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Philipsen takes overdue win as Yates suffers
Jasper Philipsen took victory in a reduced bunch sprint at the end of the Tour de France’s 17th stage on Wednesday to end a “horrible” run of near misses.
Set up by a strong lead-out from Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Mathieu van der Poel, Philipsen finished several bike lengths ahead of Mauro Schmid and Olav Kooij, who had each already won a stage at the Tour.
It was an 11th career Tour stage victory overall for the Belgian, who won the sprinters’ green points jersey in 2023 but had yet to claim a stage this year despite five previous top-five finishes.
“I was prepared very, very well, I was in the shape of my life,” said Philipsen. “The first stage (of the race) was horrible, I couldn’t find myself, I couldn’t find the form I was hoping for. After 17 stages ... we won for the team.”
Tim Merlier had won three sprint stages but dropped out of the Tour on Sunday’s tough mountain stage, and this time, Philipsen proved the quickest at the end of the 174.7km stage from Chambéry to Voiron.
Philipsen’s main rival for the green jersey, Mads Pedersen, could only finish eighth, with Schmid (Jayco-Alula) and Kooij (Decathlon) followed home by British rider Lewis Askey (NSN) in fourth place.
The overall leader and defending champion Tadej Pogacar came home safely in the main peloton around nine minutes later. But there was one concern for Pogacar, as UAE Emirates teammate Adam Yates struggled with a stomach issue and finished 26 minutes after Philipsen.
After a day featuring several failed breakaways, Jasper Stuyven attacked and went clear of the leading group. The Belgian battled gamely but was caught with under 4km to go, allowing Van der Poel to control the final stages and set up Philipsen for an overdue win. AFP
Time to sign off; I’ll leave you with a summary of today’s stage, and Jeremy Whittle’s report from Voiron will be live on our site shortly.
Here’s what lies in wait on Thursday …
Stage 18: Voiron to Orcières-Merlette, 185.2km
South to a famous location in Tour history: it is 55 years since Luis Ocaña put Eddy Merckx to the sword on these roads and 37 since Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond duelled here. Chances are this stage’s winner will emerge from a break, as the stage is not tough enough to concern Pogacar. There are two serious climbs early on, but the final ascent to Orcières is more nagging than steep. The win will go to a climber who is an astute tactician, like Ireland’s Ben Healy.
Adam Yates has finished the stage 26 minutes and 36 seconds behind. The British rider struggled all day with a stomach bug – is that a concern for his UAE Team Emirates colleagues, including Pogacar?
Team director Matxin Fernández says the problem started yesterday afternoon, but Yates slept well last night. He denies that Isaac Del Toro, or any other riders on the team, are struggling with similar issues.
GC standings after stage 17
1) Tadej Pogacar 🇸🇮 UAE Team Emirates 56h 14m 18s
2) Remco Evenepoel 🇧🇪 Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe +4m 32s
3) Isaac del Toro 🇲🇽 UAE Team Emirates +6m 51s
4) Paul Seixas 🇫🇷 Decathlon CMA CGM +7m 11s
5) Juan Ayuso 🇪🇸 Lidl-Trek +9m 22s
6) Mattias Skjelmose 🇩🇰 Lidl-Trek +10m 14s
7) Lenny Martinez 🇫🇷 Bahrain Victorious +12m 50s
8) Tom Pidcock 🇬🇧 Pinarello-Q36.5 +12m 58s
9) Jordan Jegat 🇫🇷 TotalEnergies +14m 4s
10) Yannis Voisard 🇨🇭Tudor Pro Cycling +24m 18s
Very little change today, although Jordan Jegat was able to make up eight minutes on Pogacar by getting into the leading group. It’s not enough to move him up even one place from ninth, though.
Jasper Philipsen: “I had to wait until stage 17 to win … it’s one for the team who kept believing in me. I wasn’t myself [early in the Tour], I couldn’t find the right feeling. This one is for them, they kept fighting back and delivered me to the finish line.”
Philipsen adds that he felt a lot of anger at abuse he received on social media earlier in the race, and had to process a lot. “I couldn’t keep fighting my emotions.”
