VOIRON, France (AP) — Jasper Philipsen capped a fine team performance Wednesday to win stage 17 of the Tour de France, where defending champion Tadej Pogačar protected his overall lead.
Mathieu van der Poel led his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Philipsen to his first stage victory of this Tour by controlling the pace and containing counterattacks through the last kilometers.
Philipsen finished just ahead of Mauro Schmid and Olav Kooij.
The Belgian rider described a “a rollercoaster of emotions” after what had been a disappointing Tour for him personally.
“I prepared very, very well. I was in the shape of my life, I think, and the first stages, the first 12 days were just horrible. I couldn’t find myself, couldn’t find the feeling I was hoping for,” said Philipsen, who thanked his team colleagues.
“I was like an angry bird at the table. I was just disappointed in myself, angry that I couldn’t take (a) stage win, that I didn’t find my feeling. And the team, they had to deal with it, not only the riders, the staff. This one is for them to keep on believing,” Philipsen said.
Pogačar plays it safe
Pogačar, who is chasing a third straight Tour title and fifth overall, maintained his lead of just over 4½ minutes over Remco Evenepoel, the winner of the previous two stages.
But it was a bad day for Pogačar’s UAE Emirates XRG teammate Adam Yates, who struggled and only made it back within the time limit. The British rider slumped over his handlebars, clearly exhausted.
The race ends Sunday in Paris.
Sprinters’ last chance
The relatively flat 174.7-kilometer (108.5-mile) route from Chambery to Voiron was the last favorable stage for sprinters before the Tour takes to the Alps, and it led to a day of attempted breakaways with many riders vying to put themselves in contention.
Van der Poel was among the leaders after Côte de Saint-Jean d’Arvey, the last significant climb, and they were joined by others before Yates’ problems began in the peloton.
Mads Pedersen was next to attack the leaders with 65 kilometers remaining, and the green jersey-holder invigorated the group when he joined them.
More sprinters broke away, swelling the group to 30 riders, before Pedersen, Ben Healy, Michal Kwiatkowski, Felix Engelhardt, Ed Planckaert and Jasper Stuyven struck out 57 kilometers from the finish.
Stuyven attacked on his own 26 kilometers from the line, leaving his five former co-leaders to chase or wait for the main bunch. They were caught. The only question was whether the 34-year-old Stuyven had the stamina to claim his first Tour stage win.
The Belgian rider was caught with less than 4 kilometers remaining, and Van der Poel did the rest for Philipsen.
Race for green jersey heats up
Philipsen's stage win moved him just behind Pedersen in the contest for the green jersey awarded to the rider with the most points.
With four stages remaining, Pedersen of Lidl-Trek had 452 points, followed by Philipsen on 445. Biniam Girmay of Eritrea was next with 361 points.
Doping test concerns
Cycling’s governing body, the UCI, responded to criticism of unannounced anti-doping controls after Pogačar and his main rival Jonas Vingegaard were woken in the early hours of Sunday for tests by the Swiss-based International Testing Agency.
Vingegaard subsequently crashed during Sunday’s stage and had to abandon the race.
The UCI said it acknowledged the night-time testing “can disrupt riders’ rest and recovery” and said it remained an exceptional measure.
“While fully aware of how onerous such a measure is for riders, the UCI nevertheless underscores that these controls serve an overriding interest: the fight against doping,” the body said in a statement.
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