Geraint Thomas’s hopes of winning this year’s Tour de France evaporated into the thin Pyrenean air as a combination of fatigue and the infernal pace set by rivals Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) distanced him on the road to Peyragudes.
Ahead of him on the 16% slopes to the high-altitude finish line, the pair duelled for the stage win, with Pogacar out-sprinting the race leader, although without making the significant time gains he needed.
Thomas, grinding his way across the finish line two minutes later, finished best of the rest to conserve his third place overall. Stage 17 result General classification Pogacar’s bid to dethrone his Danish rival Vingegaard, began in earnest on the penultimate climb, the Col de Val-Louron Azet, where his American teammate, Brandon McNulty set a record-breaking pace.
On a day that had started with Pogacar losing his fourth and most-experienced teammate, Rafal Majka, through injury, McNulty was worth his weight in gold, if not yellow.