Tadig Bojjar (UAE Team Emirates) saved his last blast in the 100m and won the third stage of this year’s Tour de France at the summit of Pyragodes. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) couldn’t match the acceleration and finished off his opponent’s wheel a second time.
Bogar’s teammate Brendan McNulty finished third on stage 17. His sharp speed tore the peloton to shreds after the penultimate climb of Val Lorone-Azette.
The barbaric confrontation came between the Emirati duo of the Emirates team versus the captain of the Jumbo-Visma GC team. Vingegaard’s only reluctance to sprint came to the line, as he could not move around his opponent. Vingegaard stuck firmly to the top of the race and lost just a few seconds to his main rival, Pogačar now 2:18 again.
Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) held his composure on Stage 17, finishing fourth, holding third overall, and now 4:56 behind the leader.
Roman Bardet (Team DSM) seemed to struggle during the climb but managed to only lead four seconds behind fifth-placed Alexei Lutsenko (Astana Kazakhstan) at the top end, and with his lead, Bardet went from ninth to sixth overall, 9:21 times . Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) finished the stage in the top ten to retain their fourth and fifth positions respectively in the GC. Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) is down three places in the overall standings, now ninth, and teammate Tom Bedcock slipped out of the top 10.
After the leaders crossed the finish line, more than 125 riders scattered across the fourth mountain climb on the 11-kilometer day, looking to beat the nearly 37-minute time limit of Bogar’s winning time.
Bogar eventually said about riding with only three of his teammates on Stage 17. “Winning the stage is really incredible. We can all be proud because without Rafale, George and Soler we can’t try more.” Which I won today, tomorrow is another day to look forward to.
“I really gave everything. I know I need to win, there is no other way. I gave everything to the team. I was very happy. Not only Brandon, but Mikel and Hershey. Mikel rode like a climber today. He set a good rhythm on the climb, he was Unbelievable. I felt so good at this pace, I felt confident and I know he felt confident too. Brandon did a great job, he was really good today – he’s been good every round except for a special mention that goes to him.”
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