Tour de France stage 17 Live - Can Pogacar fight back on the Col de la Loze?
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🔟+🔟 = 20 ⚪🔴@giuliocicco1 has now 83 KOM points.⚪🔴 @giuliocicco1 possède désormais 83 points au classement de la montagne.#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/gtPaoNhwKAJuly 19, 2023 See more
In the peloton, Vingegaard has three teammates ahead of him and then Sepp Kuss covering his wheel.
The riders have climbed up to 1968m via the Cormet de Roseland but can now 'enjoy' a 30km descent to the valley.
Jumbo drag the GC peloton over the summit, 1:35 down on the 32 attackers.
Here we go! Ciccone kicks clear to pass the summit of the Cormet de Roseland first. Mattias Skjelmose plays the perfect teammate and is second, to take points from any rivals. So far, nobody in the break seems keen to take on Ciccone.
Teams have more staff near the summit to pass up drinks.
Mattias Skjelmose is working for Ciccone, setting a high pace to the KOM point.
100km to go The attackers are close to the summit of the Cormet de Roseland.
These are the 33 rider in the attack: Tiesj Benoot, Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) Rafal Majka, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), David Gaudu, Stefan Küng, Valentin Madouas, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Magnus Cort, Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost), Julian Alaphilippe, Dries Devenyns (Soudal-Quick Step), Pello Bilbao, Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Giulio Ciccone, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Ben O’Connor, Nans Peters, Felix Gall (Ag2r-Citröen), Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Matthew Dinham, Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich), Hugo Houle, Nick Schultz, Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Simon Yates, Lawson Craddock, Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla), Clément Champoussin, Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-Samsic), Alexey Lutsenko, Gianni Moscon (Astana), Tobias Johannessen, Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X).
The views from the Cormet de Roseland are stunning. 🤩 Le Lac de Roselend#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/yopl5gkf4jJuly 19, 2023 See more
His steady pacing means the gap is only 1:15. Ciccone, Alaphilippe and others continue to drive the break along but the peloton refuses to let them go.
There is a huge waterfall on the side of the mountain but there is no time for the riders to stop and freshen up. Jumbo continue to lead the chase, with Nathan Van Hooydonck now on the front.
A step in the climb allows riders to feed and so UAE grab musettes and fresh drinks. However they can see the rest of the climb ahead of them.
There 8km to climb on the Cormet de Roseland. It is a long, long climb at 6%.
Sadly Phil Bauhaus has retired. The Bahrain was struggling all stage and off the back alone.
Marc Soler has been dropped from the attack.
During such an aggressive stage, it is also vital to have soigneur on the climbs to pass up bidons and food.
Finally, team cars can go up and across to the attackers. The Vingegaard group is 1:10 down on the attack, so race officials allow team cars to feed in the peloton and then jump across to the break.
Jumbo have Benoot and Kelderman in the attack but are also chasing with Laporte and Van Aert behind. That's logical because Vingegaard wants to have teammates ahead if Pogacar makes an early attack before the Col de la Loze.
There are 33 riders in the attack. That's a fifth of the peloton!
We an see the huge Roseland dam but the riders do not ride along the edge today. They continue upwards to 1968m.
With 13km to climb on the Cormet de Roseland, the situations finally clearer and more controlled.
Pinot and Uran have crossed to the front group, to make 13 riders up front. But things are changing again. Soler, Majka, Kelderman and Benoot are also now in the attack, along with a 30 other riders. Simon Yates is also there, along with a lot of stage win contenders.
115km to go The riders in the attack are: Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Giulio Ciccone, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Ben O’Connor (Ag2r-Citröen), Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla).
UAE seem keen to place riders up front. For a big Pogacar attack later perhaps.
There is also a race for the GC unfolding Suddenly Benoot and Kelderman, and Soler and Majka of UAE are on the move!
Much of the big early attack has almost been caught as the Cormet de Roseland starts in earnest. Alaphilippe, Ciccone, Neilands, Haig, Mühlberger, O'Connor, Skjelmose, Vermaerke and Harper have come together up front to form a new break. They lead by 1:00 now.
The front group covered 42km in the first hour of racing and that includes a major climb! FullGas racing.
Julian Alaphilippe is first at the intermediate sprint in Beaufort. The speed has been so high and the racing so close, that riders are unable to get fresh bidonds from their team cars. Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl waves a bidon to the TV camera but his car is stuck behind. He'll have to take a bidon from the drink motor bike.
