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United News of India
a day ago
- Sport
- United News of India
Tour de France: Jonathan Milan wins Stage 17
Paris, July 24 (UNI) Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) won a chaotic Stage 17 of the Tour de France, pipping Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) in a rain-soaked finale in Valence. With Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) closing in on Milan in the race for the green jersey, Milan's team was determined to ensure the stage would finish in a bunch sprint and maximise the Italian's points haul. The Tour de France 2025 moves into Stage 18: Vif – Courchevel Col de la Loze. Catch the live action as the riders tackle this decisive stretch, LIVE on EUROSPORT and EUROSPORT HD from 19:00 hrs (7:00 PM IST) onwards on Thursday, 24th July 2025. Although not what Milan would have wanted, that task was made easier by a crash that occurred beneath the flamme rouge banner, with a kilometre to go. Only the front ten riders were completely unaffected, with most of the rest of the bunch impeded by a wall of bodies and bikes. They included the rider most expected to challenge Milan for the stage, Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), who stayed upright but was forced to slow to a standstill and was unable to contest the final sprint. It all came at the end of a short, somewhat punchy stage that wasn't even guaranteed to finish in a bunch sprint. That it did was almost entirely down to the efforts of Milan's Lidl-Trek team-mates throughout the stage. Their first task was to restrict the size and make-up of the breakaway. Narrow roads out of Bollene made that an easier one. Once four riders had disappeared up the road, a wall of riders mostly wearing red, yellow and blue appeared at the front, slowing the bunch down and repressing any further efforts to make the jump. Kasper Asgreen (EF Education EasyPost) was the most apparently keen of those who had missed out, but the Danish rider was put in a box and prevented from finding a way through. By the time Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadier) was able to bust out it was too little too late. The Frenchman spent about 20km with his nose in the wind before being reabsorbed into the peloton. It was soon clear that Vincenze Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost), Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Energies) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) were going to be allowed the most limited of leads. Although they worked hard and cooperated well, for most of the afternoon, they were about as invisible as a break could be. Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) was charged with keeping the gap below three minutes, and mostly much less. The first of two 4th category climbs was when Milan and Lidl-Trek found themselves most under pressure. Ineos Grenadiers and Movistar looked to increase the pace with Milan and Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) two of the biggest names cut adrift from the peloton. They could have been permanently distanced had Alpecin-Deceuninck, among other teams, realised sooner that they were the main beneficiaries and been quick enough to take advantage. Although Kaden Groves' team-mates did eventually come to the front, it was not soon enough to prevent Milan and Merlier from making it back to the front. Once they had, Lidl-Trek retook charge over the peloton and gradually worked to bring the break back at the time of their choosing. The arrival of heavy rain made that a more stressful responsibility but one Jasper Stuyven and Tom Skujins were ideally suited to. Between them they kept Milan close enough to the front to avoid being impacted by any crashes, made more likely by the conditions. When a big accident occurred, directly under the flamme rouge banner with 1km to go, he not only avoided it entirely but later said he was unaware it had even happened. Only ten other riders escaped the incident. They did not include double-stage winner Merlier, or last year's green jersey, Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty.) UNI RKM
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Tour de France prankster who invaded track LAID OUT in enormous crash after being tackled by police
POLICE and security were forced to tackle a 'prankster' who invaded the track at the Tour de France, just moments before the stage's conclusion. The end of stage 17 almost ended in calamity when a spectator leapt over the boardings with his bike and tried to ride across the finish line. 11 An individual dressed in cycling gear broke on to the Tour de France track during stage 17 Credit: AP 11 Security and staff tried to knock the man off his bike by the finish line Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 11 A police officer was eventually able to tackle him Credit: AFP 11 The man and officer both fell to the ground Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 11 The 'prankster' appeared to be injured Credit: AP 11 He was dragged off the road to avoid calamity with the race following close behind Credit: AP The unknown individual was dressed in full gear so as to look like a team rider, but was immediately spotted by onlookers. The man was wearing a Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale jersey. Images released of the incident show that the man managed to cross the finish line before he was tackled by a police offer and fell off his bike and to the ground. He was then quickly removed from the track in order to clear a pathway for the fast-approaching leaders who were due to follow soon after. READ MORE CYCLING NEWS SunSport have contacted the Tour de France for comment. It's not the first time that there have been issues on the track at this year's Tour either. Security had to leap in front of a pro-Palestine protestor who had made their way onto the track during stage 11 of the race. The track-invader sprinted down the race course with his hands in the air just 25 metres from the finish line of the stage last Wednesday, with riders cycling past as it happened. Most read in Cycling 11 A pro-palestine protestor interrupted stage 11 of the Tour de France Credit: Reuters 11 The protestor was slammed into the boardings Credit: Tiktok/@laurab974.___ CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS The protestor was wearing a t-shirt that read: "Israel out of the Tour." He also held a keffiyeh, a black-and-white checkered headdress and pro-Palestine symbol. Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos team car CRASHES into fan and sends them flying in air in shocking scenes at Tour de France The individual was tackled, thrust against the boardings and hauled off the road by security. Other fan incidents at this year's Tour de France have included an Fortunately today's incident didn't cause any crashes. However, pouring rain in the final 30km of the 60.4km stage from Bollene to Valence did cause a crash of its own. With just 1km left to go a mass crash took out Tim Merlier and Biniam Girmay, opening the door for Jonathan Milan to claim his second stage victory of this year's Tour. Speaking after the win, Milan said: "This is a really fantastic team victory and I have to thank them from the bottom of my heart. "I survived with the help of my team-mates. Without this, I would not be here. They delivered me in the best position [for the finish]." 11 An Ineos car hit a spectator during stage 14 of the tour Credit: X 11 Jonathan Milan was the winner of Stage 17 Credit: Getty 11 He wound up victorious following a mass crash within 1km of the finish line Credit: AFP
CTV News
2 days ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Italian sprinter Milan powers to 17th stage win at Tour de France, Pogačar maintains lead
Italy's Jonathan Milan celebrates after winning the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race in Valence, France, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (Dario Belingheri, Pool Photo via AP) VALENCE, France — Sprint specialist Jonathan Milan pounced at the finish to win the 17th stage of the Tour de France after a crash in the last kilometer derailed rivals' hopes on Wednesday. Italian rider Milan, the green jersey holder, consolidated his lead in the points classification with an explosive finish to get his wheel just over the line ahead of Jordi Meeus, Tobias Lund Andresen, Arnaud De Lie, Davide Ballerini and others in a rain-soaked sprint finale. It's Milan's second stage win of the Tour after his victory in similar fashion in Laval on Saturday. But it was arguably more dramatic with rival sprinter Tim Merlier and others involved in a crash under the 'flamme rouge' — the triangular red banner over the road signaling the final kilometer. 'The last 25 kilometers were really, really, fast,' said Merlier, who finished 25th, more than a minute behind. 'I think I did a mistake. I took one roundabout on the wrong side and I lost a lot of positions. And then I knew I needed to move up. The moment I wanted to move up, I crashed.' Milan was in trouble earlier in the stage when the peloton split into two groups, finding himself in the second one. He had Lidl-Trek teammates Quinn Simmons and Jasper Stuyven to thank for dropping back to help. 'I didn't survive alone, I survived with the help of my teammates and I have to appreciate this. Without them, I would still be on one of the climbs, I wouldn't be here,' said Milan, who clocked 71.1 km/h and is the first Italian to win two stages in the same Tour since Vincenzo Nibali in 2014. There was no change atop the overall standings with three-time Tour champion Tadej Pogačar maintaining his lead of 4 minutes, 15 seconds over main rival Jonas Vingegaard. Milan stretched his lead in the points standings to 312, with Pogačar next on 240. Ottawa's Michael Woods finished 139th in Wednesday's stage and dropped two spots to 51st overall, two hours seven minutes 44 seconds behind Pogačar. Guillaume Boivin of Longueuil, Que., Woods's Israel-Premier Tech teammate, was 126th on Wednesday and moved up two spots to 152nd overall, 4:05:10 off the pace. There were attacks from the start Wednesday with Jonas Abrahamsen, Wout van Aert and others all agitating to get away on the largely flat 160.4-kilometer route from Bollène. Four – Abrahamsen, Vincenzo Albanese, Quentin Pacher and Mathieu Burgaudeau – managed to escape and led for most of the stage. Abrahamsen, who won Stage 11 after Pogačar crashed near the finish last week, went on his own with 11.5 kilometers to go, But the gap was getting smaller and smaller as Tim Wellens drove the bunch, followed by UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates Pavel Sivakov and Pogačar. Abrahamsen was swallowed up by the bunch inside the 5-kilometer sprint finish. He dropped back and received an encouraging pat on the back from a teammate. Thursday's stage The fun's over for the sprinters as the Tour heads to the Alps with Stage 18 taking the riders 171.1 kilometers from Vif to a mountain-top finish on the 2,304-meter Col de la Loze above Courchevel. It's arguably the toughest stage of the Tour with 5,500 meters of vertical gain including the 1,914-meter Col du Glandon. Then there's a 19.2-kilometer climb at 7.9% to the Col de la Madeleine, where the riders will reach 2,000 meters for the first time. It won't be the last time on Thursday, which could provide another opportunity for Vingegaard to test Pogačar. ___ More Tour de France coverage: The Associated Press
NBC Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Merlier 'disappointed' about 'lost opportunity'
Belgian cyclist Tim Merlier talks about the nasty crash that took place during the wet final moments of Stage 17 of the Tour de France, reflecting on what went wrong and why it was a difficult blow for the sprinter.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Milan wins Tour stage 17 in sprint finish
Jonathan Milan claimed his second victory of this year's Tour de France by winning a sprint finish on stage 17.A bunch finish was expected on the 160.4km stage from Bollene to Valence and with 4km remaining, the peloton caught the final rider from a four-man was pouring for the final 30km and Milan's sprint rivals Tim Merlier and Biniam Girmay were involved in a crash just inside the final then proved too strong for Jordi Meeus, to strengthen his grip on the green jersey for points classification leader. More to follow.
