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Tadej Pogacar wins third stage of this year’s Tour de France
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Jonas Vingegaard keeps lead with four stage remaining
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Geraint Thomas loses time, but Welshman still third overall
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Wout van Aert mathematically secures points classification
04:04 PM
Thomas looking good for third in Paris
Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) crossed the finishing line 2min 7sec down on stage winner Tadej Pogacar, but kept hold of his third place on general classification and takes a 2min 57sec lead over Nairo Quintana into Thursday’s stage.
03:49 PM
Tadej Pogacar wins stage 17 at the Tour de France!
The defending champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) wins the stage after responding to a late attack from the maillot jaune. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) drifted out wide of Pogacar on the steep incline to the finishing line, but the Slovenian whose reduced team had worked tirelessly throughout the stage, clawed his way back before putting space between himself and the Dane. Pogacar may have gained 4sec on Vingegaard thanks to the 10sec time bonus for the stage win, but the Jumbo-Visma rider will take a 2min 18sec lead into Thursday’s stage, the final mountain test in this year’s race.
03:47 PM
300 metrs to go
Tadej Pogacar attacks, but this is a slow-motion sprint for the line . . .
03:47 PM
500 metres to go
Tadej Pogacar is hanging at third wheel: is he sandbagging or is he cooked? A quick call on the team radio.
03:46 PM
1.2km to go
Jonas Vingegaard rolls up alongside Tadej Pogacar before squeezing onto the wheel of Brandon McNulty. The yellow jersey is looking very confident.
03:43 PM
1.5km to go
Behind the barriers now, Brandon McNulty continues to pull ahead of team-mate Tadej Pogacar and race leader Jonas Vingegaard. Surely Pogacar is going to attack soon, or have his legs gone?
03:42 PM
2km to go
The stage leaders are nearing the steepest part of the climb which pitches up to gradients of 18 per cent in places. Huge crowds are lining the road, with plenty of Basque and Slovenian flags.
03:40 PM
3.5km to go
Geraint Thomas rides Romain Bardet off his wheel, the Welshman is 500 metres behind the stage leaders. I suspect he will not catch Jonas Vingegaard, but providing he can sustain this power and pace all the way to the summit, then he should tighten his grip on third place in the general classification.
03:38 PM
4km to go
As we were at the front of the race. Further back, though, riders are struggling. But Geraint Thomas is still with Romain Bardet at 1min 31sec.
03:36 PM
5km to go
Under the 5km banner to go goes Brandon McNulty, the young American is followed by team-mate Tadej Pogacar and race leader Jonas Vingegaard. UAE Team Emirates have done an incredible job thus far today, but can Pogacar make it count? And I am starting to wonder how much this will cost them tomorrow in the final mountain stage of this year’s Tour de France.
03:32 PM
6.5km to go
Tadej Pogacar is riding this climb in the big ting; Jonas Vingegaard opted for the inner chain ring. Both, however, are tapping away at a fairly high cadence and looking relaxed. I suspects, though, a few punches will be thrown shortly – but will any be landed?
03:29 PM
7km to go
Romain Bardet clips off up the road out of his small group and only Geraint Thomas is able to follow. Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) is in the third group on the road and is looking to protect his place on general classification he should move up to fifth today after Adam Yates’ collapse.
03:27 PM
8km to go
Brandon McNulty is slouched over his hoods on the front of the leading trio, with his team-mate Tadej Pogacar sat on his drops. Jonas Vingegaard is looking very relaxed, sat up straight at third wheel as if out on a dawn chorus coffee ride.
03:25 PM
9km to go
Geraint Thomas has Romain Bardet and a few others for company at 1min 20sec. The leading trio are nearing this brutish finale…
03:23 PM
12km to go
The trio are flying along the short valley floor towards the final climb of the day, the 8km haul up Peyragudes. Gerain Thomas trails by 1min 12sec, Nairo Quintana is at 2min 38sec and Adam Yates is now over five minutes down on the stage leaders.
03:19 PM
14km to go
On each tight switchback, Jonas Vingegaard cuts inside the apex of each corner before drifting slightly ahead of Tadej Pogacar. It is as if the Dane is reminding his rival he is sat on his wheel and cannot be dropped on this descent. Clever stuff, winning the mind games that can be played in stressful situations like this.
