The Tour de France ends at different times for different people. For GC hopefuls who struggle early, that fight is over quickly, although some then face the often slightly ignominious switch to stage-hunting. For many of the sprinters, with the Paris stage now no longer a certain carrot to encourage them over the final mountains of the three weeks, the Tour can be over well before the last stage.
Stage 17 was another new-fangled hybrid offering, contested by a breakaway but won by a sprinter. In the end, Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Premier Tech ensured that he will arrive in the French capital on Sunday without regrets, having eased to victory in the reduced bunch sprint that decided Wednesday's stage.
As Philipsen was whipped away for the podium and TV interviews, those he had just beaten were the first to roll past the media waiting beyond the finish line amid the team soigneurs carrying refreshments and instructions as to where to find the sanctity of the bus.
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