2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 6
The breakers took the points on offer on the only climb of the day, Auensteinstrasse, so Stefan Denifl of IAM Cycling needed not worry about someone taking his mountains classification jersey, as he had 63 points with 30 points of an advantage over his nearest competitor Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal). Rutkiewicz won the KOM and amassed the five points that came with it. About midway through, it was calculated that the peloton's average speed was slower than the slowest prediction by the organizers, most likely due to the severity of the previous stage.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 6
With 65 km (40.4 mi) to cover, rain began to fall; the main field was led by FDJ, Etixx-Quick Step, Giant-Alpecin and Team Katusha. Baugnies rode first across an uncontested intermediate sprint with 42.7 km (26.5 mi) to go. 25 km (15.5 mi) from the finish, Adriano Malori and Francisco Ventoso of Movistar Team surprised the peloton by attacking. At the 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining arch, the break of four still held a lead of forty seconds with the two Movistar Team riders placed between the groups.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 6
Etixx–Quick-Step took matters in their own hands and began forming their sprint train for Mark Cavendish. Tinkoff-Saxo moved to the front in support of their sprint hopeful, Peter Sagan. With 5 km (3.1 mi) to cover, the escape had 30 seconds of an advantage. At that point, two Etixx–Quick-Step riders (Julien Vermote and Zdenek Stybar) crashed on the water-logged tarmac before a bend, but the mishap had no consequences on the peloton. The breakers were brought back just before the flamme rouge.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 6
Shortly thereafter, Cavendish lost the wheel of his lead-out man Mark Renshaw after struggling to come back after the crash which hindered his lead-out train. There were two technical turns before the finish line. Peter Sagan was sitting in third wheel of his team's train; he negotiated the final 90 degree corner with 200 m to go and profited from an unintentional lead-out by Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto–Soudal), who had opened his sprint before Sagan outpowered him in the last hundred meters to win the day. It was Sagan's eleventh victory in Tour de Suisse history, equaling the records of Hugo Koblet and Ferdi Kubler. Because of a split in the peloton, Pinot lost five seconds to general classification rival Geraint Thomas of Team Sky.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 7
19 June 2015 — Biel to Düdingen 160 km (99.4 mi)


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 7
Stage 7 was a flat stage except for three Category 3 climbs in the second half of the stage. The opening 60 km (37.3 mi) were totally flat. After 91 km (56.5 mi), the riders tackled the finishing circuit twice. During that circuit, the first climb was the 1.1 km (0.7 mi)-long Freiburgstrasse. There was a descent, then the Hauptstrasse climb was covered. During the second circuit, the Freiburgstrasse was attacked again. This last difficulty was situated 19 km (11.8 mi) from the finish line. The final 800 m (2,624.7 ft) were steep.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 7
World road race champion Michał Kwiatkowski of the Etixx-Quick Step squad made attempts at escaping before the peloton finally let him go 20 km (12.4 mi) in to the race. He was joined by Silvan Dillier (BMC Racing Team), Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Axel Domont (Ag2r-La Mondiale). After the break was resolved, the peloton was content in letting the gap increase to 3' 15" with 129 km (80.2 mi) of racing remaining. The best placed rider in this quartet was Impey, 29' 18" down on race leader Thibaut Pinot (FDJ).


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 7
The average speed of the first hour was 47.7 km/h (29.6 mph). Tinkoff-Saxo and Giant-Alpecin dictated the pace, pulling back thirty seconds. With 88 km (54.7 mi) to go, the race passed through the village of Misery-Courtion, at which point the gap stood at 2' 50". A crash occurred in the outskirts of Misery-Courtion, involving Ben Hermans and Manuel Senni (both with BMC Racing Team). They were able to remount their bikes and rejoined the main field.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 7
Wanty-Groupe Gobert's Enrico Gasparotto abandoned two hours into the stage, which were contested at the speed of 44 km/h (27.3 mph). With 55 km (34.2 mi) remaining, the escape had a minute lead. Domont took the maximum points atop the first KOM of the day. As they crossed the line for the last time with 37 km (23.0 mi) to go, the breakers were resisting as the time difference was still around a minute. On the second lap of the finishing circuit, Domont was dropped from the breakaway and was absorbed in by the peloton.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 7
The now three-rider break had a thirty-second advantage with 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining. Team Katusha controlled the front of the field in the final kilometers. With 2 km (1.2 mi) to go, the peloton almost pulled back the all unyielding breakers, Kwiatkowski decided to go alone. He was caught in sight of the finish line. The uphill sprint was won by Alexander Kristoff of Team Katusha, with Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) being a close second. Sagan got out of Kristoff's slipstream to try to out-sprint him in the final meters, but to no avail.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 7
This was Kristoff's eighteenth victory of the season. Through bad positioning, Pinot lost a further five seconds to Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) in the overall classification. "It was a hard day, I haven't felt super in this Tour de Suisse but I did a good sprint today," said the winner. "I got ahead of Sagan and I was able to go again at the end to hold off his run."


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 8
20 June 2015 — Bern to Bern 152.5 km (94.8 mi)


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 8
The stage was ridden in and around Bern, the first time the Tour de Suisse came to the national capital since 2009. This was another stage which featured a lot of uncategorized rises. It however contained four Category 3 ascents. The event featured four circuits of 38.7 km (24.0 mi) around town, on the same course that will be used in the stage nine's time trial. The two climbs present in the loops gave KOM points on the last two laps only. The riders first took on the 800 m (2,624.7 ft)-long Category 3 Liebewill, then it was the 400 m (1,312.3 ft)-long Aargauerstalden climb. The stage finished on the flat, a plateau after the latter ascent, featuring a number of technical turns.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 8
A breakaway of twelve formed at the very start, but was deemed too dangerous and quickly reabsorbed. Citing back problems, Trek Factory Racing rider Jasper Stuyven abandoned the race. The attackers continued to try to form a break and Michał Kwiatkowski's (Etixx-Quick Step) move finally made it. A break of nineteen riders emerged, containing among others Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin), the best placed rider of the move on general classification at 4' 52". Team Sky, Cannondale–Garmin and FDJ led the chase. Despite the main field's effort, the gap grew to two minutes with 87 km (54.1 mi) to cover.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 8
With 75 km (46.6 mi) to go in the stage, the gap stood at 2' 12". However, Team Sky, Cannondale–Garmin and FDJ were still working to keep the escapees in range. The time difference to the escape was remaining stationary with around two minutes at the 40 km (24.9 mi) to go marker. As the peloton passed through the finish line to undertake the last lap of the circuit, Jakob Fuglsang of Astana abandoned the race. He confirmed later he quit the race due to stomach problems. The peloton was forming a long single line as the pace was high. Maxime Monfort (Lotto–Soudal) crashed and abandoned, bruising on his shoulder and back.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 8
With 20 km (12.4 mi) remaining, Astana's Alexey Lutsenko attacked the escapees, followed by Jan Bakelants (Ag2r-La Mondiale); they opened a gap, holding off their former breakaway companions. Bakelandts lead for the last few kilometers except under the flamme rouge and Lutsenko outsprinted him to claim the victory. He described the win as the biggest of his career. The main field arrived in small groups, with the first one containing Team Sky's Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin of Team Giant–Alpecin, who made a marginal time gain of three seconds on Thibaut Pinot. The latter remained in the leaders' jersey.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
21 June 2015 — Bern to Bern 38.4 km (23.9 mi)


