The flat 17th stage ended in Valence as expected with a sprint, and Jonathan Milan (Lidl Trek) was the strongest for the second time in the 112th Tour. Tadej, along with his teammates from the UAE Team Emirates – XRG, fortunately avoided a mass crash a kilometer before the finish in rainy weather.
»It might have seemed calm, but the day was still hard. Due to bad weather and visibility, it was very hectic. I’m glad we stayed safe and got through the stage well, I’m looking forward to the coming days,« Tadej said at the finish, where he donned the yellow leader’s jersey for the 10th time this year and the 50th time in his career on the Tour.
»Not a bad statistic,« he briefly replied when asked what this achievement means to him. He is currently focused only on wearing the yellow jersey in Paris on Sunday and thus winning his fourth Tour. However, two challenging alpine tests await him. Tomorrow is the queen 18th stage with 5,450 meters of elevation and three hors-category climbs – Col du Glandon, Col de la Madeleine, and Col de la Loze, which at 2304 meters above sea level is the highest point of the Tour this year.
On this climb in 2023, he ran into trouble and fell more than five minutes behind Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike), who that day confirmed his second overall victory on the Tour. »Tomorrow is the queen stage of the Tour, I am really looking forward to it, I hope to have good legs and to take revenge on my own legs from two years ago. This is one of the stages I like, and also one of the decisive tests of the Tour,« said Tadej.
He leads the overall standings with a 4:15 advantage over Vingegaard. Third-placed Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) is 7:53 behind the yellow jersey. Tadej mainly expects attacks from Vingegaard’s Dutch team.
»I hope they will push the stage, join the breakaways, and increase the pace on the first two climbs. On Col de la Loze, they will surely go all out. I will wait for them, I will be ready,« Tadej said before one of the decisive battles of this year’s Tour, which will likely be marked by rain and cold.
»The bad weather is here, and it will be similar in the coming days. Usually, I preferred cooler weather, but as I get older, I prefer sunshine,« added Tadej. When asked if the weather will be more Slovenian or Danish, he replied: »Both, we’ll see how it unfolds.«