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22km to go: Carlos Rodríguez and Alexey Lutsenko have joined the five riders chasing behind Tim Wellens, whose lead is close to 90 seconds
25km to go: Wellens leads by 1-15. The chase group seems to have given up, to the extent that Carlos Rodríguez is bridging up to them on his own
26km to go: Victor Campenaerts is in the group chasing Tim Wellens. In this vlog this morning, he was discussing getting on a train with “Mr Fact of the Day” Matteo Jorgenson…
31km to go: Wellens has 50 seconds. He’s a former Belgian TT champion and is riding on steadily descending roads most of the way into Carcassonne. This is already looking like UAE’s 65th win of the season and their 5th in this race
35km to go: Wellens is 40 seconds ahead of Simmons, Campenaerts, Vlasov, Storer and Barguil
37km to go: EF Education are setting the pace in the peloton, trying to protect Ben Healy’s 9th place on GC from Carlos Rodríguez, who’s more than five minutes ahead of them. The gap between the pair was 4-16 going into this stage
40km to go: Wellens has 17 seconds and is continuing to open the gap
43km to go: Wellens keeps pounding the pedals. Simmons, Campenaerts and Vlasov are chasing
44km to go: The two front groups have merged and there are 8 riders up front. Then Wellens attacks…
45km to go: Rodríguez, Vlasov, Barguil and Lutsenko are 8 seconds behind the four leaders
47km to go: Romain Bardet on the Eurosport TV bike has just said that Tim Wellens is showing signs of weakness and that’s why he’s not been contributing much in the break. The Belgian champion’s certainly got through a lot of work for his UAE leader Tadej Pogačar during the first two weeks of the race
48km to go: This is worth a watch. The descent from yesterday’s finish at Superbagnères seen from an Intermarché rider’s perspective…
POV: downhill to the bus after Tour de France mountain finish
@insta360 pic.twitter.com/LCNC3hFl38
— Intermarché-Wanty (@IntermarcheW) July 20, 2025
49km to go: The peloton has crossed the climb 6 minutes behind the break
50km to go: Rodríguez, Vlasov and Lutsenko are 21 seconds behind the break, while Barguil and Powless are 28 seconds behind
52km to go: Simmons gesticulates at the other three, trying to encourage then to collaborate rather than attack each other
52km to go: Storer is first to the top of the climb, but Simmons, Campenaerts and Wellens (in that order) are back with him
53km to go: Storer has opened a gap on his three breakaway companions
53km to go: Wellens and Campenaerts have joined Simmons and Storer
54km to go: Wellens has been following moves for the most part and not contributing to the pace-setting in the break because his team leader’s in yellow and he can rightfully say that he’s just defending Pogačar’s interests. This is putting him in a strong position to contend for the stage win…
55km to go: Michael Storer and Quinn Simmons have attacked at the foot of the climb, Campenaerts and Wellens are chasing
56km to go: The break’s on the climb, Barguil and Vlasov have joined it
60km to go: Leknessund has joined the break, and it looks like they’re going to have a lot of company very soon as the chase group is just 15 seconds behind
62km to go: Leknessund is 15 seconds behind the 8-man break. The big chase group is 27 seconds back and the peloton’s at 3-05
64km to go: Keep an eye out for this on Wout van Aert’s race number…
Wout’s birthday message for his son
Wout van Aert’s son, Jerome, turns two today and the Belgian is riding Stage 15 of the Tour de France with a special message for him on his number
Sprint Cycling & @vismaleaseabike
_____________
#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/TePI2TccyN— Velon CC (@VelonCC) July 20, 2025
65km to go: The average speed for the break was 46.8kph after two hours of racing
68km to go: The group behind Leknessund features some very punchy riders who’ll be hoping to use the Pas du Sant as a springboard to the front group. Van Aert and Van der Poel are the most notable, but also in there are Alaphilippe, Laurence, Buitrago, Valgren, Romeo, Nys, Stewart, Madouas and Vlasov
70km to go: The very difficult climb of the Pas du Sant is just over 10km away. It’s 2.9km long and averages 10.2%
72km to go: Jordan Jegat is gaining time in the GC standings but he’s very unlikely to move into the top 10 today as the rider in 10th place is Carlos Rodríguez and he’s in the break
