2015 Pan American Games closing ceremony
The closing ceremony of the 2015 Pan American Games took place on Sunday July 26, 2015, beginning at 8:00 p.m. EDT at the Rogers Centre (Pan Am Dome) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The closing ceremony was produced and directed jointly by three companies B5C Productions, BaAM Productions and FiveCurrents.


2015 Pan American Games closing ceremony
The tickets for the ceremony ranged between CA$90 and CA$200.


2015 Pan American Games closing ceremony, Production
In 2014 Live Nation was announced as a sponsor of the games; organizers stated that the company would leverage its resources to invite Canadian and international acts to perform at the ceremony. On July 15, 2015, organizers confirmed that American hip-hop artist Kanye West would headline the closing ceremony, joined by Pitbull and Serena Ryder. The announcement of West's participation was controversial, as critics and others believed that the closing ceremony should have been headlined by a Canadian artist; over 30,000 signatures were made on a Change.org petition to have him replaced. Mayor of Toronto John Tory, was also criticized for mistakenly referring to West as being a "proud product" of Toronto, despite actually being born in Atlanta.


2015 Pan American Games closing ceremony, Program
The cultural portion of the ceremony took place on a stage with a scale model of Toronto's skyline, featuring a medley of dances representing various ethnic communities and music styles of Toronto. Following closing speeches by Ivar Sisniega, vice president of PASO, and Saad Rafi, president of the Toronto 2015 Organizing Committee, as per protocol, the Pan American Sports Organization flag was handed over by John Tory to Luis Castañeda Lossio, Mayor of Lima, Peru, host of the 2019 Pan American Games. This was followed by a cultural presentation by Peru, culminating with a sequence set to La Sarita's song "Carnaval".


2015 Pan American Games closing ceremony, Program
Serena Ryder performed "Together We Are One", the official theme of the 2015 Pan American Games, along with her own hit "Stompa". Pitbull's segment featured songs such as "Fireball" and "Give Me Everything". Kanye West opened his set with "Stronger". After calling upon the lights to be turned on, he continued on with a set that included "Power, "Black Skinhead", "Gold Digger", "Touch the Sky", "All Of The Lights" and "Good Life". During his performance of "Good Life", West abruptly threw his microphone up in the air and walked off the stage; his performance had been afflicted by audio issues that caused his microphone to only be audible to television audiences. The ceremony concluded with a fireworks display on the CN Tower.


2015 Pan American Games medal table
The 2015 Pan American Games medal table is a list of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) ranked by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the 2015 Pan American Games, held in Toronto, Canada from July 10 to 26, 2015. Approximately 6,132 athletes from 41 NOCs participated in 364 events in 36 sports and 51 disciplines.


2015 Pan American Games medal table
The United States led the medal table both in number of gold medals won (103), and in overall medals (265). Behind the United States, Canada was second on the medal table by golds (78), and second by overall medals (219) – their best result ever, while Brazil was third by golds (42), and third by overall medals (141). For first time since 1971, Cuba finished outside top-2, leading to a 4th place.


2015 Pan American Games medal table
High jumper Levern Spencer won St. Lucia's first Pan American gold medal.


2015 Pan American Games medal table, Medal table
The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) and is consistent with PASO convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won (in this context, a "nation" is an entity represented by a National Olympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IOC country code.


2015 Pan American Games medal table, Medal table
In badminton, boxing, judo, karate, racquetball, squash, taekwondo, table tennis, and wrestling two bronze medals will be awarded for each event. Also in bowling, fencing and squash two bronze medals will be awarded in some events. Therefore, the total number of bronze medals will be greater than the total number of gold or silver medals.


2015 Pan American Games medal table, Medal table
Two gold medals, one to the United States and one to Colombia, were awarded for a first-place tie in the men's pommel horse. Two gold medals were also awarded for a first-place tie in the men's coxless pair, one to Chile and one to Argentina. No silver medal was awarded for both events. Two bronze medals were awarded for a third-place tie at the men's K2 200m, one to Brazil and one to Canada.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2015 Pan American Games took place on Friday July 10, 2015, beginning at 8:00 p.m. EDT at the Rogers Centre (Pan Am Dome) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The opening ceremony was produced and directed by Cirque du Soleil. The production was the largest event produced by the company ever, and cost approximately $30 million CAD to produce.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony
An audience of 45,000 were in attendance at the venue (sold-out crowd). There were 625 performers from 25 nationalities.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony
The tickets for the ceremony ranged between CA$100 and CA$350. It was later announced in January 2015 that tickets to the ceremony were sold out.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis
The cultural segments of this opening ceremony were themed around the journey and aspirations of an athlete, from their dreams, to reality. The stage was an 85 x 85 diamond-shaped stage surrounded by four island 20 x 20 stages. Directly behind the stage were five spaced 22 x 40 Strong MDI screens hung side-by-side to form a 126 x 40 surface for video.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, The Awakening of the Land
The ceremony began with 20 performers representing the Four Ancestral Nations (and four seasons) of the Greater Golden Horseshoe region: Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation (four members move to the corners of the island, surrounding a shaman holding an eagle staff. They perform a ritual as an echo to the central indigenous concept of the four directions. It is autumn), Métis Nation of Ontario (a traditional scene where two men return from a fur hunt in a canoe, with snow and fog in the background. Three women welcome them with a celebration dance.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, The Awakening of the Land
It is winter), Six Nations of the Grand River (they enact the sky woman creation story. It is spring) and Huron-Wendat Nation (three women are growing food, two men give them shell necklaces and surrounding them is a wheat field. It is summer). Each ancestral nation was set on one of the four islands, which symbolizes the four directions. The stadium represented a womb, where tradition says indigenous people learn drumming from their mother's heartbeats. These drumbeats announce the arrival of the eagle.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, The Countdown
The eagle must take human form to impart its vision. The metamorphosis is completed in a precipitous plunge from the heavens, and the Messenger stands ready to channel the mystical conversion of dreams into reality. This scene symbolized the arrival of a character known as "The Messenger", and each countdown number had a meaning. Each number was highlighted by fireworks on the islands, with numbers between 2 and 0 being from the bridge.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, PowWow! Carnival
This was a dance segment reflecting Toronto's multiculturalism and the aboriginal peoples of the Golden Horseshoe region, set to music by DJ Shub (formerly of electronic music group A Tribe Called Red). and also included 183 dancers representing various cultures (such as Hawaii, Brazil, Ukraine, Madagascar and Thailand among others) and 21 dance groups.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, The Vision
In a pre-recorded segment, the Pan-American Games Torch was relayed to the stadium through Toronto neighbourhoods by Canada's gold-medal winning 4 × 100 m relay team from the 1996 Summer Olympics, culminating with a scene depicting Bruny Surin passing the flame to Donovan Bailey on the CN Tower's EdgeWalk, and then parachuting onto the stadium roof. Bailey was then lowered into the stadium with the torch, and passed it to future athlete, diver Faith Zacharias, who placed the torch on a stand to serve as a focal point for the remainder of the ceremony. The dance groups then broke out into the dance again and exited the stage as one. Following this the president of the Pan American Sports Organization, Julio Maglione and Governor General David Johnston were introduced and entered the box of honour officially.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Raising of the Canadian flag & playing of the national anthem
The Canadian flag was carried by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Canadian national anthem "O Canada" was performed by Véronic DiCaire and Chilly Gonzales, accompanied by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (nearly 80 musicians). They were directed by Peter Oundjian.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Parade of nations
As each nation entered, the music reflected the traditional instruments and melodic styles of each of the forty-one countries and territories. Silhouettes portraying the five disciplines of the pentathlon appear in the distance to honour their entrance (javelin, long jump, wrestling, discus and running), where the first multi sport games and the Pan American Games grew from their foundations. Each nation was preceded by a placard bearer holding a high-tech LED Device which flashed the name of each participating team in the three languages (English, French and Spanish).


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Entrance of the Heralds
Sixteen acrobats and one hundred athlete marshals took part in this segment. This segment paid homage to the history of Canada's communication. The heralds represent our continued search for new ways to breach our communication divide. The ear, mouth and nose logos worn by them are all about the technology that helped build Canada at a time when the population was small and obstacles were huge. They invited the crowd to cheer for the volunteers and staff involved in the organization of the games while parading under the United We Play! banner (the official games motto. It was also written in French (Jouons Unis!) and Spanish (¡Unidos Jugamos!)). They light up LED lights on the athletes shoulders. These lights were designed to make them a part of the show using technology called PixMob.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, The Birth of the Twin Fires
The Messenger returns to the stage and reveals the Twin Fires that the Pan American Games flame shelters: The Fire of Dreams and the Fire of Reality. Together they represented the hopes and achievements of each human and every career in sport: trials and achievement, disappointments and progress, failures and victories. We are then taken into other worlds where mysteries await in pristine woods and the blaze of flames. The Messenger transforms the symbols of pentathlon into five powerful guardians for each discipline. The creation of Twin Fires is essential as it symbolized the window that opens between dreams and reality for the duration of this opening ceremony show.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Forest Borealis
One hundred fifty children and youth were selected to perform during this segment after auditions. Six aerial performers flying up to 45 feet (14 m) high were also included in this segment. The Messenger created a primordial forest, which represents Canada. In this homage to what will eventually become Canada, four local animals (bear, caribou, woodpecker and owl), guided these one hundred fifty children along the trails of discovery, under the glow of the Aurora Borealis. Thirty-one young ballet dancers (from Canada's National Ballet School) later emerge from the group of children and perform down the stage.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, The Fireline
Fifty-three hip hop dancers, eight tumblers (who jumped over the fire onto mats), one aerial clay juggler, two fire manipulators, and one ballet dancer (javelin) took part in this segment. The fireline used in this segment was 80 feet (24 m) long. With childhood over the Guardian of the Javelin creates a border. The age of innocence is now over and now the first test in left: overcoming obstacles. To resolve their differences, they turn to lacrosse, Canada's national summer sport and the traditional Indigenous people's peacemaker. Eventually the fire is extinguished by a water bomber (a Canadian invention).


