Tour de France - Stage 17 Predictions & Betting tips - International

Prediction published on 21/07/2026, 14:55  by Matthew Newman | Modified on 22/07/2026 at 11:40

There are four categorised climbs in the first 60km of Stage 17 and then a few lumps and bumps across the other 110km but nothing too severe. This looks a stage for a strong sprinting type to get away and it could be Mads Pedersen who wins in his race to retain the green jersey.

There have been a couple of relatively similar stages to this which have been hard enough for the proper sprinters, so have gone to the classic riders, with Pedersen taking one and Mathieu van der Poel the other.

That pair are probably the two to concentrate on here. Pedersen won the slightly easier of the two stages in terms of climbing and van der Poel the harder one. This is more akin to the easier, so Pedersen is marginally the choice between that pair. 

He will have the likes of Quinn Simmons as his lieutenant here as he was on the stage into Foix, Simmons chasing him home in second on that occasion. The powerful American is a massive weapon for Pedersen.

With all the climbing coming up early, it could be that one of the stronger sprinters could make it over close enough to a break for their team to control things from the front of the peloton. If that is the case then Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay have to come into the reckoning.