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
The lengthy individual time trial featured a climb in the middle of it, but no KOM points were on offer. The course was technical and featured several turns. It was the same course that was raced four times in stage eight, except that the finish line was not situated at the same place. Midway through the stage, the riders took on the difficulty of the day, the 800 m (2,624.7 ft)-long Liebewill. There were other small climbs to pepper the course.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
The final general classification of the race would definitely be decided on this stage, and a majority of the observers believed that Pinot would lose his lead since he is not a great time trialist, meaning he is not at his best when fighting against the wind on rolling terrain. Geraint Thomas of Team Sky was only 34 seconds down coming into the stage and was among the favorites to take the overall victory.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) won the short prologue and was a contender for overall victory too since he is a time trial specialist, but he had 1' 24" to make up for. Another contender for overall win was Simon Špilak of Team Katusha (47 seconds down). Fourth-placed Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) was an enigma, as he had mixed performances in time trials throughout his career. As far as the stage win in itself was concerned, solo effort specialists Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) and Adriano Malori (Movistar Team) were to be considered, but they had no chance of a victory in the general classification since they were too far down in the rankings.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
The riders started in reverse order of the general classification, so Pinot was the last one to start. The riders went off the starting ramp in two minutes increments. Cancellara got on course early, as he was the seventh man to start. He clocked a time of 48' 55", which would stay a reference for most of the day. He was followed out of the starting area by Matthias Brändle (IAM Cycling) who came in 2' 28" after Cancellara, somewhat surprisingly as he is a time trial specialist too.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
Malori set the best time at the 21 km (13.0 mi) intermediate point but faded a little bit in the end, coming to the finish line only 15 seconds off Cancellara's time. The Swiss would stay as a reference for a while now that some time trial specialists had finished their effort and failed to beat him. Damien Gaudin (Ag2r-La Mondiale) clocked in a time of 50' 46" which put him in sixth position.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
Cameron Meyer (Orica–GreenEDGE) put in a time of 49' 43", 48 seconds off Cancellara's mark. Around that time, general classification hopeful Dumoulin hopped off the starting ramp. Swiss Silvan Dillier (BMC Racing Team) provisionally slotted into sixth position with a time of 50' 19" and minutes later, race leader Pinot got off the starting ramp. Jerome Coppel (IAM Cycling) crossed the finish line with a rapid time, only 25 seconds off Cancellara's performance. Meanwhile, in early time splits, Pinot had already lost twelve seconds to Thomas. Last day's stage winner Alexey Lutsenko of Astana confirmed his good form with a time of 50' 32".


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
At the 21 km (13.0 mi) marker, Dumoulin beat Malori's best time by eleven seconds. Špilak was also doing a fast time trial, being equal to the best time at the 15.5 km (9.6 mi) mark and passing the 21 km (13.0 mi) arch faster than Dumoulin by four tenths of a second. By that time, Pinot had virtually lost his lead. Dumoulin took a very focused corner and he almost slammed into spectators upon exiting it, but no accident occurred. Špilak needed fourteen seconds over Thomas to get in front of him in the general classification.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
Dumoulin came in with a time nineteen seconds better than Cancellara's and won the stage with an average speed of 47.407 km/h (29.5 mph). Špilak came in with a time of 48' 54" and Thomas registered 49' 12", a difference of 18 seconds. Therefore, Špilak was declared the official winner of the 2015 Tour de Suisse by five seconds.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
"I’m really happy and want to thank my teammates who helped me too much during the race. This is the biggest win of my career so far," Spilak said. "The time trial was really hard but I liked it. It was up and down all the way and that helped me. I gave it everything." It was the Slovenian's tenth victory in the professional ranks.


2015 Tour de Suisse, Classification leadership
In the 2015 Tour de Suisse, three different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the Tour de Suisse, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race. There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a light blue 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 Suisse, Classification leadership
Hors Category gave 20 points to the first rider crossing (20, 15, 10, 6, 4), a Category 1 was worth 12 points (12, 8, 6, 4, 2), a Category 2 was worth 8 points (8, 6, 4, 2, 1) and a Category 3 was worth 5 points (5, 3, 2, 1).


2015 Tour de Suisse, Classification leadership
The third jersey represented the points classification, marked by a white-and-red jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing highly in a stage. A stage victory awarded 10 points, with 8 points for second, 6 for third, 4 for fourth and 2 for fifth. Points could also be earned at intermediate sprints location for finishing in the top three during each stage on a 6–3–1 scale. There was also 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 Suisse, Classification leadership
A combativity award was also attributed for the rider who had ridden the most aggressively in the eyes of the judges at the end of every stage. It could have been a rider who featured in breakaways or a cyclist who attacked often.


2015 Tour de Taiwan
The 2015 Tour de Taiwan was the thirteenth edition of the Tour de Taiwan cycling stage race. It started on 22 March and ended on 26 March, consisting of five stages and was rated as a 2.1 event on the 2015 UCI Asia Tour. The 2014 champion was Rémy Di Gregorio (Team Marseille 13 KTM), but his team was not selected to take part in the 2015 edition.


2015 Tour de Taiwan
The race was won by Samad Pourseyedi (Tabriz Petrochemical Team). He finished third on the first hill-top finish on stage 2, then took a solo victory on stage 4. He defended his lead to the end of the race. The final podium was made up entirely of Iranian riders: two Pishgaman–Giant riders came second and third, Hossein Askari and Rahim Emami. Pourseyedi also won the mountains and Asian rider classifications, while Pishgaman–Giant were the best team. The points competition was won by Patrick Bevin (Avanti Racing Team), who won one stage, was in the top ten in four stages and was fourth overall in the race. Two stages were won by Wouter Wippert (Drapac Professional Cycling) and one by Tino Thömel (RTS–Santic Racing Team).


2015 Tour de Wallonie
The 2015 Tour de Wallonie was a five-stage men's professional road cycling race. It was the forty-second running of the Tour de Wallonie. The race started on 25 July in Frasnes-lez-Anvaing, finishing on 29 July in Waremme. The race was won by Niki Terpstra of Etixx–Quick-Step.


2015 Tour de Wallonie, Teams
The sixteen teams invited to participate in the Tour de Wallonie were:


2015 Tour de Yorkshire
The 2015 Tour de Yorkshire was a cycling stage race that took place in Yorkshire in May 2015. It was the first edition of the Tour de Yorkshire and was organised by Welcome to Yorkshire and the Amaury Sport Organisation, who also organised the Yorkshire stages of the 2014 Tour de France. The race started in Bridlington on 1 May and ended in Leeds on 3 May. It included three stages and was rated as a 2.1 event as part of the 2015 UCI Europe Tour.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire
The first stage of the race was won by Lars Petter Nordhaug (Team Sky) in a sprint from a small group. He kept his lead through the second stage, which ended in a bunch sprint, and was able to extend it slightly in the third and final stage of the race. He won the general classification in the race by eleven seconds. Samuel Sánchez (BMC Racing Team) was second and Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) was third. Nordhaug also won the points classification and Team Sky won the teams classification. The mountains classification was won by Nicolas Edet (Cofidis)


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Race route
The race was first discussed publicly in July 2014, after the first stages of the 2014 Tour de France that took place in Yorkshire. It was organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation, the organisers of the Tour de France, and Welcome to Yorkshire, who had been the organisers of the Yorkshire stages of the 2014 Tour de France. On 22 December 2014, the start and finish locations for the event were released, these were Bridlington, Leeds, Scarborough, Selby, Wakefield and York. On 21 January 2015, details of the three stages of the route were unveiled at the Bridlington Spa.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Race route
The first two stages (especially the second) were expected to suit the sprinters, while the third stage was described as the "queen stage". It included several roads and climbs that had been part of the second stage of the 2014 Tour de France between York and Sheffield. The stage was rated as a 2.1 event.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Race route
There was also a women's race that took place as part of the Tour de Yorkshire event. This took place on the second day of the men's race over four laps of the 20-kilometre (12 mi) route around York that was also the final part of the men's racing that day. Lizzie Armitstead, who did not compete in the event due to a conflicting event in Europe, expressed a hope that the women's race in future would be a three-day event like the men's race. The women's race was won by Louse Mahé (Ikon-Mazada) in a sprint finish.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Teams
18 teams were selected to take part in the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire. Five of these were UCI WorldTeams; six were UCI Professional Continental teams; six were UCI Continental teams; one was the Great Britain national team. Teams could enter between five and eight riders. Fourteen teams selected eight riders and four teams selected seven; 140 riders were therefore entered into the race. One rider (Caleb Fairly of Team Giant–Alpecin) pulled out before the start, so the race began with a peloton of 139 riders.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Pre-race expectations
Much of the pre-race media focused on the presence of Bradley Wiggins, Britain's first ever winner of the Tour de France, who was riding his first race for his new team, WIGGINS. Wiggins was controversially not selected for Team Sky in the previous year's Tour de France; the race organisers expected his presence in the Tour de Yorkshire to be one of the principal attractions for British cycling fans. Wiggins was not, however, expected to attempt to win the overall classification in the race; his main objective was preparing for his hour record attempt in June.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Pre-race expectations
Cycling Weekly expected that the race would be dominated by "punchy all-rounders". The riders expected to perform strongly over the three days included Ben Swift (Team Sky), Moreno Hofland and Steven Kruijswijk (both LottoNL–Jumbo), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team), Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) and Erick Rowsell (Madison Genesis). The second stage appeared most likely to end in a sprint, with Marcel Kittel (Team Giant–Alpecin) the favourite to take victory, although he had suffered an illness and had not raced since the Tour of Qatar in February. Other prominent sprinters included Swift and Hofland, as well as Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling), Rick Zabel (BMC Racing Team), Gerald Ciolek (MTN–Qhubeka) and Steele Von Hoff (NFTO).


