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Tour de France: Pogačar counters Vingegaard attack on Plateau de Beille for emphatic win on stage 15
Bonjour and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 15 of the 2024 Tour de France!
Today's stage map as the peloton takes on another Pyrenean mountain test.
Just under 90 minutes to go until the start of the stage.
A look back at the results from Saturday's stage 14...
And the new GC picture heading into today...
Of course, Tadej Pogačar soloed to the stage win at Pla d'Adet, putting 43 seconds into Jonas Vingegaard and extending his overall lead heading into today's summit finish.
Tour de France: Tadej Pogačar solos to stage 14 victory on Pla d’Adet, consolidates his lead
Today's stage brings the second summit finish in as many days, and the next big GC showdown of the Tour atop Plateau de Beille.
Stage 15 kicks off in an hour and the riders will be immediately climbing. The first-category Col de Peyresourde starts the day from Loudenvielle.
154 riders are set to start today. No word on any withdrawals so far this morning.
Yesterday saw Tom Pidcock and Guillaume Boivin go home before the stage start as Amaury Capiot, Alberto Bettiol, and Louis Vervaeke pulled out during the day.
5,000 metres of climbing on the menu today. That's 1,000 more than yesterday's stage and 300 more than any other stage in the race (stage 20).
An end to the doubts? Tadej Pogačar returns to centre stage in the Tour de France - Analysis
Jonas Vingegaard remains a massive threat, but loses some momentum after Pyrenees defeat
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Today's stage marks the first time in nine years that the Tour has taken on Plateau de Beille.
Last time out the day was won by Joaquim Rodríguez, while previous stage winners on the mountain include Alberto Contador, Jelle Vanendert, and Marco Pantani.
CPA announces legal action on chips-throwing spectator on Tour de France stage 14
Spectator threw chips at Pogačar and Vingegaard
Quelques secondes après Pogacar, c'est Vingegaard qui a eu le malheur de recevoir des chips, lancées par un spectateur, au visage...#TDF2024 #LesRP pic.twitter.com/gQlYInFDjzJuly 13, 2024
The riders now rolling out to start the neutral zone today.
Just a few minutes before the stage officially starts.
They're already heading uphill with a kilometre left to run until the official start is given.
198km to go
The flag has dropped and racing begins on stage 15!
An uphill start to the first-category Col de Peyresourde (6.9km at 7.8%).
Sprinters already going out the rear. Arnaud Démare the first to drop.
Up front, the pace is high as riders attempt to get away.
Neilson Powless among the early attackers.
Mark Cavendish off the back. His teammate Harold Tejada is attacking up front.
5km to the top of the climb.
Maxim Van Gils now leading the attacks.
Jakob Fuglsang goes next, followed by Laurens De Plus.
194km to go
3km to the top and Ben Healy gives it a go.
Pogačar and Vingegaard at the start today.
David Gaudu now leading the way at a kilometre from the top.
Oier Lazkano also pushing on.
The Basque rider is fifth in the mountain classification on 27 points. There are 10 points up for grabs here.
Simon Yates now makes a move.
No separation at the front of the race so far.
Romain Bardet attacks towards the top.
Lazkano and Gaudu go with him.
Lazkano passes Bardet but Gaudu beats him to the top and 10 points.
Eight points for Lazkano.
Report in French newspaper Le Parisien states that man spent night in cell after 'a very drunken afternoon'
Onto the descent now as Lazkano, Gaudu, and Bardet have 20 seconds on the peloton.
Pogačar took a point on that climb as his UAE team took charge at the head of the peloton.
185km to go
Still 20 seconds for the three men out front.
At the base of this descent there's a long 20km spell in the valley before the next climb, the first-category Col de Menté.
178km to go
Lazkano drops back to the peloton. Gaudu and Bardet have seven seconds.
All back together now as groups also return at the back of the peloton.
The peloton racing through the Pyrenees.
172km to go
A large group flows off the front now.
Michal Kwiatkowski, Julien Bernard, Michael Matthews, Jai Hindley, Bob Jungels, Lenny Martinez, Guillaume Martin, Rui Costa, Biniam Girmay, Louis Meintjes, Magnus Cort, Tobias Johannessen, Nans Peters, Enric Mas among the riders in the attack.
Peters and Matthews at the front.
