2015 Tour de France, Race overview, Alps and finale
Bardet moved up to tenth overall and became joint first with Rodríguez in the mountains classification, displacing Froome. In the Tour's queen stage, nineteenth, Nibali broke away from the general classification group close to the summit of the Col de la Croix de Fer to bridge and pass the breakaway group and win at La Toussuire - Les Sybelles. Quintana came in second, forty-four seconds later, with Froome coming in a further thirty.


2015 Tour de France, Race overview, Alps and finale
In the Tour's penultimate stage, a select group of riders attacked on the Col de la Croix de Fer and made it to the finish on Alpe d’Huez, where they met the disintegrate early breakaway. Pinot attacked passed the breakaways to take the victory ahead of the encroaching Quintana, who came in second after attacking the chasing general classification group on the Alpe. Quintana gained a margin of eighty seconds over Froome, but it was not enough and had to settle for second place overall.


2015 Tour de France, Race overview, Alps and finale
The final stage in Paris was won by Greipel, his fourth victory of this year's Tour. Froome finished the race to claim his second Tour de France, becoming the first British rider to win the race on two occasions. He beat second-placed Quintana by seventy-two seconds, with his Movistar Team teammate Alejandro Valverde third. Froome also claimed the mountains classification, the first time a rider had won both since Eddy Merckx in 1970.


2015 Tour de France, Race overview, Alps and finale
Although he failed to win any stages during the race, Sagan won his fourth consecutive points classification with a total of 432, 66 ahead of Greipel in second. The best young rider was Quintana, followed by Bardet and Team Giant–Alpecin's Warren Barguil, respectively. Movistar Team finished as the winners of the team classification, over fifty-seven minutes ahead of second-placed Team Sky. Of the 198 starters, 160 reached the finish of the last stage in Paris.


2015 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
There were four main individual classifications contested in the 2015 Tour de France, as well as a team competition. The most important was the general classification, which was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage. Time bonuses (time subtracted) returned to the Tour for the first time since the 2008 edition. For all stage finishes, excluding the two time trial stages, the three first finishers of stages earned bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds respectively.


2015 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
Of the reintroduction, race director Christian Prudhomme said: "We want to open up the race, we want the race to be decided on any day of the Tour." If a crash had happened within the final 3 km (1.9 mi) of a stage, not including time trials and summit finishes, the riders involved would have received the same time as the group they were in when the crash occurred. The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Tour.


2015 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The rider leading the classification wore a yellow jersey. Rain on the final stage forced the final times of the general classification to be taken on the first crossing of the finish line before the ten laps of the cobbled Champs-Élysées. Riders were required to cross the finish line on the final lap to receive their times.


2015 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The second classification was the points classification. Riders received points for finishing among the highest placed in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints during the stage. The points system was also changed. A stage win was worth 50 points instead of 45, second place awarded 30 instead of 35 and third 20 instead of 30. The sprint points rule change aimed to make a stage win more valuable. The points available for each stage finish were determined by the stage's type.


2015 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The new system was in effect only on the Tour's six stages classified as flat (stages 2, 5, 6, 7, 15 and 21). On seven stages (the cobble stage and six hillier stages, namely stages 3, 4, 8, 10, 13, 14 and 16) the rider who won received 30 points, 25 for the second rider, and so on. For the mountain stages (stages 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20) and the individual time trial (stage 1), the winner received 20 points. No points were awarded for the team time trial on stage nine. The leader was identified by a green jersey.


2015 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The third classification was the mountains classification. Points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit of the most difficult climbs first. The climbs were categorised as fourth-, third-, second-, first-category and hors catégorie, with the more difficult climbs rated lower. Double points were awarded on the summit finishes on stages 10, 12, 17, 19 and 20. The leader wore a white jersey with red polka dots.


2015 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The final individual classification was the young rider classification. This was calculated the same way as the general classification, but the classification was restricted to riders who were born on or after 1 January 1990. The leader wore a white jersey.


2015 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The final classification was a team classification. This was calculated using the finishing times of the best three riders per team on each stage, excluding the team time trial; the leading team was the team with the lowest cumulative time. The number of stage victories and placings per team determined the outcome of a tie. The riders in the team that lead this classification were identified with yellow number bibs on the back of their jerseys and yellow helmets.


2015 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
In addition, there was a combativity award given after each stage to the rider considered, by a jury, to have "made the greatest effort and who has demonstrated the best qualities of sportsmanship". No combativity awards were given for the time trials and the final stage. The winner wore a red number bib the following stage. At the conclusion of the Tour, Romain Bardet won the overall super-combativity award, again, decided by a jury.


2015 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
A total of €2,030,150 was awarded in cash prizes in the race. The overall winner of the general classification received €450,000, with the second and third placed riders got €200,000 and €100,000 respectively. All finishers of the race were awarded with money. The holders of the classifications benefited on each stage they led;  the final winners of the points and mountains were given €25,000, while the best young rider and most combative rider got €20,000. Team prizes were available, with €10,000 for the winner of team time trial and €50,000 for the winners of the team classification.


2015 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
€8,000 was given to the winners of each stage of the race. There were also two special awards each with a prize of €5000, the Souvenir Jacques Goddet, given to the first rider to pass Goddet's memorial at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet in stage eleven, and the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, given in honour of Tour founder Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col du Galibier in stage twenty. Due to a route change the Souvenir Henri Desgrange was replaced with the Col d'Allos in stage seventeen. Rafał Majka won the Jacques Goddet and Simon Geschke won the Henri Desgrange.


2015 Tour de France, UCI World Tour rankings
Riders from the WorldTeams competing individually, as well as for their teams and nations, for points that contributed towards the World Tour rankings. Points were awarded to the top twenty finishers in the general classification and to the top five finishers in each stage. The 238 points accrued by Chris Froome moved him up to second in the individual ranking, behind Alejandro Valverde. Despite Movistar Team's strong showing, Team Sky took over the lead of the team ranking due to Froome's points. With three riders in the top ten, Spain remained the leaders of the nation ranking.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11
The 2015 Tour de France was the 102nd edition of the race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour started in Utrecht, Netherlands on 4 July and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 26 July. On 13 July, between stages nine and ten there was a rest day in Pau.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
The Tour began on 4 July in the Netherlands, with an individual time trial that started and finished at Jaarbeurs, Utrecht. Because of its length, it did not qualify as a prologue. The course, which featured 20 turns and two roundabouts (traffic circles), was flat and mildly technical.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
The first rider off the start ramp was Daniel Teklehaimanot of MTN–Qhubeka, who became the first black African to compete in a Tour de France. Jos van Emden of LottoNL–Jumbo set the first good benchmark time, clocking in at 15' 11". He remained atop the leaderboard until Rohan Dennis of BMC Racing Team took over with a time of 14' 56". Dennis, who had clocked an average speed of 55.446 km/h (34.5 mph), held on to win the stage and became the first yellow jersey wearer of the race.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
With his performance, he established a new record for average speed in a Tour de France individual time trial. Tony Martin of Etixx–Quick-Step took second, finishing five seconds behind Dennis. Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), who came into the event with five previous Tour de France opening time trial victories, finished six seconds off Dennis' time and took third.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
In the battle for the general classification, Thibaut Pinot of FDJ had one of the best times among the favorites for overall classification, 41 seconds behind Dennis, despite not having a reputation as a good time trialist. Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) also set good times, finishing one and two seconds behind Pinot, respectively.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
This flat stage started in Utrecht. The riders rode underneath the Dom Tower and then went to De Meern. The race headed through Gouda before an intermediate sprint in Rotterdam. The peloton continued west through Spijkenisse and Hellevoetsluis, before crossing Haringvliet and Grevelingen. The finish was on Neeltje Jans, an artificial island at the entrance to the Scheldt estuary, in the province of Zeeland. Cycling commentators suggested before the race that strong winds off the sea could have a major impact, potentially splitting the peloton into echelons.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
Before the start, at km 0, an honorary start in Utrecht, which involved the playing of the French and Dutch national anthems in the presence of Jan van Zanen, Mayor of Utrecht, Christian Prudhomme, the race director and cycling legends Bernard Hinault and Joop Zoetemelk.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
After the ceremonies, the race begun, and a breakaway formed, which consisted of Team Europcar's Bryan Nauleau, Jan Barta of Bora–Argon 18, Stef Clement representing IAM Cycling and Bretagne–Séché Environnement's Armindo Fonseca. The quartet weren't allowed a significant time gap, however, with their maximum lead over the peloton remaining below three minutes throughout the stage. At the intermediate sprint in Rotterdam, won by Barta, their lead was a mere 30". Whilst he, Clement and Fonesca desperately tried to continue riding before the yellow jersey group, they were caught with 62 km (39 mi) to go.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
It was then that the race headed towards the open sea, and large echelons were formed. The riders were split into three groups, however the last two of those eventually merged. When the situation became clear, 2nd and 3rd placed Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara, sprinters Mark Cavendish and André Greipel and GC favourites Alberto Contador, Chris Froome and Tejay van Garderen were all shown to be in the first group, whilst leader Rohan Dennis and other GC favourites Vincenzo Nibali, Nairo Quintana, Joaquim Rodríguez and Thibaut Pinot were all in the second group. Thanks to work from world champion Michał Kwiatkowski (who later received the combativity award for his work), Team Sky, Tinkoff–Saxo and BMC Racing Team, the gap continued to increase, eventually reaching over one minute. This was a clear blow to the chances of those caught in the second group.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
During the sprint finish, Cavendish had his leadout man Mark Renshaw helping him. However, as Cavendish later said, Renshaw got out of the way too early making for a long sprint. This allowed Greipel, Sagan and Cancellara to catch up. Greipel later won a very close sprint finish, with Sagan second and Cancellara third. Cavendish gave up towards the end and came fourth. Had he continued, and come in third, his teammate Tony Martin would have taken the yellow jersey. Instead, the time bonus for his position was sufficient to grant the yellow jersey to Cancellara. Eventually, the second group arrived 1'28" behind the winners.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
The tour moved to Belgium for the third stage, starting in Antwerp and ending in Huy. The stage proper began at the end of the neutral zone in Boechout, south-west of Antwerp, and continued through Lierre, Aarschot, Tienen and Hannut. Andenne was followed quickly by the first climb of the tour, which was the category 4 Côte de Bohissau. Following a sprint at Havelange, the tour went over the category 4 Côte de Ereffe and the Côte de Cherave on the outskirts of Huy. The stage finished on the category 3 Mur de Huy, a 1.3 km (0.81 mi) climb with a maximum gradient of 19% in the final few hundred metres.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
Like in the previous stage, the day's breakaway was formed immediately after the start. Bryan Nauleau and Jan Barta were in it again, like the day before, joined by Martin Elmiger representing IAM Cycling and MTN–Qhubeka's Serge Pauwels, again making a quartet. This time, they were allowed a slightly bigger lead, as it reached four minutes before the peloton began the chase. Barta won the most combative rider of the day award.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
As they were being caught, and when the peloton was getting ready to tackle the first climb of the Tour at full speed, (the Côte de Bohisseau) a huge crash occurred in the field. Among those who went down were leader Fabian Cancellara, third placed Tom Dumoulin who was also the leader of the young rider's classification, William Bonnet and Simon Gerrans. The peloton was initially neutralized to allow those riders to catch up so that the riders could come back to the peloton, before being completely stopped at the foot of the ascent. The cause for this was the lack of ambulances and the doctor, who were all busy treating the injured riders. Bonnet, Gerrans and Dumoulin abandoned, soon followed by Dmitry Kozontchuk. Once the race restarted, the Bohissau climb was neutralised.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
Green jersey holder André Greipel took full points at the intermediate sprint in Havelange, before the climbs of the fourth category Côte d'Ereffe and Côte de Cherave. None of these caused major losses from the GC contenders, although the Cherave did slightly split the bunch. Cancellara was already far back, experiencing the effects from his crash, ensuring a loss of the yellow jersey. On the Mur de Huy, the favourites came to the fore, and it was Joaquim Rodríguez who attacked with 400 m (1,312 ft) to go, ensuring a stage victory for himself. Chris Froome came second, and later took the yellow jersey as Cancellara came in almost twelve minutes after the winner. He gained time over his GC rivals. Later, Froome said, "I didn’t wake up today thinking I was going to be in yellow," and, "That was a real surprise there."