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 1
1 May — Bridlington to Scarborough, 174 km (108 mi)


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 1
The first stage of the race began in Bridlington on the North Sea coast. The riders first travelled north-east to Flamborough, where they turned to the north-west. Initially this kept them along the coast, but soon took them into the North York Moors, where the first climb was the Côte de Dalby Forest. This came after 51.5 kilometres (32.0 mi); the categorised portion of the climb was 0.6 kilometres (0.37 mi) at 8.9%. The riders then turned to the south-west and descended to Pickering, where the first intermediate sprint was positioned.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 1
The route turned north, back onto the Moors, where they reached the Côte de Rosedale Abbey after 92 kilometres (57 mi). This was the longest climb of the day: 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) at 7%. The riders continued north as far as Castleton, where they turned east. After 123.5 kilometres (76.7 mi), the riders climbed the Côte de Grosmont (0.4 kilometres (0.25 mi) at 16.9%), then the Côte de Briggswath (1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) at 6.2%). From here, they returned to the coast at Whitby, where there was another intermediate sprint; the riders then turned south.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 1
The final climb of the day came after 146.5 kilometres (91.0 mi); it was the Côte de Robin Hood's Bay (1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) at 10.3%). The riders then continued south to the finish line in Scarborough, doing a loop around the town before finishing on the sea front. In total the day included 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) of climbing, although the highest point was just 350 metres (1,150 ft) above sea level. Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) described the stage as "much tougher than we thought" due to the small roads.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 1
An initial breakaway was formed by Mark Christian (WIGGINS), Loïc Chetout (Cofidis), Eddie Dunbar (NFTO), Mark Stewart (Madison Genesis) and Rasmus Quaade (Cult Energy Pro Cycling). They built up a five-minute lead but Team Sky chased hard; the break's lead was reduced to a few seconds by the Côte de Rosedale Abbey. A new breakaway was formed here by Perrig Quéméneur (Team Europcar) and Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise), while Marcel Kittel (Team Giant–Alpecin) was dropped and abandoned the race shortly afterwards. With 50 kilometres (31 mi) remaining, the peloton descended into Egton in wet conditions. Team Sky were riding at the front of the peloton. Sky's Ben Swift and Ian Boswell and NFTO's Eddie Dunbar crashed. Dunbar suffered a broken clavicle and Swift a shoulder injury: both were forced to abandon the race.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 1
The crucial move of the race came with 40 kilometres (25 mi) remaining as the race went through Whitby. A 15-man group formed here. This was reduced to five riders on the Côte de Robin Hood’s Bay. Philip Deignan (Team Sky) rode hard on the climb, with only Stéphane Rossetto (Cofidis), Samuel Sánchez (BMC Racing Team), Voeckler, and Deignan's teammate Lars Petter Nordhaug able to follow him. Despite attacks on the way into Scarborough, these five riders came to the finish line together. Nordhaug won the sprint ahead of Voeckler and Rossetto. The peloton was more than a minute behind; the sprint was won by Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team).


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 1
Thanks to bonus seconds, Nordhaug led the race by four seconds ahead of Voeckler. He also led the points classification. The mountains classification was led by Quéméneur. Quéméneur was also awarded the combativity prize after the online vote: Dunbar won the vote, but was unable to receive the prize because he had been hospitalised due to his crash.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 2
2 May — Selby to York, 174 km (108 mi)


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 2
The second stage of the race, which was much flatter than the first and third stages, began in Selby, North Yorkshire. The stage began with an 8.2-kilometre (5.1 mi) neutralised section, which included a loop around the town centre; the racing started as the riders headed east for 25 kilometres (16 mi) towards Market Weighton. Here they turned south and climbed the first of the day's two categorised climbs; this was the  Côte de North Newbald (1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) at 5.3%). The route again turned east and the riders reached Beverley after 45 kilometres (28 mi).


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 2
From here the route turned north and entered the Yorkshire Wolds; there was an intermediate sprint as the route passed through Wetwang. Immediately after the intermediate sprint came the second climb of the day, the Côte de Fimber (1.1 kilometres (0.68 mi) at 6.2%). At the summit of the climb, there were 78.5 kilometres (48.8 mi) to the finish line. The riders continued north as far as Malton, then turned south-west towards York. The race concluded in York with a 20.5-kilometre (12.7 mi) finishing circuit.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 2
The riders entered the circuit with 52.5 kilometres (32.6 mi) to the end of the stage and rode the 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) to the finishing line, where the second intermediate sprint of the day took place. They then rode two complete laps of the circuit; the race finished with the third crossing of the finish line, after 174 kilometres (108 mi).


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 2
An early breakaway of 18 riders formed. This included Philip Deignan (Team Sky), who had been in the winning break in the first stage and was 10 seconds off the race lead. The other teams in the peloton were not willing to let a breakaway that included Deignan go; eventually he and nine others dropped back to the main peloton. Eight riders were therefore left in the lead group: Andy Tennant (WIGGINS), Bert De Backer (Team Giant–Alpecin), Stijn Steels (Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise), Giovanni Bernaudeau (Team Europcar), Matt Brammeier (MTN–Qhubeka), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Ivar Slik (Team Roompot) and Mark McNally (Madison Genesis). McNally won both categorised climbs. The break's lead was nearly seven minutes with 78.5 kilometres (48.8 mi) remaining; Sky and IAM Cycling began chasing hard and reduced the gap sharply; the breakaway had less than two minutes' lead as they entered the laps around York.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 2
The breakaway split up; McNally and De Backer remained alone in the lead with 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) left. McNally was voted as the day's most combative rider through a Twitter vote, but he was unable to stay with De Backer in the final 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi). De Backer continued alone; he was briefly joined by Loic Chetout (Cofidis) but the pair were unable to stay away from the chasing pack. As they were caught, with 700 metres (2,300 ft) remaining, Greg Van Avermaet attacked.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 2
Although he appeared to have a lead large enough to secure the stage victory, he ran out of energy shortly before the line and was caught by the sprinters. The first of these was Moreno Hofland (LottoNL–Jumbo), who won his team's first victory of the year, with Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling second and Ramon Sinkeldam (Team Giant–Alpecin) third.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 2
Because of a split in the peloton, Voeckler and Rossetto both lost six seconds. Samuel Sánchez therefore moved up into second place overall, while Nordhaug's lead increased to ten seconds.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 3
3 May — Wakefield to Leeds, 167 km (104 mi)