The riders are heading towards the intermediate sprint at Marignac.
163km to go
1:08 for this move now.
21 riders in the breakaway.
Girmay easily wins the intermediate sprint ahead of Michael Matthews, though he cut off the Australian as he moved across the road.
20 points for Girmay. Meintjes in third.
Behind them, DSM lead the peloton. The team has no riders in the break.
157km to go
The race hits the Col de Menté (9.3km at 9.1%).
Riders attack from the peloton as the gap to the break falls under a minute Richard Carapaz makes a move.
Carapaz 40 seconds from the leaders as Girmay comes to a halt dropping away from the front.
Visma-Lease A Bike are leading the peloton.
Multiple riders drop from the break on these steep slopes.
6km to the top and Carapaz is close to the front.
154km to go
Carpaz joins Hindley, Jungels, Martinez, Fuglsang, Martin, Mas, Aranburu, Mühlberger, Meintjes, Cort, Johannessen, and Jegat in the lead.
A group including Yates, Matthews, De Plus, Kwiatkowski, Healy, Onley are at 40 seconds down on the break.
5km to go to the top of the climb now.
Girmay has now been relegated to third place at the intermediate sprint for cutting off Matthews.
💚 Intermediate sprint @wlcmagazine 💚Battle between @GrmayeBiniam and @blingmatthews!Bataille entre @GrmayeBiniam et @blingmatthews !#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/nMefwnJG2kJuly 14, 2024
Jungels is pulling the breakaway up the climb with Hindley in the wheel.
15 seconds back to Yates and Healy.
151km to go
Healy makes a solo move to get across the gap.
Healy gets across, as does Yates.
Oscar Onley and Laurens De Plus also make it.
Some top climbers in this breakaway – Simon Yates, Jai Hindley, Lenny Martinez, Richard Carapaz, Enric Mas, Guillaume Martin, Louis Meintjes.
2km to the top.
Guillaume Martin is the only French hope in the breakaway on Bastille Day. A French rider hasn't won on July 14 since 2017.
The Col de Menté is famous for the Tour-ending crash of Luis Ocaña on stage 14 in 1971. The Spaniard led Eddy Merckx by 7:23 heading into the mountain stage following a stunning solo raid on the road to Orcières on stage 11.
Merckx crashed on the downhill, leaving the chasing Ocaña with nowhere to go, while he was struck by Joop Zoetemelk, forcing him out of the race.
Our reporter Alasdair Fotheringham wrote a book about Ocaña – Reckless: The Life and Times of Luis Ocaña and you can read an extract here.
147km to go
Back to today's stage and the break heads over the summit of the climb.
1:45 back to the peloton.
Javier Romo leads Richard Carapaz, Alex Aranburu, and Enric Mas over the summit.
The first-category Col de Portet-d'Aspet (4.3km at 9.6%) is up next.
Almost 60km down in the valley following the next climb.
Now the break starts the Portet-d'Aspet.
The riders pass the memorial to Fabio Casartelli early on the way up. The 1992 Olympic champion died after crashing on the descent of the climb during the 1995 Tour de France.
InCycle Video: Remembering Fabio Casartelli
135km to go
The break leads with a 1:35 advantage on the peloton.
16 men up front and Jungels is still pulling for Hindley.
Jungels is pushing hard but the peloton is actually closing in here. 1:05 now.
Visma-Lease A Bike continue to pace the peloton.
500 metres to the top now.
131km to go
Johannessen leads the break over the top as the peloton follows at 1:10 back.
Dane now almost two minutes down on Tadej Pogačar after conceding 39 seconds at Pla d'Adet
Marco Haller narrowly avoided a crash on the descent.
😱 A scare for @mhaller91 in the downhill.😱 Frayeur pour @mhaller91 dans la descente.#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/i2JmaH1pthJuly 14, 2024
Louis Meintjes drops out of the break with a puncture. He gets a wheel change from the Shimano neutral service car.
122km to go
Meintjes is now 45 seconds down. The peloton has slowed on the descent and now lies at 1:35 down.
The South African is dropping back towards the peloton now.
1:50 for the break now. Visma still leading behind.
Meintjes is caught. Another 45km or so in the valley before the climbing begins again.
111km to go
It's not just Jungels working at the head of the break now. Multiple teams and riders are rolling through at the front.
