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Tour de France 2018, stage 15: Magnus Cort Nielsen makes it a weekend to remember for Astana as Geraint Thomas retains overall lead

asasas - AFP
asasas - AFP

Magnus Cort Nielsen won stage 15 of the Tour de France in Carcassone to give Astana back-to-back victories.

Nielsen outsprinted Jon Izagirre of Bahrain-Merida and Bauke Mollema of Trek-Segafredo, the last three survivors of a 29-man breakaway at the end of a 181.5km stage from Millau.

Nielsen's win came 24 hours after team-mate Omar Fraile won - also from a breakaway - in Mende.

The peloton crossed the line some 13 minutes later, with Team Sky's Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome present along with Team Sunweb's Tom Dumoulin to ensure there was no change at the top of the general classification ahead of Monday's rest day.

Thomas continues to lead Froome by one minute and 39 seconds, with Dumoulin a further 11 seconds back.

World champion Peter Sagan was one of 29 riders to get into the day's break, and he took third place in the day's intermediate sprint to ensure he now simply needs to reach Paris to win the points classification for a sixth time - mathematically unable to be caught with a full week of the Tour to spare.
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4:58PM

2km to go - for the peloton

The peloton is inching its way towards the line, but they don't appear to be in any sort of hurry. Dan Martin, by the way, was caught so it will be a case of as you were for the Irishman. As it will for the rest of the general classification contenders so Geraint Thomas will be retaining his leader's yellow jersey in a very short while.

4:47PM

Magnus Cort Nielsen wins stage 15!

The Dane makes it two in a row for Astana and he's delighted. Ion Izagirre rolls over in second with Bauke Mollema finishing in third spot.

4:46PM

1km to go

Little bit of cat-and-mouse on the approach to the line. Magnus Cort Nielsen is, surely, the favourite here for the stage.

4:45PM

2km to go

All three riders - Bauke Mollema, Magnus Cort Nielsen and Ion Izagirre - are doing equal shares of the work; through-and-off.

4:43PM

3.5km to go

Lilian Calmejane is taking up the chase, but he will get no help as all three leaders on the road have a team-mate each with the Direct Energie rider.

4:41PM

5km to go

Bauke Mollema, Magnus Cort Nielsen and Ion Izagirre are leading the way, while the others are not chasing.

4:39PM

7km to go

Bauke Mollema is the next to put in an attack, but Magnus Cort Nielsen and Ion Izagirre go with him.

4:37PM

8km to go

Michael Valgren, the man who won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Amstel Gold Race earlier this spring, put in a little dig.

4:35PM

10km to go

These winds are crazy, once the peloton arrives at this particular stretch of road there will be one almighty scrap to get near the front.

4:32PM

12km to go

There's a strong crosswind buffeting into the side of the riders, what is now the eight-man leading group are working together, for now, as they eat away the road to Carcassonne. 

Dan Martin, meanwhile, is about to be caught by the peloton which is 13min behind the stage leaders.

4:28PM

14.7km to go

Rafal Majka has been caught. 

4:28PM

15km to go

Just dawned on me that Lilian Calmejane is the only rider in the seven-man group that does not have a team-maet alongside him. Bahrian-Merida, Trek-Segafredo and Astana all represented.

4:25PM

18km to go

Rafal Majka has seen his lead drop to just 16sec and with the roads flattening out now one has to expect the seven-man group in pursuit will catch him quite easily.

4:20PM

25km to go

Bauke Mollema and Magnus Cort Nielsen have been caught by five others - Lilian Calmejane, Toms Skujins, Ion Izagirre, Domenico Pozzovivo and Michael Valgren, so looking good for Astana who have two very strong riders (Cort Nielsen and Valgren) here. Could they make it two stage wins it two days following Omar Fraile's victory in mende on Saturday?  

4:13PM

28km to go

Dan Martin goes over the top of the Pic de Nore around one minute ahead of the Team Sky-powered peloton.

Rafal Majka continues to lead the stage, with chasing duo Bauke Mollema and Magnus Cort Nielsen around 25sec in arrears. Mollema is a decent time trial rider and Cort Nielsen is a strong sprinter so Majka is precariously positioned at the pointy end of this stage.

4:10PM

33km to go

Bauke Mollema and Magnus Cort Nielsen are in pursuit of stage leader Rafal Majka who has 30sec on the pair. Further back, Dan Martin has gained a minute on his general classification rivals.