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
Later in the evening, it was revealed that Cancellara had suffered two transverse process fractures in two vertebrae in his lower back. He abandoned the race.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
The fourth stage was the Tour's first entry into France as the peloton covered seven sectors of pavé on the way to Cambrai.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
This flat stage departed from Seraing heading west through Huy, to Namur, where the riders faced the category 4 Côte de la Citadelle de Namur. The riders passed around the northern outskirts of Charleroi, through Sombreffe and over the first section of cobbles between Pont-à-Celles and Gouy-lez-Piéton. The race then continued towards the south-east to Binche, before an intermediate sprint at Havay. Three-quarters of the way through the stage, after passing through Le Quesnoy, where the race turned north-west, the six remaining sections of pavé followed. Sector 6 arrived before reaching Famars, where the riders turned south-west. Sectors 5 and 4 followed before the turn south-east at Saulzoir. The riders then did have a tarmac surface to Saint-Python. Sectors 3, 2 and 1 then all occurred on the way west to Carnières. The riders then returned to the tarmac surface to the finish line at Cambrai.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
At the start, a special ceremony was held involving the king of Belgium, Philippe. Once the race got underway, another four-rider breakaway was formed. It consisted of Astana's Lieuwe Westra, Thomas de Gendt of Lotto–Soudal, Perrig Quémeneur representing Team Europcar and Bretagne–Séché Environnement's Frédéric Brun. Due to the length of the stage, the riders were allowed a bigger time gap—nine minutes before Team Giant–Alpecin started the pursuit. At the intermediate sprint in Havay, which De Gendt won, the time gap was down to two minutes. Whilst they made it through the first cobbled section together, the peloton continued to speed up, and they were caught before the third sector.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
In sector 4 (the first of four sectors, counting down to one) the group split into two. Fifty riders were left in the main group, which included most of the general classification favorites. The only main rider missing was Thibaut Pinot, who not only lost in the split, he also had to stop twice for equipment changes and ended up losing 3' 23" to the stage winner. Vincenzo Nibali attacked three times on the cobbled sectors, but to no avail other than getting him the most combative rider award.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
None of the other cobbled sectors were sufficient to split the leaders, who prepared for a sprint finish, with riders such as Peter Sagan and John Degenkolb (winner of the cobbled classic Paris-Roubaix earlier in the year) being seen as the most likely to win. With 3.1 km (2 mi) to go, however, Tony Martin attacked. Whilst his lead reached a maximum of a few seconds, the team of race leader Chris Froome, Team Sky, were happy to give him the yellow jersey.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
Thus, with only Team Giant–Alpecin chasing, Martin managed to stay ahead of the bunch with a 3" advantage, taking the stage and the yellow jersey. It was seen as finally turning his luck, as he had been in second place since the start of the Tour, with time gaps of 5", 3" and 1" after each stage and to a different leader. He later said to the organisers, "It's a super nice story and it makes me super happy," and, "I'm pretty sure to stay in yellow until the Pyrenees".


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
The first full stage in France covered a relatively flat course. Expected to be the first proper stage for sprinters, the stage began in Arras and headed north to the outskirts of Lens, before turning south to head through Croisilles and Bertincourt, and on to an intermediate sprint at Rancourt. The peloton turned west at Peronne taking a circuitous route to Albert and on south to Lamotte-Warfusée. The race then continued west into Amiens.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
The stage was dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who lost their lives during World War I, with sites such as the Arras Memorial, the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, the British cemetery of Sailly-Saillisel, Rancourt Necropolis (as mentioned, home of the intermediate sprint), the Museum of the Great War, the Longueval cemetery of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Delville Wood South African National Memorial, the Franco-British memorial at Thiepval and the Villers–Bretonneux Australian National Memorial being visited during the stage.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
It was a rainy and windy day on this stage of the Tour. At the beginning of the race, Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) and Pierre-Luc Périchon (Bretagne–Séché Environnement) escaped. Edet soon folded back to the bunch, leaving Périchon in the headwind alone. Meanwhile, crashes were occurring in the bunch, notably one that forced Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) out of the race after aggravating injuries sustained in the French National Road Race Championships. After some minor gaps, a definite split was caused by the crosswinds, catching out Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale–Garmin) and Team Sky's riders Richie Porte and Peter Kennaugh. This group would ultimately come in 14' 15" in arrears.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
Périchon was caught with 96 km (60 mi) to cover and nobody tried his luck from that point. A bunch sprint organized itself with all the main sprinters present. André Greipel of Lotto–Soudal won it to bank his second victory at this Tour de France, with second place belonging to Peter Sagan (Tinkoff–Saxo) who made a late surge for the line. Mark Cavendish (Etixx–Quick-Step) rounded off the podium. The "most combative" award was given to Michael Matthews (Orica–GreenEDGE), who fought on to finish the stage despite riding with two broken ribs. Tony Martin's (Etixx–Quick-Step) overall lead was unchanged.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
“It was quite an interesting sprint as no one of the sprinters had a real lead-out man in the last 400 metres,” Greipel said after the stage. “So everybody had to time the sprint somehow and find the right position.”