Race leader Tadej Pogačar with his UAE teammates in the peloton.
105km to go
2:25 for the break now.
Belgian has almost four-minute buffer in third place after first day in Pyrenees
The riders racing through the Pyrenees today.
98km to go
2:40 for the break currently.
Still in the valley but the road tilts slightly uphill towards the base of the next climb, the Col d'Agnes.
The Giro d'Italia Women has just drawn to a close in L'Aquila. Read our stage 8 report here.
88km to go
The gap to the peloton goes out above three minutes.
'It’s a little bit of improvisation' says Yates as Pogačar extends lead in the GC
The green jersey group is currently 16 minutes behind the front of the race.
76km to go
3:30 between break and peloton as the riders near the next climb.
A split in the break as riders attack heading towards the climb.
Romo, Mas, Healy, De Plus, Hindley, Jungels, Sobrero are up the road.
They have 15 seconds on the rest of the break.
70km to go
The gap is only going up. 40 seconds now.
A good job by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe today. They've put multiple riders in the break, Jungels has worked hard on the front, and now all three are in the lead split.
The leaders start the Col d'Agnes (10km at 8.2%).
There are two Movistar men and three from Red Bull in the lead group while the chase group consists entirely of single riders from different teams.
3:45 to the peloton.
Jungels is done at the front and now Sobrero works for Hindley. The group is now a minute up the road.
68km to go
Carapaz attacks from the chase.
Bart Lemmen and Wout van Aert drop off the front of the peloton after their work.
Visma continue to control the group.
Carapaz passes Jungels and Romo, who also let go at the front.
Sobrero, Hindley, Mas, Healy, De Plus in the lead group.
7km from the top and Sobrero drops from the break.
Healy also drops.
65km to go
Healy now pacing Carapaz at 40 seconds back from the leaders.
Yates and Johannessen are next on the road at 1:05.
Race leader pushes Vingegaard to nearly two minutes overall in first Pyrenean summit finish
Visma leading the peloton with two men working for Vingegaard. Meanwhile, UAE have four left in the group in addition to Pogačar.
It looks like it's just Kelderman and Jorgenson in the main group for Visma.
Carapaz 35 seconds down as Healy stops his work and drops away.
Sivakov drops now. Pogačar has Yates, Almeida, Soler left.
Carapaz making ground on the leaders. 17 seconds down now.
3.5km to the top and it looks like Carapaz will make it across soon.
Only around 15 men in the GC group now.
62km to go
Carapaz makes it four up front.
The next group on the road is a solo Johannessen at 50 seconds back.
Healy and Yates are at 1:35.
Mas, Hindley, and De Plus out front before Carapaz made it across to them.
3:20 between the break and peloton.
600 metres from the top for the leaders now.
De Plus leads the group over the summit as his countryman Gerben Thijssen abandons the Tour.
Johannessen now 35 seconds down. Yates and Healy at 2:20.
A short descent and now the riders head up the short climb to the peak of the Port de Lers.
54km to go
3:10 for the break.
Hindley, Mas, Carapaz, De Plus remain out front.
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Still two men on the front ahead of Vingegaard for Visma. UAE have three men lined up behind the Dane with Pogačar following.
Visma heading up the lead group.
Johannessen is closing in on the leaders now. He's 15 seconds down.
51km to go
Yates and Healy caught by the GC group.
They join Kelderman, Jorgenson, Vingegaard, Almeida, Soler, Adam Yates, Pogačar, Landa, Evenepoel, Rodríguez, Ciccone, Verona, Buitrago, Gee, and Martin.
10 seconds for Johannessen now.
49km to go
Johannessen catches the lead quartet on the way down the Port de Lers.
25 minutes to Girmay's group. 32:30 back to Cavendish's group.
Mark Cavendish is with teammates Cees Bol, Alexey Lutsenko and Davide Ballerini. Arnaud Démare and DSM trio John Degenkolb, Nils Eekhoff, and Bram Welten are also in there.
They're in danger of missing the time cut today. Going by the current average speed of 37.7kph, they'd need to finish within 115% of the winner's time, though the time cut is reportedly extended to 117% today.
