![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2225252050-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBelgian national champion Tim Wellens soloed to victory on stage 15 of the Tour de France on Sunday. The UAE-Emirates domestique attacked from a breakaway with around 40km to go on another chaotic and entertaining afternoon of racing.<\/p>\n
The early part of the day was shaped by a crash inside the first 20km, an incident that brought down several riders, including white jersey Florian Lipowitz and Jonas Vingegaard, third and second on GC respectively.<\/p>\n
That delay hastened a series of attacks, with more than half the peloton keen to get up the road. Tadej Pogacar attempted to use his influence to bring calm to the bunch and let his rivals catch up. Few listened to the yellow jersey.<\/p>\n
Eventually a high-quality front group that included Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Arnaud De Lie, Tim Wellens, Neilson Powless and Victor Campenaerts established themselves, not that it prevented more tumult in the chasing groups.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Alaphilippe dislocated his shoulder in an early crash. (Loic Venance \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Van der Poel took maximum points at the intermediate sprint but that juncture was just a catalyst for more chaos as the fourth category C\u00f4te de Saint-Ferr\u00e9ol approached. Attacks in the peloton, including a Matteo Jorgenson effort that was pointedly shut down by Pogacar, saw them almost catch the break, which split up anyway as they reached the next climb, the third-category C\u00f4te de Sor\u00e8ze.<\/p>\n
By the time the race reached the Pas du Sant with around 55km to go, a front four of Michael Storer, Quinn Simmons, Wellens and Campanaerts were trying to fend off a chasing quartet of Carlos Rodriguez, Aleksandr Vlasov, Warren Barguil and Alexey Lutsenko. On tight, rural lanes, this was highly enjoyable fare. The two groups coalesced with 44km remaining, but moments later Wellens attacked and got clear, shortly before a long downhill towards Carcassonne.<\/p>\n
Wellens is almost the perfect rider to capitalize on that terrain. His big engine has been deployed in the service of his team leader Pogacar for the entirety of this Tour; this was his chance to ride for himself.<\/p>\n
\ud83e\udd29\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddea @Tim_Wellens<\/a> had plenty of time to enjoy this beautiful victory and his last kilometer!<\/p>\n \ud83e\udd29\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddea @Tim_Wellens<\/a> a eu tout le temps de savourer cette belle victoire et son dernier kilom\u00e8tre !#TDF2025<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/QHYGggmswt<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tour de France\u2122 (@LeTour) July 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n He reached the outskirts of Carcassonne with an advantage of more than one minute and 40 seconds, plenty of time to celebrate on the run-in to the finish line as he sealed a popular victory. Compatriot Campenaerts came in alone for second, while Julian Alaphilippe raised his arms after pipping Van Aert to third place, mistakenly thinking he had won the stage. It was that sort of day.<\/p>\n Jacob Whitehead, Jordan Halford and Duncan Alexander analyse another spectacular stage.<\/p>\n Find all of\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s Tour de France coverage\u00a0here<\/a>. Or follow Global Sports on\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0app via the Discover tab.<\/p>\n Justified reward for unsung Wellens<\/p>\n Tim Wellens\u2019 Tour de France had been excellent but understated. The Belgian national champion is arguably Pogacar\u2019s most important domestique \u2014 both a rouleur who looks after the yellow jersey on the flat, and a strong enough climber to set a punishing initial pace at the base of climbs.<\/p>\n Having spent several days in the polka dot jersey earlier in the Tour, those days appeared to be his only public recognition \u2014 his primary role now is as one of the world\u2019s best support riders.<\/p>\n But Wellens is a fine rider in his own right \u2014 the winner of two stages apiece in the Giro d\u2019Italia and Vuelta a Espana. In Carcassonne on Sunday, he completed the Grand Tour set.<\/p>\n Wellens\u2019 history with the Tour has not always been smooth sailing. He described his 2015 debut performance for Lotto as \u201creally bad\u201d, while he had to retire two years later with heat and pollen-related issues \u2014 having refused to treat them with a therapeutic use exemption (TUE).<\/p>\n Eight years later, this was to be his greatest day. He began it in the same breakaway group as compatriot Campenaerts, who has been playing Wellens\u2019 role for Vingegaard at Visma-Lease a Bike. But UAE Team Emirates would win this proxy war.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udca5 The Belgian champion’s decisive attack!<\/p>\n \ud83d\udca5 L’attaque d\u00e9cisive du champion de Belgique !#TDF2025<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cIncKOiNAD<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tour de France\u2122 (@LeTour) July 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Having refused to work on the day\u2019s final ascent, Wellens attacked fiercely on a false flat 42km from home, a similar distance out to his winning move in the Belgian national championships last month. By striking on a small road, followed by a large highway, Wellens was able to quickly build his gap \u2014 once achieved, his pure power on a slight downhill meant the chasing group never got close to catching him.<\/p>\n Wellens makes his decisive move after biding his time for a long while on stage 15 (Marco Bertorello \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n \u201cHow is he looking?