Tim Wellens conquers stage 15 of the Tour de France in Carcassonne
Belgian cyclist Tim Wellens, a luxury domestique for Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, won the fifteenth stage of the Tour de France, held in Carcassonne. This is Wellens’ first victory in the prestigious French race, adding to his record two victories in the Giro d’Italia and two in the Vuelta a España.
Wellens, who is part of the team of the favorite to win his fourth Tour, Tadej Pogacar, managed to prevail after an outstanding solo performance. He broke away on the climb to the Col de Fontbruno, 40 kilometers from the finish line, and maintained his lead until crossing the finish line.
This victory represents the fifth for Belgium in the current Tour de France, and also the fifth for the UAE team, to which Pogacar belongs, who has four individual victories.
Wellens reached the finish line with a lead of 1 minute and 28 seconds over his compatriot Victor Campanaerts, and 1 minute and 36 seconds over the chasing group, where Iván Romeo and the Spaniard Carlos Rodríguez were located.
Carlos Rodríguez, after getting into the breakaway, managed to move up one position in the general classification, placing ninth at 18 minutes and 26 seconds behind the leader.
In the upper part of the general classification, there were no significant changes. Tadej Pogacar maintains the yellow jersey, with an advantage of 4 minutes and 13 seconds over the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, and 7 minutes and 53 seconds over the German Florian Lipowitz.
“My radio wasn’t working after a fall I had at the beginning. I thought we were the first ones and that’s why I ‘sprinted’ and celebrated because I thought I had won,” said the Frenchman, who finished third.
French cyclist Julian Alaphilippe, who finished third in the stage, starred in a curious moment when celebrating the victory at the finish line, believing he had won the stage. Alaphilippe explained that a problem with his radio prevented him from receiving information about the race situation.
Despite suffering a fall at the beginning of the day, Alaphilippe assured he was physically well and ruled out the possibility of abandoning the competition.