FranceTV's moto reporter Thomas Voeckler says the time cuts today have been extended by 2% points, eg if average speed today is 34-35km/h then cut goes from 12% of the winning time to 14% pic.twitter.com/wCqRrtzngDJuly 14, 2024
If my workings-out are correct and the winner finishes with an average of 37kph (in line with the day's fastest predicted time schedule), he'd finish in a time of 5:17:00.
117% of that is around 6:11:00, making the time cut 54 minutes.
38km to go
At the bottom of the descent, the GC group lies 2:25 down on the break.
Kelderman nips off the front of the peloton as the riders hit the valley road.
29km to go
2:50 from break to peloton.
Girmay at 27 minutes. Cavendish at 36 minutes.
Another long valley road here. Around 20km to the foot of the final climb.
We're still waiting for the start of the final climb now. Around 6km to go for the leaders.
20km to go
Bike change for Jorgenson.
16km to go
The break are just starting the final climb now.
Here's the climb of Plateau de Beille – 15.8km at 7.9%
2:33 for the break at the start of the climb.
28 minutes to Girmay. 38 minutes to Cavendish.
Mas, De Plus, Carapaz, Hindley, Johannessen out front.
15km to go
The gap is already coming down. 2:25 now.
Jorgenson takes over at the head of the GC group as Kelderman swings off the front at the start of the climb.
Fuglsang, Marc Soler, Healy, Martin, Simon Yates also done.
Jorgenson pushes the pace and the gap to the leaders is down to two minutes.
Gee battling to stick in the group at the rear.
14km to go
1:45 for the break now.
Almeida drops along with Gee.
Jorgenson, Vingegaard, Pogačar, Evenepoel, Adam Yates up front.
Rodríguez, Ciccone, Buitrago, Gall, Landa also in there.
1:30 for the break with 13.7km to go.
Carapaz attacks!
A picturesque view of the Pyrenees today.
Ciccone, Gall dropping from the GC group.
13km to go
1:20 up to the break now.
Up front, the group is still together despite Carapaz's attack.
12km to go
1:05 now.
Mas now makes a move from the break.
Johannessen goes with him.
They're continuously losing time to the GC group, however, so the breakaway battle looks more or less meaningless.
Carapaz bridges across.
11km to go
The gap is under a minute now.
Buitrago drops from the GC group. Rodríguez also loses contact.
Jorgenson, Vingegaard, Yates, Pogačar, Evenepoel, Landa remain.
10.5km to go
Carapaz goes solo up front as Vingegaard attacks!
Pogačar easily matches the move.
Evenepoel chases solo.
35 seconds from Carapaz to Vingegaard and Pogačar.
The GC leaders pass De Plus and Hindley as if they were racing past dropped rouleurs.
10km to go
Vingegaard and Pogačar now 20 seconds off the front.
Vingegaard and Pogačar in the group before things blew up.
They're closing in on Johannessen now.
They blow past the Uno-X rider and go across to Mas and Carapaz.
Carapaz is the only man who attempts to stick with them.
Carapaz is named the most aggressive rider of the day just as he squirts his water bottle and gesticulates at a fan getting too close at the side of the road.
💪 Congratulations to @RichardCarapazM who has been nominated as @century21fr most combative rider of the day!💪 Félicitations à Richard Carapaz qui a été élu coureur le plus combatif du jour, par @century21fr !#TDF2024 | @EFprocycling pic.twitter.com/CPaFG6aA5SJuly 14, 2024
9km to go
Carapaz now dropped.
Evenepoel is at 20 seconds. Rodríguez already over a minute down.
Vingegaard continues on the front.
8km to go
Evenepoel passes Carapaz now.
30 seconds to Evenepoel now. 1:25 to Rodríguez.
7km to go
Still no moves from the leading duo.
Evenepoel at 40 seconds.
Landa is with Mas at 1:20, just behind Carapaz. Rodríguez and Yates are another 20 seconds back.
10% gradients for the leaders.
Landa is only a place and 1:08 behind Rodríguez on the GC.
6km to go
Evenepoel at a minute now.
Pogačar makes a move! 5.4km out.
Vingegaard can't match him.
There was no response.
5km to go
We're further out than we were when Pogačar attacked yesterday.
10 seconds between them.
1:25 back to Evenepoel.
20 seconds already.
4km to go
Pogačar gaining time metre by metre.
