Stage 15 DS Insights – Review

🏁 Stage 15 Tour de France – Muret → Carcassonne (169.3 km)

🗓️ Date: 20 July 2025

🎯 Theme: Belgian brilliance, team loyalty, and tactical drama

✅ Winners & Podium

🥇 Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates)

Soloed to the line after attacking 43 km out.

Took the win in the Belgian champion’s jersey.

Belgium’s 5th stage win of the Tour.

🗣️ “I’m thrilled, but my first duty is still to protect Pogačar.”

🥈 Victor Campenaerts (Visma–Lease a Bike) – Rode smartly and sealed the Belgian 1-2.

🥉 Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) – Crossed the line punching the air…

😳 Finish Line Confusion: Alaphilippe’s Misfire

Alaphilippe punched the air in celebration, thinking he had won the stage.

🗣️ “I feel so stupid. My radio wasn’t working. After catching the breakaway I didn’t know there were two guys still ahead.”

Reality hit hard when he learned Wellens and Campenaerts were already at the line.

🎙️ Pogačar Post-Stage Interview

🗨️ “Honestly, I’m happier for Wellens than I am for my own wins. I’ve never ridden with a champion like him before. We’re aiming to keep this yellow jersey all the way to Paris. Vingegaard is strong—but we believe we can hold it.”

🎖️ Combativity Award

Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) – Breakaway engine of the day.

🧠 DS Tactical Insight

Belgian Domination – 5 stage wins and another glorious day.

Wellens + Loyalty = Lethal – Confident, controlled, and committed to Pogačar.

❓ Visma GC Strategy? – Campenaerts podiums but doesn’t help Vingegaard.

🎧 Radio Silence = Pain – Alaphilippe’s costly mistake. Brutal lesson.

🏆 General Classification – Top 6

Rank    Rider    Team   Time Gap

1️⃣         Tadej Pogačar               UAE Team Emirates – XRG    54’24’57”

2️⃣         Jonas Vingegaard        Team Visma|Lease a Bike +4’13”

3️⃣         Florian Lipowitz            Red Bull –BORA – Hansgrohe             +7’53”

4️⃣         Oscar Onley    Team Picnic PostNL  +9’18”

5️⃣         Kévin Vauquelin           Arkéa – B&B Hotels    +10’21”

6️⃣         Primož Roglič Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe             +10’34”

🟢 Points Classification (Green Jersey)

Rank    Rider    Points

1️⃣         Jonathan Milan             251

2️⃣         Tadej Pogačar               233

3️⃣         Mathieu van der Poel   210

4️⃣         Biniam Girmay              169

5️⃣         Tim Merlier       150

🔴 King of the Mountains (Polka Dot Jersey)

Rank    Rider    Team   Points

1️⃣         Lenny Martinez             Bahrain – Victorious  60

2️⃣         Tadej Pogačar               UAE Team Emirates – XRG    52

3️⃣         Thymen Arensman     INEOS Grenadiers       48

4️⃣         Jonas Vingegaard        Team Visma|Lease a Bike 39

5️⃣         Michael Woods            Israel – Premier Tech 38

💬 DS Comment: “Mont Ventoux is coming. If Martinez slips, Pogačar or Arensman could be in dots by sundown.”

🤍 Best Young Rider (White Jersey)

Rank    Rider    Time Gap

1️⃣         Florian Lipowitz            —

2️⃣         Oscar Onley    +1’25”

3️⃣         Kevin Vauquelin            +2’28”

4️⃣         Carlos Rodriguez             +10’33”

5️⃣         Ben Healy          +10’48”

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Team Classification – Top 3

Rank    Team   Time Gap

1️⃣         Visma – Lease a Bike —

2️⃣         UAE Team Emirates   +16’51”

3️⃣         Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe          +50’38”

📣 Final DS Word

“This stage had everything: loyalty, heartbreak, confusion, and pure class. Pogačar and Wellens have become the most dangerous duo in the Tour. Alaphilippe’s pain reminds us that radio silence is a killer. Now, Ventoux beckons—will Martinez survive in polka dots?”