As it happened: Tadej Pogačar dominates once again on Tour de France stage 15

Tour de France: Pogačar counters Vingegaard attack on Plateau de Beille for emphatic win on stage 15

Dane second, Evenepoel third on summit finish as yellow jersey stamps his authority for second day

Vingegaard and Evenepoel filled out the podium today and remain in second and third overall, though a long way down on Pogačar.

22 minutes done, 130 riders still out there.

Here’s what Pogačar had to say after his win…

“I would never imagine this kind of outcome after the second week. I’m super happy with my shape. Today was super hot and it was a really hard day. I always struggle with the heat and today the team did a super good job with cooling me down and everything. It was an incredible day.

“(Visma) decided to control today and make a hard pace ont he climbs but I was never worried. I just kept my mind on keeping myself cool and hydrating and eating enough. When we come to the bottom of the last climb I was at the limit a little bit when Jonas tried to drop me, but I could see that he was starting to suffer a little bit. When he tried to drop me the last time, I could see that he doesn’t have the legs to go to the top, so I tried on my own. It was super, super tough in the final it paid off.

“It’s really looking good. I was saying it already when it was 1:14. Now it’s really, really comfortable. We just need to keep the focus over the last six days and keep this mentality like we have.”

Quarter of an hour since Pogačar finished and 134 riders are still racing.

Here’s the stage 15 top 10…

And here’s the new GC…

3:54 for Landa in fourth. 4:43 for Almeida in fifth.

Pogačar celebrates his victory.

2:51 for Evenepoel in third place.

Dutch journalist Thijs Zonneveld reports that Niki Terpstra has calculated that climbing time as 3:39 quicker than Pantani’s 1998 Plateau de Beille record.

The time cut today is 53:22.

He finishes at 1:08 down.

Vingegaard coming to the final 300 metres now.

Finish

Tadej Pogačar wins stage 15 of the Tour de France!

55 seconds now.

This is the 80th win of his career.

14 career Tour stage wins for the Slovenian now.

800 to go for Pogačar.

Evenepoel at 2:20. Landa at 3:15.

1km to go

Almost done.

Pogačar is coming up to the final kilometre.

50 seconds to Vingegaard now.

Cavendish’s group reportedly just under 36 minutes down at the start of the climb.

Pogačar keeps eking out seconds.

They’re racing through packed crowds in this final 2km now.

2km to go

40 seconds back to Vingegaard now.

Evenepoel hits the two-minute mark. He’s the third man on the road.

The only question now is how much time Pogačar will gain at the finish.

3km to go

30 seconds.

Landa at 2:35.

Evenepoel at 1:45 down.

Out of the treeline and towards the exposed plateau at the top of the mountain.

4km to go

Pogačar gaining time metre by metre.

20 seconds already.

1:25 back to Evenepoel.

10 seconds between them.

5km to go

We’re further out than we were when Pogačar attacked yesterday.

There was no response.

Vingegaard can’t match him.

Pogačar makes a move! 5.4km out.

6km to go

Evenepoel at a minute now.

Landa is only a place and 1:08 behind Rodríguez on the GC.

10% gradients for the leaders.

Landa is with Mas at 1:20, just behind Carapaz. Rodríguez and Yates are another 20 seconds back.

Evenepoel at 40 seconds.

7km to go

Still no moves from the leading duo.

30 seconds to Evenepoel now. 1:25 to Rodríguez.

8km to go

Evenepoel passes Carapaz now.

Vingegaard continues on the front.

Evenepoel is at 20 seconds. Rodríguez already over a minute down.

9km to go

Carapaz now dropped.

Carapaz is named the most aggressive rider of the day just as he squirts his water bottle and gesticulates at a fan getting too close at the side of the road.

Carapaz is the only man who attempts to stick with them.

They blow past the Uno-X rider and go across to Mas and Carapaz.

They’re closing in on Johannessen now.

Vingegaard and Pogačar in the group before things blew up.

10km to go

Vingegaard and Pogačar now 20 seconds off the front.

The GC leaders pass De Plus and Hindley as if they were racing past dropped rouleurs.

35 seconds from Carapaz to Vingegaard and Pogačar.

Evenepoel chases solo.

Pogačar easily matches the move.

10.5km to go

Carapaz goes solo up front as Vingegaard attacks!

Jorgenson, Vingegaard, Yates, Pogačar, Evenepoel, Landa remain.

Buitrago drops from the GC group. Rodríguez also loses contact.

