The breakaway of 20 had whittled down to only 8 when Boasson Hagen made a late solo effort with only 2.7m to go. He brought Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb) with him, but the Norwegian dropped him in the final 2km for a decisive run in to the finish.
While there was some excitement at the finish, there was precious little going on behind a day-long 20-man escape group with Froome’s Team Sky colleagues forming a white wedge at the front of the peloton to keep their leader out of trouble.
Froome had emerged from two grueling days in the Alps with a 23-second lead overRomain Bardet and suffered no mishaps on the Tour’s longest stage — the fight apparently gone out of his rivals for the yellow jersey.
Sky’s white train followed sport director Nicolas Portal’s instructions to allow the breakaway to stay clear and so avoid what could have been a risky massed bunch finish.
Barring a crash in Saturday’s time trial in Marseille, where Froome will be a favorite, the 32-year-old will claim a hat-trick of Tour de France titles and a fourth overall.
Michael Matthews virtually wrapped up the green points jersey and just needs to finish safely in Paris to become the third Australian to win the category.
Revivez le dernier kilomètre et la victoire en solo de @EBhagen ! / Relive the last kilometer and the great finish from EBH! #TDF2017 pic.twitter.com/b7e85J5NX3
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 21, 2017
Tour de France 2017 – stage 19 results (Embrun – Salon-de-Provence):
| 1 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) | 5:06:09 |
| 2 | Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb) | +05” |
| 3 | Jens Keukeleire (Orica-Scott) | +17” |
| 4 | Daniele Bennati (Movistar) | ,, |
| 5 | Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 6 | Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie) | ,, |
| 7 | Elie Gesbert (Fortuneo – Oscaro) | ,, |
| 8 | Jan Bakelants (AG2R) | ,, |
| 9 | Michael Albasini (Orica-Scott) | +19” |
| 10 | Pierre Luc Perichon (Fortuneo – Oscaro) | +01’32” |
| 11 | Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) | +01’37” |
| 12 | Ben Swift (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 13 | Gianluca Brambilla (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 14 | Julien Simon (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 15 | Romain Hardy (Fortuneo – Oscaro) | ,, |
| 16 | Rudy Molard (FDJ) | ,, |
| 17 | Robert Kiserlovski (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 18 | Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 19 | Romain Sicard (Direct Energie) | ,, |
| 20 | Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
General classification after stage 19:
| 1 | Chris Froome (Team Sky) | 83:26:55 |
| 2 | Romain Bardet (AG2R) | +23” |
| 3 | Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) | +29” |
| 4 | Mikel Landa (Team Sky) | +01’36” |
| 5 | Fabio Aru (Astana) | +01’55” |
| 6 | Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors) | +02’56” |
| 7 | Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) | +04’46” |
| 8 | Louis Meintjes (UAE Team Emirates) | +06’52” |
| 9 | Warren Barguil (Team Sunweb) | +08’22” |
| 10 | Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) | +08’34” |
| 11 | Damiano Caruso (BMC) | +13’41” |
| 12 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +13’52” |
| 13 | Mikel Nieve (Team Sky) | +23’11” |
| 14 | Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R) | +23’33” |
| 15 | Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | +31’01” |
| 16 | Brice Feillu (Fortuneo-Oscaro) | +35’06” |
| 17 | Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) | +36’13” |
| 18 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) | +36’25” |
| 19 | Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) | +37’31” |
| 20 | Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) | +40’49” |
