Highlights Stage 15 of 2021 Tour de France: Céret - Andorre La Vieille 

Thank you for following our coverage of the fifteenth stage of the 2021 Tour de France, contested between Céret and Andorre La Vieille. Stay tuned to VAVEL.com for the best information from the world of sport.

After the second rest day, the third week brings again a mid-mountain day. The riders will start from Ariège, back in French territory and after climbing the second category Col de Port and passing the intermediate sprint at the 85th kilometer, they will climb the first category Col de la Core, the second category Col de Portet-d'Aspet and the fourth category Côte d'Aspret-Sarrat, seven kilometers from the finish in Saint-Gaudens.

This is the ranking of the teams:

Teams Ranking
Pos.	Team	Time
1	Bahrain Victorious	187h 10'05"
2	EF Education - Nippo	+ 11'37"
3	AG2R Citroën	+ 26'21"
4	Jumbo Visma	+ 32'02"
5	Ineos Grenadiers	+ 33'24"
6	Trek Segafredo	+ 40'15"
7	Bora - Hansgrohe	+ 50'16"
8	Movistar	+ 56'12"
9	Astana - Premier Tech	+ 56'46"
10	UAE Team Emirates	+ 01h 35'26"

This is how the youth's ranking is going:

Youth's Ranking
Pos.	Rider (Country / Team)	Time
1	Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia / UAE Team Emirates)	62h 07'18"
2	Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark / Jumbo Visma)	+ 05'32"
3	Aurélien Paret Peintre (France / AG2R Citroën)	+ 21'15"
4	David Gaudu (France / Groupama FDJ)	+ 27'15"
5	Sergio Higuita (Colombia / EF Education - Nippo)	+ 57'26"
6	Mark Donovan (Great Bretain / Team DSM)	+ 01h 22'49"
7	Valentin Madouas (France / Groupama FDJ)	+ 01h 25'30"
8	Neilson Powless (United States / EF Education - Nippo)	+ 01h 33'02"
9	Jonas Rutschh (Germany / EF Education - Nippo)	+ 01h 56'00"
10	Brent Van Moer (Belgium / Lotto Soudal)	+ 02h 00'42"

This is how the mountain classification is going:

Mountain Ranking
Pos.	Rider (Country / Team)	Points
1	Wouter Poels (Netherlands / Bahrain Victorious)	74
2	Michael Woods (Canada / Israel Start-Up Nation)	66
3	Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Arkéa - Samsic)	64
4	Wout Van Aert (Belgium / Jumbo Visma)	64
5	Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek Segafredo)	41
6	Kenny Elissonde (France / Trek Segafredo)	27
7	Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia / UAE Team Emirates)	26
8	Ben O'Connor (Australia / AG2R Citroën)	24
9	Sergio Higuita (Colombia / EF Education Nippo)	24
10	Julian Alaphilippe (France / Deceunink - Quick Step)	20

This is how the general classification by points is going:

Points Ranking
Pos.	Rider (Country / Team)	Points
1	Mark Cavendish (Great Britain / Deceunink - Quick Step)	279
2	Michael Matthews (Australia / Team BikeExchange)	207
3	Jasper Philipsen (Belgium / Alpecin Fenix)	174
4	Sonny Colbrelli (Italy / Bahrain Victorious)	159
5	Julian Alaphilippe (France / Deceunink - Quick Step)	135
6	Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia / UAE Team Emirates)	103
7	Wout Van Aert (Belgium / Jumbo Visma)	101
8	Michael Mørkøv (Denmark / Deceunink - Quick Step)	95
9	Matej Mohoric (Slovenia / Bahrain Victorious)	81
10	Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Bora - Hansgrohe)	76

This how the general classification is going:

