Tadej Pogacar crosses the line to win stage 17 and extend his lead at the Tour de France – GETTY IMAGES
Pogacar wins his first mountain-top stage at the 2021 Tour
Slovenian extends overall lead thanks to time bonus
Vingegaard climbs to second, and Carapaz moves to third
Urán falls away on the final climb of the day
03:22 PM
Pogacar wins stage 17 at the Tour!
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) got back on 200m short of the line before Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) set off. Ultimately, ichard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) ran out of legs and had to settle for third on the day behind Vingegaard. As a result of this thrilling finale, the top three in the general classification match that of this stage.
03:20 PM
350 meters to go
Richard Carapaz looks over his right shoulder before rising out of his saddle.
03:19 PM
500 meters to go
Jonas Vingegaard is chasing back on, Richard Carapaz pulls on the front, and Tadej Pogacar is not taking a turn.
03:18 PM
1.2km to go
Richard Carapaz attacks! Only Tadej Pogacar can hold his wheel while the young Dane Jonas Vingegaard is dropped.
03:17 PM
1’5km to go
The leading trio is onto the final stretch of barrier road now. Still in podium formation – Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Richard Carapaz – but how will the stage finish?
03:16 PM
2.2km to go
Tadej Pogacar attacks again but cannot shake off Jonas Vingegaard nor Richard Carapaz, who has not taken a single turn since this three-person group formed around 5km down the road.
03:15 PM
2.5km to go
Jonas Vingegaard peers over his left shoulder, but race leader Tadej Pogacar gives nothing away. Those huge sunglasses covering the windows into his soul, the man from Slovenia is sitting pretty ready to attack.
03:12 PM
3.5km to go
David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) is doing a big ride to chase down the stage leaders. Still, Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, and Richard Carapaz are in no mood to sit up and wait for the Frenchman.
03:11 PM
4km
High into the clouds, Jonas Vingegaard flicks his elbow to allow Tadej Pogacar to pull through. Richard Carapaz is the third wheel as the road pitches up to 10% in gradient.
03:08 PM
4.5km to go
Jonas Vingegaard has another little dig, but Tadej Pogacar can more than match him pedal stroke for pedal stroke. Rigoberto Urán is around 55sec on the road, meaning, as it stands, the Colombian is down to fourth on the virtual general classification.
03:06 PM
5.5km to go
Cool as a cucumber, Tadej Pogacar is barely out of breath as he sits on the wheel of Jonas Vingegaard. Eventually, the defending champion rolls around him but cannot shake him off. Richard Carapaz, meanwhile, is gritting his teeth, desperately holding onto the wheel of Vingegaard … unless he is sandbagging?
03:04 PM
6km to go
Jonas Vingegaard takes over on the front, the young Dane towing along Tadej Pogacar and Richard Carapaz. Rigoberto Urán is dropping out of the top three today, but how much time may he lose? The Colombian is a little stronger than Carapaz in the time trial, and so, in theory, may make up any time he loses today in Saturday’s race of truth.
03:01 PM
7km to go
Another attack from Tadej Pogacar, followed by Jonas Vingegaard and Richard Carapaz, is enough to drop Rigoberto Urán and Ben O’Connor. Pogacar flicks his left elbow to ask the others if they want to take a turn; only Vingegaard looks willing to take it up. If Carapaz can hold the wheels here, he may be riding into third place on general classification, but anything could happen over the next 7,000 meters or racing.
02:58 PM
8.4km to go
Tadej Pogacar counter-attacks, and within a handful of pedal strokes, Pello Bilbao is caught. Jonas Vingegaard responds, pulling with him Rigoberto Urán, Richard Carapaz, and Ben O’Connor.
02:56 PM
8.5km to go
Pello Bilbao, disappointed earlier this week when he was told he had not been selected for the Spanish Olympic squad, clips off up the road.
02:55 PM
9km to go
With pain etched all over his face and rivers of sweat pouring off him down into the valley below, Anthony Pérez is in a whole world of pain, but he will be earning many new fans here today.
