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Monday, July 20, 2026

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Tour de France stage fifteen reports

We posted the race organizer's report with the results.

Here's the Tour de France report from Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Jonas Vingegaard has been forced to abandon the Tour de France following a crash in the closing stages of stage fifteen. The Dane crashed in a corner and was unable to continue. After five consecutive Tour de France podium finishes, including two overall victories, Vingegaard is no longer able to continue his fight for the overall win.

“It is devastating that Jonas has had to leave the Tour de France,” sports director Marc Reef said after the stage. “It was quickly clear that Jonas could not continue. He was in a lot of pain. We are deeply with him.”

Further examinations revealed that Vingegaard sustained a broken collarbone and multiple abrasions. Due to the severity of the fracture, he will undergo surgery in the coming days.

Jonas Vingegaard gets in the ambulance after crashing.

In the final stage of the Vogezen trilogy, the riders faced another demanding mountain stage. Team Visma | Lease a Bike was active at the front once again, just as it had been yesterday. As a result, Bruno Armirail and Victor Campenaerts managed to join the breakaway with 95 kilometres remaining.

As the race headed towards the demanding final climb, Armirail and Campenaerts dropped back before setting a high pace in the group of favourites. While the team was doing strong work, Vingegaard crashed with twenty kilometres to go. The Dane was unable to continue and had to abandon the Tour de France.

Despite the setback, Reef saw a strong team performance until the moment of the crash. “The entire stage went according to plan. We had two riders in the breakaway and controlled the peloton. Jonas felt extremely good and we wanted to go for the victory today. Unfortunately, cycling can be very cruel at times.”

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The Story of the Tour de France, vol.1 South Salem Cycleworks frames Melanoma: It Started With a Freckle

Here's the Tour report from Isaac del Toro's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:

On stage 15 of the Tour de France, Isaac del Toro moved his way up to third overall for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with the Mexican taking control of the young rider’s classification.

Overtaking Paul Seixas of Decathlon CMA CGM in the race for the final podium, Del Toro takes the White Jersey into the race’s final rest day. Sunday’s stage offered an exhibition in teamwork for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with the young Mexican supported by teammate and race leader, Tadej Pogačar, on the final climb to the line.

Isaac del Toro finishes third in stage fifteen. Sirotti photo

Returning to the Plateau de Solaison, the site of Del Toro’s recent stage victory and overall triumph at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, UAE Team Emirates-XRG hatched a plan to vault the Mexican up the general classification and force his White Jersey rivals under pressure.

Before that could come about, however, the Tour de France was dealt a cruel blow with the abandonment of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). The two-time winner suffered a crash on a right-hand bend and was forced to leave the race early. After the finish, his long-time opponent turned friend, Pogačar, offered a word of support for the departing Dane.

Pogačar: “It is really, really sad to see that Jonas is out. Since 2021, we have been battling it out for the victories. Maybe at the beginning we didn’t have the best relationship, but in the last two years, we became good rivals with respect as competitors. But I think we also became friends, and the Tour will not be the same without him.

In regard to the racing, UAE Team Emirates-XRG had been in a strong position from the breakaway formation, with Adam Yates placing himself up the road for the Emirati squad. The British climber followed the wheels of men in form like Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), with the front group soon building an advantage of almost three minutes.

For a while, it looked as though Visma-Lease a Bike would set things up for a showdown between the GC favorites, but their hopes were brought to an untimely end with the departure of Vingegaard. In their place, Bahrain Victorious and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe took up the pace-setting at the front of the peloton, and the breakaway hit the slopes of the final climb, the Plateau do Solaison (11.3km at 9%), with a gap of less than two minutes.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG made their intentions clear with 8km to ride, as Pogačar roared to the front of the peloton with the Yellow Jersey on his back. The race leader immediately began to drive a hard pace, and it was evident the Slovenian was working for his young teammate Del Toro, in a remarkable show of selflessness.

Within a few hundred meters, only Del Toro and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) remained on Pogačar’s wheel, with Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) and more put into difficulty. In terms of the fight for the White Jersey, the absence of Ayuso and Seixas was good news for Del Toro.

From here to the summit of the climb, the trio of Pogačar, Del Toro and Evenepoel swept aside all who had been in front of them. Between 5.5km to go and 4.5km to go, Yates played a brilliant supporting role for UAE Team Emirates-XRG and delivered a great turn of pace after dropping back from the break.

Into the final kilometer, Del Toro made two searing accelerations in a bid to drop an impressive Evenepoel, but neither was able to dislodge the Belgian. As the finish line came into sight, the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider sprinted for the line and eventually claimed his first Tour de France road stage victory.

Pogačar immediately followed Evenepoel across the finish, before Del Toro came home in third place. His efforts had been enough to move him up to third overall, with the Mexican now holding a 25-second gap over the young sensation, Seixas. Pogačar, meanwhile, holds a five-minute lead over Evenepoel, who has moved up to second overall with the withdrawal of Vingegaard.

Speaking after the finish, Pogačar was more than satisfied with the team’s efforts on stage 15. The Slovenian heads into Monday’s rest day with a commanding lead in the Yellow Jersey, but is wary to avoid complacency ahead of the final week.

