Bonjour and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 17 of the 2024 Tour de France!
After yesterday's final chance for the sprinters in Nîmes, it's back to the hills and mountains today as the peloton heads to the Alps.
A look at today's stage profile.
Here's a look at the map of today's stage, which takes the riders to the new finish at the ski resort at SuperDévoluy.
Here's a look back at yesterday's stage, which saw Jasper Philipsen win for the third time in the race. He's now closed to within 32 points of Biniam Girmay's green jersey after the Eritrean crashed late on in the stage.
And here's a look at the results from stage 16.
Aside from Philipsen's win, Girmay's late crash was really the only incident that came out of over four hours of racing yesterday.
Today's stage starts in just over 90 minutes.
Here's a message from Biniam Girmay following yesterday's crash.
Riders are currently signing on to start their day in Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux ahead of 177.8km of racing.
Mark Cavendish finished 17th in yesterday's finish, the final sprint of his Tour de France career.
Here's a look at the finish of today's stage...
Around half an hour until the action begins!
Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Elmar Reinders (Jayco-AlUla) are out of the race this morning. Reinders have travelled home for the birth of his child.
150 men finished stage 16 so it looks like 148 will start today.
The riders roll out in 10 minutes.
One rider who won't be racing today is former GC contender Primož Roglič. Will he be taking on the Vuelta a España after abandoning the Tour?
The riders now rolling through the neutral zone before the official start.
178km to go
No attacks to start the stage.
The pace is high at the front, so at least someone is trying to attack. We thankfully won't be seeing a repeat of the four hours of dross from yesterday (and several other stages during the Tour).
Lots of riders up front but no real breakaway attempt yet. Just a high pace.
Some sidewind now as the riders enter an exposed part of the course. Most of the TotalEnergies team is off the back.
167km to go
No major names out the rear at the moment.
Up front, teams are still driving it at the head of the peloton at a fast pace.
51kph average so far.
Things are coming back together now. It looks like the pace is slowing as the wind has dropped.
156km to go
The battle for the break is underway now and attacks are flying at the front.
Wout van Aert among the current set of attackers.
He has Harold Tejada, Jarrad Drizners, and Tobias Johannessen with him.
That move hasn't lasted, however, and things are all back together.
140km to go
Simon Geschke among the latest attackers.
133km to go
Still nobody able to get away at the moment.
It's still more like a string of riders at the front of the peloton rather than any clear move getting away.
126km to go
Alexey Lutsenko has stopped and it looks like his Tour is over.
The Kazakh rider is clearly upset. He's consoled by team staff as he leaves the race.
120km to go
Magnus Cort, Tiesj Benoot, Romain Gregoire, Bob Jungels off the front.
The peloton earlier on as the wind struck.
Alex Aranburu is trying to move at the front.
35 seconds between the front quartet and the peloton now.
Astana reporting that Lutsenko withdrew after suffering a left knee injury.
Bart Lemmen and Laurens Rex try to attack from the peloton but they're brought back.
Wout van Aert on the move at the front.
More moves still going off the front. Richard Carapaz among the riders attacking.
Meanwhile, Sam Bennett is three minutes off the back and soft-pedalling. His Tour will soon be over.
Another ex-QuickStep sprinter, Fernando Gaviria, abandons.
103km to go
Sam Bennett abandons. His best result of the Tour was fourth place yesterday.
The break is now closing in on the four men out front.
96km to go
Still 40 seconds between those riders and the peloton. Another group is at 25 seconds.
90km to go
Laurens De Plus, Christophe Laporte, Javier Romo, and Mathieu Burgaudeau are the riders between the break and peloton.
And now more attacks as several EF riders try to break away.
The move is brought back.
79km to go
The entire day has been tilting uphill so far without any classified climbs.
Ben Healy is the next man to attack. Wout van Aert follows.
74km to go
8km to go until the intermediate sprint.
Another group attempts to go clear but nothing comes of it.
Girmay marks Philipsen, who attempted to go as part of the attack.
68km to go
The riders now coming up to the intermediate sprint and more attacks fly.
Richard Carapaz is among the attackers.
3km to the sprint.
Alpecin-Deceuninck are closing down the latest attack.
63km to go
Alpecin-Deceuninck lead it out from the peloton. Girmay is behind Philipsen.
Philipsen and Girmay go head-to-head for fifth place.
Girmay outdrags Philipsen for 11 points, extending his green jersey lead as his rival takes 10.
