Tour de France: Carapaz takes maiden stage win as Pogacar makes rivals suffer

UAE Team Emirates rider stays clear in overall lead with just four stages remaining

UAE Team Emirates' Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, cycles ahead of Team Visma - Lease a Bike team's Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard. AFP

The pack speeds downhill during the 17th stage of the Tour de France. AP

Ecuador's Richard Carapaz celebrates after winning the 17th stage of the Tour de France. AP

Team Visma - Lease a Bike team's French rider Christophe Laporte cycles ahead of UAE Team Emirates' Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar. AFP

Ecuadorian rider Richard Carapaz leads the stage. EPA

Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates celebrates in the overall leader's yellow jersey. EPA

Richard Carapaz beat Simon Yates to victory on stage 17 of the Tour de France on Wednesday in SuperDevoluy as race leader Tadej Pogacar heaped more pressure on closest rival Jonas Vingegaard in the fight for overall victory.

Carapaz pulled away from Yates on the Col du Noyer, the penultimate climb of the 178km stage from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux, and extended his lead on the road up to the finish to win by 37 seconds.

As the breakaway clinched a rare success on this Tour, UAE Team Emirates rider Pogacar again took the initiative in the general classification battle several minutes further back as he attacked near the top of the Noyer.

Vingegaard could not react, and although he and Remco Evenepoel got back to Pogacar on the descent, the Dane had no response to an attack from Evenepoel on the final climb. Evenepoel took 12 seconds out of Vingegaard’s advantage in second place – and lost two more to Pogacar on the line.

The gaps might have been small, but it was another impressive show of strength from Pogacar with only four stages left. The Slovenian’s lead over the defending champion stands at three minutes and 11 seconds, with Evenepoel five minutes and nine seconds down in third.

“It was a bit of a stretch of the legs before the final climb, it was a nice day,” Pogacar said. “I don’t know even myself why I try but yeah, I got two seconds ahead of Jonas and I’m happy with that.

“Remco did a super good attack in the final but Visma did super great team work today. If Jonas didn’t have any guys in front I think Remco and me could put maybe even more pressure on Jonas and maybe it would be a different outcome.”

Like Carapaz, Pogacar waited for the big gradients near the top of the Noyer to make his move. Vingegaard and Evenepoel tried to respond but there was a shake of the head from the former as gaps began to open.

It was another sign of distress from Vingegaard, and when Evenepoel pushed again on the final climb, it was damage limitation for the Dane.

This day had been tipped for a breakaway, although it was not until midway through that any major moves were made. Carapaz and Yates charged clear on the early slopes of the Noyer, with Carapaz the one to chase after Yates broke clear.

The Olympic champion then attacked 1.8km from the top of the climb on his way to a first career Tour stage win, and one that completes his set in the Grand Tours.

Yates, who took both of his two Tour stage wins to date in 2019, admitted he had emptied the tank too early.

“It was not an easy stage with the crosswinds at the start and a lot of jumping around on the flat roads,” he said. “It was not easy for me to be there but I did my best.

“I was running out of legs by the end but chapeau to Richie, he’s done a great ride. It’s all I could do.”

After his worrying crash on Tuesday, Biniam Girmay looked strong as he picked up a point on Jasper Philipsen in the intermediate sprint, giving him a 33-point lead in the battle for the green jersey.

Stage 17 results

1 Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-Easy Post) 4hrs 6mins 13secs

2 Simon Yates (GB/Jayco Alula) + 37secs

3 Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) + 57secs

4 Laurens de Plus (Bel/Ineon Grenadiers) +1min 44secs

5 Oscar Onley (GB/DSM-Firmenich Post NL) Same time

General classification

1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 70hrs 21mins 27secs

2 Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +3mins 11secs

3 Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal- Quick Step) +5:09

4 Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +12:57

5 Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick Step) +13:24