As it happened: Alpecin-Premier Tech emerge as the masters from an epic breakaway day on Tour de France stage 17
2026-07-22T17:02:21.220Z
That concludes our live coverage of stage 17 of the Tour de France, with Alpecin-Premier Tech doubling up on wins and Jasper Philipsen being guided to the line by Mathieu van der Poel in Voiron.
They’ll be looking to win once more on the Paris stage with Van der Poel, or indeed Philipsen if it does end up being a sprint, but the Belgian will mostly be trying to snatch the green jersey away from Mads Pedersen in the coming days. All in all, it looks like another successful Tour for the Belgian team who always punches above their weight in July, led by their two superstar riders.
Come back tomorrow to follow our live coverage of stage 18, for an 185km day of climbing from Voiron to Orcières-Merlette.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T16:45:56.224Z
The profile for stage 18 of the Tour de France. It’s the easiest of the three incoming days in the Alps. With just under 4000 metres of elevation gain, and after today’s all-out stage, it’s sure to see some riders really struggling.
With five categorised climbs along the route, it should be enough to see the GC group whittled down purely due to attrition, but the final climb to the Orcières-Merlette ski resort may not be enough to split the top favourites – especially when they know an Alpe d’Huez double-header looms at the end of the week.
A breakaway in theory could be allowed to play out the day by UAE, especially given the likely non-full strength Adam Yates in their support, but to be honest, it would have to be someone as strong as a Richard Carapaz who gets up the road if they are going to survive the chasing peloton. It should be a good fight nonetheless, though.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T16:36:47.232Z
Alongside the yellow jersey, UAE Team Emirates-XRG also lead the King of the Mountains classification through Pogačar, and the best young rider’s white jersey competition with Isaac del Toro.
The Slovenian leads the former by 24 points from Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep) and, unless someone goes crazy from the breakaway in the next three days, will be expected to win the polka-dot jersey again.
Del Toro’s jersey is much less secure, with 19-year-old Paul Seixas breathing down his neck just 20 seconds down in the race for white, but also in pursuit of the final podium spot overall. It will be a battle to watch in the coming three days.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T16:31:27.308Z
The race for green
Mads Pedersen’s undying efforts in the stage 17 breakaway did see him successfully defend the green jersey, but only narrowly. After putting in several attacks and blowing the race apart again in the final 60km, he gained 35 total points in the classification.
By winning the stage and taking seventh at the intermediate sprint, Jasper Philipsen took home 59 points and moved to within seven of overtaking the Dane.
It’s a competition that should go right down to the wire in the final four stages, and with the intermediate sprints coming late in all three of the mountain stages, it could come down to the final IS point on stage 21 where green is decided. That is, unless either of the two star riders can score big on the Montmartre route on the final day in Paris.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T16:28:11.710Z
If you’re after a full recap of an action-filled stage 17, read our full stage report:
Tour de France: Jasper Philipsen wins explosive sprint finish on stage 17 as points classification battle tightens
2026-07-22T16:18:13.665Z
You can read our full story on Adam Yates’ struggles on stage 17 below. As it stands, he’s still in the race, but it’s unknown how much he’ll be able to help on the trio of upcoming mountain stages after really suffering with stomach issues:
Adam Yates struggles against stomach problems and time cut to survive stage 17 of Tour de France
2026-07-22T16:12:35.927Z
Here’s what race leader Tadej Pogačar said after successfully navigating a tricky day. He was ready for the fight at the start, but that didn’t make it any less difficult, even from the peloton. He also shed some more light on the situation surrounding Adam Yates, who – despite his struggles – finished safely inside the time cut, 26:36 down on the leaders alongside teammate Tim Wellens:
“I was expecting that it was going to be hard and a fight until after the climbs. It was a hard day,” said Pogačar.
“Adam was sick yesterday, felt like sick in the morning and throughout the day, so he suffered like a dog yesterday. Today he looked much better, was eating good, but when you have a bad day like him yesterday, you pay a day later. I hope he didn’t go too deep into the hole and he will be better tomorrow.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T16:04:21.478Z
Here’s what an emotional Philipsen had to say after finally taking his first win of the 2026 Tour de France:
“I was in the shape of my life, and first 12 days were just horrible, and I couldn’t find myself, couldn’t find the feeling I was hoping for. After 17 stages to take the victory, it’s really one for the team that keep on believing in me,” he said.
