Summary

  • Stage 17 - 165.7km from Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc to Courchevel

  • Queen stage of 2023 Tour de France with four huge climbs

  • Jonas Vingegaard leads Tadej Pogacar by one minute and 48 seconds in general classification

  • Britain's Adam Yates third overall

Live Reporting

Chris Bevan

  1. 7.8km to go

    Vingegaard was only delayed for a few seconds, and he is still more than three minutes ahead of Pogacar on the road so it has not affected the yellow jersey battle.

  2. Motorbike in the road

    8.2km to go

    Oh no... a media motorbike has broken down and blocked the road, and stopped Vingegaard in his tracks. That's surely ended his hopes of a stage win.

  3. 8.5km to go

    So much going on at the moment. At the front of the race, Felix Gall is still forcing himself up this mountain. Simon Yates has dropped Majka and is 17 seconds back. Just 2km to go to the summit.

  4. 'I'm gone, I'm dead'

    9km to go

    Pogacar just told the UAE team radio "I'm gone, I'm dead." He knows his chances of winning this Tour are over.

  5. 10km to go

    Felix Gall is 25 seconds ahead of Simon Yates and Rafal Majka. The gap to Vingegaard is coming down all the time, with 3km to go to the summit.

    Will the man in yellow win this stage? The Dane is now two minutes and 20 seconds ahead of Pogacar, so we know the outcome of that particular race.

  6. Here comes Vingegaard

    10.5km to go

    I asked earlier whether Jonas Vingegaard wants this stage win now Pogacar has cracked - it looks like he does, because he has launched a ferocious solo attack up this hill.

    Just over 4km to the summit and Vingegaard is two minutes and 25 seconds behind Gall. He is one minute 30 seconds ahead of Pogacar, by the way. That gap is getting bigger.

  7. 12km to go

    At the front of the race, Felix Gall is now 20 seconds clear of a group of three riders - Pello Bilbao, Simon Yates and Chris Harper.

    They have just hit the final 5km of this climb, where the gradients are brutal.

  8. 12.5km to go

    Sepp Kuss continues to pace Jonas Vingegaard up this climb. Marc Soler is trying to help Tadej Pogacar, but he is falling further back behind the yellow jersey - up to 25 seconds now.

  9. 13km to go

    There are 6.5km to go to the top of the Col de la Loze and Felix Gall has gone out from the front of the break on his own. He's opened up a gap of 20 seconds.

  10. 13.5km to go

    This could be good news for Simon Yates and the rest of the breakaway riders. Vingegaard might be less likely to want to catch them now Pogacar has cracked - the gap from the front of the race to the yellow jersey is two minutes and 30 seconds.... Pogacar another 22 seconds back.

  11. 14km to go

    Jonas Vingegaard surges on up this mountain. Pogacar has been distanced - his jersey is unzipped and the gap is getting bigger.

  12. Pogacar dropped

    14.5km to go

    Wow... Tadej Pogacar is being dropped by the yellow jersey group.

  13. 15km to go

    Ben O'Connor's day is done... well, just about - he is offered a pizza by a fan after almost coming to a complete standstill on this steep slope. Maybe later.

  14. 16km to go

    Riders are dropping off the yellow jersey group too. Dylan van Baarle, one of Jonas Vingegaard's Jumbo-Visma team-mates, has just been distanced. Still more than 9km of this climb left, too.

  15. 16.5km to go

    It is Ben O'Connor driving the escape along at the moment - he is hoping his Ag2r-Citroen team-mate, Felix Gall, can grab the stage win.

  16. 17km to go

    Jack Haig has done a lot of work at the front of the break, to help his Bahrain Victorios team-mate Pello Bilbao, but his day is done - he drops back.

  17. 18km to go

    The gap from the escapees to the yellow jersey bunch is coming down a bit quicker now, to two minutes and 15 seconds. Will one of the escapees get the stage win, one of the big two... or someone else?

  18. 21km to go

    Less than 15km to go to the top of the Col de la Loze - it's the last 5km of this climb that are the worst, with the steepest gradient. That's where an attack from Vingegaard or Pogacar will likely come, if it comes at all.

  19. 24km to go

    It was 16 in the break, now it's 15... Australia's Matthew Dinham has been distanced. There is still more than 17km to go to the summit.

  20. 26km to go

    The 16 riders in the break are as follows:

    Tiesj Benoot, Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma), Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates), David Gaudu, Valentin Madouas, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Pello Bilbao, Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Ben O’Connor, Felix Gall (Ag2r-Citroen), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Matthew Dinham (DSM-Firmenich), Nick Schultz (Israel-PremierTech), Simon Yates, Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X)

    The Jumbo-Visma riders are there to help Vingegaard later. Same with Majka for Pogacar. Most of the others will be thinking about maybe getting the stage win.... maybe.

    It really depends on what Vingegaard and Pogacar do. Vingegaard doesn't really need to attack but he could finish Pogacar off today, while the Slovenian surely needs to try something if he has anything left in the tank.