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Waves
This segment sees the heralds from earlier paying their respects to Canadian Broadcasting pioneer Reginald Fessenden. Using radio waves and a jukebox a melody of Canadian love songs are played to the crowd along with two other songs (a famous song of Cirque du Soleil and the official song of the Games).


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Hearts of bloom
This segment saw 40 dancers and 7 aerialists. This segment represented the changing season, and the Guardian of the Long Jump performs aerial contortions up to 40 feet in the air. This segment represents the biggest leap in adolescent life, the discovery of love. A 100 feet (30 m) diameter mountain made of fabric panels to look like snow that melts into sprint (to represent the changing seasons). Suddenly three straps are released and out of nowhere appeared three pairs (a man and woman, two men and two women) to represent the diversity of recognized forms of love in Canada. The dancers were from the Toronto Dance Theatre and Canada's National Ballet School.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Storm of Possibilities
15 dancers, 6 acrobats (who perform on 30 feet high ladders), 1 hand balancer and the Guardian of wrestling (who is a capoeira dancer and acrobat) were in this segment. This segment represents the doubt humans face in life. The Guardian leads young adults into his own inner struggle. They drew on the courage and find the self-confidence to make the right choice as the sky is raining professions (costumes of a range of opportunities in Canada rain down) and exposing a world of opportunities. Canadian choreographer Christopher House directed the dance portion of this segment.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Train for life
The train represented the railroad that stretches Canada and touches all territories and people (and uniting them). This is the moment when young adults leave home to forge their own paths. The Heralds build the station of farewells and track to our dreams. The railway also represents the journey of all athletes who left home that led them to the ceremony. The railway was built using the ladders from the previous segment. A train appears and the dancers run to jump abroad.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Trailblazing
This segment features the guardian of the discus (who is a freestyle frisbee champion), 3 aerial bungee artists, 19 dancers (two of which have disabilities), 10 BMX and mountain bike riders and 2 flatlands (the BMX solos on the main stage). The BMX and mountain bike tracks are 500 feet (150 m) long and composed of 9 modules up to 6 feet high, and total of 16 jumps. After leaving home the young athletes are blazing a trail for themselves. The Guardian of the discus is here to give them direction and he is here to hep them connect to their individual destinies and inspire them. This scene also included freestyle Frisbee, bungees, B-boy dancers, urban dancers and flatland BMX bikes.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, The Moment of truth
This segment saw the entrance of the Olympic and PASO flags. The PASO flag was carried by two time Olympic gold medalist speed skater, Catriona Le May Doan,  CEO of Amanda's Lemonade Stand, Amanda Belzowski, Canada's man in motion Rick Hansen, two time Olympic medalist in triathlon, Simon Whitfield, author Jewel Kats, sporting excellence and community leader Pinball Clemons, advocate for refugees Loly Rico and Canada's most celebrated baseball player Fergie Jenkins.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, The Moment of truth
The Olympic Flag was carried by author of Life of Pi: Yann Martel, the most decorated Canadian athlete in history Chantal Petitclerc, astronaut Chris Hadfield, Canadian hockey legend Bobby Orr, co-founder of the Aboriginal Professional Association of Canada, Gabrielle Scrimshaw, social activist Craig Kielburger, three time Olympic rowing champion Marnie McBean and six time Stanley Cup winner Mark Messier.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, The Moment of truth
After this the PASO anthem (instrumental) is played, while both flags are rose. This was followed by the athlete's oath taken by multiple Olympic medalist in trampoline Karen Cockburn and the judges oath taken by Stephan Duchesne.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, The Moment of truth
Following this was the speeches by CEO of TO2015, Saad Rafi and the president of PASO Julio Maglione. In between the two speeches was a tribute to the former president of PASO (by PASO Athlete's commission head Alexandra Orlando) Mario Vazquez Raña, who died earlier in the year. After the speeches were done, Governor General David Johnston officially opened the games.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Building the Communities Cauldron
The flags of Ontario (carried by the Ontario Provincial Police) and Toronto (carried by Toronto Police, Toronto Paramedic Services, and Toronto Fire), followed by representatives of the Boys and Girls Club of Canada (from the Braeburn community in the underprivileged part of the city, Rexdale) enter the stadium and are raised. The Cauldron is made of 66 panels (called petals), and 30 of them were assembled on the structure during the ceremony. The panels are each engraved with unique symbols designed by the 30 communities of the Greater Golden Horseshoe region.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Yonge Street
The Guardian of running features in this segment, 9 towers 32 feet (9.8 m) high, 5 aerial treadmill runners and 120 dancers and acrobats feature in this segment. The heralds enter to reveal the final destination: Toronto. A city is born and a dream is realized when destinies of thousands of athletes converge. The five treadmill runners become the five guardians and they unite. The dancers mimic the grid of the city. The 30 community leaders also install their petals onto the cauldron while this segment was going on.


2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, Synopsis, Lighting of the Pan American Games cauldron
Young diver Faith Zacharias comes on stage again and lights a new torch, and she passed it onto the members of the silver medal women's 4 × 400 m relay winning team at the 1984 Summer Olympics (in order): Dana Wright, Charmaine Crooks, Jillian Richardson, Molly Killingbeck and Marita Payne-Wiggins. Wiggins then passes of the torch to her son, NBA basketball player Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins then runs up the bleachers of the stadium to the final torchbearer retired NBA Player Steve Nash. Nash then runs outside the stadium where he ignites a bowl, which transfers the fire to the official cauldron. The ceremony concluded with a fireworks display shot off the CN Tower, and all the performers back on stage to celebrate.


2015 Pan American Games torch relay
The 2015 Pan American Games torch relay was a 41-day torch run, occurring from May 30 to July 10, 2015, being held prior to the start of the Games. The relay brought the torch from Mexico to the Pan American Ceremonies Venue for the opening ceremony.


2015 Pan American Games torch relay
An application period for Canadians to carry the torch opened in October 2014 and continued till December. Anyone aged 13 or older as of May 30, 2015 was eligible to become a torchbearer. Most of the torchbearers were selected by a random selection, while the others were selected by torch relay communities and games partners.


2015 Pan American Games torch relay
The torch took a 41-day journey after being lit in May 2015 at the pyramids of Teotihuacan, Mexico. The torch was brought through a total of 130 communities, mostly in Ontario (with five outside the province, Richmond, Winnipeg, Calgary, Halifax and Montreal). The torch was carried by about 3,000 torchbearers and travel approximately 20,000 kilometres (12,000 mi). The relay began on May 30, 2015 in Toronto and finished on July 10, the date of the opening ceremony.


2015 Pan American Games torch relay
The detailed torch relay route and celebration sites were announced on February 24, 2015. The torch arrived in Toronto and then headed to Thunder Bay, before visiting all other communities on the route. The relay also visited five National Historic Sites of Canada, six Canadian Forces bases and one provincial park. There were 180 celebrations across the torch relay route.


2015 Pan American Games torch relay, Route
All cities in the Province of Ontario, unless otherwise noted in italics.


2015 Pan American Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2015 Pan American Ice Hockey Tournament was the second edition of the Pan American Ice Hockey Tournament, an annual event run by the Federación Deportiva de México de Hockey sobre Hielo, sanctioned by International Ice Hockey Federation. It took place in Mexico City, Mexico between June 3 and 7, 2015.


2015 Pan American Judo Championships
The 2015 Pan American Judo Championships was held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada from April 24–26, 2015.


2015 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships
The 2015 Pan American Junior Championships was the eighteenth edition of the biennial track and field competition for under-20 athletes from the Americas, organised by the Association of Panamerican Athletics. It was held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, at the Foote Field from 31 July to 2 August.


2015 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships
A detailed report of the event and an analysis of the results was given for the IAAF.


2015 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 418 athletes from 31 countries participated. The announced athletes from  Saint Lucia did not show.


2015 Pan American Men's Club Handball Championship
The 2015 Pan American Men's Club Handball Championship took place in Taubaté 20-24 may. It acts as the Pan American qualifying tournament for the 2015 IHF Super Globe.


2015 Pan American Men's Junior Handball Championship
The 2015 Pan American Men's Junior Handball Championship took place in Foz do Iguaçu from 24–28 March. It acts as the Pan American qualifying tournament for the 2015 Men's Junior World Handball Championship.


2015 Pan American Men's Youth Handball Championship
The 2015 Pan American Men's Youth Handball Championship took place in San Cristobal from 21–25 April. It acts as the Pan American qualifying tournament for the 2015 Men's Youth World Handball Championship.


2015 Pan American Race Walking Cup
The 2015 Pan American Race Walking Cup took place on May 9–10, 2015. The races were held on a 2 km circuit on Avenida Raúl Pey, Playa Chinchorro, in Arica, Chile. A detailed report of the event was given for the IAAF.


2015 Pan American Race Walking Cup
The event also served as inaugural NACAC Race Walking Championships with a separate Women's 50 km competition.


2015 Pan American Race Walking Cup, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 152 athletes from 15 countries participated.


2015 Pan American Road Cycling Championships
The 2015 Pan American Road Cycling Championships took place at León, Guanajuato, Mexico, May 7–10, 2015.


2015 Pan American Track Cycling Championships
The 2015 Pan American Track Cycling Championships took place at the Peñalolén Velodrome, Santiago, Chile,  September 2–6, 2015.


2015 Pan American Women's Handball Championship
The 2015 Pan American Women's Handball Championship was the 13th edition of the Pan American Women's Handball Championship, held in Cuba from 21 to 28 May 2015. It acted as the American qualifying tournament for the 2015 World Women's Handball Championship.


2015 Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party leadership election
A leadership election was held by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) on 4 June 2015. It was won by incumbent President of PAS, Abdul Hadi Awang.


