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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
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Current racing:
- July 5 - 27: Tour de France
Upcoming racing:
- August 2: San Sebastian Classic
Latest completed racing:
- June 21 - 29: Most national road championships
- June 24: Giro dell'Appennino
- June 15 - 22: Tour de Suisse
- June 18 - 22: Baloise Belgium Tour
- July 9 - 13: Tour of Austria
- June 8 - 15: Critérium du Dauphiné
- June 13: GP Kanton Aargau
- June 8: Brussels Cycling Classic
- May 9 - June 1: Giro d'Italia
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Jonathan Milan's Team Lidl-Trek:
Jonathan Milan narrowly escaped a big crash on wet roads and charged to the finish line to win Stage 17 of the Tour de France. Wednesday was another characteristically chaotic day of this year’s Grande Boucle. But Milan and Lidl-Trek yet again handled the ever-evolving circumstances with aplomb to secure their second stage win of the Tour, and strengthen their chances of holding onto the green jersey all the way to the final podium in Paris.
This year’s sprint stages have been particularly hectic compared to past Tours. Traditional lead-outs have been practically non-existent, as high-powered breakaways and adverse weather conditions wreak havoc on the peloton. As was the case on Stage 9, Lidl-Trek’s would-be sprint train was forced to spend most of its energy chasing down a dangerous breakaway at the front of the peloton, before leaving Milan to do his superhuman best in the closing meters of the race.
Jonathan Milan wins stage 17. ASO photo
“I’m without words, I have to say, after surviving. I didn’t survive alone. I survived always with the help of my teammates,” Milan said after the race. “I really have to emphasize this, because without all this, I would not be here. Maybe I would be already dropped on one of the climbs. With the help every single day of my teammates, we achieved this result.”
Quinn Simmons deserves special mention for his turns at the front of the peloton. The young American national champion kept a four-man breakaway of Mathieu Burgaudeau, Vincenzo Albanese, Quentin Pacher and Jonas Abrahamsen within safe distance by driving the pace of the peloton for much of the 160-kilometer/100-mile stage. He also helped control the pace of the peloton after Milan briefly appeared to be in danger after falling off the back of the day’s first Category 4 climb. Lidl-Trek got the green jersey over the second Category 4 climb safely and well-positioned throughout the day’s final 40 kilometers.
Good thing, because persistent rain set in at that point, and combined with roundabouts to make the closing kilometers treacherous. Just as riders were going under the 1k-to-go banner, a rider just behind Milan appeared to lose traction and crashed sideways into another rider, causing a pile-up that held back many of the Tour’s fastest finishers, including Soudal Quick-Step’s Tim Merlier.
“It was a difficult final also because of the weather, and having to come through the roundabouts in the first position,” Milan said. “And I was a bit scared, I have to say. But [my teammates] helped me, they supported me. And this is really a fantastic team victory. I really have to thank them with the bottom of my heart. Super, super happy for all of us.”
Milan deftly surfed the wheels of his rivals in a reduced bunch from that point, launching the winning move from third position to best second-place Jordi Meeus by a wheel. With the win, Milan secured 50 points towards the Points Classification, and solidified his hold on the green jersey with four stages remaining in this year’s Tour. He also took 11 points after finishing fifth — the fastest rider behind the four-man breakaway — at the intermediate sprint point.
Milan’s closest competition for the green jersey is the current yellow jersey bearer, Tadej Pogačar. The uber-talented Slovenian rider is putting together a campaign to potentially win all three of the Tour’s major jerseys — yellow for the General Classification winner, polka-dot for the King of the Mountains, and green. But now with a 72-point lead in the Points Classification, Milan has a healthy buffer even if Pogačar is able to win the coming two mountain stages and hilly stage ahead of Sunday’s finale in Paris.
The competition is far from over — Milan will struggle with the elevation gain the next three days, and Pogačar is a uniquely talented cyclist capable of winning on just about any stage profile. But if Milan and Lidl-Trek can perform well in the intermediate sprints early in those climbing stages, they’ll be in good shape to win the team’s second straight Points Classification in a Grand Tour, following Mads Pedersen’s sterling campaign in the Giro d’Italia.
“We will keep fighting, every day, for intermediates and then the last day maybe for the stage,” Milan said. “We will see how it will go. Today we have a bit more of a distance with the points. I also have to say I’m a bit more relaxed [laughs]. But yeah I will keep fighting. I will keep trying to achieve as many points as I can.”