11km to go

The gap is under a minute now.

Carapaz bridges across.

They’re continuously losing time to the GC group, however, so the breakaway battle looks more or less meaningless.

Johannessen goes with him.

Mas now makes a move from the break.

12km to go

1:05 now.

Up front, the group is still together despite Carapaz’s attack.

13km to go

1:20 up to the break now.

Ciccone, Gall dropping from the GC group.

A picturesque view of the Pyrenees today.

Carapaz attacks!

1:30 for the break with 13.7km to go.

Rodríguez, Ciccone, Buitrago, Gall, Landa also in there.

Jorgenson, Vingegaard, Pogačar, Evenepoel, Adam Yates up front.

Almeida drops along with Gee.

14km to go

1:45 for the break now.

Gee battling to stick in the group at the rear.

Jorgenson pushes the pace and the gap to the leaders is down to two minutes.

Fuglsang, Marc Soler, Healy, Martin, Simon Yates also done.

Jorgenson takes over at the head of the GC group as Kelderman swings off the front at the start of the climb.

15km to go

The gap is already coming down. 2:25 now.

Mas, De Plus, Carapaz, Hindley, Johannessen out front.

2:33 for the break at the start of the climb.

28 minutes to Girmay. 38 minutes to Cavendish.

Here’s the climb of Plateau de Beille – 15.8km at 7.9%

16km to go

The break are just starting the final climb now.

20km to go

Bike change for Jorgenson.

We’re still waiting for the start of the final climb now. Around 6km to go for the leaders.

Another long valley road here. Around 20km to the foot of the final climb.

29km to go

2:50 from break to peloton.

Girmay at 27 minutes. Cavendish at 36 minutes.

Kelderman nips off the front of the peloton as the riders hit the valley road.

38km to go

At the bottom of the descent, the GC group lies 2:25 down on the break.

If my workings-out are correct and the winner finishes with an average of 37kph (in line with the day’s fastest predicted time schedule), he’d finish in a time of 5:17:00.

117% of that is around 6:11:00, making the time cut 54 minutes.

Mark Cavendish is with teammates Cees Bol, Alexey Lutsenko and Davide Ballerini. Arnaud Démare and DSM trio John Degenkolb, Nils Eekhoff, and Bram Welten are also in there.

They’re in danger of missing the time cut today. Going by the current average speed of 37.7kph, they’d need to finish within 115% of the winner’s time, though the time cut is reportedly extended to 117% today.

25 minutes to Girmay’s group. 32:30 back to Cavendish’s group.

49km to go

Johannessen catches the lead quartet on the way down the Port de Lers.

10 seconds for Johannessen now.

They join Kelderman, Jorgenson, Vingegaard, Almeida, Soler, Adam Yates, Pogačar, Landa, Evenepoel, Rodríguez, Ciccone, Verona, Buitrago, Gee, and Martin.

51km to go

Yates and Healy caught by the GC group.

Johannessen is closing in on the leaders now. He’s 15 seconds down.

Visma heading up the lead group.

Still two men on the front ahead of Vingegaard for Visma. UAE have three men lined up behind the Dane with Pogačar following.

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Hindley, Mas, Carapaz, De Plus remain out front.

54km to go

3:10 for the break.

A short descent and now the riders head up the short climb to the peak of the Port de Lers.

Johannessen now 35 seconds down. Yates and Healy at 2:20.

De Plus leads the group over the summit as his countryman Gerben Thijssen abandons the Tour.

600 metres from the top for the leaders now.

3:20 between the break and peloton.

Mas, Hindley, and De Plus out front before Carapaz made it across to them.

Healy and Yates are at 1:35.

The next group on the road is a solo Johannessen at 50 seconds back.

62km to go

Carapaz makes it four up front.

Only around 15 men in the GC group now.

3.5km to the top and it looks like Carapaz will make it across soon.

Carapaz making ground on the leaders. 17 seconds down now.

Sivakov drops now. Pogačar has Yates, Almeida, Soler left.

Carapaz 35 seconds down as Healy stops his work and drops away.

It looks like it’s just Kelderman and Jorgenson in the main group for Visma.

Visma leading the peloton with two men working for Vingegaard. Meanwhile, UAE have four left in the group in addition to Pogačar.

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Yates and Johannessen are next on the road at 1:05.

65km to go

Healy now pacing Carapaz at 40 seconds back from the leaders.

Healy also drops.

7km from the top and Sobrero drops from the break.

