Tour de France 2020 Stage 15 - As it happened

Updated 13/09/2020 at 16:01 GMT

See how Tadej Pogacar reminded compatriot Primoz Roglic who his biggest rival is in the battle for yellow following an epic duel between the two Slovenians in Stage 15 of the Tour de France.

The pack climbs the Col de la Biche during the 15th stage of the 107th edition of the Tour de France

Image credit: Getty Images

Bernal plummets out of the top 10

Egan Bernal came home over seven minutes down in a group with teammates Kwiatkowski and Castroviejo, plus Pierre Rolland, the last-man standing of the breakaway.

Fellow Colombian Nairo Quintana didn't fare much better - he conceded over four minutes. Both riders are no longer in the top 10. That's the Tour over for Ineos Grenadiers, who have really been found out.

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General classification

Roglic retains his yellow jersey but the four-second swing in bonus seconds means his lead on compatriot Pogacar is down to 40 seconds. He looks unbeatable but this race is not yet over because Pogacar is such a good rider and, lest we forget, beat Roglic in the Slovenian time trial championships earlier in the summer...

1. Primoz Roglic
2. Tadej Pogacar +40
3. Rigoberto Uran +1'34"
4. Migiuel Angel Lopez +1'45"
5. Adam Yates +2'05"

Top five in Stage 15

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

Victory for Pogacar!

Another stage win for Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates! Richie Porte rolled back the years by coming to the front but he was caught in a Slovenian sandwich with the boys in yellow and white either side of him. When Pogacar powered clear, Roglic has the measure of his compatriot - but in the end he let his friend take the win and 10 bonus seconds.

0.5km to go - Roglic attacks!

Finally, the yellow jersey makes his move! Roglic rides clear with Kuss. Lopez, Porte and Pogacar follow... Uran, Landa and the others a bit further back...

2km to go - Rivals emasculated

This tempo by Dumoulin has detered any moves. Roglic is so rampant he's emasculated all his rivals. None of them can even contemplate an attack because they're all isolated and he's got two of the strongest climbers in the peloton at his beck and call. The battle for yellow is over for another year... That's a lie - for another 10 months!

4km to go - Bernal's nightmare

The Defending champion is almost four minutes back now, while Quintana is 2'20" down. The only podiums they'll be standing on this year will be for stage wins, and not the battle for yellow.

5km to go - Yates caught

There we go - that didn't last long. Roglic down to Dumoulin and Kuss, who has always been behing him so perhaps the team are thinking of letting the American take the stage win today? Pocagar, in white, is tehre, as is Porte, Mas, Landa, Yates, Lopez and Uran. All the big guns - except Bernal, Quintana and Martin. Valverde and Pello Bilbao are also holding on.

7km to go - Yates attacks!

The Briton zips clear in search of a maiden Grand Tour stage win. He's opened up a small gap but there's no big reaction so far. Bennett, as a result, drops back, with Dumoulin taking up the slack for Jumbo. The stage needed that - although I doubt the Mitchelton-Scott climber will be able to hold on.

8km to go - Van Aert clocks off

After an emphatic shift, the Belgian hands the baton over to George Bennett, who takes it up. This main pack is down to about a dozen riders now - four of whom are from the same Jumbo team. Van Aert is actually now back with the Quintana group, sandbagging with ease as the Colombian puts on his best pain face...

10km to go - Quintana drops Bernal

Bernal has now been dropped by his compatriot after Warren Barguil dropped back to pick up his teammate. Astonishingly, it's still Wout van Aert - winner of two bunch sprints - setting the tempo for Jumbo. They have FIVE riders including Roglic on the front. They have 1'15" on Quintana and 1'40" on Bernal.

12km to go - Bernal's reign over

The 2019 Tour winner is in a world of pain. He is grimacing like there's no tomorrow - and there may well be no tomorrow for him at this rate. He may be out of the top 10 today. He's now in a group with those two Ineos teammates, Quintana - who is also having a shocker - and Rolland, who, in that flurry, was caught and passed.

13km to go - Bernal in trouble

Bernal and Quintana have been dropped. The defending champion has Kwiatkowski and Castroviejo with him but they've goot a tough half an hour ahead... Bernal could lose minutes today.

13.5km to go - Gogl caught

The 25-man main group sweeps past Michael Gogl just as Martin has finally managed to rejoin the back of the pack. Wout van Aert is still on the front. His versatility is scary. Uh oh, Quintana is now on the back... is he on a bad day?