4:03PM

39km to go

Rafal Majkahas gone over the summit of the Pic de Nore and there's a howling wind blowing up top. Bauke Mollema and Magnus Cort Nielsen are in pursuit of the Pole. A long descent to follow along very a narrow road, though thankfully it's dry. Mollema, by the way, won the corresponding stage - 15 on the third Sunday of the race - during last year's Tour de France.

3:59PM

Thomas expects attacks on this climb 

Tom Cary, our man out in France, has been in touch . . . 

Managed to grab a few words with Geraint Thomas at the start today as he was making his way to sign-on. He said he was "expecting" other teams to try something over the final climb today adding Team Sky would just try to "control" things rather than attack themselves. He might have been bluffing of course.

 "I think they could try something," said Thomas. "We’re expecting them to anyway. It’s 40km so it’s quite far out. But if a team went for it… I don’t know. We’re ready for anything. Similar to yesterday we just want to try and just defend and control as best we can.”​

 

3:52PM

46km to go

Rafal Majkahas ridden Julien Bernard off his wheel. The Polish climber is looking smooth, tapping away at a nice steady cadence. Three years since the Bora-Hansgrohe rider won a stage here at the Tour de France.

3:48PM

46.5km to go

Fabian Grellier has been dropped while Rafal Majka has bridged over to Julien Bernard with around 6km of this final climb of the stage to go. Astana are still looking strong in the chasing group.

3:46PM

47km to go

Rafal Majka, the former mountains classification winner who has had a disappointing Tour de France this year, has clipped off the front. Meanwhile, back in the peloton Dan Martin has flown off the front. The Irishman is way down the general classification and cannot realistically challenge Geraint Thomas, but he can climb the standings which, presumably, he is hoping to do here today. 

3:43PM

48km

And Peter Sagan has been dropped by the Michael Valgren-powered chasing group. Julien Bernard and Fabian Grellier's lead has dropped further and is below a minute now.

3:42PM

49km to go

Michael Valgren is working hard on the front of the chasing group on behalf of Astana team-mate Magnus Cort Nielsen. Peter Sagan, who will fancy this stage here today, is labouring towards the back of this group. He's either really struggling or sandbagging. Who knows?

3:38PM

50km to go

The chasing group has started to splinter as the pace picks up. Julien Bernard and Fabian Grellier have increased their lead ever so slightly to 1min 30sec, with the peloton over 13 minutes down the road. 

3:27PM

55km to go

Next up is the final climb of the day, the category one Pic de Nore which, like Fabian Grellier, is making its Tour de France debut here this year. Nicknamed “the little Ventoux” due to its similarity to the Giant of Provence. It may look similar, but looking at the gradients it falls a little way short of having such brutish inclines as Ventoux. Once over the top, there's a 41km run to the line, mainly all downhill. Some reports are saying there may be crosswinds in the final stretch where the roads are exposed. Coincidentally, Julien Bernard's father Jean-François Bernard won the uphill time trial to the Mont Ventoux in 1987. What does it all mean? Probably not a lot.

3:16PM

Greipel to leave Lotto-Soudal

Lotto-Soudal have announced that German sprinter André Greipel will leave the team at the end of the season following eight years with the Belgian squad. It had been widely rumoured that Lotto-Soudal were keen on signing Aussie sprinter Caleb Ewan next season, this news will no doubt add fuel to that particular fire.

Julien Bernard and Fabian Grellier, meanwhile, have rolled over the intermediate sprint. In around one minute the Peter Sagan group will follow.

3:04PM

69km to go

Fabian Grellier is continuing to push on, but the 23-year-old Tour de France debutant has just 15sec on the peloton and has Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo) in pursuit. The peloton in 9min 58sec back.

2:57PM

75km to go

Fabian Grellier (Direct Énergie) has had enough of hanging around in the leading group and the Frenchman has attacked off the front. He appears to be riding with purpose. The peloton, meanwhile, is almost 10 minutes down the road.

2:47PM

83km to go

A handful of riders bridged over to the Peter Sagan group, before the remainder of the bunch got back on. 

2:45PM

84km to go

Niki Terpstra and Toms Skujins clipped off the front of the leading group just beyond the feedzone, but Peter Sagan was smart to the move and the three-time world champion quickly jumped onto their wheels.

2:42PM

86km to go

The leading group is just under 30km from the intermediate sprint where, one imagines, the leader in the points classification will be hoping to add to his tally. That man, of course, is Peter Sagan.

2:25PM

102km to go

Lilian Calmejane has been caught by his former breakaway companions. The peloton trails by 6min 40sec.