“I just want to thank everybody, I was like an angry bird at the table. I was disappointed in myself, angry that I couldn’t take stage when I didn’t find my feeling. The team had to deal with it, this one is for them to keep on believing and just fighting back until stage 17.
“It’s a victory that cost me a few years of my life, I think, I was fighting somewhere in the middle, between groups. I thought the stage was lost. But the team kept on believing, and we tried to make a plan, and in the end, they were super strong and delivered me at the finish line.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T15:58:32.602Z
And here’s the top 10 on GC, with no changes after a breakaway stage did eventually play out. It was far from an easy day, especially in those brutal opening two hours of breakaway formation heading out of Chambéry, so expect some of the frontrunners to feel it in their legs on the uphill roads to Orcières-Merlette on Thursday’s stage 18
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Place
Rider (Country) Team
Result
1
Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
60:04:17
2
Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
00:04:32
3
Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
00:06:51
4
Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM
00:07:11
5
Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek
00:09:22
6
Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek
00:10:14
7
Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious
00:12:50
8
Tom Pidcock (GBr) Pinarello-Q36.5
00:12:58
9
Jordan Jegat (Fra) Totalenergies
00:14:04
10
Yannis Voisard (Swi) Tudor Pro Cycling
00:24:18
2026-07-22T15:36:20.252Z
Here’s the top 10 from a brutal stage 17 to Voiron.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Place
Rider (Country) Team
Result
1
Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech
03:41:13
2
Mauro Schmid (Swi) Jayco-AlUla
st
3
Olav Kooij (Ned) Decathlon CMA CGM
st
4
Lewis Askey (GBr) NSN Cycling Team
st
5
Rick Pluimers (Ned) Tudor Pro Cycling
st
6
Clément Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United
st
7
Huub Artz (Ned) Lotto-Intermarché
st
8
Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek
st
9
Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco-AlUla
st
10
Aaron Gate (NZl) XDS Astana
st
2026-07-22T15:32:55.351Z
Philipsen’s 11th Tour stage win
A special day for Philipsen and Alpecin-Premier Tech. This victory is his 11th at the Tour de France and means he’s won at least once in the past five Tours, highlighting his incredible consistency, even at the last moment.
Up to this point, he’d been fifth, fifth, fourth and third twice in the sprint stages, and he was getting some flak from his team manager Christoph Roodhooft, but today they got the best out of him, showing his prowess as much more than just a pure sprinter to win an epic day from the breakaway.
This big win also brings him within seven points of Mads Pedersen’s lead in the green jersey points classification, who faded to eighth at the finish but picked up enough points to stay in the lead with only a few intermediate sprints and the Montmartre stage in Paris left to decide the green jersey.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T15:20:45.213Z
Stage 17 finish
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) wins an absolute thriller on stage 17 of the Tour de France, with the Belgian finally delivering on all the pressure and expectation to get his victory.
He can give big thanks to his whole team today, but most notably Emile Verstyrnge, Edward Planckaert, and, of course, Mathieu van der Poel, who gave everything to chase down moves in the finale and then did the perfect lead-out. When Philipsen went, no one was able to get anywhere near him – a true breakaway epic won by the sprinters.
2026-07-22T15:18:44.475Z
Tarling led through the final corner, but it’s Van der Poel who kicks off the lead-out for Philipsen with an armchair ride for his Belgian sprinter. He’s at the front and surely this is going to be it for Philipsen…
2026-07-22T15:18:06.858Z
Josh Tarling attacks for Ineos, trying to pull off a late raid for Netcompany Ineos. The TT specialist has a gap but Van der Poel is chasing him hard to bring it back for Philipsen. He too is caught as the sprint winds up now.
2026-07-22T15:17:24.507Z
Lidl-Trek and Decathlon are best placed but the attacks will surely keep coming over the top in the final kilometre. There’s several names who we’ve barely seen in this group and could be a real threat.
2026-07-22T15:16:32.576Z
2km to go
It’s back together and cagey as Van der Poel gets to the front but doesn’t attack – a sign he must be working for Philipsen, or that he’s running out of steam. Still Lidl-Trek keep the pace up as Kooij moves up for Decathlon with Benoot to look after him.
