Tomorrow’s stage – 171.5km between Vif and Courchevel de la Loze – contains a ludicrous 5,450m of climbing. Friday’s stage is a beast, too … Albertville to La Plagne will bring a further 4,550m of vertical ascent. Saturday’s “hilly” stage will mean another 2,900m of climbing. It is going to be brutal and I’ll be here tomorrow and Friday. Thanks for reading and see you then.
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Here is today’s stage report:
Top 10 GC after stage 17
1) Pogacar 61hr 50’ 16”
2) Vingegaard +4min 15sec
3) Lipowitz +9min 03sec
4) Onley +11min 04sec
5) Roglic +11min 42sec
6) Vauquelin +13min 20sec
7) Gall +14min 50sec
8) Johannessen +17min 01sec
9) Healy 17min52sec
10) Rodriguez +20min 45sec
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“Fairly quiet? It was still a hard day,” says Pogacar. “Not an easy one. With really bad weather, visibility, it was hectic. I am happy we stayed safe. I finished the stage quite OK, and I am looking forward to the next days.
“The bad weather is here. I think also the next days shouldn’t be pretty good, as well. For me it suits well the cold-ish weather, but as I get older, I prefer sunshine.
“I think it is both Slovenian weather and Danish weather. We will see tomorrow.”
This was Pogacar’s 50th day in the yellow jersey.
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The TNT Sports team are discussing Pogacar, and his competition for the points classification. Luke Rowe was saying he could easily have picked up a few points at today’s sprint but chose not to. Why? Rowe doesn’t have the answer but he says if it was him, he’d be trying to win everything possible including the green jersey, because “you never know when that moment is going to come when you stop winning”.
It seems an individual managed to get on to the course, on a bike, and rode to the finish line. The picture below appears to show him being tackled at the finish line banner.
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“I’m without words, I have to say,” says today’s stage winner Milan. “I didn’t survive [to this point in the race] alone, I survived with the help of my teammates. Without this, I would have been dropped on one of the climbs.
“Today was a tough stage. We controlled it from the beginning, also with the help of some other teams … then it was a difficult final, also because of the weather, and we had to get to the roundabouts in first position.
“My team helped me, they supported me … it was a team victory and I have to thank them, from the bottom of my heart. Super, super happy for all of us.
“I actually didn’t know there was a crash. I hope everyone was OK. The team left me in the best position. I was really focused for it. I was looking forward to it. It’s a big achievement for all of us.
“It’s not ended [the points classification battle], we have some tough days awaiting us. but for the moment, we had a lot of fun, and I am really happy with how it’s going. We will keep fighting every day for the intermediates, and then on the last day, maybe for the stage. I have to say I am a bit more relaxed [with the standings] but I will keep fighting, and keep trying to score as many points as I can.”
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Points classification: top five
1) Milan 312pts
2) Pogacar 240pts
3) Girmay 179pts
4) Merlier 156pts
5) Vingegaard 150pts
“We wanted a sprint,” says Steven de Jongh, Lidl-Trek sports director. “It wasn’t easy but it was nice, a super job.”
What is the strategy for Jonathan Milan’s green jersey tilt on the way to Paris?
“The next two days we have to pick up the 20 points from the start [the intermediate sprints] … we have to remember that Tadej can pick up 50 points in Paris as well.”
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“It was super-nice to hear on the radio that Jonny won, after a hard day,” says Quinn Simmons.
“My girlfriend, this morning, was wondering why I was so nervous. I said: ‘If I have a really good day, I think I can set up a sprint for Jonny, and I think he can win.’
“I’m not a fan of racing in the rain … I did my work in the first 150km, and then let the big boys do the work at the end. It looks like they nailed it.
“He [Jonathan Milan] is one of those guys who is easy to suffer for.”
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“With the rain it was just a bit more chaos,” says Jasper Stuyven. “Hard day. They didn’t make it easy for us, but we moved at the right time … it was nice, Jonny trusted me today, but I put him in the wheel with Jordi, and I think he did perfect. With the rain, it was not getting easier, but it was a nice one. We have a unified team, one unit, all committed to the goal. It paid off.”
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché–Wanty) was one of the riders who crashed. It’s not been a happy race for him or his team. He rides over the line with a couple of teammates for company.
