VOIRON, France (AP) 鈥� Jasper Philipsen capped a fine team performance Wednesday to win stage 17 of the , where defending champion Tadej Poga膷ar protected his overall lead.
Mathieu van der Poel led his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Philipsen to his first stage victory of this Tour by controlling the pace and containing counterattacks through the last kilometers.
Philipsen finished just ahead of Mauro Schmid and Olav Kooij.
The Belgian rider described a 鈥渁 rollercoaster of emotions鈥� after what had been a disappointing Tour for him personally.
鈥淚 prepared very, very well. I was in the shape of my life, I think, and the first stages, the first 12 days were just horrible. I couldn鈥檛 find myself, couldn鈥檛 find the feeling I was hoping for,鈥� said Philipsen, who thanked his team colleagues.
鈥淚 was like an angry bird at the table. I was just disappointed in myself, angry that I couldn鈥檛 take (a) stage win, that I didn鈥檛 find my feeling. And the team, they had to deal with it, not only the riders, the staff. This one is for them to keep on believing,鈥� Philipsen said.
Poga膷ar plays it safe
Poga膷ar, who is chasing a third straight Tour title and fifth overall, maintained his lead of just over 4陆 minutes over Remco Evenepoel, the .
But it was a bad day for Poga膷ar鈥檚 UAE Emirates XRG teammate Adam Yates, who struggled and only made it back within the time limit. The British rider slumped over his handlebars, clearly exhausted.
The race ends Sunday in Paris.
Sprinters鈥� last chance
The relatively flat 174.7-kilometer (108.5-mile) route from Chambery to Voiron was the last favorable stage for sprinters before the Tour takes to the Alps, and it led to a day of attempted breakaways with many riders vying to put themselves in contention.
Van der Poel was among the leaders after C么te de Saint-Jean d鈥橝rvey, the last significant climb, and they were joined by others before Yates鈥� problems began in the peloton.
Mads Pedersen was next to attack the leaders with 65 kilometers remaining, and the green jersey-holder invigorated the group when he joined them.
More sprinters broke away, swelling the group to 30 riders, before Pedersen, Ben Healy, Michal Kwiatkowski, Felix Engelhardt, Ed Planckaert and Jasper Stuyven struck out 57 kilometers from the finish.
Stuyven attacked on his own 26 kilometers from the line, leaving his five former co-leaders to chase or wait for the main bunch. They were caught. The only question was whether the 34-year-old Stuyven had the stamina to claim his first Tour stage win.
The Belgian rider was caught with less than 4 kilometers remaining, and Van der Poel did the rest for Philipsen.
Race for green jersey heats up
Philipsen’s stage win moved him just behind Pedersen in the contest for the green jersey awarded to the rider with the most points.
With four stages remaining, Pedersen of Lidl-Trek had 452 points, followed by Philipsen on 445. was next with 361 points.
Doping test concerns
Cycling鈥檚 governing body, the UCI, responded to criticism of unannounced anti-doping controls after Poga膷ar and his main rival Jonas Vingegaard were woken in the early hours of Sunday for .
Vingegaard subsequently crashed during Sunday鈥檚 stage and had to .
The UCI said it acknowledged the night-time testing 鈥渃an disrupt riders鈥� rest and recovery鈥� and said it remained an exceptional measure.
鈥淲hile fully aware of how onerous such a measure is for riders, the UCI nevertheless underscores that these controls serve an overriding interest: the fight against doping,鈥� the body said in a statement.
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