Cycling: Pure excitement on the 15th stage of the Tour de France. In the end, New Zealander Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp) was 50 meters short of victory after a 222-kilometer escape. The Norwegian Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) won ahead of Heinrich Haussler (IAM) and Peter Sagan (Cannondale). André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) was fourth best German. There were no changes in the overall rating.
Already on the first kilometer the Swiss Martin Elmiger (IAM) broke away, to whom Bauer caught up a few later. On the transfer stage through Provence, all the experts expected a sprint to finish in Nîmes. And in the end they were to be right, albeit narrowly.
Bauer and Elmiger gained a maximum lead of more than nine minutes over the field, in which the Ag60R-La Mondiale and BMC teams tried to edge their competitors with almost 2 kilometers to go.
In the finale, rain brought excitement into the race. But the field was just as unimpressed as the front runners. They managed to keep their lead of just under a minute over the last few kilometers.
Unter dem devil rags Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) tried to follow the duo and opened the hunt for the final. Led by Katusha, Alexander Kristoff managed to drive an optimal sprint and celebrate his second victory of the day on this tour. Together with the other sprinters, Elmiger was caught first, who had started the sprint 200 meters before the finish, but was quickly overtaken by Bauer. The New Zealander, who also has a German passport, finally cried bitter tears at the finish line – understandable given the 50 meters to go after this mammoth escape.
Since Martin Elmiger had started the escape, the Swiss could be celebrated as the most combative driver at the finish.
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) continues to lead the overall standings ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Romain Bardet (Ag2R-La Mondiale).