As it happened: Pogacar cracks on the Col de la Loze as Gall survives to win the stage

Bonjour and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 17 of the 2023 Tour de France.

The morning storms have passed and the sun is out in Saint-Gervais as the riders sign on. 

After the superb performances and big time differences of the time trial, we are set for another dramatic day of racing in the high Alps. 

Can Tadej Pogacar somehow pull back any of the 1:38 he lost to Jonas Vingegaard? We'll find out on the mighty Col de la Loze later today.  

Cyclingnews journalists Barry Ryan, Alasdair Fotheringham and Sophie Smith are in France and will again gather all the biggest news, interviews and information.

The global Cyclingnews team will produce the best stage reports, live coverage and breaking news.

The 165.7km stage includes three early climbs but he Col de la Loze will be decisive today. 

Alasdair Fotheringham has written the special Cyclingnews stage preview, recalling that when it was announced that the 2020 Tour de France route would include a new monster Alpine climb called the Col de la Loze, such was its difficulty that the stage on which it featured was instantly labelled the toughest of the entire race.   

L'Equipe have named the Col de la Loze as the hardest climb in France. 

The sheer length of the Loze, 28 kilometres at 6.5%, with the final five kilometres never less than 9%, is daunting . 

The cycle path that leads to the Loze's summit via a cruelly undulating finale, includes a ramp of 24% some two kilometres from the top. Then there was the Loze's peaking out at 2,304 metres above sea level.

That altitude was more than enough to become an important consideration, in itself - and perhaps help a Colombian like Miguel Angel López take the maiden win on the climb in the autumn of 2020.

All of the above remains true for this year's ascent of the Loze. This time round, there's more to the stage itself as well: lots more.

Tthe key question now is: can Tadej Pogačar use such difficult terrain to bounce back after Tuesday's stinging TT defeat or will Jonas Vingegaard defend his lead of nearly two minutes and take another huge step towards winning the Tour again?

Pogačar remained notably upbeat despite such a major setback. If he started the Tour with the attitude that he has nothing to lose and that Vingegaard was the favourite, that is arguably even more the case at this point in the race. 

COVID-19 has not wreaked havoc amongst UAE like it did last year and Adam Yates, now third overall, represents a huge addition to their climbing firepower compared to 2022.

May the best rider win.

Pogacar is on the sign-on stage now, again wearing the best young rider's white jersey.

He is smiling and seems relaxed. 

Of course stage 17 is far more than just the Vingegaard-Pogacar battle.

There is also the fight for the polka-dot mountains jersey, with Ciccone trying to fight off Neilson Powless and others. 

There's also the fight for the stage victory from a breakaway. Surely Thibaut Pinot and others will try to win today.  

Jumbo-Visma are last on the sign-on stage after Vingegaard won the TT. 

Today they also ride in yellow helmets after their collective performance earned them leadership of the team classification.

The team won the stage with Vingegaard, Wout Van Aert was third and Sepp Kuss was 14th.

They now lead Ineos by 9:42 in the team classification.  

The riders are now lining up for the start of the 165.7km stage. 

They face a 3.5km neutralised ride out of Saint-Gervais and then the flag will drop. 

If you want to catch-up on all the action from the stage 16 time trial, click our full report below. Check out the photo gallery and full results. 

Tour de France: Vingegaard removes all doubt, crushes Pogacar in stage 16 time trial

We're one minute from the start of the stage! 

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.... 

C'est parti!

There is real tension in the peloton as riders roll along and prepare for the racing to explode.

Painfully for everyone, the neutralised sector is uphill. 

The only non-starter is Alexis Renard of Cofidis. He crashed at the start of the time trial and fractured his elbow.

Stage 17 is considered the queen stage of the 2023 Tour de France, the hardest day of racing. 

It has the highest stage elevation and the highest peak with Col de la Loze at 2304 metres above sea level. 

The first rider to summit will be awarded the prestigious Souvenir Henri Desgrange prize. There are also 8,5, 2 bonus seconds up for grabs, so everything to race for.  

500m to the depart reel! 

Boom! Prudhomme waves the flag and they're off! 