2026-07-22T15:15:36.811Z
Per Strand Hagenes attacks! We knew Visma were going to try and it’s their young powerful Nowegian who has ripped off the front in search of glory.
He’s been follow by several riders, notably Van der Poel, Gee-West and Quinn Simmons, who counters in the US champion’s jersey.
2026-07-22T15:14:39.405Z
Stuyven caught
It was a valliant move, but Stuyven has been reeled back in by the attackers 3.5km from the finish. He almost comes to a complete standstill as the finale plays out from this breakaway.
2026-07-22T15:13:19.959Z
This stop-start attacking will help Stuyven, but as the race is on a little drag, Pedersen is perhaps gambling that Lidl-Trek don’t have to do all the work as the Belgian falters in front.
2026-07-22T15:12:41.442Z
It’s Engelhardt vs Stuyven now as Jayco try and bring things back for Michael Matthews. Lidl-Trek are also pushing on through Derek Gee-West, but Pedersen has shouted at his teammates to stop, provoking an attack from Movistar’s Castrillo.
2026-07-22T15:11:15.311Z
5km to go
Alpecin have lost two riders with Planckaert and Verstrynge dropping after their efforts. They may have to use Van der Poel early to try and ensure Philipsen has a chance, but that would mean sacrificing their elite lead-out.
2026-07-22T15:10:15.234Z
Alpecin and Jayco are on the front and pushing, but they are running out of power. Stuyven is still 23 seconds ahead and the chasing group should be confident of bringing him back – any hesitation will kill off the chase, however.
2026-07-22T15:08:55.285Z
Stuyven may make it to the finale with a lead intact, but here’s a reminder that it isn’t a totally flat run-in that awaits him in Voiron. He will need to get over this 2.6km bump to have a chance at surviving away solo.
(Image credit: ASO)
2026-07-22T15:06:12.921Z
10km to go
Stuyven hasn’t won a race since he triumphed on the Via Roma in San Remo, but he’s sensing the chance to win big again here. Gap at 32 seconds and coming down quickly as Alpecin keep pressing on to bring him back and give Philipsen a final chance.
2026-07-22T15:03:57.836Z
Stuyven is all alone against the breakaway now, with Pedersen’s group being re-absorbed. His gap was going in the right direction out to almost 50 seconds, but with Planckaert and Engelhardt back, it should be Alpecin, Lidl, Jayco and Decathlon all chasing together to try bring back the Soudal-QuickStep rider.
2026-07-22T15:00:16.316Z
A former Milan-San Remo winner and all-around elite Classics rider, Stuyven has never won a Tour de France stage in his 10 appearances so far. He’s come close on several occasions, notably on the gravel stage to Troyes in 2024, and stage 7 of the 2021 race when he was second in Le Creusot. He’s actually only won one Grand Tour stage in his career, at the Vuelta in 2015, so this would be a massive result for him.
His gap is at 45 seconds to his nearest chasers and growing now.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T14:55:27.282Z
20km to go
Jasper Stuyven has gone on the attack after the intermediate sprint, perhaps knowing that Pedersen wouldn’t necessarily commit to chasing him after mopping up the sprint points he wanted. The Soudal-QuickStep man is now 20 seconds in front of the Pedersen group of five chasers, but a full minute ahead of the group containing Kooij and Philipsen.
2026-07-22T14:53:15.576Z
Mads Pedersen gets his wish and dominates the intermediate sprint from the leading group of six. Planckaert tried to outsprint him and take points away for his leader Philipsen, but was no match for the green jersey.
Pedersen gets the 25 points at the line, and with four riders separating Philipsen from the position he wanted, he only managed to get nine, even with Lidl-Trek’s other riders trying to take them from him in the chasing group.
Pedersen now has 442 points, with Philipsen on 395. With 50 points on offer for the stage win, there is a world where the Belgian can take the green jersey off of the Dane’s shoulders if he is to win the day and Pedersen pays for his efforts and doesn’t score any.
2026-07-22T14:47:16.907Z
Tim Wellens has dropped all the way back to help Adam Yates in his efforts to stay in the race, UAE clearly not giving up on their luxury climbing domestique. They are around 14 minutes behind the leaders on the road and have Anders Halland Johannessen for company, but the Norwegian dropped much earlier in the stage.