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 3
The third stage was the queen stage of the race and included several of the roads used in stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France. The stage began in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, outside the city's cathedral; there was a neutralised lap of the city centre before the riders left the city to the south. The route passed through Sandal and reached Barnsley after 8 kilometres (5.0 mi). Here the roads turned west and entered the Pennines.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 3
The first climb of the day came after 40 kilometres (25 mi): this was the Côte de Holmfirth (2.9 kilometres (1.8 mi) at 5.5%). From here the route was twisting, though it generally travelled north as it passed to the west of Huddersfield and Halifax. The next climb, the Côte de Scapegoat Hill (2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) at 8.3%), came after 55.5 kilometres (34.5 mi) of racing. The riders briefly left Yorkshire for the only time in the race (the route entered Greater Manchester but immediately returned to West Yorkshire). The roads were hilly throughout, with barely any flat road.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 3
The next categorised climb was the Côte de Hebden Bridge (4.1 kilometres (2.5 mi) at 5.5%) after 95 kilometres (59 mi) with the Côte de Goose Eye (1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) at 10%) shortly afterwards. After 129.5 kilometres (80.5 mi), there was an intermediate sprint in Ilkley, then the Côte de Cow and Calf (1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) at 8%). At the top of the climb, there were 35.5 kilometres (22.1 mi) to the finish line.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 3
The final categorised climb of the race, the Côte de The Chevin (1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) at 10.3%), was 24 kilometres (15 mi) from the finish; there was also a slight climb to the second intermediate sprint in Arthington. There was then a fairly flat 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) section to the finish line in Leeds, with the finish line in Roundhay Park.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 3
The day's main breakaway was formed by Lawson Craddock (Team Giant–Alpecin), Sondre Holst Enger (IAM Cycling), Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (MTN–Qhubeka), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), James McLoughlin (Madison Genesis), Ian Bibby (NFTO and Rasmus Quaade (Cult Energy Pro Cycling). They built a lead of around five minutes ahead of the peloton, which was led by Sky. Bibby won the first three climbs of the day; the group then split apart on the Côte de Goose Eye. Craddock was the first to cross the summit with only Edet able to follow him. With less than 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the finish line, the two riders had a lead of nearly five minutes. Edet won the next two climbs and secured victory in the mountains classification.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 3
With 35.5 kilometres (22.1 mi) remaining, the gap was about 90 seconds as Sky's David López, Ian Boswell and Philip Deignan led the remaining part of the peloton. Josh Edmondson (Great Britain) made an unsuccessful attack from this group. On the uncategorised climb leading up to the final sprint of the day, Craddock dropped Edet and continued alone. In the peloton, Samuel Sánchez also attacked on the climb. Nordhaug followed him and won the final bonus second, putting him more than ten seconds ahead of Sánchez.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 3
Steve Cummings (MTN–Qhubeka) and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL–Jumbo) attacked together after the climb; they too were unsuccessful. The final attack of the day came from Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team) with approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) to the finish line. He caught and passed Craddock 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) later; meanwhile Sky led the group without making any particular effort to chase Hermans down.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Stages, Stage 3
Hermans won a solo victory; the 17-man group was nine seconds behind. Greg Van Avermaet won the sprint for second, with Julien Simon third. Nordhaug finished in fifth to secure victory overall and in the points classification. Sky also won the teams classification. Edet won the mountains classification. The final combativity prize was won by Bibby.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Classifications
The race included three individual classifications and a team classification. The most important of these was the general classification. This was calculated by adding up each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. Bonus seconds were awarded for top-three placings in each stage (10 seconds for the first rider, 6 seconds for the second, 4 seconds for the third) and for placings in intermediate sprints (3 seconds for the first rider, 2 seconds for the second, 1 second for the third). The rider with the lowest cumulative time after taking bonus seconds into account was the leader of the classification and was awarded a blue and yellow jersey. (Blue and yellow are colours traditionally associated with Yorkshire.) The winner of the general classification was considered the winner of the race.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Classifications
The second classification was points classification. On each stage of the race, points were awarded to the top 10 riders. The winner won 15 points, with 12 for the second-placed rider, 9 for the third-placed rider, 7 for the sixth-placed rider and then one point fewer for each place down to tenth place. Points were also awarded to the top three riders at intermediate sprints, with five points for the winner of the sprint and three, and one points for the riders in second and third places respectively.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Classifications
The rider with the most points was the leader of the classification and was awarded a green jersey. There was also a mountains classification. Over the three stages, there were 13 categorised climbs. On each of these climbs, the first four riders to the summit were awarded points, with 5 for the first rider, 3 for the second, 2 for the third and 1 for the fourth. The rider with the most accumulated points was the leader of the classification and was awarded a dark pink jersey.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Classifications
The final classification was a team classification. The team's time on each was calculated by taking the best three riders from that team and adding their times together; the team with the lowest cumulative time was the leader of the classification.


2015 Tour de Yorkshire, Classifications
Another jersey was awarded at the end of each stage. This was a combativity prize and was to be awarded to the rider who "made the greatest effort and [...] demonstrated the best qualities in terms of sportsmanship". A jury selected a list of riders to be eligible for the prize; the winner of the prize was then decided by a vote on Twitter. The rider was awarded a grey jersey.


2015 Tour des Fjords
The 2015 Tour des Fjords was the eighth edition of the Tour des Fjords cycle stage race. It was a part of the 2015 UCI Europe Tour as a 2.1 event.


2015 Tour des Fjords, Teams
21 teams were selected to take place in the 2015 Tour des Fjords. Four of these were UCI WorldTeams, six were UCI Professional Continental teams, and eleven were UCI Continental teams.


2015 Tour du Haut Var
The 2015 Tour du Haut Var was the 47th edition of the Tour du Haut Var road cycling stage race, held in the Provence region of France. It was rated as a 2.1 event as part of the 2015 UCI Europe Tour, and consisted of two stages over two days, from 21 to 22 February 2015.


2015 Tour du Haut Var
Historically, the Tour du Haut Var was the third of three early-season French races, following the Étoile de Bessèges and the Tour Méditerranéen, but for the second year running the Tour Méditerranéen was cancelled due to financial problems, so the Tour du Haut Var came after a two-week break in French cycling.


2015 Tour du Haut Var
The 2015 race was particularly notable for returning to the difficult terrain that had been a feature of the race in its early years. In contrast to most stage races, it favoured classics riders rather than pure climbing specialists, and was seen as excellent preparation for the classics season.


2015 Tour du Haut Var
The first stage of the race was won from the breakaway by Ben Gastauer (AG2R La Mondiale), who was able to defend his race lead in the second stage and take the overall victory in the race. These were the first victories of his professional career. The second stage was won by Luka Mezgec (Team Giant–Alpecin). Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team), who finished on the podium both days, won the points classification. The mountains prize was won by Ignatas Konovalovas (Team Marseille 13 KTM) and the best young rider was Quentin Pacher (Armée de Terre). The best team was Bretagne–Séché Environnement.


2015 Tour du Haut Var, Preview
The 2014 champion was Carlos Betancur (Ag2r–La Mondiale), but he was not selected for the 2015 edition, still being far from the form he had had in the early part of 2014. However, three former champions were present, including Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team), Davide Rebellin (CCC–Sprandi–Polkowice) and Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar). Gilbert was considered one of the major favourites for the race, while AG2R La Mondiale's Samuel Dumoulin and Bretagne–Séché Environnement's Jonathan Hivert were also expected to ride well.


2015 Tour du Haut Var, Teams
20 teams were selected to take place in the 2015 edition, including six UCI WorldTeams.


2015 Tour du Haut Var, Route
The terrain of the race was expected to be more challenging than in other recent editions and both stages were expected to suit the puncheurs rather than the sprinters. The first stage took the riders across several categorised climbs. The penultimate climb was the difficult ascent of the Mur de Montauroux (the "Wall of Montauroux"), which had sections of 22% incline, before finishing with the steep climb to Seillans. The second stage took the riders across several more difficult climbs, including the Côte des Tuilières 20 kilometres (12 miles) before the finish.


2015 Tour du Haut Var, Stages, Stage 1
Stage 1 was a 164.6-kilometre (102-mile) route from Le Cannet-des-Maures to Seillans. The route was generally hilly and generally used narrow roads. There were four climbs in the first part of the stage, before entering a difficult final section. This included the steep Mur de Montauroux with 15.5 kilometres (10 miles) remaining, with the descent followed by a section of mild climbing and a steep incline to the finish.


2015 Tour du Haut Var, Stages, Stage 1
The day's early break was formed by Ben Gastauer (AG2R La Mondiale), Ignatas Konovalovas (Team Marseille 13 KTM), Thomas Vaubourzeix (Veranclassic–Ekoi), Roy Curvers (Team Giant–Alpecin) and Loïc Chetout (Cofidis). They never built a lead of more than 4' 30", with several of the teams in the peloton chasing hard. Chetout dropped out of the break, but the remaining riders were able to maintain a decent advantage over the chasing pack. At the Mur de Montauroux, they still had a lead of two minutes. Gastauer dropped the remaining riders on the climb and pressed on alone.