02:52 PM
9.7km to go
Rigoberto Urán appears to have EF Education-Nippo teammate Sergio Higuita for the company in this chasing group that contains, I think, all of the riders that started the day in the top 10 of the general classification. Anthony Pérez’s leads have dropped further, down to just 1min 4sec.
02:49 PM
10.5km to go
Jonathan Castroviejo moves to the front of the chasing pack, the Spaniard, perhaps, doing his best to shed a few more riders.
02:48 PM
11km to go
Anthony Pérez’s advantage over Tadej Pogacar has been slashed to under two minutes. But will Tadej Pogacar set off to pursue the stage win, and can any general classification riders match the Slovenian? Indeed he will be getting caught.
02:46 PM
11.5km to go
Geraint Thomas is the latest rider to be dropped by the UAE Team Emirates group. Brandon McNulty’s day is done, with Polish teammate Rafal Majka taking over on the front on behalf of Tadej Pogacar, who has barely broken a sweat.
02:43 PM
12km to go
Anthony Pérez is battling gravity, but the Frenchman is riding relatively smoothly. He leads Dorian Godon by around 15sec, while Tadej Pogacar et al. is around 3min down the road. His team Cofidis has not won a stage at the Tour de France since 2008, when Sylvain Chavanel beat Jérémy Roy in a two-up sprint in Montluçon. What a result it would be for them to end their drought here today.
02:40 PM
13km to go
Richie Porte is dropped from the maillot jaune’s group.
02:38 PM
13.5km to go
Tadej Pogacar has Brandon McNulty and Rafal Majka ahead of him, and they are ramping the pace up. Sepp Kuss was just spotted breathing heavily while Wout van Aert was dropped.
02:35 PM
14km to go
Understandably, Dorian Godon and Anthony Pérez are being cheered on by the roadside fans on this steep climb. Their leads have dropped to 3min 32sec, and they have lost about half a minute in an opening couple of kilometers of this final testing mountain.
02:33 PM
Cavendish update
Mark Cavendish is 15min 50sec down on stage leaders Dorian Godon and Anthony Pérez, which, I think, is ok. Remember, he has to finish within the time limit, which is a percentage of the winning time of the stage.
02:29 PM
15.5km to go
Some describe the Col de Portet as the most challenging climb in the Pyrenees – the black sections are the steepest, where the road reaches double digits in gradient.
Col de Portet – ASO
02:28 PM
17km to go
Dorian Godon (Ag2r-Citroën) and Anthony Pérez (Cofidis) must be in dreamland. The French riders are heading towards the bottom of the third and final climb of the day with a lead of 3min 50sec over the Maillot Jaune. I don’t think they can do it, but if they do, it would be an excellent result for either rider and their compatriots celebrating their national day today.
02:24 PM
20km to go
Dorian Godon (Ag2r-Citroën) has managed to bridge over to Anthony Pérez (Cofidis) on the fast and twisty descent that almost did for Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) a few minutes ago after the American took a right-hander a little too wide.
02:20 PM
24km to go
Wout Poel’s attacks are shy of the summit of the Col de Val Louron-Azet; the Dutchman is followed by Nairo Quintana, with both chasing points in the mountains classification.
02:16 PM
28.8km to go
Anthony Pérez (Cofidis) crests the col de Val Louron-Azet first to add another 10 points to his mountain classification total. The 30-year-old Frenchman is doing a great ride, but with the 16.1km long ascent of the Col de Portet, he will struggle to hold off Tadej Pogacar in the finale of today’s stage.
02:13 PM
30km to go
The UAE Team Emirates are motoring up this climb; Tadej Pogacar has three teammates setting the pace for him, while tucked in behind is Jonas Vingegaard, who has Jumbo-Visma teammates Wout van Aert and Sepp Kuss on hand. Richard Carapaz has Jonathan Castroviejo, Richie Porte, and Geraint Thomas for the company.
02:09 PM
31km to go
Anthony Pérez (Cofidis) is pushing on and, as it stands, leads Tadej Pogacar by 3min 45sec. The Frenchman is giving the roadside spectators plenty to cheer about, but can he hold off the charging field to the line today?