15km to go - Rolland goes clear

As expected, the Frenchman drops Gogl and takes this one on solo. His gap is down to 1'05" though so it's almost infeasible for him to defy the onslaught behind. Giullaume Martin, meanwhile, has finally managed to rejoin the main pack after that mechanical. Pogacar is there with UAE teammate David de la Cruz, just behind the Jumbo train. Mikel Landa, too, is in the mix with teammate Caruso. Poor Martin, he's actually not quite back yet. This pace set by Wout van Aert - who has won two sprint stages - is crazy.

17km to go - Grand Colombier

It's the second HC climb of this Tour, the Grand Colombier (17.4km at 7.1%). Van Aert, Bennett, Dumoulin and Kuss are still with Roglic on the front - and it's a nightmare start to this test for Frenchman Guillaume Martin, who has a mechanical and needs a full bike change at the foot of the climb. He was 11th this morning and was eyeing a return to the top 10 having faded on the stage to Puy Mary last week. He was third before that...

20km to go - Final climb coming up

The gap has dropped below the two-minute mark as the race approaches today's final climb. Here's what's on the horizon...

25km to go - Duo reinstated

Pierre and Michael have got the band back together. But it's curtains for Geschke and Herrada, who have been caught. Jumbo laying it on thick back in the pack with Bahrain coming forward to lend a hand. The gap is 2'15" ahead of this final climb, the biggest test yet of the Tour.

32km to go - Gogl dropped

Rolland has riden clear of Gogl on the descent but it's all immaterial because the favourites are closing in and will surely catch the leaders on this long final climb. The Frenchman has 10 seconds on his Austrian pursuer with Herrada at 55 seconds and the peloton two minutes back.

It's hard to look beyond one of the two Slovenians today for the win. I guess it depends whether the GC favourites let some other riders go clear on the climb.

40km to go - Geschke almost caught

The climb cruelly continued after the summit there, giving Herrada the chance to almost catch on. The Spaniard is now on the descent and has the leading duo in his sights. Behind, Geschke was almost caught by the Jumbo-led peloton (or main pack, more like) before stretching out his lead again on the descent. It goes down for another 10km - this is where Geraint Thomas crashed a few years ago and had to leave the Tour.

45km to go - Rolland takes 10pts

Robert Gesink continues to set a hefty tempo on the front for Jumbo. Van Aert, what a rider, is still there, as is Kuss, Bennett and Dumoulin for Roglic. The Tour is his unless he crashes - there, I said it.

Meanwhile, it's Pierre Rolland who takes the points over the top after dropping Gogl near the summit. Gogl adds another eight to move 12pts behind Cosnefroy's total, with Herrada taking 6pts for third. By my count, Rolland is now onto 26pts so he's 10pts behind the polka dot summit. In fact, Herrada is only one point behind him - so there's the motivation for all three today, besides the stage win. About time - Cosnefroy has had the jersey way too long.

46km to go - Gogl and Rolland combine

Our two leaders come together to form a partnership. They have about 25 seconds on Harrada. Behind, Jumbo continue to turn the screw and Ineos continue to suffer... the latest victim is Pavel Sivakov, who is off the back. Would Chris Froome have done a better job that the young Russian? We'll never know. But he certainly thinks he could have had a role to play...

Froome exclusive: I could have done a job for Ineos at the Tour

48km to go - Pinot dropped

There's a familiar sight: Thibaut Pinot has been dropped by the pack. The Groupama-FDJ man, whose race hopes were effectively scuppered on day one when he crashed in the finale in Nice, is riding off the back with teammate David Gaudu. Gorka Izagirre is further back.

On the front, Rolland is 3km from the summit and closing in on Gogl. Herrada is 45 seconds back and Geschke a minute in arrears. The pack has swept up all the other escapees, the latest being Kevin Ledanois.

50km to go - Geschke feeling the pinch

The German is paying for his earlier peeing-up-the-wall bragadaccio... With Gogl still 50 seconds clear of the trio behind, Rolland steps on the pedals to put Herrada in the red and drop Geschke like a stone. Behind, it's still the Jumbo-Visma show as the main field continues to get whittled down rider by rider.

52km to go - Col de Biche

The leaders are now onto the second of three climbs, the Cat.1 Col de la Biche (6.9km at 8.9%). When the Tour last came here, Roglic went over the top ahead... He also won the dress rehearsal stage going over this route 35 days ago in the Tour de l'Ain. He's the out-and-out favourite, isn't he? The Tour really is his to lose.

Meanwhile, out on the road it's Michael Gogl who still has a small lead over his fellow escapees.

More trouble for Ineos

Michal Kwiatkowski has dropped back to the medical car. That doesn't bode well - he was the best performer on the last climb for Ineos. You sense that they don't have what it takes to win the Tour this year - outgunned in every category and every terrrain by their rivals, Jumbo-Visma.