French champion Valentin Madouas is the first attacker of the day, along with Magnus Cort of EF.

More riders are trying to surge across to the two. 

The road rises to Megeve and so is a perfect launch pad for attacks.

160km to go

The peloton is back together. For now...

This was Madouas' first attack and shows the feeling in the race today.

We expect the break to form on the first real climb of the day, the Col de la Saisies, that peaks after 28km of racing.

There are no attacks off the front but there are splits in the peloton.

Race radio confirms that 30 riders have been distanced.

Adam Yates is in the second group, as more attacks go off the front. 

The 30 chasers catch the peloton but there are 5 riders up the road, including Powless and Ciccone, as they race  for the KOM points. 

Yates had several teammates as hre chased back on, Jai Hindley was also forced to make an effort to get back on.

152km to go

The split  in the peloton has allowed helped the attackers go away, the gap is up to 40 seconds. 

The five attackers are: Neilson Powless, Giulio Ciccone, Luka Mezgec, Mads Pedersen and Jonas Gregaard of Uno-X.

Soudal-QuickStep are leading the chase after missing the move.

The Col de la Saisies begins. It is 13km long and so will surely change the race. 

Indeed, Julian Alaphilippe leads a trio that is trying to cross to the attack.

Crash! 

Pogacar was forced to stop and get going again. 

He is in a chase group. 

Pogacar is back in the peloton but that was an early scare. 

Pogacar semed to touch wheels and go down, he was close to Vingegaard and so almost took him down too.  

It's 10km to the summit of the Col de la Saisies but the sprinters are already suffering and being dropped.

Philipsen is dropped, even Mikel Landa and Tom Pidcock. 

There are riders spread over a kilometre of the road.

Pidcock perhaps crashed with Pogacar. His number is ripped. on his right side.

The counter-attacks have joined the leading five. There are 18 riders up front, creating a strong move. 

Even Simon Yates is in there and he's 8th overall. 

Jumbo are leading the peloton to try to keep things under control. 

Ciccone is leading the attack but the gap is only 20 seconds.

We can see Pogacar in the peloton. He does not seem hurt after his tumble but he has a cut on his right leg, with some blood running down his lower leg. 

Dylan van Baarle is leading the chase for  Jumbo and he sweeps up Powless, who dropped out of the attack. 

The American wore the polka-dot jersey for much of the first two weeks but appears to be paying for his efforts in the high mountains. 

Latour is also spat out of the attack due to the high speed. 

However Jumbo refuse to let it go  and keep the gap at 25 seconds.

140km to go

The gap is at 20 seconds and so Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) tries to jump across to the attack.

With 2km to climb to the summit of the Col de la Saisies, Jumbo have upped the pace. in pursuit of the break. 

Tiesj Benoot is on the front and his effort has split the peloton.

However Benoot's effort has hurt his own teammate Wout Van Aert. 

But it has hurt UAE and other teams.

Carlos Rodriguez is also struggling and so Ineos are trying to pace back to the Vingergaard group. 

Up front, Ciccone kicks away to take maximum KOM point.  

The peloton is 35 seconds behind them as they start the descent. 

135km to go

The riders have climbed the Col de la Saisies but there are three more major climbs to come, including the mighty Col de la Loze. 

They're racing down the descent too, with Alaphilippe diving through the hairpins.

130km to go

Alaphilippe is trying to drag a smaller group away. 

Yet Jumbo refuse to ease up and so the yellow jersey group is at just 22 seconds.

The peloton is at 50 seconds, including David Gaudu.   

Alaphilippe, Neilands and Ciccone are working together but the yellow jersey group  is also flat out in pursuit. 

Cricket has Bazball, a new, more aggressive way of playing, cycling has FullGas racing like we're seeing now.  

This fast descent is 18km long. The riders hit the  intermediate sprint point in Beaufort and then start the 19.8km Cormet de Roselend climb.  

Riders are trying to jump from the big break to the Alaphilippe move as Jumbo still lead the chase. 

We have a race within a race, within a race. 

120km to go

The peloton has reformed with Gaudu back on but we could soon see gruppo compatto and as totally new race on the Cormet de Roselend climb.  