2015 Tour du Haut Var, Stages, Stage 1
He admitted after the stage that it had not been his intention to attempt to win the race from the breakaway, but he pushed on, estimating that the peloton behind would be tired. He still had several seconds in hand as he reached the final climb into Seillans and was able to hold the peloton off with a seven-second advantage at the finish line, with Jonathan Hivert second and Philippe Gilbert third.


2015 Tour du Haut Var, Stages, Stage 2
Stage 2 was a hilly route around Draguignan. The 197.9-kilometre (123.0-mile) route involved several circuits around the town with six classified climbs. The last of these was the first-category Côte des Tuilières, which included sections of 22% and came 15 kilometres (9 miles) before the finish.


2015 Tour du Haut Var, Stages, Stage 2
The stage was raced briskly. After 50 kilometres (31 miles) of racing, a nine-man breakaway went away, with AG2R La Mondiale leading the chase in defence of Ben Gastauer's yellow jersey. The breakaway riders were Johan Le Bon (FDJ), Maxim Belkov (Team Katusha), Yannick Martinez (Team Europcar), Anthony Turgis (Cofidis), Nikolay Mihaylov (CCC–Sprandi–Polkowice), Ignatas Konovalovas (Team Marseille 13 KTM), Julien Guay (Auber 93), Antoine Demoitié (Wallonie-Bruxelles) and Serge Dewortelaer (Veranclassic–Ekoi). Turgis attempted to drive the pace on the climb of Col de la Grange 70 kilometres (43 miles) before the finish, but he was not able to distance the peloton. The last of the escapees to be caught was Le Bon, who rode solo into the final 20 kilometres (12 miles) with a lead of over a minute. He was caught soon afterwards, as the peloton reached the Côte des Tuilières.


2015 Tour du Haut Var, Stages, Stage 2
On the climb, Davide Rebellin (CCC–Sprandi–Polkowice), a former champion in the race, attacked along with Julien Loubet Team Marseille 13 KTM, but they were caught by AG2R La Mondiale shortly after the summit. Luka Mezgec (Team Giant–Alpecin) was among the riders to be dropped on the climb, but he was able to bridge across from the chase group into the peloton, now reduced to 30 riders. His teammate Chad Haga led him out in the sprint, and he was able to beat Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) to the line, with Baptiste Planckaert (Roubaix–Lille Métropole) in third place. Gastauer finished in the peloton and took the overall victory, the first stage race win of his professional career.


2015 Tour du Haut Var, Classification leadership table
In the 2015 Tour du Haut Var, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2015 Tour du Haut Var, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.


2015 Tour du Haut Var, Classification leadership table
Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a green 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 25 points, with 20 for second, 16 for third, 14 for fourth, 12 for fifth, 10 for sixth, then 1 point fewer per place down to 1 for 15th place. Points towards the classification could also be accrued at intermediate sprint points during each stage. 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 du Haut Var, Classification leadership table
The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey. This was decided in the same way as the general classification, but only riders born after 1 January 1991 were eligible to be ranked in the classification. There was also 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 of Alberta
The 2015 Tour of Alberta was the third edition of the Tour of Alberta stage race. The event was included on the UCI America Tour, with a UCI classification of 2.1. As such, the race was only open to teams on the UCI Pro Tour, UCI Professional Continental and UCI Continental circuits. The race took place between September 2–7, 2015, as a six-day, six-stage race, traversing the province of Alberta. The race commences in Grande Prairie and finished in Edmonton. It was won by Bauke Mollema of Trek Factory Racing.


2015 Tour of Alberta, Stages, Stage 1
September 2, 2015 — Grande Prairie to Grande Prairie, 19.6 kilometres (12.2 mi)


2015 Tour of Austria
The 2015 Tour of Austria will be the 67th edition of the Tour of Austria cycling stage race. It's scheduled to start in Wien on 4 July with a team time trial prologue, and will conclude in Bregenz on 12 July. This will be the first time in several years that the race will consist of 8 stages plus a prologue. It is part of the 2015 UCI Europe Tour, and is rated as a 2.HC event.


2015 Tour of Austria, Teams
20 teams were invited to the 2015 Tour of Austria: 6 UCI ProTeams, 7 UCI Professional Continental Teams and 7 UCI Continental Teams.


2015 Tour of Belgium
The 2015 Tour of Belgium was the 85th edition of the Tour of Belgium cycling stage race. It took place from 28 May to 1 June 2015 in Belgium, and was part of the 2015 UCI Europe Tour.


2015 Tour of Britain
The 2015 Aviva Tour of Britain was an eight-stage men's professional road cycling race. It was the twelfth running of the 2004 incarnation of the Tour of Britain and the 76th British tour in total. The race started on 6 September in Beaumaris and finished on 13 September in London. The race was part of the 2015 UCI Europe Tour.


2015 Tour of Britain, Teams
The twenty teams invited to participate in the Tour of Britain are:


2015 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 1
6 September 2015 — Beaumaris to Wrexham, 177 kilometres (110 mi)


2015 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 2
7 September 2015 — Clitheroe to Colne, 162 kilometres (101 mi)


2015 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 3
8 September 2015 — Cockermouth to Floors Castle, 216 kilometres (134 mi)


2015 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 4
9 September 2015 — Edinburgh to Blyth, 135 kilometres (84 mi)


2015 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 5
10 September 2015 — Prudhoe to Hartside Fell, Cumbria, 171 kilometres (106 mi)


2015 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 6
11 September 2015 — Stoke-on-Trent to Nottingham, 189 kilometres (117 mi)


2015 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 7
12 September 2015 — Fakenham to Ipswich, 227 kilometres (141 mi)


2015 Tour of California
The 2015 Amgen Tour of California was the tenth edition of the Tour of California cycling stage race. It was held from May 10–17, and rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour. It began in Sacramento and finished in Pasadena.


2015 Tour of California
The race's general classification was won by Slovakian Peter Sagan (Tinkoff–Saxo) by only three seconds over Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx–Quick-Step), the closest winning margin in the race's history. Sagan also added two stages to his palmares, including the individual time trial. Colombian Sergio Henao (Team Sky) completed the podium.


2015 Tour of California
The sprints competition was won by Briton Mark Cavendish (Etixx–Quick-Step), who also was the winner of four individual stages. The mountains classification jersey went to Italian Daniel Oss of BMC Racing Team, while Julian Alaphilippe took the best young rider's jersey and the queen stage 7. Team Sky was awarded the "best team" title. Latvian Toms Skujiņš of domestic team Hincapie Racing also won a stage and wore the leader's jersey for three stages.


2015 Tour of California, Teams
Eighteen teams were selected to take part in the race. As a 2.HC event, the race organisers could invite UCI ProTeams to make up 70% of the line-up; however, only eight ProTeams were invited, along with four Professional Continental teams and six UCI Continental teams. The maximum number of riders allowed per team was eight, so the field had a maximum of 144 cyclists.


2015 Tour of California, Preview
As in 2014, the race followed a North to South pattern through the State of California and its course did not include other states. It visited thirteen host cities. The overall classification should be decided late in the race, notably in the time trial at Santa Clarita on Stage 6 and on the subsequent stage to Mount Baldy. In 2014, the individual time trial was situated on the second stage won by Bradley Wiggins and there were two mountain stages with stage three ending at Mount Diablo and stage six ending at Mountain High.


2015 Tour of California, Preview
The fact that the more important stages came later in the race did preserve the suspense for longer and gave the fast men a chance to garner stage wins early on, although the race has been known to let numerous breakaways take stage honors. The crosswinds often had an effect on the flatter stages and formed echelons of riders on the road. The general classification hopefuls wanted to avoid getting caught off-guard by staying near the front of the peloton when the wind came from the sides.


2015 Tour of California, Preview
It is also worth noting that ex-cyclist and former multiple Tour of California stage winner Jens Voigt was the ambassador to the race and did serve as a television analyst and as an adviser to the organizers. Also, a rider was present who had ridden all ten editions of the Tour, Ben Jacques-Mayne, but he had to abandon after Stage 2 because of a crash.


2015 Tour of California, Preview
Furthermore, anti-doping tests were conducted in-and-out of the competition by USADA, in agreement with the UCI. USADA's tests included researching for testosterone, CERA and human growth hormone. Subsequently, no positive tests were declared in the race nor after it.


