Tour de France 2025 - Stage 17: Voigt's preview: Last sprint chance of this Tour

Stage 17 | Wednesday, 23 July 2025 | Bollène - Valence | 160.4 kilometres | 1650 vertical metres

Jens Voigt's assessment of the 17th stage

From Bollène to Valence, the peloton largely heads northwards through the Rhone Valley, which is not only known for its wines, but also for the Mistral. This wind almost always blows southwards - downstream along the Rhone towards the Mediterranean coast. For the racers, this means that they will probably have a headwind for most of the day. The pace will therefore be rather slow - and many will be pleased that the route is only 161 kilometres long. The mountain classifications are around 87 kilometres and 40 kilometres before the finish - the sprinters should have no problem staying in the race for the stage win here. And they will also be particularly determined for a good reason: they know that today will almost certainly be the last chance for a big sprint finish in this Tour.

Over the next few days, there will be tough stages in the Alps and the Jura, where the strong, fast men will have nothing to gain. I think the teams of the remaining sprinters in the race will therefore organise a kind of collaboration, i.e. several teams will each send a rider to the front early on in order to control the obligatory breakaway group and maintain the chance of the stage win in Valence. The changes of direction in the Rhone valley, 90 degrees to the expected wind direction, mean that there is a risk of being taken on the edge of the wind. The finish to Valence will therefore be extra exciting!

Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of the 17th stage of the Tour de France 2025

• Neutral start: 13:35, sharp start 13:50
• Estimated arrival time: between 17:10 and 17:29
• TV broadcast: ARD 14:10-17:20, Eurosport 1 13:15-17:15
• Live stream: sportschau.de, Discovery Plus (fee required)
• All stages of the Tour de France 2025 at a glance

Highlights of the 17th stage

• 15:50: In addition to two mountain classifications of the 4th category, longer crossings in the Rhone valley are the challenges of the day due to the possible strong crosswinds.
• 17:00: Approach to the finale in Valence: preparation for a bunch sprint or possible breakaway victory? Strong crosswinds threaten in the finale too!

TOUR expert Jens Voigt

Nobody in the German-speaking world knows the Tour de France better: Jens Voigt competed in the most important cycling race as a professional a total of 17 times between 1998 and 2014. Only the Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel, the current record holder, has managed one more participation. Voigt knows the race from the perspective of the winner and the tireless helper in the team. He won two stages himself and wore the yellow jersey for one day each in 2001 and 2005. In 2010, as a team-mate in Team Saxo Bank, he accompanied Luxembourg's Andy Schleck to his overall victory (after the doping disqualification of Alberto Contador, who initially came first; editor's note). The 53-year-old Berliner currently works as a brand ambassador for the bike manufacturer Trek and as a pundit for the Eurosport channel.

For TOUR readers, the former pro gives his predictions for the course of the 21 stages, points out difficulties and things worth seeing. For each day's stage, he gives a tip on what role the course could play in the final standings in the individual classifications in Paris. If three of the jerseys are coloured, this means that this day could be decisive for this classification - i.e. overall classification (yellow), sprint/points classification (green) and classification of the best climber (red dotted jersey). We also give you the broadcast times of the TV channels in Germany (ARD and Eurosport) and their live streams - plus tips on when it might be particularly worth tuning in.