Tour de France 2023 Stage 15 LIVE: Can a summit finish on Mont Blanc separate Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar?

Alaphilippe and Lutskenko have had about 30 seconds on the larger group for a good while now, but wouldn't they be better off waiting up just a little bit rather than sharing 100% off the workload required to stay out between them? The Frenchman goes over the intermediate sprint in first place.

That's the final answer to the question of how large is the breakaway. That also doesn't include Alaphilippe and Lutsenko. They're not cooperating especially well, but before the crash the chase hadn't come close to settling down, so it clearly affected the race and that could prove the difference between it being a day for the break or the bunch.

Jumbo Visma most affected by that incident, the riders that weren't directly hit, including Tiesj Benoot, have knocked off the pace at least partly to enable their colleagues to return to the fold. Sepp Kuss - who Dan Lloyd thinks was the rider who took the first hit - was off the back, along with a couple of others. You may remember that it was Jumbo Visma who were in the firing line by "allez opi-omi" spectator in 2021.

Not another one, you might reasonably cry. It happened towards, but not right at, the front of the bunch and it appeared to be a Jumbo Visma rider - possibly Nathan van Hooydonck - who was clipped by someone taking a photo on the right hand side, sending several others skittling across the road. Most, if not all seem to be riding again but Van Hooydonck has had a lot of skin from his right shoulder.

It doesn't appear to be the most cordial of arrangements, but they're nearing a minute over the peloton, half that on the large chase group led by Wout van Aert. Most of that lot know the peloton is coming, and that attack is the best form of defence. Likewise riders in the peloton who might have thought they'd missed out are increasingly motivated to try to get up the road.

Twenty-odd riders are 25-odd seconds up the road. Some very handy riders amongst them, including the King of the Mountains but no-one - we think - higher up in the GC than Thibaut Pinot at 23 minutes. Dylan van Baarle and his Jumbo Visma colleagues are reluctant to let this one go, though. Julian Alaphilippe knows it, and knows the group is too big. He makes the jump ahead of the descent, taking Lutsenko with him while from the bunch, Tom Pidcock is on the move.

The UAE Team Emirates rider could come in very handy for Tadej Pogacar in the second half of this stage. If the group is able to stay away, which it is in danger of not doing, as the gap to the bunch is back below 10 seconds.

But still there are riders chasing behind, including - who else? - Wout van Aert.

An average gradient of 4-5%, somehow is unclassified. There was a bit of a lull, which has given Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) a bit of a headstart on the rest. Always an odd position for a rider to find themselves in, so he'll be hoping for company. It's coming, in the shape of Aurelien Paret-Peintre (AG2R), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana.)

Clearly some team instructions came into play there, as the move fell apart with not everyone contributing to it. For the record, the riders were:

Stefan Kung
Alberto Bettiol
Neilson Powless
Jasper Stuyven
Ben O'Connor
Mathieu van der Poel
Gorka Izagirre
Matthew Dinham
Anthony Turgis

Jasper Stuyven is not who they wanted in the breakaway. He's sitting on and contribuing nothing to the move, but the gap between the groups is only growing, as eight riders contribute to the effort. Can Ciccone make the jump on his own? It's a big ask, but some speculation he might be able to make it over on the first climb, if the break is still within reach at that point.

It didn't take much, or cause more than a moment or two's panic from those teams whose riders missed out. Immediately another move flies off the front, made up of 8 or 9 riders, including Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Deceuninck) and the polka dot jersey of Neilson Powless (EF Education EasyPost.)

Forced by whom, and who has made it, and not, it's hard to say at this point, but AG2R are drilling the second part of it, so you can assume Felix Gall has been caught out. Sepp Kuss and Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo Visma), and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) may also be in part 2, around 25 seconds apart.

Into the valley the race goes for some 20km, and nothing has been decided yet. Being more of a rouleur than a puncheur Pedersen, you'd think, is doing a job for team-mate Ciccone, who can contest the climbs. And there's Julian Alaphilippe who is going to have another go, despite not looking like he's got the legs of old in this race.

So when I said he wasn't interested in getting into the break, I meant he was keen as mustard to do so. He still *isn't* in it yet, though because it is some way from establishing itself as they're going downhill again. At the moment the race is simply stretched out, and there will already be plenty of riders desperate for it to stop.

On what would normally be a categorised climb, he's followed by Krists Neilands (Israel PremierTech), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Matteo Jorgensen (Movistar) and the French champion, Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) among others. The mountains points don't come until 85km into the stage, so the main maillot a pois contenders are keeping their powders dry for the time being.

KM0 - LET'S GETS GOING

How many ways are there to describe Christian Prudhomme doing the thing he has done several hundred times? I'm running dry of variants, so will just say that as the crowds wave them farewell as the riders leave the commune of Les Gets, the boss appears, waves his flag and the racing is underway.

3km 'til the depart reel, but it looks like neither of these two has any designs on the early breakaway.

He made it to the finish yesterday, in reasonable time as well, but Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) has been ruled out of any further competition with concussion.

CHAPEAU ADRIEN PETIT

What a ride for Adrien Petit to even finish yesterday, after taking a vicious tumble in the crash that brought about the end of several riders' tours. The Frenchman finished 158th and last on the stage, in the company of Cees Bol (Astana) and Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious).