Jonathan Milan wins his second stage in Tour de France 2025 and secures his green jersey

Transition day before the arrival of the Alps except for Jonathan Milan who started the day with the sword of Damocles hanging over his head. Today the Italian was obliged to achieve the maximum possible points if he wanted to have a chance to defend the green jersey against a Tadej Pogacar who is lurking in this classification. The Lidl-Trek rider did not fail and managed to impose himself in a chaotic sprint.

The calm before the alpine storm of the Tour de France is resolved in a sprint for Jonathan Milan

A broken stage but with a much friendlier profile than what has been the trend in this Tour de France in stage 17 that ran between Bollene and Valence over 160 kilometers. Hilly terrain but the last opportunity that the sprinters would probably have.

This meant that, although the breakaway was formed early on, with a quartet made up of Albanese, Quentin Pacher, Burgaudeau, and Jonas Abrahamsen, a group that was quickly let go by the peloton with Lidl-Trek blocking the road. This meant sacrificing part of the intermediate sprint points but, in return, it saved them from having to control a fierce battle for tens of kilometers.

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Injuries kept to a minimum, no equipment needed, and done in no time

Nevertheless, at the Intermediate Sprint, located at kilometer 48 of the stage, Jonathan Milan managed to pass in fifth place, which meant a good dose of points for him.

INEOS Grenadiers would try to stir up the race on the first of the two fourth-category climbs that they had to ascend in this stage, leaving the breakaway within reach and also cutting off Jonathan Milan. Attacks would return to the peloton with Iván Romeo determined not to leave empty-handed in his debut Tour de France, but none of them counted on Quinn Simmons who put on his work clothes to dry up any attempts and defend the interests of his sprinter.

On the other side of the climb, calm returned to the group and Jonathan Milan could breathe easy after managing to rejoin the group. A calmness that gave some breathing room to the breakaway, although this time without a very large time gap.

In the second of the climbs, Wout van Aert would try to bridge the gap to the breakaway with more heart than legs, but he would end up surrendering just as an intense downpour began to fall on the peloton, making the final stretch very difficult.

Trying to seek heroics, Jonas Abrahamsen attacked his breakaway companions with 11 kilometers to go, but at that point, his advantage was a meager 20 seconds, so despite his abilities as a rouleur, he was caught with less than 5 kilometers to go.

Here began a true survival game in a fast-moving peloton that had to navigate a series of roundabouts with completely wet pavement, and as predicted, just as they passed the one-kilometer banner, a sharpener caused a crash at the front of the group. The worst affected was Biniam Girmay who took a good hit to the shoulder. Tim Merlier managed to avoid it but lost the wheel completely, and the same happened to Kaden Groves who was already a few positions behind.

Not Jonathan Milan, without teammates at this point, but who showed his skill and positioning ability to enter the last few hundred meters behind Ballerini and Jordi Meeus. The Italian accelerated at the front and, before anyone else launched, Milan anticipated by overtaking Meeus with strength. Although the Belgian managed to find his legs to start a comeback, he didn't have enough space left, so the Lidl-Trek rider managed to win relatively easily and achieved, in addition to his second stage victory in this Tour de France, those coveted points that allow him to breathe easy in his quest for the green jersey. A classification in which he now leads Tadej Pogacar by 72 points.

Stage 17 Classification

1. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) 3h25'30''
2. Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +00''
3. Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic-PostNL) +00''
4. Arnaud de Lie (Lotto) +00''
5. Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana) +00''
6. Alberto Dainese (Tudor) +00''
7. Paul Penhoet (Groupama-FDJ) +00''
8. Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS-Astana)+00''
9. Clement Russo (Groupama-FDJ) +06''
10. Jasper Stuyven +09''

General Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 61h50'16''
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4'15''
3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +9'03''
4. Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL) +11'04''
5. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +11'42''
6. Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +13'20''
7. Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +14'50''
8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +17'01''
9. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) +17'52''
10. Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) +20'45''