Stage 15: Tour de France Summary

Stage 15 of the Tour de France was hilly and was the Tour’s farewell to the Pyrenees. Stage 15 was flat at the beginning, but had three mountain climbs in the last half of the stage. The breakaway had a good chance to stay away today, which made it very difficult to predict the winner of stage 15. Tim Wellens won the stage and rode away from the breakaway. That was his team, UAE Emirates XRG, fifth stage win. How many stages do you think the UAE will win?

Stage 15 Summary

In stage 15, there was a breakaway that had a good chance to stay away; that was the case, and Wellens broke away from them to win stage 15. The Belgian champion is a domestique for the team UAE, but was freed by his team to go for the stage victory, which he coasted to, gaining a 1:28 victory.

The winner of stage 15 was Wellens. Victor Campenaerts, a fellow Belgian, finished second. Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe finished third. Wout van Aert was fourth, another Belgian. Axel Laurance was fifth. There were no changes in the overall classification after stage 15, with Pogacar gaining in first, Vingegaard in second place, 4:13 back. Lipowitz stayed in third place, 7:53 back. Oscar Onley stayed in fourth place, 9:18 back. Kevin Vauquelin stayed in fifth place, 10:21 back. 

The Team Cars

Each team has a team car that travels in a line behind the peloton. The purpose of these team cars, which almost always have the team director in them, is to provide the riders with strategic advice. Those team cars also carry spare parts and bicycles for each rider in the team. Also, there is a neutral support car that has spare bicycles and race officials. There are also police and ambulances in the convoy. The latter are used to support the riders in the race.

An important thing about these convoys is that while Tour riders can go back to get food and water, or supplies needed by team members. It is not legal to ride or draft behind the cars. Riders who do that gain an unfair aerodynamic advantage by drafting. The riders who go back to the team card to get food and water, or supplies, for teammates are called domestiques. That French name travels with them in various races, even in other countries that speak a different language.

Feeding

Riders trying, and failing, to eat were featured prominently on the television broadcast today. In short, there are feed zones where the riders can ride by and try to grab plastic bags full of high-energy snacks. Today, several riders were going too fast to grab the feed bags, but usually they are not driving by too fast. It is amazing, when they grab the bags, to see them eat without hands on the handlebars, traveling at a high rate of speed. Sometimes, when riders fail to get enough food from the feed bags, they can get some food from their team cars.

Conclusion

“It is a very special victory,” said Wellens. “Everybody knows the Tour de France, but not many people win in the Tour de France, so it was very beautiful.” Three-time Tour winner Pogacar added: “I am happier for him than when I win. Beyond happiness.”

Tomorrow is a well-earned rest day. The riders had four difficult days in the Pryenee Mountains. Next, they race in the Alps. More mountain stages. One thing to watch, with not many sprints left in the race, is that Pogacar may win the green jersey, to go with his polka dot and yellow jerseys.

If he wins all three jerseys, he will be the first rider since Eddie Merckx to win three jerseys in the Tour de France. The race resumes on Tuesday with a 171.5 km ride from Montpellier and ending with a mammoth climb up Mont Ventoux.