Julian Alaphilippe is first at the intermediate sprint in Beaufort.

The speed has been so high and the racing so close, that riders are unable to get fresh bidonds from their team cars. 

Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl waves a bidon to the TV camera but his car is stuck behind. He'll have to take a bidon from the drink motor bike.

The front group covered 42km in the first hour of racing and that includes a major climb! 

FullGas racing.

Much of the big early attack has almost been caught as the Cormet de Roseland  starts in earnest. 

Alaphilippe, Ciccone, Neilands, Haig, Mühlberger, O'Connor, Skjelmose, Vermaerke and Harper have come together up front to form a new break.

They lead by 1:00 now.

There is also a race for the GC unfolding 

Suddenly Benoot and Kelderman, and Soler and Majka of UAE are on the move!

UAE seem keen to place riders up front. For a big Pogacar attack later perhaps. 

115km to go

The riders in the attack are: 

Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Giulio Ciccone, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Ben O’Connor (Ag2r-Citröen), Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla).

Pinot and Uran have crossed to the front group, to make 13 riders up front. 

But things are changing again. Soler, Majka, Kelderman and Benoot are also now in the attack, along with a 30 other riders.  

Simon Yates is also there, along with a lot of stage win contenders.

With 13km to climb on the Cormet de Roseland, the situations finally clearer and more controlled. 

We  an see the huge Roseland dam but the riders do not ride along the edge today. 

They continue upwards to 1968m. 

There are 33 riders in the attack. That's a fifth of the peloton!

Jumbo have Benoot and Kelderman in the attack but are also chasing with Laporte and Van Aert behind. 

That's logical because Vingegaard wants to have teammates ahead if Pogacar makes an early attack before the Col de la Loze. 

Finally, team cars can go up and across to the attackers. 

The Vingegaard group is 1:10 down on the attack, so race officials allow team cars to feed in the peloton and then jump across to the break.

During such an aggressive stage, it is also vital to have soigneur on the climbs to pass up bidons and food.

Marc Soler has been dropped from the attack. 

Sadly Phil Bauhaus has retired. 

The Bahrain was struggling all stage and off the back alone.

There 8km to climb on the Cormet de Roseland. It is a long, long climb  at 6%.

A step in the climb allows riders to feed and so UAE grab musettes and fresh drinks.

However they can see the rest of the climb ahead of  them.

There is a huge waterfall on the side of the mountain but there is no time for the riders to stop and freshen up.

Jumbo continue to lead the chase, with Nathan Van Hooydonck now on the front.

His steady pacing means the  gap is only 1:15. 

Ciccone, Alaphilippe and others continue to drive the break along but the peloton refuses to let them go.

The views from the Cormet de Roseland are stunning.

These are the 33 rider in the attack:

Tiesj Benoot, Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) Rafal Majka, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), David Gaudu, Stefan Küng, Valentin Madouas, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Magnus Cort, Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost), Julian Alaphilippe, Dries Devenyns (Soudal-Quick Step), Pello Bilbao, Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Giulio Ciccone, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Ben O’Connor, Nans Peters, Felix Gall (Ag2r-Citröen), Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Matthew Dinham, Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich), Hugo Houle, Nick Schultz, Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Simon Yates, Lawson Craddock, Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla), Clément Champoussin, Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-Samsic), Alexey Lutsenko, Gianni Moscon (Astana), Tobias Johannessen, Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X).

100km to go

The attackers are close to the summit of the Cormet de Roseland. 

Mattias Skjelmose is working for Ciccone, setting a high pace to the KOM point.  

Teams have more staff near the summit to pass up drinks.

Here we go! 

Ciccone kicks clear to pass the summit of the Cormet de Roseland first. Mattias Skjelmose plays the perfect teammate and is second, to take points from any rivals.

So far, nobody in the break seems keen to take on Ciccone.

Jumbo drag the GC peloton over the summit, 1:35 down on the 32 attackers.

The riders have climbed up to 1968m via the Cormet de Roseland but can now 'enjoy' a 30km descent to the valley.

In the peloton, Vingegaard has three teammates ahead of him and then Sepp Kuss covering his wheel. 