74km to go: Leknessund’s not making up the ground on the break. He’s 30 seconds behind still, with the group behind him at 40 seconds and the peloton at 2-45
78km to go: Andreas Leknessund is the latest to try to bridge up to the front group. His acceleration has taken the chase group within 30 seconds of the 8 leaders
81km to go: There are 22 in the chase group 40 seconds behind the break, including 11th placed Jordan Jegat. The bunch is at 2-32
83km to go: Lutsenko leads over the Sorède ahead of Wellens as Rodríguez bridges up and makes it 8 up front: Simmons, Mohorič, Storer, Wellens, Campenaerts, Powless, Lutsenko and now Rodríguez
84km to go: A mechanical issue for Jonas Vingegaard, who gets a new bike and is quickly up to the rear of the peloton
85km to go: Carlos Rodríguez is chasing behind the break after attacking from the Van Aert/MVDP group. He’s 30 seconds back, the 21-strong Van Aert group is 50 seconds back and the peloton seems to have eased off at last and is at 1-50
87km to go: These 7 have 39 sec0nds on the MVDP/WVA group and a minute on the peloton
88km to go: Wellens and Campenaerts have bridged up to the three leaders, Powless and Lutsenko have joined them making 7 up front
89km to go: The riders are now climbing the 3rd-cat Col de Sorède. It’s 6.2km long and is going to be the stage for some key action
90km to go: The 17-rider break has 25 seconds on the break, from which Simmons, Mohorič and Storer have attacked
91km to go: Jorgenson, Narvaez, Laurence and Van Poppel are also trying to bridge up. Clément Russo was the rider dropped from the break on the climb
92km to go: Simmons, Stuyven and Storer have bridged to the break, making 17 up front
93km to go: The trio are 8 seconds behind the break with the peloton at 22
94km to go: Quinn Simmons, Jasper Stuyven and Michael Storer are bridging up to break
96km to go: Lutsenko led Powless over the climb and there have been a flurry of attacks from the bunch, which closed right in on the break
99km to go: The break leads by 50 seconds approaching the first of three categorized climbs, the 3rd-cat Côte de Saint-Ferréol
103km to go: This is a great moment, the kind of thing you’d only see at a bike race…
Yesterday, just before the summit of the Tourmalet, Julian Alaphilippe grabbed a cardboard sign from a fan. He tucked it under his jersey to keep warm on the descent. Later, he apologized to the woman. The sign read: “Wout doesn’t know it yet, but we’re getting… pic.twitter.com/TIBJTkP834
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) July 20, 2025
105km to go: Laurence has given up on his attempt to catch 15 riders on his own. The peloton is 40 seconds behind the break with the Vauquelin/Gall group now part of it once again
106km to go: MVDP now has 210 points, 41 behind green jersey Milan and 13 behind Tadej Pogačar
109km to go: Mathieu van der Poel leads through the intermediate sprint and thanks the riders behind for not contesting it. Axel Laurence is trying to bridge up to the front group on his own. He’s 24 seconds behind with the peloton at 32 seconds
111km to go: A reminder that the 15 riders at the front are Mathieu van der Poel, Matteo Vercher, Victor Campenaert, Kaden Groves, Matej Mohorič, Jarrad Drizners, Clément Russo, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Tim Wellens, Wout van Aert, Tobias Lund Andresen, Jake Stewart, Arnaud De Lie, Neilson Powless and Alexey Lutsenko
113km to go: The front group covered 52.2km in the first hour of racing
115km to go: The break has 50 seconds on the peloton with 5km to the sprint. The Vauquelin/Milan group is still chasing behind the front part of the peloton, 40 seconds the gap between the parts of the bunch
117km to go: Third-placed and white jersey Florian Lipowitz was also caught in that crash with Alaphilippe…
119km to go: As well as Vauquelin and Felix Gall, green jersey Milan is also in the second half of the peloton, so Lidl-Trek’s riders have dropped back from the head of the yellow jersey group
120km to go: Ineos are setting the pace in the front group, probably to enable the punchy Alex Laurence to get up to the front group. The break still has a 42-second lead though
122km to go: The break is 45 seconds ahead of the bunch, which is still split in two. Kévin Vauquelin is in the second of the these two pelotons
124km to go: ECHELONS!! The bunch is splitting due to the pressure Lidl-Trek are applying at the front.
