the mountains competition. The Slovenian is on 42 points, while Cosnefroy is on 36 points.
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-50km
Izagirre has made it across to Alaphilippe on the descent and they are about to be joined again by Carapaz. This trio is 2:13 ahead of the Bahrain-McLaren-led yellow jersey group.
-45km
World champion Mads Pedersen has managed to bring himself back up to the yellow jersey group to support his leader Richie Porte. Kenny Elissonde is also in the group for the Australian, who is enjoying his best Tour since 2016 and perhaps his best chance to finish on the podium.
Nairo Quintana's travails today mean that Guillaume Martin moves provisionally into the top 10 overall. The Frenchman is still safely in the yellow jersey group, where Bahrain-McLaren, Jumbo-Visma and Movistar are present in the greatest numbers.
-36km
The yellow jersey group splits slightly on the descent under Mohoric's forcing, though the gap between the two portions of the group is closed almost as quickly.
-32km
The final ascent of the Col de la Loze is 21.5km at an average gradient of 7.8% and an altitude of 2,304m. The gradient flits between 7 and 9% in the first 8km, then the gradient eases slightly at the midpoint and the passage through Méribel. The gradient ramps up against thereafter and pitches to vertiginous levels in the last 4km, which is on a bike-specific road. The average gradients of kilometres 18-21 of the climb are 11.2%, 11%, 9.5% and 9.3%, respectively. The are gradients of 24% with a little over 2km to go and another ramp of 18% with a little over a kilometre left. The combination of the length, altitude and gradient make this a test like no other on the 2020 Tour.
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The skies have darkened overhead but the rain has held off for the time being. The finish, however, is still an hour or more of climbing away...
-21.5km
Mohoric leads this reduced peloton on the base of the Col de la Loze. Poels, Caruso and Pello Bilbao are also here on behalf of Mikel Landa, who has been signalling his intentions very publicly indeed for this monstrous final climb.
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-19km
Bahrain-McLaren are still massed at the front of the yellow jersey and they're giving a free ride - well, as free as one can get on a stage of this severity - to Roglic's Jumbo-Visma guard.
Mohoric pulls over and now Wout Poels takes up the reins for Bahrain-McLaren. Landa has Bilbao and Caruso left too, then it's all on him...
-17.5km
A reminder that the only major absentees from the yellow jersey group are Nairo Quintana, who was dropped on the Col de la Madeleine, and Egan Bernal, who was a non-starter this morning.
Tadej Pogacar still has David de la Cruz by his side in this group, while Jan Polanc is hanging on as best he can at the very back. Rigoberto Uran is sitting a long way back with Hugh Carthy, while Richie Porte, Adam Yates and Miguel Angel Lopez are all pedalling smoothly in the middle of the group.
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-14.5km
Poels swings off, his job done. Pello Bilbao and Damiano Caruso remain to prepare a pathway for Mikel Landa. Warren Barguil, meanwhile, has been distanced from the yellow jersey group, while Hugh Carthy looks like he is beginning to lose contact.
Robert Gesink (Jumbo-Visma) has been dropped, leaving Roglic with four teammates for company. Carlos Verona has also lost contact. Bilbao has turned up the intensity at the head of the yellow jersey group and the break's lead has dropped to just over a minute.
-13km
-12.6km
-12km
Alaphilippe sits up and he is caught by the yellow jersey group. 45 seconds the gap to the two leaders Carapaz and Gorka Izagirre.
-11km
Situation
-10km
George Bennett has been dropped by the yellow jersey group thanks to the pace-making of Pello Bilbao, who keeps leading as they pass through Meribel.
-9km
Up ahead, Carapaz has dropped Izagirre and he is alone at the head of the race with 18 seconds in hand on the Pello Bilbao-led yellow jersey group...
-8km
The race is about 1550m above sea level at the moment but the road climbs all the way to 2304m by the finish in a little under 5 miles' time. Carapaz battles gamely alone at the head of the race, and he is holding onto a 19-second lead over the yellow jersey group, but it surely won't be enough.
Gorka Izagirre wasn't able to lend much of a hand to Miguel Angel Lopez after his day in the break. The Astana man is dropped from the yellow jersey group.
-7km
Bilbao swings over and Damiano Caruso takes over with 6.8km to go. Landa is on his wheel and only thirteen men remain in the yellow jersey group: Caruso, Landa, Roglic, Kuss, Dumoulin, Pogacar, De le Cruz, Adam Yates, Porte, Valverde, Lopez, Uran and Enric Mas.
-6km
Tom Dumoulin moves up alongside Caruso as the gradient bites, but he is content to allow the Sicilian to keep setting the tempo for the time being.
-5.7km
Carapaz is making light work of the 13% gradients here to extend his buffer to 40 seconds, but the gradient hits 24% further up the road...
-5km
-4.5km
Caruso continues his cameo on behalf of Landa. Once the Italian knocks off his effort, this race could ignite. But what does Landa have left in his locker after his team's work?
-4km
Caruso swings off and David de la Cruz has taken over at the front on behalf of Pogacar... Whither Mikel Landa? He is dropping towards the rear of the yellow jersey group...
-3.7km
Pogacar takes over at the front of the yellow jersey group. Roglic, Kuss, Lopez, Porte and Mas are the only men who can follow, while Adam Yates is about three bike lengths back...
-3.5km
-3.2km
-3km
Kuss pulls clear after Roglic allows a gap to open. Lopez chases and catches the American, while Roglic and Pogacar watch one another. Porte is with the Slovenian duo, while Carapaz has been dropped...
-2.5km
Miguel Angel Lopez opens a gap over Kuss on the 24% gradient. Roglic accelerates behind, but Pogacar is able to follow.
