Jasper Philipsen wins Stage 15 after Jonas Vingegaard crash

Belgian Jasper Philipsen claimed his maiden victory on the Tour de France when he won a bunch sprint in the 15th stage as overall leader Jonas Vingegaard suffered a bad day on Sunday.

Alpecin-Deceuninck rider Philipsen timed his effort to perfection to beat compatriot Wout van Aert and Dane Mads Pedersen, who were second and third respectively.

Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey but hit the deck and lost two of his Jumbo-Visma team mates as Steven Kruijswijk crashed out and Primoz Roglic did not take the start of the 202.5-km ride from Rodez after failing to recover from injuries.

With temperature above 40 degrees Celsius, organisers sprayed parts of the road with water to cool down the melting tar before the riders passed.

Nils Politt and Mikkel Honore built up an advantage of about 2:30 over the peloton while Michael Morkov was dropped early on and suffered an ordeal alone at the back.

The breakaway was reined in with 50km left, shortly after Vingegaard crashed along with team mate Tiesj Benoot.

Vingegaard made it back into the peloton and still leads defending champion Tadej Pogacar by two minutes and 22 seconds.

Two Frenchmen, Alexis Gougeard and Benjamin Thomas, attacked with 48 kilometres remaining.

Thomas, a track pursuit specialist, went solo in the finale but was caught 500 metres from the line, leaving the French riders still waiting for their first stage win in this edition.

Monday is a rest day on the Tour de France.

Tour de France – Stage 15

• Today’s route sees riders travel 202.5km on the flat from Rodez to Carcassonne

• 65km to go: Jumbo-Visma’s Primoz Roglic abandons and Steven Kruijswijk crashes out

• 58km to go: Yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard crashes before rejoining peloton

• 50km to go: Sprinters getting dropped on final climb of the day

• Jasper Philipsen wins sprint on the line in Carcassonne

Stage 15 summary

17:02 , Lawrence Ostlere

Belgian Jasper Philipsen claimed his maiden victory on the Tour de France when he won a bunch sprint in the 15th stage as overall leader Jonas Vingegaard suffered a bad day on Sunday.

Story continues

Alpecin-Deceuninck rider Philipsen timed his effort to perfection to beat compatriot Wout van Aert and Dane Mads Pedersen, who were second and third respectively.

Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey but hit the deck and lost two of his Jumbo-Visma team mates as Steven Kruijswijk crashed out and Primoz Roglic did not take the start of the 202.5-km ride from Rodez after failing to recover from injuries.

With temperature above 40 degrees Celsius, organisers sprayed parts of the road with water to cool down the melting tar before the riders passed.

Nils Politt and Mikkel Honore built up an advantage of about 2:30 over the peloton while Michael Morkov was dropped early on and suffered an ordeal alone at the back.

The breakaway was reined in with 50km left, shortly after Vingegaard crashed along with team mate Tiesj Benoot.

Vingegaard made it back into the peloton and still leads defending champion Tadej Pogacar by two minutes and 22 seconds.

Two Frenchmen, Alexis Gougeard and Benjamin Thomas, attacked with 48 kilometres remaining.

Thomas, a track pursuit specialist, went solo in the finale but was caught 500 metres from the line, leaving the French riders still waiting for their first stage win in this edition.

Monday is a rest day on the Tour de France.

Jasper Philipsen wins stage 15

16:54 , Lawrence Ostlere

Here’s a look at that fast finish:

Jasper Philipsen wins stage 15

16:51 , Lawrence Ostlere

The young Belgian sprinter was involved in a couple of the sprint finishes in the early part of this Tour, and this time finally gets hold of his career’s first Tour stage.

Jasper Philipsen wins stage 15!

16:49 , Lawrence Ostlere

Philipsen throws his bike at the finish line and edges Wout van Aert by half a wheel!

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:48 , Lawrence Ostlere

Pedersen is up there too, as Philipsen leads the way, with Van Aert and Groenewegen chasing too…

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:47 , Lawrence Ostlere

1km to go: Thomas is caught under the Flamme Rouge and it’s going to be a bunch sprint. Pick your winner: Philipsen, Sagan, Van Aert, Groenewegen, Kristoff, Van Poppel, someone else?