2026-07-22T14:39:13.061Z
35km to go
There’s been a change in the breakaway groups, with the Philipsen chase group joining up with the Kooij group – the two top sprinters still in the running for the victory today – which has led to Planckaert no longer working in the group of five in front as his Alpecin team chases behind.
Pedersen and his five companions still lead the day by 1:26 from the group containing the two elite sprinters, and soon, Decathlon will likely commit a man to this chase to help Philipsen’s team, allowing Kooij a chance to double up after already taking a win on his Tour debut into Pau on stage 5.
2026-07-22T14:33:29.678Z
Adam Yates vs the time cut
Here’s a look at British rider and key domestique for Tadej Pogačar, Adam Yates, before he started to struggle in the peloton and dropped like a stone through the groups and to the back of the race.
As it stands, he’s more than nine minutes behind the leaders on the road and five minutes behind the yellow jersey group. He’s reportedly struggling with sickness and is now back at the team car and talking with a sports director. He’d be a big loss for Pogačar and Del Toro just before the final mountain stages.
It will be a race to beat the time cut for Yates now.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T14:27:12.411Z
Under 20km to go until the intermediate sprint in Colombe, where Pedersen will surely be taking maximum points and extending his lead in the green jersey competition. In theory he should pay for all the efforts he’s made today, but no-one gets better on a brutally hard day like Mads Pedersen does – he thrives in the chaos.
2026-07-22T14:24:02.590Z
50km to go
The race is split all over the road in the breakaway as a result of Pedersen’s daring move:
The Dane is up in the front now with 50km to go, alongside Healy, Kwiatkowski, Stuyven, Planckaert and Engelhardt. Behind them is a massive group of 26 riders, notable names including Visma trio Campenaerts, Hagenes and Jorgenson, Hindley, Simmons, sprint hope Kooij and lead-out man Benoot, and Van der Poel for Alpecin. That second group is 45 seconds down the road from the leading five riders, with Philipsen in another chasing group at 1:27. After almost three hours of crazy action, the peloton has finally calmed down and is now sat more than four minutes behind the exploding breakaway.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T14:08:49.189Z
Pedersen started the day in green, but he knew that if he was going to solidify his lead before a trio of stages in the mountains, he would have to light up the racing and distance the likes of Philipsen and Girmay.
One of them is well out the back, but the Belgian – who started as his nearest rival – is still well in the race for the stage win. Much of the racing today has been dictated by how Lidl-Trek want to play it.
When the Dane made his move to bridge across, it brought several riders with him, one of which was Philipsen, who is currently in a move about 20 seconds behind the lead breakaway where Pedersen is.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T14:05:17.549Z
65km to go
Mads Pedersen is on the attack again! With the gap to the break down to just 20 seconds or so, he scorched across the gap and joined the front group. A reminder that there’s still 35km to go until the race reaches the late intermediate sprint. He’s got Simmons to help drag the lead group along.
2026-07-22T14:03:10.113Z
Adam Yates appears to massively struggling. He dropped back curiously from the peloton, and is now two minutes behind and still barley pedalling. He doesn’t look himself or in tip-top shape. He crashed out of the Giro earlier this season, but that was the first time he hadn’t finished a Grand Tour in his career, so him climbing off would be a big shock.
2026-07-22T13:59:28.516Z
Breakaway up to 19 riders
Contact has been made by Jorgenson, Healy and Le Berre, strengthening the break. However, they will need to get a move on in front if they want any hope of making it to fight out the win – the gap to the charging peloton is down to just 30 seconds now.
2026-07-22T13:55:32.601Z
Decathlon are committing riders to the chase, with the gap down to 54 seconds. After realising Uno-X would help, they came back to control, but it will take a fully concerted effort to bring back those in front.
2026-07-22T13:54:21.379Z
The chasing trio of Jorgenson, Healy and Le Berre is making a good impression on the deficit to the break. They are now within 27 seconds of making it a break of 19 riders in front. It would also give Hagenes and Baudin a teammate each up in front.
2026-07-22T13:50:32.750Z
NSN aren’t giving up in the group who are 3:13 off the lead of the race, and with the peloton failing to work properly together and 75km still to ride, they are ride to keep pushing. Whether they can make it bike in time for the sprint is a different question, though.
