VOIRON, France, July 22 (Reuters) - 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 DavideBallerini 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 chasing group soon after.
As the leaders crossed Colombe, Stuyven attacked with 26km left in the race. The Belgian Soudal Quick-Step rider built a 50-second lead with just over 15km left.
But on a downward slope approaching Voiron, an enlarged chasing group, which included both Philipsen and Pedersen, began chipping away at Stuyven's lead, and caught him in the final 3.7km.
Josh Tarling tried to pull ahead in the last kilometre, but Van der Poel reeled him in before leading out Philipsen, who sprinted down a clear path to victory.
The race returns to the mountains on Thursday, with stage 18 testing riders with a 185.2km ride from Voiron to Orcieres-Merlette.
The next three stages, all mountainous rides, offer Evenepoel the final opportunities to reduce the gap with Pogacar before the race concludes in Paris on Sunday.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron; Writing by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Alison Williams)
