2023-07-19 18:24:00
Austrian Felix Gall won the queen stage on Wednesday, while Jonas Vingegaard, the yellow jersey, almost secured the final victory.
by MI with AFP Felix Gall won the 17th stage of the Tour de France. © ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP Published on 07/19/2023 at 6:24 p.m.
“I gave up, I died. Tadej Pogacar, second in the general classification, had promised at the end of the time trial that the Tour de France was not over… But a terrible failure in the Col de la Loze, during the stage of the day, Wednesday, undermined all his determination. On the rise, he let go that he couldn’t take it anymore during a radio conversation with his sports directors. Bad news that benefits Jonas Vingegaard. The yellow jersey is now 7 minutes and 35 seconds ahead of Pogacar before arriving on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday July 23. Suffice to say that, barring an accident, Vingegaard will win his second Tour de France in a row.
This queen stage was however won by the Austrian Felix Gall. This is the greatest success of his career, only the second after his stage victory in the Tour de Suisse in June where he made a very strong impression. Arrived on the Tour in a role of teammate, the 25-year-old Austrian was propelled leader of the AG2R-Citroën team along the way in place of Ben O’Connor, too fair. After having accompanied him in the breakaway of the day on Wednesday, he put himself at the service of Gall whom he ideally launched into the vertiginous ramps of Loze, the roof of this 110th edition.
READ ALSOPerformances of Vingegaard on the Tour de France: “We always have a little doubt” Note that Pogacar still remains second overall behind Vingegaard and that he will have to draw on his last strength to maintain his place as runner-up. Especially since, behind him, Adam Yates is not so far away. He is only 3 minutes and 10 seconds behind him. And since Pogacar is exhausted, he lost more than 5 minutes on Vingegaard this Wednesday…, the danger of losing a place in the general standings is very present.
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