03:17 PM
16km to go
Lovely looking smooth road off the Val Louron-Azet. There are a few switchbacks, but nothing too tricky for these lads. Jonas Vingegaard sits at third wheel, taking no risks.
03:15 PM
18km to go
Geraint Thomas is around 1min behind stage leaders Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Brandon McNulty who regained contact on the descent.
03:13 PM
20.3km to go
Out of his saddle, Tadej Pogacar. puts in a huge attack just shy of the summit. Jonas Vingegaard, though, is more than a match for the two-time winner and they are onto the descent.
03:12 PM
21km to go
Jonas Vingegaard rises out of his saddle, watching and waiting on the wheel of Tadej Pogacar. Geraint Thomas has lost 40sec, but as it stands those behind him in the general classification have lost time on him and so his third place should, in theory, be assured at the end of today’s stage.
03:08 PM
22.5km to go
Geraint Thomas has lot almost 30sec on Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. Just 2km from the summit and there are just three riders remaining at the head of the field: Brandon McNulty, Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. Hold onto your hats ahead of the incoming descent, and of course the final climb of the day.
03:05 PM
23km to go
Gearint Thomas is dropped around 3km from the summit of the Col de Val Louron-Azet, Andreas Leknessund is caught before the Norwegian looks over his shoulder, perhaps watching out for team-mate Romain Bardet.
03:02 PM
24km to go
Sepp Kuss is dropped. That’s big surprise. Jonas Vingegaard is totally isolated, while his rival Tadej Pogacar has Brandon McNulty, and then the shadow that is Geraint Thomas is holding on at fourth wheel.
03:01 PM
24.5km to go
Romain Bardet is caught by Brandon McNulty et al, the Frenchman attempts to jump onto the wheel of Geraint Thomas at the rear of the train, but he simply cannot hold on. Painful viewing for fans of the DSM rider.
02:59 PM
25km to go
The race is in tatters, the Brandon McNulty-powered group is eating up the stragglers from the earlier chase group, then spitting them out with utter disdain. Andreas Leknessund (DSM) is holding on to his 35sec lead over team-mate Romain Bardet, but the maillot jaune is coming up the rear very fast.
02:56 PM
26.1km to go
And Nairo Quintana is dropped as Brandon McNulty ups the pace.
02:55 PM
26.5km to go
All change on the front of the stage, Andreas Leknessund (DSM) is the lone leader. The maillot jaune’s group has splintered to pieces and there are just six riders there now: Brandon McNulty, Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Sepp Kuss, Geraint Thomas and Nairo Quintana.
02:53 PM
27km to go
Brandon McNulty takes over on the front of the maillot jaune’s group.
02:51 PM
27.5km to go
Geraint Thomas is sat just behind a duo of Jumbo-Visma riders – Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss – but the Welshman is isolated after once again Adam Yates and Tom Pidcock lose contact as the road ramps up on the category one Val Louron-Azet. Wout van Aert runs out of steam and he has ground to a halt.
02:48 PM
29km to go
Adam Yates and Tom Pidcock have somehow managed to regain contact with team-mate Geraint Thomas in the group containing the maillot jaune. Meanwhile, Mikkel Bjerg who dropped out of the group to go back to a team car and collect some liquids, is back on the front. Incredible stuff from the Dane who earlier in the day looked cooked. Brandon McNulty is sat on the wheel of Bjerg, with Pogacar at third wheel.
02:45 PM
31km to go
Quinn Simmons is drilling the pace on the front of the chasing group, presumably in an attempt to set up team-mate Giulio Ciccone who will be chasing points at the top of the next mountain in the race for the polka dot jersey. Simon Geschke, the custodian of that jersey, trails that group by a little over 30sec now, whle the group is just 10sec off the front of the stage.
02:41 PM
32.5km to go
Tadej Pogacar appears to have just one team-mate, Brandon McNulty, for company now the maillot jaune is on the valley road between the two climbs. Huge damage was done by Mikkel Bjerg on the Hourquette d’Ancizan, but will the defending champion attack on the Val Louron-Azet?
02:38 PM
35km to go
Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar) and Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) managed to escape off the front of the front of the chasing group once it reached the short valley road between the bottom of the Hourquette d’Ancizan and the start of the Col de Val Louron-Azet.
