Key events<\/p>\n
Show key events only<\/p>\n
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n
46km to go. Rodriguez, Barguil, Vlasov and Lutsenko are the second group on the road and 20 seconds behind the leaders. Their hopes of winning the stage are not completely over, yet.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Tony Hughes has emailed in with an interesting take:<\/p>\n If Jonas wins nothing ever again, or retires or whatnot, I hope even with his stolid demeanor, he can at some point look back and take comfort in the fact that he held off what may be the greatest cyclist of all time for two consecutive years (acknowledging Tadej\u2019s crash\/injury in 2023 contributed to this). <\/p>\n Neutrals may wish for a Fignon-LeMond-esque finish each year but the battle between Tadej and Jonas during the 2020s has to me, in every way, been as fascinating. Chess on wheels.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 50km to go. The leaders are through the steepest section of the climb and the gradients are now much severe. There is not a lot of harmony amongst them though and if they are reeled in it will be because they haven\u2019t worked together. The keep on attacking each other and that is not the way to grow the time gap.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 52km to go. The second group on the road are now more than 35 seconds behind the leaders.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 53km to go. Storer wants to attack that group of leaders again. He probably needs to break Simmons, Campeanaerts and Wellens on this climb to win.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 55km to go. With Barguil and Vlasov riding over the leading group has grown again, but not for long. Simmons and Storer have gone away off the front on the category two climb. Will this stick? There are two more riders behind Simmons and Storer, Campeanaerts and Wellens.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 56km to go. The nine riders at the front are being closed down by the larger group behind. Barguil and Vlasov are now 12 seconds behind.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 61km to go. Leknessund is now across and the second group on the road is now only 20 seconds or so back. That is just a couple of riders, Warren Barguil and Aleksandr Vlasov.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.49 EDT<\/p>\n 62km to go. Leknessund has made ground on the leading group of eight. He is now about 15 seconds behind.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 74km to go. The leaders are heading down the C\u00f4te de Sor\u00e8ze and are coming up to the next climb in 15km or so. Andreas Leknessund is 30 seconds behind that group of eight and behind him are 25 riders, then a fair bit further behind (2mins 47secs) is the peloton, which features the yellow jersey. I think it\u2019s now safe to say that winner will come from those 34 riders who have escaped the peloton and most likely the eight up the very front.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.39 EDT<\/p>\n 83km to go. Rodriguez has made it, so that lead group is now eight men.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 84km to go. Ineos rider Carlos Rodriguez is trying to chase down the seven men at the front the race. He has about seconds to make up and that would be a big boost for his team, who missed the original break.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 87km to go. The lead group has been whittled down to seven riders as they hit the second category C\u00f4te de Sor\u00e8ze climb. Campenaerts, Lutsenko, Simmons, Wellens, Powless, Storer and Mohoric are now 47 seconds ahead of the remaining number from the original breakaway and a number of others from the main peloton.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 92km to go. This is shifting again. Four riders have gone off after the breakaway but are still some 30 seconds behind.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 97km to go. Milan seems to have a problem again. He has fallen about a minute behind the peloton and even further back is a 38-rider group featuring the current polka dot jersey leader, Lenny Martinez.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Robin Lynch has emailed in as he still has a few things on his wishlist for the final week:<\/p>\n Looking forward to the final stage in Paris with the Montmartre climb and hoping that Wout can win that one. Would love to see Vingegaard take one of the mountain stages and a bit of spice for the last podium place between Vauquelin, Onley, Lipowitz on stage 19. Feels too greedy to hope for a late hurrah from Alaphilippe, but praying to the cycling gods nonetheless.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 103km to go. The frantic racing has calmed a little now. The breakaway has a lead of around 50 seconds and rising, Ineos appear to have given up the chase for the time being. Van Der Poel will fancy his chances if this breakaway is allowed to stay out in front.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 108km to go. Van Der Poel has taken the 20 points on offer at the intermediate sprint to close in on Pogacar in second place in the green jersey standings.