80km to go

We're close to half way of the stage. 

The gap to the break is now 2:00, with Jumbo letting it expand very, very slowly. 

Behind, the green jersey group, the gruppetto of sprinters and survivors, is at close to 10:00. 

Up front it's an intriguing race, behind, it's a battle for survival.

Vingegaard is so well hydrated that he needs to take a natural break. Van Baarle helps him along with a push before they return to the front of the GC group.

It's 36C in the valley. Some riders will be happy to climb high in the Alps very soon.

65km to go

More riders in the attack are taking on food and drink in the valley road.

They will need it, the road soon begins to climb via the Cat 2 Côte de Longefoy. It is 6.7 km but at 7.5%. It's short compared to the other climbs of the stage but it is steep.

The GC peloton continues to lose time and is 2:50 behind the 35-rider attack.

Jumbo are clearly riding to a plan and to power but Laporte his done and so they have used up one key rider to keep the attack in check.

The Côte de Longwy is nearly done and so Ciccone kicks again to score more KOM points.

He is sweeping up points nicely today.

Ciccone is fully dressed in polka-dot jerseys, even with polka-dot shorts, helmet and computer. 

Ciccone has a total of 88 Mountains points. He leads Powless by 30 points, with Vingegaard third on 57. 

Ciccone needs to score some points on the Col de la Loze to hold off Vingegaard. 

55km to go

There is a race to start the descent on the front. 

That's wise, it is a twisty, narrow road. Stay safe everyone.

We're 20km from the start of the Col de la Loze. 

The tension is rising in the attack and in the GC peloton. 

Bernal has crashed! 

He seems to have slipped out on a fast hairpin bend. 

He is on his feet but is not happy.  

Bernal gets some encouragement from an Ineos mechanic and starts riding again.

This is the profile of the Col de la Loze. 

It's scary. The black part indicates a gradient above 9%.

Jonas Vingegaard said he did his best ever time trial on Tuesday but Pogacar promised to fight back today. 

Click below to see what Vingegaard said. 

Jonas Vingegaard: At one point I even doubted my power meter

This was Pogacar's fighting talk. 

'It's definitely not over' – Pogacar defiant amid heavy losses at Tour de France

Meanwhile, this morning  before the start of the stage, both UAE and Jumbo-Visma faced blood tests, just an  hour before the start of the stage. 

Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates undergo extra anti-doping tests at the Tour de France

As we near the foot of the Col de la Loze, Ineos are leading the GC group to try to defend Rodriguez's GC position and stop Pello Bilbao and Simon Yates from jumping above Rodriguez.   

35km to go

Bora are also riding to protect Jai Hindley's GC ambitions. 

The gap is down to 2:50.

Lawson Craddock is leading the attack to help Yates stay away.

His speed is spitting riders out of the attacks, as other riders are dropped from the GC group.

Trentin and Nathan Van Hooydonck have been dropped, as even Vingegaard and Pogacar lose teammates.

And the Col de la Loze is about to begin.

This is the Col de la Loze.

AG2R have taken over in the attack and Ciccone has been dropped or has cracked.

He will hope that the break can stay away and take the KOM points from Vingegaard.

Alaphilippe has also been dropped and put AG2R put down the hurt so that Ben O'Connor can work for Felix Gall in the hope the Austrian can go for the stage win and move up in the GC. 

Simon Yates is also a threat for the stage win, as is Pello Bilbao of Bahrain.  

Hey, let's be careful out there today. 

Ineos have two riders on the front of the GC group, with Van Aert and Van Baarle protecting Vingegaard, who Kuss in his wheel. 

Pogacar has Adam Yates and Felix Großschartner with him. 

UAE have Majka and Soler up in the break, while Jumbo have Kelderman and Benoot. 

The chess board has been set for a great tactical show down and the final moves.  

There are 16 riders  up front in the attack and only 20 or so in the GC chase group. 

In the GC group, Van Aert is done for the day and eases up.

He went deep yesterday in the TT and so hasn't done a massive amount of work today.

Omar Fraile and Jonathan Castroviejo are leading the GC group to defend Rodriguez's interests. 

