Dutchman Wout Poels has won the 15th stage of the Tour de France from Les Gets les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc. Jonas Vingegaard continues to drive in the yellow jersey.
One-second thriller on Mont Blanc: defending champions Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar provided the next gripping climbing show on the mighty Alps and are entering the final week of the Tour de France almost at the same time. In Saint-Gervais, the duo crossed the finish line side by side, but this had no impact on the overall standings. After 15 stages, Vingegaard is just ten seconds ahead of Pogacar, and the red carpet has been rolled out for a thrilling final week.
“It was a draw. Neither could outperform the other. But it was a good day,” said Vingegaard. Pogacar even sees the gap as an advantage. “I’m very happy with the ten seconds. That way I can be more aggressive and attack and don’t have to be passive,” said the Slovenian.
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Poels wins the stage
The stage win at the foot of Mont Blanc, meanwhile, was a matter for the escapees. The Dutchman Wout Poels won the 1,400 meter high finish as a soloist ahead of the Belgian Wout van Aert and the Frenchman Mathieu Burgaudeau. The favorites reached the ski area almost six minutes behind.
“It was always my dream to win a stage of the tour. Now all emotions are running high. Of course, I could only really enjoy it in the last kilometer. This victory is for Gino,” said Poels in memory of his in the run-up to the tour teammate Gino Mäder who died in an accident.
But the focus was clearly on the duel between Pogacar and Vingegaard. On the final seven-kilometre climb, Vingegaard was waiting for his rival to attack, but he wasn’t tempted for a long time. The first attempt came only one kilometer from the finish, but unlike the previous attacks, Pogacar could not break away. Vingegaard even followed a second acceleration while sitting.
Spectators cause a mass fall
While Pogacar was hampered by a motorcyclist on the way to Morzine on Saturday, a fan took center stage on Sunday. A careless spectator triggered a mass fall and brought down Vingegaard’s most important helper, among others. With about 128 kilometers to go, the fan stood too far on the road and stuck out his arm, apparently holding a smartphone. The American Sepp Kuss, who was at the front of the field, touched his arm, fell and swept around 20 drivers with him. In the mountains, Kiss is Vingegaard’s main helper. But he was able to continue the race.
Hindley loses third place
In the fight for the third place on the podium, the top German team Bora-hansgrohe falls behind with its Australian captain Jai Hindley. Hindley lost third place overall to 22-year-old Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), who won in Morzine on Saturday. The gap grew to 1:17 minutes on Sunday. Hindley’s helper Emanuel Buchmann fell on a descent but continued the race. “I have a few abrasions. The fall wasn’t too bad, but that’s always annoying. The plan was to stay with Jai on the mountain longer. That wasn’t possible anymore,” said Buchmann
Tuesday a tough individual time trial
After the rest day on Monday, the eagerly awaited individual time trial follows on Tuesday. Although it is only 22 kilometers long, it is extremely selective: Immediately after the start in Passy, a 1.5-kilometer climb awaits, and at the end of the stage it goes up to Combloux with an incline of up to 15 percent – 419 meters in altitude are alone on the to cope with the last 6.3 kilometers. In addition to the fight for seconds between Vingegaard and Pogacar, one of the exciting questions of the day is whether someone actually wants to jet up there with a time trial machine.