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 110km to go. The intermediate sprint is coming up in a kilometre. The peloton is now back together and 30 seconds behind the lead group.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n More thoughts on Pogacar\u2019s game plan from John Westwell via email:<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t surprised that Pogacar didn\u2019t seem bothered about winning yesterday\u2019s stage, and I\u2019d be even more surprised if he doesn\u2019t just want to sit back and have a \u2018steady\u2019 day today. He knows he\u2019s in control of the race now.<\/p>\n He will almost certainly be looking to win on Mont Ventoux on Tuesday, though. Not least because Eddy Merckxx won on the summit in 1970 and Pogacar seems keen to measure himself against Merckxx at every opportunity.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Andrew Benton has emailed in from Hong Kong with what he\u2019s looking out for in the final week:<\/p>\n I\u2019ll be looking for Geraint Thomas to bag a stage win. I\u2019d imagine he\u2019s not planning to, but perhaps an opportunity could present itself, and that would be super. And one for Julian Alaphilippe, too, why not.<\/p>\n In the \u201890s it was Indurain, in the 2000s Armstrong (its not about the bike, he wrote – and clearly it was not) and now, in the mid and late 20s, will we be seeing year after year of Pogacar victories? I don\u2019t think so – he\u2019ll dominate for a few years, but there are always others coming after him and they can be victorious, opportunity and chance can play a big role. But I don\u2019t have a favourite, as long as the suspense continues until the last couple of stages each year.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 118km to go. Ineos do not have a rider in the lead group and are working hard on the front of the peloton to bring that back. The gap is holding around 40 seconds.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 120km to go. Just as I write that Milan and Pogacar are in the same group, a split appears in the peloton. Milan is on the wrong side of it and the green jersey is now in the third group on the road, around 20 seconds behind the peloton.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 125km to go. The intermediate sprint is rapidly approaching, coming up in about 15km. The current green jersey leader is Jonathan Milan, who is 28 points ahead of the Pogacar. Both of them are in the main peloton but Van Der Poel is in the breakaway and could make up some serious ground in that particualr race today.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 127km to go. Girmay has given up his pursuit of the breakaway, which now has a lead of 40 seconds over the peloton.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 131km to go. The peloton is now back together, with Pogacar, Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz all together.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 134km to go. There are plenty of attacks happening. Biniam Girmay is the latest to go off from Pogacar\u2019s group in pursuit of the 15-rider breakaway and have made up about 12 seconds.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 137km to go. A large-ish group featuring Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Cl\u00e9ment Russo (Groupama-FDJ), Kaden Groves, Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Matteo Vercher (Total Energies), Alexey Lutsenko (Israel Premier Tech) and Jarrad Drizners (Lotto) are hovering around 30 seconds ahead of Pogacar\u2019s group. The chasers off the back, a group which features Vingegaard, are catching the main bunch. The gap now is around 26 seconds, but the pace is very high.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.10 EDT<\/p>\n 143km to go. The peloton is about one minute behind Pogacar\u2019s group. A slightly chaotic start to stage 15 which has limited any breakaway threats.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 146km to go. The peloton is back together at the front, but there are some gaps further back. UAE Team radio has just been played on the broadcast requesting that Pogacar slow the front of the race as a Vingegaard was caught in the crash incident. It\u2019s not clear whether or not the Dane was involved in the crash itself.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 148km to go. We\u2019ve had a couple of crashes in the early running, Julian Alaphilippe had to go the medical car but has resumed. Jordi Meeus and Gianni Moscon are pacing Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) back to the bunch.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 150km to go. Neilson Powless of EF Education-EasyPost has gone off the front on his own but he was chased by Tobias Foss, Alexey Lutsenko and Yevgeniy Fedorov. This doesn\u2019t look like it\u2019s going to stick as they have less than 15 seconds on the peloton.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>We are underway<\/p>\n Bit of confusion on my part, caused by ITV\u2019s race coverage starting a little later and the baffling CET. Anyway, we\u2019re now off racing.