02:03 PM
33km to go
Tao Geoghegan Hart has not been dropped, but the 2020 Giro d’Italia champion is back towards the rear of the maillot jaune’s group. Quite strangely, Pierre Latour puts another effort, the Frenchman rolling off the front up the road ahead of that phalanx of UAE Team Emirates riders at the head of the pack. In Latour’s defense, it is Bastille Day, so p’raps, he wants to get on the gogglebox.
02:00 PM
34km to go
Anthony Pérez (Cofidis) presses down hard on the pedals, with a small injection in pace being enough to drop Dorian Godon (Ag2r-Citroën). At the same time, Anthony Turgis (TotalÉnergies), a rider possibly better suited to the cobbled classics, also loses the wheels.
01:58 PM
34.5km to go
Mikkel Bjerg peels off the front of the peloton, having done a shift for the UAE Team Emirates, who are riding today just as Team Sky did when they dominated the Tour.
01:56 PM
35km to go
The breakaway is onto the Col de Val Louron-Azet. Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Danny van Poppel (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), and Maxime Chevalier (B&B Hotels p/b KTM) have been dropped, meaning Dorian Godon (Ag2R-Citroën), Anthony Pérez (Cofidis) and Anthony Turgis (TotalÉnergies) lead the stage. Pierre Latour (TotalÉnergies) is about to be caught by the peloton.
01:47 PM
40km to go
Swooping off the Peyresourde, the six-man breakaway leads the chasing Pierre Latour by 3min 58sec, while the maillot jaune’s group is another 25sec or so down the road. Once they reach the bottom of the descent, there is a short stretch of flattish road before it rises again, up towards the Col de Val Louron-Azet.
01:41 PM
45km to go
The pace being set by the UAE Team Emirates must be pretty high. Ion Izagirre (Astana-Premier Tech) is the next vigorous climber who appears to be struggling on this category-one climb.
01:38 PM
49km to go
Tao Geoghegan Hart is the next Ineos Grenadiers rider that appears to be struggling off the back of the UAE Team Emirates-powered peloton. If he does lose contact, that will not be good news for Richard Carapaz. A few moments ago, Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) and Mark Donovan (DSM) were dropped by this group.
01:34 PM
50.5km to go
The breakaway dropped Danny van Poppel, while the pace set by the UAE Team Emirates at the front of the peloton is an exhibition of power and strength. Tadej Pogacar is riding at the fifth wheel and seems to be riding effortlessly without a chain.
01:31 PM
51.5km to go
Neilson Powless, the young American climber, has been dropped on the Peyresourde. That is not good news for his EF Education-Nippo teammate Rigoberto Urán who started the day second on general classification. Nairo Quintana’s four-person group is only around 10sec up the road from the maillot jaune’s group, so that all loks like a waste of time and effort.
01:23 PM
54km to go
The sextet of riders at the head of the race is around 5km from the summit of the Peyresourde, which, although reasonably long at 13.2km, rarely gets too steep, so it may be difficult for Nairo Quintana et al. catches them before the top. Perhaps Quintana and Wout Poels can see them on the next climb of the day, the Col de Val Louron-Azet. Either Quintana is feeling very strong and feels like he is in a position to go for a very long one today, or the opposite is, in fact, the case, and he is panicking. Only time will tell.
01:17 PM
56km to go
The peloton is splitting up, and Michal Kwiatkowski is struggling, which is surprising. Up the road, Pierre Latour (TotalÉnergies) has bridged over to Élie Gesbert, Nairo Quintana, and Wout Poels.
01:13 PM
57.5km to go
Two-thirds of the remaining members of the Arkéa-Samsic squad – Élie Gesbert and Nairo Quintana – have clipped off the front of the peloton on the lower section of the first climb of the day, the category one-col de Peyresourde. Wout Poels was the only rider to follow the wheels, but the trio trails the stage leaders by seven minutes. Quintana and Poels have been very open about their desire to win the polka-dot jersey. Still, to win any points on this climb, they must catch that breakaway as only points are available to the first six to summit a category one climb.