Stage 17 result
1) Jasper Philipsen 🇧🇪 (Alpecin-Premier) 3h 41m 13s
2) Mauro Schmid 🇨🇭 (Jayco-Alula) same time
3) Olav Kooij 🇳🇱 (Decathlon) st
4) Lewis Askey 🇬🇧 (NSN) st
5) Rick Pluimers 🇳🇱 (Tudor) st
6) Clément Russo 🇫🇷 (Groupama-FDJ) st
7) Huub Artz 🇳🇱 (Lotto Intermarche) st
8) Mads Pedersen 🇩🇰 (Lidl-Trek) st
9) Michael Matthews 🇦🇺 (Jayco-Alula) st
10) Aaron Gate 🇳🇿 (Astana) st
Jasper Stuyven is asked if he could have done any more today, or did he ride it to perfection. “Almost perfection,” he replies – not unreasonably. “I think it would have been deserved if I won … I believed in it until maybe a minute before they got me back.”
Mathieu van der Poel speaks, after leading Philipsen to victory. “I think it was a very hard day all day, and I just tried to be in the front. Everything came together, and having riders in both groups really helped with the outcome. It’ll be hard to pull more points back (in the mountains) but just a stage win is nice.”
Mads Pedersen could only make it home in eighth place, which means that Philipsen closes the gap to just seven points in the green jersey battle.
1. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 452 pts
2. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier) 445 pts
3. Biniam Girmay (NSN) 361 pts
Ridiculous stuff from Van der Poel, taking total control of events in the last couple of kilometres. The entire day was about stifling breakaways, and nobody did it better than the Flying Dutchman. A mention also to British rider Lewis Askey, who came home in fourth place.
Jasper Philipsen wins stage 17!
Philipsen is left with 100m of clear road ahead, and holds off his rivals with something to spare. The Belgian finally has his first victory of this year’s Tour! Mauro Schmid is second for Jayco-Alula, with Olav Kooij (Decathlon) in third.
1km to go: Josh Tarling goes for broke at the 1km mark, but Van der Poel reels him in. Through a series of tight turns, Van der Poel keeps control of the pace, and then leads out Philipsen perfectly …
2km to go: After towing Philipsen along for a few miles, Van der Poel jumps out to contain a counter-attack, with the leading group trimmed to about 35 riders. It looks like a bunch sprint finish …
4km to go: It’s not going to happen for Stuyven, who runs out of steam on an uphill stretch. Are we gearing up for the sprint trains to take charge, or can anyone else make a late break?
5km to go: Stuyven’s gap is down to an ominous 10 seconds, but he’ll be helped by some tactical pacing from the Lidl-Trek and Alpecin teams, who don’t want to pull things along at this stage.
6km to go: Stuyven is 34, and has never won a Tour de France stage. There may not be many better chances, but the 40-man group behind him are closing, second by second …
8km to go: Stuyven leads by 30 seconds now; the gap is coming down, but is it happening fast enough? It’s going to be a close call …
10km to go: Alpecin-Premier have five riders in the chasing group, so plenty of manpower for Philipsen. The peloton are rolling along, seven minutes behind, while the unwell Adam Yates is a further 11 minutes back, and praying for the finish line.
12km to go: That 2021 triumph in San Remo was Stuyven’s last race victory, so he’s certainly due one. He’s using the last downhill stretch to briefly rest his legs; the gap is creeping down to 35 seconds.
15km to go: Stuyven continues to motor on, and now leads by 40 seconds. The other five riders have joined the chasers behind them, forming a 40-man group with designs on reeling Stuyven in.
17km to go: We’re approaching the town of Rives, before a zig-zag run to the finish line. Voiron has hosted the Tour before, but also the end of a La Vuelta stage last year. It wasn’t a happy day for Philipsen, beaten to the line by British rider Ben Turner.
20km to go: Stuyven powers past the 20km marker, with nothing but open, flat road ahead. The Belgian is known as a Classics specialist, winning Milan-San Remo in 2021 and finishing third at Paris-Roubaix this year – so he should have the stamina here.
22km to go: Stuyven has eked out a 25-second gap over his five rivals, who now face a choice of whether to hunt him down now, or rejoin the larger group behind them and push for a bunch sprint finish.
25km to go: This has been absolute chess on wheels today, and the final stretch should be fascinating. The leading six riders have a minute’s gap over the chasers. Stuyven tries to get away straight after the intermediate sprint – can he make it count?
27km to go: Here comes the intermediate sprint – which surely Pedersen will win. Planckaert – a teammate of Philipsen – is his only concern, but is held off comfortably. Another 25 points in the green jersey race, while Philipsen has to settle for nine.
32km to go: The leading breakaway group are being helped by a tail wind as they continue heading west. Poor Adam Yates is now nine minutes off the peloton, but has been joined by teammate Tim Wellens – I’m not sure why Team Emirates didn’t do that sooner.
36km to go: We’ve just passed through the village of Charavines and along the shores of Lac de Paladru. Never mind the crystal blue waters, what about the time gaps? The leading six have a 1min 20sec lead over the hefty chasing pack.
