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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
John Brewin

Tour de France 2020: Tadej Pogacar wins stage 15 as defending champion Egan Bernal cracks - as it happened

Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line at the Grand Colombier.
Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line at the Grand Colombier. Photograph: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images

Here’s the snap report. Jeremy Whittle’s piece from Grand Colombier will follow later.

Tadej Pogacar speaks.

Today was really a tough stage. Jumbo just set the pace all day. The heat made it really difficult. In the end I was aiming for a sprint and I am happy to win again. Jumbo was really prepared for this today. There was no sense to attack. [On Bernal] I don’t know what happened. Jumbo did a really hard pace and some riders paid for it. Roglic seems unstoppable for the moment. But today Bernal cracked and maybe one day I can crack and Roglic too.

Updated

Top five for stage 15

1. Tadej Pogacar
2. Primoz Roglic ST
3. Richie Porte +5
4. Miguel Angel Lopez +8
5. Enric Mas +15

Bernal loses 7’20”. That’s the bitter end of his defence.

Top six GC standings:

Roglic 65h 37’07”
Pogacar +40
Uran +1’34”
MA Lopez +1’45”
Yates 2’03”
Porte 2’13”

Primoz Roglic, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, celebrates on the podium.
Primoz Roglic, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, celebrates on the podium. Photograph: Thibault Camus/Reuters

Updated

Quintana lost 3’ 51”, and Bernal’s gap is yet to be added up. It’s going to be huge and an abandonment from the deposed champion cannot be ruled out. There’s been talk of a back complaint and use of the medical car.

Updated

Pogacar took ten bonus seconds but only took four off Roglic who got six seconds with Richie Porte four seconds, with a great ride for the evergreen Australian. That was awesome from Jumbo-Visma but it was the younger Slovenian who took the stage. Roglic and Pogacar in the Alps is the battle that will decide the Tour but if Pogacar has the better legs, Roglic has the better team and protection.

Tadej Pogacar wins stage 15!

The procession continues in the last kilometre. It’s like a sprint, in the way they are jockeying for position. Roglic goes off the front, then comes Pogacar, and Richie Porte. Sepp Kuss goes off the back, unable to stop Roglic. Pogacar looks favourite as Porte leads them out. Pogacar goes off down the left of the road, and takes the win ahead and ten bonus seconds.

Tadej Pogacar sprints to the finish line ahead of Primoz Roglic.
Tadej Pogacar sprints to the finish line ahead of Primoz Roglic. Photograph: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/Reuters

Updated

1km to go: The agony is piled on by Jumbo-Visma, who have the first three in the pack. Pogacar is circling but what does he have left? This will go down to the last 500m, let alone the flamme rouge, which approaches with Roglic’s team in the fullest of control.

2km to go: The pack is thinned out, and now it is time for those who have the legs to plan for the stage win. Roglic seems nailed on for yellow, so stage wins are the next-best prize. The climb starts to get tougher in terms of gradient Dumoulin leads Roglic along.

3km to go: Three minutes and 50 seconds is the gap to Bernal, with a long way to go and Dumoulin pushing things along and along. Jumbo-Visma and Roglic look so comfortable on this hellish climb.

4km to go: Dumoulin continues to set the pace for Jumbo-Visma, which is breakneck; there is no space to make a break. Quintana is two minutes down, Bernal is three and a half minutes down. This is an awesome display. Even the Sky train would struggle to keep this level up. It’s simply too fast to take apart.

5km to go: Dumoulin continues to lead the chase as Yates, off to the left of the road, is caught. The Jumbo train take it up. Rigoberto Uran is also struggling down the group. They reach a plateau, and Dumoulin has one last dig. Roglic is sat second in the pack.

6km to go: Adam Yates has gone off the front. Long way to go, but he has opened up something of a gap. There is no panic from Jumbo-Visma. George Bennett, though, is lost of them. Yates building quite a lead and could be riding into a podium place. He gains ten seconds. He’s helped by the fact that Jumbo-Visma have ridden off everyone’s legs, including perhaps their own. Yates approaches the toughest gradient with the chance to crack the rest, though the gap closes. Tom Dumoulin is leading Jumbo-Visma along. And there’s Sepp Kuss to follow that to help Roglic along.

