Milan shines in green, the sprint darkens behind - Key takeaways from stage 17

It was a day for the sprinters, as the GC riders took a back seat ahead of two big days in the Alps. Jonathan Milan was on the hunt for points in his quest for the green jersey, but with plenty more teams hoping to make an impact on the race in its final stages, there were no guarantees of a straightforward day in the saddle.

Week three of the Tour de France can often throw up some surprising results. Fatigue sets in, the peloton is somewhat reduced due to illness and injury, and the oppressive intensity of the first few days has eased, allowing the race to flow more easily. The final week saw two consecutive breakaway wins in 2024, and three in 2023, and following Valentin Paret-Peintre’s stunning victory atop Mont Ventoux on stage 16, it was difficult to discern whether the day would actually fall for the sprinters, or whether it might be one for a determined break; in the past, sprinters' teams have been guilty of underestimating the breakaway, or misjudging their efforts - or both..

In the end, though there were a flurry of early attacks and a brief period through the central portion of the profile where Lidl-Trek briefly lost control of the bunch – and saw Milan dropped in the process – they were able to wrangle the peloton back under their control and ease the pace to allow Milan – and Merlier, who had also been dropped – to re-join. 

After that, the day played out in typical fashion, with a small breakaway held on a short leash, and reeled back in just in time for the anticipated chaos to ensue. Not before Jonas Abrahamsen tried his luck, launching one last-ditch effort to try and defy the odds – but it was not meant to be, and the sprint finale unfolded – though not without incident.

It was a vital day for Jonathan Milan in his quest to secure the green jersey ahead of Tadej Pogačar, who will surely have a monopoly on the finish line points, at least for the next couple of days.

With 70 points up for grabs on stage 17, Milan's total haul of 61, with none conceded to Pogačar, goes down as a very good day out for the Lidl-Trek man. He once again rode almost a perfect sprint, not allowing the chaos around him to impact his laser-focus, though Jordi Meeus pushed him very close. 

Milan's passageway to the 50 points on the finish line was made significantly easier by the crash that either took out or held up a number of his rivals, most notably Tim Merlier. The battle royale between this year’s two top fast men is now tied at two stages apiece. Having said that, both of Milan’s wins have come after Merlier was impeded in some way – whereas both of Merlier’s saw the powerful Italian forced to settle for second place. The fastest man at the race then, is clearly Merlier. But with a 72 point lead in the green jersey competition with just four stages remaining – the largest gap between first and second since the beginning of the race – Milan is moving ever closer to a bigger prize, in Paris - an outcome which will likely mean a lot more to him.

After a sparkling 2024 Tour, the beleaguered Belgian team came into this year’s race with high hopes of repeating their grand feat of taking the points jersey – and three stage wins – courtesy of Eritrean fast man Biniam Girmay.

A team which looks set not to exist, at least in its current guise, by next year’s edition of the race, it’s sadly been a year to forget for Intermarché in what could be their final Tour de France. Most of their number have been caught up in at least one crash, with Georg Zimmermann forced to abandon after nine stages, and today began with another crash for Louis Barré, who struggled with the after-effects of a crash earlier in the race for several days. 

It also ended in disaster, with Girmay flipping over his bike in the dramatic final kilometre crash and he rolled over the line a few minutes down, nursing his shoulder. Thankfully, he has been declared fit to continue the race. However, his form has not been what it was last year, and while the team have done their best for him, he’s been living in the shadow of Milan and co throughout the race.

After a few days of relative calm on the crash front, stage 17 once again saw multiple riders hit the deck, mostly in the final kilometre (though there were also a couple of isolated incidents prior to that).

The debate rages on over whether there is still a place for pure sprinters at Grand Tours, and for flat stages on the parcours, following vociferous dissent among fans for the placement of a 'boring' stage over a weekend. Though they offer box office finales and uniquely high-octane battles for the line, the inherent dangers beg the question, is it still worth the risk? 

I’m playing devil’s advocate – I enjoy a good, clean sprint a great deal, and think that the sport warrants a variety of specialisms – not to mention the peloton deserving the odd day off in an intense three weeks. Yet with equipment continually improving and riders travelling at ever higher speeds, the safety aspect must be taken into greater consideration when weighing up the pros and cons of bunch sprint finales.