General classification
Pos.	Rider (Country/Team)	Time
1	Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia / UAE Team Emirates)	62h 07'18"
2	Rigoberto Uran (Colombia / EF Education - Nippo)	+ 05'18"
3	Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark / Jumbo Visma)	+ 05'32"
4	Richard Carapaz (Ecuador / Ineos Grenadiers)	+ 05'33"
5	Ben O'Connor (Australia / AG2R Citroën)	+ 05'58"
6	Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands / Bora - Hansgrohe)	+ 06'16"
7	Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan / Astana - Premier Tech)	+ 07'01"
8	Enric Mas (Spain / Movistar)	+ 07'11"
9	Guillaume Martin (France / Cofidis)	+ 07'58"
10	Peio Bilbao (Spain / Bahrain Victorious)	+ 10'59"

This is how the stage was today:

Top 10 of the stage
Pos.	Rider (Country / Team)	Time
1	Sepp Kuss (United States / Jumbo Visma)	05h 12'06"
2	Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Movistar)	+ 00'23"
3	Wouter Poels (Netherlands / Bahrain Victorious)	+ 01'15"
4	Ion Izaguirre (Spain / Astana - Premier Tech)	+ 01'15"
5	Ruben Guerreiro (Portugal / EF Education - Nippo)	+ 01'15"
6	Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Arkea Samsic)	+ 01'15"
7	David Gaudu (France / Groupama FDJ)	+ 01'15"
8	Daniel Martin (Ireland / Israel Start-Up Nation)	+ 01'22"
9	Franck Bonnamour (France / B&B Hotels)	+ 01'22"
10	Aurélien Paret Peintre (France / AG2R Citroën)	+ 01'22"

The Jumbo Visma rider won! Fierce attack of the Jumbo Visma rider on the Col de Beixalis and there he became uncatchable. Alejandro Valverde was second.

LAST KILOMETER FOR SEPP KUSS! It's going to be a great victory for the Jumbo Visma rider.

Last three kilometers of the day, Sepp Kuss goes all out for the win.

Sepp Kuss is 20 seconds ahead of Alejandro Valverde on the descent, 1'40" ahead of the rest of the breakaway group and 5'25" ahead of the peloton.

We review the positions in the last mountain pass of the day, which also gave bonus seconds to the first three to pass:

1. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) - 10 pts and -08".
2. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) - 8 pts and -05".
3. Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) - 6 pts and -02"
4. Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) - 4 pts
5. Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education-Nippo) - 2 pts
6. Ion Izagirre (Astana-PremierTech) - 1 pt

The Jumbo Visma rider climbs the last mountain pass of the day 17 seconds ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).

1,400 meters remain for Sepp Kuss to reach the top of the pass. Tadej Pogacar controls the attacks in the group of favorites, which no longer includes Guillaume Martin, who will lose second place overall.

THE GROUP OF FAVORITES IS MOVING! RICHARD CARAPAZ ATTACKS! Good pace of the Ecuadorian on the climb and he is followed by Pogacar, Vingegaard and Rigoberto Urán.

Sepp Kuss attacks! When the peloton calmed down, the Jumbo Visma rider surprises with his explosiveness.

The Col de Beixalis has just begun and NAIRO QUINTANA ATTACKS! The Colombian begins to test his rivals.

The breakaway, now made up of 20 riders, is five minutes ahead of the group of favorites, which includes Tadej Pogacar, Rigoberto Urán and others.

We review the positions in the mountain pass that was recently disputed, in which Nairo Quintana won:

1. Nairo Quintana (Arkéa Samsic) - 10 pts
2. Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) - 8 pts
3. Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) - 6 pts
4. Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) - 4 pts
5. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) - 2 pts
6. David Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) - 1 pt

Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) was first over the second mountain pass of the day. This is how the score was at this point:

1. Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) - 5 pts
2. Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) - 3 pts
3. Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) - 2 pts
4. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) - 1 pt

Wouter Poels (Bahrain Victorious) was the winner of the first mountain pass of the day. This is how the scoring positions were:

1. Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) - 10 pts.
2. Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) - 8 pts
3. Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) - 6 pts
4. Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal) - 4 pts
5. Valentin Madouas (Groupama FDJ) - 2 pts
6. David Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) - 1 pt

NAIRO QUINTANA ATTACKS! The Colombian takes advantage of a corner and accelerates. They have not been able to catch him with one kilometer to go to the top of the pass.

