Tour de France Stage 17: The Status Quo is Shattered and a Contender Seeks Redemption
With a deficit of 7'10" and 6'16" respectively, two beloved bike racers go on the offensive on the Col de la Croix de Fer
Marcel Kittel can’t get a break. His rival Michael Matthews and his Sunweb Team dominated the race in the first few kilometers, looking to score 20 more points at the intermediate sprint line just after the Col d’Ornon. The move would bring Matthews within 9 points of Kittel, giving him a chance at winning the green jersey.
Kittel is in the form of his life with a career-record of five stage wins this Tour, but his form wasn’t the issue when he got caught in a large crash. He and the King of the Mountain winner, Warren Barguil of Sunweb, both had to sit and wait for assistance as the 30-odd men in the break kept climbing.
Of the two, it was Barguil in the worst situation. He holds an overwhelming lead in the climbing competition, but his two closest rivals, Thomas de Gendt and Primož Roglič, were in the break. The two men are tied for second place, and if they don’t cut Barguil’s lead, it’s almost guaranteed that Barguil will wear the polka-dot jersey in Paris. There just aren’t enough climbs left.
Matthews summited the Col d’Ornon first, limiting de Gendt’s gains against Barguil, and rode across the sprint uncontested. Roglič was nowhere to be seen on the summit, having crashed shortly after Barguil.
There are no guarantees in the Tour de France
Matthews and Kittel are riding with the form of their lives, and it seemed likely that the Australian would win the intermediate sprint today and tomorrow, putting him in the green jersey. It would all come down to a showdown on Sunday in Paris, with the final sprint on the Champs-Élysées deciding the winner.
We’ll never know, though; Kittel’s crash would lead to his abandonment, announced as Matthews sat up and let the break roll away up the first hors categorie climb. Matthews will accept the green jersey at the end of the stage, and he’ll wear it on the final podium in Paris.
Redemption for Contador
At 7'10" behind in the overall race, with teammates up the road in a tactical breakaway, Contador accelerates and breaks from the Team Sky peloton. He’s followed by Nairo Quintana, who has a 6'16" deficit, and Team Sky kept tempo as the two men worked together to gain a big gap.
Quintana couldn’t keep pace with the Spaniard, and Contador rode on, looking for his stage win. He moved up through the splintered former breakaway group, catching teammates momentarily and continuing on. He’s conceded the podium, but not a stage win, and he fought brilliantly over the next hundred kilometers.
But it would all come down to the Col du Galibier
Contador couldn’t keep the lead on the slope of the Col du Galibier. He rode in a small group of elite climbers, including Primož Roglič, who’d crashed earlier and missed out on points.
It would be Roglič at the first summit on the col du Télégraphe, and it would be Roglič again at the summit of the Col du Galibier. After his crash, he’d gone on to take third on the hors categorie Croix-de-Fer for 12 points, 10 on the Télégraphe, and 20 for the victory on the Galibier.
None of it would matter though in the polka-dot jersey competition: A bandaged, battered Barguil managed to earn enough points to limit the damages. Although his lead has dropped from 79 to 44, he’d have to earn no points at all between here and Paris to lose the climbing classification.
And then he sits up and lets Froome and them go?
No way! He can’t win the jersey, so he has to win the stage. Bardet, Martin, and Froome fought an incredible battle up the Galibier, followed always by Froome’s teammate Mikel Landa. Ahead of them was Barguil, racing after Roglič to limit his losses in the King of the Mountain competition. The losers in the battle included Fabio Aru and Simon Yates, who both found themselves unable to keep up with their rivals.
Barguil, Bardet, Martin, Landa, and Froome continued the battle even on the descent, but they seemed more committed to making time on unlucky Aru. Ahead of them, Roglič sat on his top tube and kept pedaling, at speeds near 80 kilometers per hour.
The leaders never made time on him. The Slovenian former ski jumper turned cyclist won the stage, making his first victory in his Tour de France debut, the first victory this year for his LottoNL-Jumbo team, and the first ever Slovenian stage win.
What about the GC?
It would be a sprint for time bonuses from the rest; Uran, Froome, Bardet, and Barguil, finishing in that order. Uran earns 6" and Froome 4". Landa crossed three seconds later, about thirty seconds ahead of Martin, Contador, Meintjes, and Aru.
The yellow jersey standings leave Aru in fourth place with a 53" deficit to Froome, and have moved Uran into a tie for second with Bardet. The two men are 27" behind Froome.
And Yates?
Yates, wearing the white jersey of the best rider under 26, was dropped and unable to keep pace with his rival, Louis Meintjes. Meintjes started the day at a 3'58" deficit to Yates, but would end the day at 2'28". It’s a big increase, and if Yates is off his form again tomorrow, it’s possible for Meintjes to take the best young rider jersey.
What happens tomorrow?
It’s almost all sewn up. Barring another tragedy, the green jersey will be worn by Michael Matthews, but he’s a fighter; I expect he’s going to keep scoring points as best he can. He’s been a revelation in this Tour, showing a set of skills for every situation except the highest mountains.
His Team Sunweb roommate, Warren Barguil, can only lose the polka dot jersey if he earns no points and Roglic wins first on every climb. That won’t happen. Barguil will wear polka-dots in jersey alongside Matthews, making this a great year for Sunweb.
It’s going to be a general classification showdown on the final Alpine summit tomorrow. Bardet, Uran, and Aru are the only three left in contention; Bardet and Uran need to finish at least a full 1'30" ahead of Froome to have a chance in the time trial on Saturday, and Aru needs to finish an improbable 3" ahead. It’s not likely for any of them, but the Italian stands almost no chance of making the time up.
Froome is back on form and going to pick up anywhere from one to three minutes in the time trial Saturday. Bardet and Uran are the likely second and third place, but not necessarily in that order.
What about La Course?
NBCSports have finally updated the schedule, but it still has an error! Come on gang. They list it as July 23rd, with coverage on July 20th starting at 3:55 AM and July 22nd starting at 6:55 AM. There is no mention of commentary for it nor any articles whatsoever on the website or the Twitter feed.
NBC can do better and should. This is a huge disappointment, especially as La Course has gained a new, more innovative format. Historically it was a circuit race; now it’s a two-part elimination match with the first battle fought over 67 kilometers on Izoard. It’s an exciting format and deserves proper coverage.
Are you keeping any Taylor Phinney from us?
I am. I’m garbage; I admit it. I managed to forget to post Phinney’s interview with John Kerry. The John Kerry. Yes, secretary of state and one-time Presidential candidate. No, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, and I don’t blame you for abandoning this blog. Better late than never?
Come back tomorrow for La Course AND Le Tour! The race is almost over and it’ll all be decided tomorrow. I’m thinking about skipping the last day for a post, too, as nothing really changes in Paris; it’s mostly a victory lap, a final chance to win a sprint finish, and a lot of nostalgia and pageantry. In short, it’s incredible to watch, and probably boring to read about. If I take it off, I’ll instead write a total Tour recap later next week.
Thanks for reading! I write about cycling and am currently blogging the 2017 Tour de France here on Medium.
Visit my personal website at davidstreever.com.
Yesterday was another incredible win for Michael Matthews and Team Sunweb: If you missed my recap, check out the blow-by-blow below!
