Stage 15 of Tour de France 2022 takes place on Sunday 17th July, it’s 202.5km in length and could be an opportunity for the sprinters
STAGE 14 RECAP
Stage 14 went to the breakaway as expected and it was certainly exciting to see how hard the riders had to work to get into the break, there was even a point earlier on when Yellow Jersey wearer, Vingegaard was isolated and attacked by Pogacar, but he showed his strength in responding and before long the team were back together in controlling affairs.
A big break got up the road and in the end it was Michael Matthews who took the initiative with a solo attack. He tried to get well ahead by the start of the last final climb. Alberto Bettiol rode across to him, but Matthews proved to be too strong and finally got another Tour de France stage win. Bettiol confirmed his strong form finishing 2nd with Thibaut Pinot completing the podium on the day. Vingegaard and Pogacar came in together and there were no significant changes at the top of the Classification.
JERSEY UPDATE
Vingegaard still leads Pogacar by 2 minutes 22 with Geraint Thomas losing a few seconds and now sitting 2 minutes 43 back in 3rd. Simon Geschke extended his King of the Mountains lead by 7 points over Louis Meintjes.
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STAGE 15 BETTING – Click here to bet
Wout Van Aert 11/2
Jasper Philipsen 11/2
Mads Pedersen 13/2
Dylan Groenewegen 9/1
Fabio Jakobsen 12/1
Magnus Cort Nielsen 18/1
Caleb Ewan 20/1
STAGE 15 ROUTE AND PREDICTIONS
Stage 15 is 202.5 kilometres and might be one the sprinters might fancy their chances in. The problem is it is anything but a straight forward route and aside from a lumpy profile there is a Cat 3 climb of 4.4 kilometres and a Cat 3 of 5.1 kilometres, both of them averaging between 4 and 5 percent.
The Cat 3 climb gets going with just over 50 kilometres to go and it is hard to see the likes of Jakobsen and Groenewegen hanging in for a sprint finish. We should get another strong breakaway going on the rolling terrain and I suspect that the breakaway will stick once again and that the sprinters teams will probably try and get a rider into the break rather than spend all day chasing it down.
From a General Classification point of view this stage is unlikely to provide any action, but no doubt Pogacar will be looking for any opportunity to put pressure on his rival.
SELECTION: Jasper Stuyven at 28/1
Stuyven is a pretty quick finisher and while not capable of beating the really fast riders he can win from a small break. He also has the strength to get into the early move and give us a run for our money at a nice price.
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