Lidl-Trek’s Quinn Simmons “was the man of the day” says Sean Kelly on commentary for TNT Sports. “He did so much work.”
Simmons now rides across the line with a teammate, looking very pleased, no doubt having had the good news over the radio. What a shift he put in.
Top 10 on stage 17
1) Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
2) Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe)
3) Tobias Lund Andresen (Team PicnicPostNL)
4) Arnaud De Lie (Lotto)
5) Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana Team)
6) Alberto Dainese (Tudor)
7) Paul Penhoet (Groupama-FDJ)
8) Yevgeniy Federov (XDS Astana Pro Team)
9) Clement Russo (Groupama-FDJ)
10) Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek)
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Jonathan Milan wins stage 17!
The green-jersey wearer takes it for Lidl-Trek! There was chaos on the run to the line with a big crash exactly a kilometre from home. Milan was on his own, but had more than enough in the sprint. Is that the green jersey secured for the Italian? That was his second stage win of this year’s race and he also won the sprint at the intermediate sprint, after the break had gone through.
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1km to go: Crash under the flamme rouge! I think Merlier is down. Milan made it through, so did De Lie and I think Groves. It was a big crash that took several riders down.
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2km to go: Dylan Groenewegen and Team Jayco–AlUla are prominent at the front … Milan and Merlier are both there.
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3km to go: Abrahamsen gets a pat on the back from a teammate as he falls back through the peloton. The bunch negotiates another big roundabout. There is little in the way of organised lead-out trains, it appears to be something of a free-for-all.
4km to go: Abrahamsen is done. We’re all together with 4km left.
4.5km to go: The catch is moments away and we’ll have a bunch sprint.
6km to go: The technical nature of the closing section of the course will be a reason that certain breakaway riders fancied this. The gap is 9sec. Luke Durbridge of Jayco–AlUla has stepped up the pace at the front of the bunch. Abrahamsen looks doomed …
8km to go: Jonas Abrahamsen has gone all-in. It’s a brave move. He’s got 10sec on his chasers. Could he make it two wins at this Tour?
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9km to go: The gap is 12sec between peloton and Abrahamsen. Albanese has given up chasing and is about to be caught.
10km to go: It looked to me like Abrahamsen took it quite easy in the break compared to the other riders. So perhaps not surprising that he’s got more in the tank now. On commentary, Sean Kelly thinks it’s an error for Abrahamsen to drop his fellow breakaway riders this far out, saying it would be better to up the pace but keep them on board for a bit more help. We shall see.
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12km to go: The gap is 22sec. It’s a mammoth effort from these four riders. Albanese apparently nearly loses it on a roundabout. Abrahamsen attacks his companions! He powers away from them, riding at 61km/h.
14km to go: Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal–Quick-Step) is one of the riders working hard up front. It’s 24sec for the break, Abrahamsen now setting the pace.
15km to go: The gap is 29sec. “A lot of teams are waiting for their moment, wanting to keep their power for the very end,” says Sean Kelly of the sprinters’ teams who are hunting this break down. On a long, straight stretch of road, the bunch an easily see the breakaway up ahead.
16km to go: Albanese won a Tour de Suisse stage this year. Burgaudeau won a stage of Paris-Nice three seasons ago and also won the Tour of Istanbul last year … Pacher, it appears, has never won a pro race but has two second-places at the Vuelta. The stakes are high …
19km to go: Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education–EasyPost), Quentin Pacher (Groupama–FDJ), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) are the riders up front. The average speed of the race is 45.8km/h and it looks like the riders will be finished at the predicted fastest time.
Abrahamsen, as a reminder, already has a stage win at this year’s race.
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20km to go: It’s 30sec for the break. Pacher, again, is setting the pace on the front. It looks inevitable that this four-man break will be caught, but you never know.
23km to go: On commentary Robbie McEwen is pouring praise on Simmons of Lidl–Trek, who is still up front and now working to close the gap between break and peloton as quickly as possible.
“He’s been so strong … he’s been unstoppable,” McEwen says. “I don’t really recall him having a day off.”
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24km to go: It’s 42sec for the break now. The peloton snakes gingerly around a sodden roundabout, accompanied by a couple of race motorbikes.
