Tour de France stage 17: Tadej Pogačar pips Jonas Vingegaard but cannot crack him

Defending champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) notched up his third Tour de France stage win of this year’s race Thursday, beating race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) with a lung-busting sprint to the line at Peyragudes, but was unable to gap his big rival.

He had started what was an explosive day in the Pyrenees determined to reduce his 2:22 deficit in the overall standings and did indeed do so, but only by virtue of the time bonus at the line. After 129.7 kilometers of racing, he gained just four seconds, far less than he had wanted, and was sprawled on the ground after the sprint gasping for breath.

The two general classification rivals had reached the base of the day’s final climb with only Pogačar’s teammate Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) for company. The American was on an impressive day, hammering the pace on the previous Col de Val Louron-Azet climb to distance the other general classification contenders, and again leading from the front on the concluding ramp to the line.

Pogačar was running out of time to make his move, having tried but failed to gap Vingegaard going over the top of the previous climb of the Col de Val Louron-Azet. He was expected to make an all-out assault on Peyragudes but the move never came, with the Slovenian looking a little uncomfortable with the relentless pace set by his teammate.

He finally stretched things out with 300 meters to go, applying some pressure on the steep ramp to the line, coaxing Vingegaard to counter, and then marking the Dane before blitzing past for the win. Pogačar had wanted much more, but he insisted he was pleased with the victory.

“I gave really absolutely everything. I know that I need to win, there is no other way. I gave it all for the team to the line, and I was so happy,” he said.

The team had a setback before the stage with the withdrawal of Rafal Majka due to injury and had just three riders to back Pogačar. Those rose to the task, shelling the other GC rivals such as Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Nairo Quintana (Arkéa Samsic), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and an ill Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers). McNulty also dispatched Vingegaard’s right-hand man in the mountains, Sepp Kuss.

“The team rode so well today…we were only four, and to take the stage win is already incredible,” Pogačar said. “We can be all proud because without Rafal [Majka], without George [Bennett], without Vegard [Stake Laengen], and without [Marc] Soler, we cannot try more.

“Tomorrow is another chance but for now I am happy that I win today. Tomorrow is another day which I am looking forward to.”

Thomas finished fourth on the stage and remains third overall, but is now almost five minutes back and is of practically no threat to Vingegaard. The next rival, Quintana, is now nearly eight minutes in arrears, meaning that the 2:18 gap back to Pogačar is the only real danger to the Danish race leader.

It’s a huge deficit to overcome at this point in the race, but Pogačar isn’t giving up.

“I am optimistic. I think tomorrow is a more hard day and we can try again.”

Showdown in the mountains as Paris draws closer

Wednesday’s stage from Saint-Gaudens to Peyragudes was the second of three Pyrenean stages and featured an early intermediate sprint (km 33) and four categorized climbs, including an uphill finish.

The first category Col d’Aspin was the first of those, summiting just after the halfway point on the stage at kilometer 65.5. This was followed by the second category Hourquette d’Ancizan (km 81.5), the category one Col de Val Louron-Azet (km 109.5), and the concluding first category Peyragudes.

Eight kilometers in length, this had an average gradient of 7.8 percent, with the toughest slopes of 13 percent coming inside the final kilometer.

The stage saw attacks from the off but the first move to stick for any length of time didn’t go until kilometer 44. Guillaume Boivin (Israel-PremierTech) and Owain Doull (EF Education-EasyPost) established a 20-second lead prior to the start of the Col d’Aspin, and then Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) were next to attack, going clear with eight kilometers of the climb remaining.

They were chased by 15 others, including King of the Mountains leader Simon Geschke and his Cofidis teammate Pierre-Luc Perichon, Quinn Simmons and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Daniel Martinez and Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Gregor Mühlberger and Carlos Verona (Movistar), Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious), Chris Hamilton and Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM), Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), and Chris Juul Jensen (BikeExchange-Jayco).

That group was in turn joined by Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies), but an effort to bridge by Chris Froome (Israel-PremierTech) was unsuccessful. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) then tried and would eventually get across with Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) on the descent.

Pinot had crossed the summit ahead of Lutsenko while, 10 seconds behind, Geschke easily beat Ciccone for the remaining points.

The chase group was 35 seconds behind the leaders on the Hourquette d’Ancizan with 55km remaining. The peloton was two minutes back and was being led by Pogačar’s teammate Mikkel Bjerg, who drove the pace hard.

His efforts took a heavy toll on the peloton Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) and then Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) losing contact.

Pinot again went over the summit first, crossing the Hourquette d’Ancizan ahead of Lutsenko, while Geschke had looked set to add to his points but suffered a mechanical problem and had to stop. Ciccone nabbed the points for third; Geschke went over the summit with the Vingegaard/Pogačar group, his chances to boost his jersey lead denied by bad luck.

The screw turns

With 40km remaining Pinot and Lutsenko had 55 seconds on the chasers and 1:24 on the yellow jersey group. Yates was in another group 2:57 back.

Pinot and Lutsenko kept their heads down on the descent and were still clear heading onto the Col de Val Louron-Azet, but the chase group came up to them soon afterward.

Leknessund then attacked off the front of the leading group and was chased by Urán. Behind, the speed set by the UAE team had dropped many of the contenders, including Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) but the top three overall were still there, along with Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), who was setting the pace.

With 25 kilometers to go this group was 45 seconds behind lone leader Leknessund and 35 behind Urán, and it began to catch, pass and drop more and more of those who had been out front. Bardet was one of these, with the Frenchman trying to latch on but being gapped almost immediately. Kuss also went south, leaving just McNulty, Vingegaard, Pogačar, and Thomas in that group.

Urán was caught and dropped. Thomas was shelled with 23.2 kilometers left, just before the group caught Leknessund. McNulty was on a mission and drove the pace towards the summit, where Pogačar attacked just before the line but was unable to gap the yellow jersey.

McNulty rejoined those two on the descent and he led them around the twisting, technical curves. He nearly lost it on a bend with 16 kilometers remaining, his back wheel kicking out on a right-hand bend, but stayed upright.

Settling for a stage win

The trio raced onto the final climb of Peyragudes together where McNulty continued to hammer it at the front. The group containing Thomas and Bardet was 1 minute 20 back with 7.5 kilometers left. Bardet attacked, with Thomas initially distanced but then getting across and working with him to fend off the contenders behind.

Thomas then dropped Bardet inside the final four kilometers. Up front, McNulty dragged the two big GC rivals into the final 1.2 kilometers, where Vingegaard passed Pogačar to take McNulty’s wheel.

Pogačar sat at the back going under the flamme rouge and then started to push things with 300 meters to go. Vingegaard marked him, then launched. Pogačar responded, stuck on his wheel, and then came past to take the victory, but wasn’t able to gain any time other than the bonus.

The race isn’t over but his chances of yellow in Paris are looking more difficult.