Sprinters saw stage 17 as their last clear chance in the 2025 Tour de France - and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) didn’t let his opportunity slip away! Dropped early in the stage, the Italian powerhouse survived the climbs as well as a rough finale to take his second win in his debut Tour and tighten his grip on the green jersey, with only four days remaining before Paris. Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL) complete the podium, while the likes of Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) were affected by a crash as they entered the final kilometre. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) safely navigated the stage to claim his 50th Maillot Jaune on the eve of a major battle en route to the Col de la Loze.
Another chance for the sprinters? Maybe the last one? In between the summit finishes at Mont Ventoux and Col de la Loze, stage 17 takes the riders from Bollène to Valence, with a 160.4-km course featuring 1,650 metres of elevation. The last categorised climb, Col de Tartaiguille (cat. 4) is more than 40 kilometres away from the finish. But attackers dream of getting the better of tired sprint teams.
Abrahamsen attacks, Simmons controls
A 164-man peloton set off from Bollène without Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), heading home as his partner gave birth a few hours earlier. Meanwhile, Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) shows his intention to make yet another breakaway. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) is immediately in action, with the task to prevent the formation of too strong a group at the front.
At km 5, Abrahamsen has opened up a gap of 30 seconds with Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost), Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) and Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Energies). Many more riders want to join them at the front but Simmons prevents them from doing so. Most notably, Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers) gives up on his chase and is reeled in as the gap hits its maximum for the day: 2’50’’ at km 23.
Skirmish at Col du Pertuis
Abrahamsen leads the way through the intermediate sprint at Roche-Saint-Secret-Béconne (km 47.9), where the breakaway maintains a 2'00" advantage.
The scripts changes when Ineos Grenadiers begins to pull the peloton on the approach to Col du Pertuis (cat. 4, summit at km 66.3), reducing the gap to just 35" at the top and opening up the race on two fronts.
On one side, we can see multiple attacks controlled again by Simmons. On the other, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) are dropped along with other sprinters such as Dylan Groenwegen (Jayco-AlUla) and Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).
Van Aert tries his luck
Despite the efforts of teams such as Alberto Dainese's Tudor, Kaden Groves' Alpecin-Deceuninck and Biniam Girmay's Intermarché-Wanty, who had made it over the pass, the dropped sprinters manage to catch up with the peloton, well supported by their teammates, at kilometre 85 of the stage. At that point, the breakaway's lead has been reduced to 30 seconds.
The situation settles in the bunch and the gap gets back up to 1’10’’ for the last 50 kilometres. The riders quickly face the climb of Col de Tartaiguille (cat. 4, km 117). Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) attacks towards the summit and gets as close as 25 seconds behind Albanese, Pacher and Burgaudeau. But he can’t bridge the remaining gap and is caught by the bunch after 12 kilometres of pursuit.
Milan survives
The tension increases in the bunch as the rain starts falling. Sprint teams need to put the hammer down to get back to the attackers. With 12 km to go, the gap is down to 20’’ and Abrahamsen goes solo. He’s eventually caught by the bunch with 4 kilometres to go.
As the sprinters gear for a furious battle, a crash happens in the front positions with one kilometre to go. Eight riders sprint for the win. And Milan proves to be the strongest of them, claiming his second stage win in his Tour debut, ahead of Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL).
