Tour de France: Pogacar wins stage 15 to close gap on Roglic as Bernal title bid ended

Paris, Sept. 13: Tadej Pogacar claimed victory on stage 15 of the Tour de France to close the gap on overall leader Primoz Roglic, as Egan Bernal's hopes of back-to-back titles came to an end.

Team Emirates rider Pogacar held off Roglic in a sprint finish on the Grand Colombier to take the win and 10 bonus seconds on the line, cutting the deficit in the general classification to 40 seconds.

Pogacar made his dash for the line with 100 metres to go and had the energy to pip yellow jersey holder Roglic, settling up a likely all-Slovenian shoot-out for the Tour title.

Defending champion Bernal will not be in the mix after the Team INEOS rider struggled to maintain the relentless pace set by Jumbo-Visma.

He began the day in third, 59 seconds off the pace, but is now out of contention in 13th after losing over seven minutes on the 17km climb to the summit.

A group of 12 riders entered the final kilometre together, with Trek–Segafredo's Richie Porte taking third place, five seconds behind the pacesetters.

Rigoberto Uran moved up to third in the general classification standings, one minute and 34 seconds behind Roglic, after finishing ninth on a gruelling stage 15.

POGACAR: MAYBE PRIMOZ WILL CRACK

Pogacar will not give up on claiming the yellow jersey without a fight, with this his second stage victory, but the fearless Slovenian acknowledged it will be incredibly difficult catching compatriot Roglic.

"Jumbo-Visma set a really high pace all day and it made it a really difficult stage so I was just waiting for the sprint at the end and I'm so happy to win again," Pogacar said.

"The plan is to win the Tour de France. Primoz Roglic seems unstoppable but today Bernal cracked and maybe one day myself or Primoz will crack - there are still a lot of opportunities ahead."

STAGE RESULT

1. Tadej Pogacar (Team Emirates) 4:34:13 2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 4:34:13 3. Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) 0:05 4. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) +0:08 5. Enric Mas (Movistar) +0:15

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 65:37:07 2. Tadej Pogacar (Team Emirates) +0:40 3. Rigoberto Uran (Pro Cycling) +1:34

Points Classification

1. Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) 269 points 2. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) 224 3. Matteo Trentin (CCC) 189

King of the Mountains

1. Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) 36 2. Tadej Pogacar (Team Emirates) 34 3. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 33

WHAT'S NEXT?

After a rest day on Monday, week three begins with a 164km route to Villard-de-Lans, taking in narrow roads, difficult climbs and gorges. It contains five categorised climbs, culminating in the finish atop Villard-de-Lans.