55km to go - Gogl goes clear

The Austrian may have struggled on that climb but he's soaring on the descent. Gogl opens up a gap - and that may be a preventative gap so that he starts the next time with a small advantage knowing that he's climbing slower than the others. These three climbs today are essentially three different routes up the same mountain. Beautiful scenery.

60km to go - Bernal on the back

Egan Bernal didn't like that climb. The Colombian, who is no longer in white, was quite far back as the main pack crested the summit. He still has Kwiatko, Sivakov and Castroviejo, but they're all spread out and not riding as a single unit, like their Jumbo-Visma colleagues. The gap is 3'05" for the four leaders.

It's a big day for Bernal and his fellow Colombians as they bid to break up this Slovenian hegemony in the top 10 today. Can any of them yet the better of Roglic and Tadej Pogacar? My colleague Tom Owen asks that very question...

Now or never for Los Cuatro Colombianos if they want to catch Roglic

63km to go - Herrada takes 10pts

It's Jesus Herrada who skips clear to take maximum points over the summit ahead of Rolland (8pts), with Geschke (6pts) a little distanced and Gogl (4pts) further back. This quartet should come together on the descent. That was a savage final few kilometres to the climb. That puts Gogl up to 7th in the KOM standings on 16 points - still 20pts behind the leader Benoit Cosnefroy.

64km to go - Ineos imposion

Not good news for Egan Bernal. Tony Martin of Jumbo-Visma dropped back to leave Roglic with van Aert, Dumoulin, Kuss and Bennett as the main pack swallowed up Trentin from the break. But now we're seeing Van Baarle, Amador and Carapaz - who crashed earlier - distanced. Bernal only has Kwaitkowski and Sivakov with him now... with Castroviejo further back.

65km to go - Gogl digs deep

Herrada was momentarily dropped by the leading duo of Geschke and Rolland - primarily because the German is really laying it on thick. Behind, Michael Gogl - who is closest to Benoit Cosnefroy's KOM lead - is struggling his way back. As the gradient ramps up to 20% the Australian is weaving his way up the road to lessen the slope. It's not pretty, but it's effective, and he has the leaders in his sights.

68km to go - CCC yo-yoing move

As Matteo Trentin blows after some early pace-setting, his CCC teammate Simon Geschke makes his move by riding clear of the break. The bearded German - who I always thought looked like a Berlin barista - takes Rolland with him. They are the best climbers of this break so that's no surprise. But Herrada is not giving up - the Spaniard digs deep and manages to bridge over.

72km to go - Peloton splits

As the road heads up, many of the lesser mountain men head down... Caleb Ewan, Sam Bennett, Bryan Coquard and many of the other sprinters are already off the back. Jumbo, Bahrain, UAE and Trek are all on the front, with Ineos a bit further back. Viviani and Sagan are the latest riders to be dropped.

75km to go - First climb

The break is onto the Cat.1 Montée de la Selle de Fromentel (11.1km at 8.1%) with a lead of 4'38" on the field. A reminder who's in this eight-man move: 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).

We have three former Tour stage winners in the move: Rolland (twice), Trentin (three times) and Geschke (once). Rolland, incidentally, is riding his 17th Grand Tour.

85km to go - All strung out

The peloton is like a snake as Jumbo's Tony Martin does his landlubbing basking shark impression on the front, before swinging off to take a leak (which he does so while riding along). Talented chap. Two Ineos riders moments earlier stopped to answer their call of nature. Marginal gains, eh? Ineos are clearly no longer the leaders in this domain. The gap is still 4'30" for the eight leaders, who are approaching the first categorised climb of the day.

Higuita update

The Colombian champion is okay, according to his manager Jonathan Vaughters. Nevertheless, a nasty way to end your debut Tour - especially on a day you'd hope to do something.

Froome: It's Roglic's Tour to lose

In an exclusive interview with Eurosport, the four-time Tour winner Chris Froome tolf Orla Chennaoui that he thinks the man in yellow will be hard to dislodge between here and Paris.

“It's definitely Roglic's Tour to lose, I agree with that,” Froome said. “I'd love to see Egan win but at the same time, I think Pogacar is not far off either. He seems to be the freshest out of all of them. He seems to be at ease all the time. It's amazing to watch him race."

Read the rest of the interview here...

