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Tadej Pogačar might be dominating the battle for the overall victory in the 2026 Tour de France, but the race was anything but dull on Wednesday's stage 17 to Voiron as the fight for the green jersey sparked aggressive, entertaining, and tactically thrilling racing.
The Tour de France is a race of many battles, and what played out for the green jersey on the 175-kilometre stage was nothing short of fascinating.
The points competition rules were tweaked this year after Tadej Pogačar's dominance often left him in the thick of the battle for the green jersey competition, and it has made the points battle far more tactical. More points are now available on designated flat stages, and the intermediate sprint is often placed soon after the start of stages.
The changes have sparked a race-long battle between current points classification leader Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and his sprint and baroudeur rivals.
The Dane has worn the green jersey almost every stage since he won in Foix on stage 4, and went into stage 17 with a 31-point lead over Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech).
Pedersen had marked the testing stage from Chambery to Voiron as one he could win through tactics and aggression, and he attacked like mad, finally forcing his way into a large breakaway before winning the intermediate sprint.
However, the Dane was unable to prevent the chase group with Philipsen and teammate Mathieu van der Poel from rejoining before the finish, and after so many attacks, he had no response when Van der Poel surged in the final lead-out. Philipsen scored 50 points for his win and six at the intermediate sprint, while Pedersen's tally stood at 35 - 25 points in the intermediate sprint and 10 at the finish.
After seeing the majority of his advantage vanish, Pedersen was not happy, making it clear that his and the Lidl-Trek tactics could have been far better.
"It is a proper s* day, an expensive day. I'm super disappointed." Pedersen said.
"It's a bad day and a big loss of points. This fight is going to go all the way to Paris."
Pedersen will start the final mountain stages in the green jersey, but after their efforts on stage 17, both Pedersen and Philipsen will struggle to get into any breakaways over the early climbs to contest the intermediate sprints.
On stage 18, the points sprint comes after 129 undulating kilometres including three categorised climbs before the mountain finish at Orcières-Merlette. On stage 19, they'd have to make it over two categorised climbs to reach the sprint at kilometre 89.4 of 127.9 before the finish atop Alpe d'Huez.
The early parts of these stages are reasonable enough, but stage 20's second day to Alpe d'Huez is definitely out of reach with the hors-categorie Col de la Croix de Fer coming before the sprint at kilometre 66.5.
The green jersey is likely to be decided on the Champs-Élysées during Sunday's final stage to Paris, where the intermediate sprint comes after a much easier 71 kilometres, on the third passage of the finish line. Importantly, it is before the three laps of the Montmartre climb and will surely be contested by Pedersen, Philipsen and the other sprinters.
Philipsen is faster in a pure sprint and could arguably be the favourite to win the green jersey. He only has one problem: he has to survive the final mountain stages in the Alps and make it to Paris.
No matter the outcome, the points classification is one prime reason to tune in early to the last four Tour de France stages and watch the mayhem unfold.
UAE and Lidl-Trek battle for the team prize
UAE Team Emirates-XRG have tried to play down their interest in the team classification, insisting the yellow jersey is their primary goal. Isaac del Toro is also racing for the final podium and the best young rider's white jersey. Yet UAE can't hide their desire to win the team prize, adding an extra dimension to the tactics of stage 17 and the whole Tour.
UAE won the team prize in 2024 but were beaten by Visma-Lease a Bike in 2025. Like in Formula 1, UAE want to win the equivalent of an individual pilot's title with Pogačar, and the Constructors' Championship title via the team prize. Team manager Mauro Gianetti knows that most of his sponsors in the UAE and team chairman Matar Suhail Al Yabhouni Al Dhaheri want to stand on the podium in Paris as the best team of the 2026 Tour de France. The best team also takes home a nice prize of €50,000.
That's why UAE have often chased down the breakaways where Mads Pedersen and other Lidl-Trek riders have been present.
The team classification is determined by adding the times of each team's best three riders for each of the stages of the Tour. On stage 17, Lidl-Trek chased the intermediate sprint for Pedersen but also the stage victory. They also put Derek Gee-West in the move to try to gain some time, and it worked.
Lidl-Trek won the stage 17 team prize with Gee-West, Pedersen and Quinn Simmons, while UAE were stuck in the peloton and lost 17:47. Lidl-Trek now lead UAE in the team competition by 18:10.
Is that enough? Perhaps not.
Pogačar is likely to chase further prestigious stage victories on L'Alpe d'Huez and try to help Del Toro finish on the podium. They will try to gain time on Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose, but the third rider on each team will also play a vital role. On the mountain stages, that is likely to be Gee-West of Simmons for Lidl-Trek, and Adam Yates for UAE.
However, the Briton struggled to finish stage 17 due to stomach issues, so Brandon McNulty could become UAE's third and vital rider.
Between now and Paris, watch out for how these riders finish, how much time they gain or lose to each other. Like the fight for the yellow jersey, the green jersey and the team prize are a race inside the race.
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