Wout Van Aert first scored points in the hills, who then helped the young Jonas Vingegaard to stay in the fight for the yellow jersey among the best in the last descent.
However, the star of the 15th stage was Sepp Kuss.
The 26-year-old American broke away from the leading group on the final climb and celebrated the triumph of his life at the finish in the capital of Andorra.
Kuss triumphed on one of the most challenging tracks of this year’s itinerary for 191 km from Céret to the center of Andorra la Vella and reached the finish line 23 seconds ahead of Spain’s Alejandro Valverd (Movistar).
Dutchman Wout Poels finished third (+1: 15).
Yeah! pic.twitter.com/wKxW6NmhZ0
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) July
11, 2021
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For 26-year-old Kuss, it was the first victory on the Tour. The American has lived in Andorra for a long time, so the victory had an even sweeter taste for him:
“It’s a beautiful feeling. I’ve suffered on this Tour so far and I really didn’t have good legs, but today I made up for it. I knew I was coming home where I live and I felt a lot of support from my girlfriend and her on the last climb. families.
So I was very motivated and I’m happy that it worked out. I knew the last hill quite well and that helped me. This triumph means a lot to me. I still can’t believe I won a stage on the Tour, I really have no words. It’s amazing. “
Slovenian Tadej Pogačar from the UAE-Team Emirates stable kept the yellow jersey for the leader of the overall classification.
It was another magnificent solo victory on the Tour today
as @seppkuss
triumphed in Andorra la Vella!See the final KM ⬇️
Another solo victory! @seppkuss
wins in Andorra after a decisive attack in the Col de Beixalis!#TDF2021
pic.twitter.com/EsVKzHK7Bc– Tour de France ™ (@LeTour) July
11, 2021
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At the end of the second week of the Tour on Sunday, the peloton visited Andorra and the riders were waiting for four challenging Pyrenean climbs – three in the first and one in the second category. The route also had the highest point of the current year, Port d’Envalira at 2408 meters above sea level.
Right after the initial kilometers, an escape of the day began to form, which was started by the Belgian Thomas De Gendt from Lotto Soudal.
He was soon joined by another seven riders, including Steven Kruijswijk and Dan Martin. Another large and qualitatively strong group of persecutors then decided to prosecute them, and the two groups finally merged.
A group of up to 32-member riders was formed at the head, which gradually gained a significant lead over the main peloton, which exceeded eight minutes. There was no adept in the escape to endanger the yellow Pogachar, so the “package” worked peacefully and did not need to prosecute the detainees.
link
Peter Sagan, season
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At the front, however, were all four leaders of the mountaineering competition – Canadian Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation), Colombian Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic), Dutch Poels (Bahrain Victorious) and Belgian Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and they could Fight for points by scoring a dotted jersey.
Even before the mountaineering bonuses, there was one sprinter on the program, the Australian Michael Matthews won it from the escape and after gaining 20 points he withdrew the lead of the leader of the competition for the green jersey of the British Mark Cavendish to 72 points.
Until then, the sixth man of the Tour scorer, Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea-Samsic), did not manage the already demanding profile of the track and resigned from the race. At that moment, Cavendish could no longer keep up with the peloton and stepped out of it.
On the first ascent of the first category at the Montée de Mont-Louis (8.4 km, slope 5.7%), Poels took ten points in the mountaineering classification ahead of Van Aert and Woods.
At the top of the Col de Puymorens (second category – 5.8 km, slope 4.7%), the lead of the numerous leading group on the peloton increased for more than 10 minutes approximately 70 km before the finish. Van Aert won this bonus for five points ahead of Poels and Woods, which meant that at that moment Woods and Poels were at the forefront of the fight for the dotted jersey with a score of 62 points.
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Even before crossing the border with Andorra, mainly due to the work of Ineos, the peloton accelerated and before the third ascent in the stage, it withdrew the refugees’ lead of less than seven minutes. Several riders have already emerged from the escape, including De Gendt and Matthews.
Quintan didn’t unexpectedly fight for points on the first two mountain bonuses at all, but he kept his moments for the third time.
When the first category climbed to the highest point of the Tour Port d’Envalira (10.7 km, slope 5.9%) he attacked, in a strong headwind he disengaged from the rest of the escape and confidently came for 10 points. It gained a slight advantage over its competitors, but lost it in the following decline.
The markedly truncated group with the yellow Pogačar was only a little more than five minutes behind at that moment, and the Slovenian no longer had any domestication available in it.
Poels finished third behind Quintan and Van Aert and ahead of Woods, so he dressed in the leader’s jersey. Guillaume Martin, the second man in the classification, was already losing a lot at that moment before the stage, while Gruppetto and Cavendish were almost 14 minutes behind.
Read more Merckx’s message to Cavendish: There is a big difference between us
During the last ascent of the first category on the Col de Beixalis (6.4 km, slope 8.5%), only a 10-member group operated at the head, of which the American Kuss attacked. On the steepest passage of the hill, he became independent at the head and created a half-minute lead over the pursuer Valverd.
Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz attacked in the group of main favorites, but Pogačar managed to hold on to him. Kuss won the last ten-point bonus with a lead of 20 seconds over Valverd.
He remained 14 km in the downhill to the finish, Kuss maintained his lead in it and came solo for the stage laurel. Valverde checked the second place with an overview, the third ended in the finish of the five-member group Poels.
Pogačar came to the finish line alongside his rivals and since Martin lost in the stage and dropped from second to ninth place overall, the Slovenian is headed for good again more than five minutes before the second Rigoberto Uranus.
Monday is a day off for the Tour, on Tuesday the program will be the hilly 16th stage from Pas de la Case to St. Gaudens. The 169 km long track will offer three long climbs, one of the highest categories on the Col de la Core.
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