RESURGENT PHILIPSEN ENDS DROUGHT AND DASHES STUYVEN’S HOPES IN FRANTIC STAGE 17
A topsy-turvy day on the Tour de France saw splits in the peloton, a truce between the GC favourites, an ill rider pedalling squares off the back, a Belgian veteran coming within 3.5km of pulling off a coup, and Mads Pedersen making green jersey in-roads – only to lose ground after finishing well behind Stage 17 winner Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Premier Tech in a thrilling sprint finale in Voiron.
Billed as a flat sprinters’ stage by the Tour de France organisers despite four categorised climbs and 2,200 metres of altitude gain, Stage 17 played out like a breakaway bonanza until the closing moments, when Alpecin-Premier Tech took the race by the scruff of its neck to set up their struggling sprinter Philipsen for a belated win.
Philipsen launched from the wheel of his Dutch team-mate Mathieu van der Poel to win with an emphatic burst of pace ahead of Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) and Dutch Stage 5 winner Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM).
‘Look what it means’ – Philipsen ‘finally’ takes first stage win of 2026 Tour
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It was the Belgian’s first win of this Tour and saw him move to within seven points of green jersey Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who could only manage eighth place having been part of an earlier six-man breakaway ahead of the intermediate sprint.
Also in that earlier move was Belgian’s Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step), the veteran classics specialist whose last pro win came in Milano-Sanremo back in 2021.
Once Pedersen had pocketed the 25 points at the intermediate sprint 27km from the finish, Stuyven took advantage of the lull to solo clear of his fellow escapees and build up a 30-second cushion over the chasing pack, which by now had swept up Pedersen and his pals.
Stuyven dug deep and looked to be on course for an elusive Tour stage win until a series of pulls from Pedersen’s Lidl-Trek team-mates saw his advantage disappear ahead of a short uphill kicker into Voiron. This then opened the door to Alpecin-Premier Tech and their man Philipsen, who ensured that it would not be a day for Pedersen and Lidl-Trek, after all.
Four short lower-category climbs punctuated an uphill drag that lasted around 50km in the opening phase of a stage that played host to numerous attacks, counter-attacks and the odd spill.
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Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) led the strung-out peloton over the first two climbs before Pedersen tried his luck going clear with Van der Poel and a host of others. The action ebbed and flowed at breakneck speed until, with 100km remaining, a group of 16 emerged on the front of the race following the countless splits and attacks on the succession of climbs.
At one point, Mexico’s Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) found himself caught out as his fellow GC riders – including his yellow jersey team-mate Tadej Pogacar and his white jersey rival Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) – went ahead after one of the early moves was caught over the fourth climb.
With Pedersen also riding in the second group after biting off more than he could chew, things finally settled on the long descent after a GC truce appeared to have been made, leaving those 16 riders to go up the road.
The break consisted of Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon CMA CGM), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Egan Bernal and Josh Tarling (Netcompany INEOS), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Felix Engelhardt (Jayco-AlUla), Pablo Castrillo and Einer Rubio (Movistar), Clement Braz Afonso and Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ United) and Rick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling).
Decathlon led the chase for their sprinter Kooij, with Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay (NSN Pro Cycling) in a gruppetto a few minutes back, and Britain’s Adam Yates suffering with an apparent stomach bug – with news later emerging of an illness passing through the UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad: something to consider for Pogacar ahead of three tough days in the Alps and Remco Evenepoel’s growing form deep into the race.
‘Away he goes’ – Pedersen bridges gap to breakaway with blistering attack
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After an unclassified climb, and with the break almost brought to heel, a revitalised Pedersen made his move with 65km remaining – the Dane bridging over and then going up the road with Ben Healy (EF), Michal Kwiatkowski (Netcompany INEOS), Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Englehardt and Stuyven.
With a large chase group including the likes of Van der Poel, Mohoric, Simmons and local rider Baudin hot in pursuit, Philipsen rode in a second chase group over a minute in arrears, but two minutes clear of the yellow jersey group, which would ultimately cross the line almost nine minutes down.
The chasing factions eventually came together to bring the advantage to under a minute as Pedersen outkicked Planckaert in the intermediate sprint. With 25km remaining, Stuyven then rolled the dice in a move that came to within touching distance of success.
But Alpecin played a blinder, using Planckaert and Emiel Verstrynge to keep the lone leader in check before Van der Poel expertly piloted Philipsen to a morale-boosting victory that should now see the battle for green go to the final day in Paris.
With the GC riders enjoying a fairly relaxed day in the saddle, the focus will now switch back to Pogacar and his defence of the yellow jersey as the Tour hits the high Alps for three days of climbing. Before successive finishes on Alpe d’Huez, Stage 18 is an undulating 185km ride from Voiron to Orcieres-Merlette for a summit finish after 3,900m of climbing.
Pogacar might have to perform without the help of his climbing lieutenant Yates, who crossed the line 26 minutes down but within the time cut. The mountains, however, will provide sterner challenges than the foothills experienced on Wednesday. Motivation, perhaps, for Evenepoel who, after back-to-back stage wins, enters this crucial phase of the race 4’32” down on the four-time champion.
‘Out of sorts’ Yates dropped as he battles illness on Stage 17
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