A wild Tour — especially if you’re a sprinter — is approaching the home stretch with Milan and Lidl-Trek in the driver’s seat for the famed green jersey. There’s a lot of work left to do, but the lights of Paris are coming into view.
Here’s the stage 17 report from second-place Jordi Meeus’ Team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe:
Jordi Meeus sprinted to second place on Stage 17 of the Tour de France after a chaotic and rain-drenched fast finale in Valence.
The 160.4km stage from Bollène ended in a reduced sprint, following a crash in the final kilometre that took out several riders and split the front group. Meeus stayed clear of the incident and delivered a strong final effort in the sprint, ultimately finishing just behind stage winner Jonathan Milan.
The finish line: It was close! Sirotti photo
It was a strong ride from the Belgian, who lined up without his usual lead-out man Danny van Poppel, with the Dutchman leaving the race earlier in the day to be with his wife and newborn daughter. Despite the absence, Meeus rode a sharp finale, navigating the wet conditions and disrupted sprint to secure his best result of this year’s Tour so far.
"I’m really disappointed. I feel like if I had launched the sprint first, I would have won the stage. I can’t say much more than that, I’m just very disappointed. I think I rode the final perfectly, I was well positioned, away from the chaos and crashes. I should have launched first, I think I would have won. But credit to Milan, he did a very good sprint."
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Here's the stage 17 report from third-place Tobias Lund Andresen's Team Picnic-PostNL:
After a day for the climbers on Tuesday, the fast-men of the peloton were expected to have their chance going into Valence on Wednesday, with only two category-four climbs throughout the stage. However, it was an intense opening period to the stage with several attacks, but eventually a four-rider move went clear.
With all Team Picnic PostNL riders in the peloton, focus remained on keeping each other safe; guiding Oscar Onley through the day and then coming into the finale with the sprint group as best as possible. When the climbs were over and the rain began to fall, Sean Flynn helped to set the tempo in the peloton to help reel in the breakaway.
Eventually those ahead were caught with five kilometres to go as the bunch snaked its way around several roundabouts. Good positioning work by the team saw last-man Tobias Lund Andresen and Pavel Bittner well to the fore as the peloton headed towards the flamme rouge; trying to avoid the chaos.
The race with 4.4 kilometers to go. Escapee Jonas Abrahamsen is about to be caught
Unfortunately, a crash saw Bittner go down and hit the deck as they went under the kite, which he quickly signalled on the radio and told Lund Andresen to go for it. Lund Andresen followed those ahead and navigated the final corners brilliantly, before opening up and launching a strong sprint all the way to the line, taking a superb third place at the finish – his first ever Grand Tour podium. A great result for the Team Picnic PostNL Development program graduate.
Lund Andresen expressed: “A third place – I said when we came into the Tour de France that I would be really happy if I came away with a top three. It’s difficult to be fully happy right now though as I got the opportunity because my sprinter, Pavel, crashed. Today I don’t feel like I deserve a top three because there was a crash and it took the other guys out, so it’s a bittersweet feeling. Milan is one of the best sprinters in the world, he is a pure powerhouse, so for a rider like me it is almost impossible to beat him on a sprint like this. On days like this you need a team to support you: every roundabout is really slippery so you need to be in the front positions there to get through without incident, and I think we nailed that today. We nailed all of the key points we wanted to. Unfortunately there was still a crash so far to the front, but I think we did everything to stay out of the chaos.”
Team Picnic PostNL coach Matt Winston added: “The guys did well on a hectic sprint day. They came into position and chose the right lines on the run-in the to the finish. Just before one kilometre to go Pavel was squeezed from both sides and had nowhere to go and ended up crashing. At that moment he was our sprint finisher, but it was some really good and quick communication from Pavel who then spoke into his radio and told Tobi to go for it in the sprint. Tobi then followed the guys ahead and sprinted to a good third place. Everyone feels a little bit disappointed though because with the two of them still together there in the last kilometre we all believe we could have done something really special today; but a third place shows the good teamwork that we have done.”
