Tour de France stage 15 Dwell – Sprinters hope for victory after scorching trip to Carcassonne

Trek riders are also on the move, forcing the GC riders to also stay vigilant. 

185km to go

An explanation for Honore in the attack is news that his QuickStep teammate Michael Morkov is struggling and dropped. 

The three attackers are Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mikkel Frølich Honoré (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl)

The gap is up to 1:50 as a B&B Hotel rider Alexis Gougeard tries to cross the gap alone. That’s a big task.

Indeed, the peloton has eased.

188km to go

Some in the peloton are trying to chase but QuickStep riders are blocking them. 

The van Aert trio have a gap of  1:00. 

They lead by 20 seconds.

Van Aert is away with Honore of QuickStep and Politt of Bora.   

The intermediate sprint comes after 147km but Wout van Aert is already active and trying to force a break. 

He can’t seem to stop himself, even though he has a massive, almost unbeatable lead in the green points jersey competition. 

Boom!

Tim Wellens attacks hard as Lotto try to fight back after some tough days.

200km to go

Riders are looking for an attack but the peloton is all together for now.

Click below to read the full story. 

Primoz Roglic quits Tour de France to allow crash injuries to heal

The three DNS riders are confirmed.

As well as Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) and Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech), Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) also opted to head home and heal-up after crashing on the cobbled stage.

Pierre-Luc Périchon had a flat tyre, which delayed the start briefly but the attacks are already coming. 

Here we go! 

Christian Prudhomme waves his flag and the stage is underway.

The stage heads southwest into the Occitanie region of France, at the foots of the Pyrenees.

It is the third consecutive stage above 190km. 

We expect lots of attacks in the early kilometres as riders try to join the break of the day and escape the control of the sprint teams. 

The leaders jersey wearers are Jonas Vingegaard (yellow), Wout van Aert (green), Simon Geschke (polka-dot) and Tadej Pogacar (white). 

They are the same for the fourth running day.

The riders face a 4.7km neutralised sector before the official stage start. 

Here we go! 

C’est Parti!  

Cort wore the polka-dot jersey in the early stage of the 2022 Tour de France after going on the attack on stages 2 and 3, delighting the huge Danish crowds. He then won stage 10 to Megève after going in the break of the day.

“Magnus Cort woke up this morning with a headache and fever and has since tested positive for COVID-19. He will not start stage 15 of the Tour de France. His medical evaluation is ongoing,” EF Education-EasyPost announced as the team arrived in Rodez for the stage start. 

Clarke won stage 5 to Wallers across the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix. Israel-Premier Tech said he tested positive for COVID-19 in a routine test but all the other riders were negative.

“After an internal routine test carried out by the team, unfortunately Simon Clarke has returned a positive Covid test. Therefore, Simon won’t take the start of stage 15. All other riders returned negative tests and are ready to race today,” Israel-Premier Tech announced. 

Sadly COVID-19 continues to circulate in the Tour de France peloton with stage winners Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) and Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) both testing positive before stage 15. 

Both have left the race.

3 minutes until the start. 

The riders are trying to stay in the shade before the roll out from Rodez.

For the full Cyclingnews story on the impact of the heatwave on the Tour de France, click below. 

Tour de France to race on to Carcassonne despite 40°C heatwave

These are the tweaks to the race rules on feeding: 

– The feeding for the 15th stage will be allowed from the KM 0 to 10km from the finish line

– Give bottles to the spectators will be allowed during all the stage by respecting the safety conditions for the public and the riders.

– The elimination deadline was set at 20% regardless of the stage average.

While professional cycling has an Extreme Weather Protocol and races have been cut or cancelled due to extreme conditions in the past, the Tour de France peloton seems ready to accept racing through the heat wave.

The Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA) riders association and their Tour de France representative Pascal Chanteur have been in contact with their riders, Tour de France organisers, UCI judges and team managers to find several solutions to help the riders.

This morning official held a special meeting and decided on some minor help so the riders can try to stay hydrated. 

It is currently 32C in Rodez and 34 in Carcassonne, where the stage is due to finish in four hours or so.

It is expected to be 37C when the stage finishes.   

As the Cyclingnews blimp takes height, the final riders are signing on in Rodez. 

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews’ live coverage of stage 15 of the Tour de France.