40km to go: The intermediate groups have merged into one, 37-man chasing machine – with Van der Poel, Kooij and Philipsen all present. Michael Matthews, another breakaway specialist, is also in that group.
The leading group:
Ben Healy (EF-Easypost)
Jasper Stuyven (Soudal)
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
Felix Engelhardt (Jayco)
Edward Planckaert (Alpecin)
Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos)
47km to go: The leading six have carved out a 50-second lead over a chasing group of 26 riders, with two smaller bunches of six riders each just behind. The peloton is drifting, and has absorbed the Girmay grupetto – it’s now more than four minutes behind.
Adam Yates well off the pace due to illness
52km to go: TNT Sports confirm that Adam Yates has had a stomach problem, and is “running on empty” today, according to UAE Team Emirates.
55km to go: Mads Pedersen is leading the charge, taking Healy, Stuyven, Engelhardt, Planckaert and Kwiatkowski with him. There are 24 chasers strung out between them and Philipsen’s group, which is a minute behind.
57km to go: Adam Yates is still labouring, and has drifted 30 seconds behind Girmay’s group, and a minute behind a slowish peloton. Further up the road, there’s a split in the leading group …
60km to go: With the intermediate sprint ahead at Colombe, the likes of Kooij and Philipsen are also trying to join the leading pack. It could end up with 45 riders, with 45 in the maillot jaune group and 61 in Girmay’s group, around a minute further back.
62km to go: Mads Pedersen, who was cut off from the peloton earlier on, has now launched himself up the road in pursuit of the leaders – whose gap to the main bunch is down to 30 seconds.
64km to go: The group featuring Girmay has also made up a little bit of time – they’re now 2min 25sec behind the leaders. Further back, Anders Johannessen – who was in the day’s first attempted break – is now seven minutes behind.
67km to go: Healy, Jorgenson and Le Berre have joined the main group, but the gap is closing to the peloton. Adam Yates is struggling – barely moving forward and holding his chest – but he tells the Emirates team car he’s OK to continue.
70km to go: We’re heading into Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin, where a left turn at a roundabout will take the riders over the Guiers river, out of Savoie and into the Isère department.
75km to go: The gap between the leading group and main bunch is now a solid 1min 20secs, with the three chasers still closer to the peloton.
78km: Decathlon have eased off the gas at the front of the peloton, but DS Luke Rowe insists the aim is still to bring everyone back together, and try to set up Olav Kooij for a sprint victory.
80km to go: Three riders have made a move to join the leading breakaway, which is now about a minute clear of the peloton. Ben Healy is one of them, and he’s joined by Matteo Jorgensen and Mathis le Berre.
While the breakaway group struggle to work together, we’re treated to some lovely drone shots from the Grottes de St-Christophe, a series of narrow gorges with turquoise streams running through them. I want to go to there.
90km to go: Will this breakaway hold? The gap is stuck at around 40 seconds. If this is going to be a sprinters’ day after all, that’s good news for Olav Kooij, Jasper Philipsen, Mads Pedersen and Soren Wærenskjold, who are in the main group. Girmay, Max Kanter and Pascal Ackermann are among those adrift.
Away from today’s stage, Jonas Vingegaard has undergone successful surgery on his fractured collarbone in Denmark. The two-times former Tour winner was injured in a crash on Sunday, forcing him to withdraw from the race.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s sports director Marc Reef told TV2 Sport: “It went well. They did what they had to. It wasn’t the most complicated operation you can have.”
Breakaway riders:
Egan Bernal and Josh Tarling (both Ineos), Pablo Castrillo and Einer Rubio (both Movistar), Guillaume Martin Guyonnet and Clément Braz Afonso (both FDJ), Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon), Jai Hindley (Red Bull), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Alex Baudin (EF), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin), Jasper Stuyven (Soudal), Rick Pluimers (Tudor), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain), Felix Engelhardt (Jayco), Per Strand Hagenes (Visma).
97km to go: As the route heads south-west, deeper into the Chartreuse, the 16-man leading group are holding steady with a 45-second gap to the pack.
Biniam Girmay, who looked to be a contender for today’s stage, has lost ground and is stuck in the autobus some two minutes behind the peloton.
100km to go: Fourteen other riders followed Tarling and Simmons’ lead, and this large group has a lead of around 40 seconds over the main bunch.
102km to go: Jake Tarling attacks, and Quinn Simmons goes with the Ineos rider. That marks a big change, with Pogacar and the other GC leading men dropping back and reconnecting the peloton.
