Key events
A bit of honest reflection ahead of today’s stage courtesy of French rider Adrien Petit. He had a rather painful looking gash below his glutes after yesterday’s mass crash. Hope he’s not feeling too sore. Luckily, the second rest day is nearly upon the peloton.
Welcome to stage 15 of the Tour de France…Prior to today’s live blog, I indulged in a spot of gardening as the sun is shining so brightly here in London. Unfortunately, I did get a splinter…in a key typing finger. But, in the spirit of the Tour, we pick ourselves up and carry on. Let me know what you’ve been doing to prepare (or not) for today’s stage.
There’s a lot of climbs to come and it looks like it’s going to be another testing day for the peloton.
A little bit on Les Gets les portes du soleil, where stage 15 will begin: “The Haute-Savoie ski resort of Les Portes du Soleil has been on the Tour route many times, for final stages that have finished in Morzine and Avoriaz. For example, the latter last visited in 2010 when Andy Schleck was the victor. Three stages of the Critérium du Dauphiné have also been held in Les Gets, including a prologue won by Alberto Contador at the start of the 2016 edition.
“In winter, skiing is the main attraction and in summer the resort becomes a focal point for mountain bikers. The World MTB Championships were held here in 2004 and again in 2022. French colours featured prominently last summer, with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot taking two rainbow jerseys.”
Photograph: Getty Images
Who’s in what jersey?
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Yellow: Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
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Green: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
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Polka-dot: Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)
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White: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates)
Vingegaard gains a second on Pogacar after Rodríguez claims epic stage 14
Stage 14 report: Every second counts in the 2023 Tour de France, as the defending champion, Jonas Vingegaard, and his closest rival, Tadej Pogacar, again demonstrated as they fought their way through the Alps, scrapping over bonus seconds on stage 14, from Annemasse to Morzine. Jeremy Whittle reports from Morzine…
The top five on General Classification
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Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 57hr 47min 28sec
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Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) +10sec
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Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +4min 43sec
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Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +4min 44sec
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Adam Yates (UAE Emirates) +5min 20sec
Stage 15, Sunday 16 July: Les Gets-Saint Gervais Mont Blanc, 179km
William Fotheringham on stage 15: Again there is climbing all day; four classified climbs and several unclassified ones, before an uphill finish where France’s Romain Bardet won in 2016, and where most of the damage will be done on the initial kilometres to Les Amerands, where the gradient reaches 18%. David Gaudu is the rider French fans will expect to emulate Bardet, but if the overall contenders get involved that will be a big ask.