01:06 PM
Matthews gains a point on Cavendish
Deceuninck-Quick Step appeared on course to take the lion’s share of the remaining points up for grabs at the intermediate sprint in Bagnères-de-Luchon. Still, as the line loomed, Luka Mezgec and his BikeExchange teammate Michael Matthews jumped them before the Aussie rolled over in the seventh spot ahead of the Manxman. At the same time, Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) was 10th.
12:59 PM
63km to go
The breakaway head down the high street in Bagnères-de-Luchon, which anybody who has cycled in this region will be familiar with. Time for the road to start going up now, and the first climb of the day is the Col de Peyresourde, the category one mountain that Tadej Pogacar has just described in an interview with Eurosport as a ‘jumping point’ for attacks.
12:55 PM
65km to go
Dutchman Danny van Poppel wins the intermediate sprint in Bagnères-de-Luchon to add 20 points to his total in the race for green, but that will not significantly impact the competition being led by Mark Cavendish. The latter should follow in around eight minutes.
12:50 PM
70km to go
12:41 PM
Vingegaard: ‘If I feel good, I won’t wait.’
Speaking earlier today, Jonas Vingegaard said he will play the waiting game today. “I think today will be an important day, and I hope to be there. And I’ll do my best, and we’ll see the result. The plan is to follow. If I feel good, I’m not going to wait. So yeah, I’ll do my best, and we’ll see how it goes,” the Tour de France website reported him as saying.
“Pogacar is five and a half minutes in front, and I think it will be quite hard to regain it. Also, this is only my second Grand Tour, and I don’t know how I’ll be feeling. Hopefully, I’ll be feeling good, but we’ll see.”
The breakaway leads by 8min 13sec with just over 75km to go.
12:32 PM
84km to go
Dylan Teuns, the Bahrain Victorious rider who won stage eight at Le Grand-Bornand, is spotted towards the rear of the peloton munching away on a banana. The warm Belgian smiles at the cameras.
12:24 PM
90km to go
There is not a great deal on the road right now as the six-man breakaway inches towards Bagnères-de-Luchon, the town that will host today’s intermediate sprint 65km from the finishing line. Here are some lovely photographs from today.
Field – REUTERS
12:10 PM
100km to go
The UAE Team Emirates, the team of race leader Tadej Pogacar, has been doing the bulk of the heavy lifting on the front of the peloton that trails the breakaway by 8min but has been getting some help from Connor Swift, the former British road champion and Arkéa-Samsic teammate of Nairo Quintana. None of the riders in the breakaway pose any threat to Pogacar; one can only assume the Slovenian is keen on winning a mountain-top finish at this year’s race. Equally, with 40 points being up for grabs at the summit of the hors catégorie Col de Portet, Quintana will know that a stage win for him would allow him to seize the polka dot jersey. Michael Woods’ team, too, has been helping to output their eight-man squad, including four-time Tour winner Chris Froome, up near the front.
11:56 AM
Au revoir Kruijswijk
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), who started the day third on general classification just 1sec ahead of fourth-placed Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), has been handed a blow after teammate Steven Kruijswijk abandoned earlier in the stage. The 24-year-old Dane has just three teammates left in the race – Sepp Kuss, Mike Teunissen, and Wout van Aert – after Robert Gesink, Primoz Roglic, and Tony Martin had previously pulled out. Having failed to recover from falling ill during the second rest day, his team said the Dutchman’s focus would switch his focus to the Vuelta an España.
11:45 AM
As it stands . . .
Afternoon all. A six-man breakaway comprising Maxime Chevalier (B&B Hotels p/b KTM), Dorian Godon (Ag2R-Citroën), Anthony Pérez (Cofidis), Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Danny van Poppel (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) and Anthony Turgis (TotalÉnergies) currently leads the stage with a decent advantage over the maillot jaune. However, with the bulk of the climbing in today’s setting coming in the final 50 or 60km, one suspects they will be reined in before the final ascent of the day, the 16.1-kilometer drag up the hors catégorie Col de Portet which some people have described as the most challenging climb in the Pyrenees.
