Bonjour and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 17 of the 2024 Tour de France!
After yesterday's final chance for the sprinters in Nîmes, it's back to the hills and mountains today as the peloton heads to the Alps.
A look at today's stage profile.
Here's a look at the map of today's stage, which takes the riders to the new finish at the ski resort at SuperDévoluy.
Here's a look back at yesterday's stage, which saw Jasper Philipsen win for the third time in the race. He's now closed to within 32 points of Biniam Girmay's green jersey after the Eritrean crashed late on in the stage.
Tour de France: Jasper Philipsen nets third win on frantic stage 16 sprint in Nîmes
And here's a look at the results from stage 16.
Aside from Philipsen's win, Girmay's late crash was really the only incident that came out of over four hours of racing yesterday.
Today's stage starts in just over 90 minutes.
Here's a message from Biniam Girmay following yesterday's crash.
Dear all, thanks for all the messages and support. After today’s crash, I went to see a doctor. I have small injuries but everything is ok. I hope to see you all in Nice! pic.twitter.com/2Tq0rnS6zsJuly 16, 2024
Jasper Philipsen plays second Tour de France green jersey as ‘5% chance of success’
Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter back in points fight after third stage win at Nîmes and Biniam Girmay crash
Riders are currently signing on to start their day in Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux ahead of 177.8km of racing.
Mark Cavendish finished 17th in yesterday's finish, the final sprint of his Tour de France career.
"We did what we set out to achieve here at this Tour de France. We did it early on, so we’re happy. It’s been successful," he said afterwards.
Here's a look at the finish of today's stage...
Around half an hour until the action begins!
The current GC standings at the Tour de France 2024
Tadej Pogačar maintained his overall lead with safe arrival on stage 16 into Nîmes
Ineos' past winners hope to salvage something from final week of race
Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Elmar Reinders (Jayco-AlUla) are out of the race this morning. Reinders have travelled home for the birth of his child.
150 men finished stage 16 so it looks like 148 will start today.
The riders roll out in 10 minutes.
One rider who won't be racing today is former GC contender Primož Roglič. Will he be taking on the Vuelta a España after abandoning the Tour?
The riders now rolling through the neutral zone before the official start.
No attacks to start the stage.
The pace is high at the front, so at least someone is trying to attack. We thankfully won't be seeing a repeat of the four hours of dross from yesterday (and several other stages during the Tour).
Lots of riders up front but no real breakaway attempt yet. Just a high pace.
Some sidewind now as the riders enter an exposed part of the course. Most of the TotalEnergies team is off the back.
No major names out the rear at the moment.
Up front, teams are still driving it at the head of the peloton at a fast pace.
51kph average so far.
Things are coming back together now. It looks like the pace is slowing as the wind has dropped.
The battle for the break is underway now and attacks are flying at the front.
Wout van Aert among the current set of attackers.
He has Harold Tejada, Jarrad Drizners, and Tobias Johannessen with him.
That move hasn't lasted, however, and things are all back together.
Simon Geschke among the latest attackers.
Still nobody able to get away at the moment.
It's still more like a string of riders at the front of the peloton rather than any clear move getting away.
Alexey Lutsenko has stopped and it looks like his Tour is over.
The Kazakh rider is clearly upset. He's consoled by team staff as he leaves the race.
Magnus Cort, Tiesj Benoot, Romain Gregoire, Bob Jungels off the front.
The peloton earlier on as the wind struck.
Alex Aranburu is trying to move at the front.
35 seconds between the front quartet and the peloton now.
Astana reporting that Lutsenko withdrew after suffering a left knee injury.
🇫🇷 RACE: @LeTour Unfortunately, @AlexeyLutsenko3 was forced to abandon the race due to left knee injury he is suffering during last days after his crash. #TDF2024 #AstanaQazaqstanTeamJuly 17, 2024
Bart Lemmen and Laurens Rex try to attack from the peloton but they're brought back.
Wout van Aert on the move at the front.
More moves still going off the front. Richard Carapaz among the riders attacking.
Meanwhile, Sam Bennett is three minutes off the back and soft-pedalling. His Tour will soon be over.
Another ex-QuickStep sprinter, Fernando Gaviria, abandons.
Fabio Jakobsen is long gone, too, having abandoned on stage 12.
Sam Bennett abandons. His best result of the Tour was fourth place yesterday.
The break is now closing in on the four men out front.
Still 40 seconds between those riders and the peloton. Another group is at 25 seconds.
Laurens De Plus, Christophe Laporte, Javier Romo, and Mathieu Burgaudeau are the riders between the break and peloton.
