Live updates from stage 15 to CarcassonneThomas has race in hand but Froome may flex team musclesWiggins: ‘sinister’ details about Jiffy bag affair should be made publicSend Simon an email | Tweet @Simon_Burnton 12.55pm BST 157km to go: The front three have a 15-second lead, but behind them it’s a bit of a mess: the GC favourites are all in the next group, but then there are 40 riders that are nearly two minutes back already, and finally three who are a couple of minutes behind them, and thus more than four minutes behind the leaders. 12.52pm BST 160km to go: Warren Barguil, Adam Yates and Gregor Mühlberger have now broken away at the front. 12.49pm BST 162km to go: The leaders are heading downhill into Saint-Affrique, named after Saint Africus. According to Wikipedia he is “a saint about whom very little is known”. His tomb was in Saint-Affrique, or at least until it was destroyed by Calvinists. 12.43pm BST 167km to go: Perez has been caught. Meanwhile it seems that Démare and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck have been left behind, along with Jay Thompson who has the excuse of having had to change bikes. 12.40pm BST 169km to go: Anthony Perez is out on his own at the front of the race at the moment, but the breakaway remains unbroken. 12.38pm BST 170km to go: Two men break at the front, Julian Alaphilippe and Daniel Martinez, and they go over the top of the climb first and second. 12.34pm BST The climb up the Côte de Luzençon is well under way, with Elie Gesbert at the front. 12.27pm BST 177km to go: Impressed as I am with the Millau viadcut, I’m even more amazed at how directors managed to get it into camera shot for the entire first half-hour of today’s broadcast. They have finally left it behind. 12.24pm BST 179km to go: Arnaud Démare is already being left behind, panting at the back, with Jack Bauer also toiling. Bauer’s team-mate Adam Yates is at the front. 12.23pm BST 181km to go: Thomas De Gendt is the first to take the lead, with the race starting with a gentle, 1.5km uphill section. 12.21pm BST 181.5km to go: And they’re off! 12.20pm BST This is Millau’s newer bridge, which is ludicrously impressive. Le Viaduc de Millau @dept_aveyron#TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/FplXU9ifaC 12.18pm BST I’ll do my best! I’m expecting quite a lot of early moves today.@Simon_Burnton TV coverage doesn’t start for another hour, and we miss the critical early moves and breakaways. You are all we’ve got! Great coverage, thank you. 12.14pm BST The racing is due to start at 12.20pm BST, clock fans. The riders are just over 4km away from that point, crossing the older of Millau’s two bridges, which is cleverly known as the Pont Vieux. 11.56am BST The day starts with a short uphill section, and the first categorised climb starts after 6km and ends 9km in.You know it’s a rough start when . #TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/fKXC9fvRTc 11.40am BST Hello world! Today the Tour heads south towards the Pyrenees, covering a bumpy 181.5km heading south and west from Millau. Millau is twinned with Bridlington, twinning fans. There are three climbs of note, the category three Côte de Luzençon, the category two Col de Sié, and the category one Pic de Noire, making its Tour de France debut today. The stage seems set for some long-distance breakaway action, but time alone will tell. Here’s the top of the GC leaderboard as it stands: Here's how the GC looks after 14 days of racing @LeTour :1. @GeraintThomas86 @TeamSky 2. @chrisfroome @TeamSky 1'39"10. @DanMartin86 @TeamUAEAbuDhabi 6'54"27. @AdamYates7 @MitcheltonSCOTT 39'56"136. @LukeRowe1990 @TeamSky 2'11"29"#TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/u3W4pycoLR Continue readingread full article
