American Sepp Kuss claimed his first Tour de France victory with a solo race in the 15th stage while reigning UAE champion Tadej Pogacar was barely disturbed during the mountain hike from 191.3 km from Céret to Andorra on Sunday.
The Jumbo-Visma rider prevailed in the breakaway of the day thanks to a fierce attack on the last climb before pushing Alejandro Valverde back on the descent to the finish, the veteran Spain taking second place 23 seconds behind.
Dutchman Wout Poels was third, 1:15 off the pace before Pogacar and his main opponents crossed the 4:51 line behind kiss.
Pogacar enters Monday’s rest day with a five-minute and 18-second lead over Colombian Rigoberto Uran, while Dane Jonas Vingegaard is in third place, 14 seconds ahead.
Frenchman Guillaume Martin, who had climbed to second place thanks to his presence in the breakaway on Saturday, was left behind in the descent from Port d’Envalira, at 2,408 meters the highest point of this year’s Tour.
He was unable to return to the group of contenders for the overall standings before climbing the Col de Beixalis (6.4 km at 8.5%), where Pogacar’s rivals tried to destabilize the Slovenian.
Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz was the first attacker, but he was easily overpowered by Pogacar, who also had little trouble keeping up with Uran and Vingegaard when they briefly jumped.
0 Yorumlar