7km to go: Bernal now two minutes down. Jumbo-Visma look to be trying to ride this one to the top. Pogacar and Yates must wait their turn. Quintana has dropped Bernal for 30 seconds. Pogacar is 44 seconds down and must try and something. There is a rest day tomorrow so he can afford to bury himself.

Guy Hornsby has been in touch: “Proof now, if it were needed that Ineos’ tilt is folly this year. Of course it’s impossible to know who was in form with the fractured season we’ve had but G’s form in Tirreno must smart a bit. He was a guy that could ride into 3-week races. Surely Roglic’s tour now.”

8km to go: A flat section offers respite but the virtual leadership sees Uran in third, Miguel Lopez Moreno in fourth, Adam Yates in fifth, just seconds off a podium place and sitting well in this race. Bernal is in virtual ninth and will drop yet further down. Guillaume Martin’s effort to come back on after his mechanical has drained him and he’s fallen down the field.

10km to go: Jumbo-Visma make up almost half the leading group. Ineos now trying to shelter Bernal on his way up the Grand Colombier. He’s lost 90 seconds already and they are having to pace him. It’s a sorry old sight.

The leader’s group climb the Grand Colombier.
The leader’s group climb the Grand Colombier. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

11km to go: Van Aert is still leading them out and David de la Cruz, Pogacar’s sole teammate drops off the back. This is destruction being wreaked by Jumbo-Visma and they have plenty of other matches still to burn beyond Van Aert. Bernal is in virtual fifth and may be out of the top ten by the end of the day. Bernal shaking his head in defeat.

Bernal has cracked! The defending champion in trouble

12km to go: Van Aert’s turn at the front is surely nearing its end but he has taken the field apart. And here’s a huge, huge development. Nairo Quintana is in trouble at the back and so is Bernal...the Colombians both in trouble. The Tour crown all but lost. Bernal has been dropped by Quintana too, and has dropped 20 seconds already, and then 28 seconds and now 30. Team Ineos’ challenge is all but done.

Updated

13km to go: Six Jumbo-Visma still up there. Guillaume Martin overtakes Dan Martin and Warren Barguill as he get back in the group after a mighty effort. This Jura mountain climb is already claiming victims and Pogacar has lost all of his team. Rolland’s lead is dropping to 30 seconds. It won’t last much longer. Gogl is swallowed up by the peloton.

Culinary corner with Michael Cosgrove: ““Real French eating is regional, and peasant-based” says Alistair Connor, and he’s right. The best way is the no-nonsense way. I eat regularly with a friend here in Lyon, either at her place or mine, and one of our favourite dishes, as well as that of millions of French people, is what we have baptised ‘Jette le sur la table’, as in ‘Chuck it on the table’. Ingredients? A bag full of freshly-bought selected cold meats and charcuterie and cheeses in their wrappings. Cooking method? Empty it all out onto the table and accompany it with salad, tomatoes, a jar of pickled cucumber and onions, two types of bread, and a couple of bottles of cheapish bottles of Côtes du Rhône. No napkins, just a roll of kitchen paper wipes, sit down, get on with it, and bon appétit.”

14km to go: Pogacar is sat off Roglic, his Slovenian countryman. They will be eyeing each other throughout. Roglic is on the radio, perhaps planning for the latter part of the climb. Rolland, up ahead, goes off ahead of Gogl, making what must be a doomed attempt for the stage win. Guillaume Martin lost 20 seconds in having to change his bike. Jumbo-Visma are not exactly putting the hammer down just yet, but there is plenty of road left.

Barry Rahmy: “Gogl & Rolland: an Austro-Franco comedy team that attained cult status in the Strasbourg region in the ‘80’s. Gogl in particular was known as the “Jerry Lewis of the Alsace.””

Updated

16 km to go: Guillaume Martin loses his bike early in the climb and has to make a change. Jumbo-Visma drive it on. The rest have to try and hold on. Wout van Aert lead the train.

Updated

17km to go: Gogl and Rolland are essentially competing for the le prix de la combativité, to wear the red number for having the most digs in a day. Their lead will surely not last. The Jumbo train is on their tail and the Grand Colombier begins with a 7 percent climb. Here we go, this is where it begins.

