Wout Van Aert finished second in the intermediate sprint on stage 17 of the Tour de France to clinch victory in the points classification with four and a half stages to go.

The Jumbo-Visma rider finished second in the early sprint of La Barthe de Neste behind compatriot Jasper Philipsen to extend his points haul to 399.

He now has a 217-point lead over Tadej Pogacar. If Van Aat arrives safely in Paris, he will become the first Belgian to win the points prize since Tom Boonen in 2007.

Van Aert has led the points standings since Naivori on stage 2, when he won the maillot jaune. The Belgian led the race for five stages before switching from yellow to green in Longwy.

Also in this Tour, Van Aert won two stages in Calais and Lausanne and was the domestique of race leader Jonas Vingegaard. He also made the race more exciting with long-distance attacks, including an onslaught on the day he lost the yellow jersey in Longwy.

On Tuesday's opening day in the Pyrenees, Van Aert balanced his ambition for the green jersey with Vingegaard's mission. He scored points in the intermediate sprint and helped pace his teammates from the summit of the Mûr de Péguerre to the finish in Foix.

The abandonment of Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk increased Van Aat's importance in the final week of the Tour, with France Télévisions calling him the "Swiss army knife" of the team.

If Vingegaard succeeds in holding the overall lead until the finish, Jumbo-Visma will be the first team to carry both the yellow and green jerseys to Paris since Telecom in 1997.