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:46 , Lawrence Ostlere

1.5km to go: Thomas leads by only six seconds now, he looks shot. This is surely going to be sprint finish.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:45 , Lawrence Ostlere

2.5km to go: Thomas leads by about 12 seconds – the zoomed-out shots show a swarm of riders trying to swallow him up!

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:43 , Lawrence Ostlere

4km to go: Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) shakes off Alexis Gougeard and leads the stage all alone.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:42 , Lawrence Ostlere

4km to go: Broa-Hansgrohe move towards the front now, trying to set up a finish for their man Danny van Poppel. Intermarché are also trying to get involved for their man, the veteran Norwegian sprinter Alexander Kristoff.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:40 , Lawrence Ostlere

8km to go: A fast descent leads the way to the edge of Carcassonne and the peloton pushes on once more, fronted again by Ineos’s Dani Martinez with a little help from Jumbo-Visma, and the leading duo of Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels) are only 15 seconds ahead now.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:36 , Lawrence Ostlere

10km to go: Ineos are happy to have got through a little section of crosswinds and they slow. Who will take up the front of the peloton? Everyone looks at each other, and as they do so, the leading duo are increasing their lead.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:33 , Lawrence Ostlere

13km to go: Ineos hit the front now for no other reason than they don’t want to get caught in any chaos in the peloton after what has been a surprisingly nervy day in the bunch.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:29 , Lawrence Ostlere

The breakaway duo of Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels) remain about 20 seconds or so up the road, but surely this is going to be a bunch sprint, and there are some strong fast men in the hunt. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Peter Sagan (Total Energies), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange) are just a few of those who could contend on the line.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:26 , Lawrence Ostlere

20km to go: Dylan Groenewegen is one of a number of sprinters who have managed to get back in touch with the peloton, along with Peter Sagan.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:22 , Lawrence Ostlere

24km to go: Wout van Aert is getting involved in a bit of bluff and counter-bluff at the front of the peloton. I don’t think he’s going to give up the opportunity of a stage win to look after his mate Vingegaard today.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:15 , Lawrence Ostlere

30km to go: As we head into the final stretch, the leading duo have more than half a minute on the chasing pack.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:04 , Lawrence Ostlere

Two riders, Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels), have escaped up the road and they now lead by around 20 seconds or so.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

16:01 , Lawrence Ostlere

Some inter-team banter on social media after that injection of pace up the climb by Trek-Segafredo in an attempt to set up the stage for Mads Pedersen:

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

15:54 , Lawrence Ostlere

Yesterday’s stage winner Michael Matthews is another who has been dropped on the climb, as the peloton crests and begins the (mostly) descent towards Carcassonne.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

15:52 , Lawrence Ostlere

47km to go: The breakaway has been caught and the race is being led by this Trek-Segafredo charge.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

15:49 , Lawrence Ostlere

50km to go: Vingegaard has worked his way towards the front of the peloton and latches on to the wheel of Wout van Aert.

Meanwhile, a clever plan by Trek-Segafredo is hatching as they ramp up the pace on the front of this climb: they are shedding the really fast men and that is helping their star man Mads Pedersen’s chances at the end of the day. Dylan Groenewegen is the latest sprinter to be dropped by the peloton, joining Ewan and Jakobsen off the back. The one who is handling this Trek assault? Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Jasper Philipsen.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

15:44 , Lawrence Ostlere

52km to go: Jonas Rutsch fires away from the front of the peloton as this climb ratchets up, in an attempt to bridge across to the breakaway.

At the back, Caleb Ewan is dropped from the bunch, as is Fabio Jakobsen, and the big sprinters are falling away before they reach the finish.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

15:42 , Lawrence Ostlere

I think I’m right in saying there are only three Jumbo-Visma riders today who haven’t got held up in some kind of trouble: Sepp Kuss, Christophe Laporte and Nathan van Hooydonck. The rest have either abandoned the race or got stuck along the way. They had a nightmare day of bad luck in the cobbles and the Dutch team are getting more bad fortunte today it seems.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

15:40 , Lawrence Ostlere

55km to go: Vingegaard has managed to make contact with the main group once again.