2:23PM

Lunch on the go

The peloton has just passed through the feedzone where the riders pick up the musettes from team soigneurs, but what's in these cotton bags?

2:20PM

105km to go

Not a great deal happening out on the road right now. Lilian Calmejane is still tapping away on his lonesome around one minute up the road from the leading group with the peloton a further six minutes back.

"Boring this," jokes Sir Bradley Wiggins on the ITV4 commentary.

2:05PM

115km to go

Lilian Calmejane takes five points in the mountains classification  atop the Col de Sié ahead of Serge Pauwels, Tome Skujins and Arthur Vichot who picked up three, two and one points respectively.

 

1:57PM

118km to go

Lilian Calmejaneis edging up the category two Col de Sié with an advantage of 1min 12sec over the 28-man leading group on the road. The peloton, meanwhile, trails the Direct Énergie rider by 6min 5sec.

1:44PM

124km to go

And after getting that breakaway all typed up, Lilian Calmejane has undone all the work after the Direct Énergie rider chips off the front. The 25-year-old has put around 30sec into what is now a 28-man group with Geraint Thomas and Team Sky another four minutes down the road.

1:41PM

That breakaway in full

Daniel Martínez (EF Education First), Silvan Dillier (Ag2r La Mondiale), Nikias Arndt (Sunweb), Amäel Moinard (Fortuneo-Samsic), Florian Vachon (Fortuneo-Samsic), Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida), Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida), Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida), Damian Howson (Mitchelton-Scott), Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott), Daniele Bennati (Movistar), Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Marc Soler (Movistar), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing), Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), Pawel Poljanski (Bora-Hansgrohe), Magnus Cort (Astana), Michael Valgren (Astana), Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data), Arthur Vichot (Groupama-FDJ), Lilian Calmejane (Direct Énergie), Fabian Grellier (Direct Énergie), Romain Sicard (Direct Énergie), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo), Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) and Jesús Herrada (Cofidis Solutions Crédits).

1:33PM

130km to go

The peloton has eased up a little following a lively opening hour of racing, with the breakaway now leading the stage by 3min 45sec. There are some big names  - Greg Van Avermaet, Bauke Mollema, Sonny Colbrelli, Daryl Impey and local rider Lilian Calmejane -  in the leading group, but nobody that will threaten the general classification contenders.

1:26PM

135km to go

A decent sized breakaway of around 29 riders has finally formed. They lead the maillot jaune by 1min 16sec whil that trio of dropped riders that includes Groupama-FDJ sprinter Arnaud Démare is 3min 3sec off the back, but it appears they are catching up.

1:19PM

138km to go

Peter Sagan joins up with Bora-Hansgrohe team-mate Daniel Oss on the front of the bunch, but he's just toying with the opposition.

1:16PM

141km to go

Warren Barguil and Adam Yates are back in the bunch again. On the front of the peloton, a number of riders are attempting to form another breakaway. Daniel Oss (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Simon Clarke (Education First–Drapac p/b Cannondale) appear the liveliest.

1:09PM

146km to go

The Quick-Step Floors pairing of Tim Declercq and Philippe Gilbert are pulling hard on the front of the main peloton. They don't appear too happy with this three-man group of escapees, mindful of the mountains classification points on offer. Warren Barguil, remember, is second behind their team-mate Julian Alaphilippe  who will be wanting to add to his tally here today.

1:05PM

148km to go

Edvald Boasson Hagen(Dimension Data) is hunched over his handlebars and in pursuit of the leading trio. The main peloton of around 100 riders trails the stage leaders by 15sec, with the second group of 40 riders another 1min 40sec down the road. Three more are almost 5min off the pace after being dropped.

1:01PM

150km to go

As I mentioned earlier, the peloton has a few splits and there are four groups out on the road right now. It's all a bit messy and not looking especially good for Warren Barguil, Gregor Mühlberger and Adam Yates  whose lead is just 12sec.

12:57PM

155km to go

The three-man breakaway of Warren Barguil, Gregor Mühlberger and Adam Yates have around 15sec on the peloton. Back in the bunch Movistar are sat near the front and appear to be blocking any other riders from joing the leading trio.

12:51PM

160.5km to go

Gregor Mühlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) has bridged over to the leading pair.

12:51PM

161km to go

Following a flurry of attacks, Warren Barguil and Adam Yates have managed to put a short amount of distance between themselves and the peloton.

