As it happened: Sprint teams chase down breakaway in wet finale and battle out victory on Tour de France stage 17

That wraps things up for our live coverage of the Tour de France on stage 17. Check the homepage on Cyclingnews for all the news and reactions coming out after a rain-soaked sprint, and ahead of tomorrow's brutal mountain stage from our team on the ground!

Tomorrow bring's a brutal stage to the 2025 Tour de France, with the GC favourites set to come to the fore once again for an all-out battle in the Alps. With three hors categorie climbs on the menu, it provides several opportunities for Jonas Vingegaard to try and make up time on Tadej Pogačar, of the race leader to further cement his 4:15 lead in pursuit of a fourth yellow jersey. It's set to be a belter so make sure to check back for tomorrow's live coverage and all of CN's content on the queen stage.

If you missed out on all the action from stage 17, from Ineos' attack, to the chase for break, and wet sprint for the victory, read our race report for a summary:

Tour de France stage 17: Jonathan Milan secures rain-soaked, crash-marred sprint victory in Valence

Here's a write-up of the late crash news if you missed it during the stage. Medical updates on the likes of Girmay will come out later from the teams, but he had to be helped across the finish by teammates, and it looked like his Tour was over.

Tour de France stage 17 final kilometre crash ends Tim Merlier's sprint hopes, leaves Biniam Girmay in pain

Milan's perfect day and 61-point gain in the green jersey means he's well in the driving seat to bring it home on debut, if he can survive in the Alps and make it to Paris. Two stage wins and green would be quite the first hit out at the Tour de France for the 24-year-old Italian.

Here's what race leader Tadej Pogačar said after surviving the wet finale on stage 17 and securing his 50th yellow jersey at just 26 years old:

"Fairly quiet, it was still a hard day, not an easy one, and in the end, with the really bad weather and visibility, it was pretty hectic and I'm happy that we stay safe and finish the stage quite OK, looking to the next days."

He described the stat of having yellow for the 50th time as "not too bad a stat", but it's on tomorrow's Queen stage that he will have to defend it, on the rainy rode to Courchevel and the Col de la Loze.

"The bad weather is here, and also the next few days shouldn't be pretty good as well. For me, normally it suits me well, the cold-ish weather, but the more old I get, the more I prefer the sunshine."

"We will see tomorrow."

Here's the full top 10 from stage 17, with Milan leading home a small group of sprinters after the late crash, shown best by his lead-out man Jasper Stuyven taking 10th, nine second down.

Here's what a delighted Jonathan Milan had to say after winning stage 17 of the Tour de France, full of praise for his Lidl-Trek teammates:

"I'm really happy and without words, I have to say. I didn't survive alone, I survived always with the help of my teammates. Without them, I would not be here, maybe I would still be dropped on one of the climbs," he said.

"Today was a really tough stage. We controlled from the beginning with the help of some other teams. When I dropped, they also helped me on the first climb, then did a good pace on the second one.

"It was a difficult final because of the weather, to be in first positon on the roundabouts. It was a bit scary, but they helped me, supported me. It's a fantastic team victory, and I really have to thank them from the bottom of my heart. Super, super happy for all of us.

"They delivered me in the best position. I was focused, looking forward to it, and it's a really big achievement for all os us."

Despite being held up by the late crash and only just keeping it up himself, it was, of course, full respect from Tim Merlier to Jonny Milan at the finish. That's two each now at this two from two of cycling's three best sprinters in the world, the other being stage 1 winner Jasper Philipsen, who abandoned after a crash on stage 3.

Here's Milan's winning moment, with Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in second and Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL) in third. It's his second stage win on debut at the Tour de France, and is a big boost in his pursuit of green.

It's not looking good for Biniam Girmay, who crosses the line unable to hold his bars with one arm. He was one of the worst affected by the crash near the finish.

Jonathan Milan dismounts his bikes and runs in his cleats to celebrate with one of his teammates. A perfect day for Lidl-Trek and their pursuit of the green points jersey with the big Italian.

Tour de France stage 17 finish

Jonathan Milan wins stage 17 of the Tour de France, after a mess of a wet, crash-marred sprint into Valence.