02:36 PM
39.5km to go
Thibaut Pinot, a rider not known for his fine descending skills, gives his friends, family and fans huge reason for concern after the Frenchman almost loses it on a left-hand bend. After appearing to lose his line the Groupama-FDJ rider unclips his right foot as if preparing to use it to slow himself down. Thankfully, though, he did not need to place that foot on the aspahlt.
02:33 PM
40km to go
Romain Bardet’s chasing group is around 50sec off the pace of stage leaders Thibaut Pinot follows Alexey Lutsenko. As it stands, I believe the Frenchman has moved up to fifth overall thanks to a combination of him being up the road from the group of general classification riders, and Adam Yates being dropped – the Briton is almost 1min 30sec behind the maillot jaune.
02:28 PM
45km to go
Thibaut Pinot goes over the Hourquette d’Ancizan to add another five points to his tally in the mountains classification, while Simon Geschke misses out on third spot to Giulio Ciccone after the German appeared to suffer a mechanical just shy of the summit.
02:21 PM
49.5km to go
Sepp Kuss, riding at fourth wheel just behind his team-mate Jonas Vingegaard, takes his glasses off before wiping his brow. The American looks to be struggling which means Mikkel Bjerg is setting some pace on this climb. Vingegaard, by the way, has just two team-mates – Wout van Aert and Kuss – for company. The way this climb is being contested, I would wager that Pogacar is plotting something.
02:19 PM
51km to go
Tiesj Benoot is the latest to pay a heavy price thanks to the pace being set by Mikkel Bjerg who is not ordinarily a climber. Next to be shelled is Tom Pidcock and then goes David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ). The Danish time trial specialist is causing absolute carnage.
02:15 PM
53km to go
Mikkel Bjerg, who earlier in the stage was spotted struggling towards the rear of the maillot jaune’s group, is continuing to ride hard on the front. Christophe Laporte is the first to be dropped, but then Adam Yates is shelled which is, potentially, a huge blow to Geraint Thomas. Stage leaders Thibaut Pinot and Alexey Lutsenko are 5km away from the summit of the Hourquette d’Ancizan.
02:11 PM
54km to go
Home favourite Thibaut Pinot and Alexey Lutsenko are onto the second climb of the day, the category two Hourquette d’Ancizan. Romain Bardet has bridged over the the chasing group, as has Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) and Bob Jungels (Ag2r-Citroën). Back in the maillot jaune’s group, UAE Team Emirates have taken over on the front as they set a fierce pace. Not sure if they have a plan, or this is purely about the show: a risky strategy if the latter.
02:04 PM
57km to go
Jonas Vingegaard is being shepherded down off the Aspin by a phalanx of Jumbo-Visma team-mates and it looks as if they are taking things relatively calmly. Up the road, Frenchman Thibaut Pinot, who last won a Tour de France stage three years ago to the day, is pressing on with breakaway specialist and all-round strong man Alexey Lutsenko. The pair lead the stage by 28sec, with Romain Bardet at 50sec and the peloton at 1min 38sec.
01:58 PM
64km to go
Romain Bardet (DSM), who endured a day to forget yesterday, has set off in pursuit of that large 15-man group. It appears as if nobody in the maillot jaune’s group was too concerned and he is being allowed the opportunity to claw back some time in the general classification. Chris Froome, meanwhile, is about to bridge over to that 15-man group.
Thibaut Pinot goes over the Aspin to earn 10 points in the mountains classification, rolling over ahead of co-stage leader Alexey Lutsenko, before the man in the polka dots Simon Geschke escapes off the front of the chasing group to add six points to his tally and extend his lead in the competition.
01:53 PM
65km to go | State of affairs
Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) lead the stage.
Chasing group comprising 15 riders at 24sec
Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers), Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Chris Hamilton (DSM), Christopher Juul-Jensen (BikeExchange-Jayco), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Andreas Leknessund (DSM), Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis), Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious), Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost), Carlos Verona (Movistar) and Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux).
Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) chasing at 40sec
Maillot jaune at 1min 4sec
01:45 PM
68.5km to go
Alexey Lutsenko and Thibaut Pinot remain out in front, leading a chasing group of around 14 riders by 20sec. The maillot jaune is at 47sec, that main group has Jumbo-Visma conrtolling the pace.