Adam Yates  and Warren Barguil - Credit: Getty Images
Adam Yates and Warren Barguil Credit: Getty Images

Further back there are a few splits in the bunch as the roads edges its way up an uncategorised climb.

12:41PM

169km to go

Anthony Perez(Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) has decided to chip off the front. The 27-year-old has been in a few breakaways in the last two weeks.

12:38PM

Allez Alaphilippe!

Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors), the leader in the mountains classification, responded to Warren Barguil's move before cresting the first climb of the day, the category three Côte de Luzençon to add another three points to his tally.

12:36PM

Barguil on the move 

Warren Barguil(Fortuneo-Samsic), who started the day second in the mountains classification, has put in a small dig off the front, but a handful of riders are marking him closely.

12:32PM

All back as one

After spending 4km with his nose into the wind, Adam Yates has decided to reacquaint himself with the peloton.  Perhaps the Briton will give it another go later today.

12:24PM

And they're off!

Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) is looking lively and the Briton has clipped off the front. One imagines he's not planning on going solo all day long, but instead hoping to lure a handful of others to join him.

12:16PM

Calm before the storm

The riders are currently tapping their way through the short neutralised section of road. Breakaway specialist Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) is positioned near the front of the group, just behind race director Christian Prudhomme's red Skoda.

There are three catgorised climbs here today, here's the details . . .

Categorised climbs in stage 15 of the Tour de France
Categorised climbs in stage 15 of the Tour de France

Expecting a big battle to get in the breakaway today. 

12:01PM

Afternoon all

Here's a reminder of the route of this year's Tour de France.

Tour de France 2018
Tour de France 2018

Following Saturday's run to Mende, the smart money is on another breakaway today. Racing 'proper' is due to get under way at 12.20 once the riders have navigated their way through the short neutralised section on the road out from Millau.

11:46AM

From Simpson to Thomas – Britons in yellow

Since its first edition in 1903, just eight Britons have worn the leader's yellow jersey at the Tour de France. But who are they, how did they claim them and how long were they held for? Here are the answers . . .

British riders to have worn leader's yellow jersey at the Tour de France
British riders to have worn leader's yellow jersey at the Tour de France

11:45AM

As it stands . . . 

Here's what the standings look like in the general, points, mountains, young rider and team classifications after 14 days of racing.

Tour de France 2018 stage 14 details
Tour de France 2018 stage 14 details

11:42AM

The Telegraph Cycling Podcast: re-cap of yesterday's stage 

There were two races on stage 14 of the Tour de France and The Cycling Podcast discuss both of them in the latest episode.

At the airfield in Mende, where the stage finished with a brutally short but steep climb, Omar Fraile won from a large break while, almost 20 minutes behind, the overall contenders battled it out, with Primoz Roglic gaining a few seconds to cement his fourth place.

In the podcast the team hear from Jasper Stuyven, who almost stayed away, and his sports director Alain Gallopin. There’s also reaction from Roglic and an interview with the young Colombian on Team Sky, Egan Bernal. 

  • The Cycling Podcast is supported by Rapha and Science In Sport

11:40AM

Tour de France, stage 15: quick preview

When is the next stage of the Tour de France?

Stage 15 of the Tour de France is today, so Sunday July 22, 2018.

What time does the stage start?

The 15th stage at the Tour de France, the 181.5km run from Millau to Carcassonne gets under way at 12.10pm (BST) and is scheduled to reach KMO at 12.20pm.

And when does the race finish?

The second grand tour of the season concludes on Sunday July 29 with the 116km stage from Houilles to Paris.

What about Sunday's stage?

Anytime between 4.34 and 5.02pm, according to the scheduled timings on the Tour de France's official website. These timings, by the way, are based on fastest and slowest estimated average speeds.

Tour de France 2018 | All you need to know
Tour de France 2018 | All you need to know

What TV channel can I watch the race on?

Eurosport, ITV and S4C will be broadcasting every stage live each day – click here for full stage-by-stage details of broadcast times – while Telegraph Sport will provide live blogs to keep you up to speed with the latest news.

And what time is the live coverage?

Stage 15: Millau to Carcassonne, 181.5km
Telegraph Sport liveblog: From 11.50am
Live TV details: Eurosport 12-5.15pm, ITV4 12-5.15pm, S4C 2-4.35pm

What does the stage profile look like?

Stage 15
Stage 15

Who should you watch out for on the road to Paris?

Who are this year's Tour de France favourites and can anybody challenge Chris Froome?
Who are this year's Tour de France favourites and can anybody challenge Chris Froome?