And now more attacks as several EF riders try to break away.
The move is brought back.
The entire day has been tilting uphill so far without any classified climbs.
Ben Healy is the next man to attack. Wout van Aert follows.
8km to go until the intermediate sprint.
Another group attempts to go clear but nothing comes of it.
Girmay marks Philipsen, who attempted to go as part of the attack.
The riders now coming up to the intermediate sprint and more attacks fly.
Richard Carapaz is among the attackers.
3km to the sprint.
Alpecin-Deceuninck are closing down the latest attack.
Alpecin-Deceuninck lead it out from the peloton. Girmay is behind Philipsen.
Philipsen and Girmay go head-to-head for fifth place.
Girmay outdrags Philipsen for 11 points, extending his green jersey lead as his rival takes 10.
387 for Girmay, 354 for Philipsen.
45 seconds for the break now.
More attacks...
58km to go
Still around 20km to go until the start of the day's first climb, the second-category Col Bayard.
The average speed so far is over 48kph. The riders have climbed 1,300 metres so far with only a short period of descent.
More attacks going at the front.
43 riders are in the group which has just gone.
Some big names in there including Geraint Thomas, Wout van Aert, Matej Mohorič, Enric Mas, Romain Bardet, and Richard Carapaz.
Steff Cras is the best-placed man on GC in the group at 37:33 down.
It looks like Alpecin-Deceuninck is the only team not represented in the break.
Four up front with a minute. 47 in the chase. The peloton at 3:25 down.
Groupama-FDJ have six men up front across the two groups.
Visma, Bahrain, Arkéa, DSM, and TotalEnergies all have three men out front.
Two riders each for UAE, Ineos, Decathlon, Red Bull, Movistar, and Intermarché.
UAE Team Emirates control the peloton at four minutes down.
One of the many attacks today.
Now the riders begin climbing at the Col Bayard (6.8km at 7.3%).
1:30 now between the leaders and the 47-man chase group.
The four men out front have 11 men in the large breakaway group.
Riders falling off the rear of the group.
Six minutes back to the peloton.
The attack is caught and now Guillaume Martin makes a move.
Some idiot at the side of the road hits Martin with a flag while looking the wrong way.
He's joined by Madouas in the chase now.
A downhill run now before the next climb, the first-category Col du Noyer.
The climb is 7.5km at 8.1%.
A look back at the intermediate sprint earlier on today.
💚 Biniam Girmay beats Philipsen in the intermediate sprint and scores 11 points! ANBESA 🦁 💚 #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/jhOi2jY6qXJuly 17, 2024
It looks likely that the break will win today with the peloton almost seven minutes down now.
Eurosport just reported that we haven't seen any breakaway success since the opening weekend, but surely the gravel stage 9 in Troyes wasn't that forgettable??
Madouas and Martin are slowly closing in on the leaders.
The pair are almost across the gap now just in time for the climb.
Simon Yates attacks from the chase, 40 seconds down.
Carapaz and Williams also attack.
Yates has already caught the leaders and he immediately pushes on alone.
Carapaz and Williams now the second group on the road.
5km to the top and Yates has six seconds.
The peloton at 7:45 down.
Carapaz drops Williams on the way up.
40 seconds between the two leaders and the chase.
Yates and Carapaz the big favourites for glory today now.
And now Carapaz makes his move!
Yates stays in touch, but only just.
Giulio Ciccone is trying to attack, which is fun.
Up front, Carapaz has gone clear of Yates.
Mas now alone in third place.
Final kilometre of the climb for Carapaz.
Yates at 15 seconds, Mas a further 15 back.
Over the top now with Yates still battling.
Another look at the final. It's hard to see where Carapaz is going to lose this, really.
Carapaz is gaining a few seconds here and there.
Back in the peloton, the group has slimmed down to a selection of the best GC contenders.
Almeida leads the way.
Vingegaard is isolated in the group of around 10 riders.
Pogačar has Almeida and Yates.
Pogačar attacks!
Vingegaard the first to react but he's struggling.
Evenepoel next on the road.
The GC men still racing to the top of the previous climb.
Vingegaard is dropped and falls behind Evenepoel.
Pogačar pushed on alone.
Pogačar crosses the top with around 15 seconds to Evenepoel.
Vingegaard now has Laporte, dropped from the break, helping him.
Carapaz now taking on the final climb to the line.
Yates crosses the 3km mark. The fight for the stage win is over.
Pogačar racing along with Georg Zimmermann from the break with him.
