2019 Tour de France Stage 15 Results & Recap
Stage 15 of the 2019 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Yates wins stage 15\nBy Clara Beard
Simon Yates took win number two at the Tour de France after riding solo to the summit of Foix Prat d’Albis. The Mitchelton Scott rider kept Thibaut Pinot and Mikel Landa at bay who were hot in pursuit.
“I’m very proud of this second stage win,” Yates said. “It’s a bit different from the first one. We raced flat out from start to finish. I’m not targeting the KOM. I came to the Tour to support my brother and maybe to win a stage. Now that I’ve won two stages, I’ll put myself at the service of the team.” \nRace leader Julian Alaphilippe showed first signs of fatigue on the final climb today, losing about 45 seconds to second place Geraint Thomas, but still retains the yellow jersey through the rest day in Nimes.
“We knew it would be a hard day,” Alaphilippe said. “I paid for my efforts in the finale. I expected to lose a bit of time today. I’m delighted that I’m still in the yellow jersey. I gave my best to fight and retain the lead. The dream goes on. I was never a favourite and the hardest is yet to come.”
At the start in Limoux, the majority of teams were eager to be a part of the peloton, making for a fast, hard first part of the race – even before they hit the major climbs. At kilometre 55, Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Romain Bardet and Tony Gallopin (AG2R-La Mondiale), Vincenzo Nibali, Damiano Caruso and Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Merida), Rudy Molard and Sébastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ), Nairo Quintana, Andrey Amador and Marc Soler (Movistar), Pello Bilbao, Omar Fraile and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Michael Woods (EF Education First), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Simon Geschke (CCC), Julien Bernard, Giulio Ciccone and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates), Lennard Kämna and Nicolas Roche (Sunweb), Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin), Romain Kreuziger (Dimension Data) and Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Amaël Moinard (Arkéa-Samsic).\nMatthias Frank (AG2R-La Mondiale), Michael Matthews (Sunweb), Romain Sicard (Total Direct Energie), Pierre-Luc Périchon and Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin), Maxime Bouet (Arkéa-Samsic) and Amund Groendahl Jansen (Jumbo-Visma) joined 20 kilometres later.
At the beginning of the first of the three category one climbs, the breakaway split, as expected with Bardet reaching the summit first. Nibali and Mollema called it a day and went back to the comfort of the peloton, a further five minutes behind.
Gescke took a chance and attacked the Mur de Péguère, staying off the front at the summit, and joined by Yates on the downhill.
With 10 kilometres to go, Yates and Geschke extended their lead to their group of chasers that included Bardet and Quintana before Landa exploded out of the peloton and passed all stragglers out of the early breakaway.
Pinot also attacked the yellow jersey, putting Alaphilippe on the rivet and in danger of losing time. Thomas took advantage of this and also put the pressure on. Pinot rode like a rider possessed, catching Landa two kilometres before the finish line and sprinting passed him to finish second and a six-second time bonus, riding himself back into contention with a deficit 1’50”.
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