2015 Tour of California, Pre-race favorites
The winner of the 2014 edition, Bradley Wiggins, did not participate to this year's race as he was going back to track cycling. There was only one former winner of the race at the starting line: Robert Gesink of LottoNL–Jumbo won the 2012 edition, which featured the same queen stage (Stage 7). American Andrew Talansky (Cannondale–Garmin) was designated as his team's leader.


2015 Tour of California, Pre-race favorites
Other favorites included Team Sky's Sergio Henao who was supported by a strong team and would have liked to make it two in a row for SKY and Haimar Zubeldia of Trek Factory Racing who came in eighth at the 2014 Tour de France. There also was Warren Barguil, Lawson Craddock (both with Team Giant–Alpecin) and Laurens ten Dam of LottoNL-Jumbo, who could be called to the fore were his leader Gesink to lose significant time. Outsiders included Jacques Janse van Rensburg (MTN–Qhubeka), Janez Brajkovič (UnitedHealthcare, a former Tour de France top-10 finisher), Matthew Busche (Trek Factory Racing), Rob Britton (Team SmartStop) and Phil Gaimon (Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies).


2015 Tour of California, Pre-race favorites
Those who were chasing stage wins included Mark Cavendish of Etixx–Quick-Step, who did come to the race with a lead-out train to facilitate his sprints, including Mark Renshaw. Peter Sagan of Tinkoff–Saxo, the record holder of most stage victories in the history of the event with eleven, was also a rider to watch in the sprints, especially on the hillier stages that could shed the pure sprinters from the leading group. He had won the points jersey competition for the last five years.


2015 Tour of California, Pre-race favorites
American Tyler Farrar, accompanied by other capable sprinters in his team such as Gerald Ciolek, Theo Bos and Matthew Goss of MTN–Qhubeka, would try to leave his mark. Other contenders for stage honors included Lucas Sebastián Haedo of Jamis–Hagens Berman, Danny van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) and Guillaume Boivin (Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies).


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 1
The first stage of the race was generally pan flat and included 3 intermediate sprints: one in Walnut Grove, another one in Isleton and a final one in West Sacramento. There were no categorized climbs, so no points were on offer for the Mountains Classification jersey. There was a section of dirt roads starting 50 mi (80.5 km) into the race and lasting 2 mi (3.2 km). The stage featured a modest elevation gain of 1,400 ft (430 m).


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 1
A breakaway of four riders formed early on: Will Clarke of Drapac Professional Cycling, Steve Fisher of Jelly Belly–Maxxis, Rob Britton of Team SmartStop and his teammate Bobby Sweeting. Britton had just recently won the overall classification of the Tour of the Gila. The peloton then eased off a bit to give some leeway to the break and the gap grew to a maximum of about six minutes and a half. Soon, Etixx–Quick-Step took the reins of the bunch, clearly establishing their intentions of a stage win.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 1
Will Clarke grabbed the first points on offer for the sprints classification in Walnut Grove, also reaping a three-second bonus. He won the second intermediate sprint as well. With about 60 mi (96.6 km) to cover, it was announced that one of the favorites, Andrew Talansky (Cannondale–Garmin) had abandoned the race due to a combination of allergies and upper respiratory infection.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 1
As the television coverage started, it was evident that the wind was pretty strong as the four riders in the break were forming a mini-echelon to shelter themselves. Britton suffered a mechanical and decided to sit up and wait for the peloton. Mark Renshaw crashed as he hit a pothole, but was able to remount and make contact with the field. MTN–Qhubeka and Tinkoff–Saxo started helping Etixx–Quick-Step at the front of the pack with 35 mi (56.3 km) to go, as the gap to the three breakaway riders was 2 minutes 30 seconds at that point.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 1
With 15 mi (24.1 km) to race, Jelly Belly–Maxxis' Jonathan Freter took a nasty tumble down the left side of the road, but luckily he could reintegrate the peloton. The break resisted to make it to the last intermediate sprint in West Sacramento as Will Clarke won the honors and the five points again. At the same time, Fisher was dropped from the break.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 1
Tinkoff–Saxo marshalled the peloton after the breakaway was caught, then Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare) decided to roll the dice with an attack but to no avail as he was quickly caught. Etixx–Quick-Step opted to take matters in their own hands with 2 mi (3.2 km) to cover. The peloton negotiated the last corners in Sacramento at very high speeds, and Mark Cavendish launched his sprint after his lieutenant Mark Renshaw took the last strong pull. Peter Sagan could only stay in Cavendish' slipstream as the Manx Missile took his tenth victory of the season. With the ten seconds bonus awarded to the winner, Cavendish was the first rider to wear the overall classification jersey. Jean-Pierre Drucker completed the podium and no overall classification contenders lost time on the fast run-in.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 2
11 May  Nevada City to Lodi, 120.4 mi (193.8 km)


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 2
The second stage of the Tour again contained three intermediate sprints which were included in the first half of the race. There was also one categorized climb which summited about 40 mi (64.4 km) into the contest and determined the first Mountains Classification jersey wearer. It was a category 4 affair situated on CA 49. There was a finishing circuit in Lodi, which the riders had to accomplish twice. The elevation gain of the whole stage was 6,000 ft (1,800 m).


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 2
It is worth noting that Will Clarke (Drapac Professional Cycling) wore the points classification jersey as he had the same number of points as Cavendish (15) who sported the general classification leader's jersey. Peter Sagan wore the polka dots jersey for best climber as he finished second of the first stage, which did not feature a KOM competition.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 2
A flurry of attacks occurred from kilometer zero, and after numerous failed attempts, Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team) and Markel Irizar (Trek Factory Racing) succeeded in extricating themselves from the peloton. They were soon joined by Luis Amaran of Jamis–Hagens Berman and Robin Carpenter of Hincapie Racing. Seemingly contempt with this break composition, the bunch decelerated noticeably. After 17 mi (27.4 km) of racing, the four escapees enjoyed a three-minute advantage. Carpenter took the first sprint points in Meadow Vista. Then the breakaway riders battled for the first KOM of the race; Carpenter prevailed, meaning he wore the mountains classification jersey on the next day.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 2
3 mi (4.8 km) later, an intermediate sprint was contested in Cool, and was coolly swept up by Carpenter, who decided not to leave anything for the others. He completed his domination of every bonuses on offer that day by taking the last sprint in El Dorado. The breakaway enjoyed a maximum advantage of a little more than five minutes. The crosswinds were about 15 mph (24.1 km/h) and the terrain very flat and open. Still, no breaks were reported in the bunch as Etixx–Quick-Step were controlling the pace with an occasional Tinkoff–Saxo rider chipping in.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 2
Former stage winner Jens Voigt was invited to speak with the television commentators and expressed the opinion that the breakaway had very little chance of making it all the way. With 15 mi (24.1 km) to go, the gap was 2 minutes 40 seconds and Voigt humorously changed his mind and said the escape would make it.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 2
Shortly thereafter, the field floored the gas pedal and the gap started to melt in the run-in to Lido. A crash occurred before a bend with 5 mi (8.0 km) to go implicating Ben Jacques-Mayne (Jamis–Hagens Berman) and one of the race favorites Warren Barguil of Team Giant–Alpecin; Jacques-Mayne did not finish the stage. The breakaway was absorbed shortly afterwards and no one tried to escape the bunch from that point on. In a very fast finish, Wouter Wippert (Drapac Professional Cycling) launched a long sprint and Sagan jumped onto his wheel.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 2
Cavendish opened his own sprint on the right side of the road and Sagan popped out of Wippert's wheel on the left. As both the Slovakian and the Manx Missile crossed the line at high speeds, none of the two raised their hands, as they were unsure who had just won. It was later determined that Cavendish had met victory in his second stage in a row, with the involuntary lead-out man Wippert rounding-up the podium.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 3
12 May  San Jose to San Jose, 105.7 mi (170.1 km)


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 3
The third stage of the race featured only one intermediate sprint, contested in Livermore, then the climbing began. From that point on, there were six King of the Mountains prizes (four were category 4 and one was category 2), with the major one being the climb to Mount Hamilton, a "Hors Category" affair at 6.5 mi (10.5 km) for an average 7% gradient. One of the category 4 climb was situated at the end of the stage in San Jose where the finale featured 0.25 mi (0.4 km) at an average of 10%. The elevation gain for the stage was 10,200 ft (3,100 m).