Once the breakaway had formed, it was interesting to see Mark Cavendish and his Deceuninck-Quick Step teammates fan out across the road before creating an entirely legal block to stop further escapees. Rather than targeting the stage today, the Belgian squad will have been controlling the likes of Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) or Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) bridging over.
With the intermediate sprint coming 65km out from the finish in the lovely old spa town of Bagnères-de-Luchon, Cavendish presumably did not want the second and third riders in the points classification reducing his lead further still after both managed to get into Tuesday’s breakaway.
07:10 AM
Bonjour!
Hello and welcome to our live rolling blog from stage 17 at the Tour de France, the 178.4km run from Muret to Saint-Lary-Soulan.
Following yesterday’s superb stage win from Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), the race continues as it returns to the high mountains with what looks like a stage of two halves which is back-loaded with three tough and testing climbs. Before we look at today’s profile, here’s a quick reminder of who will be wearing what as respective leaders in each of the four main classifications – in other words, those that have jerseys. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) has the Maillot Jaune, the leader’s yellow jersey, for the ninth consecutive day with a not inconsiderable margin of 5min 18sec.
During Tuesday’s stage, Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) may not have added a single point to his mountain classification account. Still, the Dutchman will again wear the maillot à pois, or polka dot jersey, as leader of that particular competition during today’s stage.
Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step) will again be dressed in the maillot vert, the green jersey, as a leader in the points competition after his advantage was reduced to 37 by Michael Matthews (BikeExchange), who currently sits in the best-of-the-rest seat.
As the overall leader of the race, Pogacar also tops the best young rider classification. However, as second best, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) will wear the Slovenian’s maillot blanc, the white jersey. And you can relive the highlights here for anybody that missed Konrad’s fine solo victory on Tuesday, his first at the Tour de France.
Today’s stage will be a tough day featuring four categorized climbs – col du Peyresourde, Col de Val Louron-Azet, and Col du Portet – and 4,375 meters in vertical elevation in the saddle. It is undoubtedly a big day for the climbers, so hopefully, anything, please! – will happen in the general classification. In the absence of anything happening in what has become un peloton à deux Vitesse, thanks mainly to the dominance of Pogacar and the failure of EF Education-Nippo, Jumbo-Visma, and Ineos Grenadiers to shake the Slovenian down from his treetop, then at least we have the mountains classification competition to get excited about.
Poels may lead the mountains classification, but he can expect to be challenged by Michael Woods (ISN) and Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic). They, incidentally, won the stage the last time the Tour finished on the Col de Portet. The forecast in the mountains is for cold and wet weather, which may play into the hands of Quintana, but once again, you could list 10 or 15 possible stage winners, including Pogacar, who also prefers these conditions.
But it is another massive day for Cavendish and his Deceuninck-Quick Step bodyguards, who will do their best to shepherd him through the mountains to ensure he completes the stage within the time limit. If you have been on the moon, the British sprint has won for steps at this year’s race and is in the green jersey and must finish each stage within strict time limits if he continues the next day. With two more possible sprint stages – Thursday and the final day in Paris on Sunday – Cavendish will be desperate to ensure he is in the best position to challenge for another two sets. And that place, for now, will be tomorrow’s start line.
Just eight teams – Ag2r-Citroën, Alpecin-Fenix, Bahrain Victorious, Bora-Hansgrohe, Deceuninck-Quick Step, Jumbo-Visma, Trek-Segthe alfredo, and UAE Team Emirates – have won stages at the race, meaning a staggering 15 have yet to register a victory. Despite their efforts Arkéa-Samsic, Astana-Premier Tech, B&B Hotels p/b KTM, BikeExchange, Cofidis, DSM, EF Education-Nippo, Groupama-FDJ, Ineos Grenadiers, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, Israel Start-up Nation, Lotto-Soudal, Movistar, Qhubeka-NextHash and TotalÉnergies are all winless. Today may represent one of their last opportunities to right that wrong. Here’s a look at the all-important numbers from those climbs and a breakdown of what points can be won in the mountains.
But what about those who only have eyes for the green jersey?
