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That\u2019s it from me, our Tour de France<\/a> coverage resumes on Tuesday with the famous climb of Mont Ventoux.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Flash stage 15 report<\/p>\n Jeremy Whittle\u2019s race report from Carcassonne should be on the site very shortly and you will be able to find it in this live blog. In the meantime, here is a quick take from Reuters:<\/p>\n Julian Alaphilippe endured a chaotic, emotional stage 15 of the Tour de France on Sunday, crashing early, soldiering on with a dislocated shoulder, and then mistakenly celebrating what he thought was a stage win – before discovering he had been beaten by two riders.<\/p>\n The Soudal-Quick-Step rider hit the deck in the opening kilometres, suffering pain and a shoulder injury that cast doubt over whether he would even finish the day. \u201cHe had a crash at the beginning of the race,\u201d said team sports director Raphael Meyer. \u201cHe had pain and a dislocated shoulder. He was seen by the doctor and he still has some pain. He\u2019s going to do x-rays.\u201d<\/p>\n But the Frenchman fought on, eventually crossing the line \u2014 arms raised in triumph, believing he had pulled off an emotional comeback victory. He hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Unbeknownst to Alaphilippe, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) had already powered away from the breakaway group earlier and claimed a convincing solo win. For Wellens, the victory marked a brutal show of strength, and another chapter in the dominance of leader Tadej Pogacar\u2019s UAE Team Emirates, as they continue to exert near-total control over the race.<\/p>\n For Alaphilippe, it was a bitter-sweet finish – a gritty ride, a brave comeback, and a win that wasn\u2019t. It was not the first time such misfortune happened to Alaphilippe.<\/p>\n In 2020, he raised his arms in celebration before the finish at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Monument classic, only to see Slovenian Primoz Roglic effectively beating him to the line. The Frenchman was then disqualified for deviating from his sprint line.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.09 EDT<\/p>\n General classification standings after stage 15<\/p>\n 1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 54hrs 20mind 44secs Share<\/a><\/p>\n Raphael Mayer, CEO of Alaphilippe\u2019s Tudor team, has been explaining that bizarre moment on the finish line to TNT. Mayer says that the crash Alaphilippe was in early in the stage busted the rider\u2019s radio and they had no time to change it. \u201c[Alaphilippe] did a perfect sprint and thought he won. Well, what can we do?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s super nice to be third, if you\u2019d asked us this morning to be third in the stage we are happy and with everything that happened \u2013 even without this happening \u2013 we would be happy. So, we are third and with Michael Storer getting most combative today we are happy and now let\u2019s hope Julian has no severe injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Mauro Gianetti, UAE team principal, has been speaking to media after Wellens\u2019 earned another victory for their outfit: \u201cIf there is one rider in the Tour de France<\/a> who deserves a victory it is Tim Wellens. He is so dedicated to the team, dedicated to Tadej, always five centimetres from Tadej, in training camp, in race, in morale, in everything. Today he was in the break without looking to be in it. he was in a position to not work in the first 50km when it was very hard, the energy he saved in the first part of the breakaway he gave in the final. It was clever, like always, attacking just before the long descent. When he was away the others behind started looking at each other. Another fantastic day for the team and especially for Tim.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.22 EDT<\/p>\n Confusion for Tudor and Alaphilippe<\/p>\n Alaphilippe celebrated crossing the line like he\u2019d won, which was little odd. Apparently he was completely unaware that Wellens and Campenaerts had already finished, only learning that he actually finished third in the mixed zone. I bet he feels a bit silly. No interview requests being taken at this time.<\/p>\n Julian Alaphilippe celebrates wildly\u2026 after finishing third. Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.26 EDT<\/p>\n The peloton is only just coming under the flamme rouge. The GC leaders won\u2019t be too fussed about the results ahead apart from Ben Healy, who could lose ground to Rodriguez. We will get confirmation on that shortly.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Campenaerts breaks off the front of the chasers and takes second place on the stage, it looks like Alaphilippe got third, just ahead of Van Aert.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Tim Wellens win stage 15!<\/p>\n The UAE rider and Belgian national champion timed his break to perfection and destroyed the field. He high-fives some fans and crosses the line solo. He will have a couple of minutes wait for the next riders to follow him.<\/p>\n Belgium’s Tim Wellens crosses the finish line to win the fifteenth stage. Photograph: Thibault Camus\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.19 EDT<\/p>\n 3km to go. Wellens looks relaxed as he powers to the line. He\u2019s giving thumbs up to the TV cameras and pumping his fists.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 4km to go. Van Aert might well catch the chasing group, he is about 10 seconds behind them as Simmons tries to attack again.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.58 EDT<\/p>\n 6km to go. The chasers have given up, they\u2019re now trailing by 1min 45secs.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 9km to go. Wellens is nearly at the end of this long descent and on the flat into Carcassonne.<\/p>\n Belgium’s Tim Wellens speeds downhill as he leads.) Photograph: Mosa\u2019ab Elshamy\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.01 EDT<\/p>\n 13km to go. This will be another stage win for UAE, their fifth of the Tour. Pogacar, of course, has the other four.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 16km to go. All cohesion has gone from the chasers, they\u2019re just attacking each other.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 19km to go. Wellens is gone and away, he leads by 1min 25secs. The battle is now for second place<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 24km to go. There is some interest in the peloton in hunting down the chase group. Carlos Rodriguez, the Ineos rider, could move up the GC standings at the expense of EF Education\u2019s Ben Healy.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 30km to go. Wellens has truly broken today\u2019s stage, he has 57 seconds on the chasers now and surely a stage win in his grasp. What an attack. He sat in the lead group and did minimal work before pouncing at the key moment, just before the start of the descent.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 36km to go. Wellens now has a lead of 29 seconds. The descent makes up most of the run into the line, there will be only 7km to the end of the stage once Wellens gets off the bottom of the hill.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 39km to go. Wellens has a 18 second lead now. Barguil, Storer, Campenaerts, Vlasov and Simmons are barreling downhill to catch up.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 43km to go. Tim Wellens has gone for a long range attack. He waited for the group of Barguil to catch up and then went off. Quinn Simmons is chasing but the Belgian rider has got a gap and is now on the descent.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/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 The breakaway group with Quinn Simmons ahead of Tim Wellens, Neilson Powless, Michael Storer and Axel Laurence. Photograph: Mosa\u2019ab Elshamy\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.50 EDT<\/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 Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Deceuninck attacks during stage 15. Photograph: ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.48 EDT<\/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
Victor Campenaerts had also slipped away and crossed the line nine seconds ahead of Alaphilippe. \u201cHe thought he was first on the line \u2014 but the radio didn\u2019t work,\u201d Meyer said.<\/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. Carlos Rodr\u00edguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +18mins 26secs
10. Ben Healy (EF Education\u2013EasyPost) +18mins 41secs<\/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