In a dramatic day, the Austrian Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën Team) won stage 17 of the 2023 Tour de France between Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc and Courchevel after covering 165.7 kilometres. Gall was the strongest of the day’s breakaway and then held on well to take a big win.
The winner prevailed alone after attacking his breakaway companions in the final hard climb, finishing ahead of the British Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) and the Spanish Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious), second and third respectively.
“I don’t know what to say. First I want to thank the whole team for all the hard work they have done to make this possible. The whole year has been fantastic, and now doing so well in the Tour de France and winning the queen stage is incredible,” Gall said, in statements collected by the organization.
The 25-year-old Austrian cyclist, who arrived in good shape after winning the queen stage in the 2023 Tour of Switzerland, showed his great conditions as a climber to take a victory that he will remember forever.
“A great tour is not easy at all, and even more so when you have to assume the role of leader for the general classification of your team after a few days. Little by little we were changing my role and that stressed me a bit. However, in recent days I have been feeling more and more comfortable in it”, added the European rider.
In the end, Gall expressed his happiness after a fulfilled dream. “I felt good all day, but I didn’t think the breakaway could do it. The stage was so tough that I tried to get ahead of the favorites at the Col de la Loze. When I crossed the finish line, not much went through my mind, just gratitude. I won’t say it’s a childhood dream of mine to win a Tour stage, but a year and a half ago I could never have imagined it,” Gall concluded.
In the battle for the general classification, given the collapse of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) on the last ascent, Jonas Vingegard (Jumbo-Visma) did everything possible to seal the race and finally succeeded, after the help of his teammates and his attack at the end.
Regarding the classification, the Danish Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), solidified his leadership in the race, increasing the differences with his closest rivals. Second is the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates), but now more than 7 minutes behind the leader.
This Thursday stage 18 of the French round will take place, starting in Moûtiers and ending in Bourg-en-Bresse, over a route of 184.9 kilometers on flat terrain, which includes two fourth-category ascents.
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico