The fifteenth stage in the Tour brought the riders from Mende to Valence. Over 183 kilometres, the riders had to cover a sloped course with four ascents. The early breakaway never got much advantage, so the stage ended in a bunch sprint. André Greipel appeared to be the fastest and he obtained his third victory in this Tour de France. Froome maintains the yellow jersey.
There were nine riders in the breakaway, among them green jersey Sagan and Lotto Soudal rider Lars Bak. Their lead never went above the three minutes and at 30 kilometres before the finish they were caught by the peloton. After that, the peloton prepared itself for a bunch sprint. Cavendish didn’t participate in that sprint because he was in a chasing group behind the peloton since the beginning of the stage, with among others Démare and Sieberg. At the end, Stybar tried to get away, but he was caught in the final kilometre. The expected sprint took place and Greipel was the strongest. It’s his ninth victory at the Tour de France. In that way, he also minors his backlog in the points classification, which is lead by Sagan. He’s 44 points ahead.
André Greipel: “The first 18.5 kilometres were very important for me. If I could survive in the beginning of the stage, I knew that I could sprint for the victory. The biggest task was to stay in the peloton during these tough first kilometres, I really suffered. Afterwards there was a plateau and then there was a downhill. The only obstacle left on the course was a climb of the second category.”
“Lars was in the breakaway. He didn’t help in the front group and because of the great work of Katusha in the peloton, the breakaway didn’t get much space. Also the teammates did an excellent job and surrounded me very well. Tim Wellens kept me out of the wind and they nicely guided me to the sprint. It was a different sprint today because Greg Henderson and Marcel Sieberg weren’t there, but Jens Debusschere and the others really did a great effort. I can only be thankful for their work.”
“I suffered the whole day and I had some problems with my knee. But with the finish line in sight, I can always give that extra push. I knew that in the final 250 meters, there was a headwind. My timing was just good enough, although Degenkolb and Kristoff came close. At first, we came to the Tour de France for one victory, the fact that we won three stages now is just a dream. This sprint was the toughest of all sprint stages. The last chance will be on the Champs-Elysées, but first we’ll have to deal with the Alps. We will see what Paris brings.”
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Alexander Kristoff takes third place in Valence – Tour de France
The Sunday’s stage 15 was a final chance for the sprinters to kick in a bunch sprint before seeing the Champs Élysées next Sunday, and the fast men in cycling did not disappoint. Team Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff saw his chance to go for the win and used the team throughout the stage to control the break in order to give himself a chance at the finish line. Kristoff made the most of the situation and claimed a third place on the daily podium behind Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) who claimed his third stage win in the 2015 Tour de France.
– It was a bit of a headwind at the end. Greipel had a really good jump and I always struggle a bit when it’s like that so at the end I had good top speed but I just wasn’t fast enough. Today Greipel and Degenkolb were just stronger. I was planning to go at the same time at 250 m but Greipel was just stronger and when he started his sprint I could not answer. Really there is only one chance left for the sprinters on the Champs Élysées but if Greipel continues to sprint like this, it will be difficult to beat him. We were at the front a little early and the speed dropped just a bit and I came into the last corner in second position. I wanted to win the sprint and the team did a great job for me. It’s a pity I could not deliver. When the speeds drop off at the end and then I have to pick back up, I always have trouble with that kind of acceleration, – said team sprinter Alexander Kristoff.
Second place by less than half-a-wheel went to John Degenkolb (Team Giant-Alpecin) with the front group all on the same time of 3.56.35. There was no change on the overall classification and Chris Froome (Team Sky) begins the final week of racing holding the yellow jersey by 3.10 to Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and 3.32 to BMC’s Tejay van Garderen.
A 9-man breakaway was controlled by Team Katusha doing the lion’s share of the work at the front of the main field. With an early climb shelling a large group out the back, Katusha made tempo to keep the gap within 2 minutes. Eventually receiving some help from a few other teams, the catch was made with 36 km to go, but the main field all sprinted in together with Kristoff taking third place.
Tomorrow’s stage 16 begins in Bourg-de-Péage and is the last one before the final rest day – many riders will be giving their all to take an elusive stage win. At 201 km, it’s one of the longer stages for this year’s race and features two catergory-2 climbs. The Col de Manse comes with 12 km to go and could provide an exciting finale in Gap if a rider seizes the moment to slip away on the descent and outrun the chasing field.
