Stage 15 of the 2023 Tour de France covers 179km from Les Gets les Portes du Soleil to a summit finish at Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc.
The volume and severity of the climbing could finally see the gap between first and second on the GC increased to a more decisive margin – in either rider's favour. With so much at stake for Pogacar and Vingegaard, the chances are they'll be first and second over the finish line, too.
Let's hope they have a clear stretch of road ahead of them when attacking today.
Here we go with Cycling Weekly's live coverage of Stage 15 of the 2023 Tour de France. The riders are currently rolling through the long neutralised section, with 7km+ to go until the start
Former Arsenal Football Club manager Arsene Wenger – reportedly a big fan of cycling – is accompanying race director Christian Prudhomme in the lead car today
We're underway!
Mathieu van der Poel is on the attack
As Giulio Ciccone joins the moves with the expected aim of mountains points, Wout van Aert turns up and looks like he might be wanting to get clear with the breakaway
Splits in the peloton as more attacks go off the front, attempting to pull a breakaway clear
Neilson Powless is present in the latest breakaway attempt, trying to retake the lead in the KOM competition – today he's wearing the jersey on behalf of Vingegaard
Van der Poel is back on the front of the lead group but the gap is still only hovering around 15-17 seconds
Cofidis are getting frustrated at the front of the chasing peloton, but the gap has been closed
Nils Politt's off on a solo, with a few glances back hoping for some company
Three riders are coming across to Politt, he'll have some mates soon enough
More riders are trying to get clear of the main peloton as the front group becomes four: Politt, Julian Alaphilippe, Aurélien Paret-Peintreand Alexey Lutsenko
Wout van Aert's just remembered he's got a few more gears and off he goes round the group he was in. But once at the front he eased up a bit
As A. Paret-Peintre loses touch with the other three, Van Aert skips past him to top the front group back up to four
With so many riders going off the front of the main peloton and with the impetus now lacking out front a bit, it could be all back together again. But it could go either way at this point
Tony Gallopin is struggling at the back of the peloton
The breakaway now has 25 seconds but this isn't set yet
Just as Powless has got to the front group, he's getting shelled by an attack by Alaphilippe. Lutsenko has managed to match the move
Tom Pidcock now active in an attack
Alaphilippe and Lutsenko are working well together to grow their advantage
Big crash!
The road narrowed, and was further narrowed by the crowds encroaching the road, and the coming together saw riders hit the deck
Riders are still waiting for replacement bikes while others are struggling to get up. This could see the breakaway get clear after the peloton had been holding the lead riders within reach
Replays suggest, though it's not confirmed at this point, that a member of the public may have caused the crash by dangling their arm into the peloton
30+ chasers behind the lead pair, who possibly would have been closed down by the peloton if it hadn't been for the crash (possibly caused by a 'fan')
Alaphilippe and Lutsenko chatting, probably deciding whether to push on now or let the 35-man group behind come up to them. With four minutes on the peloton, the lead groups are now well clear
Tom Pidcock is on his way back to the peloton from the second group
The peloton is taking it very steadily as it reaches the intermediate sprint point, almost eight minutes down on the very front of the race
Lutsenko had a gap on Alaphilippe but they're back together now
Powless is following Ciccone as they both hunt mountains points. They're 26 seconds behind the lead pair so could push on and catch them. The rest of the second group are all just looking at the KOM hunters
Lutsenko goes over the KOM summit ahead of Alaphilippe while Van Aert sets the pace behind
Ciccone beats Powless to third
Lutsenko just holds it up, dangling his right leg out for balance on a corner as he and Alaphilippe head down the descent
The second group is now the first group as Alaphilippe and Lutsenko are brought back
Marco Haller (Bora-Hansgrohe) has eeked out 14 seconds on the breakaway, using the descent to get away
Haller is on the Col de La Croix Fry, starting the climb with 45 seconds over the break and 7:03 over the peloton
Rui Costa is on the move, making his way to Haller
Rui Costa's last Tour stage win came 10 years ago, when Tadej Pogacar was a 14-year-old school boy
Costa has dropped Haller
Haller's adventure is over as the polka dot group has reached him, led by Wout van Aert
57.7km to go
Costa's gap is closing and Ciccone looks ready to take more KOM points. A bad day for Powless who's been dropped
56.6km to go
David Gaudu is having a bad day, fighting to hold the group
55.8km to go
Costa's been caught
54.8km to go
Rigoberto Uran is following Ciccone, probably hoping to take some points off him on behalf EF teammate Powless
54.6km to go