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
The stage departed from Abbeville and headed west to Dieppe, which was followed quickly by two category 4 climbs, the Côte de Dieppe and the Côte de Pourville-sur-Mer. The peloton then continued west along the English Channel coast to Saint-Valery-en-Caux, then on to Fécamp, which was followed by an intermediate sprint at Saint-Léonard. The race continued to Étretat, which was followed quickly by the category 4 climb of the Côte de Tilleul. The peloton continued south along the coast to Sainte-Adresse on the outskirts of Le Havre. This stage did not have a typical sprint finish, as there was an incline up to the finish line in Le Havre.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
The day's breakaway was formed not too long after the start, and consisted of Team Europcar's Perrig Quémeneur, Cofidis' Kenneth Vanbilsen and Daniel Teklehaimanot of MTN–Qhubeka. The peloton, recovering from the crashes in the previous stages, had a rather slow speed, and thus the trio of riders were allowed a lead which topped 12'30" before Lotto–Soudal started pursuit. Teklehaimanot took the available points at the three climbs which meant he took the polka-dot jersey as leader of the mountains classification, becoming the first black African to do so.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
Towards the end, the breakaway split, with Vanbilsen trying an attack for the day's combativity award (it actually went to Quémeneur). Quémeneur and Teklehaimanot were caught with 10 km (6 mi) to go, whilst the Cofidis rider still had an advantage of 25". He was ultimately caught with 3 km (2 mi) to go and the peloton prepared for a finish.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
The stage finished on a short incline (850 metres at an average 7%), then there was 500 m (1,640 ft) of flat terrain to the line. With about 900 m (2,953 ft) to go, a crash occurred in the peloton, causing race leader Tony Martin and general classification favorite Vincenzo Nibali to fall. Zdeněk Štybar took advantage of this, as he jumped from the peloton amidst all the confusion and took a stage win, finishing two seconds ahead of the group. Peter Sagan was left in the chasing position behind, but refused to take on the workload as there were teams with more than one unit in the group. He finished second.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
Štybar later said "I have mixed feelings after winning this stage because Tony Martin crashed". In the evening, it was announced that Martin suffered a broken collarbone and would be unable to start the next stage, as he was flying to Hamburg for surgery.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
The riders departed from Livarot, the first time the commune was used for the start or finish of a stage, in another stage for the sprinters. The race quickly headed over the category 4 Côte de Canapville and on through Vimoutiers and Argentan, where an intermediate sprint took place. After heading south-west to Saint-Martin-des-Landes, the peloton then headed west through Lassay-les-Chateaux, Ambrières-les-Vallées and Gorron before heading into Fougeres. After his crash the day before, the leader Tony Martin had to withdraw from the race, meaning no-one wore the yellow jersey in this stage.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
Before the stage, number one general classification rider Froome said: "Out of respect for Tony I would never have worn it in any case. That's not the way to get the yellow jersey, due to someone else's misfortunes." There was another non-starter, Greg Henderson of Lotto–Soudal, because of two broken ribs.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
The stage was disputed under good weather conditions. During the neutral zone before the start, Alberto Contador and Robert Gesink of LottoNL–Jumbo went down on the asphalt but didn't sustain any injuries. Once the flag was dropped to start the race, five riders came through as the day's breakaway – the mountains classification leader Daniel Teklehaimanot, Kristijan Đurasek of Lampre–Merida, Cofidis' Luis Ángel Maté and two riders from the local Bretagne–Séché Environnement team – Anthony Delaplace and Brice Feillu. Teklehaimanot took full points on the only categorised climb of the day.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
Meanwhile, Lotto–Soudal and Etixx–Quick-Step heavily controlled the pace of the peloton, in an attempt for their sprinters to try and fight for the stage. Thus, the breakaway's lead only topped four minutes. Despite this, the five at the front proved very difficult to catch, as they were caught with only 11 km (7 mi) until the finish.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
At the finish, Mark Cavendish, André Greipel, Peter Sagan and John Degenkolb all went for the final sprint, and were practically neck and neck until the finish, when Cavendish caught Greipel's slipstream and took his 26th success at the tour, and his first for nearly two years. Greipel managed second and Sagan took third. The 'Manx Missile', as Cavendish is known, dedicated the victory to his teammate Tony Martin, who was recuperating from a collarbone operation. Froome regained the yellow jersey. After the stage, it was announced that Luca Paolini (Team Katusha) had tested positive for cocaine and was excluded from the race.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
The peloton headed out of Rennes with racing officially starting at Montgermont, heading north-west to Bécherel, west to Saint-Méen-le-Grand, and then north-west again to Plénée-Jugon. This was followed by the category 4 Col du Mont Bel-Air and an intermediate sprint at Moncontour. The race then headed south through Loudéac to Rohan and turned west to Neulliac. The peloton continued to Mûr-de-Bretagne, travelling through the commune before arriving at the final climb for the day. The category 3 climb of Mûr-de-Bretagne, up to the finish line, was 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) at a gradient of 6.9%.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
Four riders attacked at km 0 and became the day's breakaway. These riders were Pierre-Luc Périchon of Bretagne–Séché Environnement, Bartosz Huzarski of Bora–Argon 18, IAM Cycling's Sylvain Chavanel and Romain Sicard of Team Europcar. Their maximum lead reached four minutes before Lotto–Soudal took up pursuit at the head of the peloton. At the intermediate sprint, a group of 17 riders went clear of the peloton. They joined the initial breakaway, before Huzarski attacked again, this time taking Lotto–Soudal's Lars Bak and Etixx–Quick-Step's Michał Gołaś with him. The lead of these riders reached 1'12". Huzarski (the recipient of the day's combativity award) gave up with 10 km (6 mi) to go, but Bak and Gołaś continued fighting. However, they only managed to last another 2 km (1 mi) before being brought back by the peloton.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
At the Mûr-de-Bretagne, Froome led the peloton, but was unable to keep going for a stage victory, as Alexis Vuillermoz attacked with 800 m (2,625 ft) to go and managed to take the stage victory for himself It was the first French triumph in this year's Tour. He later said "After winning I thought about my dad who died three years ago. He was the one who got me interested in the Tour de France, he used to take my cousins and I to the side of the road to watch the Tour go past," said Vuillermoz.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
"I hope today he’s proud of me." Dan Martin came in second position, after trying an attack but leaving it until too late. Nibali lost ten seconds to all GC contenders, and later said "I had a bad day. I felt good at the beginning of the stage but at the end, I couldn’t feel anything anymore, I didn’t have any legs anymore." Peter Sagan grabbed the green jersey by three points as André Greipel didn't feature in the finish.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
After the stage, the UCI proceeded to randomly check five riders' bicycles for hidden motors as a part of the mandatory control efforts. All passed inspection as nothing was found.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
There had not been a team time trial (TTT) this late into the Tour de France since 1982. TTT stages in the Tour usually take place in opening days because of the likelihood that all of the team's riders would still be participating. The teams started in the reverse order that they were placed in the team classification, with the exception of the team which included the general classification leader, which was Chris Froome's Team Sky, who started last.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
In this stage, the teams had to have five riders crossing the finish line, and the time of this fifth cyclist was the one that counted. The teams departed from Vannes, heading north-east to the first time check at Lesneve on the outskirt of Saint-Avé, bearing north through Monterblanc and on to the second time check at Le Croiseau on the outskirt of Plaudren. The end of the stage provided a 1.7 km (1.1 mi) climb up the Côte de Cadoudal at an average gradient of 6.2%, before the finish in Plumelec.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
Orica–GreenEDGE were the first to start, but only had six riders left and put in the worst performance, with a time of 37'13". Simon Yates called it a "rest day" and told the press he did not go over 75% of his capabilities during the stage. The next team to start, Bretagne–Séché Environnement beat them, with a time of 34'01". Lampre–Merida were the next leaders, after going 58" faster than the French team, before being beaten by Vincenzo Nibali's Astana, who arrived in a time of 32'50".


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
Twenty minutes later, Nairo Quintana's Movistar Team took the reins at the finish, before being beaten by BMC Racing Team, who were four seconds faster. Leader Chris Froome's Team Sky, who struggled to maintain a five-men group together at the end of the stage, finished a mere second after the Americans, who took a stage win. Tinkoff–Saxo had a chance to earn the yellow jersey for Peter Sagan, but instead came in fourth with a time deficit of 28 seconds on BMC.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
Cannondale–Garmin came in with a 1' 29" deficit, which could prove difficult to overcome for their leader Andrew Talansky, now sitting in 19th position in the overall classification at 4' 17". Froome kept the yellow jersey with an advantage of twelve seconds over Tejay van Garderen. Van Garderen later said "We knew we were on a really good ride," and "In a perfect world, we would have taken the stage and the yellow jersey. But we will take the stage win. Honestly, I couldn't be happier."


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Rest day 1
The riders transferred to Pau for the rest day. Ivan Basso of the Tinkoff–Saxo team announced that he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and that he was withdrawing from the race. His road captain, Alberto Contador, was emotional when talking to the press and Basso received support from a number of people including Lance Armstrong. Basso made the announcement in English to the media: "I have a bad announcement to give to you guys.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Rest day 1
On stage 5, I had a really small crash but in the crash I touched my testicle on the saddle and for a few days, I felt a small pain. Yesterday we spoke with the doctor of the Tour de France and we decided to go to make a special analysis in the hospital and the examination gave me bad news. I have a small cancer in the left testicle."


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Rest day 1
About the race, race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky) said: "This first week, the big thing was not to lose any time. So to gain quite substantial amounts of time, that is the dream scenario. I have my team to thank for that. They have been there every step of the way, after all these one-day Classics I couldn’t be in a better position."


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Rest day 1
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff–Saxo) did not lament his time deficit: "We’ll see how everyone is in the mountains. I believe that a lot is still to happen in this Tour and everybody will have días malos, bad days. Hopefully we will have none,” said the Spaniard. "This Tour will be won by regularity and I hope that this favours me."


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Rest day 1
Nairo Quintana of Movistar Team was sitting ninth on the general classification at 1' 59" and reflected: "The roster is still full, with a couple of crashes yet with no major complications, and performing really well, as everyone could see yesterday in the team time trial. I think that the Pyrenees, with Alejandro and all of them by my side, will be a good opportunity to turn things around in our favour."


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Rest day 1
Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) said about the mountains to come: "I don’t think my strength is going to be flying up the road and dropping people like Quintana and Contador, my strength is going to be my consistency," said the American. "In the Pyrenees I’m going to have to mark the guys who are important and take the opportunity if it’s there."


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Rest day 1
Vincenzo Nibali of the Astana squad was shocked by the news of his fellow countryman Basso's cancer. He nonetheless talked about the upcoming race in those terms: "I want to see if the real Nibali is around. More than anything, I want some answers for myself. I still haven’t felt as good as I did last year, I hope it happens starting from tomorrow (Tuesday). Will I attack? We’ll see.... If there’s a chance, why not?"