2015 Panda Cup
The 2015 Panda Cup was the second edition of Panda Cup, an under-19 association football competition. The tournament was hosted in Chengdu between 24 and 28 June 2015. Players born on or after 1 January 1997 are eligible to compete in the tournament.


2015 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League
The 2015 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League season, known as the Telikom NSL Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the ninth edition of the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League.


2015 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League
The title was won by Lae City Dwellers who won their first title in their first year of existence, despite only finishing second in the regular season table. They defeated Madang FC 5–1 in the Grand Final. The Golden Boot was won by Nigel Dabinyaba of Lae, while Otto Kusunan of Besta PNG United won the Player of the Season.


2015 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, Teams
There were seven teams in the competition, the same as the previous season. Four teams returned, including champions Hekari United, while three teams withdrew: runners-up Lae FC were expelled from the league after 'bringing the game into disrepute' in the previous year's final, Morobe FC lost their sponsor and were unable to return, missing out for the first time since the league's inception, while Eastern Stars also withdrew. They were replaced by Madang FC, returning for the first time since the 2010–11 season, FC Port Moresby, who returned following their court case ahead of the previous season, and Lae City Dwellers, a new franchise from Lae under similar management to the previous season's runners-up.


2015 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, Format
Seven teams played in the league. During the regular season, teams played home and away, and the team at the top of the league after all matches were played was crowned 'Minor Premiers'. The top two secured qualification for the 2016 OFC Champions League. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams advanced to a knockout competition, the winners of which were crowned Champions.


2015 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, Summary
The season kicked off on 24 January 2018 with a 2–2 draw between Lae City Dwellers and FC Port Moresby. Champions Hekari United didn't kick their season off until the following weekend, when they defeated Lae 3–0, and they set the early pace with a 2–1 win over Besta PNG United the following weekend. By mid-February, they were already four points clear of Oro FC, who were in second on six points.


2015 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, Summary
Through February and March until the mid-way point of the season, Lae City began to show some form, winning three straight matches against Besta, Admiralty FC and Oro to keep the pressure on Hekari, who had gone the entire first half of the season undefeated. However, on 14 March 2018, Hekari thrashed Oro 6–2 while Lae lost 2–1 to third-placed FC Port Moresby, giving Hekari a four-point lead. As the champions prepared to leave for the OFC Champions League campaign in April, however, they stumbled to a 2–1 defeat to Besta PNG United, which gave Lae City a chance to overhaul them while they were away.


2015 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, Summary
Two big wins for Lae – a 6–0 thumping of Oro and a 5–1 win against Besta – meant Hekari's main challengers were two points clear at the top by the time Hekari returned to domestic competition. On 25 April, Hekari defeated Madang 8–1 while Lae could only draw against Admiralty, meaning Hekari returned to the top of the league with a game in hand. In Lae's final fixture of the regular season, they surrendered the Minor Premiership to Hekari following a 3–1 defeat, but in finishing second, became the first team other than Hekari to qualifying for the OFC Champions League since University Inter in 2007–08.


2015 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, Summary
In the playoff semi-finals, which took place on 16 May 2015, Hekari faced Madang FC, whom they had beaten by seven goals less than a month prior. In what was described as 'the biggest upset in the history of the National Soccer League', Madang secured a shock 3–2 victory to end Hekari's eight-year dominance of the domestic league. They would play Lae City in the Grand Final after the regular season runners-up eased past third-placed FC Port Moresby in the other semi-final. While Hekari picked up third place as a consolation, Lae City won their first title after a one-sided Grand Final, which finished 5–1.


2015 Parachinar bombing
A bombing occurred on 23 December 2015 at a clothes bazaar in Pakistan's Parachinar area in the Kurram Valley. It was not clear whether the bombing was a suicide attack or a remotely controlled detonation. The blast killed 25 people and another 62 were injured.


2015 Paradise Jam Tournament
The 2015 Paradise Jam Tournament was a men's and women's preseason college basketball tournament that took place in Saint Thomas at the Sports and Fitness Center. South Carolina won the men's division while Rutgers won the women's Island Division and Maryland won the women's Reef Division.


2015 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament
The women's tournament was played from November 26–28. The women's tournament consisted of 8 teams split into two 4-team, round-robin divisions: Island and Reef.


2015 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, First Round, Island division
In the first round of the Reef division Rutgers took on Tulane. Rutgers pulled out to a 10-point lead by the end of the first quarter and extended the lead each successive quarter to win the game 75–51. Rutgers' Kahleah Copper was the high scorer with 28 points. Virginia played Green Bay. Virginia fell behind by 12 points at the end of the first quarter but outscored the Phoenix 22–7 in the third quarter and held on to win 68–59. Mikayla Venson was the high score for Virginia with 25 points, while Tesha Buck scored 24 points for Green Bay.


2015 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, First Round, Reef division
South Dakota State and Pittsburgh played a close game in the opening round. With just over two minutes to go in the game the Jackrabbits were down by two points. Kerri Young hit a three pointer to put the team up by a single point 55–54. Each team then missed their remaining shots and South Dakota State prevailed. Young was the leading scorer for the Jackrabbits with 15 points. In the other Island division game, Maryland started out very strong, outscoring Old Dominion University 30–6 in the first quarter. They played even in the second quarter but Maryland outscored Old Dominion in each of the final two quarters to win the game 95 – 49. Maryland's Brene Moseley 26 points a career-high to help the Terrapins win the game.


2015 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Second Round, Island division
In the second round, Green Bay took on the Tulane Green Wave. Green Bay opened up a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter extended it to four points by halftime, then continue to outscore the green wave in the final two periods to win the game 79–58. Rutgers took on Virginia. The score was tied at the end of the first quarter, and the Scarlet Knights took a two-point lead into halftime. The scoring was close again in the third quarter but Rutgers outscored Virginia 18–11 in the final quarter to in the game 60–48. Kahleah Copper was again the high score for Rutgers with 21 points.


2015 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Second Round, Reef division
Old Dominion faced Pittsburgh in the second round of the Island division. ODU opened up a small four-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but Pittsburgh came back and led by three points at the half. Each team scored 14 points in the third quarter but Pittsburgh outscored ODU in the final quarter to win the game 67–58. Aysia Bugg was the high scorer for Pittsburgh with 18 points while Jennie Sims scored 17 points for ODU. In the other Island division game, Maryland faced the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State.


2015 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Second Round, Reef division
The Terrapins started out strongly, leading the jackrabbit 17–4 at the end of the first quarter. However South Dakota State outscored Maryland in the second and third quarters and had taken the lead by two points in the fourth quarter. Maryland responded with eight straight points to take a four-point lead but the Jackrabbits cut the lead back to within one with just over a minute to go. South Dakota would not score again and Maryland hit free throws in the final minute to win the close game 62 – 55.


2015 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Third Round, Island division
Rutgers took on Green Bay for the Island division championship. Green Bay led by six at the end of the first quarter and while outscored in the second quarter maintain a small lead at halftime. Rutgers chipped away at the lead and was within one point at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter belong to the Scarlet Knights as they outscored Green Bay 20 to 8 to capture the Island division championship 54–43. Rutgers senior Kayleah Cooper was named the tournament MVP (Island division).


2015 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Third Round, Island division
In the consolation round, Tulane took on Virginia. Tulane had a nine-point lead at the end of the first quarter but Virginia came back and cut the lead to one at halftime. Virginia outscored Tulane in the third quarter and held a three-point lead at the end of the third quarter, but Tulane came back in the fourth quarter outscoring Virginia 25 – 17 to take the wind 67–62.


2015 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Third Round, Reef division
In the consolation round South Dakota State took on Old Dominion. The score was tied at 11 points apiece at the end of the first quarter but then the Jackrabbits took off. They outscore the Monarchs in each of the final three quarters and ended with the win 71–39.


2015 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Third Round, Reef division
In the championship game Maryland played Pittsburgh. Maryland started out strong with a 19 to 11 lead at the end of the first quarter. They then scored 11 consecutive points to push the lead to 31–11. However Pitt did not fold and responded with an 11–2 run. In the third quarter Maryland reasserted its dominance and outscored Pittsburgh 22–11. The fourth quarter was roughly even, but the Terrapins were well ahead so ended the game 70–49 to win the Reef division championship. Briona Jones of Maryland are in the MVP award for the tournament (reef division).


2015 Paraguayan Athletics Championships
The 2015 Campeonato de la Victoria or 2015 Torneo de la Victoria was held at the Secretaria Nacional de Deportes in Asunción, organized by Federación Paraguaya de Atletismo. It was the 65th edition.


2015 Paraguayan Athletics Championships
The competition serves as the Paraguayan Athletics Championships in track and field for the Republic of Paraguay, being the country's most important national athletics competitions.


2015 Paraguayan Athletics Championships
Paraguay Marathon Club was crowned champion of the championships, where it achieved a score of 139. Larson Giovanni Diaz Martinez and María Caballero were the best athletes of the championships.


2015 Paraguayan Primera División season
The 2015 División Profesional season (officially the 2015 Copa TIGO- Visión Banco for sponsorship reasons) is the 81st season of top-flight professional football in Paraguay.


2015 Paraguayan Primera División season, Torneo Apertura
The Campeonato de Apertura, also the Copa TIGO-Visión Banco for sponsorship reasons, was the 112º official championship of the Primera División, called "Lic. Juan Ángel Napout", and is the first championship of the 2015 season. It began on January 30 and ended on May 31.


2015 Paraguayan Primera División season, Torneo Clausura
The Campeonato de Clausura, also the Copa TIGO-Visión Banco for sponsorship reasons, is the 113º official championship of the Primera División, called "Luis Óscar Giagni", and is the last championship of the 2015 season. It began on July 4 and ended on December 6.


2015 Paraguayan Primera División season, Torneo Clausura, Clausura play-off
Because Olimpia and Cerro Porteño tied with 44 points, a title play-off on neutral ground was played as the tournament rules specify.