387 for Girmay, 354 for Philipsen.
45 seconds for the break now.
More attacks...
58km to go
The average speed so far is over 48kph. The riders have climbed 1,300 metres so far with only a short period of descent.
More attacks going at the front.
43 riders are in the group which has just gone.
Some big names in there including Geraint Thomas, Wout van Aert, Matej Mohorič, Enric Mas, Romain Bardet, and Richard Carapaz.
Steff Cras is the best-placed man on GC in the group at 37:33 down.
It looks like Alpecin-Deceuninck is the only team not represented in the break.
Four up front with a minute. 47 in the chase. The peloton at 3:25 down.
Groupama-FDJ have six men up front across the two groups.
UAE Team Emirates control the peloton at four minutes down.
42km to go
One of the many attacks today.
Now the riders begin climbing at the Col Bayard (6.8km at 7.3%).
38km to go
1:30 now between the leaders and the 47-man chase group.
The four men out front have 11 men in the large breakaway group.
34km to go
Riders falling off the rear of the group.
Six minutes back to the peloton.
The attack is caught and now Guillaume Martin makes a move.
Some idiot at the side of the road hits Martin with a flag while looking the wrong way.
He's joined by Madouas in the chase now.
32km to go
A downhill run now before the next climb, the first-category Col du Noyer.
The climb is 7.5km at 8.1%.
A look back at the intermediate sprint earlier on today.
26km to go
It looks likely that the break will win today with the peloton almost seven minutes down now.
Madouas and Martin are slowly closing in on the leaders.
22km to go
The pair are almost across the gap now just in time for the climb.
18km to go
Simon Yates attacks from the chase, 40 seconds down.
Carapaz and Williams also attack.
Yates has already caught the leaders and he immediately pushes on alone.
17km to go
Carapaz and Williams now the second group on the road.
5km to the top and Yates has six seconds.
The peloton at 7:45 down.
Carapaz drops Williams on the way up.
15km to go
40 seconds between the two leaders and the chase.
14km to go
Yates and Carapaz the big favourites for glory today now.
And now Carapaz makes his move!
Yates stays in touch, but only just.
13km to go
Giulio Ciccone is trying to attack, which is fun.
Up front, Carapaz has gone clear of Yates.
Mas now alone in third place.
Final kilometre of the climb for Carapaz.
Yates at 15 seconds, Mas a further 15 back.
12km to go
Over the top now with Yates still battling.
Another look at the final. It's hard to see where Carapaz is going to lose this, really.
10km to go
Carapaz is gaining a few seconds here and there.
8km to go
Back in the peloton, the group has slimmed down to a selection of the best GC contenders.
Almeida leads the way.
Vingegaard is isolated in the group of around 10 riders.
6km to go
Pogačar attacks!
Vingegaard the first to react but he's struggling.
Evenepoel next on the road.
The GC men still racing to the top of the previous climb.
Vingegaard is dropped and falls behind Evenepoel.
Pogačar pushed on alone.
4km to go
Pogačar crosses the top with around 15 seconds to Evenepoel.
Vingegaard now has Laporte, dropped from the break, helping him.
3km to go
Carapaz now taking on the final climb to the line.
Yates crosses the 3km mark. The fight for the stage win is over.
Pogačar racing along with Georg Zimmermann from the break with him.
Vingegaard and Laporte catch Evenepoel.
Now the gap is under 10 seconds.
Evenepoel, Vingegaard, and Laporte make it across to Pogačar.
2km to go
Will Pogačar try again on the final climb? It's not particularly steep or long...
Now Evenepoel attacks.
The podium trio only moving further clear of the already distant GC challengers filling out the rest of the top 10 here.
1km to go
He has 35 seconds on Yates.
Finish
Evenepoel attacking now!
Vingegaard and Laporte trying to get back to him.
Evenepoel has 2:10 to make up on the Dane in order to take second overall before Nice.
The GC men are racing on that final uphill drag now.
Pogačar sitting behind Vingegaard and Laporte, of course.
Evenepoel reaches teammate Jan Hirt from the breakaway.
They're in the final 3km now.
The gap isn't insignificant here...
Van Aert and Sivakov now with Vingegaard and Pogačar.
Hirt still dragging Evenepoel towards the finish.
Benoot also helping Vingegaard.
15 seconds or so between the groups.
Benoot and Van Aert still working for Vingegaard.