It's messy and De Lie nearly crashes but keeps it up, with Milan now going to the line in front!

Final sprint is about to start now, with Milan and De Lie looking the favourites.

Big crash in the final

Massive crash at the front of the peloton under the flamme rouge. Sprint incoming now.

1km to go

We're through the roundabouts now and approaching the final sprint. Still, Bahrain are leading the peloton, with Milan moving up brilliantly.

Merlier and Milan have a lot of places to move up in the final 2km, but it's so difficult to do so in these conditions. Will be a lot of late bursts once we reach the final straight.

Fully lined out peloton now, with little chances to move up on the wet roads. This could be messy, but for the moment, everyone is still up.

Here comes Bahrain Victorious, working for German fast man Phil Bauhaus into the next roundabout.

Dylan Groenewegen is getting a red carpet ride for now from his Jayco teammates, but there's a lot of road still to cover in the final 3km.

We're into a series of dangerous, wet roundabouts for the final few kilometres, with Jayco AlUla and Tudor leading the peloton.

BREAKAWAY CAUGHT

Finally, the Norwegian is reeled back in, and we will now have a sprint for the stage victory on stage 17.

5km to go

Solo leader Abrahamsen is into the final 5km, but more teams are moving up to chase him down now. GC riders have reached the safety zone in case of any accident or incident.

Horrible conditons in the stage now, with the rain pouring on all of the riders. 10 seconds still to make up on Abrahamsen.

A big pull on the front from Pascal Ackermann tells us that Dauphiné stage winner Jake Stewart will be the chosen sprinter for Israel-Premier Tech today. He beat Milan to that stage win back in June, so will be full of confidence after another tough day.

Pacher and Burgaudeau are now caught, and Albanese knows his day out in front is done. Not many domestiques remain, however, with Abrahamsen still 13 seconds in the lead.

Israel-premier Tech now taking up the mantle of chasing in the peloton. UAE are in second and trying to get Pogačar to that crucial 5km to go point.

10km to go

Abrahamsen's surge has rebuilt his lead out to 23 seconds. Albanese is chasing him solo, with Pacher and Burgaudeau struggling off the back and soon to be reabsorbed by the peloton.

Attack from the break

Perhaps sensing the danger of the chasers, the super strong Abrahamsen has set off on his own in a bid for glory. He's blown up his three fellow escapees so will now need to produce quite the solo effort to make it.

Lots of slippy roundabouts and disc breaks screeching now as the wet roads continue to play a part. Gap down under 20 seconds from the peloton to the break.

More riders coming to the front to work has reduced the break's lead to just 23 seconds now. The four of them are swapping turns nicely, but they are competing with a large peloton.

15km to go

The gap has stabilised for the moment at the 30-second mark. Despite being in view of the peloton. the break will be going all in, knowing that if they can make it to the roundabouts and final few kilometres of the final, they'll be in with a shout.

Here's three of the four breakaway riders on stage 17, with Abrahamsen leading Albanese and Pacher through the gloomy conditions en route to Valence.

Lots of difficult road furniture to navigate and bunny hop over in this final. Maybe the break have hope yet, with their lead still at 30 seconds.

Lotto are now getting involved in the chasing effort, so Arnaud De Lie must be feeling good. He's finished third on a stage already at this year's Tour, so could be in for another strong finish today.

Gap to the breakaway now less than 30 seconds and under control. Looks like we're finally in for another sprint at the Tour de France.

Several riders dropped from the peloton, including Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) and Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty), who crashed hard earlier in the stage.

20km to go

Lots of teams getting info for the final few roundabouts and final left-hand corner which comes around 600 metres from the finish. Soudal-QuickStep and Lidl-Trek continue to chase hard in the rain.

It's certainly wet out there. Teams will be holding their breath in the final, as they hope to make it to the sprint and make it home unscathed.

Simmons continues to push on after a full day of work on the front. Gap to the break down to just 37 seconds.

If things do come down to a sprint, here's what chaos awaits the fast men, with a series of roundabouts inside the 5km safety zone set to make everyone worried in the final run for home. Positioning will be essential.