2026-07-22T13:44:18.417Z
A lull in pace in the peloton has allowed for three more attackers to try and re-ignite the fight for the stage win: Jorgenson, Healy and Mathis Le Berre. They are 50 seconds behind the breakway – which has also been squabbling in front and failing to cooperate – with the peloton now at 1:17 with Uno-X actually committing a rider to the chase.
2026-07-22T13:42:35.554Z
Decathlon CMA CGM have the best of both worlds at the moment, with Tiesj Benoot in the break, young GC star Paul Seixas sat comfortably in the peloton, and sprinter Olav Kooij in the hunt for a second stage win with his teammate contributing to the chase.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T13:31:12.700Z
Some of the sprinters are in the main peloton, notably Olav Kooij, Jasper Philipsen, Søren Wærenskjold, Huub Artz and, of course, Mads Pedersen. They are closing in on the breakaway of the day, just 38 seconds back with 91km to go.
The likes of Biniam Girmay, Phil Bauhaus, Milan Fretin, Pascal Ackermann, Max Kanter, Pavel Bittner and Magnus Cort are all in the groupetto, around three minutes behind the leaders and 2:30 behind the main chasing group.
2026-07-22T13:19:42.745Z
Breakaway forms with 100km to go
Finally after all of the all-out action, there seems to be a breakaway forming on stage 17. There are now 16 riders in the front: Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Pablo Castillo, Einer Rubio (Movistar), Clément Braz Afonso, Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ United), Rick Pluimers (Tudor), Simmons, Van der Poel, Bernal, Tarling, Stuyven, Engelhardt, Benoot, and Mohorič.
The splits in the peloton have been undone, with the Del Toro and Pedersen group rejoining Pogačar and the rest of the GC favourites in the second group on the road. Decathlon are pacing on the front in what is now the peloton, who are 42 seconds behind the leaders.
2026-07-22T13:06:13.096Z
110km to go
Most of the big GC names are in the front group of the race, which has come back together, but notably missing is third place overall Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
The Mexican star is in the group at 40 seconds from the peloton – where Pogačar, Evenepoel and Seixas are – which also includes green jersey and stage win hope Pedersen, who dropped back after all of his early efforts.
2026-07-22T13:00:30.401Z
Côte de Saint-Jean d’Arvey
Onto the final categorised climb of the day, the Côte de Saint-Jean d’Arvey (1.1km at 5.7%) and the attacks are coming thick and fast again. Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) led things into the foot, but it’s Van der Poel, Bernal, Simmons and Tarling who are at it once more on the attack.
More huge crowds welcomed the riders onto the slopes, where Van der Poel really surged to split things up. Visma have done much of the chasing in the splits behind to try and re-form a huge break at the front.
2019 yellow jersey winner Bernal led the race over the crest of the climb, with no more categorised ascents to come, but with 114km of more thrilling racing still to come.
2026-07-22T12:57:19.550Z
115km to go
A look inside one of several groups who tried to attack away in these early stages, with Van der Poel, Simmons, Tarling and Bernal involved. That action has come back together, and the race is now onto a long section of downhill roads before the final categorised climb of the day, where riders like those seen below will surely try again…
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T12:49:14.765Z
Col des Prés
The gap to the breakaway finally started increasing at the foot of the longest climb of the day: the Col des Prés (3.5km at 6.8%). Alpecin-Premier Tech continued to ride at the front of the peloton, even with Van der Poel up the road in the break, but with no real venom in their pace.
Soon after though, having missed it, green jersey Pedersen went off on the attack on his own with a 22-second gap to make up. He was followed by several others who didn’t make the initial move, George Bennett (NSN), Vlad van Mechelen (Bahrain Victorious), and Alpecin’s Tim Marsman.
Visma kept the pace high in the front group with the gap to the peloton coming down quickly, with that Pedersen move threatening to undo all the work of those in the latest break.
US champ Simmons actually dropped from the front group to try and help the Dane, but he started to pay for his efforts towards the top. Still, the race came back together before the top of the climb, despite the efforts of Van der Poel, who took the maximum KOM points at the front of the splitting peloton.
2026-07-22T12:38:07.036Z
130km to go
This latest break is full of big name stars, notably Van der Poel, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon CMA CGM), Jasper Stuyven (Soudal-QuickStep), Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos). It’s not fully going away, though, gap still at just 10 seconds.
Still, any team who has missed it is pacing in the peloton behind, knowing this group of very strong riders could be the one that goes. There’s around 22 riders in the front for the moment.
