Jonas Vingegaard, in yellow, works in the peloton
(AFP via Getty Images)
Follow live updates from Stage 15 of the Tour de France, on a day that should be set for the sprinters after a tough week in the Alps and two transition days for the breakaways. Michael Matthew scored his first stage win at the Tour de France in five years yesterday he beat Alberto Bettiol and Thibaut Pinot up the steep Cote de la Croix Neuve in a perfect run from the breakaway. He launched his attack with 50km to go and almost lost the stage when Bettiol passed him with 2km to go. Matthews dug deep in sweltering conditions to reach the summit first and slid over the final 1.5km to claim victory.
Yellow jersey holder Jonas Vinggaard held up twice by attacks from the GC contender and reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar to keep his lead in tact, but Geraint Thomas continued to slip off the lead despite holding onto third place overall. A remarkable drive from South Africa’s Louis Meintjes put him in the top-10 of the GC as he finished over 10 minutes ahead of his other contenders.
Today the likes of Fabio Jakobsen, Dylan Groenewegen and Jasper Philipsen will be aiming for a stage win here, but one man stands in their way. Wout van Aert has already won two stages of this year’s race and will be looking to continue his dominance of the Green Jersey competition. Will someone be able to beat him to Carcassonne?
Follow all the action of Stage 15 of the Tour de France:
Tour de France 2022 – Stage 15
Two riders, Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels) escaped up the road and are now leading by around 20 seconds.
Lawrence OstlereJuly 17, 2022 4:04 p.m
Tour de France 2022 – Stage 15
Some team banter on social media following this accelerated climb through Trek-Segafredo to set the stage for Mads Pedersen:
Lawrence OstlereJuly 17, 2022 4:01 p.m
Tour de France 2022 – Stage 15
Stage winner from yesterday Michael Matthew is another dropped on the climb as the peloton reaches the summit and the (mostly) descent to Carcassonne begins.
Lawrence OstlereJuly 17, 2022 3:54 p.m
Tour de France 2022 – Stage 15
47 km to go: The breakaway was caught and the race is led by this Trek Segafredo charge.
Lawrence OstlereJuly 17, 2022 3:52 p.m
Tour de France 2022 – Stage 15
50 km to go: Vingegaard has worked his way to the front of the peloton, snapping the wheel from Wout van Aert.
Meanwhile, Trek-Segafredo hatches a clever plan as they pick up the pace at the top of this climb: they shed the really fast men, and it helps their star man Mads Pedersens Opportunities at the end of the day. Dylan Groenewegen is the last sprinter to be dropped by the peloton, joining Ewan and Jakobsen from behind. The one handling this Trek attack? Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Jasper Philipsen.
Lawrence OstlereJuly 17, 2022 3:49 p.m
Tour de France 2022 – Stage 15
52 km to go: Jonasrutsch shoots away from the front of the peloton as that climb climbs to try and bridge the breakaways.
Rear, Caleb Ewan will be thrown out of the pile as it is Fabio Jakobsenand the big sprinters fall away before they reach the goal.
Lawrence OstlereJuly 17, 2022 3:44 p.m
Tour de France 2022 – Stage 15
I think I’m right when I say there are only three Jumbo Visma riders today who haven’t been held up by any kind of trouble: Sepp Kuss, Christophe Laporte and Nathan van Hooydonck. The rest either dropped out of the race or got stuck along the way. They had an unlucky nightmare day on the cobbles and the Dutch team seem to have more bad luck today.
Lawrence OstlereJuly 17, 2022 3:42 p.m
Tour de France 2022 – Stage 15
55 km to go: Vingegaard managed to reconnect with the main group.
In front, the leading duo Politt and Honore go through the intermediate sprint and start category 3 Cote d’Ambialet (4.4 km, 4.6%). Behind them, Pogacar sits right on Van Aert’s shoulder as they lead the peloton through the sprint.
Lawrence OstlereJuly 17, 2022 3:40 p.m
Jonas Vingegaard falls!
Now the yellow jersey is down! What on earth is happening to Jumbo-Visma? Vingegaard and one of his teammates, Tiesj Benoot, have both been spotted on the ground in the peloton. Benoot comes off worse and hobbles towards the team car to get a bike change, but Vingegaard is able to continue straight ahead and he heads back towards the pack with a couple of black spots on the left shoulder of his yellow jersey.
Lawrence OstlereJuly 17, 2022 3:37 p.m
Tour de France 2022 – Stage 15
There was also another protest today, following a demonstration a few days ago that briefly halted the race. No evidence linking the protest to the crash.
A protester is dragged away by the police
(REUTERS)
Lawrence OstlereJuly 17, 2022 3:34 p.m