Pogačar and Vingegaard are being moved up, with the rain, roundabouts and traffic islands surely making the whole bunch nervous.

The rain complicates things in the chase for the sprinters teams, with more risk in the speeds they go. But they may get the added help of GC teams upping the pace to try and keep their respective leaders safe.

30km to go

Still just 1:07 separates Albanese, Abrahamsen, Burgaudeau and Pacher in front from the Simmons-led peloton. The rain is getting heavier now, and will reportedly stay like this until the finish.

Van Aert's mission to join the breakaway has failed. He's knocking off his effort and will soon be back in the peloton.

There's some raindrops on the TV camera lenses, so there is some rain starting to fall. Hopefully, it won't play too much of a factor in today's final.

A look back at the moment Van Aert decided it was time to have a crack on stage 17. He's currently not making much of an impression on the four leaders, with Albanese leading them for the moment.

40km to go

Still 20 seconds for Van Aert to make up as he descends solo to try and bridge the gap. Simmons is still leading the peloton for Milan 30 seconds behind the Belgian.

It's been a relatively quiet day so far for race leader Pogačar, with crunch time for him coming on Thursday and Friday in the Alps. He'll just be looking to make it to today's finish safely.

No has yet decided to try and do what Van Aert did, but he's closing in quickly on the four riders in front. His gap is at 26 seconds with a few hundred metres of the climb remaining. The peloton are a further 20 seconds down the climb.

WOUT VAN AERT ATTACKS

Why not I guess? Wout van Aert has attacked off the front with 45km remaining on stage 17. He's got 55 seconds to make up on the breakaway quartet, but will be hoping others are inspired behind and join him.

Soudal-QuickStep and Lidl-Trek have led the peloton onto the Col de Tartaiguille with more control, with Israel-Premier Tech now moving up alongside them. Milan and Merlier are both well-positioned.

Rodríguez is back in, but having done down, this may put off Ineos from lighting things up again on the next climb.

Crash in the peloton

Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) is among the riders down in the grass after a compression and crash towards the back of the peloton. Ineos' GC leader Carlos Rodríguez has also gone down, with several others held up.

50km to go

Race radio confirms that Ineos are likely planning something, with the riders in the bunch asking DS Zak Dempster for the wind directions on the final climb and run to the finish in Valence.

A look back at Ineos absolutely exploding things on the first category 4 climb of the stage. They didn't quite manage to split things as they may have wanted, but with one more climb on offer, albeit not as hard an ascent, expect them to try once more on the Col de Tartaiguille.

Van Aert returns, as does the familiar sight of Simmons' US national champion's jersey to the front of the bunch. Back to the traditional holding pattern of a Tour de France sprint stage now.

MECHANICAL FOR VAN AERT

Mechanical issue in the bunch for Wout van Aert, with Soudal QuickStep and Lidl-Trek lining things out.

65km to go

Gap to the breakaway back out to 1:05. The peloton won't have reallly seen it, but they have been through some stunning terrain today.

Soudal-QuickStep have taken back over on the front, regaining control after that momentary madness. This should allow the break to rebuild their advantage, which was cut down to as little as under 30 seconds.

After a few kilometres of serious panic, Milan is back in the peloton and will not want another surge like that to happen before the finish. Perhaps the likes of Alpecin and Tudor will regret not fully committing and allowing the Lidl-Trek fast man to return to the peloton.

75km to go

Finally, the junction has been made by Merlier and Milan after getting some help from their domestiques. All back together in the chasing group now, which sits just 26 seconds behind the breakway.

The gap is decreasing from the dropped Milan and Merlier group, but the likes of Alpecin-Deceuninck and Tudor have now come to the front to start pulling as well.

90km to go

Merlier is also in the dropped group with Milan, as the likes of Romeo continue to apply pressure at the front with more surges.

Milan is reportedly in a group 1:21 away from the lead, with the peloton at only 37 seconds from the four leaders.

Milan dropped

The four in front have made it to the summit, but with their lead melted away down to 30 seconds. Things in the peloton behind are completely blown apart, with green jersey Milan in a group off the back.