Ciccone takes the points with relative ease, no challenge from behind. With three climbs to go, he's in the joint lead of the competition
54.6km to go
Ciccone takes the points with relative ease, no challenge from behind. With three climbs to go, he's in the joint lead of the competition
47.6km to go
Soler is on the attack, he'll probably take the two points at the top of the climb, to Ciccone's annoyance
Reaction is still coming in to the crash earlier in the stage:
43.8km to go
A couple of riders have gone down on a corner, it looks like Uran was one of them, both riders look to have escaped serious harm
42.9km to go
Powless and Alaphilippe have been caught by the peloton, not the way they would have wanted their days to go
42.1km to go
Van Aert and two others have caught Soler
Fingers crossed we don't get any attack hindering moto-moments today
Photographer who blocked Tadej Pogačar's attack at Tour de France apologises
40.6km to go
The front group is Van Aert, Soler, Wout Poels and Krists Neilands
39.8km to go
Van Aert and Neilands have distanced Soller but he's still in sight. Poels is in between at a varying distance
36.4km to go
Neilands has gone down on a corner, hitting a small wall. On the last shot of him, he'd sat up so hopefully is relatively unscathed
The situation is worse than it first appeared: Neilands took a bottle from a moto, which clipped his rear wheel and caused him to crash. The previously accused wall probably saved him from going over the edge of the road. The rider looks to be alright though, fingers crossed
26.3km to go
The lead trio are working well together and their gap is out over a minute. Apparently Neilands is up and riding, which is good news, but his chance of a stage win is long gone, which is a real shame
20.1km to go
The chasing group is rotating through but the gap is not coming down, so it's not proving very effective
17.1km to go
The Wouts are dropping Soler on the descent
11.4km to go
Soler looks to be coming back a bit as the road starts to go up again
10.8km to go
Here comes Soler as Poels drops Van Aert
9.8km to go
Soler has caught and passed Van Aert. Poels is still in the lead.
9.6km to go
Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) is on the attack from the chasing group. He's looking around a lot though
The Jumbo-Visma led peloton is in bits, split up by the descent and the run in to the final climb(s)
Barguil's been caught and is now getting dropped. Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) is on the move, perhaps a bit early, but he could improve his GC position with a strong gap over the yellow jersey group
UAE are driving the pace on the front of the hugely reduced peloton. So reduced, 'peloton' probably isn't accurate
Maximum points on the KOM for Wout Poels, but that probably doesn't interest him
Van Aert and Soler are together again, 30 seconds behind Poels
Poels has completed the short descent between the pair of climbs, he's now on the final ascent with 7km to go and 27 seconds over the chasers
Pidcock working hard to hold on to the group. Come on Tom!
5.1km to go
Poels has 42 seconds over Van Aert and is pushing on
Pidcock passes Neilands on the descent
Pidcock is back on the group!
Carlos Rodriguez is clear of the GC group, perhaps by luck rather than design, but he's looking strong
3.8km to go
Poels has a minute and should be on for the stage win
3km to go and 1:11 for Poels: the stage is his, surely?
Van Aert looks to be paying for earlier efforts and is really labouring. His advantage over Soler should see him finish second on the stage, but it's unlikely a rider of his quality will be happy with that
4.9km to go for the GC group, almost seven minutes behind Poels. It looks like it's advantage Pogacar as Kuss has been dropped and Vingegaard is isolated
Yates is pacing Pogacar and Vingegaard
Yates is out the saddle and pushing hard
Flamme rouge for Poels
3km to go for Yates, Pogacar, Vingegaard
Yates is riding away from Pogacar... tactical or is Pogacar getting dropped?
Poels wins!
Rodriguez has caught Pogacar and Vingegaard
Van Aert crossed the line over two minutes down on Poels
Yates has caught his teammate Soler: would it have been better if both had slowed off and ridden with Pogacar?
The remnants of the break are crossing the line in ones and twos
Vingegaard looks like he's ready to attack as the trio passed under the flamme rouge
Pogacar goes first!
Vingegaard goes with him and gets back on his wheel. They pass Soler.
It was actually Yates they passed, Soler gave Pogacar a short turn
Vingegaard comes round Pogacar on the final bend but it might be a photo for who got across the line first. With the bonuses long gone, the gap between the pair will stay the same going into the second rest day
What a day! We've now got a rest day followed by a 22.4km time-trial with an uphill finish. It should fit its nickname as 'the race of truth'
Here's a round up of today's stage:
Wout Poels wins Stage 15 of the Tour de France as the GC battle ends in a grinding stalemate
Rest day tomorrow, so read up on the race so far on Cycling Weekly's 2023 Tour de France hub ahead of Tuesday's ITT
