Adam Yates of Mitchelton-Scott won the finale of stage 17 of the Tour de France, the Col de la Rose, with Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez winning and Jumbo Visma's Primoz Roglic's Tadei Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) time, and retained the overall lead.

"It was a tough day, one of the first climbs with altitude," Yates said of the 2304-meter-high Col de la Rose (the highest point of the competition). I held on as long as I could, so I have to be satisfied."

"Once we got into the last 7km section, the first bit was pretty easy. I think everyone was saving because we didn't know what was going to happen."

"UAE Team Emirates then started running at a really hard pace. From then on it was every single person running for themselves. [Trek-Segafredo's Richie Porte passed Yates to move up to fourth overall, while EF Pro Cycling's Rigoberto Urán dropped from fourth to sixth.

As a result, Yates remains in fifth place, nine seconds behind Porte and 10 seconds behind Uran. With the 175-km stage 18 from Meribel to La Roche-sur-Follon coming up on Thursday, the GC battle is sure to shake up again, albeit with a downhill finish.

Friday's stage will give a chance to breakaway specialists and sprinters who can overcome the small climbs that will be featured in the 19th stage from Bourg-en-Bresse to Champagnol.

"Tomorrow [Thursday] we have a big stage with a lot of elevation gain," said the Frenchman. 'After that it's just the TT, so that leaves us with a big day in the mountains. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have good legs and keep trying."

Yates had his sights set on a stage win at the 2020 Tour de France, but after Detuning-Quick-Step's Julien Alaphilippe received a time penalty for drinking a drink bottle in the last 20km, he was awarded the race leader's yellow jersey at the end of stage 5. He took the race leader's yellow jersey at the end of stage 5.

The 28-year-old Yates then held on to the yellow jersey until stage 9, when he lost it to Roglic.