125km to go: Girmay, Stannard and Abrahamsen have been reeled in. The peloton is 40 seconds behind the break, Lidl-Trek setting the pace in order to bring the break back before intermediate sprint for their sprinter Jonathan Milan
127km to go: Julian Alaphilippe is back in the peloton. He’s been to the medical car after being caught up in the big crash in Auterive…
129km to go: This sums it up perfectly…
Race situation ⬇️#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/RfrX8qih8k
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 20, 2025
133km to go: The 15 leaders have 20 seconds on Biniam Girmay, Jonas Abrahamsen and Robert Stannard, with the peloton at 40 seconds, with Vingegaard, Lipowitz and the other GC leaders back in it at last
135km to go: Six more riders have bridged up to the leading nine: Pascal Eenkhoorn, Tim Wellens, Wout van Aert, Tobias Lund Andresen, Jake Stewart and Arnaud De Lie
137km to go: There’s going to be a lot of controversy about events over the last 10-15 mins since that crash in Auterive. Some riders wanted to wait, others didn’t. Get your popcorn ready
138km to go: The yellow jersey group isn’t giving the break much ground. It’s just 10 seconds back, which means the Vingegaard, Lipowitz group isn’t closing in. It’s still a minute behind the lead group of nine
140km to go: Powless and Lutsenko are up there with MVDP, as are Kaden Groves, Matej Mohorič, Jarrad Drizners and Clément Russo
143km to go: Mathieu van der Poel has attacked from the front group with Matteo Vercher, Victor Campenaerts and six other riders. The rest of the yellow jersey group is waiting for the Vingegaard/Lipowitz groups to return
144km to go: Riders are taking advantage of the easing in pace to attack from the yellow jersey group. The UAE DS has told his riders to ease the pace so that Vingegaard, Lipowitz, Roglič, Onley, Vauquelin can get back up to the yellow jersey group
148km to go: Most of the top 10 were caught up in that crash, apart from race leader Pogačar, whose making efforts to slow down the front group
149km to go: The yellow jersey group hasn’t slowed up following that crash, the opposite in fact. It’s closed right in Powless, Lutsenko and Foss, and has reeled them in
150km to go: White jersey Lipowitz is two minutes behind the bunch with two teammates setting the pace for him. All of the riders in the crash are back racing
152km to go – CRASH: Passing over the River Garonne in Auterive, mountains jersey Martinez and 3rd placed Lipowitz are among those affected, Julian Alaphilippe too
155km to go: Neilson Powless leads by 40 seconds. Tobias Foss, Alexey Lutsenko and Yevgeniy Fedorov are chasing Powless and stage 11 winner Jonas Abrahamsen is chasing them
159km to go: Some stats from yesterday… Thymen Arensman’s first TDF stage win ended Ineos’s longest drought at the race. Their previous win had been 41 stages earlier, when Carlos Rodríguez won in Morzine in 2023. It was also the first time a rider in the top 3 on GC – Remco Evenepoel in this case – has retired since Geraint Thomas crashed out on stage 9 in 2017. At 22 years and 8 days old, Lenny Martinez was the second youngest rider to lead over the Col du Tourmalet after René Vietto in 1934. Vietto was just 20 years, 5 months and 6 days old
161km to go: Neilson Powless has 25 seconds on the bunch. He’ll be hoping that reinforcements reach him soon
164km to go: An EF Education rider has a gap, it’s Neilson Powless
166km to go: The speed is very high in the opening moments of the stage. No breakaway yet
168km to go: Swiss champion Mauro Schmid, second in Toulouse on stage 11, is the first attacker and has plenty of company
169.3km to go: Racing is underway on stage 15
169.3km to go: The peloton lost some big names on yesterday’s Superbagnères stage, most notably white jersey leader Remco Evenepoel. That jersey has passed to Red Bull-Bora’s Florian Lipowitz, who’s currently third on GC. Mattias Skjelmose and Steff Cras also quit the race, the former after a crash and the latter due to illness.
169.3km to go: This is a key day for those teams that haven’t had a victory yet, bearing in mind there are a lot of high mountain stages in the Alps still to come. It’s particularly significant for the French teams and there’s sure to be a lot of home riders looking for the break today. Although Kévin Vauquelin is 5th on GC and Lenny Martinez is leading the mountains competition, the French haven’t won a stage yet. In fact, there’s not been a French rider placed in the top 3 on any stage since the start in Lille
169.3km to go: The riders are underway on the 3.4km neutralized section of the stage
169.3km to go: Lotto’s Lennert Van Eetvelt is a non-starter this morning
169.3km to go: The neutralized stage start is at 1.20 pm local time, with racing scheduled to begin at 1.30. The finish is estimated for 5.18 this afternoon.
Hi and welcome to Velo’s live coverage of stage 15 of the 2025 Tour de France.
After three hard days in the Pyrenees, the race is moving eastwards, running parallel to the mountain chain, but through hilly rather than mountainous terrain. The 169.3km stage between Muret and Carcassonne looks a good bet for a breakaway going the distance. There are three categorized climbs in the rugged Montagne Noire, with the last of them particularly testing.
Although it’s more than 50km from the finish, the Pas du Sant averages more than 10% for close to 3km. Beyond it, the road continues to climb, reaching the Col de Frontbruno, from which there’s a long drop into the wide plain in which Caracassonne is set. It’s unlikely that the sprinters will be able to remain in contention for the stage win crossing this pass, which should mean there’s an intense battle to infiltrate the breakaway from the start, with punchy like American champion Quinn Simmons almost certain to be in the thick of it.
The wind could be a factor too. Although the forecast is for mainly gentle breezes, gusts of up 50kph are predicted and will be blowing across the race route as the riders head into Carcassonne. In short, this isn’t a day where anyone can let down their guard.