2015 Paraguayan Primera División season, Relegation
Relegations is determined at the end of the season by computing an average of the number of points earned per game over the past three seasons. The two teams with the lowest average are relegated to the División Intermedia for the following season.


2015 Parapan American Games
The 2015 Parapan American Games, officially the V Parapan American Games and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 ParaPan-Am Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Parapan American Games as governed by the Americas Paralympic Committee, held from August 7 to 15, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Marking the first Parapan American games hosted by Canada, and the second major Paralympic sports event hosted by Toronto since the 1976 Summer Paralympics, the Games were held at venues in Toronto and four other Golden Horseshoe communities. Both the Parapan American and Pan American Games were organized by the Toronto 2015 Organizing Committee (TO2015).


2015 Parapan American Games
The Games hosted 1,608 athletes representing 28 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) in the Americas. 445 events were held in 15 sports—all of which serving as qualifiers for the 2016 Summer Paralympics, including the debut of wheelchair rugby at the Parapan American Games, and the return of 7-a-side football following its absence from the 2011 Parapan American Games.


2015 Parapan American Games, Bidding process
The Canadian Olympic Committee chose Toronto and the surrounding region as the Canadian candidate. No other Canadian city was given a chance to bid in a domestic race, and thus Toronto was selected without a vote. Toronto's interest in bidding came after failing to land the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Atlanta and Beijing respectively.


2015 Parapan American Games, Bidding process
On February 23, 2009, both Toronto City Council and Hamilton City Council approved the bid officially and confirmed their intentions to support the successful hosting of the event. The official bid book document was submitted to the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) on May 27, 2009.


2015 Parapan American Games, Bidding process
PASO made an evaluation visit to Toronto between August 30 and 31, 2009. The team analyzed the candidate city features and provided its feedback back to voting members of PASO. The evaluation committee was headed by Julio Maglione, a member of the IOC representing Uruguay and the head of Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), the international swimming federation. After the visit Maglione said, "Toronto has all the conditions to play host to the Pan American Games".


2015 Parapan American Games, Bidding process
Toronto won the bidding process to host the Pan and Parapan American Games by a vote of the Pan American Sports Organization on November 6, 2009, at the PASO Session held in Guadalajara, Mexico. The result was announced by PASO President Mario Vázquez Raña. Toronto faced two other finalists shortlisted Lima, Peru, and Bogotá, Colombia. Toronto earned 33 votes, while contesting candidate cities Lima and Bogotá received 11 and 7 votes, respectively.


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Venues
Toronto became one of the most populous cities to ever hold the Parapan American Games. In August, the month when the Games was held, Toronto has an average temperature of 21 °C (70 °F). Toronto's summer temperatures around August are warm, and the city averages less than five days with the temperature going above 30 °C (86 °F). As well in August Toronto averages about 67mm of precipitation. Moreover, Toronto's elevation is at 112 m (367 ft) above sea level, which provides optimal and ideal conditions for athletes.


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Venues
In January 2012, the organizing committee announced that sixty percent of the originally proposed venues would be dropped, in favour of a clustering system seen at other multi-sport events such as the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain.


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Venues
Athletes' living quarters were at the 2015 Pan American Games Athletes' Village.


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Venues
The opening ceremonies was held at the CIBC Pan Am and Parapan Am Athletics Stadium and the closing ceremonies was held at Nathan Phillips Square. The Parapan Games re-used 12 venues from the Pan Am Games while one venue University of Toronto Scarborough Tennis Centre was newly constructed for the Parapan Am Games. Some of the competition venues in the Toronto area included the Pan American Field Hockey Centre, and the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. Only four competition venues were located outside of Toronto:


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Infrastructure and budget
The Toronto 2015 Organizing Committee (TO2015) along with all three levels of government spent about $1.4 billion Canadian dollars in upgrading and building new venues in the region. The provincial government (Ontario) and the Canadian federal government provided 35% each of the funding, with the municipalities covering the remaining 30% of the cost. Also $1 billion Canadian dollars was spent on building an athletes' village in the West Don Lands area of Toronto. Therefore, the total cost was $2.4 billion, the highest ever spent for a Pan/Parapan American Games.


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Infrastructure and budget
Later in 2011 Toronto's contribution to the games almost doubled from $49.5 million to $96.5 million for several reasons: the athletics stadium was moved to York University from Hamilton, the soil was to be remediated at the University of Toronto Scarborough where the proposed aquatics centre is supposed to be built, more money was needed for the proposed BMX track and the increase in inflation. $700 million Canadian dollars was spent to build and renovate infrastructure in the region, about three times what was spent for the 2011 Pan American Games.


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Infrastructure and budget
Many transit improvements in Toronto were made in time for these games. These included the Union Pearson Express airport rail link.


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Medals
In October 2013 it was announced that the medals for the games would be produced and designed by the Royal Canadian Mint. In September 2014 it was announced that the supplier of the raw minerals used in the medals (over 4,000 in total) would be Barrick Gold. All the materials used in the medals will come from the company's operations in the Americas region. The copper was mined at the company's Zaldivar mine in Chile, the silver at the Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic and the gold was mined at the Hemlo mine in Northern Ontario.


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Medals
The designs of the medals, created by artist Christi Belcourt were revealed on March 3, 2015 at a ceremony at the Royal Ontario Museum. Each of them are roughly 86.7 millimetres in diameter and weigh about 350 grams. The front of the medal featured three shapes representing three regions of the Americas: North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and South America. It also featured Braille for the first time. The back of the medal featured the logo and motto of the games and the elements of mokume-gane.


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Volunteers
The Parapan American Games required 7000 volunteers. It shared the same volunteer recruitment, selection, and training process as the Pan American Games, which drew over 63,000 applicants to become a volunteer.


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Ticketing
Ticket sales began on March 25, 2015. More than 90,000 out of the 200,000 tickets available were sold.


2015 Parapan American Games, Development and preparation, Torch relay
The Parapan torch relay consisted of a 5-day journey, visiting 12 communities. Two torches were lit, one in the west at Niagara Falls and one in the east at Ottawa. Both make their way towards and reunite in Toronto.


2015 Parapan American Games, Marketing, Mascot
Pachi was chosen as the Games mascot in 2013. The design was based on porcupine. Porcupines have relatively poor vision, so the choice of basing Pachi's design on a porcupine is said to be a symbolic bond with the athletes of the Parapan Games.


2015 Parapan American Games, The Games, Ceremonies
The Opening Ceremony was held on 7 August 2015 at the CIBC Pan Am and Parapan Am Athletics Stadium, while the closing ceremony was held on 15 August 2015 at Nathan Phillips Square.


2015 Parapan American Games, The Games, Ceremonies, Opening ceremony
Before the ceremony began, the president of the Americas Paralympic Committee, Jose Luis Campo and Governor General David Johnston were introduced and entered the box of honour officially. This was followed by a countdown of number 20 to 0.


2015 Parapan American Games, The Games, Ceremonies, Opening ceremony
A rendition of Canada's national anthem was performed by Franco-Ontarian Gabrielle Goulet during the raising of the flag of the host country by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ontario Provincial Police and after that, a Lockheed C-130 Hercules of the Royal Canadian Air Force flew past over the stadium.


2015 Parapan American Games, The Games, Ceremonies, Opening ceremony
The ceremony began with an introductory performance called Migration of honour which represents the four elements of life: earth, water, wind and fire. It featured acrobatic dancers and performers from country’s four ancestral nations - The Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, the Huron-Wendat Nation, the Six Nations of the Grand River and the Métis Nation of Ontario. The performance was followed immediately by the Parade of Nations. Each teams marched into the stadium, preceded by a person carrying a circular placard written with the name of each participating team in the three languages (English, French and Spanish). The Canadian delegation entered last, representing the host nation. The remaining countries entered in English alphabetical order.


2015 Parapan American Games, The Games, Ceremonies, Opening ceremony
During the ceremony, Americas Paralympic Committee (APC) flag was carried into the stadium by Arnold Boldt, Tim McIsaac, Chelsey Gotell, Paul Rosen, Robert Hampson, David Shannon, Patrick Jarvis and Dr. Robert Steadward and raised to the Paralympic Anthem. Toronto 2015 chief executive Saäd Rafi and APC president Jose gave their speeches before Governor General David Johnston declare the games opened. Benoit Huot read the athletes’ oath, while cycling coach Sebastien Travers read the coaches oath.


2015 Parapan American Games, The Games, Ceremonies, Opening ceremony
The ceremony featured dance and song performances produced by B5C Productions in a joint venture between local company BaAM Productions and American-based FiveCurrents, which symbolised unity through diversity. During the final torch relay, the flame was brought in by activist and athlete Rick Hansen and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) program host Rick Mercer and passed to wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc who lit the cauldron. The ceremony concluded with Francesco Yates performing songs from debut album.


2015 Parapan American Games, The Games, Ceremonies, Closing ceremony
The ceremony began with the introduction of Toronto mayor and APC president Campo. The ceremony featured Sean Jones rendition of Canada's national anthem, the Franco-Ontarian urban folk band Le Group Swing, performances from Grammy award-winner Wyclef Jean, as well as country music singer-songwriter Meghan Patrick. That night, president of the Americas Paralympic Committee, Jose Luis Campo described the Games "the best Parapan American Games ever". After Saäd Rafi, chief executive officer and Campo gave their speeches, Campo declared the games closed and the Americas Paralympic Committee flag was lowered.


2015 Parapan American Games, The Games, Ceremonies, Closing ceremony
Toronto Mayor John Tory passed the APC flag over to Lima Mayor Luis Castañeda Lossio through Campo. A cultural performance from Peru was presented to symbolise Peru as the host of the next edition. The flame was extinguished when spoken word artist Mustafa the Poet performed on stage. The ceremony concluded with fireworks released to the sky.


2015 Parapan American Games, The Games, Sports
Fifteen sports, the most ever for a Parapan American Games were contested. Wheelchair rugby made its debut at the Games, while Football 7-a-side made its return to the games after missing the 2011 Parapan American Games. All fifteen sports were used for Paralympic qualification in 2016.


