Jasper Philipsen finally sealed his first win of the 2026 Tour de France after sprinting to victory in what was an chaotic battle on Wednesday's Stage 17.
The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider had finished fifth, fifth, fourth and third twice in the sprint stages with team manager Christoph Roodhooft having called on Philipsen to show more intensity in his finishing.
Former world champion teammate Mathieu van der Poel had set-up a perfect lead-out for Philipsen who did the rest on style to come home ahead of Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) and Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM Team), who had won Stage 13 and Stage 5, respectively.
It came after Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) had blown the race apart with his aggression but the Dane would eventually fade away in the manic bunch sprint and finish in eight place.
Belgium has now secured victory in the last three stages, with Remco Evenepoel having won the previous two, securing Philipsen his 11th Tour win. Countryman Tim Merlier has three stage-wins to his name in this year's race.
“I was in the shape of my life, I think, and, yeah, the first stage, the first 12 days were just horrible, and I couldn't find myself, couldn't find the feeling I was hoping for,” Philipsen said after moving within seven points of green jersey holder Mads Pedersen.
“After 17 stages to take the victory, it's really one for the team that keep on believing in me.”
Race leader Tadej Pogacar was happy to let the sprinters take the spotlight with the UAE Team Emriates-XRG rider maintaining his 4 mins 32 secs advantage over Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
Pogacar's teammate Isaac del Toro remains in third place 6:51 behind the Slovenian, despite a brief scare when the Mexican was dropped in the early part of the day.
There was a major problem for Adam Yates, a key lieutenant for Pogacar in the mountains, who struggled throughout the stage after suffering from a stomach problem the previous night.
The Briton was dropped with around 80km to go and was almost brought to a standstill. Teammate Tim Wellens was eventually asked by the team to drop back and support Yates to the finish line.
With the Belgian's help, Yates managed to finish within the time cut, 26:36 down on Philipsen and some 18 minutes down on the main part of the peloton. The time limit of the day was 39:49.
Meanwhile, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe confirmed that Florian Lipowitz suffered a broken collarbone in his race-ending crash during Tuesday's time-trial.
The German rider was second-fastest at the third time check and nearing the finish when he lost control in a right turn and hit the deck hard. Lipowitz had been fifth in the GC at the start of the day, nearly seven minutes behind Pogacar but just 25 seconds shy of fourth-place Seixas.
“Florian Lipowitz suffered a broken collarbone in his crash during today’s individual time trial at the Tour de France,” the team said in a press release.
“After his outstanding performances and the many memorable moments he delivered over the past two weeks, this marks a bitter and far too early end to his 2026 Tour de France.
“The entire team stands firmly behind Florian and will support him every step of the way. Our full focus is now on his recovery.”
The race returns to the mountains on Thursday, with Stage 18 testing riders with a 185.2km ride from Voiron to Orcieres-Merlette.
Stage 17 results
1. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) 3:41:13
2. Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) ”
3. Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) ”
4. Lewis Askey (NSN Cycling Team) ”
5. Rick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) ”
6. Clément Russo (Groupama-FDJ United) ”
7. Huub Artz (Lotto Intermarche) ”
8. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) ”
9. Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla) ”
10. Aaron Gate (XDS Astana Team) ”
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 60:04:17
2. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4:32
3. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +6:51
4. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) +7:11
5. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) +9:22
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +10.14
7. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) +12:50
8. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) +12:58
9. Jordan Jegat (Totalenergies) +14:04
10. Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling) +24:18
