Matteo Trentin delivered Mitchelton-Scott’s fourth stage victory since Daryl Impey claimed stage 9. Following the example of double stage winner Simon Yates, the Italian escaped from a breakaway group to arrive solo in Gap, fending off the return of Danish prodigy Kasper Asgreen. For the third year in a row, after Peter Sagan in 2017 and Alexander Kristoff in 2018, the European champion came up with a stage win at the Tour de France.
33 riders in the lead
160 riders took the start of stage 17 at Pont du Gard. Two non-starters: Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Cees Bol (Sunweb). As expected, Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) was the first rider to try create a breakaway. After 5km of racing, a 34-man leading group was formed in several waves, comprising Daniel Oss and Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r La Mondiale), Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Omar Fraile, Gorka Izagirre and Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana), Simon Clarke and Tom Scully (EF Education First), Chris Juul-Jensen and Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott), Greg van Avermaet and Michael Schär (CCC), Sven Erik Bystrom, Rui Costa, Sergio Henao and Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE Team Emirates), Bauke Mollema, Toms Skujins and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Nicolas Roche (Sunweb), Natnael Berhane, Jesús Herrada, Anthony Pérez and Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis), De Gendt and Jens Keukeleire (Lotto-Soudal), Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin), Xandro Meurisse and Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Edvald Boasson Hagen and Ben King (Dimension Data). A puncture took Cort out of the front group. Having missed the move, Total Direct Energie chased at the head of the peloton before they changed their tactic and sent Anthony Turgis in a counter-attack along with Elie Gesbert from Arkéa-Samsic, the other team that wanted to contest the stage victory but wasn’t represented in the escape. Total Direct Energie resumed chasing but kept losing time until they surrendered while the leaders had covered 51.7km in the first hour of racing.
Matteo Trentin away before the main climb
Deceuninck-Quick Step took over from Total Direct Energie. Argentine champion Max Richeze and later Yves Lampaert substituted Asgreen in the usual role of bunch driver as the Danish rider was part of the breakaway but they let the deficit exceed 15’. 37km before the end, the first attacks took place in the 33-man leading group. Mollema, Gougeard and Politt were the most active. Oss, Asgreen, Gougeard, Izagirre, Scully, Trentin, Van Avermaet, Stake Laengen, Skujins, Périchon and King managed to go clear with 30km to go. Gougeard got dropped in a non-categorized climb eight kilometres further. Trentin rode away solo before the bottom of the col de la Sentinelle 14km away from Gap. Périchon chased him down up the hill but was overtaken by Asgreen just before the summit. Trentin forged on to stay away and take his third Tour de France stage victory after 2013 (in Lyon) and 2014 (in Nancy). He’s the first Italian to win in Gap since Marco Lietti in 1991. Julian Alaphilippe retained the yellow jersey ahead of three Alpine stages.