Up ahead, the leading duo of Politt and Honore pass through the intermedate sprint and begin the category three Cote d’Ambialet (4.4km, 4.6%). Behind them, Pogacar sits right on the shoulder of Van Aert as they lead the peloton through the sprint.

Jonas Vingegaard crashes!

15:37 , Lawrence Ostlere

Now the yellow jersey is down! What on earth is happening to Jumbo-Visma? Vingegaard and one of his teammates, Tiesj Benoot, are both spotted on the floor in the peloton. Benoot comes off worse and limps off towards the team car to get a bike change, but Vingegaard is able to crack straight on and he’s powering back towards the pack with a few black marks on the left shoulder of his yellow jersey.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

15:34 , Lawrence Ostlere

There has also been another protest today, following on from a demonstration a few days ago which briefly stopped the race. No suggestions of a link between the protest and the crash.

Steven Kruijswijk abandons the Tour

15:31 , Lawrence Ostlere

It’s confirmed, and Vingegaard has lost two teammates in a matter of hours. It looks a nasty shoulder injury, and Kruijswijk, a former runner-up in this race, is loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher, a sad sight.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

15:29 , Lawrence Ostlere

Crash! Oh dear, and this is not good news for Jumbo-Visma, as their riders Steven Kruijswijk and Wout van Aert both involved. Van Aert seems to be OK and is quickly back on his bike but Kruijswijk doesn’t look good and is surely done here. That could be two down in one day for Jumbo-Visma after Primoz Roglic abandoned the race this morning to let his own injuries heal. The yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard is losing some of his support team.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

15:18 , Lawrence Ostlere

Ouch. Owain Doull is soon back on his bike, but that’s a horrible moment in the middle of an otherwise uneventful stage so far.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

15:12 , Lawrence Ostlere

The breakaway duo are not too far from the foot of the final climb of the day, the Cote des Cammazes (5.1km, 4.1%). If there are going to be any fireworks, especially among the GC contenders, before we reach Carcassonne then this will be the place where they happen.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

15:09 , Lawrence Ostlere

No sporting event photos quite like the Tour de France:

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

14:59 , Lawrence Ostlere

84km to go: Our leading duo of Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mikkel Frolich Honore (QuickStep) remain around a minute and a half ahead of the chasing pack, although it had briefly dipped down to around a minute back there.

A reminder of the big news this morning…

14:48 , Lawrence Ostlere

Primoz Roglic suffered more Tour de France heartbreak when he abandoned the race on Sunday to recover from injuries sustained in a crash during the first week.

“To allow my injuries to heal properly, we have decided that I won’t start today,” Roglic said before the start of the 15th stage, a 202.5-km ride to Carcassonne.

Roglic, who suffered a dislocated shoulder and a back injury when he crashed in the fifth stage, had sacrificed his own chances this week with repeated attacks that eventually allowed his team mate Jonas Vingegaard to take the overall lead from defending champion Tadej Pogacar.

“I’m proud of my contribution to the current standings and I trust that the team will realise our yellow (jersey) and green (jersey for the points classification) ambitions,” Roglic added.

One of the favourites in the Tour for the third year in a row, Roglic has now abandoned the last two editions after pulling out before the sixth stage last year following a crash in the third stage.

Two years ago, he took a commanding lead into the final time trial, only for him to crack and lose first place to Pogacar.

Roglic may now focus on recovering to take part in the Vuelta a Espana, which starts next month, and hope to become the first rider to win the race four times in a row.