The gap is down to 2:35. up front O'connor and Jack Haig are riding for Gall and Bilbao's GC hopes, in a tug of strength. 

This is all before any attacks from Pogacar and Vingegaard.

Interestingly, Thibaut Pinot and David Gaudu are in the attack and could both win the stage.

In the GC group, Pogacar is sat on Vingegaard's wheel. 

Both seem tired but face a huge moment very soon on the steepest, final parts of the Col de la Loze. 

25km to go

The gap is 2:30, with 25km to race and 18km to climb.  

There are just 14 riders in the attack as they try to hold off the GC chase on the road to the Meribel ski resort. 

From there, from the sweeping left hairpin, the real climbing of the Col de la Loze begins.

Vingegaard has Van Baarle riding ahead of him, with Kuss a little bit further back in the group. 

Pogacar has Adam Yates, Großschartner and also Marc Soler, who has dropped back from the attack. 

Majka remains up front for when the attacks come, but so are Kelderman and Benoot.

Haig and O'Connor are doing a massive job up front, working together to keep the attack away.

They're swapping turns in the valley road up to Meribel, forcing Ineos to work hard to chase them and making everyone suffer.

Van Baarle has sat up. Vingegaard now only has Kuss in the GC group. 

The way the Col de la Loze plays out tactically will be fascinating.

15km to go

The riders are 9km from the summit. Ben O'Connor continues to ride hard and so the attacks is 2:30 ahead of  the GC group. 

Is that gap too big to close for Vingegaard and Pogacar? Perhaps not if they attack very soon.

The attackers exit Meribel and begin the final 8.5km of the Col de la Loze. 

O'Connor is done and can hardly keep riding after his huge effort. 

Now Chris Harper is riding to set-up Simon Yates.

Pogacar has cracked! 

Pogacar had looked tired and simply can't hold the pace with 7.5km to climb.

Wow!

Pogacar has opened his jersey and trying to hold his teammates wheel.  

Can he limit his losses and hold onto second overall?  His tour could unravel massively now.  

Pogacar's suffering must be a huge relief for Vingegaard. He and Jumbo can ride a more paced race now. 

Pogacar is 20 seconds down on Vingegaard. 

Up front Gall surges away. Yates still has Harper to help the chase. 

Pinot and Bilbao are further back.  

UAE clearly knew that Pogacar was not on a good day, Adam Yates did not wait for him and is trying to defend his own podium place. 

This was the historic moment when Pogacar was dropped. 

The Col de la Loze is hurting everyone. 

Carlos Rodriquez and Sepp Kuss have been dropped.

Benoot has dropped back to pace Vingegaard, with only Adam Yates on his wheel. 

Pogacar is already 1:00 behind and losing time rapidly.  

10km to go

There are 4km to climb, the hardest 4km of this year's Tour de France. 

Gall is still clear alone, with Simon Yates chasing him. 

Adam Yates has been dropped and so Vingegaard is clear and alone. 

Vingegaard is 2:25 with 4km to race, can he close it on the steepest sections and even win the stage?

The riders are on the bike path section of the climb. The gradient changes often and so hurts more when combined with the high altitude.

Wow! Pogacar is 4:00 down on Simon Yates and 2:00 down on Vingegaard.

10km to go

Gall leads Simon Yates by 24 seconds, with Vingegaard at 2:10.

Vingegaard joins teammate Kelderman and he gives him a pull. 

They're chopping seconds off Gall's lead with every pedal stroke.  

Yates and Majka are chasing Gall at 24 seconds.

Majka could win the stage but it'll be of little comfort to UAE and Pogacar. 

Gall starts the crowd-packed final section of the Col de la Loze.

His lead is down to 20 seconds on Simon Yates and Majka.

Motorbikes have stalled on a corner and partially blocked the road.

Yates is chasing Gall alone. He can see him now.

No! 

The motorbikes and crowds block the race directors car and so block Vingegaard. 

Yates is dancing on the pedals to try to catch Gall. He can also use the descent to the Courchevel Altiport to pull back the final seconds.

There is the final, hardest kilometre of the Col de la Loze to climb. 

