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Tour de France 2025 - Stage 17: Bollène to Valence

Wet roads in stage 17 from Bollène to Valence gave sprinters their last real chance but also caused chaos and a crash under the flamme rouge. In the reduced field, green jersey holder Jonathan Milan proved the strongest.
Published on 7/23/2025 by Johnny
Jonathan Milan

A crash on the wet road just before the “flamme rouge” eliminated the day’s top favorite, European champion Tim Merlier, and last year’s best sprinter of the Tour, Biniam Girmay, from the fight for the stage win.

Only about ten riders contested the sprint in Valence, with Jonathan Milan (Lidl Trek) emerging as the strongest, though he was nearly overtaken by Jordi Meuss (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe), who finished just half a bike length behind. Third place went to Tobias Andersen Lund (Picnic PostNL), ahead of Arnaud De Lie, Davide Ballerini, Alberto Dainese, and Paul Penhoet.

A big step toward the green jersey

With his second stage victory, Milan earned a valuable 50 points in the battle for the green jersey, now leading by 72 points over Pogačar – the only rider still capable of challenging him in the points classification, which traditionally goes to the Tour’s top sprinter.

The 24-year-old Italian ended a six-year Italian drought on the Tour with his win in Stage 8, and with this second triumph, he’s taken a major step toward celebrating in Paris. It’s his eighth win of the season and the 23rd of his professional career for the “bull from Buja,” the first village of Friuli under Venetian Slovenia.

The day’s breakaway formed just 4 km after the start. At the intermediate sprint in Roche-Saint-Secret-Beconne (48 km), Jonathan Milan won the peloton sprint for 5th place, gaining 11 points for the green jersey classification. This extended the Lidl Trek rider’s lead over Pogačar to 22 points in the sprinters’ competition.

Over the second Category 4 climb, 44 km from the finish, Wout van Aert attempted to bridge to the break, but alone, he couldn’t close the one-minute gap to the leading quartet. Rain refreshed the peloton in the finale, making the roads slippery. Jonas Abrahamsen, the last escapee, was caught with just over 3 km remaining.

A rest day before the queen stage

The GC contenders, led by the yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar, stayed out of trouble and preserved energy ahead of the Alps. All the general classification leaders avoided the sprinters’ crash. On Thursday, the queen stage awaits, featuring three Alpine climbs of the highest category. The stage, with 5,450 meters of elevation gain, will end on the infamous Col de la Loze.

The 26-year-old Pogačar remains firmly in control of his bid for a fourth Tour victory. On Tuesday at Mont Ventoux, Jonas Vingegaard attacked four times, but Pogačar comfortably followed and even took two seconds from the Dane in the final sprint. His lead now stands at 4 minutes and 15 seconds. Primož Roglič is fifth overall, 11:42 behind Pogačar.

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