2015 Parapan American Games torch relay
The 2015 Parapan American Games torch relay was a 5-day torch relay, from August 3 to 7, 2015, being held prior to the start of the Games. Two torches were lit, one in the west at Niagara Falls and one in the east at Ottawa. Covering over  700 kilometres (430 mi), the two torches made their way towards and reunited in Toronto.


2015 Parapan American Games torch relay
An application period for Canadians to carry the torch opened from April 7 to 19, 2015. Anyone aged 13 or older as of August 3, 2015 was eligible to become a torchbearer. Most of the torchbearers were selected by a random selection, while the others were selected by torch relay communities and games partners. The torch was carried by 250 torchbearers.


2015 Paris–Nice
The 2015 Paris–Nice was the 73rd edition of the Paris–Nice stage race. It took place from 8 to 15 March and was the second race of the 2015 UCI World Tour following the Tour Down Under. The race was a return to the traditional format of Paris−Nice after an unorthodox course in 2014. It started in Yvelines, west of Paris, with a prologue time trial; the course then moved south through France with several stages suitable for sprinters. The decisive part of the race began on stage four with a summit finish at the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret; stage six also had a mountainous route. The race ended after seven days with the climb of the Col d'Èze outside Nice.


2015 Paris–Nice
The 2014 champion, Carlos Betancur (AG2R La Mondiale), chose not to defend his title. The early lead in the race was taken by Michał Kwiatkowski (Etixx–Quick-Step) in the prologue; he kept the lead until stage three, when Michael Matthews took over the race lead through time bonuses. Stage four was won by Richie Porte (Team Sky), while Kwiatkowski took back the race lead. On stage six, a chaotic stage in rainy conditions, Tony Gallopin (Lotto–Soudal) won and took over the race lead, but he was unable to defend his lead in the final-day time trial. Porte, the 2013 champion, won the general classification as well as two stages. Kwiatkowski finished second overall, with Simon Špilak (Team Katusha) on the same time in third place.


2015 Paris–Nice
The points classification was won by Matthews, who had four top-ten finishes as well as his stage win. The mountains classification was won by Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal). Kwiatkowski won the young riders classification as the best rider born after 1 January 1990. The teams classification was won by Team Sky.


2015 Paris–Nice, Teams
As Paris–Nice was a UCI World Tour event, all 17 UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and were obliged to send a squad. Three Professional Continental teams received wildcard invitations.


2015 Paris–Nice, Pre-race favourites
Paris–Nice overlapped with another UCI World Tour race, Tirreno–Adriatico. In 2015, the Italian race attracted the main Grand Tour riders, such as Alberto Contador (Tinkoff–Saxo), Chris Froome (Team Sky), Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team). Only one former Grand Tour champion, Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), chose to compete in Paris–Nice.


2015 Paris–Nice, Pre-race favourites
The favourites for the race included the 2013 champion, Richie Porte (Team Sky), the 2011 champion, Tony Martin (Etixx–Quick-Step) and the 2014 world champion, Michał Kwiatkowski (Etixx–Quick-Step). Other riders considered to have a chance of victory included Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), who had just won the Volta ao Algarve, Romain Bardet and Jean-Christophe Péraud (both AG2R La Mondiale), Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team), Andrew Talansky (Cannondale–Garmin) and Rui Costa (Lampre–Merida).


2015 Paris–Nice, Pre-race favourites
Paris–Nice was also raced by many classics riders preparing for the Spring Classics and especially Milan–San Remo, which followed just a few days later. Riders expected to feature on the flatter days included classics specialists such as Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha), John Degenkolb (Team Giant–Alpecin), Arnaud Démare (FDJ) and Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) and sprinters like Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and André Greipel (Lotto–Soudal).


2015 Paris–Nice, Route
The previous edition had been an unusual race with no time trials or summit finishes, but the 2015 edition of the race was a return to the traditional form: the race began with a prologue individual time trial near Paris; this was followed by a series of road stages south through France, including one summit finish; the race ended with a mountain time trial on the Col d'Èze. The race, known as the "race to the Sun", was seen as a mini-Tour de France, where riders needed to be both competent time-trialists and capable of climbing mountains. The key stages were expected to be the summit finish on the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret on stage 4 and the concluding time trial on the Col d'Èze.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Prologue
The race began with a prologue individual time trial in the Yvelines department. The 6.7-kilometre (4.2-mile) prologue was flat, with three major turns. The riders included four of the top five of previous year's world time trial championships in Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), Tony Martin (Etixx–Quick-Step), Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant–Alpecin) and Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team).


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Prologue
The first rider to set off in the race was Daniel McLay (Bretagne–Séché Environnement). Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale–Garmin) was the leader for a significant period, with a time of 8' 04". The lead was briefly held by Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) and Tiago Machado (Team Katusha). Their times were beaten by Dennis, who recorded a time of 7' 40". Dennis held the lead for an hour and a half, until he was beaten by Michał Kwiatkowski by less than a second. Kwiatkowski's time was enough to beat all the other riders. He therefore took the yellow jersey of the overall leader, as well as the green jersey of the points leader and the white jersey of the best young rider. The absence of categorised climbs meant that no polka-dot jersey was awarded.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
The first road stage of the race took the riders over an almost entirely flat 192-kilometre (119.3-mile) course south from Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse to Contres. There was one climb in the day's racing – the Côte de Bel Air – after 3 kilometres (1.9 miles).


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
The first breakaway of the day came from Jonathan Hivert (Bretagne–Séché Environnement). He attacked alone and took both maximum mountain points and the victory at the first intermediate sprint. Despite at one point having a lead of nearly four minutes, he sat up and was caught by the peloton. Michael Matthews (Orica–GreenEDGE), in eighth place after the prologue, took second place in the intermediate sprint to win two bonus seconds, moving him to ten seconds behind Michał Kwiatkowski, while John Degenkolb (Team Giant–Alpecin) took a second for finishing third.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
The next significant move was made by Hivert's teammate, Anthony Delaplace, who broke away with Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar). The two remained in the breakaway for most of the rest of the stage, which was raced at a very slow pace. Delaplace and Voeckler had a lead of over six minutes, but the peloton gradually chased them down. With 25 kilometres (16 miles) remaining, they had about a minute's lead and Voeckler forced an acceleration. Their lead extended to over 1' 40" with 15 kilometres (9 miles) remaining, and they won the final intermediate sprint. Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) took the bonus second for third place. The breakaway still had over 40 seconds' lead with 5 kilometres (3 miles) remaining, but were caught by the sprinters' teams 1.5 kilometres (0.9 miles) from the finish line.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
Degenkolb was the first rider to start the sprint in a disorganised finale to the stage, but he was not able to maintain his speed and finished outside the top ten. The stage was won by Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) ahead of Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar). Kwiatkowski therefore maintained his lead in the general, points and youth classifications, while Hivert took the polka dot jersey of the mountains classification.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
18 kilometres (11 miles) from the end of the stage, Tom Boonen clashed wheels while riding at the back of the peloton. He fell on his shoulder and, after receiving medical attention, abandoned the race with a suspected broken collarbone. That evening, it was announced that, though his collarbone was not broken, he had suffered a dislocation in his shoulder and would miss the Spring Classics season, including his principal targets at Paris–Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
The second road stage was a 172-kilometre (106.9-mile) route from the ZooParc de Beauval to the town of Saint-Amand-Montrond. The first part of the route was a 127-kilometre (79-mile) route southeast. The riders then entered a finishing circuit; they first rode the final 8 kilometres (5 miles) of the circuit, before doing a complete 45-kilometre (28-mile) lap. The route was again mostly flat, with just one categorised climb. This was the Côte de la Tour and came as part of the finishing circuit.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
The first breakaway of the day was formed by Arnaud Gérard (Bretagne–Séché Environnement), who escaped alone and earned a lead of over eight minutes, with the peloton riding slowly behind. Gerard won both intermediate sprints. On the first, Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) took second place to win two bonus seconds. John Degenkolb(Team Giant–Alpecin), who had come third and won a one-second bonus in the first sprint, took second place in the second sprint ahead of Michael Matthews (Orica–GreenEDGE).