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27km to go: The rain, if anything, will boost the chances of this break staying away. The gap is 55sec though and the peloton is getting their chase more organised. A reminder that Sunday’s stage in Paris, with three ascents of the Butte Montmartre, will not be the usual bunch sprint. So this is likely the final chance for the fast men.
30km to go: The gap is 1min 07sec. Quinn Simmons is STILL on the front for Lidl-Trek. He’s been there all day and has certainly earned his money.
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31km to go: Raining! The heavens have opened and it looks like we’ll have heavy rain from now until the finish.
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33km to go: Van Aert is swept up by the peloton. The breakaway has 1min 02 sec, and they have a puncher’s chance of staying away. The peloton is completely strung out further back, with a slightly bigger group up at the front.
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35km to go: We are going to get some rain. It’s falling at around 10km to go, one of the teams reveals on radio. Van Aert is still trying to bridge across to the break, but has 50sec to make up. The fact they are pulling away from Van Aert, riding at full gas, shows you how well they are working together.
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43km to go: Van Aert is 20sec behind the four-man break. The break is about to reach the summit of the climb. Albanese takes the 1pt on offer atop the Col de Tartaiguille. The gap between break and peloton is 53sec.
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45km to go: Van Aert, of Team Visma-Lease A Bike, fancies a crack at the stage win, clearly. And he has the power to close down this leading group of four.
45.5km to go: Michael Woods (Israel-PremierTech) has appeared at the front of the peloton on the climb. Quinn Simmons, who’s had a busy day, is on his wheel. The gap has shrunk to 57sec … and Wout van Aert attacks!
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46km to go: Alaphilippe is among the team cars as he races back to the peloton. He benefits from a classic “sticky bottle” from the Tudor Pro Cycling team car alongside him.
48km to go: The gap is 1min 12sec. Alaphilippe and Magnus Cort Nielsen (UnoX-Mobility) are off the back of the peloton after that little crash. The four-man break is approaching the second categorised climb, the Col de Tartaiguille. A large sign, white painted with red letters, reads ALAPHILIPPE. Short and to the point.
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50km to go: Pacher is again powering on up at the front of the break. He drops back and the large figure of Abrahamsen takes it up, albeit for a shorter turn. Then there is a crash at the back, nothing serious, but Julian Alaphilippe is down. He looks annoyed but not injured. Thomas Gachignard (Team TotalEnergies) offers a hand to help him up but he’s not interested.
52km to go: The road is lined with camper vans and hundreds, indeed thousands, of fans waiting for a glimpse of the world’s biggest bike race. A family of fans hold up a cardboard sign with the colours of the Belgian flag and emblazoned with one word in the middle: WOUT. And there is a man on a horse!
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54km to go: The Col de Tartaiguille is coming up. It’s 3.6km long, at 3.5%. The gap between break and peloton is 1min 14sec.
55km to go: Quentin Pacher (Groupama–FDJ) is the man currently driving the breakaway. These four riders will enjoy their dinner tonight, given the amount of calories they are going to burn in this presumably doomed effort to contest the stage win in Valence.
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56km to go: Milan, in the green jersey, is now riding fifth wheel in the main bunch, with a couple of teammates for company. The gap is 1min 14sec.
60km to go: By the way, Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) packed it in before today’s stage. See the official abandonments page here.
64km to go: The gap has climbed to 1min 05sec. Rowe, who is now talking about Remco Evenepoel and how his withdrawal has allowed his remaining Soudal–Quick-Step teammates some freedom, said a while ago that the four-man break is giving today’s race a some stability and preventing other teams from attacking. Certainly true, but the kilometres are still ticking by quickly. Wellens and Raúl García are safely back in the main bunch.
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70km to go: Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) has dropped off the back of the peloton, for some reason, presumably a mechanical. Raúl García (Arkea B&B Hotels) is even further back, probably for the same reason.
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72km to go: Full gas? Perhaps not. The break’s advantage has swelled to 45sec again and it’s calming down in the peloton now they are all back together.
74km to go: The gap is 32sec.
“If you’re a sprint team it’s just a bit tougher than you would have wanted,” says White of a race that calmed down for a while earlier but is now full-gas again.
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78km to go: Helped by the downhill terrain, no doubt, Milan and co are now back in the main bunch. So there are two groups on the road – the peloton with 160 riders, and the break with four.