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 3
As they rolled out of the neutral zone, the temperatures were around 60 °F (15.6 °C) and the sun was out. Two riders didn't take the start of the stage: Warren Barguil of Team Giant–Alpecin and Tyler Magner of Hincapie Racing, both due to the crash that occurred the day before. The start of the event was very fast since a lot of riders wanted a chance to get the KOM points on offer during the stage.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 3
After 15 mi (24.1 km) of racing and numerous attempts at forming a breakaway, the pack was still together except those who had already been shed off the back thanks to the rapid pace. Travis Meyer (Drapac Professional Cycling) went first through the intermediate sprint as the composition of the leading group was still changing by the minute. Soon, Roy Curvers (Team Giant–Alpecin), Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team), Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare), Evan Huffman (Team SmartStop), Oscar Clark and Toms Skujiņš (both with Hincapie Racing) joined Meyer and formed the break.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 3
Oss swept all three KOMs (Cat. 4) before Mount Hamilton. Midway through the stage, the gap to the escapees was hovering around 3:15 with the big mountain (HC) still to come. At the foot of the ascent of the behemoth, Toms Skujiņš accelerated away from his companions. Soon the gap grew and he was first at the KOM point, amassing 12 points. The peloton exploded as they tackled Mount Hamilton. The riders then negotiated the twisty descent on good tarmac.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 3
After the difficulty of the day, Peter Sagan suffered a mechanical incident but reintegrated the pack on a small non-categorized rise. The next KOM came shortly after the descent and was named Quimby (Cat. 2). Skujiņš won this KOM too and fell off his machine in a tight bend on the descent as he made contact with a protective haystack, but remounted straight away. With 12 mi (19.3 km) to cover, he still enjoyed an advantage of 2:30 on lone pursuer Oss and 4:00 over the reduced peloton.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 3
The main pack accelerated in damage control mode. With 7 mi (11.3 km) to go, the gap from the peloton to the lone breaker was still 3:30, with Tinkoff–Saxo doing some work along with the teams of the favorites in an effort to bring Skujiņš back. Laurens ten Dam of LottoNL–Jumbo was distanced and finished 7:25 from the winner. Skujiņš resisted on the flat run-in and on the short but steep climb at the end to claim the stage victory and the general classification jersey.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 3
A minute and six seconds later, Peter Sagan sprinted uphill to claim second place just a few meters in front of Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe of Etixx–Quick-Step. In all, the 23-year-old Skujiņš had raced 34 mi (54.7 km) solo to realize this performance. With the points on offer on the final climb, Skujiņš grabbed the best climber's jersey as well.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 4
13 May  Pismo Beach to Avila Beach, 106.9 mi (172.0 km)


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 4
The fourth stage featured three intermediate sprints once again, contested in Guadalupe, Orcutt and Arroyo Grande. Before being able to contest the third sprint, the peloton had to contend with a climb on Tepusquet Road which was midway into the stage and classified Category 3. The climb was not steep, but 4.7 mi (7.6 km) long. The altitude gained in the parcours was 5,200 ft (1,600 m).


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 4
Hincapie Racing planned on defending the leader's jersey through the stage with occasional support from the teams interested in a mass sprint, said Robin Carpenter (rider for Hincapie Racing) before the start. Despite the stiff crosswinds, the peloton rode at speeds approaching 30 mph (48 km/h) early on. The first sprint was won by Gregory Daniel (Axeon Cycling Team) while the race was still in "breakaway formation mode".


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 4
Soon thereafter, it became apparent that the following five would be the escape for the day, as the field stopped for a natural break: Gregory Daniel, Jesse Anthony (Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies), Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare), Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN–Qhubeka) and Will Clarke (Drapac Professional Cycling). The latter also featured in the break on stage one. The most dangerous threat for the overall classification in this group was Gregory Daniel, who was eight minutes down on leader Toms Skujiņš of Hincapie Racing. The second intermediate sprint, in Orcutt, saw the American Daniel take the honors again.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 4
The feed zone was situated in the run-in to the climb of Tepusquet Road on a gentle uphill incline. At that moment, the pack was being marshalled by Hincapie Racing and Etixx–Quick-Step as the gap hovered at 3:30. The 4.7 mi (7.6 km) ascent was an average 5% until the final kilometer, which was steeper at nearly 7%. The gap melted slowly as the break went up the incline and Jesse Anthony crested the obstacle first.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 4
The riders had to compose with the wind after a change of direction on the flatter roads, and LottoNL–Jumbo tried to create echelons but failed as the wind was not in the perfect direction. As the riders reached the last intermediate sprint in Arroyo Grande (won by Daniel) with 20 mi (32.2 km) to go, the break was within eyesight of the main field at 35 seconds. The escapees started a flurry of attacks and soon only Daniel was in front of the race and stomping the pedals. He was caught with 10 mi (16.1 km) to cover.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 4
With 5 mi (8.0 km) left, the peloton was spread across the road, trying to sort out their lead-out trains. The finish was technical with three 90 degrees bends in the last kilometer and featured a short but steep rise right before the line. Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team) tried his luck under the red kite, but was joined with about 100 meters remaining as Sagan powered his way past him to claim his second victory of the season, followed by Wouter Wippert (Drapac Professional Cycling) and Mark Cavendish. As he crossed the finish, Sagan banged his front wheel twice on the tarmac while still at speed. He treated the crowd to a no-footed wheelie afterward to celebrate. Although Sagan took a ten-second bonus for his victory, the overall classification remained unchanged.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 5
14 May  Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita, 95.7 mi (154.0 km)


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 5
The stage had two intermediate sprint contests held in Ojai and Santa Paula. Four categorized climbs were on the menu, two of them being situated on Highway 150 (Cat. 4), another one named Dennison Grade (Cat. 3) and the last one was contested on Balcom Canyon (Cat. 4). The run-in to Santa Clarita (the last 25 mi (40.2 km)) was mainly flat after the riders contested the hilly part of the race. The official elevation gain for the stage was 7,600 ft (2,300 m).


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 5
From the start, Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team) tried to extricate himself from the peloton since he was second-placed in the Mountains competition by a single point to race leader Toms Skujiņš (Hincapie Racing). Oss failed in his ordeal. An attempt containing Oss' teammate Danilo Wyss tried to get clear, but Wyss' presence, being only 47 seconds down on general classification, sparked some chasing by the peloton. However, about 10 mi (16.1 km) into the race, the gap had ballooned rapidly to 1:30, making this breakaway the fastest one to form in the Tour so far.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 5
Its composition was the aforementioned Wyss, Alex Howes (Cannondale–Garmin), Javier Mejías (Team Novo Nordisk), Lachlan Morton (Jelly Belly–Maxxis) and Geoffrey Curran of Axeon Cycling Team. The responsibility for the chase fell upon Hincapie Racing's riders, whose task it was to manage the gap. The break soon hit the short but steep first two KOMs of the day situated near Lake Casitas. Wyss crested both of them in the top spot to claim maximum points.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 5
After the descent of the latter KOM, there was about 10 mi (16.1 km) of flat roads to the first intermediate sprint in Ojai, which was swept up by Alex Howes. Immediately after that, the riders attacked the Category 3 Dennison Grade with Lachlan Morton raking in the KOM points. With 60 mi (96.6 km) to go, rain started falling and some riders opted to put rain jackets on as the temperatures dipped to 56 °F (13.3 °C). The leaders passed Santa Paula while Wyss won the last intermediate sprint of the day.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 5
The very steep climb of Balcom Canyon saw the riders at the front of the race drag themselves up the incline at 6 mph (9.7 km/h). Morton won that KOM also while Chris Butler of Team SmartStop attacked from the main field and tried to bridge to the escapees. He was inserted between the main field and the leaders for about 8 mi (12.9 km) before finally making contact with them.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 5
All the riders in the race were careful not to crash on the descent of the last hill (uncategorized), as the roads were soaking wet and the escape lost 3 elements. With 25 mi (40.2 km) to race, the gap was one minute and 50 seconds to the now three escapees, Howes, Curran and virtual leader Wyss. From that point they put the hammer down while Hincapie Racing and Etixx–Quick-Step marshaled the pack. With 14 mi (22.5 km) to the finish, the rain was pouring heavily and the difference was still around 1:50.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 5
Danny Pate of Team Sky and some Drapac Professional Cycling riders came to the fore to lay a helping hand, but Wyss attacked the break after a crash occurred in the field. He was finally mopped up with 2 mi (3.2 km) to cover after being the virtual leader all day.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 5
A massive sprint ensued in the streets of Santa Clarita, the tarmac was drier than it had been on the run-in to town and Mark Cavendish took victory for the third time in this Tour. The Englishman got out of his lieutenant Mark Renshaw's wheel to benefit a bit from Zico Waeytens's slipstream and opened his machine, winning by a bike length. The Belgian Zico Waeytens of Team Giant–Alpecin took second position. Peter Sagan came in third place and amassed another four-second bonus. Toms Skujiņš held on to the general classification lead.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 6
Big Bear Lake, which is situated at 6,000 ft (1,828.8 m), was supposed to welcome the event but was forecast to receive 2 to 5 inches of snow, so tour organizers opted to move the event to Santa Clarita. The Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park was the host of the start and finish of the race. The course was mainly flat and did not feature many corners, but there was a 180 degree turnaround. "On this fairly short course, the result is really anyone’s guess because there is room for a specialty rider to take the cake from the big hitters in the general classification." said race director Jim Birrell.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 6
There were 133 riders left to dispute the Tour of California at the start of the stage. As is standard procedure for individual time trials, the riders' order of racing has been the reverse of the general classification, meaning that Carson Miller of Jamis–Hagens Berman, the last of the race at 42:18 started first. Riders went on the course at one-minute intervals until only 20 competitors were left, at which point they started at two minutes increments. There was a tailwind coming out of the start gates and a headwind coming back with temperatures hovering around 62 °F (16.7 °C).