Magnus Cort Nielsen and Simon Clarke became the latest COVID-19 casualties on the Tour de France when the two stage winners were pulled out of the race by their respective teams too.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

14:38 , Lawrence Ostlere

Some images from the day so far:

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

14:32 , Lawrence Ostlere

100km to go: Nils Politt passes Mikkel Frolich Honore a large block of ice as they work together on the front, but their lead is slowly melting away, now down to just 1 min 30 sec from the advancing peloton.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

14:28 , Lawrence Ostlere

Last year Mark Cavendish made history in Carcassonne:

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

14:22 , Lawrence Ostlere

110km to go: So, this stage 15 has settled into a rhythm with the two riders at the front – Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mikkel Frolich Honore (QuickStep) – around two minutes clear of the peloton, which is moving along a fair speed in the searing heat of southern France. Perhaps everyone is keen to get this sweltering day done. A bunch sprint is still the most likely outcome, you would think.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

14:00 , Lawrence Ostlere

No mean feat of water-carrying, this, by Toms Skujins, a proper team player:

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

13:57 , Lawrence Ostlere

Here are the latest King of the Mountains points in the race for the polka dot jersey:

1. Simon Geshke (Cofidis), 46 points

2. Louis Meintjes, (Intermarche), 39

3. Neilson Powless (EF Education), 37

4. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma), 36

5. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), 35

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

13:52 , Lawrence Ostlere

130km to go: Pollit crests the Cote d’Ambialet (4.4km, 4.6%) just ahead of Honore, and thus takes the two King of the Mountains points on offer.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

13:35 , Lawrence Ostlere

140km to go: Wout van Aert has been called back to the peloton by his team, so that’s the end of his early jaunt up the road. Not sure what he achieved, there. That leaves Nils Politt and Mikkel Frolich Honore in a two-man break, and they are almost three minutes clear of the peloton.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

13:23 , Lawrence Ostlere

Temperatures are expected to reach 40C along the road to Carccassonne today. Eesh. One man who has often said he doesn’t like extreme heat is Tadej Pogacar, though hailing from Slovenia he surely has more experience of hot summers than the Dane in yellow, Jonas Vingegaard.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

13:16 , Lawrence Ostlere

Worth noting that due to the extreme weather today, there are plenty of rules loosened to allow the riders to keep hydrated and the time cut has been slackened too so that strugglers can afford to take it easy. Water bidons are allowed to be taken at any point during the race, where normally they cannot be taken until at least 30km.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

12:59 , Lawrence Ostlere

The peloton’s pace is so high that there are already several breaks in the peloton, with a few riders sliding off the back already. One of those is Michael Morkov, the master lead-out man of QuickStep, which means Fabio Jakobsen will have to win this stage without his bodyguard.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

12:57 , Lawrence Ostlere

The breakaway trio has moved around 1min 40sec clear of the main chasing pack.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

12:47 , Lawrence Ostlere

Simon Clarke bids farewell to the Tour, one he will never forget:

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

12:40 , Lawrence Ostlere

185km to go: We have an early three-man breakaway and oddly enough Van Aert is among them – he does what he wants on this Tour and more often than not it comes off, though I’m surprised he hasn’t just sat tight and waited for a bunch sprint later in the day. They are: Wout van Aert, Nils Politt and Mikkel Frolich Honore.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

12:24 , Lawrence Ostlere

What do we think, today, then? I fancy a small breakaway to form early and get themselves a lead of four of five minutes but no more, as teams like Jasper Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck, Wout van Aert’s Jumbo-Visma, Fabio Jakobsen’s QuickStep, Lotto-Soudal’s Caleb Ewan and BikeExchange’s Dylan Groenewegen do everything in their power to keep the peloton’s pace high to force a bunch sprint for the stage win.

Stage 15 is under way!

12:18 , Lawrence Ostlere

Christian Prudhomme pops his head out of the sunroof in what remains the most low-budget element of the world’s biggest bike race… and with a flap of his arms, we’re off!

Stage 15 map and profile

12:11 , Lawrence Ostlere

A look at today’s route – is this a day for the man in the green jersey, Wout van Aert?

And Roglic is not the only one to withdraw…

11:49 , Lawrence Ostlere

Magnus Cort Nielsen and Simon Clarke became the latest COVID-19 casualties on the Tour de France when the two stage winners were pulled out of the race by their respective teams on Sunday.

