Tour de France 2025 live: Stage 15 route and updates with breakaway specialists and sprinters set to do battle – UK Times

Thymen Arensman of Ineos Grenadiers won stage 14 of the Tour de France after a stunning solo attack timed to perfection on a rainy, foggy183km mountain route between Pau and Superbagneres.

Tadej Pogacar retained the leader’s yellow jersey as he took second place by beating chief rival Jonas Vingegaard, in a two-man sprint finish 1min 12sec behind Dutch rider Arensman.

Defending champion Pogacar extended his lead over Dane Vingegaard in the general classification by six seconds to 4min 13sec at the end of the Pyrenean stage.

The day belonged to Arensman, however, as the Dutchman went solo from the day’s breakaway in the penultimate climb to the Col de Peyresourde (7.1 km at 7.8%) before his team car hit and knocked down a spectator amid the usual roadside chaos on the Tour.

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) in 50:40:28
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike) +4:13
3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +7:53
4. Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) +9:18
5. Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea – B&B Hotels) +10:21
6. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +10:34
7. Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +12:00
8. Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +12:33
9. Ben Healy (EF Education – EasyPost) +18:41
10. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +22:57

1. Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) 4hr 53min 35sec

2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) +1:08

3. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike) +1:12

4. Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +1:19

5. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +1:25

6. Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) +2:09

7. Ben Healy (EF Education – EasyPost) +2:46

8. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +2:46

9. Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +2:59

10. Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea – B&B Hotels) +3:08

But there are plenty more individual victories to fight for and today, with its final descent and flat run-in to the line, is unlikely to be one the marauding Slovenian has an eye on.

Today’s stage has a more standard start time after yesterday’s early rise: 1.20pm local time, 12.20pm BST, with an expected finish of 5.10pm local time (4.10pm BST).

Today’s stage is a 169km run from Muret to Carcassonne covering some bumpy terrain, so this will be a real test of recovery after the previous three days.

There are three categorised climbs to get over in a lumpy middle of the stage: the cat-three Cote de Saint-Ferreol, the cat-three Cote de Soreze, and the cat-two Pas de Sant. Saint-Ferreol sets the tone, short but sharp at 7% for 1.7km kilometres. The Soreze is longer at 6.2km, averaging 5.5%, but it’s the Pas de Sant that might spell doom for the sprinters: 2.9km at an average of 10.2%.

And there’s plenty more uncategorised climbing too – including the late climb up the Col de Fontbruno, which isn’t marked but follows immediately on from the categorised Pas du Sant. It sees the riders climb to 880m above sea level, before a long, broken-up, 40km into Carcassonne and a flat finish.

If the sprinters’ teams have their lead-out trains organised they could gather up any stragglers and make a late chase on that final descent and flat approach – but the likes of Mathieu van der Poel could foil them, with attacks likely to come all day and especially on the last categorised climb. Either way it should make for a fascinating day of racing.

Bonjour and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of stage 15 of the Tour de France!

After a trio of exciting stages in the Pyrenees, the GC favourites get a bit of respite – and the sprinters will hope for glory in Carcassonne.