120km to go The peloton has reformed with Gaudu back on but we could soon see gruppo compatto and as totally new race on the Cormet de Roselend climb.
Riders are trying to jump from the big break to the Alaphilippe move as Jumbo still lead the chase. We have a race within a race, within a race.
This fast descent is 18km long. The riders hit the intermediate sprint point in Beaufort and then start the 19.8km Cormet de Roselend climb.
Cricket has Bazball, a new, more aggressive way of playing, cycling has FullGas racing like we're seeing now.
Alaphilippe, Neilands and Ciccone are working together but the yellow jersey group is also flat out in pursuit.
130km to go Alaphilippe is trying to drag a smaller group away. Yet Jumbo refuse to ease up and so the yellow jersey group is at just 22 seconds. The peloton is at 50 seconds, including David Gaudu.
They're racing down the descent too, with Alaphilippe diving through the hairpins.
135km to go The riders have climbed the Col de la Saisies but there are three more major climbs to come, including the mighty Col de la Loze.
The peloton is 35 seconds behind them as they start the descent.
Up front, Ciccone kicks away to take maximum KOM point.
Carlos Rodriguez is also struggling and so Ineos are trying to pace back to the Vingergaard group.
However Benoot's effort has hurt his own teammate Wout Van Aert. But it has hurt UAE and other teams.
With 2km to climb to the summit of the Col de la Saisies, Jumbo have upped the pace. in pursuit of the break. Tiesj Benoot is on the front and his effort has split the peloton.
140km to go The gap is at 20 seconds and so Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) tries to jump across to the attack.
Latour is also spat out of the attack due to the high speed. However Jumbo refuse to let it go and keep the gap at 25 seconds.
Dylan van Baarle is leading the chase for Jumbo and he sweeps up Powless, who dropped out of the attack. The American wore the polka-dot jersey for much of the first two weeks but appears to be paying for his efforts in the high mountains.
We can see Pogacar in the peloton. He does not seem hurt after his tumble but he has a cut on his right leg, with some blood running down his lower leg.
Ciccone is leading the attack but the gap is only 20 seconds.
#TDF2023 It's a tasty start! 💥@SimonYatess has managed to slip into a group off the front with @chrisharper94 💪 But the peloton aren't happy 👀 pic.twitter.com/tjaGQECitMJuly 19, 2023 See more
Even Simon Yates is in there and he's 8th overall. Jumbo are leading the peloton to try to keep things under control.
The counter-attacks have joined the leading five. There are 18 riders up front, creating a strong move.
Pidcock perhaps crashed with Pogacar. His number is ripped. on his right side.
There are riders spread over a kilometre of the road.
Philipsen is dropped, even Mikel Landa and Tom Pidcock.
It's 10km to the summit of the Col de la Saisies but the sprinters are already suffering and being dropped.
Pogacar semed to touch wheels and go down, he was close to Vingegaard and so almost took him down too.
Pogacar is back in the peloton but that was an early scare.
Pogacar was forced to stop and get going again. He is in a chase group.
Crash!
The Col de la Saisies begins. It is 13km long and so will surely change the race. Indeed, Julian Alaphilippe leads a trio that is trying to cross to the attack.
Soudal-QuickStep are leading the chase after missing the move.
The five attackers are: Neilson Powless, Giulio Ciccone, Luka Mezgec, Mads Pedersen and Jonas Gregaard of Uno-X.
152km to go The split in the peloton has allowed helped the attackers go away, the gap is up to 40 seconds.
The 30 chasers catch the peloton but there are 5 riders up the road, including Powless and Ciccone, as they race for the KOM points. Yates had several teammates as hre chased back on, Jai Hindley was also forced to make an effort to get back on.
Adam Yates is in the second group, as more attacks go off the front.
There are no attacks off the front but there are splits in the peloton. Race radio confirms that 30 riders have been distanced.
We expect the break to form on the first real climb of the day, the Col de la Saisies, that peaks after 28km of racing.
This was Madouas' first attack and shows the feeling in the race today. 🇫🇷 The race is underway and the first attacker is the French national champion @MadouasValentin!🇫🇷 La course est lancée et le premier attaquant du jour est le champion de France @MadouasValentin !#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/Yfs1COOrdiJuly 19, 2023 See more
160km to go The peloton is back together. For now...