Fourth-place Arnaud De Lie's Team Lotto posted this Tour report:
A hard day of racing in stage 17 in Tour de France from Bollène to Valence got rewarded with a fourth place finish for Arnaud De Lie. Throughout the whole day the team showed strong teamwork. “It was the first time for me that I was so close to a victory in the Tour de France.”
The team had mapped out a clear strategy going into today’s 160 kilometers long stage from Bollène to Valence: “The meeting point for us to be together was at 4 kilometres from the finishline. Everything went according to plan. Brent (Van Moer), Jarrad (Drizners) and myself were in perfect position and they brought me to the finish line completely how we planned it out”, Arnaud De Lie reflects after the race.
Arnaud De Lie before the stage start.
A crash in the final meters of the race, limited the number of people going into the final sprint. Luckily, no one from our team was involved. As Arnaud was in front of the crash, he was able to sprint. While launching his sprint, he made small contact with Jonathan Milan’s rear wheel. Luckily, no one crashed but Arnaud’s chances of winning sadly faded away. “UnfortunateIy, I made a little mistake. I was next to Jonathan Milan instead of sitting in his wheel. I touched his rear wheel but luckily we could avoid a crash”, he says after the race.
Nevertheless, he gave his all and still managed to sprint to a strong fourth place. “It is only the third sprint in which I participate and I felt even better than the previous times. It was the first time for me that I was so close to a victory. But in the end, I am really proud of the work the whole team has done today. It is still a fourth place in the Tour de France, and we should not forget that.“
Looking ahead towards the final days of this Tour de France, Arnaud remains optimistic: “We still have one more chance for me on the Champs-Elysées this Sunday. It will not be easy, but with the way my legs are still feeling right now and seen the good legs of my team mates, everything is still possible.”
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Here's the report from Tim Merlier's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
The sprinters were hoping for one last shot at this edition as stage 17 got underway from Bollène, but also the breakaway artists were confident that if they played their cards right on the rolling terrain to Valence – where the race returned after four years – they could have a chance of fighting for victory.
Col de Pertuis and Col de Tartaiguille were the two difficulties of the day, and the four men who went in the breakaway knew that the sprinters would struggle there, slowing down the peloton. On both of these climbs, the fast men were dropped, but the teams who wanted a bunch sprint on Wednesday – including Soudal Quick-Step – brought them back and continued to chase the leading quartet.
Soudal Quick-Step rider Valentin Paret-Peintre signing autographs before the stage start.
The rain that made an appearance in the last hour of racing slowed down the bunch a bit and made the roads really sketchy, but the group left nothing to chance and reeled in the attackers with four kilometers to go. Tim Merlier was one of the big favourites, but unfortunately couldn’t contest the sprint, after several riders crashed in front of him just ahead of the flamme rouge. The European Champion, victorious in two stages here, remained on his bike and escaped without any injuries, but didn’t feature in the sprint won by Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) from a small group, rolling over the line one minute later.
Team Visma | Lease a Bike posted this Tour report:
The hectic seventeenth stage of the Tour de France passed without incident for Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Heavy rainfall caused a tense finale, but the riders of the yellow-and-black formation reached the finish line safely.
One day before the peloton returns to the high mountains, the stage presented a final opportunity for the sprinters. The riders set off for a 170-kilometre ride between Bollène and Valence. Along the way, they had to tackle two categorised climbs, followed by a flat finish.
Shortly after the start, four riders broke away. They built what looked like a reassuring lead, but on the Col du Pertuis the peloton closed in unexpectedly quickly. Despite several accelerations in the bunch, the breakaway quartet stayed ahead. With around 45 kilometres to go, Wout van Aert launched an attack on the Col de Tartaiguille. The Belgian from Team Visma | Lease a Bike tried to bridge to the leaders solo but did not succeed.
Wout van Aert at the stage start. Sirotti photo
In the final kilometres, the breakaway was eventually caught by the peloton. Meanwhile, the rain began to pour. The slippery roads added to the nervous atmosphere. The bunch sprint, won by Jonathan Milan, was marred by a major crash. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders managed to stay out of trouble. Tomorrow, the Tour peloton heads into the Alps.
“The finale was chaotic due to the rain, but the guys made sure I was always in a good and safe position,” Vingegaard said afterwards. “We can look back on a good day for us. Tomorrow might be the hardest stage of this Tour. We’ve got three hors catégorie climbs ahead of us, so it’s going to be extremely tough.”