2026-07-22T12:32:29.821Z
Lidl-Trek are still trying to crack the race apart with Pedersen and Simmons, but with so many teams chasing to try not to miss out, the balance is swinging in favour of the sprinters who are surviving these opening stages well enough.
Just as I typed, though, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) has blinked and attacked in the latest move. Phe peloton is exploding into life again, and the presence of Alpecin’s main man would suggest they are OK to let the final sprint chance for Jasper Philipsen go in favour of their big star having a go from the break.
2026-07-22T12:26:51.552Z
Côte de Rossillon
That leading group of five did not last long on the second categorised climb of stage 17, with the peloton quickly swallowing them back up.
EF were quickly on the attack again, however, with Richard Carapaz taking the maximum King of the Mountains points at the crest and continuing on with the move. Green jersey Pedersen and polka-dot jersey Paret-Peintre were not far away as the race went over the top.
37km raced at full gas and an average speed of 45kph, mostly uphill, but still no breakaway. It’s going to be a long one…
2026-07-22T12:22:19.418Z
140km to go
A new trio attacked off the front: Max Walker (EF Education-EasyPost), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis). Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) attacked across to make it a leading quartet, with Ben Healy also coming across to join his teammate.
They are approaching the foot of the next climb on today’s route, the Côte de Rossillon (1.7km at 5.3%).
2026-07-22T12:17:42.799Z
Crash in the peloton
Several riders have been taken down in the peloton on stage 17, as the aggresive start causes chaos. Tom Pidcock was down but quickly back on his bike and looked largely unaffected, but his Pinarello Q36.5 teammate and British champion Fred Wright came down more heavily, left with road rash and checking a wound on his left hand.
Also involved in the incident was fellow GC top 10 rider Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Marc Hirschi (Tudor), Rob Stannard (Bahrain Victorious), Dylan van Baarle (Soudal-QuickStep), and Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies).
All of the riders involved are back on the bikes and everyone seems to have escaped anything more sinister.
2026-07-22T12:11:49.218Z
150km to go
Lidl-Trek have been very active, as expected, with Pedersen, Quinn Simmons and Mathias Vacek all among the attackers at the start. They’ve not managed to split things fully to form a break, but they will be looking for a repeat of stage 4 to Foix.
On that day, it was the three riders mentioned above who got into the day’s break and completely dominated proceedings, with Simmons and Vacek marking every move in the finale for Pedersen to sprint to the win.
That day was carefully planned out by the team months in advance, and with today’s parcours suiting their riders perfectly, similar can be expected from Pedersen and his domesqieus.
‘Not as easy as it looks’ – Mads Pedersen perfectly executes Tour de France stage win plan made months in advance by ‘workaholic’ head DS
2026-07-22T12:03:24.535Z
Côte de Bassa
The two early breakaway were both reeled in at the foot of the first categorised climb of stage 17, the Côte de Bassa (1.5km at 5.5%). Alaphilippe and Healy were both in the group that came across to them, but with almost half of the peloton on the more this afternoon, the race was quickly back together with 157.5km to go.
Netcompany Ineos are really looking to get something out of today’s stage, knowing they likely won’t be able to make much impact in the high mountains. They’ve had Kévin Vauquelin and Josh Tarling on the attack on the first climb.
Vauquelin was solo for the opening part of the climb, as the peloton lulled momentarily. Approaching the final 500 metres, though, he was passed by a group led by green jersey Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and polka-dot jersey Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep). The Frenchman took the maxmimum points at the crest, but it’s almost straight onto the next climb with the peloton still together.
2026-07-22T11:55:29.819Z
The two early leaders on stage 17, Abrahamsen and Veistroffer. The peloton is exploding behind them with Ben Healy (EF Education EasyPost) Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) among the latest groups trying to break away.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T11:51:47.939Z
Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana) has come down in a crash, sliding out after a roundabout. As a result, there are splits in the peloton.
That big chasing group came back together to the main bunch, which is still. all in one long line as the attacks continue to fly.
2026-07-22T11:49:27.878Z
165km to go
It’s still Veistroffer and Abrahamsen leading the race on stage 17, and they have a slim lead of around 20 seconds on the peloton. Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-Easypost) and Marco Haller (Tudor) had set off in pursuit, but a huge group has just attacked off the front of the peloton and joined them.