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
Bastille Day featured the first mountainous stage of the 2015 Tour, departing from Tarbes, with racing officially starting at Bordères-sur-l'Échez. The peloton travelled west through Morlaàs, over the category 4 Côte de Bougarber to Mourenx, and then over the category 4 Côte de Vielleségure to Navarrenx. The peloton then headed south-west to Mauléon-Licharre, then south to a sprint at Trois-Villes and on to Tardets-Sorholus.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
The race then turned east and headed over the category 4 Côte de Montory to Arette, before turning south once again to begin the Hors catégorie 15.3 kilometres (9.5 mi) climb up to La Pierre-Saint-Martin at 1,610 metres (5,280 ft). The average gradient of this first major climb of the Tour is 7.4%.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
Pierrick Fédrigo (Bretagne–Séché Environnement) broke away first and was joined after 45 km (28 mi) of racing by Kenneth Vanbilsen (Cofidis). They amassed the points at the intermediate sprint, but the battle got heated after their passage with André Greipel winning the sprint. He would eventually take back the green jersey from Sagan. Shortly after the beginning of the final climb, the break was swept up by the leading group. The climb had barely started when polkadot jersey wearer Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN–Qhubeka) was dropped, along with Kwiatkowski. Soon, Thibaut Pinot and Jean-Christophe Péraud, the third and second overall of last year's Tour respectively were distanced too.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
A select group of twelve riders resisted with 10 km (6 mi) to cover, at which point Nibali was distanced. Chris Froome (Team Sky) attacked with 6.4 km (4 mi) remaining, as there was only Nairo Quintana and teammate Richie Porte with him. He dropped them both with that acceleration, won the stage in solo fashion and put considerable time into all his general classification rivals. Porte was second, followed by Quintana at one minute and four seconds. LottoNL–Jumbo's Robert Gesink, who had attacked shortly after the beginning of the climb, reaped a fourth position.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
Tejay van Garderen finished tenth at 2' 30", Contador at 2' 51" and Nibali at 4' 25". Contador blamed the performance on respiratory problems. MTN–Qhubeka's Daniel Teklehaimanot relinquished his polka dot jersey to Froome, although it was worn by Porte in the next stage as he is second in the mountains classification.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
This stage departed from Pau, heading south-east to Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre and then east through Lourdes. The peloton then headed over the category 3 Côte de Loucrup turning south-east before a sprint in Pouzac, riding through Bagnères-de-Bigorre, turning north-east to the category 4 Côte de Bagneres-de-Bigorre and then east to the category 3 Côte de Mauvezin. The race turned south at La Barthe-de-Neste heading to Arreau before facing the 12 km (7.5 mi) climb of the category 1 Col d'Aspin, with a 6.5% gradient ascending to 1,490 m (4,890 ft).


2015 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
The riders then descended into the valley at Sainte-Marie-de-Campan and began the Hors catégorie Col du Tourmalet, a 17.1 km (10.6 mi) climb, at a gradient of 7.3%, to a height of 2,115 metres (6,939 ft), taking the eastern route through La Mongie. The first rider over the summit received the Souvenir Jacques Goddet. The race then descended through Luz-Saint-Sauveur to Pierrefitte-Nestalas to begin the category 3 Côte de Cauterets, a 6.4 km (4.0 mi) climb with a 5% gradient, before finishing in Cauterets itself.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21
The 2015 Tour de France was the 102nd edition of the race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour started in Utrecht, Netherlands on 4 July and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 26 July. On 21 July, between stages 16 and 17 there was a rest day in Gap.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
This mountainous stage began in Lannemezan, and headed south-east to an early intermediate sprint at Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges. The race then continued east through Payssous and Aspet, where it turned south. After the peloton passed through Sengouagnet, the peloton turned east again and the 4.3 kilometres (2.7 mi) climb of the category 2 Col de Portet d'Aspet at 1,069 metres (3,507 ft) began, with an average gradient of 9.7%.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
The race then descended to Castillon-en-Couserans, which was immediately followed to the south-east by the 14.1 kilometres (8.8 mi) climb of the category 1 Col de la Core at 1,395 metres (4,577 ft), with a gradient of 5.7%. The riders then descended east towards Seix, following the valley through to Massat and, turning south, where the 12.9 kilometres (8.0 mi) climb of the category 1 Port de Lers at 1,517 metres (4,977 ft) began, with an average gradient of 6%. The race then descended to the valley floor at Tarascon-sur-Ariège to the east, which continued to Les Cabannes. The final climb was of the Hors catégorie Plateau de Beille at 1,780 metres (5,840 ft). This was a winding 15.8 kilometres (9.8 mi) climb south from Les Cabannes, with a gradient of 7.9%.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
This hilly intermediate stage began in Muret heading east through the southern outskirts of Toulouse, with racing officially starting after passing through Venerque. Continuing through Fourquevaux and Caraman, the riders turned north to go through Lavaur and then  east to travel through Graulhet, to an intermediate sprint at Laboutarie. After turning north-east and travelling through Villefranche-d'Albigeois, the hills began. First was the category 3 climb of the Côte de Saint-Cirgue to 422 metres (1,385 ft). The riders then went through Valence-d'Albigeois and eventually turned north.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Only 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) apart, the next two climbs came in relatively quick succession, with the category 4 Côte de Pomparie to 578 metres (1,896 ft) followed quickly by the category 4 Côte de la Selve at 661 metres (2,169 ft). From here, the route into Rodez was not flat, although the climb to La Primaube was not categorised. The 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) descent into Rodez allowed for a fast finish.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
This intermediate mountain stage departed from Rodez heading south to Flavin. The race then turned east to Pont-de-Salars, before quickly reaching the 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) category 4 climb of the Côte de Pont-de-Salars, at a gradient of 5.8%. The race continued south-east through Salles-Curan, descending from the plateau at the Col de la Vernhette, before eventually heading east. There was an intermediate sprint on the way into Millau, where the riders then turned north-east. The race then continued through the Gorges du Tarn passing Rivière-sur-Tarn, Les Vignes and La Malène.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
On reaching Sainte-Enimie, the 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) climb of the category 2 Côte de Sauveterre, at 1,014 metres (3,327 ft) and with an average gradient of 6%, began. The riders then continued along a plateau, before a descent to Balsieges and a turn west. At Barjac, the riders began the 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) climb of the category 4 Côte de Chabrits at 899 metres (2,949 ft), turning east along the way. The race travelled through Mende itself; the finish line was further on, at the opposite side of the city. The riders then faced the 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) climb of the category 2 Côte de la Croix Neuve to 1,055 metres (3,461 ft) with an average gradient of 10.1%. The finish line was another 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) on the plateau, adjacent to the Mende-Brenoux Aerodrome.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
This hilly stage departed from Mende heading east, and immediately began the category 3 climb of the Côte de Badaroux to 1,011 metres (3,317 ft). The race wound in a generally eastern direction through Chasseradès and Luc and continued east over the category 4 Col du Bez and the category 4 Col de la Croix de Bauzon reaching an altitude of 1,308 metres (4,291 ft). The race then descended through Jaujac to an intermediate sprint at Aubenas, before turning north-east.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
This was followed by the climb of the category 2 Col de l'Escrinet to 787 metres (2,582 ft), before a descent east through Privas to Le Pouzin, where the riders began to follow the western bank of the Rhône. The race turned north-east again, heading through La Voulte-sur-Rhône and Charmes-sur-Rhône to Guilherand-Granges. Crossing the Rhône, the race then headed through the centre of Valence to the finish line.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
This medium mountain stage departed from Bourg-de-Péage heading west, with racing officially starting just before reaching Granges-les-Beaumont, with racing being generally uphill for most of the day. Taking a route south through Montélier and Chabeuil to Crest, the riders turned east to Espenel and then headed north to Sainte-Croix. Heading east, an intermediate sprint took place at Die and the riders turned south-east to travel through Luc-en-Diois. The category 2 climb of the Col de Cabre, to an altitude of 1,180 metres (3,870 ft), followed with a descent to Aspres-sur-Buëch.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
Continuing east, the race went through Veynes and La Freissinouse before descending into Gap for the first time. Heading north and east, back out of the city, the riders climbed the category 2 Col de Manse, to an altitude of 1,268 metres (4,160 ft). The race then descended south and then west back into Gap, to the finish line.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
This mountain stage began in Digne-les-Bains heading south, with racing officially starting just outside the town centre at Les Dieyes. The peloton turned south-east from Châteauredon to head along the Route Napoléon. Travelling through Barrême, the riders arrived at the 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) category 3 climb of the Col des Lèques, to 1,143 metres (3,750 ft) with a gradient of 5.3%. The race then descended to Castellane, and passed through Saint-Julien-du-Verdon before beginning the 6.1 kilometres (3.8 mi) climb of the category 3 Col de Toutes Aures to 1,124 metres (3,688 ft) at a gradient of 3.1%.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
Descending to Annot, the race turned north-west along the way to the 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) category 2 climb of the Col de la Colle-Saint-Michel at 1,431 metres (4,695 ft) with an average gradient of 5.2%. The race then descended north to an intermediate sprint at Beauvezer. The riders continued through Colmars-les-Alpes and Allos before the biggest ascent of the day, the 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) category 1 climb of the Col d'Allos, to an altitude of 2,250 metres (7,380 ft) and with an average gradient of 5.5%.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
Descending along the hillside to Uvernet-Fours, the riders then turned west to begin the 6.2 kilometres (3.9 mi) category 2 climb to the stage finish at Pra-Loup, at 1,620 metres (5,310 ft) and with an average gradient of 6.5% on the way up. It is exactly the same stage as the fifth one of the Critérium du Dauphiné, where Romain Bardet won the honours thanks to a hair-raising descent before hitting the final climb.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
Due to the change of the route on stage 20, announced on 25 June, the Souvenir Henri Desgrange was awarded at the Col d'Allos.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
This mountainous stage departed from Gap heading north with an immediate 6.3 kilometres (3.9 mi) climb over the 1,264 metres (4,147 ft) category 2 Col Bayard, at a gradient of 7%. The race then descended to Chauffayer along the Route Napoléon, before heading north-west to the 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) category 3 climb of the Rampe du Motty, a climb of 8.3% ascending to 982 metres (3,222 ft).