Out of the treeline and towards the exposed plateau at the top of the mountain.
Evenepoel at 1:45 down.
Landa at 2:35.
3km to go
30 seconds.
The only question now is how much time Pogačar will gain at the finish.
Evenepoel hits the two-minute mark. He's the third man on the road.
2km to go
40 seconds back to Vingegaard now.
They're racing through packed crowds in this final 2km now.
Pogačar keeps eking out seconds.
Cavendish's group reportedly just under 36 minutes down at the start of the climb.
50 seconds to Vingegaard now.
Pogačar is coming up to the final kilometre.
1km to go
Almost done.
Evenepoel at 2:20. Landa at 3:15.
800 to go for Pogačar.
14 career Tour stage wins for the Slovenian now.
This is the 80th win of his career.
55 seconds now.
Finish
Tadej Pogačar wins stage 15 of the Tour de France!
Vingegaard coming to the final 300 metres now.
He finishes at 1:08 down.
The time cut today is 53:22.
Dutch journalist Thijs Zonneveld reports that Niki Terpstra has calculated that climbing time as 3:39 quicker than Pantani's 1998 Plateau de Beille record.
Plateau de Beille1998, Marco Pantani: 43'202007, Alberto Contador: 44'082024, Tadej Pogacar (handgeklokt door @NikiTerpstra): 39'41July 14, 2024
2:51 for Evenepoel in third place.
Pogačar celebrates his victory.
3:54 for Landa in fourth. 4:43 for Almeida in fifth.
Here's the stage 15 top 10...
And here's the new GC...
Quarter of an hour since Pogačar finished and 134 riders are still racing.
Here's what Pogačar had to say after his win...
"I would never imagine this kind of outcome after the second week. I'm super happy with my shape. Today was super hot and it was a really hard day. I always struggle with the heat and today the team did a super good job with cooling me down and everything. It was an incredible day.
"[Visma] decided to control today and make a hard pace ont he climbs but I was never worried. I just kept my mind on keeping myself cool and hydrating and eating enough. When we come to the bottom of the last climb I was at the limit a little bit when Jonas tried to drop me, but I could see that he was starting to suffer a little bit. When he tried to drop me the last time, I could see that he doesn't have the legs to go to the top, so I tried on my own. It was super, super tough in the final it paid off.
"It's really looking good. I was saying it already when it was 1:14. Now it's really, really comfortable. We just need to keep the focus over the last six days and keep this mentality like we have."
22 minutes done, 130 riders still out there.
Vingegaard and Evenepoel filled out the podium today and remain in second and third overall, though a long way down on Pogačar.
Tour de France: Pogačar counters Vingegaard attack on Plateau de Beille for emphatic win on stage 15
Dane second, Evenepoel third on summit finish as yellow jersey stamps his authority for second day
27 minutes to the time cut.
28 minutes after Pogačar finished, only 32 riders have finished the stage.
A look back at the final kilometre of the stage as Pogačar soloed to the win.
Another solo win! Relive the final KM of 🇸🇮@TamauPogi's 14th Le Tour stage victory.Une nouvelle victoire en solitaire ! Revivez le dernier KM de 🇸🇮@TamauPogi pour sa 14ème victoire d'étape sur le Tour.#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/TeLhQVG2JWJuly 14, 2024
19 minutes left for 112 riders to finish.
12 minutes left until the time cut.
A large group crosses the line but 54 riders remain out on the road. Eight minutes to go.
Michael Matthews is the 100th rider in at 44:19.
Girmay's large group has crossed the line.
Two minutes to go. 10 riders left.
Cavendish, Bol, Lutsenko, and Ballerini come home at 51:35 down. 58 seconds inside the time cut.
Arnaud Démare follows Fernando Gaviria home. The Frenchman is just 58 seconds inside the time cut.
Bram Welten is the only rider who hasn't finished yet.
Welten missed the time cut by just under four minutes today.
Bram Welten is the last rider in, after the time cut pic.twitter.com/vxHOmdLK8nJuly 14, 2024
At the other end of the race, Pogačar celebrates another day in yellow heading into tomorrow's second rest day.
He's also in the polka dot jersey as best climber.
Third-placed Remco Evenepoel is the best young rider.
Biniam Girmay extended his green jersey lead at the head of the points classification.