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lotto have announced that Lennert Van Eetvelt will not start stage 15 and is withdrawing from the Tour de France<\/a>. Van Eetvelt crashed at the Belgian national championships and was involved in an incident during the second stage of the Tour. According to his team, \u2018the physical toll\u2019 has proven too much for him to continue and he will now begin recovery.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n As ever, you can get in touch via email. The link is at the top of this page. With the yellow jersey seemingly decided, I\u2019d be interested to hear what you\u2019ll be looking out for during the final week of the Tour.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The peloton will soon be rolling out of Muret and then it\u2019ll be another 10 minutes to KM0 where the racing will get underway.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.43 EDT<\/p>\n A quick reminder of the various standings<\/p>\n General classification<\/p>\n 1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 50hrs 40mins 28 secs Points classification<\/p>\n 1. Jonathan Milan (Lidl\u2013Trek) 251 Mountain classification<\/p>\n 1. Lenny Martinez (Team Bahrain Victorious) 60 Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n It was nice of Tadej Pogacar to finally let some of the other riders to have a go yesterday and he still found a way to twist the knife further into the heart of Jonas Vingegaard\u2019s beleaguered hopes of winning the Tour de France<\/a>. Even the Dane\u2019s most generous fans would struggle to describe him as a yellow jersey rival now. Pogacar\u2019s advantage is 4mins 13secs and he is essentially racing against himself. The Slovenian has 21 stage wins and there is every chance that he will continue his rapid pursuit of Mark Cavendish\u2019s record. Pogacar made it pretty clear after winning stage 13 on Friday that he is not planning to take any days off.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not here to make enemies,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it\u2019s the Tour, you cannot just back off if there\u2019s the opportunity for a stage win. You never know when it\u2019s your last day on the Tour.<\/p>\n \u201cI will say it honestly. The team pays you to win, and there\u2019s a big team behind me that supports me and that works every single day of their career to come to the Tour, to win the Tour. If there is an opportunity, you go for it. You can\u2019t say no to a stage in the Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, UAE Emirates may look at the empty threat to Pogacar\u2019s general classification lead and decide to play this one safe. There are three categorised climbs and a lumpy to descent into Carcassonne to contend with, so maybe there is a bit of hope for the breakaway? Should that be allowed to play out, such is the nature of professional cycling in this constant-go era that a winner for this stage will likely be a familiar name capable on the slopes from the one-day racing pack. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Wout van Aert (Visma-LAB) are strong contenders, maybe even Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-LAB) or someone with that kind of profile.<\/p>\n For the good of the Tour, a non-Pogacar stage win would be good. Domination can quickly become dull and while there is nothing boring about Pogacar\u2019s style of racing, cycling as a foregone conclusion is not much of a sport.<\/p>\n
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike) +4mins 13secs
3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull\u2013Bora\u2013Hansgrohe )+7mins 53secs
4. Oscar Onley (Team Picnic\u2013PostNL) + 9mins 18secs
5. K\u00e9vin Vauquelin (Ark\u00e9a\u2013B&B Hotels) +10mins 21secs
6. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull\u2013Bora\u2013Hansgrohe) +10mins 34secs
7. Felix Gall (Decathlon\u2013AG2R La Mondiale) +12mins
8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) + 12mins 33secs
9. Ben Healy (EF Education\u2013EasyPost) +18mins 41secs
10. Carlos Rodr\u00edguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +22mins 57secs<\/p>\n
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 223
3. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin\u2013Deceuninck) 190
4. Biniam Girmay (Intermarch\u00e9\u2013Wanty) 169
5. Tim Merlier (Soudal\u2013Quick-Step) 150
6. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike) 135
7. Anthony Turgis (Team TotalEnergies) 130
8. Quinn Simmons (Lidl\u2013Trek) 93
9. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 90
10. Oscar Onley (Team Picnic\u2013PostNL) 88<\/p>\n
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 52
3. Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) 48
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike) 39
5. Michael Woods (Israel\u2013Premier Tech) 38
6. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull\u2013Bora\u2013Hansgrohe) 24
7. Ben Healy (EF Education\u2013EasyPost) 20
8. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal\u2013Quick-Step) 16
9 Bruno Armirail (Decathlon\u2013AG2R La Mondiale) 15
10. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling<\/a> Team) 14<\/p>\n