“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,” his EF-Easy Post said in a statement.

Dane Cort Nielsen won the 10th stage in Megeve.

“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,” Israel-Premier Tech said of their Australian rider.

Clarke won the fifth stage of the Tour in Arenberg.

Clarke’s and Cort Nielsen’s withdrawals mean that eight riders have now been pulled out of the Tour because of COVID-19.

Breaking: Primoz Roglic has abandoned the Tour de France

11:35 , Lawrence Ostlere

Primoz Roglic suffered more Tour de France heartbreak when he abandoned the race on Sunday to recover from injuries sustained in a crash during the first week.

“To allow my injuries to heal properly, we have decided that I won’t start today,” Roglic said before the start of the 15th stage, a 202.5-km ride to Carcassonne.

Roglic, who suffered a dislocated shoulder and a back injury when he crashed in the fifth stage, had sacrificed his own chances this week with repeated attacks that eventually allowed his team mate Jonas Vingegaard to take the overall lead from defending champion Tadej Pogacar.

“I’m proud of my contribution to the current standings and I trust that the team will realise our yellow (jersey) and green (jersey for the points classification) ambitions,” Roglic added.

One of the favourites in the Tour for the third year in a row, Roglic has now abandoned the last two editions after pulling out before the sixth stage last year following a crash in the third stage.

Two years ago, he took a commanding lead into the final time trial, only for him to crack and lose first place to Pogacar.

Roglic may now focus on recovering to take part in the Vuelta a Espana, which starts next month, and hope to become the first rider to win the race four times in a row.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 15

11:28 , Lawrence Ostlere

A reminder of yesterday’s action, as Australia’s Michael Matthews produced a brilliant late surge to win stage 15 and finally claim his fourth Tour de France victory.

He has a plethora of top five finishes in stages, perhaps the result of being a jack of all trades who so often gets in contention for sprints, breakaways, and hilly finishes without quite being the master of any, but he found his perfect route on the road to Mende:

Michael Matthews conquers sweltering conditions to clinch Tour de France stage win

General Classification after Stage 14

11:16 , Lawrence Ostlere

Here is how the top 10 are shaping up coming into stage 15. The Dane Vingegaard still leads the way and is on course for his first yellow jersey, with a lead of almost two and a half minutes over reigning champion Pogacar.

Only Thomas, Bardet, Yates, Quintana, Meintjes and Gaudu are within five minutes of Vingegaard, and you would expect the podium to be rounded out by one of those riders behind the leading two.

1 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma 55hrs 31mins 1sec,

2 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates +2m 22s,

3 Geraint Thomas (Gbr) INEOS Grenadiers +2:43,

4 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM +3:01,

5 Adam Yates (Gbr) INEOS Grenadiers +4:06,

6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic +4:15,

7 Louis Meintjes (Rsa) Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert +4:24,

8 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at same time,

9 Tom Pidcock (Gbr) INEOS Grenadiers +8:49,

10 Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar Team +9:58

Tour de France: Stage 15 preview and route profiles

11:15 , Jamie Braidwood

It has been a torturous week for the sprinters at the Tour de France as they haul themselves over the Alpine mountains in search of another opportunity at a stage win.

While the more punchy Micheal Matthews was able to take victory on stage 13 in St Etienne yesterday, the likes of Fabio Jakobsen, Dylan Groenewegen, Caleb Ewan and Jasper Philipsen will have been focusing on this stage as a way of getting through those arduous days in and out of the saddle.

But now the sprinters teams have a day’s riding which will suit them once more. Race director Christian Prudhomme has said it could be a stage for the break, but you do not envisage the likes of Quick-Step and Bike-Exchange allowing this to end in anything other than a bunch sprint.

Tour de France sprinters set to battle it out for stage 15 victory

Good morning

11:00 , Jamie Braidwood

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Stage 15 of the Tour de France. After a gruelling week in the Alps, today should offer the sprinters a well deserved opportunity for a stage victory as we travel just over 200km from Rodez to Carcassonne.

We kick off in around an hour in the south of France.