More riders are trying to surge across to the two. The road rises to Megeve and so is a perfect launch pad for attacks.
French champion Valentin Madouas is the first attacker of the day, along with Magnus Cort of EF.
Boom! Prudhomme waves the flag and they're off!
500m to the depart reel!
Stage 17 is considered the queen stage of the 2023 Tour de France, the hardest day of racing. It has the highest stage elevation and the highest peak with Col de la Loze at 2304 metres above sea level. The first rider to summit will be awarded the prestigious Souvenir Henri Desgrange prize. There are also 8,5, 2 bonus seconds up for grabs, so everything to race for.
The only non-starter is Alexis Renard of Cofidis. He crashed at the start of the tt and finished just outside the time limit due to Vingegaard's incredible ride.
Painfully for everyone, the neutralised sector is uphill.
Start Line Selfie by @adrienpetit62 👍 #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/ncZBIYzsFnJuly 19, 2023 See more
There is real tension in the peloton as riders roll along and prepare for the racing to explode.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.... C'est parti!
We're one minute from the start of the stage!
If you want to catch-up on all the action from the stage 16 time trial, click our full report below. Check out the photo gallery and full results. Tour de France: Vingegaard removes all doubt, crushes Pogacar in stage 16 time trial (Image credit: Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
The riders are now lining up for the start of the 165.7km stage. They face a 3.5km neutralised ride out of Saint-Gervais and then the flag will drop.
Jumbo-Visma are last on the sign-on stage after Vingegaard won the TT. Today they also ride in yellow helmets after their collective performance earned them leadership of the team classification. The team won the stage with Vingegaard, Wout Van Aert was third and Sepp Kuss was 14th. They now lead Ineos by 9:42 in the team classification.
Of course stage 17 is far more than just the Vingegaard-Pogacar battle. There is also the fight for the polka-dot mountains jersey, with Ciccone trying to fight off Neilson Powless and others. There's also the fight for the stage victory from a breakaway. Surely Thibaut Pinot and others will try to win today.
Pogacar is on the sign-on stage now, again wearing the best young rider's white jersey. He is smiling and seems relaxed. (Image credit: Getty)
Tthe key question now is: can Tadej Pogačar use such difficult terrain to bounce back after Tuesday's stinging TT defeat or will Jonas Vingegaard defend his lead of nearly two minutes and take another huge step towards winning the Tour again? Pogačar remained notably upbeat despite such a major setback. If he started the Tour with the attitude that he has nothing to lose and that Vingegaard was the favourite, that is arguably even more the case at this point in the race. COVID-19 has not wreaked havoc amongst UAE like it did last year and Adam Yates, now third overall, represents a huge addition to their climbing firepower compared to 2022. May the best rider win.
That altitude was more than enough to become an important consideration, in itself - and perhaps help a Colombian like Miguel Angel López take the maiden win on the climb in the autumn of 2020. All of the above remains true for this year's ascent of the Loze. This time round, there's more to the stage itself as well: lots more.
The sheer length of the Loze, 28 kilometres at 6.5%, with the final five kilometres never less than 9%, is daunting . The cycle path that leads to the Loze's summit via a cruelly undulating finale, includes a ramp of 24% some two kilometres from the top. Then there was the Loze's peaking out at 2,304 metres above sea level.
The 165.7km stage includes three early climbs but he Col de la Loze will be decisive today. Alasdair Fotheringham has written the special Cyclingnews stage preview, recalling that when it was announced that the 2020 Tour de France route would include a new monster Alpine climb called the Col de la Loze, such was its difficulty that the stage on which it featured was instantly labelled the toughest of the entire race. L'Equipe have named the Col de la Loze as the hardest climb in France.
The profile of stage 17 (Image credit: ASO)
Cyclingnews journalists Barry Ryan, Alasdair Fotheringham and Sophie Smith are in France and will again gather all the biggest news, interviews and information. The global Cyclingnews team will produce the best stage reports, live coverage and breaking news.
The morning storms have passed and the sun is out in Saint-Gervais as the riders sign on. After the superb performances and big time differences of the time trial, we are set for another dramatic day of racing in the high Alps. Can Tadej Pogacar somehow pull back any of the 1:38 he lost to Jonas Vingegaard? We'll find out on the mighty Col de la Loze later today.
Source: Cyclingnews