“I think that was a missed opportunity for a few teams to really put the heat on Lidl-Trek and Alpecin,” says Matt White on commentary.
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79km to go: All the various groups are now on a long downhill drag heading for the second climb of the day, that will come in about 30km. Alpecin-Deceuninck have turned it up at the front of the peloton, and it seems Tudor Pro Cycling are among those joining in. The four-man break is riding full-gas up front to try and stay clear but they only have 25sec now. This is all up for grabs, in a number of ways.
82km to go: Milan, says Carlton Kirby on commentary, is back in the main bunch. But Luke Rowe isn’t so sure, and indeed, the on-screen graphics soon update to show that the Italian sprinter is still 1min 10sec down. Tim Merlier is also in that group. “The two fastest guys in the race are off the back,” says Rowe. “This is your golden ticket, boys.”
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89km to go: Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) is on the front of the bunch. It’s a tricky moment for the Lidl-Trek management, with the points classification leader Milan still 90sec or so down … Matt White says Simmons, rather than trying to hunt down the break, is attempting to slow it all down and let Milan get back in touch.
“He is just making that tempo high enough that people don’t start attacking, but also slow enough that his teammates can come back from behind,” says Rowe of the job Simmons is doing at the front of the peloton.
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91km to go: Cofidis and Movistar are both up front, trying to animate the race, indeed trying to bring this all back together and give themselves a chance of a stage win. Milan is 1min 25sec down which is worrying, to say the least, for his green jersey hopes.
92km to go: The break’s advantage is 34sec. Back down the road, Milan is isolated as he tries to get back in touch with the peloton.
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93km to go: Note: the approach to the finish today is highly technical, with a number of roundabouts to be negotiated by the peloton as they (presumably) attempt to set up the sprint.
Romeo of Movistar, who attacked earlier trying to get in the break, has clipped off the front again, apparently trying to join forces with the escape group. Meanwhile, back down the road, Milan has been dropped by this injection of pace by Ineos! It’s all kicking off in one way or another.
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95km to go: The gap is down to 50sec. And falling. Ineos aren’t the only team working at the front, to say the least, and it looks like it’s all going to come back together before long. Which would make it all fast and furious again, surely?
98km to go: “We’re deep into the third week … there are a lot of fatigued bodies out there,” says Rowe. “You’ve got to stay focused, stay concentrated: it’s just staying focused the whole day. A lot more teams would have wanted to be in the break, but the roads early in the stage really suited the sprinters’ teams today.”
Ineos Grenadiers have taken it up at the front of the bunch, suddenly. The gap between break and peloton has dropped sharply to 1min 38 sec. The escapees are on the first categorised climb of the day, the Col du Pertuis.
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100km to go: A century still to race. Luke Rowe is stepping into the TNT Sports commentary box now, and while things are relatively serene, why not read this reader interview we did last month? Some interesting stuff in there:
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101km to go: Lidl-Trek continue to work on the front of the peloton. On commentary Matt White observes that Visma-Lease A Bike have clearly not given up the fight in GC, and will continue to attack Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates on the road to Paris. “It’s going to make for some great racing,” he says.
104km to go: The gap between break and peloton is 1min 53sec. The average speed today is a (relatively) leisurely 42.5km/h, so not nearly as fast and furious as it might have been … Abrahamsen does a turn on the front, then drops back and lets Albanese take it up at the front. It’s a team time trial for these escapees at the moment.
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110km to go: The Col du Pertuis is the next milestone on the route. The category-four climb comes with 94.2km still to race.
Abrahamsen wins the intermediate sprint
Jonas Abrahamsen outsprints Mathieu Burgaudeau in a two-man race for the intermediate at Roche-Saint-Secret-Béconne. Albanese is third.
In the bunch behind, Milan mops up 11pts for the best of the rest. That puts him 22pts clear in the points classification.
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113km to go: Quentin Pacher is the highest in GC of the four-man break. He is 96th, a mere 1hr 45min down on the race leader Tadej Pogacar.
115km to go: The gap between break and peloton has fallen to exactly 2min. Under 3km until the intermediate sprint now.
118km to go: Alpecin–Deceuninck and Lidl-Trek are working to control the gap to the break, as you would expect, in view of their designs on a stage win later. The town of Taulignan, in the Drôme, looks exquisite from the TV helicopter. Kelly opines that living there would be “very, very lonely”.