20km to go: Into the valley, to paraphrase Richard “Jobbo” Jobson and Stuart Adamson before the big climb arrives. Gogl and Rolland are showing the strain of the foothills, and they are not even on the main drag yet. Fireworks are expected and a shattering of the peloton awaits. When will Jumbo-Visma make their move? Or will they just try to ride everyone off?

25km to go: Gogl and Rolland are back in harness. Herrada looks to have given up on the chase.

A bit of info on this final fabled climb. This is the first time it has been used as a summit finish on Le Tour. It’s only the third visit.

30km to go: Gogl is now clear at the front, with Rolland dropping off him though the gap is below seven seconds.

Alistair Connor has some culinary lexicon to share: “A “soupe”, in its original meaning, is the big slice of peasant bread that you put in your plate before putting a ladle of liquid on top. Thirty-five years in France has liberated me from the middle-class obsession with aristocratic table manners. Real French eating is regional, and peasant-based.”

35km to go: There are few people by the road, as by local decree in the wake of the Covid crisis. And the word is they will not be on the Grand Colombier either. Herrada, having briefly reintroduced himself to Rolland and Gogl, has dropped back 20 seconds. Jumbo-Visma’s Sky-esque train continues to lead the peloton down the Col de la Biche descent.

40km to go: Rolland allows Gogl to come alongside him. Both realise they will not be staying away until the end and allow Herrada to join them once more. The gap is dropping below 90 seconds.

Paul Griffin has been in touch: “Herrada; Geschke; Rolland: a remarkably unsuccessful US song-writing trio. In the style of Motown’s iconic Lamont-Dozier-Holland, but the overly prosaic lyrics were a fatal flaw. ‘I heard it through the headphones’; ‘This old colon of mine’; and the execrable ‘Stand in the vicinity of me,’ all failed to chart.”

Updated

45km to go: Rolland rides away from Herrada and Geschke, who look cooked. The Frenchman chases down Gogl and gets to him too. Herrada at least stays in the chase while Geschke drops back. Rolland goes over the Col de la Biche to take the mountain points.

The peloton is closing the gap slowly on all those trying to stay away for the day. Jumbo-Visma continue to control the peloton but powder is being kept dry for the Colombier. Thibaut Pinot won’t be involved in the chase at the end of the stage; he’s gone off the back, shaking his head at his lack of capability of challenging. Further woes for Ineos: Pavel Sivakov is off the back. Bernal is going to be very isolated on the final climb. Michał Kwiatkowski may end up being his sole helper. Jumbo-Visma have six people in the peloton.

News of the retired Sergio Higuita: he has a broken wrist and finger, and crashed on a roundabout when he couldn’t use his brakes. Thanks a lot, Bob Jungels.

50km to go: The descent is not very long, as the Cole de la Biche beckons, all 6.9km of it. Gogl has to stand up from the saddle to power himself along, and this is a far higher climb than the previous category one. He’s got 28 seconds on the rest of the rump of the initial breakaway. Further bad news for Ineos? Michał Kwiatkowski is at the team car and seems to have a problem with his hand. Gogl, now the clear leader, has almost a minute on the three he went over the previous climb with.

55km to go: Not sure this break has long for this world. Jumbo-Visma have kept the pedal on the metal, and are eating into Ineos as well, too. News from the back is that Sagan is ahead of Sam Bennett by 30 seconds or so. All Bennett needs to do is hang on. The descent is quick and looks dangerous, whipping along country lanes but the next descent is far more dangerous. Gogl is flying along the bends.

60km to go: The breakaway is down to under three minutes as the descent begins. Bernal is sat at the back of the peloton with only Michał Kwiatkowski of his Team Ineos for company.

On with the airport discussion with Simon Carr-Ellison: “A few years ago there was a banner put up at Cooperstown-Westville airport in upstate New York “Celebrating 50 years of relatively safe flying”.”

63km to go: Rolland, Geschke and Herrada are being chased by Michael Gogl, who is burying himself to get back on; and he makes it too. He’s ten seconds off the leaders with the peloton 3’ 41” behind. A few Ineos riders are dropping back as Jumbo-Visma push on. Can Ineos be cracked on the first climb? Pogacar looks very strong too. Carapaz, who had that prang before, has dropped off for Ineos. Bernal could be isolated. Herrada takes the mountain points at the top, with Rolland in second. Gogl, despite his efforts, could not take the maximum points to challenge Cosnefroy, who is at the back of the field.