“Today wasn’t an easy stage,” added Head of Racing Grischa Niermann. “We wanted to race aggressively again, but of course we were also mindful of the tough stages coming up. The guys already gave a lot yesterday in the Ventoux stage, and they’ll do so again in the days to come. There’s no guarantee of success, but we’ll do everything we can to get the most out of it.”
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Here's the Tour de France report from Team EF Education-EasyPost:
Vincenzo Albanese took off at the start of stage 17 of the Tour de France and didn’t look back until the peloton caught him in the final kilometers.
Vincenzo knew that our best shot of winning the stage from Bollene north up the Rhône river to Valence was to make the day’s break and push the pace at the end to crack the sprinters’ teams. After a furious start on hilly, twisty roads, Vincenzo sprinted away with a group of four and pushed hard to establish a two-minute lead.
The peloton held them there over the two tough climbs on the course, while Vincenzo’s teammates stayed strong at the front of the pack–marking moves and making the front splits–as their rivals tried to push the pace to drop sprinters and launch across the gap.
The peloton came together on the descent down the Col de Tartaiguille, just as a storm rolled in. Then, it was a drag race to the finish.
EF Education-EasyPost team member Ben Healy in yellow in stage 12. Sirotti photo
The wet roads gave Albanese hope. He and his colleagues in the break drove into the rain, taking every roundabout on the limit to gain seconds. But the sprinters were determined and their teams closed the gap. Vincenzo had to relent with just over eight kilometers to go.
Once they got to the sprint zone inside the five-kilometers-to-go mark, our squad sat up to stay safe. They rolled into the finish and went straight into recovery mode to get ready to race into the Alps.
Tomorrow’s 18th stage will be one of the hardest days of racing at this year’s Tour de France. The course crosses the mythical Col du Glandon and Col de la Madeleine, before the summit finish up the Col de la Loze.
The forecast promises rain and cooler temperatures. That is Ben Healy weather.
Read our riders’ thoughts from the finish of Stage 17 of the Tour de France.
Vincenzo Albanese:
"It was a great day, my first time in a breakaway at the Tour, so it was exciting. I knew it would be difficult to get to the finish because we were only four guys in front and the sprinters’ teams wanted to close but they struggled to catch us because we were going really strong in front. Maybe there will be one or two more chances for me at this Tour. I will definitely try again!"
Harry Sweeny:
"It was a bit of a disappointing start, actually. We wanted a bigger group to go, but the sprint teams really wanted to keep it together, and you could feel it. There was chaos at pretty much every point that there possibly could be on both of the climbs. We were there for it and had Alba up the road."
Tom Southam, sports director:
"We had the left side of the bus on attack duty today. It went pretty quickly. We expected a bit more of a fight. It was a smallish group, which obviously suited the sprinters’ teams, and there were small roads at the start, which allowed them to block the road a bit.
"Even with that group, we weren't too upset, because Abrahamsen is so strong, and Albanese was having a good day. We knew they would go very, very far. It just depended on how tired the sprint teams got. They got a bit tired in the middle of the race when Ineos moved, but then it all settled down. We hoped that the rain coming would be in the break’s favor, which it was.
"At the end, Alba was on the front when they came out of the roundabout when Abrahamsen went, which meant that it was hard for him to get right on the wheel. Otherwise, he probably would've been with him until the very, very end. I wouldn’t say it wouldn’t have been the same result, but it was a good day.
"The guys did really well. They had everything covered behind."
And here's the Tour stage 17 report from Team Intermarché-Wanty:
On Wednesday, July 23, several riders from team Intermarché-Wanty were involved in crashes during the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France. This stage represented one of the last opportunities for sprinters to compete for victory in this edition.
After Louis Barré and Hugo Page crashed earlier in the stage, Biniam Girmay was also involved in a crash at the start of the sprint, under the sign of the last kilometer. The Eritrean sprinter was able to reach the finish line, and initial examinations have revealed no fractures.
Biniam Girmay heads to the stage of stage two. Sirotti photo
"Following their crashes, Louis Barré, Biniam Girmay, and Hugo Page received immediate medical care post-stage. They've sustained superficial wounds, and we've confirmed no fractures or other major injuries. However, given the impact sustained, particularly by Girmay, we'll need to monitor his recovery closely." - Benedikt Schäfer (Team Doctor)
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