Froome exclusive: It's Roglic's Tour to lose, but beware 'brutal' final week

100km to go - Four minutes

The gap grows to four minutes for our eight leaders. Rolland and Geschke are the dangermen here - two former Tour stage winners who are solid climbers. But they will need a big gap going onto the last climb today. It's worth remembering that this is a very different summit finish from the previous climbs we've seen in this year's Tour - when they came up in the Tour de l'Ain it took the leaders around 48 minutes from bottom to top.

Roglic wins dress rehearsal

If today's stage seems familiar that's because the combination of the three final climbs - the Montée de la Selle de Fromentel, Col de la Biche and the Grand Colombier - featured in stage 3 of the Tour de l'Ain 35 days ago. In fact, it was an identical stage save except today's stage is 30-odd kilometres longer because it started further away in Lyon.

The winner that day was Primoz Roglic... with Egan Bernal second at four seconds and Nairo Quintana third at six seconds. Here's how it ended in case you want a potential sneak preview of today's finish...

Tour de l'Ain Stage 3 highlights - Primoz Roglic and Egan Bernal battle it out for GC honours

More of the same today?

108km to go - Jumbo-Visma come to the fore

Things have really settled now with the break rolling along 3'30" clear while Roglic's Jumbo-Visma team come to the front of the pack to keep a lid on things. Ineos and Bahrain-McLaren are tucked in behind for their men Bernal and Mikel Landa. The pace has slowed on an uphill rise as many of the teams take on some musettes for a bit of a feed.

114km to go - Advantage Bennett

When the main pack comes to the intermediate sprint, Bora-Hansgrohe try something a little different by sending Max Schachmann ahead to disrupt the Deceuninck-QuickStep train. But no matter - it goes to script with Michael Morkov not only leading Ireland's Bennett out for the 7pts for 9th place (after the eight-man break) but pipping Sagan for 10th. That means the Slovakian moves another 2pts back in the green jersey battle. Bennett now has a 45-point lead on his rival.

118km to go - Break gap grows

The break's advantage grows to over three minutes as Matteo Trentin holds off Niccolo Bonifazio to takes the intermediate sprint at Le Bouchage.

124km to go - CRASH! Carapaz down

A touch of wheels sees Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and Hugo Hofstetter (Israel Start-Up Nation) hit the deck near the back of the pack. That's a blow for Ineos because Carapaz is meant to be Egan Bernal's final man in the mountains. The Ecuadorian is not enjoying the best of Tour debuts, in all fairness. He crashed badly on the opening weekend and has been playing catch up ever since. Devil's Advocate would say that, given Geraint Thomas's form in Tirreno-Adriatico currently, Dave Brailsford would have been better off sticking with the Welsh former winner rather than taking a punt on Carapaz...

130km to go - Rolland best placed

Frenchman Pierre Rolland is the best placed of these escapees but he's 34 minutes down on GC and so not a factor in the battle for yellow. He famously won on Alpe d'Huez five or six years ago and so he has pedigree in these kind of savage finishes.

And this just in from EF Pro Cycling manager Jonaathan Vaughters following Sergio Higuita's DNF in the wake of being taken out by the former Luxembourg champion...

Higuita ruled out

It's hard to say whether or not Sergio Higuita has abandoned or if he's been forced to call it a day. There's been a lot of pressure on the race doctors and the team directors following Romain Bardet's concussion the other day, when the Frenchman rode on and completed Stage 13 despite crashing heavily with 100km to go. Poor Higuita is in floods of tears as he's talked off his bike by DS Charly Wegelius and then goes to seek medical attention. That's his race over.

135km to go - The eight ahead

Here's confirmation of the eight leaders thanks to the Tour's official website: 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).

So it's Bonifazio and not Cousin, my mistake. Their lead is just 35 seconds so it's still touch and go.

140km to go - Jungels counters

Bob Jungels, who was responsible for subjecting Higuita to the pain cave half an hour ago, is trying to bridge over to the leaders. The gall of the chap... He better be sending flowers - or grapes - to the EF Pro Cycling bus later today after what he did to their Colombian champion. In any case, it looks like the Luxembourgeois gentilhomme isn't going to get much joy as the pack close in.

145km to go - Small group forms

Simon Geschke is the latest CCC rider to have a pull and the bearded German manages to open up a small gap with a few others, including his teammate Trentin. Rolland is here again and Cousin, again, I think. Marcato is here for UAE, plus one of the NTT powerhouses. NTT have had a pretty poor Tour although not for lack of trying. They've made it into moves but have had no end product. Anyway, this eight-man group has about 10 seconds now, with Higuita - who we're hearing crashed again in the race convoy - a minute or so off the back of the peloton after his horror start to the stage.