65 km to go: The finish to this initial climb has a 22 percent gradient, and Trentin continues to tow the leading group along before then dropping off as Simon Geschke, a fellow CCC rider to Trentin breaks clear with Pierre Rolland for company. Bonifazio has been spat out down the hill. Jesus Herrada of Cofidis joins Geschke and Rolland. All three are previous stage winners at Grand Tours. Luke Rowe, Team Ineos’ road captain, is off the back of the peloton which is still a big group. The end of this climb is indeed a grim gradient and the leading trio are crawling up. Tejay van Garderen is an early casualty of this first climb.

Updated

70km to go: There are 2km between the breakaway and peloton. Trentin continues to lead the way up at the front. Bryan Coquard is dropped, and a little early. So too Sam Bennett and Julian Alaphilippe, the latter somewhat surprisingly. Here are the early signs of a grupetto, or l’autobus if you will. Peter Sagan is also sat up, having failed to get points from Bennett.

More on airports from John S: “Will Rogers Intl airport in Oklahoma City. Named for the Western actor/author. Died in a plane crash. Another small airport nearby named after another person killed in that crash.”

Updated

75km to go: Cosnefroy, in the polka dot jersey, takes on some gels for his teammates as he prepares to try and win some points. The Montée de la Selle de Fromentel is upon and is a climb of 11km. Matteo Trentin takes on the early pace in the breakaway, shirt open in the style of Ted Stryker in a disco. He even has a medallion.

This is what awaits at the end.

Updated

80km to go: A couple of Ineos riders stop for a comfort break. Everyone is getting their ducks in a row ahead of the climbs to come.

Anthony gets in touch: “Bonjour! On the airports, Denver Airport being named after John Denver seems a little harsh? I’ll get my “manteau”.”

90km to go: They are going a reasonable lick with Jumbo-Visma followed by Team Ineos at the front of the peloton as they chase down the breakaway group. This period of the race feels a little neutralised. The first big climb awaits in 20 km or so.

95km to go: The breakaway is 4’ 20” or so clear. A reminder of its personnel: Kévin Ledanois (Arkéa-Samsic), Simon Geschke and Matteo Trentin (CCC Team), Jesús Herrada (Cofidis), Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates), Niccolo Bonifazio (Total-Direct Energie), Michael Gogl (NTT Pro Cycling) and Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept).

Nick Wurr joins the airport discussion. “Francisco Sá Carneiro airport in Porto is named after a politician who was killed in an air crash.”

100km to go: The breakaway group are on the first climb, a category one, the Montée de la Selle de Fromentel. That dips down to the Col de la Biche. At the back, the likes of Caleb Ewan are dropping off to form the grupetto who will cling on to each other and try within the time limit. Tony Martin is leading Jumbo-Visma, with Roglic sat pretty, up the road.

113km to go: Trentin takes the intermediate sprint and 20 seconds up in the breakaway group. The battle is back in the peloton for a single point. Bora tried to lead out Sagan, Bennett sits off him and takes two points off Sagan by winning the sprint. The Irishman has much the better form in the sprints. Job done for Bennett.

Hugo Hofstetter is being treated by the medic after his previous fall. His left knee is badly gashed.

Updated

120km to go: Oh no, another crash. Hugo Hofstetter, the Team Israel sprinter, is down as is Richard Carapaz of Team Ineos. That’s caused by the peloton relaxing and slowing down. Carapaz is one of those who Egan Bernal will want to guide him up the later climbs. He’s got a graze all the way down his arm but he’s OK to continue. Hofstetter’s knees took the pain and look a little bloodied.

130km to go: Dave in Ireland gets in touch, presumably about that video: John, Nice to see you are watching the TDF with Irish language commentary. I find it highly meditative. Mind you, I do speak it.”

Oddly, that account follows me on Twitter, and I have little idea why. The same goes for Mark Lanegan, whose music I am not too familiar with though his recent book was a great read. And yet he follows me. Macclesfield and Seattle maybe have a similar ethic.