Gall leads Yates by 20 seconds, with Vingegaard at 1:45 and closing.

Yates can see Gall ahead of him. 

This was the chaos on the corner when the motorbikes and race car blocked the riders.

Whatever happens no, Gall has won the Prix de la Combativité for his solo attack. 

Meanwhile Pogacar has cracked massively. He is 4:00 down on Vingegaard.

Gall is near the summit. He is holding off Yates. 

Yates went over the summit at 20 seconds.  

Vingegaard is at 1:25, with other riders from the break.

Gall is diving down the descent to Courchevel. 

Gaudu and Bilbao are with Vingegaard. 

3km to go

Gall needs to stay calm and collected for the final. 

Yates is at 15 seconds, Vingegaard at 1:25.

Behind Hindley is suffering, so is Rodriguez. 

We will rewrite the GC standing tonight.

We could see a sprint to the line between Galla and Yates on the climb to the Altiport finish.

This is a thriller. 

Then there's to understand what happened to Pogacar.

Gall can see the finish. It's 1km to go.  

Pogacar is 5:00 down on Vingegaard now.

Felix Gall (AG2R) reaches the uphill finish on the Altiport finish and wins the stage.

Simon Yates finishes just 34 seconds down on Gall.

The climb to the finish line is steep and so Vingegaard  suffers and Bilbao finishes ahead of him.

Bilbao is third at 1:38

Vingegaard is fourth at 1: 53. 

Vingegaard again kisses his ring as he crosses the line. He didn't win the stage but he and Jumbo cracked Pogacar to massively increase his GC lead.

It seems impossible for him to lose the 2023 Tour de France now.

Majka and Adam Yates finish but it's a bad day for UAE. 

Hindley comes home as he fights for hids GC place, as other riders from the break finish.  

Carlos Rodriguez also finishes as he fights to hang to his top three hopes.

We'll need to count every second carefully to understand who sits where.

Tadej Pogacar suffers but reaches the finish, a massive 7:38 behind Gall

He stays second overall but has lost 6:00 to Vingegaard.

Pogacar crashed early in the stage and it'll be interesting to see how much impact that had. There was also his wrist fracture in the spring that impacted his return to training. 

Pogacar has stopped in the road and tries to recover ands understand what has happened. 

The new GC sees Pogacar 2nd at 7:35, with Adam Yates third at 10:45 and Carlos Rodriguez at  12:01. 

This is the new top ten on GC.

Simon Yates made a huge effort to try to win the stage. He is now slumped against the barriers on the road.

He eats a handful of haribo to try to kick-start his recovery and boost his energy levels.

Here's the moment when Gall won the stage.

This is when Vingegaard finishes and massively extends his GC race lead.

Almost seven minutes later, Pogacar finished. 

UAE team radio captured the moment Pogacar cracked. 

"I'm gone. I'm dead," he said to his team car and teammates. 

Felix Gall gave Austria a big win.

Giulio Ciccone finishes 20 minutes down but did enough early in the stage to keep the polka-dot jersey. 

Felix Gall was happy when he stepped on the podium and was emotional when he spoke for the first time.

Pogacar suffered hugely on the Col de la Loze and was quiet and subdued as he waited to go on the podium as the best young rider in the white jersey.

He rightly gets a cheer from the crowd for his bravery. 

“It’s incredible. I don’t know what to say. This whole year has been incredible and now to do so well in the Tour de France and to win the queen stage, it’s incredible. I just want to say thank you to the team. They have given me so much," Gall said.

“It’s not easy to do a three-week stage race and I also had the role of leader after a few days, so we slowly focussed on that. I was stressing myself about that also. It’s not easy but in the last few days I’ve been more and more comfortable. 

“I was feeling really great. Actually I was feeling great all day. I didn’t think the break would have a big chance to go for the victory. Before the last climb I was feeling super good and just looking by the numbers I knew that if we did this pace all day, I’d be in a good spot to give it a try. Ben did a great job on the last climb and I was just waiting for the steep part to attack.”

The gruppetto reaches the finish ten or so minutes inside the 46:16 time limit.  