01:36 PM
71km to go
Alexey Lutsenko is looking strong and the Kazakhstan rider has become the new stage leader alongside Thibaut Pinot after Owain Doull was caught and promptly spat out of the back.
01:35 PM
72km to go
Chris Hamilton (DSM) and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) moved off the front of the peloton, before the pair were joined by Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ).
01:30 PM
74.8km to go
Chris Froome rolls off the front, before Quinn Simmons drifts up ahead of him almost accidentally. Tom Pidcock is riding cleverly, watching the wheels but refusing to commit just yet. Further up the road and Owain Doull is the lone leader.
01:28 PM
75km to go
Interesting to note that Chris Froome is riding fairly near the front, at third wheel, behind team-mate Michael Woods.
01:27 PM
76km to go
At 12km long and with an average gradient of 6.5%, the Col d’Aspin is not the hardest climb in the Pyrenees – or indeed today’s stage – but it should see a whittling down of the peloton. Owain Doull and Guillaume Boivin hit the bottom of the climb with a lead of 26sec.
01:22 PM
79km to go
Owain Doull, an Olympic gold medallist in the team pursuit, leads the stage alongside Guillaume Boivin, the pair have increased their lead to 25sec, but that will, surely, soon drop once they shortly reach the fisrt big clib of the day, the Col d’Aspin.
01:17 PM
83km to go
Welshman Owain Doull (EF Education-EasyPost) and Guillaume Boivin (Israel-Premier Tech) have drifted off the front and gained 11sec on the peloton. With the first mountain of the day looming, one suspects this pair would prefer a few others to give a hand with the heavy lifting.
01:14 PM
85km to go
There has been no let up in the pace with which the stage is being tackled. Fabio Felline (Astana Qazaqstan) has just abandoned what has, so far, been a disastrous Tour for his team.
01:10 PM
92.5km to go
Mads Pedersen, not for the first time, has just put in huge turn on the front of the speeding peloton. The injection in pace from the Dane briefly causes a split, but once again it is closed down. Absolutely fearsome start to the stage, not the sort of start Tadej Pogacar and his three team-mates will have hoped for.
01:03 PM
96.8km to go – Van Aert secures green jersey
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) takes maximum points at the intermediate sprint after outsprinting Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), but the latter has mathematically secured the points jersey.
01:01 PM
98km to go
Alpecin-Deceuninck close down Wout van Aert around 1.5km from the intermediate, presumably on behalf of Jasper Philipsen but I fear the horse that is the green jersey bolted a long time ago.
12:59 PM
100km to go
Wout van Aert drops the hammer and is off in pursuit of those points. The Jumbo-Visma rider has seven for company, including Tom Pidcock, Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost).
12:56 PM
101km to go
Florian Vermeersch, who lost Lotto-Soudal team-mate Tim Wellens to Covid overnight, is stuck in no man’s land between the peloton and stage leaders Dylan van Baarle and Connor Swift. The road is rising gradually as the road nears the intermediate sprint where, I believe, Wout van Aert can mathematically secure the green jersey with a full four stages remaining.
12:54 PM
103.5km to go
Dylan van Baarle and Connor Swift’s advantage grows out to 14sec, but it looks as if Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) is keen on joining them, the Italian is pressing on at the pointy end of the chasing group with Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) glued to his wheel.
12:51 PM
105km to go
Tadej Pogacar is riding back in the peloton to the left-hand side of Wout van Aert and directly behind race leader Jonas Vingegaard. In the absence of a strong team, the Slovenian may have to lean on others today and his best bet may be to just follow his nearest rival – keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer, and all that.
12:46 PM
109km to go
Next to roll off the front was Paris-Roubaix winner Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers) and Connor Swift (Arkéa-Samsic), the former British national champion, and the duo lead the stage by a very narrow margin of 7sec.
12:43 PM
112km to go
Trek-Segafredo are looking lively, Jasper Stuyven clips off the front, pulling a handful of riders with him, but that move was swiftly countered by Andrea Bagioli (Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl). Jumbo-Visma team-mates Tiesj Benoot and Christophe Laporte are riding near the front, as is Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers). Both teams have greater numbers than Tadej Pogacar who simply does not have the firepower at his disposal to mark oaa of these moves.
