A magnificent Jonathan Milan won the 17th stage of the Tour de France, the 160.4 km Bollène-Valence, in a sprint finish. This is the second personal victory in this edition of the Tour for the Lidl Trek sprinter. With an irresistible burst of speed on the rain-soaked asphalt, Milan crossed the finish line ahead of Belgium's Meeus of Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe and Norway's Lund Andresen of Picnic. Worth noting was a disastrous crash involving several riders 1 km from the finish, fortunately without serious consequences, but which involved one of the most eagerly awaited sprinters, Belgian Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick Step, who managed to stay upright. With this victory, Milan consolidates his green jersey as leader of the points classification and aims to become the third Italian to win it after Franco Bitossi and Alessandro Petacchi. Slovenian Tadej Pogacar of Team UAE Emirates remains in the yellow jersey, with a 4'15‘ lead over Norwegian Jonas Vingegaard of Visma Lease a Bike and 9'03’ over German Filipi Lipowitz of Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe. Today's stage was probably the last to finish with a sprint, as tomorrow marks the start of the decisive two days in the Alps with the 18th stage, the 171.5 km Vif-Col de la Loze, finishing in the ski resort of Courchevel at an altitude of over 2,000 metres.
© Copyright LaPresse