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
After a gradual descent through Corps and La Salle-en-Beaumont, the riders then ascended the 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) and 7.5% climb of the category 3 Côte de La Mure, to 803 metres (2,635 ft). This climb to a plateau was followed, to the east, by the 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) category 3 Col de Malissol to 1,153 metres (3,783 ft) at an average gradient of 8.7%. Then, the riders headed north through Lavaldens to the 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) climb of the category 2 Col de la Morte, to 1,368 metres (4,488 ft) at an average gradient of 8.4%.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
The descent to the valley floor at Séchilienne was followed by an intermediate sprint in Rioupéroux, where the riders headed north-east through Allemont before beginning the biggest climb of the day. The 21.7 kilometres (13.5 mi) climb of the Hors catégorie Col du Glandon to 1,924 metres (6,312 ft), with an average gradient of 5.1%, was followed by a 19 kilometres (12 mi) descent, with few hairpin turns, to Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
Here, the race made an abrupt turn south-east and began the final climb of the day: This was a 3.4 kilometres (2.1 mi) climb of the 782 metres (2,566 ft) category 2 Lacets de Montvernier, at an average gradient of 8.2%. The riders then descended to Hermillon, before a 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) ride to the stage finish at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
This mountainous stage began in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, with racing officially starting to the north at Hermillon. The peloton immediately began the 15.4 kilometres (9.6 mi) climb of the category 1 Col du Chaussy at 1,533 metres (5,030 ft), with an average gradient of 6.3%. The riders then descended to La Chambre to the west, and followed the Arc river to an intermediate sprint at Épierre to the north. After crossing the Pont d'Épierre, the riders turned south along the other side of theArc river and continued through the valley to Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
From here the riders turned south-west to begin the 22.4 kilometres (13.9 mi) climb of the Hors catégorie Col de la Croix de Fer at 2,067 metres (6,781 ft), with an average gradient of 6.9%, passing the uncategorised Col du Glandon and turning south-east on the way. With a partial descent to Belleville in the commune of Saint-Jean-d'Arves, the riders then began to re-climb, this time north-east on the 5.7 kilometres (3.5 mi) climb of the category 2 Col du Mollard at 1,638 metres (5,374 ft), with an average gradient of 6.8%.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
The race then descended north, nearly returning to where it started the day at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, before beginning the final 18 kilometres (11 mi) category 1 climb west to La Toussuire. This final climb of the day has a gradient of 6.1%, and ascends to an altitude of 1,705 metres (5,594 ft).


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
This mountainous stage began in Modane, with racing officially starting to the west at Fourneaux. In the original plans the peloton had been due to travel by the category 1 Col du Télégraphe (1,566 metres (5,138 ft)) and the Hors catégorie Col du Galibier at 2,645 metres (8,678 ft) (where the first rider over the summit would have been awarded the Souvenir Henri Desgrange) before the 13.8 kilometres (8.6 mi) climb of the Hors catégorie Alpe d'Huez at 1,850 metres (6,070 ft). A route used frequently in the Tour, it has an average gradient of 8.1%.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
However, on 25 June, it was announced that due to the expected landslide resulting in the closure of the Chambon tunnel on the Briançon-Grenoble road, the route of stage 20 would be changed, bypassing the Col du Galibier. Instead of using the Télégraphe, the riders would continue along the valley to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne rather than Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, where they would start the 29 kilometres (18 mi) long Hors catégorie Col de la Croix de Fer. The climb was  used for the second day in a row, although a different side was used. This one is less steep, averaging 5.2%. From there, the peloton used the route of  stage 18's ascent as a descent towards Le Bourg-d'Oisans, where the planned intermediate sprint was held, before the Alpe d'Huez, also as scheduled. The distance of the stage remained intact.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
The final stage departed from Sèvres heading west, with racing officially starting on the D985 at Ville-d'Avray, before doubling back to take the D407, back through Sèvres. The riders then headed south-east, going over the category 4 Côte de l'Observatoire, through Meudon and east to Issy-les-Moulineaux. The race then took a circuitous turn west to cross the Seine at the Pont d'Issy, over the northern point of Île Saint-Germain.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
The race crossed into Boulogne-Billancourt and followed the Rive Droite to the Longchamp Racecourse, where the riders passed around the northern side, before crossing the Bois de Boulogne to the Palais des congrès. The race headed up the Avenue de la Grande Armée, to reach the Arc de Triomphe, and then headed down Avenue Marceau, back towards the Seine. The peloton turned right onto the Avenue de New York, then turned left and crossed the Seine at the Pont d'Iéna.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
After crossing the bridge, the riders turned left again, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, along Quai Branly and turned onto Avenue Bosquet. This was followed by the Avenue de Tourville and the Boulevard des Invalides. The race then crossed through the gardens of Les Invalides reaching the Quai d'Orsay and turning right. On reaching the Pont du Carrousel, the race crossed the Seine for the final time.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
The race passed the Louvre and turned left to travel along the Rue de Rivoli, through the Place de la Concorde and onto the Champs-Élysées. The race then began ten circuits around central Paris, heading up the Champs-Élysées and, as has been the case since 2013, around the Arc de Triomphe on the Place de l'Étoile. The riders returned down the opposite side of the Champs-Élysées, and around the Jardin des Tuileries. Finally, back along the Rue de Rivoli, and through the Place de la Concorde, to the finish line on the Champs-Élysées.


2015 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
Because of poor weather conditions in Paris before the start of the stage (and during the La Course women's race), the race organizers decided that all general classification times would stop upon the first crossing of the line on the Champs-Élysées, which meant that Chris Froome's victory was secured. The riders would still have to complete all 10 laps of the circuit to complete the full race distance.


2015 Tour de Hongrie
The 2015 Tour de Hongrie was a six-day cycling stage race that took place in Hungary in August 2015. The race is the 36th edition of the Tour de Hongrie. It was rated as a 2.2 event as part of the 2015 UCI Europe Tour. The race included five stages+Prologue, starting in Szombathely on 4 August and returning there for the finish on 9 August in Budapest.


2015 Tour de Hongrie, Participating teams
16 teams were invited to the 2015 Tour de Hongrie: and 6 UCI Continental, 4 Regional, 1 national (Serbia) and 5 Hungarian teams.


2015 Tour de Hongrie, Participating teams
Riders of 21 different nationalities participated, the largest numbers being from Hungary (32), Izrael, the Netherlands Norway, Serbia and Slovakia (6), Czech Republic and Germany (5), Spain (3), France, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Ukraine and United States (2), with Belgium, Colombia, Guatemala, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and New Zealand all having 1.


2015 Tour de Langkawi
The 2015 Tour de Langkawi was the 20th edition of the Tour de Langkawi road cycling stage race. It took place in Malaysia between 8 and 15 March 2015, consisting of eight road stages. The race was rated by the UCI as a 2.HC (hors category) race as part of the 2015 UCI Asia Tour.


2015 Tour de Langkawi, Teams
22 teams were selected to take part in the race. Four of these were UCI WorldTeams, seven were UCI Professional Continental teams, ten are UCI Continental teams and a Malaysian national team.


2015 Tour de Langkawi, Route
The race was scheduled to include eight stages. The key stage was originally intended to be the seventh stage with a climb to the Genting Highlands, but this was cancelled due to dangerous construction work taking place on the road. A different climb, Fraser's Hill, took its place, since this climb was easier, many teams who had planned their races around the original climb were unhappy.


2015 Tour de Langkawi, Classification leadership table
In the 2015 Tour de Langkawi, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers at intermediate sprints and at the finish of mass-start stages, the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2015 Tour de Langkawi, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.


2015 Tour de Langkawi, Classification leadership table
Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a blue jersey. In the points classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 15 in a mass-start stage. For winning a stage, a rider earned 15 points, with a point fewer per place down to a single point for 15th place. Points towards the classification could also be accrued at intermediate sprint points during each stage; these intermediate sprints also offered bonus seconds towards the general classification. There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a red jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs.


2015 Tour de Langkawi, Classification leadership table
The fourth jersey represented the Asian rider classification, marked by a white jersey. This was decided in the same way as the general classification, but only riders from Asia were eligible to be ranked in the classification. 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, while there was also an Asian-only variant for the teams as well.


2015 Tour de Luxembourg
The 2015 Tour de Luxembourg was the 75th edition of the Tour de Luxembourg cycle stage race. It was part of the 2015 UCI Europe Tour as a 2.HC event.


2015 Tour de Luxembourg, Teams
15 teams were selected to take place in the 2015 Tour de Luxembourg. Two of these were UCI WorldTeams; ten were UCI Professional Continental teams and three were UCI Continental teams.


2015 Tour de Pologne
The 2015 Tour de Pologne was the 72nd edition of the Tour de Pologne stage race. It took place from 2 to 8 August and was the twentieth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. It was won by the Spanish cyclist Jon Izagirre.


2015 Tour de Pologne, Participating teams
As the Tour de Pologne is a UCI World Tour event, all seventeen UCI Pro Teams were invited automatically and obliged to enter a team into the race. Two wildcard teams were also given places: CCC–Sprandi–Polkowice and a Polish national team.


2015 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 1
The 2015 Tour de Pologne begins in Warsaw, with the shortest road stage of the entire race. After starting at the National Stadium, to make up the parcours of 122 km (75.8 mi), the peloton will complete ten laps of a circuit 12.2 km (7.6 mi). On the ninth lap, there will be an intermediate sprint at the Krasiński Square, whilst the sole categorised climb will be a third category ascent on the seventh lap, on the Karowa Street. Then, a sprint finish is expected, largely due to the very flat profile of the stage.


2015 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 2
The second stage will take the riders into Silesia. After the start in Częstochowa, the peloton will head southwards towards the Silesian Metropolis. The intermediate sprints of the day will be in Siewierz and Będzin. There will also be two categorised climbs, again in Będzin but also in Dąbrowa Górnicza, where five laps of a 10 km (6.2 mi) circuit will be held. Again, it is predicted that the sprinters will dominate.


2015 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 3
The last stage designed for the sprinters is held within the Silesian Metropolis. After the start in Zawiercie, the peloton will head east towards Tarnowskie Góry, where a special sprint will take place. Then, the riders will turn south-east and pass through Piekary Śląskie, Chorzów and Siemanowice Śląskie, each of which will host an intermediate sprint, before entering a finishing circuit 14.7 km (9.1 mi) in length, to be completed four times.


2015 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 3
On the second lap, there will be a third-category mountains sprint at the Korfantego street, and then on the fourth lap there will be a third-category mountains sprint at the Góreckiego street. The final 1 km (0.6 mi) is downhill, and speeds there reach 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph). The road is being used continuously since 2010 and saw victories for Yauheni Hutarovich, Marcel Kittel in 2011, Aidis Kruopis in 2012, Taylor Phinney in  2013 and Jonas Vangenechten the year before.


