But on a day when the Dane and Slovenian rode so fast they made their peers look pedestrian, the Welsh rider fought hard to consolidate his third place overall and with a mountainous stage ahead, he can now begin to contemplate a finish on the podium. Paris. “I didn’t feel as light on the pedals as I did earlier in the race,” Thomas said. “I didn’t feel top today, but I was there.” The 2018 champion admitted that rather than risk losing third place chasing the unrelenting Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Pogacar (UAE Emirates), he had taken the grueling final kilometers within himself. “I made the call to wait for the group back, rather than try and fight, go red to get back into that group, but I might risk a breakaway and lose even more time. I saved the legs a bit and then I was able to ride at a steady pace to the line.” Ahead of him, on the 16% slopes to the finish line, Pogacar and Vingegaard dueled for the stage win, with the two-time Tour winner overtaking the race leader, albeit without making the significant time gains he needed. Quick guide
Tour de France: stage 17 and GC result
projection Stage 17 result General classification Thanks for your response. Thomas, who crossed the finish line two minutes later, finished better than the rest and retained his third place overall. He now leads fourth-placed Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) by almost three minutes, which given their relative strength in time trials is a gap unlikely to close between the Pyrenees and the Champs-Elysées. Even with a depleted squad, Pogacar still puts Wingegaard under intense pressure. His bid to dethrone his Danish rival began in earnest on the penultimate climb, the Col de Val-Louron Azet, where American teammate Brandon McNulty set record pace. Pogacar has now lost four of his eight teammates, including climbing specialists George Bennett, Marc Soler and now Rafal Majka, who failed to start the 17th stage due to injury. Still, he was able to rely on McNulty and also Mikkel Bjerg, a rider better known for his time trial results than his climbing. “Mikel rode like a mountaineer today,” Pogacar said. “He set such a good pace on the climbs, it was incredible. I felt so good with that pace, I felt confident and I know he felt confident too.” Ineos Grenadiers’ Geraint Thomas is third overall after stage 17 of the Tour de France. Photo: Christian Hartmann/Reuters Thomas said: “I didn’t expect that, especially from Berg. He put in one hell of a shift for the rider that he is. It really cracks me up that it hurt me so much on a climb. But fair play: they really took it on.” Asked if the performance of Berg and particularly McNulty, who led American Pogacar in the final 200m, was what he expected, Thomas said: “Not at all. Fair play both, and whatever they had for breakfast, because they were going.” On a day that had started with Pogacar losing Majka, his more experienced team-mate, both Berg and McNulty were worth their weight in gold, if not yellow. Their efforts were enough to break all of their top opponents except Vingegaard, who again resisted the defending champion’s attempts to put him away. Behind them, on the approach to the final climb, Thomas joined forces with resurgent Frenchman Romain Bardet (Team DSM), although the Welshman eventually took the final route on the Peyragudes climb. Subscribe to The Recap, our weekly email of editors’ picks. Pogacar now has one mountain stage remaining, in the mountain resort of Hautacam on Thursday, to gain more time back on the race leader. If he can’t do it, then it will all come down to Saturday’s final 40km time trial, just as he did in 2020 when he usurped Vingegaard teammate Primoz Roglic to win his first round. With the gap between them as it is, there seems little chance of lightning striking twice, although Vingegaard will know not to relax. “Tomorrow there’s another chance,” Pogacar said of Thursday’s final mountain stage, “even if I’m happy with what we did today. I’m still optimistic and tomorrow is another hard day. We will try again.”