Sobrero, Hindley, Mas, Healy, De Plus in the lead group.

Carapaz passes Jungels and Romo, who also let go at the front.

Visma continue to control the group.

Bart Lemmen and Wout van Aert drop off the front of the peloton after their work.

68km to go

Carapaz attacks from the chase.

Jungels is done at the front and now Sobrero works for Hindley. The group is now a minute up the road.

3:45 to the peloton.

There are two Movistar men and three from Red Bull in the lead group while the chase group consists entirely of single riders from different teams.

The leaders start the Col d’Agnes (10km at 8.2%).

A good job by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe today. They’ve put multiple riders in the break, Jungels has worked hard on the front, and now all three are in the lead split.

70km to go

The gap is only going up. 40 seconds now.

They have 15 seconds on the rest of the break.

Romo, Mas, Healy, De Plus, Hindley, Jungels, Sobrero are up the road.

A split in the break as riders attack heading towards the climb.

76km to go

3:30 between break and peloton as the riders near the next climb.

The green jersey group is currently 16 minutes behind the front of the race.

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88km to go

The gap to the peloton goes out above three minutes.

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Still in the valley but the road tilts slightly uphill towards the base of the next climb, the Col d’Agnes.

98km to go

2:40 for the break currently.

The riders racing through the Pyrenees today.

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105km to go

2:25 for the break now.

Race leader Tadej Pogačar with his UAE teammates in the peloton.

111km to go

It’s not just Jungels working at the head of the break now. Multiple teams and riders are rolling through at the front.

Meintjes is caught. Another 45km or so in the valley before the climbing begins again.

1:50 for the break now. Visma still leading behind.

The South African is dropping back towards the peloton now.

122km to go

Meintjes is now 45 seconds down. The peloton has slowed on the descent and now lies at 1:35 down.

Louis Meintjes drops out of the break with a puncture. He gets a wheel change from the Shimano neutral service car.

Marco Haller narrowly avoided a crash on the descent.

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Dane now almost two minutes down on Tadej Pogačar after conceding 39 seconds at Pla d’Adet

131km to go

Johannessen leads the break over the top as the peloton follows at 1:10 back.

500 metres to the top now.

Visma-Lease A Bike continue to pace the peloton.

Jungels is pushing hard but the peloton is actually closing in here. 1:05 now.

16 men up front and Jungels is still pulling for Hindley.

135km to go

The break leads with a 1:35 advantage on the peloton.

The riders pass the memorial to Fabio Casartelli early on the way up. The 1992 Olympic champion died after crashing on the descent of the climb during the 1995 Tour de France.

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Now the break starts the Portet-d’Aspet.

Almost 60km down in the valley following the next climb.

The first-category Col de Portet-d’Aspet (4.3km at 9.6%) is up next.

Javier Romo leads Richard Carapaz, Alex Aranburu, and Enric Mas over the summit.

1:45 back to the peloton.

147km to go

Back to today’s stage and the break heads over the summit of the climb.

The Col de Menté is famous for the Tour-ending crash of Luis Ocaña on stage 14 in 1971. The Spaniard led Eddy Merckx by 7:23 heading into the mountain stage following a stunning solo raid on the road to Orcières on stage 11.

Merckx crashed on the downhill, leaving the chasing Ocaña with nowhere to go, while he was struck by Joop Zoetemelk, forcing him out of the race.

Our reporter Alasdair Fotheringham wrote a book about Ocaña – Reckless: The Life and Times of Luis Ocaña and you can read an extract here.

Guillaume Martin is the only French hope in the breakaway on Bastille Day. A French rider hasn’t won on July 14 since 2017.

2km to the top.

Some top climbers in this breakaway – Simon Yates, Jai Hindley, Lenny Martinez, Richard Carapaz, Enric Mas, Guillaume Martin, Louis Meintjes.

Oscar Onley and Laurens De Plus also make it.

Healy gets across, as does Yates.

151km to go

Healy makes a solo move to get across the gap.

15 seconds back to Yates and Healy.

Jungels is pulling the breakaway up the climb with Hindley in the wheel.

Girmay has now been relegated to third place at the intermediate sprint for cutting off Matthews.

5km to go to the top of the climb now.

A group including Yates, Matthews, De Plus, Kwiatkowski, Healy, Onley are at 40 seconds down on the break.

154km to go

Carpaz joins Hindley, Jungels, Martinez, Fuglsang, Martin, Mas, Aranburu, Mühlberger, Meintjes, Cort, Johannessen, and Jegat in the lead.