Pogačar: “It helped us a lot that in the first two hours, the break didn’t form, so the first two hours, it was the perfect day. Then, Visma decided to go for the stage, and it was good that we had Adam in the front. Then we could go for the stage. When Adam was with Quinn Simmons – chapeau to him, he was super solid today – we tried with Isaac, and it is his climb. But he also had a little bit of pain, I think, from the crash, and lost a little bit of confidence in the final. But anyway, I think it was a good day for Isaac today, and we can be happy that he is in the White Jersey and third on GC.”

“Chapeau to Remco, today I think on Solaison it is like a 30-minute test, and we did, I think, one of the best numbers. I think Remco sometimes needs a bit of a morale boost, and today he showed he is flying. He is a rocket, and he is going to be a man to watch next week.”


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The Story of the Giro d’Italia, vol.1 Shade Vise sunglass holder Paris-Roubaix: The Inside Store

Here’s the Tour report from stage winner Remco Evenepoel's Team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe:

Remco Evenepoel delivered Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe its first stage victory at the 2026 Tour de France. The Belgian claimed an impressive win atop the Plateau de Solaison and moved up to second place in the overall classification.

Evenepoel could hardly have picked a better moment to celebrate the 75th victory of his professional career. Stage 15 started in Champagnole in the Jura region before heading past Lake Geneva and along the French-Swiss border into the Haute-Savoie Alps. With 50 kilometres remaining, the peloton faced the demanding Col de la Croisette, where the race began to split apart.

The decisive test, however, came on the final ascent to the Plateau de Solaison. Making its Tour de France debut, the climb stretches just over 11 kilometres at an average gradient of nine percent. Evenepoel responded to every attack from his rivals before launching an irresistible uphill sprint in the closing metres to secure a memorable victory.

Remco Evenepoel wins Tour de France stage 15. Sirotti photo

Florian Lipowitz also delivered an impressive performance. The German crossed the line in fifth place and moved up to fifth overall in the general classification, further strengthening the team’s position in the race.

Following Monday’s rest day, the Tour continues on Tuesday with a 26.1-kilometre individual time trial along the shores of Lake Geneva. After today's commanding display, Evenepoel will once again be among the leading favourites as he looks to build on his move up to second overall.

"What an amazing day. I want to thank the entire team - both the riders and all the staff. Winning a big mountain stage at the Tour de France has always been one of my biggest dreams, so this means the world to me. I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved today. We’ll enjoy this moment, celebrate it together, and then make the most of the rest day tomorrow." — Remco Evenepoel

"This morning, we never expected a finale like this. Remco was fantastic, but above all I want to highlight the incredible teamwork. To be honest, we weren’t thinking about the stage win at all; our focus was on the podium positions in the GC. But sometimes life gives you these beautiful surprises, and today Remco delivered one. This victory is the cherry on top of what was a perfect team performance." — Patxi Vila, DS


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Here's the Tour de France report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Stage 15 of the Tour de France kicked off with Valentin Paret-Peintre in the polka dot jersey, and the 25-year-old honored it by going on the attack on the day’s first climb - Côte des Rousses - where he scored more points that cemented his position in the classification.

A few minutes later, a sizable group featuring Ilan Van Wilder went away and built a three-minute maximum gap on the peloton. While they traded pulls there with the hope of fighting for victory on the Plateau de Solaison, a couple of kilometers behind, Tim Merlier - the best sprinter of this edition, with three victories - abandoned the race, bringing his third Grande Boucle participation to a conclusion with one week left.

Tim Merlier after winning stage 12. Sirotti photo

Van Wilder remained ahead of the bunch until the early slopes of that demanding 11.3km ascent, where a reduced yellow jersey group caught him. Ilan continued to soldier on hoping to limit the losses, but a crash just a few kilometers from the top cost him time. Despite this, the Belgian retained his place in the general classification going into the race’s final rest day. From there, the race will resume with an individual time trial where he’ll have the chance to make up time in the general classification.

And here's the Tour de France report from Team Netcompany INEOS:

After another aggressive day in the mountains, Netcompany INEOS remained active throughout stage 15 of the Tour de France, with Thymen Arensman, Kevin Vauquelin and Egan Bernal in the day’s breakaways on the 183.9km stage.

The racing ignited early on the opening category three climb as Josh Tarling attacked with 153km remaining, while teammate Tobias Foss was also involved in a series of moves as riders fought for a place in the day’s breakaway.

Xabier Azparren (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) launched an attack on the climb, going clear with Arensman. The pair were soon joined by eight chasers on the descent, forming the leading group with 107 kilometres still to race.

After a solid effort by Arensman, the Dutchman was reeled back in before a counterattack saw both Vauquelin and Bernal successfully make their way into a larger breakaway with 95km to go. The pair continued to push on over the category one Col de la Croisette, but the relentless pace began to split the group as the race approached the decisive finale.

The peloton early in the stage.

Bernal was caught by the reduced peloton, which also included Foss, on the descent into the final climb, while Vauquelin continued to battle on, beginning the Côte du Mont around 50 seconds behind the leaders.

The stage was ultimately decided on the HC ascent of Plateau de Solaison, where Vauquelin was reeled back into the main group.

It’s a welcome rest day for the riders tomorrow after back-to-back mountain stages, before the individual time trial on stage 16 as the Tour enters its final week.