Carcassonne

Belgium's Jasper Philipsen took the stage on a nod from Wout van Aert on a day leader Jonas Vingegaard crashed and lost two teammates.

And then Wout van Aert, of the dominant Jumbo-Visma team, will probably win as Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar stay tight to each other back in the pack. However, it had already been obvious on several occasions in the first week that the team might not be up to the task ahead of them. 165km to go: Van Aert and his two mates seem determined to stay away, opening up the gap to over two minutes. Vingegaard is wise to the move, and keeping up the front. Pogacar decides to take up the pace, and goes off at the front of the peloton. 75km to go: A descending part of the stage, a chance to feel the breeze, for the leaders, whose gap lowers back to around the minute mark. It was just a touch of the wheel, but the heat is getting to the riders. 90km to go: Michael Forbes gets in touch: “Looking at the finish of today’s stage, it seems such a pity that they don’t include tricky technical sections at the finishes. 50km to go: The breakaway duo is back in the field, and off goesJonas Rutsch, of Trek-Segafredo, who starts another break, and back in the field, the likes of Caleb Ewan and Fabio Jakobsen are dropped, and will not be taking part in the final sprint. Mads Pedersen, is their man, and they are doing their best to mean he is the sole sprinter left in the final surge to the line. At the front of the field, Alexis Gougeard and Benjamin Thomas, of AG2R and Cofidis, have opened up a gap. The Alpecin–Deceuninck rider took it, and just as it looked as if Van Aert might rescue something from a torrid day for Jumbo-Visma, he was beaten by his fellow Belgian. It was worth Philipsen hanging on in the Alps to deliver that win.

Jasper Philipsen clinched his first Tour de France victory on stage 15 in Carcassonne, taking Alpecin-Deceuninck's first win of the 2022 race.

Having been relentlessly tapping at the door of victory, Philipsen was able to reward the work of his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates as he went toe to toe with Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) in second and third respectively. Then after about 35 kilometres, Van Aert dropped back to the peloton, presumably realising his chances were better from the bunch than such a small breakaway, not to mention his role as domestique – a role that was about to become a significantly heavier burden. And it was no different on the roads to Carcassonne.

He had to brake once, then again as he wove his way through the sprint in the final 200 metres, but with a powerful burst of speed, Jasper Philipsen blazed ...

Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-EasyPost) tried to inspire an attack but Trek-Segafredo poured on the pressure on the climb, bringing back Rusch and stringing out the peloton to distance some sprint rivals. Vingegaard suffered road rash but it could have been much worse. The race went on without him and Kruijswijk was loaded into an ambulance, the crowds applauding him. The relaxed atmosphere ended with 64km to go. The two never eased up but neither did the peloton, with Chris Juul-Jensen doing a lot of pace work. However, race police quickly dragged them off the road and Honoré and Politt rode on, the peloton, too. They opened a lead of 1:30 before BikeExchange-Jayco and Alpecin-Deceuninck moved to the front to keep them in check. Van Aert did not seem too happy but followed orders, leaving Honoré and Politt to ride on as a pair. Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) and Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) were the other non-starters, both testing positive for COVID-19 before stage 15. C'est le Tour and the show must go on. "It makes it super unbelievable," he said of his previous misses. Van der Poel struggled after a tough Giro d'Italia and dropped out on stage 11.

Jasper Philipsen pushed his wheel over the line ahead of Van Aert and Pedersen. No change on the GC. Jumbo-Visma lost Roglič and Kruijswijk.

Since moving to Spain and finding out how to use a computer, he has gone from contributor of Daily Distractions at the 2002 Vuelta a España to editor at PezCyclingNews. We just had to wait for the right moment and the right opportunity, and today was the day.” In the last 5 kilometres the stage win was in the balance. Finally, a big win for Philipsen. Last year he had a bag full of second and third places in the Tour de France and this year it still hadn’t worked out for him, until today in Carcassonne. Behind him, Van Aert was second, Pedersen third and Sagan fourth. Jonas Vingegaard crossed the finish line slightly battered in the peloton and will ‘enjoy’ the third and final rest day of this Tour de France as overall leader. They got half a minute on the peloton, where the pace was set by Trek-Segafredo, DSM and BORA-hansgrohe to hold the Groenewegen group off. The road to Carcassonne was mostly downhill, but there were also some nasty sections. Trek-Segafredo wanted to thin out the pack for Mads Pedersen. It cost Dylan Groenewegen, Fabio Jakobsen and Caleb Ewan their place at the head of the peloton. The yellow jersey was able to continue right away, but the Belgian had a hard chase. There was some nervousness and a series of problems for Jumbo-Visma. Steven Kruijswijk and Wout van Aert crashed first, after which the Dutch climber had to abandon with a shoulder injury. Alpecin-Deceuninck, Trek-Segafredo and BikeExchange-Jayco kept the gap to the two leaders between 2 and 3 minutes. Especially BikeExchange-Jayco, who had learned from the tactical blunder from the stage to Saint-Étienne, was active in blocking any attacks.

Get the latest Cycling updates on Eurosport. Catch Rodez - Carcassonne live on 17/07/2022. Find scores, stats and comments in real time.

One permission that has been agreed today is that riders are allowed to pass bidons to spectators at the side of the road. Vinegaard must have fallen because, as he is led back to the bunch by team-mates, we see his jersey has soot on his left shoulder. And not long after, Wout van Aert leads the peloton through to mop up the rest. it's a certain Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian seems ready to jump into green in the event Jumbo Visma's bad luck continues. Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange Jayco) is the last man to lose contact, but he has team-mates, so it might not be permanently. Jumbo and Ineos are in charge, but they'll hand over to the sprinters' teams very shortly. Robbie McEwen thinks these two have "a great chance" of getting to the line. Don't rule out the possibility of them snatching this, but there a lot of teams now invested in a sprint. We just had to wait for the right opportunity and the right moment.” On a straight, relatively wide road the breakers and the bunch are in the same shot. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider has the momentum and the stronger throw, to take it from Van Aert and another Grand Tour stage victory for his team. Jasper Steuyven (Trek-Segafredo) leads out for Pedersen who has to sprint first, fighting off the onrushing Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) on his right, and Philipsen to his left.

Sweltering transition stage in south-west France offers an important opportunity for Ewan, Jakobsen, Groenewegen and other fast men.

Hydration and heat management will be essential today, heading into the cauldron of France during a heatwave. They’ll just be hoping to make it to the rest day with a stage low on drama or difficulty. It’s no pan-flat crepe of a profile. As the surname would suggest, the 19th century painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec had family lineage there too. Upon cancellation, you will have access to your membership through the end of your paid year. Caleb Ewan is tired, bruised from a crash and down on his luck.