2015 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 4
The first stage which is not due to finish in a sprint. On the long parcours of 220 km (136.7 mi), there will be three categorised mountains - a second-category affair in Gruszowice, a first-category climb in Wysokie and an imposing first-category climb to Trzetrzewina. The maximum gradient there is 18%. The sole intermediate sprint is located in Wadowice, prior to the climbing. After the descent from Trzetrzewina, the peloton will complete three loops of a 7.6 km (4.7 mi) circuit in Nowy Sacz, to conclude the day's running.


2015 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 5
The longest stage of the race is also the first mountainous stage, featuring eight categorised climbs. After starting from the previous day's finish site, Nowy Sacz, the peloton will firstly head south to get to Zakopane and will enter the finishing circuit half-way through it. They will pass through the first-category ascents of Ząb and Gubałówka (used for the first time) before passing through the finish line for the first time. From then, the riders will complete two laps of a circuit 54.4 km (33.8 mi) in length. This includes the first-category Głodówka and the previously mentioned Ząb and Gubałówka ascents. On the last lap, there are two intermediate sprints, held in Poronin and Koscielisko.


2015 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 6
The queen stage of the 2014 Tour de Pologne is, since 2011, a circuit race around Bukowina Tatrzańska (although the village was visited in 2010). To make up the parcours of 174 km, the peloton will firstly completed a 5 km ride to Zakopane, three 5.3 km loops around Zakopane on which were two special sprints, a return 5 km ride before entering a 38.4 km loop to be completed four times.


2015 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 6
Each loop featured three climbs - a first category ascent to Ząb, with gradients reaching 11.5%, a first category ascent to Gliczarów Górny, with gradients reaching a huge 21.5% and the final, uncategorised ascent to Bukowina Tatrzańska. In total, the riders completed nearly 4000m of climbing during the stage. This stage should be the most decisive in the general classification.


2015 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 7
The last stage will be a time trial starting and finishing at the Main Square in Kraków. The route was identical to that of last year, and had the riders head south-east towards Wieliczka, before completing a U-turn in Wieliczka and heading north-west back to Kraków. Despite being virtually pan-flat, this stage is also scheduled to have a large impact on the general classification. As is customary of time trial stages, cyclists will set off in reverse order from where they were ranked in the general classification at the end of the previous stage.


2015 Tour de Romandie
The 2015 Tour de Romandie was the 69th edition of the Tour de Romandie stage race. It took place from 28 April to 3 May and was the fourteenth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The race took place around the Romandie region of Switzerland, starting in Lac de Joux and finishing in Lausanne. The race includes six stages, with a team time trial at the beginning and an individual time trial at the end and four hilly or mountainous stages in between. The queen stage is the fifth stage, which finishes on the climb above Champex-Lac.


2015 Tour de Romandie
The defending champion was Chris Froome (Team Sky), who won both the 2014 and 2013 editions. The race was won by Ilnur Zakarin of Team Katusha.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Teams
Tour de Romandie is part of the UCI World Tour, which meant that the 17 UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited and obliged to send a team. The race organisers also invited one UCI Professional Continental wildcard team to make a peloton of 18 teams. Each team entered eight riders (the maximum permitted), so 144 riders started the first stage.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Race route
The race includes six stages over six days. The first stage is a 19.2-kilometre (11.9 mi) team time trial; this is a change from recent editions of the Tour de Romandie, which have started with a prologue individual time trial. The team time trial is important both for its role in the general classification and also because the teams are using it as preparation for a similar stage in the 2015 Tour de France. Stages 2, 3 and 4 are all hilly but are expected to end in sprints. The final two stages are expected to be the decisive ones in the general classification: the fifth stage includes several climbs and a summit finish at Champex-Lac and the sixth stage is a 17.3-kilometre (10.7 mi) individual time trial around Lausanne.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Pre-race favourites
The principal favourite for the race was Chris Froome (Team Sky). Froome was the defending champion, having won both the 2013 and 2014 editions. Sky had also won in 2012 with Bradley Wiggins. Froome's form, however, was uncertain. He had shown good form early in the season by beating Alberto Contador at the Vuelta a Andalucía, but afterwards fell ill. He withdrew from the Tirreno–Adriatico, then performed poorly in the Volta a Catalunya. He returned to racing the week before the Tour de Romandie in La Flèche Wallonne, but crashed towards the end of the race. Although he was able to finish the race, Froome had lost some skin in the crash. L'Équipe described him as "in need of reassurance" following his "chaotic start to the season".


2015 Tour de Romandie, Pre-race favourites
The other principal favourites ahead of the race were Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team), who had won Tirreno–Adriatico earlier in the season, and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), the reigning Tour de France champion. Quintana had recently finished in fourth place in the Tour of the Basque Country and was seen as a particular threat in the mountains. Nibali, meanwhile, had ridden aggressively in the Ardennes classics but had not won a race since the previous July; L'Équipe described him as "in search of a convincing result in 2015". Other favourites included Nibali's teammate Jakob Fuglsang, Simon Špilak (Team Katusha), Rigoberto Urán (Etixx–Quick-Step), Rui Costa (Lampre–Merida), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Simon Yates (Orica–GreenEDGE) and Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling).


2015 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 1
28 April – Vallée de Joux to Juraparc, 19.2 km (11.9 mi) (TTT)


2015 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 1
The first stage of the race was a 19.2-kilometre (11.9 mi) team time trial. In this event, each team sets off together; the team's time is that of the fifth rider across the finish line. The riders who arrive at the same time as the fifth rider or before him are credited with the team's time; riders who arrive after the fifth rider are credited with their actual arrival time. The teams set off at five-minute intervals: Team Europcar set off first at 15:45 and Team Sky set off last at 17:10.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 1
The start line was at the south-western end of the Lac de Joux in Le Sentier; the riders first headed south-west for about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi), then turned north-east. The course went through L'Orient, then continued along the southern coast of the lake through L'Abbaye and Le Pont at the northern end of the lake. The course to this point had been generally flat, but the last 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) of the course included the climb of the Col du Mont d'Orzeires and the descent to the finish line in the Juraparc.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 1
As they set off first, Europcar set the first benchmark time of 22' 26" at an average speed of 51.4 km/h (31.9 mph). LottoNL–Jumbo, the next team to set off, moved ahead of them by 12 seconds; this time was immediately beaten by Cannondale–Garmin who set a time of 21' 59" at an average speed of 52.4 km/h (32.6 mph). Cannondale–Garmin's lead lasted some time as the next six teams to set off were all slower. After half of the eighteen teams had finished, they held a one-second lead over Lampre–Merida. The tenth team to set off was Orica–GreenEDGE, who set a time 40 seconds faster than Cannondale–Garmin. The team had five riders together (the minimum permitted) as they crossed the line, with the Swiss Michael Albasini crossing the line first.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 1
The final teams to set off included the world champions in the team time trial, BMC Racing Team, and the former world champions, Etixx–Quick-Step. None of the next seven teams were able to beat Orica–GreenEDGE's time and, with one team left to finish, they still led by 5 seconds ahead of Team Katusha. The final team to set off was Team Sky; they set an identical time at the intermediate checkpoint; at the end of the stage Sky won by 0.6 seconds.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 1
Geraint Thomas was the first rider across the line and so was the first leader of the race; he had previously worn the yellow jersey in the 2012 Tour de Romandie. Luke Rowe was the best young rider after the first stage, while 11 riders shared the same time as Thomas.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 2
29 April – Apples to Saint-Imier, 166.1 km (103.2 mi)


2015 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 3
30 April – Moutier to Porrentruy, 173.2 km (107.6 mi)


2015 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 4
1 May – La Neuveville to Fribourg, 169.8 km (105.5 mi)


2015 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 5
2 May – Fribourg to Champex-Lac, 166.1 km (103.2 mi)


2015 Tour de Romandie, Classifications
In the 2015 Tour de Romandie, four jerseys were awarded. The general classification was calculated by adding up each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. Time bonuses were awarded to the first three finishers on road stages (stages 2–5): the stage winner won a ten-second bonus, with six and four seconds for the second and third riders respectively. No bonus seconds were awarded at intermediate sprints. The leader of the general classification received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the Tour, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race. The young rider classification was based on the general classification: the highest-ranked rider born after 1 January 1990 was the leader of the classification and wore a white jersey.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Classifications
There was a mountains classification; the leader of this competition wore a pink jersey. Over the road stages of the race, there were 15 classified climbs, each of which was ranked as first-category, second-category or third-category. The first riders to cross the summit of the climbs won points towards the mountain classification. On first-category climbs, the first five riders won points with the first of these winning 12 points. Points were also awarded to the first five riders across the summit of second-category climbs, though the winner only won 8 points.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Classifications
On third-category climbs, only the first four riders won points, with the first rider winning five points. There was also a points classification. On each of the road stages, there were two intermediate sprints. The first rider in these sprints won 6 points; the second rider won 3 points; the third rider won 1 point. No points were awarded at stage finishes. The winner of the classification won a green jersey.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Classifications
The final individual classification was a combativity prize. After each road stage, a jury chose the rider on the basis of sportsmanship and effort in the stage. The rider was awarded a red dossard (race number) for the following stage. After the final stage, the jury chose the most combative rider of the race overall.


2015 Tour de Romandie, Classifications
The final classification was a team classification. This was calculated by adding together the times of the best three riders on each team in each stage except the team time trial. In this stage, the team's finishing time was that of the fifth rider across the line.


2015 Tour de San Luis
The 2015 Tour de San Luis was the 9th edition of the Tour de San Luis stage race. It was part of the 2015 UCI America Tour, and took place in Argentina between 18 and 25 January 2015. The race was won by Daniel Díaz of the Carrefour Funvic Soul Cycling Team squad, which displayed a dominant performance by winning stages 2, 4 and 6, all of the top mountain finish stages. Another notable performance came from Fernando Gaviria, who won two sprint stages ahead of former world champion Mark Cavendish.