The breakaway group broke up. Attacks began looking for the points of Port d'Envalira.

This is how the positions were at the intermediate sprint of the day:

1- Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) - 20 pts
2- Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal) - 17 pts
3- Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck - Quick Step) - 15 pts
4- Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) - 13 pts
5- Bruno Armirail (Groupama FDJ) - 11 pts
6- Valentin Madouas (Groupama FDJ) - 10 pts
7- David Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) - 9 pts
8- Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora - Hansgrohe) - 8 pts
9- Kenny Elissonde (Trek Segafredo) - 7 pts
10- Julien Bernard (Trek Segafredo) - 6 pts
11- Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) - 5 pts
12- Neilson Powless (EF Education - Nippo) - 4 pts
13- Sepp Kuss (Jumbo Visma) - 3 pts
14- Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo Visma) - 2 pts
15- Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) - 1 pt

The breakaway's lead over the peloton has dropped considerably. It is now under seven minutes.

This is the group that forms the breakaway of the day:

Steven Kruijswijk, Sepp Kuss, Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma), Jonathan Castroviejo, Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers), Dan Martin, Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation), Vincenzo Nibali, Julien Bernard, Kenny Elissonde (Trek Segafredo), Julian Alaphilippe, Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck - Quick Step), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team), Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora - Hansgrohe), David Gaudu, Bruno Armirail, Valentin Madouas (Groupama - FDJ), Rubén Fernández (Cofidis), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citröen), Nairo Quintana (Arkéa Samsic), Ruben Guerreiro, Neilson Powless (EF Education - Nippo), Mark Donovan (Team DSM), Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Matej Mohoric, Wout Poels, Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious), Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange), Ion Izagirre (Astana-PremierTech), Sergio Henao (Qhubeka NextHash) Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) y Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels).

55 kilometers to go to the finish. The day had a breakaway of 32 riders. The fight today is going to be very much focused on the red jersey. Almost 10 minutes ahead of the peloton.

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To finish the second week. There will be a leg-breaking stage in the Pyrenees, close to 200 kilometers in distance. First there will be the intermediate sprint in Olette at kilometer 67; then the climbs of the Montée de Mont-Louis of first category, the Col de Puymorens of second category, to then cross the border to Andorra, to climb the Port d'Envalira and the Col de Beixalis, both of first category. This last pass gives bonus seconds and the finish line will be crossed after descending it.

This is how the jerseys distinguishing the different leaders of the classifications are distributed:

🟡 Leader: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates).

🟢 Points: Mark Cavendish (Deceunink - Quick Step)

⭕ Mountain: Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation)

⚪ Youth's: Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) - Leader: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)

This is the ranking of the teams:

Teams Ranking
Pos.	Team	Time
1	Bahrain Victorious	171h 22'59"
2	EF Education - Nippo	+ 13'19"
3	AG2R Citroën	+ 16'21"
4	Ineos Grenadiers	+ 20'48"
5	Bora - Hansgrohe	+ 27'03"
6	Jumbo Visma	+ 33'08"
7	Astana - Premier Tech	+ 40'51"
8	Trek Segafredo	+ 41'19"
9	Movistar	+ 44'42"
10	UAE Team Emirates	+ 57'32"

This is how the youth's ranking is going:

Youth's Ranking
Pos.	Rider (País / Equipo)	Time
1	Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia / UAE Team Emirates)	56h 50'21"
2	Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark / Jumbo Visma)	+ 05'32"
3	Aurélien Paret Peintre (France / AG2R Citroën)	+ 24'44"
4	David Gaudu (France / Groupama FDJ)	+ 30'51"
5	Sergio Higuita (Colombia / EF Education - Nippo)	+ 49'04"
6	Valentin Madouas (France / Groupama FDJ)	+ 01h 21'36"
7	Mark Donovan (Great Bretain / Team DSM)	+ 01h 24'38"
8	Neilson Powless (United States / EF Education - Nippo)	+ 01h 34'53"
9	Jonas Rutschh (Germany / EF Education - Nippo)	+ 01h 40'45"
10	Brent Van Moer (Belgium / Lotto Soudal)	+ 01h 41'48"

