Stage 17 TDF 2023 Blog: the Gall to Attack

Felix Gall, now riding for AG2R Le Citroen, attacked from the breakaway 6.2km from the top of Col de la Loze.

He stayed ahead of Simon Yates, who was chasing, and soloed up the Altiport runway to take a significant win. Yates was second, 34s back, and Pello Bilbao third at 1min38.

Jonas Vingegaard was briefly paced up Col de la Loze by Tiesj Benoot then Wilco Kelderman. He caught up with some of the breakaway survivors, tackling the Altiport with Bilbao and David Gaudu.

Fourth on the day at 1min52, Vingegaard can be very satisfied with his day out pedalling. That’s because Pogacar was dropped far from the top of the Col de la Loze, and came in 7min37 behind the stage winner.

Pogacar remains second on GC, with Adam Yates now in third place.

Video Highlights

These are video highlights of Stage 17 of the Tour de France 2023.

Earlier in the Day

Earlier in the day, there was a big breakaway group, with 33 riders in total, among them Julian Alaphilippe, Simon Yates, Felix Gall, Thibaut Pinot and David Gaudu. Jumbo Visma’s Tiesj Benoot and Wilco Kelderman were there too, with the intention of helping Jonas Vingegaard later – which they did on Col de la Loze.

Giulio Ciccone was in the break as well, and he took maximum King of the Mountains points on the Col des Saisies, the Cormet de Roselend and Cote de Longefoy.

It has to be said that polka dot helmet, jersey, shorts and socks are too much and look awful. Sorry Giulio.

Ciccone was absorbed back into the bunch on the Col de la Loze climb.

Ben O’Connor and Jack Haig worked on the front of the breakaway, for Felix Gall and Pello Bilbao respectively.

In the GC group, Tadej Pogacar was dropped 7.6km from the top of the Col de la Loze. He had fallen earlier in the day, and may have been suffering from that incident.

Zig-Zagging

I was delighted to see David Gaudu zig-zagging up the Altiport.

He is a top Tour de France GC rider, and his use of the technique gives it validation and approval.