2015 Tour de San Luis, Teams
26 teams were selected to take part in the event. This included six UCI World Tour teams.


2015 Tour de San Luis, Schedule
The race included seven stages, one of which was a summit finish, one an individual time trial and the others medium mountain stages.


2015 Tour de San Luis, Classification leadership table
In the 2015 Tour de San Luis, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, the leader received an orange jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2015 Tour de San Luis, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race. Additionally, there was a sprints classification, which awarded a green jersey. In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 3 at intermediate sprint points during each stage, on a 3–2–1 scale.


2015 Tour de San Luis, Classification leadership table
There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a red jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists. Each climb was categorised as either first or third-category, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. For first-category climbs, points were awarded on a scale of 10 points for first across the climb, second place earned 8 points, third 6, fourth 4, fifth 2 and sixth 1. Third-category climbs awarded points to the top three riders only; 3 points for first across the climb, second place earned 2 points, third place earned 1 point.


2015 Tour de San Luis, Classification leadership table
The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders born after 1 January 1993 were eligible to be ranked in the classification. Lastly, there was a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time.


2015 Tour de Ski
The 2015 Tour de Ski was the 9th edition of the Tour de Ski. The Stage World Cup event began in Oberstdorf, Germany on January 3, 2015, and ended in Val di Fiemme, Italy on January 10, 2015. The titles were being defended by Therese Johaug (Norway) and Martin Johnsrud Sundby (Norway), the former of which came second to Marit Bjørgen, while Sundby initially retained his title until it was passed on to Petter Northug when Sundby was stripped of the title.


2015 Tour de Ski
On July 20, 2016, Sundby was stripped of the win due to illegal use of asthma medication during the race.


2015 Tour de Ski, Final standings, Overall standings
Final overall standings after all seven stages, with bonus seconds deducted.


2015 Tour de Ski, Final standings, Sprint standings
Final sprint standings after all seven stages, all bonus seconds counts.


2015 Tour de Suisse
The 2015 Tour de Suisse was the 79th edition of the Tour de Suisse stage race. It took place from 13 to 21 June and was the seventeenth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. It started in Risch-Rotkreuz and finished in Bern. The race was composed of nine stages including two time trials, a short one on the first day and a long one on the last day. The event covered 1,258 km (782 mi) and visited Liechtenstein and Austria on its fifth stage. There was only one mountaintop finish, on the aforementioned stage five.


2015 Tour de Suisse
The winner of the general classification was Slovenian Simon Špilak of Team Katusha, who won the race by a margin of only five seconds from Great Britain's Geraint Thomas (Team Sky). The ultimate selection was made on the last day's individual time trial. Tom Dumoulin of the Team Giant–Alpecin squad rounded up the podium. The latter won the two individual time trials, on the first and last stage.


2015 Tour de Suisse
The mountains classification was awarded to Austria's Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling), who featured in many breakaways to amass his points. The sprints classification was won by Slovakian Peter Sagan (Tinkoff–Saxo) who also was the victor of two stages. Team Sky finished at the head of the team classification with a margin of 11 minutes and 49 seconds.


2015 Tour de Suisse
Other riders who won a stage were Croatian Kristijan Đurasek of Lampre–Merida, Australian Michael Matthews (Orica–GreenEDGE), Norwegian Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) and Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko of Astana. Frenchman Thibaut Pinot grabbed the queen stage to the Rettenbach glacier and held the leader's jersey for four stages, but had to surrender it on the last day of competition to Špilak.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Teams
As a UCI World Tour event, the organisation was in an obligation to invite all seventeen UCI WorldTeams, and likewise, all seventeen teams were obligated to send a squad. To complete the field, two UCI Professional Continental teams were invited to join the race. The number of riders allowed per team was eight, so the starting field contained 152 cyclists.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Pre-race favorites
Rui Costa (Movistar Team) won the last three editions of the race, however he was not present at the 2015 event, as he raced in the Critérium du Dauphiné instead. More contenders for the overall classification of the Tour de France opted for the latter race since it was more mountainous. There were two former winners of the Tour de Suisse at the starting line, Trek Factory Racing teammates: Swiss Fabian Cancellara and Luxembourger Fränk Schleck.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Pre-race favorites
Contenders for the general classification were Simon Špilak (Team Katusha), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Rafal Majka (Tinkoff–Saxo), Sergio Henao (Team Sky), Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), Michał Kwiatkowski (Etixx–Quick-Step) and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky). Other hopefuls were Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto–Soudal) and Sébastien Reichenbach (IAM Cycling). It was AG2R La Mondiale's Domenico Pozzovivo's first race after his disastrous crash in the Giro d'Italia, so his form was predicted as uncertain, but the Italian climber could certainly be a factor if he was in shape.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Pre-race favorites
Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) was a contender for stage wins. His directeur sportif (team manager) said he was the leader of the team and would target the opening prologue. Mark Cavendish of Etixx-Quick Step, who proved his form with twelve stage victories so far in the season, was a favorite for the sprint stages. Other riders contending stage glory were Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) and John Degenkolb (Team Giant–Alpecin). Cancellara, the 2009 winner, was recovering from a crash suffered at the E3 Harelbeke one-day race; his primary focus was on his recovery.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Route
An important race in its own right, the 2015 Tour de Suisse was used by some Tour de France riders to perfect their physical conditions, as the well-known French race started on 4 July. The route for the race was announced on 9 March 2015.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Route
The race did not follow any particular pattern in terms of geographical displacement around the country, but did visit Liechtenstein and Austria on the fifth stage. It was also the longest of the race and may be qualified as the queen stage. It finished near Sölden situated in Austrian territory and featured a mountaintop finish. After that, the race came back in Swiss territory for the remainder of the event. The stages which were likely to be the most important for the general classification were the aforementioned stage five and the individual time trial on the final stage. The race featured a total elevation gain of 15,606 m (51,200.8 ft).


2015 Tour de Suisse, Route
On 4 June 2015, it was announced that the town of Brunnen was desisting itself from being the start of stage three because of road damage caused by a rocky landslide, and that the town of Quinto would instead be the starting town. This shortened the stage by 57.2 km (35.5 mi).


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 1
13 June 2015 — Risch-Rotkreuz to Risch-Rotkreuz 5.1 km (3.2 mi)


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 1
The very short prologue contained three sharp corners. The first two kilometers were slightly uphill, the third one was slightly downhill and the rest was flat.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 1
The best times coming from the first tier of riders have been Matthias Brändle (IAM Cycling) with 5' 45", Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) a second slower and Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEDGE) another second in arrears. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) came in with a deficit of twelve seconds on Brändle. Michael Matthews (Orica–GreenEDGE) also realized a good time, four seconds down on the provisional leader. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) came to the finish with a fifteen-second deficit. Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff-Saxo) had the best intermediate time all day, which was calculated with 2.1 km (1.3 mi) remaining as the riders went through the checkpoint.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 1
Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), beat Brändle with a time of 5' 43". Time trial specialist Adriano Malori (Movistar Team) started soon after Cancellara crossed the finish line, but came in at 5' 47", four seconds slower. Giant-Alpecin rider Tom Dumoulin clocked 5' 41", 2 seconds better than Cancellara, and would ultimately be the winner of the stage.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 1
BMC Racing Team's Silvan Dillier crashed as he was on a straight stretch of road. He managed to remount and finish the stage; his final position was last place, 1' 22" down. Team Sky's leader Geraint Thomas put in a fast ride, only seven seconds down on the winner. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff–Saxo) came in five seconds in arrears of Dumoulin, missing out on his objective of being the first leader of the race. Robert Gesink (LottoNL–Jumbo) clocked a time 22 seconds slower than Dumoulin, and so did Sergio Henao of Team Sky. Poles Rafał Majka (Tinkoff–Saxo) and Michał Kwiatkowski (Etixx-Quick Step) were 20 and 21 seconds down respectively.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 1
After the event, Dumoulin said that he prepared at altitude for the race and that he produced a hard physical effort on the uphill section and went less intensely on the flatter parts.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 2
14 June 2015 — Risch-Rotkreuz to Risch-Rotkreuz 161.1 km (100.1 mi)


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 2
The stage started right away with a Category 2 climb named Dorfstrasse which was 5.4 km (3.4 mi) long. The riders then rode a loop to tackle the latter climb once more about midway through the stage. Afterward another loop around Risch-Rotkreuz was effectuated to reach a Category 1 affair named Michaelskreuz, 4 km (2.5 mi) long. The course came back down and effectuated another circuit to tackle the climb a second and last time. This last King of the Mountains (KOM) checkpoint was situated at 12 km (7.5 mi) from the finish. The riders negotiated the descent and ended up once again in Risch-Rotkreuz for the finale.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 2
After 38 km (23.6 mi) of racing, Luka Pibernik (Lampre-Merida), Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEDGE), Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto–Soudal) and Valerio Agnoli of Astana had an advantage of 1' 08" over chasers Ben King (Cannondale–Garmin) and Simone Antonini of Pro Continental team Wanty–Groupe Gobert. They also enjoyed a lead of 2' 55" on the peloton. The two chasers soon fell back into the main field. The maximum gap the peloton allowed the escapees to have was 3' 20". As the main group attacked the climb of Michaelskreuz for the first time, Arnaud Demare (FDJ) crashed because of the fight for position.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 2
With 16 km (9.9 mi) to go, the riders attacked the climb of Michaelskreuz for the second and last time and caught the remnants of the breakaway on the way up. Astana's Jakob Fuglsang accelerated close to the summit, with only Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) and Simon Špilak (Team Katusha) initially able to follow, while Michał Kwiatkowski (Etixx-Quick Step) lost contact. Geraint Thomas then attacked on the descent and was followed by Fuglsang and Špilak (Team Katusha). Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) chased them as he wanted to protect his leader's jersey. A small group of nine riders formed on the descent.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 2
Close to the final kilometer, Kristijan Đurasek of Lampre–Merida placed an acceleration and continued to a solo victory on the flat run-in. The group came in four seconds in arrears, with Daniel Moreno (Team Katusha) winning the sprint for second place before Arredondo. Overall contenders Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Simon Špilak were also part of that clique, coming in fourth and sixth respectively. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) won the sprint of the following group, coming in tenth at fourteen seconds. Dumoulin kept his leader's jersey. Pibernik amassed enough mountain points (18) to earn the mountains classification jersey.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 3
15 June 2015 — Quinto to Olivone 117.3 km (72.9 mi)


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 3
This was the new version of the stage as the original route was closed due to a landslide. The stage immediately started with the 1,087 m (3,566.3 ft)-high ascent of the Hors Category Gotthard Pass, which summit was 18.8 km (11.7 mi) in. Then came a long false flat until a Category 2 climb, the 5 km (3.1 mi)-long Zona Cumiasca. It was immediately followed by a Category 3 named ascent Via Cantonale, which summited 6 km (3.7 mi) from the finish. The climb was 3.2 km (2.0 mi).