Vingegaard and Laporte catch Evenepoel.
Now the gap is under 10 seconds.
Evenepoel, Vingegaard, and Laporte make it across to Pogačar.
Will Pogačar try again on the final climb? It's not particularly steep or long...
Now Evenepoel attacks.
The podium trio only moving further clear of the already distant GC challengers filling out the rest of the top 10 here.
He has 35 seconds on Yates.
Evenepoel attacking now!
Vingegaard and Laporte trying to get back to him.
Evenepoel has 2:10 to make up on the Dane in order to take second overall before Nice.
The GC men are racing on that final uphill drag now.
Pogačar sitting behind Vingegaard and Laporte, of course.
Evenepoel reaches teammate Jan Hirt from the breakaway.
They're in the final 3km now.
The gap isn't insignificant here...
Van Aert and Sivakov now with Vingegaard and Pogačar.
Hirt still dragging Evenepoel towards the finish.
Benoot also helping Vingegaard.
15 seconds or so between the groups.
Benoot and Van Aert still working for Vingegaard.
It's a mini-TTT to the finish
Van Aert drops away.
Into the final kilometre for the GC men.
Evenepoel now solo and flying towards the line.
He'll gain time on Vingegaard, but how much?
Into the final 500 metres for Evenepoel.
Evenepoel crosses the line at 7:13 down.
Pogačar leaves Vingegaard behind!
Pogačar at 7:23.
Vingegaard at 7:25.
Evenepoel makes up around 12 seconds on Vingegaard there.
It already seemed like a fantasy to think that Vingegaard might challenge Pogačar for yellow following the events of the Pyrenees. Now, come the Alps, he'll be looking over his shoulder in the standings for Evenepoel.
Carapaz on the road to victory today.
Evenepoel, Pogačar, and Vingegaard may only have finished down in 26th, 27th, and 28th today but the GC battle is unexpectedly the big story of stage 17.
The stage 17 results and new GC standings...
Tadej Pogačar will be happy with his day. He easily distanced his rivals once again and it looks like he'll have no trouble defending his yellow jersey during the final weekend.
Remco Evenepoel will also be happy. He already had a five-minute lead over fourth and can now look ahead to second place after distancing Jonas Vingegaard twice today.
He's now within two minutes of second place and he has two Alpine stages and the closing time trial to claw it back on Vingegaard.
Visma-Lease A Bike said they'll be taking risks to help Jonas Vingegaard try to beat Pogačar before Nice, but they'll surely now be looking over their shoulders to defend against Evenepoel.
The Dane has been distanced by Pogačar several times before today but it was the first time Evenepoel has looked stronger than him. This was hardly a good omen for the Alps.
Pogačar and Evenepoel warming down alongside one another ahead of the podium ceremony once again.
🎙️ On today's episode of the 𝐓𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐣 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐜𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥-𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭...🎙️ Dans l'épisode d'aujourd'hui de l'émission 𝐓𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐣 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐜𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥-𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭...#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/V2KhBV1WtzJuly 17, 2024
Stage 17's jersey rundown...
Another day in yellow for Tadej Pogačar and another day where he only looks more likely to carry it all the way to Nice.
Biniam Girmay consolidated his green jersey lead today, gaining a point on Jasper Philipsen. This looks like another jersey battle decided.
Pogačar also holds a commanding lead in the mountain classification. He's on 77 points, 19 clear of Vingegaard, with two hard Alpine stages left to run.
Remco Evenepoel is 8:21 clear of Carlos Rodríguez in the best young rider standings, a dominant lead.
Richard Carapaz isn't in a jersey but he's on the podium today after his stage win.
Romain Gregoire was the most combative rider of the stage.
‘I stretched my legs on the final climb’ - says Pogačar after surprise attack
Just before the Col du Noyer, Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) launched a solo attack and took the lead in the race. However, Richard Carapaz would bridge across and then storm ahead for the stage victory, leaving Yates to settle for second and see his best chance of a stage victory in this year’s Tour de France disappear. In summary, Yates said, "the legs are not giving me what I need at the minute".
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) Evenepoel remains firmly on course for a podium finish at this year's Tour de France, and his aggression in the finale at Superdévoluy on stage 17 indicated that he might yet aim at divesting Vingegaard of second place.
Visma-Lease a Bike leader Jonas Vingegaard struggled a little to stay in touch with the other podium contenders on stage 17. Race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) both managed to distance the Dane on the hardest ascent of the day, Pogačar gained 2 seconds and Evenepoel grabbed 12. Is this a worrying omen as the Alps are yet to come?
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