\u201d Pogacar asked his team car. \u201cHow does Tim look? Now, you should reply \u2014 he looks fabulous.\u201d<\/p>\n Crossing the line with a one minute and 28 second advantage over Campenaerts, Wellens began to celebrate from 800m out \u2014 veering to the side of the road to high-five fans. Alaphilippe edged out Wout van Aert for third, breaking up a potential Belgian 1-2-3.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore the stage, Nils (Pollit) and I were laughing a little bit that we would go in the break,\u201d Wellens said post-stage. \u201cSuddenly, there was a big crash, so we tried to block and wait for the rest.<\/p>\n \u201cBut people kept on attacking and then I followed one move and I was in the breakaway. Then on the climb it exploded again. On the last climb of the day, I felt really good, and I knew I had to go solo.<\/p>\n \u201cI had the opportunity, I took it and I had the legs to finish it \u2014 but of course I would have traded my victory directly for a yellow with Tadej in Paris.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew I had to enjoy the moment. I kept riding till the finish line because I wanted a big gap to fully enjoy it and maybe put my bike in the air after the finish \u2014 but I was so happy to win, I forgot to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n UAE place a stuffed toy on the front of their bus after every podium \u2014 the driver will soon be unable to look out the window.<\/p>\n Jacob Whitehead<\/p>\n Why did Alaphilippe celebrate on the line?<\/p>\n Julian Alaphilippe\u2019s third place, pipping Wout van Aert to prevent a Belgian 1-2-3, was France\u2019s first podium of this Tour. But that alone, surely, was too little for the former world champion\u2019s ecstatic celebrations?<\/p>\n Alaphilippe\u2019s day started badly \u2014 he was one of the riders worst affected by the early crash and appeared to significantly damage his shoulder. It was remarkable that he rose from the ground to not only rejoin the main bunch, but also to bridge across to the day\u2019s breakaway.<\/p>\n Alaphilippe celebrates finishing\u2026 third. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Coming into the final kilometre, he was over 90 seconds down on stage-winner Wellens and second-placed Campenaerts, but after miscommunication from his team, sprinted as if riding for the win. It would have been his first Tour triumph since 2021.<\/p>\n Julian Alaphilippe’s radio broke during his crash but he still sees the humor in mistakingly celebrating a stage win at the finish. \ud83d\ude05\ud83d\udc4f #TDF2025<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ZfH4FLd7Nr<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHis radio was not working after the crash,\u201d Tudor DS Raffael Meyer said post-stage.<\/p>\n Punching the air, baring his teeth, Alaphilippe looked close to tears when he realised he had not won. Awkwardly, French TV coverage is hosted by his wife, Marion Rousse, who was forced to try and explain her husband\u2019s embarrassing mistake.<\/p>\n \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 #TDF2025<\/a><\/p>\n Looking at the photo, you\u2019d think Wout finished second. In reality, he came in fourth today. \ud83d\ude2c<\/p>\n The rider who did take second was Victor, delivering another strong performance but just missing out on the win. \u270c\ud83c\udffc pic.twitter.com\/ThNHpDROyI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) July 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI managed to put my shoulder back together,\u201d Alaphilippe said after the stage. \u201cI remembered how they did it at the hospital. I fought, I had good legs. The radio was\u2019t working after the fall, so like an idiot, I sprinted to try and win. But morale is good.\u201d<\/p>\n Alaphilippe has had plenty of memorable days on the Tour before \u2014 and, well, this is one of them.<\/p>\n Jacob Whitehead<\/p>\n Early mayhem sets the tone for a chaotic stage<\/p>\n The beauty of Grand Tours is there is always a race within a race. Or in the case of stage 15 today, dozens of races in the same stage.<\/p>\n From a cursory glance at the GC standings, it might be tempting to think this year\u2019s Tour is petering out, what with Pogacar continuing his dominance. But, in part due to the Slovenian, Grand Tour stages are increasingly seeing riders attack from the moment the flag drops more akin to one-day racing.<\/p>\n None more so from Muret to Carcassonne, which featured three categorised climbs, a route hilly enough for breakaway specialists to mark it as a potential stage win and offering floundering teams a chance to salvage their tour, just as Thymen Arensman and INEOS Grenadiers did yesterday. Any hope that Jonathan Milan had of taking any points at the intermediate sprint were ruined by the mayhem that ensued from the moment the flag dropped.<\/p>\n There were multiple attacks from the off, with riders strewn across the route in multiple groups, even more so after an early crash disrupted the peloton.<\/p>\n The race was run at an astonishing average speed of 52.23kph for the first 70km, and it took a blue-chip combination of Campenaerts (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike), Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), Wellens (UAE Team Emirates XRG) and Simmons (Lidl-Trek) to finally form the day\u2019s decisive breakaway.<\/p>\n Simmons worked valiantly again, but finished 21st (Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n The flamboyant Simmons has been one of the most combative riders in this year\u2019s race, but second place on stage six to Vire-Normandie remains his best result. Steven de Jongh, his directeur sportif at Lidl-Trek, said before the stage. \u201cIf big breakaways are going, Quinn is one of the riders who should be in them. He\u2019s really in the shape of his life, so if they are going, then I\u2019m pretty confident that he will make it, especially if it\u2019s a big group.