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120km to go: “The sprinters will not be happy with that one,” Sean Kelly says of the parcours in Paris on Sunday, that includes three category-four climbs in the closing kilometres (three times up the Butte Montmarte to Sacré-Cœur). “I don’t think a sprinter can win. It will be difficult for them to get back in and contest the sprint.”
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123km to go: The gap is 2min 24sec. It’s now 10km until the intermediate sprint. The south of France is looking pleasingly verdant and the riders in the bunch are grabbing something to eat from team staff at the roadside.
126km to go: Under 15km until the day’s intermediate sprint.
128km to go: There’s a stunning shot of La tour de Chamaret while commentators, pundits and Adam Blythe, out on the motorbike, attempt to negotiate a delay on their audio feed while discussing this and that, including Blythe’s underwear.
131km to go: The race rolls past a picturesque church at Montségur-sur-Lauzon. Adam Blythe mentions that it’s raining at the finish in Valence, but is forecast to dry up later.
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134km to go: “When you win quite a few, you kind of forget where they all are,” says Sean Kelly on commentary, having been reminded of a stage success in this vicinity during his career.
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136km to go: Laurence has given up, and will soon be swept up by the main bunch. No stage win for Ineos Grenadiers today (and almost certainly no stage win for any of these four teams in the break, either, in truth.) Quinn Simmons (Lidl–Trek) is the rider driving the pace on the front of the peloton.
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139km to go: Then it will be a question, for the sprinters’ teams, of ensuring the break is caught in good time for a sprint in Valence. It’s tempting to say it’s a strong group out front, but then again, is there any such thing as a weak group when it comes to Tour de France breakaways?
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142km to go: The intermediate sprint arrives after 47.9km at Roche-Saint-Secret-Béconne. So it looks very much like the sprinters will be racing either for fifth place (11pts), or fourth place (13pts), if Laurance admits defeat in his brave attempt to bridge to the four-man breakaway.
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146km to go: Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education–EasyPost), Quentin Pacher (Groupama–FDJ), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) are the riders up front. They have 2min 40sec now.
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148km to go: Jonas Abrahamsen, you will remember, won stage 11:
The gap between break and peloton has now flown out to 2min 32sec. Laurance is still trying to get across but is more than 90sec down.
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152km to go: It’s 1min 06 sec for the break now. Laurance (Ineos) is still trying to get across, about 18sec down. There is no consensus behind, it seems, between teams that want to get involved in the break and those who want to shut things down and let them go.
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155km to go: A four-rider break has gone up the road: Vincenzo Albanese, Quentin Pacher, Mathieu Burgaudeau and Jonas Abrahamsen. They have nearly a minute already. The peloton has almost ground to a halt behind, so safe to say the sprinters’ teams are generally happy with this break.
Axel Laurance (Ineos) is trying to bridge across. But hang on, now it’s kicked off again in the bunch behind …
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“Riders are tired,” says Sean Kelly on commentary. “No one wants to make too much effort in the earlier part.”
It’s a winding start on narrow roads and it looks very much like certain teams are up at the front trying to shut this down.
158km to go: The attacks keep coming. Nothing has settled yet. The front of the peloton is strung out.
159km to go: Iván Romeo (Movistar) has attacked. He fancies a day in the break. How many riders will be allowed to escape? Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) is also up there.
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Stage 17 has begun
Christian Prudhomme waves his flag from the team car, and we’re off.
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“The majority of teams think it’s going to be a sprint,” says Adam Blythe on the TNT Sports motorbike of prospects for today. “But there’s a lot of pressure on the French teams, and a lot of teams without much success …”
The race is on!
Rowe, on pundit duty, was just saying the sprinters’ team should lock this down by combining to ensure it’s a small and manageable breakaway.
“Maybe he could have taken the stage or maybe not,” writes Gary Naylor, “but Pog being satisfied to mark Visma produced a great result for France, a great result for two of the race’s four jerseys and might find him an ally if he needs one on Friday.”
James emails: “In relation to the comment on why Pogacar didn’t go for the win on the stage, in the interview included in the ITV4 highlights, he said that he liked the winner (he talked about him as a true climber), and gave the impression that he allowed him to win. Maybe this was a bluff (and possibly also a little arrogant), but that was certainly the impression he gave in his interview.”
