Tour de France 2026: Philipsen wins stage 17 as UCI saves night test

Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen won the 17th stage of the Tour de France after a bunch sprint.

The Alpecin-premier tech rider powered over the line with a good margin over his rivals to win his first stage of what has been a frustrating three weeks of racing.

The 28-year-old won the prestigious green point jersey in 2023, but struggled in the race to catch compatriot Tim Merlier in the closing stages of the sprint.

After stage seven, he was seen on social media throwing his bike in frustration after his famous teammate, Powerhouse Classic legend Matthew van der Poel, made a mistake during his lead-out and Philipsen got blocked.

But after a hilly start on a warm day on the 174.7km stage from Chambéry to Voiron near the Alps, Philipsen enjoyed a strong lead-out from van der Poel and managed to maintain his momentum to the line.

The stage could have worked out differently as several riders tried to break away from the peloton as the stage flattened out in the next stage for the sprinters.

More than 40 riders eventually escaped, including current green jersey holders Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek and British rider Josh Turling of NetCompany Enos Cycling and Spain’s 2010 World Cup winner Andres Iniesta’s Luis Askey of NSN Cycling.

Denmark’s Pedersen eventually finished eighth, but held on to the green jersey by just seven points ahead of second-placed Philipsen – setting up a tense finale in Paris.

It was the sprinters’ last chance to battle it out on the flat until the final stage of the race in the French capital on Sunday, which changed to include a short lapped climb up Montmartre.

“Such a roller-coaster of emotions on this tour,” said a tearful Philipsen after the stage. “The first 12 stages were just horrible – I couldn’t find myself; I couldn’t find the feeling I was hoping for. After winning 17 stages, it’s really one for the team to believe in me.

“I want to thank everybody … I was like an angry bird at the (dinner) table (every night). Just frustrated and angry, and the team, they had to deal with it. It’s for them to keep the faith.”

It was a quiet day for the riders in the overall battle for the yellow jersey, with leader Tadez Pogacar coming home in the peloton nearly nine minutes behind in the bunch sprint.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Pogakkar, 27, finished four minutes 32 seconds ahead of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Belgian star Remko Evenepoel, another minute 19 seconds ahead of Pogakkar’s Mexican team-mate Isaac del Toro in third overall.

Another Briton, Tom Pidcock, came home in the peloton, but Adam Yates, one of Pogakkar’s main teammates, battled illness during the stage after vomiting at the end of Tuesday’s time trial, eventually making it down more than 26 minutes.

The team will assess whether former yellow jersey wearer and one-time Tour stage winner Yates will continue, with the next three grueling mountain stages taking place in the Alps – starting with Thursday’s stage 18 test at Orcieres-Merlette.