In a spectacular day with the Colombian Rigoberto Urán trying from the breakaway, the Dutchman Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) took victory in stage 15 of the 2023 Tour de France, disputed over 179 kilometers between Les Gets les Portes du Soleil and Saint -Gervais Mont-Blanc.
Poels prevailed alone and overtook his breakaway companions. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) came in second and Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) came in third. For America, the American Lawson Craddock finished fourth, the Canadian Hugo Houle slipped into 13th place; while the Colombian Urán fulfilled an outstanding performance when crossing in box 15.
“This victory means a lot to me. From a very young age, he dreamed of winning a stage in the Tour de France; and, obviously, the emotions experienced within the team in recent weeks due to what happened with Gino Mäder increased this desire.
“I really enjoyed my time with Team Sky, having been part of the Tour de France winning team four times. It was amazing, but I was never able to go for a stage win. Yes, I have been able to do it today, and I am very happy”, said Poels, in statements collected by the organization.
Regarding the general classification, the Danish Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) remained in front after responding to the attacks of the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates). While the Spanish Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) consolidated himself in the third drawer of the podium.
The favorites began to move on the climb to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc (1st Category). An acceleration caused by Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) on the approach to the summit left the yellow jersey group reduced to eight men, who, less than 4,000 meters from the finish line, had three: Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma).
Soon after, Yates would leave and Pogacar and Vingegaard speculated, allowing Rodriguez to get to them again. The speculation would end in the last kilometer: there Pogacar attacked three times, passing Yates; Vingegaard responded and everything was in tables-
The French round will live its second day of rest this Monday. Actions return on Tuesday, July 18, with a 22.4-kilometre individual time trial between Passy and Combloux.