Tour de France: Felix Gall's day of glory, Tadej Pogacar's bankruptcy... Our Tops/Flops after the 17th stage

Special envoy to Courchevel

TOPS

Junior world champion in 2015, Felix Gall offered himself the most prestigious victory of his career at the age of 25 in the queen stage of the Tour de France 2023. A masterful blow for the designated leader of the AG2R-Citroën team at the Giro from Italy where he had only signed a disappointing 50th place. It offers Vincent Lavenu's team another victory, a year after Bob Jungels' success in the 9th stage. The tricolor formations have therefore hung three stage victories in the 2023 edition of the Grande Boucle while there are still four days left before the arrival on the Champs-Elysées.

Untouchable Danes. The day after his show of force in the time trial between Passy and Combloux, the yellow jersey drove home the point by accelerating five kilometers from the finish, accompanied by Tiesj Benoot before setting off alone to attack Felix Gall. An attack probably too late to get a second victory in a row. No matter, with a lead from Tadej Pogacar in the general classification (7'35), the Scandinavian will finish the Tour de France in an armchair to afford a resounding double.

The Tour de France visited the Col de la Loze for the second time in its history, three years after a first passage and a magnificent pass of arms between Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar for the yellow jersey. The Grande Boucle will be able to take out a subscription to include this vertiginous climb (28.1 km) in its program again. A majestic setting, an unusual finale on a narrow road reserved for bicycles. The Col de la Loze already deserves a good place among the mythical climbs of the event.

FLOPS

Until about fifteen kilometers from the finish, the Groupama-FDJ team had achieved the perfect stage by placing its three best riders David Gaudu, Valentin Madouas and Tibaut Pinot in the breakaways. But stage victory hopes went up in smoke as the pace picked up. In the space of a few handfuls of seconds, the three Frenchmen in turn let go. David Gaudu certainly saves the honor by finishing in a very honorable 5th place which allows him to consolidate his 10th place but the victory has once again eluded the French team.

Tuesday evening, after losing 1'38'' to Jonas Vingegaard in the time trial towards Combloux, the Slovenian had promised to attack to maintain the suspense until Paris. Victim of a fall at the start of the stage, injured in the elbow but also in the left knee, the double winner of the Tour de France exploded in the climb of the Col de la Loze, losing at the top almost six minutes on his great rival (7 '37 compared to Felix Gall). Like three years ago, Pogacar suffered in the ruthless climb of the Col de la Loze.

The following motorcycles of the Tour de France had already been at the origin of a controversy in the climb of the Col de la Joux Plane by blocking the attack of Tadej Pogacar in front of Vingegaard. This Wednesday, Jonas Vingegaard paid the price for a new incident involving a motorcycle stopped in a hairpin after stalling in front of an organization car. A misadventure which lost precious seconds to the Dane who was, in any case, unable to get the stage winner on a regular basis.