150km to go - Rolland rolls the dice

Another statement of intent from the French veteran sees Rolland ride clear and open up a gap. The B&B Hotels stalwart bunny-hops over a central reservation and looks pretty up for this, but he's not joined by anyone and is eventually pegged back. Trentin then piles on more pressure as the attacks come in thick and fast. Throughout all this, Sagan keeps on putting in big digs in a bid to drop Bennett, who has stuck to his back wheel.

Israel Start-Up Nation have been very active in these early skirmishes - and Greg van Avermaet, with his golden helmet and golden Oakleys, is next to have a pop. Nils Pollit has it covered for Israel before Juul Jensen comes to the front again for Mitchelton Scott. Crazy speeds here, with the peloton all strung out - the power men piling on the hurt on the climbers before their chance comes later on. So fairly fair and democratic, then.

155km to go - Sagan puts pressure on Bennett

After another dig from CCC's Matteo Trentin, Peter Sagan takes up the baton. His Bora-Hansgrohe team really laid down the hammer yesterday but ended up empty handed with Soren Kragh Andersen taking the victory for Sunweb in Lyon and their man Sagan only mustering fourth in the sprint. That did reduce his deficit in the green jersey battle to 43 points which is why Ireland's Bennett is attentive to his every move today.

160km to go - CRASH! Higuita down...

A terrible passage of play there sees Luxembourg's Bon Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep) swing out of formation with no warning just as Sergio Higuita (EF Pro Cycling) is looking over his shoulder. The Colombian can't avoid touching wheels with Jungels and that sends him sprawling across the road. It wasn't intentional from Jungels but it was rather reckless. Poor Higuita looks pretty bashed up and needs attention from the medical car before continuing on his way.

165km to go - No break yet

Esteban Chaves has also been in the hunt, as well as Mads Pedersen, the world champion. Andre Greipel, of all people, has been pushing on the front too, perhaps paving the way for his teammate Dan Martin, who is clearly chomping at the bit. Chris Juul Jensen is there, as well, for Mitchelton-Scott teammate Chaves. A fast and furious start to the stage - just what you would expect.

170km to go - Attacks galore

Many French riders are on the hunt to get in a break with moves from Pierre Rolland, Jerome Cousin and Julian Alaphilippe coming in thick and fast. Matteo Trentin is in the thick of it, too, as is Thomas De Gendt. And it's worth adding that Peter Sagan - who recouped some green jersey points yesterday en route to finishing fourth - is lurking. Remember, there's an intermediate sprint on this long flat opening phase of the stage before the mountains kick in.

They're off...

This intriguing 174.5km stage is under way and there's a flurry of activity from the outset. There are 40 KOM points available today so Benoit Cosnefroy will have his work cut out to stay in polka dots...

Here's what's on the menu:

Bonjour le Tour!

Why, hello there - and welcome to the high mountains! Stage 15 features the first ever Tour summit finish on the Grand Colombier in what will be a big test of Primoz Roglic's yellow jersey credentials - not to mention the prospects of the struggling defending champion Egan Bernal... Stay tuned for all the action live in what should also be a fierce battle for both the polka dot and green jersey competitions...

Wiggins analysis

Speaking on the Bradley Wiggins Show podcast, Wiggins said he expects Ineos to animate the race on Stage 15.

"They are going to try something tomorrow [Stage 15]," Wiggins predicted. "I think the climbs suit Bernal more and they are going to go on the offensive.

"Don't forget, this team have ridden like Jumbo have ridden for many years now. They have that experience and they know what will ruffle Jumbo.

“They will try everything they need do. I just expect all guns blazing from Ineos."

Stage 14 recap - Martinez wins on Puy Mary as Roglic breaks Bernal

Denmark’s Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) soloed to victory on Stage 14 of the Tour de France as Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) defended the yellow jersey without trouble.

A spree of late attacks, kicked off by Kragh Andersen's team-mate, Tiesj Benoot, promised much but delivered little until the Dane suddenly broke clear with three kilometres to go and ripped to glory in Lyon.

Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) and Simone Consonni (Cofidis) finished second and third respectively, with Peter Sagan (Bora Hansgrohe) home in a rather disappointing fourth.

How to watch on TV and livestream details

Stage 13 will be broadcast live on Eurosport 1 from 10:50 and you can also watch an uninterrupted feed on Eurosport Player and right here on eurosport.co.uk.

Dan Lloyd, Bradley Wiggins, Orla Chennaoui and the team will bring you all the best post-race analysis and reaction on The Breakaway, which will be available to watch on Eurosport Player before 7pm.

And don't forget, we are bringing you daily podcasts from the Bradley Wiggins Show - check in with your podcast platform of choice this evening...

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