12:38 PM
116.5km to go
The peloton is lined out as the pace is wound up with an attack from former world champion Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo). Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) is looking active, while Jonathan Castroviejo ( Ineos Grenadiers) appears keen on getting to any move. It has been a very fast and furious start to the day.
12:32 PM
121km to go
Christophe Laporte, a key lieutenant in the Jumbo-Visma team, has flown off the front with the Frenchman looking to get into the move. There are around nine riders up the road, but it has not yet stuck. With Tadej Pogacar’s team now down to just four riders the pressure will be on the defending champion, while the advantage now sits with Jumbo-Visma. Ineos Grenadiers, meanwhile, still have all eight riders and it will be interesting to see if they are able to use those numbers in their favour this afternoon.
12:28 PM
126.5km to go
Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) clipped off the front as the south Londoner aims to get into his third breakaway at this year’s Tour. A number of riders close him down in an effort to make the move.
12:23 PM
And they’re off!
Today’s stage is under way and straight from the flag a number of riders attempt to form an early breakaway.
12:23 PM
Pogacar dealt another blow
Defending champion Tadej Pogacar has just three UAE Team Emirates team-mates – Mikkel Bjerg, Marc Hirschi and Brandon McNulty – on hand to help him out after his key mountain domestique Rafal Majka was unable to start today’s stage. The Pole who arrived at the Tour de France in blistering form “sustained a strain injury to his thigh after some mechanical trouble on stage 16 when his chain broke” during yesterday’s stage.
Unfortunately @majkaformal will not start stage 17 of the #TDF2022 today.
👨⚕️ Dr. Adrian Rotunno (Medical Director): “Majka sustained a strain injury to his thigh after some mechanical trouble on stage 16 when his chain broke. pic.twitter.com/kiNomp9wUG
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) July 20, 2022
Pogacar lost Marc Soler yesterday after the Spaniard completed the stage outside of the time limit. The Spaniard suffered throughout the stage with stomach issues.
11:20 AM
Hello
And welcome to our live rolling blog from stage 17 of the 109th Tour de France, the 130-kilometre run from Saint-Gaudens to Peyragudes.
Following yesterday’s Pyrenean amuse-bouche, today’s menu looks a little more hearty with four categorised climbs – Aspin, Hourquette d’Ancizan, Val Louron-Azet and Peyragudes – but before we have a quick look at what lies ahead, let us cast our eyes back 24 hours.
It was the emotions of Hugo Houle‘s stage win – the first professional victory of the 31-year-old’s career – that made the headlines, but it was the nature of the win that impressed most. Israel-Premier Tech entered the Tour in desperate need of a win and UCI points in an effort to avoid relegation from the WorldTour and have now, against all the odds, taken two following Simon Clarke’s win in the cobbled stage in the opening week of the race. While most will have expected Michael Woods, the veteran puncheur, to be challenging for the stage win after getting into the day’s 29-man breakaway, Houle managed to ghost off the front while his team-mate and fellow Canadian, marked every move of Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar). Through a combination of tactically astuteness and opportunism, Houle was able to realise his dream and win a Tour stage which he later dedicated to his late brother Pierrick, who was killed by a drunk driver in a hit-and-run 10 years ago.
There was a little shake-up in the general classification as Romain Bardet (DSM) dropped five places, while Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) moved up two spots to fourth. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) rode valiantly to keep himself on the coattails – just – of race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and defending champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) after the pair had dropped him on the final climb, before the Welshman clawed his way back on.
Vingegaard, the 25-year-old Dane, will be dressed in the maillot jaune, the leader’s yellow jersey, for a sixth day running.
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) will again be in the maillot vert, the green jersey, as overall leader of the points classification.
Simon Geschke (Cofidis) will remain dressed in the maillot à pois, or the polka dot jersey, as the leader of the mountains classification.
Two-time Tour winner Pogacar, who has led the young rider classification since stage one, will be dressed in the white jersey.
So, what’s on today’s menu?
Three category one mountains and one category two climb packed into the final 80km of this short and punchy mountain stage should, in theory, deliver some exciting racing. There will be plenty of opportunities for riders to launch ambushes on their rivals and so those focusing on the general classification will have to be on high alert.
