Philipsen sprints to victory in Tour de France stage 17, Pogacar retains overall lead

VOIRON, France, July 22 : Belgian Jasper Philipsen prevailed in a crowded rush to the finish line to win stage 17 of the Tour de France on Wednesday, moving within seven points of green jersey holder Mads Pedersen, while Tadej Pogacar retained his overall lead.

Alpecin-Premier Tech rider Philipsen, who had won the green jersey in 2023, clinched his first Tour de France stage win of the year ahead of Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM), who were second and third. Dane Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) finished eighth.

Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) remained four minutes and 32 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel in the overall rankings.

"I had to wait until stage 17 to win … it’s one for the team who kept believing in me," said 28-year-old Philipsen, who was expertly led out by teammate Mathieu van der Poel for the final sprint to the finish.

An aggressive start to the 174.7km journey from Chambery to Voiron led to a couple of early crashes, with Davide Ballerini going down after a roundabout shortly before a bunch of riders in the peloton fell, including Tom Pidcock.

Pidcock, eighth in the general classification coming into the stage, quickly got back up, as did seventh-placed Lenny Martinez.

A group of riders pushed ahead of the peloton with 100km to go, but Pedersen and Philipsen hung back with Pogacar, Evenepoel and other yellow jersey contenders, who showed no interest in taking on the sprinters for a stage win.

THE SPRINTERS MAKE THEIR MOVE

Pedersen made his move with 65km left in the stage, speeding to join the leading group. Soon, a group of six riders broke away, with Pedersen among the new leaders along with Ben Healy and Jasper Stuyven, with the peloton over five minutes behind.

Philipsen set off with another