“We are really looking forward,” Milan said before today’s stage. “It’s one of the most important, yes [in the points classification].
Matt White, Luke Rowe and Robbie McEwen are the pundits working with the presenter Orla Chennaoui on TNT Sports.
“It’s a difficult one,” says Rowe of Lidl-Trek’s attempts to go for the intermediate and the stage win for the current points classification leader, Jonathan Milan.
“Hopefully the breakaway is small and they can win the sprint from behind, with points still available, but he (Milan) needs to win the stage today. That is clear.”
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William Fotheringham mentioned the Club des Cinglés du Ventoux in his excellent piece a few days ago …
So I may as well tell you for the 10th time that I joined that particular club back in 2016. Mont Ventoux is a beautiful place to ride a bike, and happily, you don’t have to complete the three different ascents at anything but your own pace.
“Yesterday and on Superbangers (pardon my atrocious French spelling) Tadej Pogacar was favoured to win the stage,” writes Mark from Florida. “But he didn’t even try to - why? Is he afraid of being too tired on later stages? Is he afraid of blowing up on a climb and losing the tour? Is he afraid of being considered greedy?”
As far as I could see yesterday, it just so happened that the breakaway was a bit too far ahead. Pogacar had the legs to accelerate away from Vingegaard in the final metres, so safe to say he would have won the stage had they caught the break. But in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter for him, yesterday was about protecting the GC lead first and foremost. I don’t think Pogacar is shy of going for as many stage wins as possible, either.
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As if by magic, an electronic mail message drops into my inbox.
“Not sure anything could rival yesterday TBH,” writes Jem. “A day of proper racing, great win for Paret-Peintre, so close for Ben Healey and masterful from Pogi – fair play to Vingegaard as well for having a go.
“For today, at least I don’t have to feel embarrassed by watching blokes go up a mountain at similar speeds to those I plod round reasonably flat country lanes at. Instead, I just have to watch blokes going along reasonably flat French country lanes at speeds I rarely reach even going downhill!
“Really enjoying this year’s race – a win for Bini would do me today so fingers crossed for him.”
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You can send me your opinions, thoughts, predictions and the like on email. Don’t be shy.
Yesterday, of course, was a dust-up between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on the punishing slopes of Mont Ventoux. I didn’t see the full stage, just the highlights, but I don’t believe Pogacar was ever in serious trouble, despite Visma-Lease A Bike throwing the kitchen sink at him and his team. Read Jeremy Whittle’s report right here:
The official Tour de France withdrawals page is a handy resource. Mathieu van der Poel abandoned yesterday due to pneumonia, just in case you missed it.
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William Fotheringham’s pre-race assessment of today’s route:
Stage 17, Wednesday 23 July: Bollène to Valence, 161km
Potentially a bunch sprint, the last of the Tour, but teams with a sprinter who can climb – think Intermarché with Girmay for example – will try and burn off the slightly heavier brethren such as Merlier on the drag to the Col de Pertuis after 66km, particularly if the green jersey is in play; here’s a chance to gain valuable points. It will all hang on wind direction, morale and the peloton’s dwindling reserves of strength.
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Preamble
Welcome to Wednesday’s Tour de France entertainment, AKA Fast and Furious Part 17. At 161km this is the third-shortest stage of the final week, and the lack of significant climbing will see the sprinters’ teams attempting to set things up for a bunch kick in Valence. Unusually Sunday’s stage in Paris looks highly unlikely to finish in a sprint, due to three late ascents of the Butte Montmartre, so the points classification contenders will go all-in today for what should be their last chance of a stage win.
It promises to be another insanely fast day, with plenty of interested parties as the peloton heads north, out of the Rhône Valley, through the Drôme and in the general direction of Lyon. There are two category-four climbs: the Col du Pertuis, after 66.3km, and the Col de Tartaiguille, coming after 117km of racing. The day’s intermediate sprint arrives after 47.9km, at Roche-Saint-Secret-Béconne, guaranteeing a flat-out start, continuing on to a flat-out middle and finish.
The fastest projected time schedule has the peloton roaring into Valence to wrap things up at 17.10 local time (16.10 UK) – it would be no surprise to see another full-on day finish before that.
Stage stage time: 13.50 CET / 12.50 BST
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