Massive crowds welcoming the riders in this early phase of racing.
2026-07-22T11:41:13.959Z
The earliest moves came from Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility). Behind them, it was obvious more riders were ready to go – the front of the peloton very much resembling a coiled sprint right now.
There’s some tricky road furniture to navigate just to add to the expected madness of this stage start. The riders are heading briefly downhill out of Chambéry, before they reach the foot of a long section of climbing with 163km to go.
2026-07-22T11:37:52.175Z
Tour de France Stage 17 underway
After a long section of neutralised riding to build the tension even more, the 17th stage of the Tour is underway, and fireworks are expected. Don’t take your eyes off it.
2026-07-22T11:32:30.209Z
Pogačar’s expectations for stage 17
Here’s what race leader Tadej Pogačar had to say at the start, and he’s expecting anything but an easy day, knowing full well how aggressive the opening two hours will likely be:
“Very hard start and hopefully an easier finish, but you never know. I think it’s quite a difficult day in my opinion. It looks not so hard, but it’s going to be a pain in the ass,” said the Slovenian, though it sounds like UAE won’t be overly involved if they don’t have to be.
“We are close for team classification also, and it’s something the guys would really like to have, but it’s not the main priority of course, so we’ll see what happens.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T11:20:24.812Z
Unofficial start of stage 17
Riders are gone from the start line of stage 17 of the Tour de France in Chambéry! The flag should be dropped at kilometre 0 in around 15 minutes. From then on, expect major breakaway action all the way to the line.
2026-07-22T11:16:25.967Z
No prizes for guessing which bus tends to be the busiest at each of the stage starts. Anything to get a peak at the yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar, but also the ultr-popular Isaac del Toro. Maybe only Decathlon CMA CGM’s bus and the furore surrounding French hope Paul Seixas rivals this.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T11:10:57.352Z
Just 10 minutes to go now until the unofficial start of stage 17. It’s more blue skies and hot weather welcoming the riders to Chambéry on this Wednesday afternoon.
2026-07-22T10:58:29.786Z
After the leaving the race following his stage 15 crash, Jonas Vingegaard has reportedly undergone successful surgery to his fractured collarbone. Despite the sadness of having to abandon the race, the Dane showed his leadership as he bid farewell to his teammates on Monday, with the remaining riders changing focus to chasing stages in these final five days:
‘Make the best of it!’ – Over an emotional burger and fries, Jonas Vingegaard encouraged his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates to go on the attack at the Tour de France
2026-07-22T10:42:05.391Z
All of the riders are currently signing on at the start in Chambéry. You can watch the team presentation live before every stage on Le Tour’s X account: Podium signature stage 17.
2026-07-22T10:36:48.916Z
It was a bittersweet day for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe as they took victory, though, with last year’s podium finisher and Evenepoel’s co-leader Florian Lipowitz crashing out of the race. He suffered a fractured collarbone after coming down at high speed around a corner, leaving the Belgian to defend his second place without a second GC option.
Florian Lipowitz abandons the Tour de France after a heavy crash during the stage 16 time trial
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-07-22T10:34:04.271Z
If you missed any of the action from yesterday’s 16th stage, it was a dramatic start to the final week with a back-to-back winner in the individual time trial:
Tour de France: Time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel destroys race against the clock and takes back-to-back wins on stage 16
2026-07-22T10:08:25.180Z
Today’s route
Here’s a look at the profile today, which is listed as a flat stage by the Tour’s official website, but the four categorised climbs in the first 60km of the route might have something to say about that.
Heading southwest from Chambéry down to Voiron, it’s likely the final chance for the breakaway specialists to have their chance, with three brutal mountain stages and the finale in Paris likely to favour the top GC riders better.
A key point on the route is the positioning of the intermediate sprint in Colombe, where current green jersey points leader, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), will be looking to defend against Alpecin-Premier Tech’s Jasper Philipsen. But will either of them be able to make it and fight out the points available at the finish?
Lidl will be the favourites as Pedersen is the better climber and has already won from a breakaway this Tour, but Alpecin have Mathieu van der Poel as a second option for the stage if green looks impossible. Either way, it should be fast and explosive right from the flag drop at 13:30 CEST.
(Image credit: ASO)
Good morning and welcome to Cyclingnews‘ live coverage of stage 17 of the Tour de France!