-2km
-1.6km
-1.4km
-1km
Lopez shows no signs of weakening and he is riding his way to stage victory and third place overall. Roglic and Pogacar are in a grim battle behind him. Pogacar looked to be catching him with a kilometre to go but the gap is oscillating due to the constantly changing gradient in this ramped final kilometre.
Pogacar is battling to limit his losses but he also looks like conceding some bonus seconds to Roglic, though the final 300m are viciously steep...
Shades of La Plagne 1987 as Pogacar closes to within almost touching distance of Roglic, but the yellow jersey kicks again with 200m to go to open the gap all over again...
Miguel Angel López (Astana) wins stage 17 of the Tour de France atop the Col de la Loze.
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) is second at 11 seconds. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) comes home 29 seconds down. Roglic's lead will be around a minute this evening...
Sepp Kuss comes in 4th at 55 seconds, with Richie Porte just behind him. Enric Mas takes 6th at 1:13 or so.
Mikel Landa and Adam Yates come in at 1:20. Rigoberto Uran crosses the line two minutes down, just ahead of Tom Dumoulin.
Confirmation that Lopez won the stage 15 seconds clear of Roglic and 30 ahead of Pogacar.
Roglic has extended his lead over Pogacar to 57 seconds on Pogacar, while Miguel Angel Lopez moves up to third overall at 1:26.
Result
General classification
Miguel Angel Lopez on his stage victory: “I’m really happy, there’s a lot of emotion, we’ve worked very hard. It’s a very special day. we’ve worked very hard to get to this point. We were confident, because we knew this terrain was going to suit us. We knew it was over 2,000m in altitude. It was like being at home so it could be my opportunity.
Sepp Kuss was Roglic's MVP in those demanding final kilometres. "We expected maybe some team to ride today, either for the stage or to make it hard for others trying to get on the podium," he told Eurosport. "Bahrain did a really strong pace. They rode super the first 10-15km of this last climb. They were going really fast so hats off to them, but on this last climb here it was just a total legbreaker.
French president Emmanuel Macron followed today's stage alongside Christian Prudhomme. "I think it was very important to show that we need to live with the virus," he tells France Televisions of the 2020 Tour, which has taken place despite the rising levels of COVID-19 contagion in the country.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) lost ground in the fight for yellow but has taken possession on the polka dot jersey: "I'm happy with my performance, it was a really tough day. Bahrain did a really fast tempo on the Madeleine and on Col de la Loze the race just exploded in the final few kilometres. In that hard finale I'm happy to not lose more time. It's still reachable - tomorrow is another hard day. We'll see what we can do but I think we can be happy with how we rode so far. We will fight to the end. It was just that steep sections then flat sections, that was really hard for me today. Also it was at altitude - one of the hardest final I've ever done. Not really but I saw that on Madeleine there were 10 points for free so I went there and then I also got many points - if i'm in the grasp to take it I will take it. I'm happy to have two jerseys now. The objective is still the general classification, but if i can't take yellow i can take this."
Pogacar speaks with France Televisions behind the podium: "It’s not finished yet there’s still tomorrow. It’s a very hard stage and there’s the time trial too. Anything can happen. I can win or I can lose the podium. We’ll try. Let’s go by the flow and we’ll see tomorrow and try our best."
Sam Bennett made it safely home inside the time limit to retain the green jersey. Bryan Coquard also made it home but his B&B Hotels-Vital Concept teammate Jens Debusschere missed the cut.
Julian Alaphilippe was given the Prix de la Combativité, though one wonders if the honour might have fallen to Richard Carapaz had he not taken he prize yesterday. “It was a nice day, it wasn’t necessarily planned that I’d be in front today after being off the front yesterday," Alaphilippe tells France Televisions. "I was probably thinking more of tomorrow, but I gave everything when I was in front, even if with the profile, it was a bit too difficult for me. The day passed more quickly out in front, and I enjoyed it.”
Primoz Roglic speaks to France Televisions behind the podium. “It was again a good day for us. Of course, I always want to win and I was second but I gained some time in the GC. We had our plan, we saw that if the others had some problems, I could take some seconds. We did that. The team did a really strong job. It was again a nice day,” Roglic says, before being asked about the remarkable performance of Sepp Kuss: “I already said to him before to send him a little more in front and then the others have to close it and I have more of an overview about what is happening.”
It was a trying day for Nairo Quintana, who came in more than 25 minutes down in the company of his brother Dayer. He was a faller on stage 13 and the crash looks to have had a ruinous effect on his Tour thereafter. He drops to 15th overall, more than 20 minutes of a place in the top 10.
Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) lost 4 minutes on today's stage and just a minute to Alejandro Valverde, which means the Frenchman remains in 11th overall, while the Movistar man moves into the top 10.
Kévin Reza and Bryan Coquard were the last two men inside the time limit today, while the third man in the B&B Hotels-Vital Concept sprint train just missed the cut on the Col de la Loze. 150 riders remain in the Tour for the final four stages. We spoke to Reza on the Tour de France rest day, where he discussed the Black Lives Matter Movement and his return to the Tour after a six-year absence on a team making its debut in the race. Read the full interview here.
Jens Debusschere's elimination came after he sacrificed himself to keep the team's sprinter Coquard in the race ahead of the final ascent. “On the Madeleine I was pretty ok in the group with Sam Bennett, but Bryan was having a hard time and I waited for him. We can't do much here without him, because what's a lead-out man without a sprinter?” Debusschere told Renaat Schotte of Sporza at the finish.
Result
General classification
A full report, results and pictures from today's stage are available here.
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