6km to the top and Carapaz is close to the front.

Multiple riders drop from the break on these steep slopes.

Visma-Lease A Bike are leading the peloton.

Carapaz 40 seconds from the leaders as Girmay comes to a halt dropping away from the front.

Riders attack from the peloton as the gap to the break falls under a minute Richard Carapaz makes a move.

157km to go

The race hits the Col de Menté (9.3km at 9.1%).

Behind them, DSM lead the peloton. The team has no riders in the break.

Girmay easily wins the intermediate sprint ahead of Michael Matthews, though he cut off the Australian as he moved across the road.

20 points for Girmay. Meintjes in third.

21 riders in the breakaway.

163km to go

1:08 for this move now.

The riders are heading towards the intermediate sprint at Marignac.

Peters and Matthews at the front.

Michal Kwiatkowski, Julien Bernard, Michael Matthews, Jai Hindley, Bob Jungels, Lenny Martinez, Guillaume Martin, Rui Costa, Biniam Girmay, Louis Meintjes, Magnus Cort, Tobias Johannessen, Nans Peters, Enric Mas among the riders in the attack.

172km to go

A large group flows off the front now.

The peloton racing through the Pyrenees.

All back together now as groups also return at the back of the peloton.

178km to go

Lazkano drops back to the peloton.  Gaudu and Bardet have seven seconds.

At the base of this descent there’s a long 20km spell in the valley before the next climb, the first-category Col de Menté.

185km to go

Still 20 seconds for the three men out front.

Pogačar took a point on that climb as his UAE team took charge at the head of the peloton.

Onto the descent now as Lazkano, Gaudu, and Bardet have 20 seconds on the peloton.

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Eight points for Lazkano.

Lazkano passes Bardet but Gaudu beats him to the top and 10 points.

Lazkano and Gaudu go with him.

Romain Bardet attacks towards the top.

No separation at the front of the race so far.

Simon Yates now makes a move.

The Basque rider is fifth in the mountain classification on 27 points. There are 10 points up for grabs here.

Oier Lazkano also pushing on.

David Gaudu now leading the way at a kilometre from the top.

Pogačar and Vingegaard at the start today.

194km to go

3km to the top and Ben Healy gives it a go.

Jakob Fuglsang goes next, followed by Laurens De Plus.

Maxim Van Gils now leading the attacks.

5km to the top of the climb.

Mark Cavendish off the back. His teammate Harold Tejada is attacking up front.

Neilson Powless among the early attackers.

Up front, the pace is high as riders attempt to get away.

Sprinters already going out the rear. Arnaud Démare the first to drop.

An uphill start to the first-category Col de Peyresourde (6.9km at 7.8%).

198km to go

The flag has dropped and racing begins on stage 15!

They’re already heading uphill with a kilometre left to run until the official start is given.

Just a few minutes before the stage officially starts.

The riders now rolling out to start the neutral zone today.

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Today’s stage marks the first time in nine years that the Tour has taken on Plateau de Beille.

Last time out the day was won by Joaquim Rodríguez, while previous stage winners on the mountain include Alberto Contador, Jelle Vanendert, and Marco Pantani.

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5,000 metres of climbing on the menu today. That’s 1,000 more than yesterday’s stage and 300 more than any other stage in the race (stage 20).

154 riders are set to start today. No word on any withdrawals so far this morning.

Yesterday saw Tom Pidcock and Guillaume Boivin go home before the stage start as Amaury Capiot, Alberto Bettiol, and Louis Vervaeke pulled out during the day.

Stage 15 kicks off in an hour and the riders will be immediately climbing. The first-category Col de Peyresourde starts the day from Loudenvielle.

Today’s stage brings the second summit finish in as many days, and the next big GC showdown of the Tour atop Plateau de Beille.

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Of course, Tadej Pogačar soloed to the stage win at Pla d’Adet, putting 43 seconds into Jonas Vingegaard and extending his overall lead heading into today’s summit finish.

Tour de France: Tadej Pogačar solos to stage 14 victory on Pla d’Adet, consolidates his lead

A look back at the results from Saturday’s stage 14…

And the new GC picture heading into today…

Just under 90 minutes to go until the start of the stage.

Today’s stage map as the peloton takes on another Pyrenean mountain test.

Bonjour and welcome to Cyclingnews‘ live coverage of stage 15 of the 2024 Tour de France!