Iván Romeo is back and attacking now, after his earlier dig in the day. It's all out on this small climb, with the gap to the break reduced further to only 35 seconds. Simmons is still marking everything for Lidl-Trek.

Quinn Simmons is trying his best to mark the vicious attack from Ineos, but it's got EF interested as well. The four breakaway riders are now just 47 seconds in front.

This is quite the burst from Ineos into the foot of the climb, reducing the break's lead down to 1:15. Four riders from the British team are on the front.

Ineos Grenadiers are now on the front of the peloton and pacing hard. After missing out earlier, they must be seeing this categorised climb as a potential launch pad.

100km to go

Still, the sprinters teams are giving the breakaway quartet full respect and little chance at making it to the finish – gap down to 1:48.

The breakaway are onto a small descending section, before they head to the first of two categorised climbs on stage 17 – the Col du Pertuis (3.7km at 5.1%).

It should be a calmer day in the peloton for Vingegaard and the rest of the GC favourites, with a traditional Tour de France sprint stage playing out so far. Safety and making it to the 5km to go sprint zone will be paramount.

110km to go

After the intermediate sprint, no opportunists chanced their hands at trying to bridge across to the breakaway, so the stage looks the same for now, with four in front of the controlled peloton.

Louis Barré is back on his bike after that crash and continuing on with the race for now. He's already 4:42 down on the peloton, but hopefully he can find a way of making it to the finish and recovering.

The peloton head into Roche-Saint-Secret-Béconne for the intermediate sprint, and it's Milan who mops up the remaining maximum haul of 11 points quite easily ahead of Girmay.

Intermediate sprint

Abrahamsen wins the intermediate sprint from the break ahead of Burgaudeau. The other two in the break sat out the sprint. Peloton will be coming through soon.

Crash

Unfortunately, there's been a crash at the back of the peloton for Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty). He looks to be in some pain, and this isn't the first time he's hit the deck in this Tour.

With Pogačar breathing down Milan's neck in the race for the green jersey, the Italian maximising his points in each intermediate sprint will be vital. Just 11 points separated them this morning in the points classification.

The four riders in front are continuing to work well, but with the intermediate sprint approaching in less than three kilometres, the gap has dropped below two minutes.

120km to go

All lined out at the start of the peloton, with the gap to the four leaders now down to 2:13. Still, it's Simmons who is working.

Soudal-QuickStep are riding for European champion Tim Merlier today. He's already won two stages of this year's race, and will be eyeing a third in Valence against Milan.

While a more traditional sprint stage of the Tour plays out, make sure to get stuck into some reading on debutant Luke Plapp:

Luke Plapp plans assault on Rwanda World Championships time trial after debut Tour de France

130km to go

Soudal-QuickStep have swapped in now on the front and kept the gap down to a tight 2:35.

Lidl-Trek are leading the peloton through Thibau Nys and US national champion Quinn Simmons. First objective for them will be the intermediate sprint in Roche-Saint-Secret-Béconne.

Laurance has now given up his effort, leaving four in front and a 2:47 deficit for the peloton to control.

A look at the formation of the day's breakaway on stage 17, led by Albanese.

140km to go

Laurance is going backwards in his efforts to catch and join the breakaway. He'll surely pull the plug on this effort soon.

After some bickering, Lidl-Trek and Soudal-QuickStep have settled into their controlling pattern on the front of the peloton. 30km until the intermediate sprint.

Another day, another breakaway for Jonas Abrahamsen. The stage 11 winner is at it again on stage 17 and in the front group of attackers.

Lidl-Trek and Soudal-QuickStep have slowed things down massively after limiting the break to just five riders – the four in front and Laurance. The bunch is 2:33 down, with Laurance sat on his own in the gap, still a minute down.

150km to go

Not for the first time this race, Laurance has found himself in no man's land and struggling to bridge across to a breakaway move he missed. He sits at 52 seconds from the quarter of leaders, with the peloton just 10 seconds behind him.

A late attempt from Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers) ended the calm behind, prompting Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost) and others to try and similarly bridge. The sprint teams have responded.

