2019 Tour de France Stage 17 Results & Recap
Stage 17 of the 2019 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Trentin wins stage 17\nBy Clara Beard
Matteo Trentin continued Mitchelton-Scott’s win tally with a solo run into the finish in Gap, after 200 km of racing, most of it in the breakaway. The European road champion attacked just before the final climb, 15 kilometres from the finish, and held off Kasper Asgreen to take his third Tour de France career victory.
“This win is worth two wins because after stage 10 to Albi, I thought my chances to win a stage were today,” Trentin said. “I had stage 12 to Bagnères-de-Bigorre in mind and it went well because my team-mate Simon Yates won it from our breakaway group. Today was definitely my last possibility before three days that are extremely demanding. My mental helped me win even more than my legs. I would have never imagined to win solo. I attacked two or three times, trying to go solo before the climb bearing in mind that I’m more able to ride at my pace at the front than try and follow people who attack uphill. This solo win has a special taste after two that I got throughout bunch sprints. I was making top 10 in all kind of stages. Finally I won, it’s a great moment.”
Julian Alaphilippe finished safely in the bunch to retain the yellow jersey before the final three days of alpine stages.
“Today I had to remain focused and arrive in Gap with the yellow jersey. It’s a huge honour to have it,” Alaphilippe said. “It’s pure happiness but it’s also a weight to carry. At some stage today, there was tension in the peloton and I tried to calm the situation. I told the other riders to not take any risk because I was not going to attack. Tomorrow is the hardest stage in the Alps. I know my legs will hurt but I’ve never been mentally as strong and motivated as now. I’m here to defend a jersey that I never imagined I’d have at this stage of the Tour de France and I’m looking forward to it.”
It didn’t take long for a large breakaway to form after the peloton left Pont du Gard. After 5 kilometres, 34 riders took off. They were: Daniel Oss and Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r La Mondiale), Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Omar Fraile, Gorka Izagirre and Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana), Simon Clarke and Tom Scully (EF Education First), Chris Juul-Jensen and Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott), Greg van Avermaet and Michael Schär (CCC), Sven Erik Bystrom, Rui Costa, Sergio Henao and Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE Team Emirates), Bauke Mollema, Toms Skujins and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Nicolas Roche (Sunweb), Natnael Berhane, Jesús Herrada, Anthony Pérez and Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis), De Gendt and Jens Keukeleire (Lotto-Soudal), Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin), Xandro Meurisse and Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Edvald Boasson Hagen and Ben King (Dimension Data).
The breakaway’s advantage crept up and up after the peloton stopped trying to send riders across, and by the halfway point, they were 15 minutes ahead. With 30 kilometres left, Oss, Asgreen, Gougeard, Izagirre, Scully, Trentin, Van Avermaet, Stake Laengen, Skujins, Périchon and King attacked and separated themselves from their breakaway companions, and Trentin used the opportunity to attack before the final climb, his experience and strength too much for Asgreen to catch.
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