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 3
The race got on its way under cloudy but dry conditions. The Tour de Suisse was featuring the Gotthard Pass for the 34th time in its history, and a break formed along its early slopes, which featured cobbles. The two attackers were Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling) and Marco Marcato (Wanty-Groupe Gobert). The pair had a lead of 2' 30" on the main field as Branislau Samoilau (CCC-Sprandi-Polkowice) was chasing them. Denifl got to the top of the climb first to rake in twenty points. By the top of the pass, snow was covering the sides of the road and the field was 3' 20" back. The riders put gilets on before the descent, which lasted almost 40 km (24.9 mi). Samoileau succeeded in joining the escape during the downhill.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 3
The competitors replenished their food stock at the feed zone situated shortly after the downhill section. The main field started accelerating, with the team of the leader Tom Dumoulin Giant-Alpecin doing most of the work at the front. Realizing this breakaway was gaining ground, Tinkoff-Saxo came to the fore to help, resulting in the gap going down gradually. There was 30 km (18.6 mi) to cover as the gap was hovering around 4' 30".


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 3
At the foot of the Zona Cumiasca climb, with 19 km (11.8 mi) remaining, the gap had shrunk significantly. The peloton formed sprint trains to better position their leaders for the ascent. Marcato was soon dropped from the breakaway and Denifl won the mountain points. At that point, Denifl and Samoileau had only a thirty seconds gap over the depleting field. The catch was effectuated with 8.7 km (5.4 mi) to race. Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEDGE) attacked, soon followed by Jan Bakelants (Ag2r-La Mondiale). With the two escapees enjoying only a ten-second advantage, Sergio Henao (Team Sky) accelerated and passed them.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 3
The trio was ultimately reeled in. Rafał Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) was working at the front of the small leading group to bring back the attackers to give his team leader Peter Sagan a chance at victory. In the last few kilometers, Sagan took over from Majka himself. He followed Daniel Moreno (Team Katusha), who had chased down Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEDGE), passing him to take victory.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 4
16 June 2015 — Flims to Schwarzenbach 193.2 km (120.0 mi)


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 4
The first 60 km (37.3 mi) were flat until the peloton reached Wildhaus Pass, a Category 2 test of 8.9 km (5.5 mi). Then there were three Category 3 climbs on offer, which were the 1.8 km (1.1 mi)-long Kirchberg climb repeated three times as the riders accomplished a loop. There were however a number of uncategorized rises, especially one with about 5 km (3.1 mi) to cover, that could play a role in the outcome. The finishing 900 m (2,952.8 ft) were straight with a consistent incline.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 4
Davide Malacarne (Astana) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal) attacked early in the stage. They were joined by a trio of Stijn Devolder (Trek Factory Racing), Alex Howes (Cannondale–Garmin) and Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert). De Gendt crested the Wildhaus Pass first to take eight points in the KOM competition. At the summit, after 66 km (41.0 mi) of racing, the gap between the peloton and the breakers was two minutes and fifty seconds.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 4
De Gendt took maximum points atop the Kirchberg climb on the riders' first passage. The main field got through the KOM line 2' 05" in arrears. The descent was fast and the riders crossed the finish line for the first time of three with about 60 km (37.3 mi) to race. The breakaway was caught less than 10 km (6.2 mi) later. Orica-GreenEDGE marshaled the field as De Gendt attacked again to no avail as he was swiftly swept back. Sprint specialists Arnaud Demare (FDJ), Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quick Step) and Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) struggled with the high pace at the front set by Orica–GreenEDGE. As the peloton crossed the line for the last time with 29.2 km (18.1 mi) to race, there were no escapees.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 4
The last KOM of the day atop the Kirchberg climb was won by Daryl Impey; it was uncontested and he won because he was riding at the front. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) placed an attack with 16 km (9.9 mi) to go. With 10 km (6.2 mi) to race he had opened up an advantage of 20 seconds. With 6.7 km (4.2 mi) remaining, Lutsenko was caught.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 4
An attack formed immediately including the riders Marco Marcato (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Jan Bakelants (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Sergio Henao (Team Sky); it failed and they were brought back as Wanty-Groupe Gobert and Orica-GreenEDGE teams worked together to set up a sprint finish. With 300 m (984.3 ft) to go, Sagan initiated his sprint first and was followed by Michael Matthews of Orica–GreenEDGE. Matthews then passed him to claim his first victory at the Tour de Suisse. Sagan took second place and the points classification jersey.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 5
17 June 2015 — Unterterzen to Sölden (Austria) 237.3 km (147.5 mi)


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 5
This was the queen stage of the 2015 Tour de Suisse and was also the longest stage the race featured in the last twenty years. The first difficulty of the day was the 34.4 km (21.4 mi) long Hors Category Bielerhöhe Pass which summits at 2,071 m (6,794.6 ft) of altitude and at that point, the riders were already in Austria after a brief visit to Liechtenstein.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 5
Following that difficulty, the run-in to Sölden offered a respite until the cyclists reached the town and tackled the stage's second Hors Category climb to the Rettenbach glacier, which took them to an altitude of 2,669 m (8,756.6 ft). The competitors rode the Ötztal Glacier Road from Sölden to get to the finish line.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 5
The overall race leader Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) said before the stage that if he lost less than one minute and a half to the pure climbers, he could still win the Tour by taking that time back on the final stage's time trial. The previous stage's victor Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) was a non-starter, saying he had gotten what he wanted from the race: a stage win. A breakaway formed in the opening 10 km (6.2 mi) of the race.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 5
They were Gregory Rast (Trek Factory Racing), KOM jersey wearer Stefan Denifl and his teammate Matthias Brändle (IAM Cycling), Ben King (Cannondale–Garmin), Przemysław Niemiec (Lampre-Merida), Stefan Schumacher (CCC-Sprandi-Polkowice), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal) and Mirko Selvaggi (Wanty-Groupe Gobert). The best-placed cyclist in the break on the general classification was Selvaggi in 59th place, 18' 38" down on Dumoulin. Denifl amassed maximum points atop the Bielerhöhe Pass, comforting his lead in the mountains classification. Jon Izagirre of the Movistar Team abandoned after the pass.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 5
With 90 km (55.9 mi) to go the gap was miscalculated by the race organizers as there were unrealistic fluctuations in the official timing throughout the long stretch of flat road before the final climb. With 82 km (51.0 mi) to cover, Astana took control of the peloton for their leader Jakob Fuglsang. FDJ and Team Katusha started helping the chase at the front, since those teams had riders aiming for victory (Thibaut Pinot and the Daniel Moreno-Simon Špilak duo, respectively).


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 5
With 30 km (18.6 mi) to the start of the big final climb, the gap was around six and a half minutes. The break fractured, just as the peloton did later when they hit the Rettenbach ascent. Dumoulin was dropped almost at the beginning of it but resisted, climbing at his own pace. Špilak attacked with 8 km (5.0 mi) remaining and dangled in front of a select group.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 5
Early breaker Denifl was alone in front and had about two minutes of an advantage with 4 km (2.5 mi) to go. Behind, Domenico Pozzovivo placed an acceleration that put the lead group in difficulty, but he was brought back. The time gap rapidly decreased, due to dubious time monitoring again. Pinot launched an attack from the group, but Špilak had the resources to keep up with him for a while but was ultimately dropped. Pinot passed the passive Denifl before the arch signaling the last kilometer (flamme rouge) and took a solo victory.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 5
Pozzovivo finished second while Špilak settled for third. However, it became soon apparent that Dumoulin would not lose much more than the minute and a half that was his objective. He passed the line 1' 37" down on Pinot. "I'm very happy, it was important for me and the team. We came here to win a stage, and I had good legs today. I've got a lot of confidence now, that’s important for the Tour de France. And it's true, racing in Switzerland seems to suit me," said Pinot. "The objective is to win overall here, but the rouleurs like [Geraint] Thomas and [Tom] Dumoulin aren't far back," he added. "It'll be a long and difficult time trial [on stage nine]. We'll see what happens on the day."


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 6
18 June 2015 — Wil to Biel 193.1 km (120.0 mi)


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 6
This stage contained only one categorized ascent midway through it and was a Category 3 affair named Auensteinstrasse. However, there were numerous uncategorized rises on the course to Biel and the total elevation gain for the stage was 1,167 m (3,828.7 ft). Two intermediate sprints came before the run into town in the final 40 km (24.9 mi).


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 6
As the stage started, there were 145 riders remaining in the race, as only seven entrants had abandoned since the start of the race. The day's breakers were Axel Domont (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Marek Rutkiewicz (CCC-Sprandi-Polkowice), Matej Mohoric (Cannondale–Garmin) and Jérôme Baugnies (Wanty-Groupe Gobert). The riders soon tackled the Eschenmosen, one of the many uncategorized ascents of the day. With 136 km (84.5 mi) left, the breakaway's advantage stood at 4' 30".