It's Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost), Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and Abrahamsen who have got up the road. They have a minute lead on the chasing peloton already.

A strong group of four have got up the road, but narrow roads out of the start have helped Lidl-Trek and Soudal-QuickStep to stem the flow of attacks from launching.

Groupama-FDJ, Uno-X Mobility and EF Education-EasyPost are among the teams most interested in breaking away as it stands. The sprint teams are trying their best to control things.

Good vibes at the start for Pogačar and yesterday's stage runner-up Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost).

A slightly uphill start has allowed the likes of Iván Romeo (Movistar) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) to launch some attacks. It's a lot of big hitters at the front.

160.4km to go

Here we go, flag dropped and the acing is underway on stage 17 of the Tour de France. There are attacks straight away as the riders head east momentarily before turning north towards the finish.

Wout van Aert is right up the front from the start, but almost just crashed into the red lead car. Thankfully, he was more than skillful enough to keep things up.

Talk from the start is, of course, that the day will come down to a sprint, but with many smaller teams not yet having any success at the Tour, a break could be likely. With small roads from the start of the day, the sprint teams will be trying to lock things up early.

A crucial day for Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) in the green jersey and for his team. Will they be able to control things and make sure today ends in a sprint?

Tour de France Stage 17 underway

C'est parti! Riders are gone from the unofficial start in Bollène, with the racing proper set to kick off in around 15 minutes!

Huge reception and introduction for Valentin Paret-Peintre after his heroics on yesterday's stage to Mont Ventoux. His Soudal-QuickStep team have one of the big favourites for stage 17 in Tim Merlier, and if he's victorious in Valence, it will be the Belgian squad's fifth victory of the 2025 race.

After some words from Mark Cavendish about the great fans in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, the team presentation is about to wind to a close with UAE Team Emirates-XRG and yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar now on stage.

Just 25 minutes to the neutralised roll-out from Bollène.

Today's finish location Valence has played host to several Tour de France stages in the past, as both a transition away and towards the Alps, as it is today. The last three winners there have all been sprint royalty: Andre Greipel, Peter Sagan, and most recently Mark Cavendish, in 2021.

Full update here on Johannessen and how he was treated to be able to start today, via Uno-X Mobility's Instagram.

Uno-X Mobility are on stage and there's good news as Tobias Halland Johannessen is going to start stage 17 despite requiring oxygen at the summit of Mont Ventoux yesterday.

There's barely been a day off for the GC riders at this year's Tour, so don't expect a quiet day for the likes of Pogačar and Vingegaard. They will need to be on red alert throughout the day.

As it stands, though, the Slovenian is well in control, after smashing the Mont Ventoux KOM record yesterday, and extending his lead by two seconds after matching all of Vingegaard's attacks on stage 16.

'I'm definitely not Superman' - Tadej Pogačar insists business as usual after maintaining Tour de France lead with record-breaking Mont Ventoux ascent

The neutralised start for today will come at 13:35 (CEST), with the flag drop scheduled for 13:50.

The team presentation in Bollène is getting underway now, with Intermarché-Wanty the first squad up on stage. They have one of the favourites for the day among their ranks in last year's green jersey Biniam Girmay.

Or, for an alternative look into one of cycling's most iconic climbs, read Matilda Price's great colour piece from a day on the 'Giant of Provence':

Chaos and calm on Mont Ventoux – Reflections from the Tour de France

If you somehow missed the crazy action on Mont Ventoux from yesterday's stage 16, make sure to catch up with our stage report:

Tour de France stage 16: Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre conquers Mont Ventoux as Tadej Pogačar survives barrage of attacks from Jonas Vingegaard

The Tour peloton will be one rider smaller at the start of stage 17, but for a heartwarming reason, with Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) leaving the race after the birth of his daughter, Bobbie.

A look at the profile for the day, with a flat finish looking likely. However, those without a top sprinter and some strong rouleurs will surely be eyeing up a breakaway.

We're around an hour and a half away from the start in Bollène. The riders will head north for 160.4km to the finish in Valence.

Bonjour and welcome back to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the 2025 Tour de France, with stage 17 set to bring the sprinters back into play.