\u201d<\/p>\n He was right, Simmons \u2014 once again \u2014 made that front group. But again he was outmanoeuvred by a cannier rival. A Tour de France of significant gaps is still being decided by marginal moments.<\/p>\n Jordan Halford<\/p>\n Pogacar returns sportsmanship favour<\/p>\n Five days ago, when Pogacar crashed with 6km of the sprint into Toulouse remaining, the remaining favourites had a choice.<\/p>\n They could put the hammer down and force Pogacar to lose time before the mountains \u2014 or sit up, ensuring he rejoined the bunch after a crash which was not predominantly his fault.<\/p>\n Since, several riders in the peloton have claimed credit for the decision to slow down, but the fact remains \u2014 a decision was made by Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, and then yellow jersey Ben Healy, et al, to allow Pogacar to rejoin. The next day, Pogacar destroyed the field on the ascent of the Hautacam to take yellow, and what appears to be an unassailable lead.<\/p>\n \u201cLast time I do him a favour,\u201d some members of the peloton might have thought.<\/p>\n But now, on stage 15, Pogacar had a chance to directly repay the bunch. Minutes into Sunday\u2019s stage, the likes of second-placed Vingegaard, third-placed Florian Lipowitz, and fourth-placed Oscar Onley were all caught in a large pile-up within the bunch.<\/p>\n Pogacar was virtually the only favourite to escape the chaos \u2014 and shortly afterwards, received the instruction from UAE Team Emirates to stop. \u201cGuys, Jonas crash, Lipowitz crash,\u201d it said. \u201cIf you can slow down the bunch.\u201d<\/p>\n The yellow jersey did, eventually \u2014 and the peloton rode into Carcassonne otherwise uneventfully, content to let the breakaway enjoy their freedom.<\/p>\n Post-race, however, Pogacar expressed discontent with Visma\u2019s tactics during this period. Pogacar chased down an attack from Matteo Jorgenson, who was with the main bunch, but 22 minutes down on GC, and ordinarily would not have been of concern to the race leader.<\/p>\n (Loic Venance \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a crash, Jonas was involved, Lipowitz was involved, and we were trying to calm things down in the bunch and wait for the guys in the back. But what bothered me was that there were three Visma guys trying to go in the break again. They had Jonas at the back, chasing.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it would have been fair if one went in, and the others stayed and waited, so I followed the third rider (Jorgenson) to try and get in the break.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a flashpoint that may be worth keeping an eye on in the Tour\u2019s final week.<\/p>\n Jacob Whitehead<\/p>\n Gouvenou serves up another classic route<\/p>\n We\u2019re all guilty every October of scanning the following year\u2019s Tour de France route when it\u2019s released, and letting our eyes jump to the showpiece mountain stages. But perhaps, after the 2025 edition, everyone will be a bit more discerning. It\u2019s what Thierry Gouvenou deserves, after all.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcf8 Postcard of the day : les four castles of Lastours<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcf8Carte postale du jour : les quatre ch\u00e2teaux de Lastours #TDF2025<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/XiQmApFhw1<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tour de France\u2122 (@LeTour) July 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The Tour\u2019s route designer spoke to The Athletic before this year\u2019s race and said that his aim was \u201cto find difficulties in every corner of France\u201d. Sunday\u2019s stage 15 was a perfect example of him doing precisely that. What could have been a run-of-the-mill transition stage \u2014 effectively a functional route to get the race away from the Pyrenees and towards eastern France \u2014 was anything but.<\/p>\n Two category three and one category two climb were placed perfectly to coax the sort of furious racing we saw all day, and the narrow wooded lanes of the Pas du Sant, so typical of the Aude region, were the perfect atmospheric prelude to Wellens\u2019 winning attack, shortly before the race emerged onto a wide main road like wild beasts spilling out of a forest.<\/p>\n The narrow lanes of stage 15 only added to the drama of the day. (Tim de Waele \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Add Sunday\u2019s stage, then, to the growing list of great parcours in the 2025 Tour de France. Gouvenou not only knows virtually every inch of France, he also knows how to turn his country into a canvas for great bike racing.<\/p>\n Duncan Alexander<\/p>\n Stage 15 top 10 Tadej: Enjoy \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n Tim: Will do \ud83e\udd47<\/p>\n Congratulations from the boss \/ Les f\u00e9licitations du patron \ud83d\ude0e#TDF2025<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/w5bsinuAPV<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2225270294-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2225272728-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2226146110-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GwTJGmUWQAAFu21-1.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2225277220-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2226144693-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nTim Wellens (3:34:09)
\nVictor Campenaerts (+1m 28s)
\nJulian Alaphilippe (+1m 36s)
\nWout van Aert (+1m 36s)
\nAxel Laurance (+1m 36s)
\nAleksandr Vlasov (+1m 36s)
\nJasper Stuyven (+1m 36s)
\nJordan Jegat (+1m 36s)
\nMichael Valgren (+1m 36s)
\nValentin Madouas (+1m 36s)<\/p>\n