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
The chase was led by Cofidis and Team Europcar and Gerard had less than a minute's lead at the Côte de la Tour. Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team), Jonathan Hivert (Bretagne–Séché Environnement) and Laurens De Vreese (Astana) attacked over the climb, with Hivert winning a point for the mountains classification and maintaining his lead in the competition. The race came back together with approximately 38 kilometres (24 miles) left to race.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
The following period of racing was relatively calm, without attacks and with Cannondale–Garmin controlling the pace. With 9.2 kilometres (5.7 miles) remaining, however, Tony Martin (Etixx–Quick-Step) attacked and was joined by Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), Lars Boom (Astana) and Matti Breschel (Tinkoff–Saxo). Breschel suffered a puncture and dropped out of the move, but Martin, Thomas and Boom continued their breakaway attempt. Several riders, including Rui Costa (Lampre–Merida), made unsuccessful attempts to bridge across to the leading group. The chase in the main peloton was led by Lotto–Soudal and the leading group was caught with 1.5 kilometres (0.9 miles) remaining.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
The first team to move forward in the sprint was Orica–GreenEDGE, with IAM Cycling following soon afterwards. Greg Henderson, however, was the penultimate man in the Lotto–Soudal train; his lead-out brought André Greipel to a perfect position to open his sprint. Arnaud Démare (FDJ) came close, but Greipel was able to win the stage. Degenkolb took third place and, with bonus seconds taken into account, was just two seconds behind Michał Kwiatkowski.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
The third stage started where stage two had ended, Saint-Amand-Montrond, and took the riders over a 179-kilometre (111-mile) route to the finish line in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule. The route started with a 146.5-kilometre (91.0-mile) route, initially heading south-east before turning north in the final part of the stage. The riders then entered another finishing circuit. They first rode the final 13 kilometres (8 miles) of the circuit, then did an entire 19.5-kilometre (12.1-mile) lap. There was a short climb and two corners in the final kilometre of the stage.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
The first break of the day was formed by Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) and Florian Vachon (Bretagne–Séché Environnement) after 9 kilometres (6 miles). Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) and Antoine Duchesne (Team Europcar) attempted to bridge across to the leading pair; Wiggins was first to drop back, while Duchesne was never able to get closer than two minutes to the pair ahead. Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) took third place in the first intermediate sprint. At the first mountains sprint, Gilbert crossed the line first to win four points and take the lead of the mountains classification. Following repeated attacks from the peloton behind, Gilbert and Vachon were joined after 74 kilometres (46 miles) by Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar). Gilbert then won the two other third-category climbs, earning a nine-point lead in the classification.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
With 50 kilometres (31 miles) remaining, Gilbert, Vachon and Voeckler still had a five-minute lead, with the sprinters' teams joining Michał Kwiatkowski's Etixx–Quick-Step team in chasing the breakaway down. With 20 kilometres (12 miles) left to race, the lead was cut to 43 seconds, and Gilbert dropped out of the break with 17 kilometres (11 miles) remaining. Vachon was next to drop out of the leading group; Voeckler was then joined by Paolo Tiralongo (Astana). Voeckler himself then fell back, while Tiralongo was joined by AG2R La Mondiale riders Jan Bakelants and Romain Bardet. This group of three riders held a gap of approximately 16 seconds, but were chased down by the peloton.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
The sprint was led by Orica–GreenEDGE in support of Michael Matthews, for whom the short hill before the finish line was ideal. Lampre–Merida tried and failed to come past them in the final kilometre. With 500 m (1,640 ft) to go, Orica–GreenEDGE still had four riders at the head of the peloton. Matthews was able to hold on for the win, despite a late challenge from Davide Cimolai (Lampre–Merida) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing). Thanks to the bonus seconds he won on the line, Matthews took over the overall lead in the race, as well as the leadership of the points and young rider classifications.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
The fourth stage of the race was the longest of the race: a 204-kilometre (126.8-mile) route from Varennes-sur-Allier to the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret, the only summit finish in the race. The route was hilly throughout, with two second-category and five third-category climbs before the final ascent. The Col de la Croix de Chaubouret was the highest point in the race at 1,201 m (3,940 ft), making this the queen stage of the 2015 Paris–Nice. It was a 10-kilometre (6-mile) climb averaging 6.7%, with some sections at 9%.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
The early break was formed by Antoine Duchesne (Team Europcar), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal) and Chris Anker Sørensen (Tinkoff–Saxo). They earned a lead of more than eight minutes, with De Gendt winning the first seven mountain sprints of the day. This won him enough points to put him in the lead of the mountains classification. Duchesne was dropped on the first second-category climb of the day, the Côte de La Gimond, which came after 152 kilometres (94 miles).


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
Work in the main peloton from Orica–GreenEDGE had reduced the deficit significantly and, on the Côte de La Gimond, AG2R La Mondiale drove hard to split the peloton in two. Rafał Majka (Tinkoff–Saxo) was among the riders temporarily distanced, though his teammates were able to bring him back into the main group.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
As they crossed the Col de La Gachet with 29 kilometres (18 miles) remaining, De Gendt and Sørensen had a lead of two minutes; this was reduced to less than a minute 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) later at the summit of the penultimate climb of the day, the Côte de la Croix Blanche. Andrew Talansky (Cannondale–Garmin) and Majka both suffered mechanical problems around the summit of this climb. Etixx–Quick-Step continued to chase the breakaway down and they were caught with 13 kilometres (8 miles) remaining.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
At the base of the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret, Team Sky and the BMC Racing Team came to the head of the peloton. Sky's Lars Petter Nordhaug led the peloton through the first 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) of the climb, dropping Michael Matthews (Orica–GreenEDGE) along the way. Warren Barguil (Team Giant–Alpecin) crashed at the base of the climb; though he eventually finished the stage, he was unable to return to the main group. After Nordhaug pulled off, his teammate Nicolas Roche took over. His turn at the head of the group caused several riders to be distanced, including Talansky, Majka and Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL–Jumbo).


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
With 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) remaining, Roche pulled off and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) attacked the small group of leaders. He gained a small lead and was joined by Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Simon Špilak (Team Katusha). Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) and Rubén Fernández (Movistar Team) attempted to bridge across, but Fernández, while looking at the group behind, cycled straight into van Garderen and crashed. Richie Porte (Team Sky) covered this move. He was again able to follow as Michał Kwiatkowski attacked. When Kwiatkowski had caught Thomas' group inside the final kilometre, Porte himself attacked.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
Thomas, his teammate, was the only rider able to follow him and they finished first and second on the stage. Kwiatkowski finished third, eight seconds behind. With the time bonuses won on the stage, Kwiatkowski was able to re-take the race lead; he was one second ahead of Porte with Thomas a further two seconds back.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
The fifth stage of the race was a 192.5-kilometre (119.6-mile) route that started in Saint-Étienne, travelled south and ended in Rasteau. The course began with a first-category climb, the Col de la Republique, but the remainder of the stage was generally flat. Three categorised climbs were located in the second half of the stage (two third category and one second), with the final climb 8.5 kilometres (5 miles) from the stage finish. The final 500 m (1,640 ft) were uphill.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
The break was formed on the first-category climb that began the day's racing. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal), who had taken the lead of the mountains classification on stage four, attacked again. He was joined by Andrew Talansky (Cannondale–Garmin), Romain Sicard (Team Europcar), Egor Silin (Team Katusha) and Paweł Poljański (Tinkoff–Saxo). De Gendt won the mountain sprint on this climb and on all the other climbs of the day. The group was never allowed more than a four-minute lead, since Talansky was only 2' 51" behind Michał Kwiatkowski, the general classification leader.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
The chase was led by Kwiatkowski's Etixx–Quick-Step team, who were joined by Cofidis with 60 kilometres (37 miles) remaining. With 20 kilometres (12 miles) remaining and the gap at 1' 30", Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins moved to the front of the peloton. After Wiggins had reduced the gap, the BMC Racing Team took up the pace-setting.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
Sicard and Poljański dropped out of the leading group on the final climb and, with less than 5 kilometres (3 miles) remaining and a lead of 25 seconds, an attack from De Gendt distanced Talansky too. Orica–GreenEDGE were now leading the chase behind but, with 3 kilometres (2 miles) left, the leading pair still had a 30-second lead. With 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) remaining, a final attack from De Gendt dropped Silin. De Gendt attempted to hold on for a solo victory, but he was unable to avoid the sprinters' teams.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
As he was caught, Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar) opened his sprint. Davide Cimolai (Lampre–Merida), however, was able to come past him in the final metres to take his second win of the year. Coquard finished second, with Michael Matthews (Orica–GreenEDGE) winning further points for the green jersey by finishing third. The top 10 of the general classification remained unchanged after the stage.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
The final road stage of the race was a 181.5-kilometre (112.8-mile) route starting in Vence and ending on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The route was mountainous throughout: it included three first-category climbs and three second-category climbs. The summit of the final climb, the Côte de Peille, came with 27 kilometres (17 miles) remaining, as the riders descended into Nice down the Col d'Èze. The end of the descent came with approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) remaining, with a flat run to the finishing line.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
A large breakaway escaped in the early part of the stage. This included 31 riders, representing a variety of teams but not Team Sky or Etixx–Quick-Step. Tim Wellens (Lotto–Soudal) was the best placed rider on general classification, 1' 25" behind Michał Kwiatkowski; he was the virtual leader of the race through much of the day. Wellens' teammate Thomas De Gendt was also in the breakaway: he won the first two climbs of the day to increase his lead in the mountains classification.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
The first major attacks came with about 60 kilometres (37 miles) remaining: Kwiatkowski attacked with three teammates (Tony Martin, Julian Alaphilippe and Michał Gołaś), briefly gaining a lead of half a minute. Team Sky were able to catch them. After the next climb, the Col Saint-Roch, the same four riders attacked, with Tony Gallopin (Lotto–Soudal) following. They again gained a half-minute lead, while Sky had just one domestique left to help Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas. Etixx–Quick-Step were unable to continue their pressure, however, on the Côte de Peille, Gallopin attacked after sensing that Kwiatkowski was vulnerable. Near the top of the climb, Porte and Thomas caught Kwiatkowski's group, then attacked them and left them behind. They were joined by several riders, including Simon Špilak (Team Katusha) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana).


