Tour de France Stage 15 Report & Results
As the Tour de France exited the Pyrenees mountains, they entered another stage designed for the sprinters. As usual when the stage is designed for the sprinters, HTC-Highroad took control of the day in hopes of setting up their British sprinter Mark Cavendish. However, before they could set up Mark Cavendish, they had to bring back a 5 man breakaway. Mark Cavendish did end up winning the stage, but it was definitely not easy to take to win,
Another five man breakaway escaped at the 2 kilometers line from the start, the last remaining rider from the breakaway was not caught until the final 3 kilometer mark. The five men that rode into the breakaway were, Mickaël Delage (FDJ), Niki Terpstra (Quick Step), Anthony Delaplace (Saur Sojasun), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis). They gained a big gap of about 4 minutes.
In the final 15 kilometers, Anthony Delaplace, Mickaël Delage and Samuel Dumoulin were dropped by their breakaway companions and then were collected by the peloton. Niki Terpstra and Mikhail Ingatyev continue their hopes to go for the stage win, but with a charging peloton behind them it looked impossible. Around six kilometers remaining, Terpstra looked behind and saw the peloton right behind. He put in one last kick and dropped Ingatyev, he went back to the peloton and Terpstra pushed on. However, when HTC-Highroad put Tony Martin on the front, Terpstra was quickly caught.
As Terpstra was caught by the peloton, Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma Lotto) decided to try a go and got past the peloton. The strong Belgian was not happy when he saw Anthony Roux of FDJ was sitting on his wheel. Of course HTC-Highroad was going to put up a fight, they chased down the Belgian rider. It was now time for all teams to jostle for position.
Several teams including Garmin Cervelo, Lampre ISD and FDJ put riders on the head of the peloton to block and disable HTC-Highroad’s lead out for Mark Cavendish. It looked like Cavendish might loose his chance for the win, but his lead out man Mark Renshaw put in a fight to get the ‘Manx Missile’ into a good position. He succeeded. He got Cav’ into the perfect position and he started his sprint. Cav’ was challenged by Tyler Farrar (Garmun Cervelo) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre ISD). Farrar took second in the stage with Petacchi finishing third. Today was Cav’s #19 stage win in the Tour de France since 2008.
Top Five-Stage 15
1. Mark Cavendish, HTC-Highroad, @ 4:20:24
2. Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Cervélo, same time
3. Alessandro Petacchi, Lampre-ISD, s.t.
4. Daniel Oss, Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t.
5. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Movistar, s.t.
Top Five-Overall
1. Thomas Voeckler, Europcar, 65:24:33
2. Frank Schleck, Leopard-Trek, at 1:49
3. Cadel Evans, BMC Racing Team, at 2:06
4. Andy Schleck, Leopard-Trek, at 2:15
5. Ivan Basso, Liquigas-Cannondale. at 3:16
As the Tour de France exited the Pyrenees mountains, they entered another stage designed for the sprinters. As usual when the stage is designed for the sprinters, HTC-Highroad took control of the day in hopes of setting up their British sprinter Mark Cavendish. However, before they could set up Mark Cavendish, they had to bring back a 5 man breakaway. Mark Cavendish did end up winning the stage, but it was definitely not easy to take to win,
Another five man breakaway escaped at the 2 kilometers line from the start, the last remaining rider from the breakaway was not caught until the final 3 kilometer mark. The five men that rode into the breakaway were, Mickaël Delage (FDJ), Niki Terpstra (Quick Step), Anthony Delaplace (Saur Sojasun), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis). They gained a big gap of about 4 minutes.
In the final 15 kilometers, Anthony Delaplace, Mickaël Delage and Samuel Dumoulin were dropped by their breakaway companions and then were collected by the peloton. Niki Terpstra and Mikhail Ingatyev continue their hopes to go for the stage win, but with a charging peloton behind them it looked impossible. Around six kilometers remaining, Terpstra looked behind and saw the peloton right behind. He put in one last kick and dropped Ingatyev, he went back to the peloton and Terpstra pushed on. However, when HTC-Highroad put Tony Martin on the front, Terpstra was quickly caught.
As Terpstra was caught by the peloton, Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma Lotto) decided to try a go and got past the peloton. The strong Belgian was not happy when he saw Anthony Roux of FDJ was sitting on his wheel. Of course HTC-Highroad was going to put up a fight, they chased down the Belgian rider. It was now time for all teams to jostle for position.
Several teams including Garmin Cervelo, Lampre ISD and FDJ put riders on the head of the peloton to block and disable HTC-Highroad’s lead out for Mark Cavendish. It looked like Cavendish might loose his chance for the win, but his lead out man Mark Renshaw put in a fight to get the ‘Manx Missile’ into a good position. He succeeded. He got Cav’ into the perfect position and he started his sprint. Cav’ was challenged by Tyler Farrar (Garmun Cervelo) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre ISD). Farrar took second in the stage with Petacchi finishing third. Today was Cav’s #19 stage win in the Tour de France since 2008.
Top Five-Stage 15
1. Mark Cavendish, HTC-Highroad, @ 4:20:24
2. Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Cervélo, same time
3. Alessandro Petacchi, Lampre-ISD, s.t.
4. Daniel Oss, Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t.
5. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Movistar, s.t.
Top Five-Overall
1. Thomas Voeckler, Europcar, 65:24:33
2. Frank Schleck, Leopard-Trek, at 1:49
3. Cadel Evans, BMC Racing Team, at 2:06
4. Andy Schleck, Leopard-Trek, at 2:15
5. Ivan Basso, Liquigas-Cannondale. at 3:16
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