There were a lot of  suffering and mixed emotions at the finish as riders understood if they had moved up in the GC or lost a chance of stage victory. 

"I don't know what happened, I came to the bottom of the climb really empty, all the food that I eat today didn't go to my legs. A super big disappointment," Pello Bilbao said after finishing third on the stage while moving up to sixth overall at 12:50.  

For two weeks the 2023 Tour de France looked to be decided by seconds but it all changed in Tuesday's time  trial and then exploded on the Col de la Loze on stage 17.

Vingegaard hardly needed to attack as the Slovenian cracked and lost contact with 14.5km remaining in the stage.

By the finish line, Pogačar had ceded 5:45 to the maillot jaune. He managed to hold onto second place overall but without any hopes of overtaking Vingegaard, who is now 7:35 ahead in the overall standings.

Fortunately for Pogacar, his teammate Adam Yates is third overall at 10:45, with Carlos Rodriguez fourth at 12:01. 

Pogacar can perhaps recover in the next two transfer stages north to the Vosges but will have to fight in the final mountain stage on Saturday if he wants to finish on the final podium in Paris.   

Vingeggard hugged his wife and child and his teammates after the stage. He can now see Paris from the high Alps.

"Of course we are super happy - it's hard to describe. Now to have more than seven minutes is really incredible," he said before climbing onto the podium to shoe off a fresh yellow jersey. 

"Of course the Tour de France isn't over yet and I'm sure Tadej will try something on the last three stages. So we have to keep fighting, we're not in Paris yet." 

Vingegaard also spoke about Pogacar's early crash. 

"I was just behind him, actually. One guy was going to the right and overlapped the wheel for Tadej, and Tadej couldn't do anything," he said. 

"That's very unfortunate for Tadej. We didn't sit up but we waited and we didn't push to get him out. We were just really doing defensively in the bunch not to profit from it. We wanted him to come back."

He spoke about the moment on the Col de la Loze when the race director's car blocked the road.

"It was definitely crazy, there was a lot of people - at one point I had to stand still because the car - that was unfortunate - but I guess that's what can happen when you put 20% gradients in the end of the Tour," he said, staying focused on overall victory. 

"Saturday is still a very hard stage, we have to keep the focus, we're not there yet."

Tadej Pogacar spoke in the podium area, revealing he had struggled to take onboard energy. 

"I tried to eat as much as possible but it was like nothing goes in my legs, everything just stays in my stomach," he said. 

"I became really empty after three and a half hours. I was really empty at the bottom of the climb. If I don't have such great support around me, I was already thinking to lose the podium today. I kept fighting with Marc Soler till the finish. I'm grateful for all my teammates and the fans." 

Pogacar admitted the early crash could have affected him but it was just a terrible day in the saddle.  

"It hurts a little, maybe it affected my body. I just couldn't go today. It was not a good day," he said. 

"Today was one of the worst days on the bike but I had to keep fighting. In the end, Marc Soler really pushed me through my limit and we fought to the finish." 

Yet Pogacar stayed optimistic about a recovery, while quietly admitting defeat in the 2023 Tour.

"I hope to recover and we can go for another stage on stage 20. I think it will be a good stage if we have good legs. The team was super strong today, I think if we can aim for a stage win inside the team and keep the podium with me and Adam, that's a good finish." 

Well, what a stage. 

To full understand everything that happened, click below to read our full stage report  by Daniel Ostanek and see our growing photo gallery of all the action.

Tour de France: Vingegaard dashes Pogacar's GC hopes on stage 17 across Col de la Loze

Barry Ryan, Alasdair Fotheringham and Sophie Smith are on the ground in France and have witness close-up all the dramatic events of the stage.

They will provide rider interviews, reaction and analysis later today. 

Thanks for joining us for today's full live coverage of stage 17.

It was arguably a historic day at the Tour de France, which shaped the result of this year's race massively and perhaps the future of the sport for years to come. 

Join us on Thursday for full live coverage of stage 18 from Moutiers to Bourg-en-Bresse. It is a transfer stage north and suits the sprinters but they have to try to control the attacks and pull back any breakaways. 

We expect another day of action and fast racing.