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
At the summit of the final climb, therefore, Gallopin had a lead over the Porte and Thomas group, with Kwiatkowski struggling in another group behind. On the descent, however, Porte and Thomas both crashed in separate incidents; they were recaptured by Kwiatkowski's group. After the final stage, Porte attributed these crashes to over-inflated tyres.) Gallopin won the final intermediate sprint and the bonus seconds, ahead of the chasing group that was led by Rui Costa (Lampre–Merida) and Fuglsang. Gallopin, however, was able to extend his lead throughout the long descent.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
He won the stage solo, more than 30 seconds ahead of the first chasing group. Porte and Thomas were over a minute behind, with Kwiatkowski losing an additional two seconds on the finish line. Gallopin, who had been 38" behind Kwiatkowski, took the race lead. He was now 36" ahead of Porte, with Kwiatkowski, Thomas, Fuglsang and Costa within six seconds of him. Gallopin said after the stage that, while he hoped to defend his yellow jersey in the final stage time trial on the Col d'Èze, it would be difficult to stay ahead of Porte.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
The 2015 Paris–Nice concluded with a mountain time trial on the Col d'Èze. The 9.6-kilometre (6.0-mile) course began in Nice and had an average gradient of 4.7%. The steepest part of the climb came in the early stages: the second kilometre had an average gradient of 8.5%. The intermediate timing point came at the Col des Quatre Chemins, 4 kilometres (2 miles) from the finish. The final 1.5 kilometres (0.9 miles) towards the summit of the Col d'Èze were contested on a false flat.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
This time trial was the traditional final stage of Paris–Nice, though it was absent from the 2014 edition. The last time the course was used, in the last stage of the 2013 Paris–Nice, the stage was won by Richie Porte (Team Sky), securing his overall race victory. As was customary in time trial stages, the riders set off in reverse order from where they were ranked in the general classification at the end of the previous stage. The race was held in rainy and windy conditions.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
The first major news of the day was that Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), who had won the stage in the 2012 Paris–Nice and who was the reigning world time trial champion, would not start the stage. He had been in 103rd place overnight, more than 56 minutes behind race leader Tony Gallopin. The first rider to set off was Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx–Quick-Step), who recorded a time of 23' 37". Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) completed the course in 22' 11" and led the race for a while.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
Sérgio Paulinho (Tinkoff–Saxo) briefly took over the lead, before he was overtaken by Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal), whose time was 21' 19". Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) recorded a better time, but was immediately beaten by the next rider, Andrew Talansky (Cannondale–Garmin). Talansky's time was 21' 00"; he led until former world time trial champion Tony Martin (Etixx–Quick-Step) became the first rider to complete the course in under 21 minutes. Martin was the leader of the stage until the final few riders completed the course.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
Simon Špilak (Team Katusha) was the first of the general classification contenders to beat Martin; his time was 20' 36". This was enough to beat many of the other contenders for the overall classification: Rui Costa (Lampre–Merida), Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) and Michał Kwiatkowski (Etixx–Quick-Step) all finished behind Špilak. Porte, in second place overnight, was the only rider able to beat Špilak's time: Porte was 11 seconds ahead at the intermediate time check and finished the stage 13 seconds ahead.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
The final rider to set off was Gallopin (Lotto–Soudal). Gallopin was 36 seconds ahead of Porte overnight and expressed hope that he would be able to defend his lead and take overall victory. Immediately after he set off, however, he was nervous and uncomfortable on his bike. Gallopin, like most of the riders, was riding a conventional road bike with aero bars attached. At the intermediate time check, he was already 58 seconds behind Porte; he lost another 41 seconds in the second part of the stage.


2015 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
His time of 22' 02" meant he finished 29th on the stage and lost the yellow jersey. He dropped to sixth place overall. Porte therefore won both the stage and the overall victory in the race, his first general classification victory since he won Paris–Nice in 2013. Kwiatkowski's fifth place on the stage was enough to ensure both second place overall (30 seconds behind Porte) and victory in the young rider classification. Špilak finished on the same overall time as Kwiatkowski in third place, with Costa also on the same time in fourth.


2015 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
In the 2015 Paris–Nice, four jerseys were awarded. The general classification was calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. Time bonuses were awarded to the first three finishers on road stages (stages 1–6): the stage winner won a ten-second bonus, with six and four seconds for the second and third riders respectively. Bonus seconds were also awarded to the first three riders at intermediate sprints (three seconds for the winner of the sprint, two seconds for the rider in second and one second for the rider in third. The leader of the general classification received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2015 Paris–Nice, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.


2015 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
The second classification was the points classification. Riders were awarded points for finishing in the top ten in a stage. Unlike in the points classification in the Tour de France, the winners of all stages were awarded the same number of points. Points were also won in intermediate sprints; three points for crossing the sprint line first, two points for second place, and one for third. The leader of the points classification was awarded a green jersey.


2015 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
There was also a mountains classification, for which points were awarded for reaching the top of a climb before other riders. Each climb was categorised as either first, second, or third-category, with more points available for the more difficult, higher-categorised climbs. For first-category climbs, the top seven riders earned points; on second-category climbs, five riders won points; on third-category climbs, only the top three riders earned points. The leadership of the mountains classification was marked by a white jersey with red polka-dots.


2015 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey. Only riders born after 1 January 1990 were eligible; the young rider best placed in the general classification was the leader of the young rider classification.


2015 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists in a team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest cumulative time.


2015 Paris–Roubaix
The 2015 Paris–Roubaix was the 113th edition of the Paris–Roubaix one-day race. It took place on 12 April and was the tenth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. It was won by John Degenkolb in a sprint ahead of Zdeněk Štybar and Greg Van Avermaet. Degenkolb became only the second German to win the race, after Josef Fischer's victory at the first edition 119 years earlier.


2015 Paris–Roubaix, Route
The 2015 Paris–Roubaix was 253.5 kilometres (157.5 miles) in length, slightly shorter than the previous editions. Despite the name suggesting that the race started in the French capital, it actually started in Compiègne, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Paris. After a short, neutralised section, the race began in Clairoix. The first 100 kilometres (62 miles) or so were virtually flat and quiet, before the riders hit the 27 cobbled sections that totalled 52.7 kilometres (32.7 miles), the hardest being the Trouée d'Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle and the Carrefour de l'Arbre. Three sections (Quiévy, Saint-Python and Verchain-Maugré) were included in stage 4 of the 2015 Tour de France, held three months later. The last 750 metres (2,460 feet) were held on the Roubaix Velodrome.


2015 Paris–Roubaix, Teams
As Paris-Roubaix was a UCI World Tour event, all 17 UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and were obliged to send a squad. Eight Professional Continental teams received wildcard invitations and thus completed the 25-team peloton.


2015 Paris–Roubaix, Pre-race favourites
Two former multiple winners of the event missed the race due to injury. Four time winner Tom Boonen was ruled out after dislocating his shoulder in a crash during Paris–Nice in March, whilst three-time winner Fabian Cancellara missed out after fracturing two vertebrae in his lower back in a crash at E3 Harelbeke.


2015 Paris–Roubaix, Pre-race favourites
Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) was tipped by as the favourite to win the race, having won three stages and the general classification of the Three Days of De Panne, the Tour of Flanders and Scheldeprijs in the fortnight leading up to the race. Defending champion Niki Terpstra also showed good form, having been runner up to Kristoff in the Tour of Flanders and also placing second in Gent–Wevelgem a week earlier. He was likely to share leadership of Etixx–Quick-Step with Zdeněk Štybar, who was also in good form with a victory at Strade Bianche and second place at E3 Harelbeke earlier in the classics campaign.


2015 Paris–Roubaix, Pre-race favourites
Former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins was riding the event as his final race for Team Sky before moving to his new WIGGINS squad to begin his preparations for a return to track racing at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He was expected to share leadership of Sky with Geraint Thomas, winner of E3 Harelbeke, and Ian Stannard, winner of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.


2015 Paris–Roubaix, Pre-race favourites
Other likely contenders for victory included Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL–Jumbo), the runner up in the 2013 edition of the race, John Degenkolb (Team Giant–Alpecin), the runner up of the 2014 edition, Lars Boom (Astana) who won Stage 5 of the 2014 Tour de France which featured some of the Paris–Roubaix cobble sectors, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff–Saxo).


2015 Paris–Roubaix, Controversy
The race was marred by controversy when it emerged that dozens of cyclists had unsafely crossed a level crossing while the barriers were down. Further cyclists were only stopped from crossing when a police motorcyclist intervened. Seconds later, an SNCF TGV high-speed train passed through the crossing.


2015 Paris–Roubaix, Controversy
The SNCF called for police to take action following the incident, stating that there could easily have been a tragedy.


2015 Paris–Tours
The 109th edition of the Paris–Tours cycling classic was held on 11 October 2015. The race was part of the 2015 UCI Europe Tour, ranked as a 1.HC event.


2015 Paris–Tours
Italian rider Matteo Trentin won the race in a three-man sprint with Belgians Tosh Van der Sande and Greg Van Avermaet. At an average speed of 49.64 km/h (30.84 mph), it was the fastest edition in the history of Paris–Tours, surpassing the previous record set by Marco Marcato in 2012, and thus earning Trentin the Ruban Jaune.


2015 Paris–Tours, Teams
Twenty-three teams started the race. Each team had a maximum of eight riders:


2015 Park Palace guesthouse attack
On 13 May 2015, three gunmen stormed the Park Palace guesthouse in Kabul, Afghanistan. The attack is believed to be part of the Taliban's annual spring offensive against NATO's presence in the country.


2015 Park Palace guesthouse attack, Background
Shortly before a concert was due to begin, three gunmen stormed the Park Palace Guest House in Kabul. The event was being attended primarily by foreign nationals from Turkey and India but with some US and European nationals in attendance as well. The guesthouse was likely targeted as part of the Taliban's common modus operandi to attack compounds hosting foreigners, which would not mark the first such attack by the Taliban in Afghanistan.


2015 Park Palace guesthouse attack, Background
Recent attacks targeting foreigners as well as the March 2015 arrest of a commander of what US and other officials formerly called the "Kabul Attack Network" had previously highlighted a potential for future targeting of foreign, particularly NATO-based nationals in the anticipated spring offensive launched annually by the Taliban. The Indian ambassador to Afghanistan, Amar Sinha, was also believe to be inside the hotel at the particular time, which may have made the location more high-profile.


2015 Park Palace guesthouse attack, Siege
Three gunmen entered as a party was being hosted in honour of a Canadian during a performance by an Indian national. A survivor of the attack who fled the premises initially gave media reports of up to forty foreigners possibly trapped inside, with Indian officials confirming at least six of their nationals at the guesthouse. Police officers had initially freed twenty individuals from inside the guesthouse, according to Afghan officials.


2015 Park Palace guesthouse attack, Siege
Norwegian special forces from Marinejegerkommandoen and Afghan security forces ended the operation shortly after midnight, killing the three assailants while rescuing over fifty people, including trapped guests and employees. Five deaths had initially been confirmed by Afghan security agencies, with the death toll rising to fourteen the next day as the hotel was searched for more persons. The highly respected American aid expert Paula Kantor lost her life shortly after the attack, due to her injuries.