This is how the mountain classification is going:

Mountain Ranking
Pos.	Rider (Country / Team)	Points
1	Michael Woods (Canada / Israel Start-Up Nation)	54
2	Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Arkéa - Samsic)	50
3	Wouter Poels (Netherlands / Bahrain Victorious)	49
4	Wout Van Aert (Belgium / Jumbo Visma)	43
5	Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek Segafredo)	41
6	Kenny Elissonde (France / Trek Segafredo)	27
7	Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia / UAE Team Emirates)	26
8	Ben O'Connor (Australia / AG2R Citroën)	24
9	Sergio Higuita (Colombia / EF Education Nippo)	24
10	Julian Alaphilippe (France / Deceunink - Quick Step)	20

This is how the general classification by points is going:

Points Ranking
Pos.	Rider (Country / Team)	Points
1	Mark Cavendish (Great Britain / Deceunink - Quick Step)	279
2	Michael Matthews (Australia / Team BikeExchange)	187
3	Jasper Philipsen (Belgium / Alpecin Fenix)	174
4	Sonny Colbrelli (Italy / Bahrain Victorious)	159
5	Julian Alaphilippe (France / Deceunink - Quick Step)	131
6	Nacer Bouhanni (France / Arkea Samsic)	126
7	Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia / UAE Team Emirates)	103
8	Wout Van Aert (Belgium / Jumbo Visma)	100
9	Michael Mørkøv (Denmark / Deceunink - Quick Step)	95
10	Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Bora - Hansgrohe)	76

This how the general classification is going:

General classification
Pos.	Rider (Country/Team)	Time
1	Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia / UAE Team Emirates)	56h 50'21"
2	Guillaume Martin (France / Cofidis)	+ 04'04"
3	Rigoberto Uran (Colombia / EF Education - Nippo)	+ 05'18"
4	Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark / Jumbo Visma)	+ 05'32"
5	Richard Carapaz (Ecuador / Ineos Grenadiers)	+ 05'33"
6	Ben O'Connor (Australia / AG2R Citroën)	+ 05'58"
7	Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands / Bora - Hansgrohe)	+ 06'16"
8	Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan / Astana - Premier Tech)	+ 06'30"
9	Enric Mas (Spain / Movistar)	+ 07'11"
10	Mattia Cattaneo (Italy / Deceunink - Quick Step)	+ 09'48"

149 riders started the fourteenth stage. Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic) and Soren Kragh Andersen (Team DSM) did not start. Four riders made the first attack: Kristian Sbaragli (Alpecin-Fenix), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), Maxime Chevalier (B&B Hotels-KTM), Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) and Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Fenix), but they were neutralized before kilometer 40.

Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) and Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck - Quick Step) broke away from the peloton, joined by Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation), and after the Col de la Croix des Morts they were caught by seven other riders.  Valentin Madouas (Groupama FDJ), Élie Gesbert (Arkéa-Samsic), Quentin Pacher and Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-KTM) connected with them from behind at the foot of the Côte de Galinagues.

With 42 kilometers to go, on a downhill section, Bauke Mollema (Trek Segafredo) would attack taking advantage of the doubts among his breakaway companions. He climbed the Col de Saint-Louis with almost a minute and a half advantage. Although Sergio Higuita (EF Education - Nippo), Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Patrick Konrad (Bora - Hansgrohe) tried to catch him, the dutch rider passed with a minute advantage and became unreachable to take the victory on the day. The most important movements were that Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) climbed from ninth to second place overall and that Michael Woods is the new leader of the mountains.

My name is Jhonatan Martinez and I will be your host for this stage. We'll be bringing you preview analysis, updates and live news here on VAVEL.