Tour de France 2022 stage 17 preview: Route map and profile of road to Peyragudes today

The 2022 Tour de France continues it’s run through the Pyrenees with a short yet brutal 129.7km route over the mountains from Saint-Gaudens to Peyragudes on stage 17.

Yesterday’s stage 16 was a poignant win for Hugo Houle, who dedicated victory to brother who was killed by a drunk driver in 2012. Houle made winning a stage victory of the Tour de France – the race he and his brother used to love watching together growing up in Canada – his primary career goal and dedicated the past 10 years to that single moment.

Today’s stage is expected to last under four hours and these shorter stages tend to encourage more attacks, especially from the stronger climbers and general classification riders – race organisers hope to see a real showdown between the big stars at the finish.

The categorised climbs culminate atop Peyragudes which could potentially host a battle for crucial yellow jersey seconds at the finish with the likes of Tadej Pogacar, Geraint Thomas and Jonas Vingegaard all determined to lay down a historic stage victory.

The route is almost never flat, with a gradual incline towards an early intermediate sprint at 33km where the man in the green jersey, Wout van Aert, doesn’t need any more points but might race up the road to collect them all the same. From an advanced position he could offer the man in yellow, teammate Jonas Vingegaard, support later in the day on the fastest technical descents.

After the sprint the road tilts up gradually further to the base of the category one Col d’Aspin (12km length, 6.5% gradient), a familiar Tour de France climb which will drain any weary legs and no doubt whittle down the peloton.

A short downhill stretch over the top leads straight into the category two Hourquette d’Ancizan (8.2km, 5.1%), before a long descent towards the day’s penultimate climb, the category one Col de Val Louron-Azet (10.7km, 6.8%).

By this point, on a hot day with three tough climbs completed, there may only be a few hardy souls left able to stick it with the lead group as they approach Peyragudes. The ascent to the finish is another category one road, an 8km drag at 7.8% where whoever wins the stage will be very worthy of doing so.

Reigning champion Pogacar has tried to attack over the past few stages to no avail, and knows he is running out of opportunities to earn back the two and a half minutes he need to win a third successive Tour de France. Vingegaard and his Jumbo-Visma teammates will be ready for another assault from the Slovenian, particularly down the ascents where Pogacar will thrown caution to the wind, and Vingegaard’s job will be difficult but very clear: to not let Pogacar out of his sight.

Stage 17 profile

Stage 17 map

Stage 17 start time

The stage is scheduled to start at around 12:30pm BST with the expected finish at around 4:00pm BST.

How to watch on TV and online today

Tour de France coverage can be found this year on ITV4, Eurosport, Discovery+ and GCN+ (Global Cycling Network).

Live racing each day will be shown on ITV4 before highlights typically at 7pm each day. ITV’s website lists timings here.

Eurosport and GCN+ will show every minute of every stage. More on Eurosport’s coverage here and the GCN+ coverage here.

It is also being shown on Eurosport’s Discovery+ streaming service, with broadcast info here.

General Classification after Stage 16

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo Visma 64h 28min 09sec

2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates +2min 22sec

3. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers +2:43

4. Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkéa-Samsic +4:15

5. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ +4:24

6. Adam Yates (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers +5:28

7. Louis Meintjes (Rsa) Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux +5:46

8. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe +6:18

9. Romain Bardet (Fra) DSM +6.37

10. Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers +10:11