Sad news: Higuita has abandoned. He followed that Jungels take-out by smashing into a roundabout which suggests there was some concussion involved, though that is not confirmed. He certainly seemed to bang his head. After Bardet’s fall and withdrawal two days ago, the question of concussion has become a leading plotline of the Tour. This is the breakaway group. They seem highly likely to stay away. The peloton is not pushing on to chase them.

Updated

140km to go: Ok, we have a break. It’s only about 20 seconds clear, and it’s eight men, including Matteo Trentin and Pierre Rolland. Bob Jungels is after them but not gaining much ground. This looks likely to stay away for a while, at least until the hills come.

Adam Yates spoke to the BBC about this stage, and this was his description.

Whether the winner will come from the breakaway or be a GC contender will all depend on how big the break is - there’s a lot of flat before the climbs begin. We reconned the Grand Colombier climb between the Dauphine and the Tour - the thing that stands out is the length. The intensity of the day will depend on who wants to take it up.

Pierre Rolland and Kevin Ledanois lead the breakaway.
Pierre Rolland and Kevin Ledanois lead the breakaway. Photograph: Stéphane Mahé/Reuters

Updated

150km to go: The breakaway attempts come and go with Pierre Rolland making another bid to lead one away.

Meanwhile, here’s that Higuita incident.

155km to go: Sagan and Bennett locked together at the front. Sagan tries to break away and they are at the front. Bennett looking cool and Sagan somewhat harried. They eventually sink back into the field as others try to go off at the front. Higuita is back in the peloton. Ben Hermans is the latest to try his luck in a breakaway.

Justin Horton has been in touch: “I notice that Lyon’s airport is named after Antoine Saint-Exupery, who is most famous for writing a story about a plane crash. I wonder if any other airport in the world is similarly honoured.”

160km to go: This has not been made easy for anyone looking to sit off the back and idle before the mountains arrive. Mitchelton-Scott try and force a break to help propel Adam Yates for a possible stage win. Jumbo-Visma don’t like that and close it down. And there’s a nasty fall. Oh no. Bob Jungels comes across and Sergio Higuita is down. He looks hurt and is remounting after a spell of licking his wounds on the floor. No apology from Jungels. Poor form. Higuita cycles alongside the medics’ ambulance and faces a long day ahead when he had been flying at the front.

Updated

165km to go: Jerome Cousin and Pierre Rolland take up the cudgels and start a breakaway. And are joined by Matteo Trentin as a 12-man group forms that includes Peter Sagan and Sam Bennett, with points on the board for the intermediate sprint. The contenders for the green jersey are at close quarters. Also in the group is Benoît Cosnefroy, the king of the mountains classification leader, but they can’t stay away.

Julian Alaphilippe takes it up and leads the field. He is looking for decent company for the breakaway. He clearly fancies staying out front for the day but is struggling to form a group. It isn’t really happening.

Le départ

The peloton goes past Olympique Lyonnais’ stadium which I can tell you is nowhere near Lyon. It’s home to the current and multiple Women’s Champions League winners, and also the men’s team that forced Pep Guardiola into a brainfart last month in Lisbon. And they are off. François Lemarchand, still standing in for Christian Prudhomme waves them off.

The départ réel is 8km away as the riders takes in a tour of Lyon, the gastronomic capital of, well, the world. It’s a very lovely city.

Updated

Preamble

It looks likely to be a Slovenian September at this rearranged Tour. If Primoz Roglic is the strongest man around then Tadej Pogacar has announced himself as the face of the future. Had he not been caught out by echelons on the first Friday then he might be challenging his compatriot even harder for the yellow jersey. And that’s bad news for Egan Bernal, who cracked somewhat on the second Friday. All three made it through Saturday’s chase into Lyon but here is a classic Sunday stage.

A 17-kilometre hors-catégorie summit finish on the Grand Colombier will further splinter the field. The stage also features a descent at Col de la Biche, which you may remember from 2017 was the scene of a spectacular crash involving Geraint Thomas.
William Fotheringham described it thus in his pre-Tour guide.

Stage 15, 13 September, Lyon – Grand Colombier, 175km

A super-category uphill finish on a super-steep climb in the southern Jura; this is where GC riders such as Egan Bernal or Primoz Roglic will have to show what they have left. The concentrated climbing in the final 80km will make it difficult for a break to succeed so an overall contender such as Bernal might win here.

Updated

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