2015 Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental Team season
The 2015 women's road cycling season was the second for the Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental Team as an UCI women's team and the third year for the team which began as Parkhotel Valkenburg p/y Math Salden in 2013.


2015 Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental Team season, Roster
As of 1 January 2015. Ages as of 1 January 2015.


2015 Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental Team season, UCI World Ranking
The 2015 UCI Women's Road Rankings are rankings based upon the results in all UCI-sanctioned races of the 2015 women's road cycling season.


2015 Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental Team season, UCI World Ranking
Parkhotel Valkenburg finished 20th in the 2015 ranking for UCI teams.


2015 Parramatta Eels season
The 2015 Parramatta Eels season is the 69th in the club's history. Coached by Brad Arthur and captained by Tim Mannah, they are competing in the NRL's 2015 Telstra Premiership.


2015 Parramatta shooting
On 2 October 2015, Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar, a 15-year-old boy, shot and killed Curtis Cheng, an unarmed police civilian finance worker, outside the New South Wales Police Force headquarters in Parramatta, Sydney, Australia. Jabar was subsequently shot and killed by special constables who were protecting the headquarters. As of 27 April 2016, four other men have been charged in relation to the shooting, among whom Raban Alou was convicted of terrorism offences in March 2018.


2015 Parramatta shooting
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione described the event as a politically motivated act of terrorism.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Background
In the days leading up to the shooting, police reported that there had been an increase of "chatter" about a potential attack occurring. An alert had been circulated to all police, ordering them to wear their firearms on them at all times, even at their desk. Police are believed to have had intelligence of a potential attack on the Parramatta headquarters up to 12 months prior, although it was unknown if that was linked to 2 October 2015 incident. In the days before the shooting, police and security officers had seen an individual taking photographs of the entrance to Police Headquarters.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Shooting
On 2 October 2015, a 15-year-old boy carried a S&W .38 revolver to the street outside NSW Police Headquarters at Parramatta, walking past an unarmed plainclothes female detective. At 4:30 p.m., the assailant killed 58-year-old unarmed police civilian accountant Curtis Cheng as he was walking out of the building. The shooter remained at the scene and continued firing into the police headquarters. He was shot dead by one of three special constables who responded to the shooting.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Perpetrator
Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar (25 January 2000 – 2 October 2015), an Iranian-born boy of Iraqi Kurdish background, was identified as the shooter. He was not known to police, and just prior to the attack he had visited a local mosque, where he listened to a lecture by extremist Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. A report by Peter Lloyd on PM argued that Jabar had visited Bukhari House, which promotes the views of Feiz Mohammad.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Perpetrator
Jabar lived in North Parramatta and was a Year 10 student at Arthur Phillip High School. He was in the same year as a student who in 2014 flew an ISIL flag through Western Sydney. He was described by classmates as quiet, often upset-looking, solitary, obedient, humble, occasionally bullied, and good at basketball. His neighbours called him a "normal" kid.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Perpetrator
Investigations into Jabar's motivations for the attack were ongoing, but it is suspected "there was some influence" that was of an ideological, religious, or political nature.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Perpetrator
Jabar was buried in the Islamic section of Rookwood Cemetery.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Aftermath
ABC News reported that Farhad Jabar's older sister, Shadi Jabar Khalil Mohammad, went missing on 1 October and may have flown out of the country to Istanbul. It was subsequently reported that she was thought to be in Syria. In May 2016 the Australian Government was advised by the US Government that she had been killed by a US air-strike on 22 April 2016 in al Bab, near Aleppo in Syria.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Aftermath
Cheng's funeral was held at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney on 17 October 2015. The service was attended by his family, senior politicians and police officers, and 1500 mourners. A guard of honour lined the cathedral steps and the road outside.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Aftermath
In November 2015 the Four Corners TV program ran an episode entitled Plan of Attack: The making of a teenage terrorist which documented the chronology of related events prior to the Parramatta shooting. The program covered the roles of: Abdul Nacer Benbrika, Faheem Khalid Lodhi, Khaled Sharrouf, Jihadi Jake and detailed the 2005 Sydney terrorism plot, the Holsworthy Barracks terror plot and the 2014 Endeavour Hills stabbings.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Aftermath
Jabar's older brother, his wife and daughter said they intended to move back to Iraq. Subsequently, they left Australia.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Aftermath, Terrorism charges
On 4 October 2015, police raided the Parramatta mosque. It was reported that Farhad Jabar would frequently skip school to attend prayers at the mosque.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Aftermath, Terrorism charges
On 6 October 2015, police arrested another student of Arthur Phillip High School for allegedly posting offensive and threatening material on Facebook in support of the shooting. On the next morning, 200 counter-terrorism police raided four homes near Parramatta and arrested four males. Three of the four males were later released.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Aftermath, Terrorism charges
On 15 October 2015, police re-arrested, and charged, Talal Alameddine, 22, with supplying a firearm, breaching a firearms prohibition order and hindering police. Almeddine was one of the three previously released.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Aftermath, Terrorism charges
In January 2016 new charges of being members of a terrorist group were laid against three men, in connection with Cheng's murder. The men are being held in Goulburn jail, with bail being refused.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Aftermath, Terrorism charges
On 27 April 2016 a fourth person, Milad Atai, was charged in relation to the shooting. He was charged with "providing support to a terrorist organisation" for allegedly aiding the travel of Jabar's sister to Syria. Atai has since been charged with planning the attack.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Aftermath, Terrorism charges
Raban Alou, 18, held since 6 October, was charged with aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring the commission of a terrorist act. Counter-terrorism sources have said that the case against Raban and Alameddine was circumstantial. In a court case during which the judge warned Alou that refusal to stand for the court could have consequences for sentencing, Alou pleaded guilty to "aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring the commission of a terrorist act" and was sentenced to 44 years in prison.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Reactions
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Jabar appears to have committed a politically motivated act of terrorism. Muslim community leader Dr Jamal Rifi put out a statement, saying, "The horrible attack in Parramatta is a cold blooded murder with no justification or excuses. ... We need to work collaboratively tackling radicalisation among the youth with federal and state governments."


2015 Parramatta shooting, Reactions
On 13 October 2015, the New South Wales government requested legal changes to allow control orders on people aged 14 and over. George Brandis the Attorney-General for Australia agreed to the changes. The same day, Malcolm Turnbull, Bill Shorten and Richard Di Natale attended a press conference for an interfaith group called National Day of Unity.


2015 Parramatta shooting, Reactions
The chairman of Parramatta mosque gave a speech during Friday prayers on 9 October 2015 saying "We reject terrorism." The Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, condemned the shooting but refused to call the incident an act of terror without "more information" and until "it's proven to be a terrorist act". A statement by the Australian Federal Police to the ABC's Media Watch program said that "emotive headlines" in sensationalised news reports can "help extremists amplify their deliberate strategy to incite fear and hate."


2015 Parti Québécois leadership election
The 2015 Parti Québécois leadership election was held from May 13 to May 15, 2015 as a result of the resignation of Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois after the defeat of her government in the April 7, 2014 provincial election.


2015 Parti Québécois leadership election, Procedure
The election was conducted using a one member, one vote formula. Each member of the Parti Quebecois was allowed to vote by phone or on the web from May 13 until May 15. If there is not a majority for a candidate (50% +1) on the first ballot, there will be a run-off ballot between the two candidates who had the most votes on the first ballot. If a second ballot was required, it would have been held from May 20 until May 22.


2015 Parti Québécois leadership election, Procedure
To be nominated, a candidate needed to collect 2,000 signatures aggregated from 50 ridings, in 10 regions and pay $20,000 to be listed on the first ballot. If there were a second ballot, candidates would have had to pay an additional $5,000. The spending limit was $400,000. A proposal to allow a vote open to non-members was defeated.


2015 Parti Québécois leadership election, Declared candidates, Alexandre Cloutier
MNA for Lac-Saint-Jean (2007–present), Minister for Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, the Canadian Francophonie and Sovereignist Governance (2012–2014).


2015 Parti Québécois leadership election, Declared candidates, Martine Ouellet
MNA for Vachon (2010–present), Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife (2012–2014). An engineer by training.


2015 Parti Québécois leadership election, Declared candidates, Pierre Karl Péladeau
MNA for Saint-Jérôme (2014–present), principal shareholder and former president and CEO of Québecor Inc.


2015 Parti Québécois leadership election, Withdrawn candidates, Pierre Céré
Spokesperson for the Conseil national des chômeurs, PQ activist and 2014 candidate in Laurier-Dorion.


2015 Parti Québécois leadership election, Withdrawn candidates, Bernard Drainville
MNA for Marie-Victorin (2007–present), Minister responsible for Democratic Institutions and Active Citizenship (2012–2014) and the main architect and defender of the Quebec Charter of Values. former Radio-Canada journalist.


2015 Parti Québécois leadership election, Withdrawn candidates, Jean-François Lisée
MNA for Rosemont (2012–present), Minister of International Relations, La Francophonie and External Trade (2012–2014), former journalist and professor.


2015 Party of Free Citizens leadership election
The Party of Free Citizens leadership election of 2015 was held on 23 November 2015. The incumbent leader Petr Mach was reelected. 574 members of the party voted. Mach received 2 thirds of votes.


2015 Party of Free Citizens leadership election
Petr Mach ran for reelection. Petr Hampl was considered his main rival. Hampl was considered far-right candidate. Hampl suggested prior voting that Mach might falsify the result. Other candidates included Roman Kříž and Miloslav Bednář. Mach won the election and Hampl came third. Hampl then left the party which pleased Mach.


2015 Patna Pirates season, Fixtures and Results, Points Table
Source: (C) Champion; (R) Runners-up; (3) Third Place; (4) Fourth Place.


2015 Patriot League Baseball Tournament
The 2015 Patriot League Baseball Tournament took place on consecutive weekends, with the semifinals held May 9–10 and the finals May 16–17. The higher seeded teams hosted each best of three series. Lehigh won their second tournament championship to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.