It's a mini-TTT to the finish
Van Aert drops away.
Into the final kilometre for the GC men.
Evenepoel now solo and flying towards the line.
He'll gain time on Vingegaard, but how much?
Into the final 500 metres for Evenepoel.
Evenepoel crosses the line at 7:13 down.
Pogačar leaves Vingegaard behind!
Pogačar at 7:23.
Vingegaard at 7:25.
Evenepoel makes up around 12 seconds on Vingegaard there.
It already seemed like a fantasy to think that Vingegaard might challenge Pogačar for yellow following the events of the Pyrenees. Now, come the Alps, he'll be looking over his shoulder in the standings for Evenepoel.
Carapaz on the road to victory today.
Evenepoel, Pogačar, and Vingegaard may only have finished down in 26th, 27th, and 28th today but the GC battle is unexpectedly the big story of stage 17.
The stage 17 results and new GC standings...
Tadej Pogačar will be happy with his day. He easily distanced his rivals once again and it looks like he'll have no trouble defending his yellow jersey during the final weekend.
Remco Evenepoel will also be happy. He already had a five-minute lead over fourth and can now look ahead to second place after distancing Jonas Vingegaard twice today.
Visma-Lease A Bike said they'll be taking risks to help Jonas Vingegaard try to beat Pogačar before Nice, but they'll surely now be looking over their shoulders to defend against Evenepoel.
Pogačar and Evenepoel warming down alongside one another ahead of the podium ceremony once again.
Stage 17's jersey rundown...
Biniam Girmay consolidated his green jersey lead today, gaining a point on Jasper Philipsen. This looks like another jersey battle decided.
Pogačar also holds a commanding lead in the mountain classification. He's on 77 points, 19 clear of Vingegaard, with two hard Alpine stages left to run.
Remco Evenepoel is 8:21 clear of Carlos Rodríguez in the best young rider standings, a dominant lead.
Richard Carapaz isn't in a jersey but he's on the podium today after his stage win.
Romain Gregoire was the most combative rider of the stage.
Just before the Col du Noyer, Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) launched a solo attack and took the lead in the race. However, Richard Carapaz would bridge across and then storm ahead for the stage victory, leaving Yates to settle for second and see his best chance of a stage victory in this year’s Tour de France disappear. In summary, Yates said, "the legs are not giving me what I need at the minute".
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) Evenepoel remains firmly on course for a podium finish at this year's Tour de France, and his aggression in the finale at Superdévoluy on stage 17 indicated that he might yet aim at divesting Vingegaard of second place.
Visma-Lease a Bike leader Jonas Vingegaard struggled a little to stay in touch with the other podium contenders on stage 17. Race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) both managed to distance the Dane on the hardest ascent of the day, Pogačar gained 2 seconds and Evenepoel grabbed 12. Is this a worrying omen as the Alps are yet to come?
-
2025 Tour of the Alps includes 14,700m of climbing in just 739km and five days of racing
Route revealed in front of Christian Prudhomme and UCI President David Lappartient -
The 2025 UCI calendar could have a major gap as two February races are in doubt
Tour Colombia facing budget hurdles, could face cancellation, adding to potential absence of Volta a Valenciana -
Maxim Van Gils' contract battle with Lotto Dstny pushes pro cycling towards a football-style transfer market system
'Soon, a contract will no longer mean anything' team managers tells RTBF
-
American Criterium Cup juggles eight-race US calendar for fourth edition in 2025
Racing begins June 6 at Saint Francis Tulsa Tough, with remaining schedule zig-zagging across central US -
Black Friday bike deals 2024: The best cycling deals this 'Fake Friday'
Save on bikes, clothing, accessories and tech from the likes of Castelli, Assos, Specialized, Wahoo and much more -
Summit of fearsome Mortirolo climb in Italy renamed after Marco Pantani
Italian's blazing ascent of Mortirolo in 1994 treasured page of Giro d'Italia history
-
'We don't know his limits on the road' - Will Tom Pidcock ride the 2025 Tour de France?
Briton's coach Kurt Bogaerts says 'we still haven't seen the ultimate performance in a Grand Tour yet' from Pidcock -
Archibald and Bibic to defend titles in new UCI Track Champions League series
Five-round series starts Saturday, November 23 in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France -
Josh Tarling: 'Things can only go up' at Ineos Grenadiers in 2025
20-year-old calls the challenge of bringing British team back to the top 'exciting'
