2025 Tour de France Stage 17 Report: The last chance for a stage win for the sprinters in the 2025 Tour de France, went to the green jersey wearer, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) in Valence. In a very wet final kilometres, the Italian sprinter was faster than Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Tobias Lund Andresen (Team Picnic PostNL) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) finished fourth. The peloton was split by a crash in the last kilometre, all the GC men finished.
The final kilometre
Race director, Christian Prudhomme: “There’s no such thing as an absolutely flat stage on the roads of the Vaucluse and Drôme, but there’s definitely an opportunity here for the sprinters and that will mean the breakaway riders won’t get much room for manoeuvre. If the wind starts to blow, as is often the case in this area, there could be a dramatic twist if there’s an attempt to create echelons. There’ll be real tension at every change of direction over the final 50 kilometres.”
Stage 17 profile
The sprinters saw stage 17 as their last clear chance in the 2025 Tour de France – and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) didn’t let this opportunity slip away. Dropped early in the stage, the Italian powerhouse survived the climbs as well as a rough finale to take his second win in his debut Tour and tighten his grip on the green jersey, with only four days remaining before Paris. Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL) complete the podium, while the likes of Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) were affected by a crash as they entered the final kilometre. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates XRG) safely navigated the stage to claim his 50th Maillot Jaune on the eve of a major battle en route to the Col de la Loze.
Revelation of the 2025 Tour de France, young Scottish rider Oscar Onley
Everyones favourite – Haribo
Another chance for the sprinters? Maybe the last one? In between the summit finishes at Mont Ventoux and Col de la Loze, stage 17 took the riders from Bollène to Valence, with a 160.4km route featuring 1,650 metres of climbing. The last categorised climb, Col de Tartaiguille (Cat.4) is more than 40 kilometres from the finish. But attackers dreamt of getting the better of tired sprinter’s teams.
Green jersey, Jonathan Milan needs the points to hold off Pogačar
Abrahamsen attacks, Simmons controls
A 164-man peloton set off from Bollène without Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), heading home as his partner gave birth a few hours earlier. Meanwhile, Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) showed his intention to make yet another break. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) was immediately in action, with the task of preventing the formation of strong a group at the front.
Another stage win for Tim Merlier?
After 5km, Abrahamsen opened up a gap of 30 seconds with Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost), Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) and Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies). Many more riders wanted to join them at the front, but Simmons prevented them from doing so. Most notably, Axel Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers) gave up on his chase and was reeled in as the gap hit its maximum for the day at 2:50 after 23km.
The (doomed?) break of the day
Skirmish at Col du Pertuis
Abrahamsen led the way through the intermediate sprint at Roche-Saint-Secret-Béconne (47.9km), where the break maintained a 2:00 advantage. The script changed when INEOS Grenadiers began to pull the peloton on the approach to Col du Pertuis (Cat.4, summit at 66.3km), reducing the gap to just 35 seconds at the top and opening up the race on two fronts. On one side, there were multiple attacks controlled again by Simmons. On the other, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) were dropped along with other sprinters such as Dylan Groenwegen (Jayco-AlUla) and Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).
Tadej Pogačar will be hoping for a quiet day in the shelter of the bunch
Van Aert tried his luck
Despite the efforts of teams such as Alberto Dainese’s Tudor, Kaden Groves’ Alpecin-Deceuninck and Biniam Girmay’s Intermarché-Wanty, who had made it over the pass, the dropped sprinters managed to catch up with the peloton, well supported by their teammates, at kilometre 85 of the stage. At that point, the break’s lead has been reduced to 30 seconds.
The peloton was not letting the break get too far ahead
The situation settled in the bunch and the gap came back up to 1:10 for the last 50 kilometres. The riders faced the climb of Col de Tartaiguille (Cat.4, 117km). Wout Van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) attacked towards the summit and got as close as 25 seconds behind Albanese, Pacher and Burgaudeau. But he couldn’t bridge the remaining gap and was caught by the bunch after 12 kilometres of pursuit.
Wout van Aert failed to cross to the break
Milan survives
The tension increased in the bunch as the rain started to fall. Sprint teams needed to put the hammer down to get back to the attackers. With 12km to go, the gap was down to 20 seconds and Abrahamsen went solo. He was eventually caught by the bunch with 4 kilometres to go.
The rain started to fall in the last 10K as the break was pulled in
As the sprinters geared for a furious battle, a crash happened in the front positions with one kilometre to go. Eight riders sprint for the win. And Milan proves to be the strongest of them, claiming his second stage win in his Tour debut, ahead of Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL).
A wet win for Milan
Stage 18 is the most demanding stage of the 2025 Tour, with 5,500 metres of climbing. The Col du Glandon, the Col de la Madeleine and then the Col de la Loze. After passing through the altiport, the final 4 kilometres are on a cycle track where the gradient is irregular and hard
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Tour de France Stage 17 Result:
1. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek in 3:25:30
2. Jordi Meeus (Bel) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
3. Tobias Lund Andresen (Den) Team Picnic PostNL
4. Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto
5. Davide Ballerini (Ita) XDS Astana
6. Alberto Dainese (Ita) Tudor
7. Paul Penhoët (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8. Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz) XDS Astana
9. Clement Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 0:06
10. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Lidl-Trek at 0:09.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 17:
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Emirates XRG in 61:50:16
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma | Lease a Bike at 4:15
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 9:03
4. Oscar Onley (GB) Team Picnic PostNL at 11:04
5. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 11:42
6. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels at 13:20
7. Felix Gall (Aust) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale at 14:50
8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility at 17:01
9. Ben Healy (Irl) EF Education – EasyPost at 17:52
10. Carlos Rodríguez Cano (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 20:45.
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