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 6
45 minutes into the event, the temporary leader was Jos van Emden (LottoNL–Jumbo) with a time of 12:46. An hour into the stage and with 36 riders having completed the course, Emden was sitting in the leader's chair. Many of the cyclists in the early wave were out on the course on their usual road machine, with no aero bars to gain an aerodynamic advantage. Mark Cavendish, standing 62nd on overall classification, started dressed in full-time trial kit. He overtook the rider in front of him, sprinter Zico Waeytens (Team Giant–Alpecin). He finished thirty seconds down on Van Emden with 13:16.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 6
Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff–Saxo) put in a good performance, getting a provisional second position, seven seconds down on Van Emden. Shortly afterward, Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team) the polka dots jersey wearer, took a provisional fourth position with 12:59. Overall classification favorite Sergio Henao (Team Sky) performed well with a time of 12:57, as did LottoNL–Jumbo's Robert Gesink only a second after the Colombian.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 6
Van Emden had to wait until the penultimate rider Peter Sagan got on the course and crushed his time. Sagan negotiated the corners aggressively and registered a time of 12:32, besting Van Endem by fifteen seconds. With that operation, Sagan grabbed the overall leader's classification jersey. There were no points on offer for the sprinter's classification jersey on that time trial. Toms Skujiņš of Hincapie Racing held on for the second position of the general classification and finished 34th of the stage.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
16 May  Ontario to Mount Baldy, 80 mi (128.7 km)


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
This was the queen stage of the 2015 Tour of California. The riders contended with the first King of the Mountains competition of the day which was Glendora Ridge Road (Cat. 2) and went down to the intermediate sprint in Glendora. Immediately afterward the climbing resumed back up Glendora Mountain Road (Cat. 2) and up to the Mount Baldy Ski Lifts (Hors Category), an ascent that took the competitors from an altitude of about 1,000 ft (300 m) to approximately 6,800 ft (2,100 m). Mount Baldy has 15 switchbacks and a maximum 17% gradient. It is no surprise that this stage featured the biggest elevation gain of the race, with 11,600 ft (3,500 m) of climbing.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
The stage was a short stage but hardly featured any flat terrain, which made for intense racing as it was a deciding factor in the general classification standings. As the race got on its way, reports indicated that the temperatures at the finish line were as low as 42 °F (6 °C). The race start saw a flurry of attacks which were quickly brought back.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
On the climb to Glendora Ridge road, a break tried to get clear including second-placed Toms Skujiņš (Hincapie Racing), who was wearing the polka dot jersey and had an advantage of a single point over Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team), who was also part of that move. The other breakers were Gregory Brenes (Jamis–Hagens Berman), Lasse Norman Hansen (Cannondale–Garmin), Steven Butler (Team SmartStop), Daniele Ratto (UnitedHealthcare) and Johann Van Zyl of MTN–Qhubeka. Before the end of the climb, Skujiņš folded back to the peloton. Lachlan Morton of Jelly Belly–Maxxis joined the break as Ratto and Hansen were distanced. Oss took maximum points on the Category 2 affair, with the bunch looming two minutes behind at that point. Nobody in the breakaway was much of a threat on general classification as Oss was the better placed rider at 9:29.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
The breakaway was splitting up on the twisting, narrow descent and a trio of leaders formed: Oss, Butler and Morton. They were chased by the former breakaway riders who made contact in the run-in to Glendora. Meanwhile, the peloton containing the favorites and race leader Peter Sagan were almost four minutes in arrears. They were six forming the lead group as Butler was the lone chaser. He didn't make it back to the break. Team Sky, Tinkoff–Saxo and LottoNL–Jumbo were working at the front of the bunch.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
The riders were racing near the Morris Reservoir as they were dealing with the only big stretch of flatter roads of the stage. Lasse Norman Hansen happened to be at the front when crossing the intermediate sprint, which was not contested as it had no consequence on the points classification for the escapees. Then, it was mostly uphill for 25 mi (40.2 km) until the finish line. Van Syl attacked and Oss made contact.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
With 20 mi (32.2 km) to race, the gap from the peloton to the front of the race was two minutes and Team Sky toughened the pace in an effort to drop Peter Sagan, the leader of the race. Oss won the Glendora Mountain Road KOM. It was his objective all along, and he let himself be distanced by Van Syl to reintegrate the remnants of the main field.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
Toms Skujiņš, second on general classification, was distanced with 15 mi (24.1 km) to race and Van Zyl was reabsorbed around that point. With 12 mi (19.3 km) to go all the favorites were still in the leading group, including Sagan. Former winner of this stage in 2012 Robert Gesink of LottoNL–Jumbo was dropped with 3.5 mi (5.6 km) to cover. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx–Quick-Step) took the lead of the very depleted group and Team Sky's Sergio Henao attacked, dropping Sagan who still hammered the pedals as he tried to hold on to his 45-second lead in the general classification.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
The Frenchman responded to Henao's attack and dropped the Colombian. Snow was covering the sides of the road as they were at altitude. At that point, there literally was no "group" to speak of, at the front of the race at least. Alaphilippe soloed through the twisting finale featuring bad tarmac and held on to win atop Mount Baldy to take his first win of the season after numerous podium placings. Peter Sagan finished 47 seconds in arrears, putting him only two seconds in deficit to Alaphilippe in the overall classification. Henao finished second of the stage to find himself third on general classification, 33 seconds down. Ian Boswell rounded up the podium of the stage.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 8
17 May  L.A. Live to Pasadena, 59 mi (95.0 km)


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 8
The last stage of the race was also the shortest road stage. There was one intermediate sprint point at the first crossing of the finish line near the Rose Bowl, then the riders did nine laps in Pasadena. The course did not feature any King of the Mountains points since it was flat. The total elevation gain was a modest 2,000 ft (610 m).


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 8
This stage was supposed to have no consequences on the overall classification due to its flat terrain, but the two-second difference separating Peter Sagan and Julian Alaphilippe in the overall classification meant that the Tour was not yet decided. The bonus seconds on offer in the stage would determine the winner. The only intermediate sprint of the day offered 3, 2, 1 seconds for the first, second and third rider to cross the line respectively. The stage in itself also gave bonus time by finishing in the top-three, which provided bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds respectively.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 8
The race got underway under sunny weather, with temperatures around 70 °F (21.1 °C). Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team) wore the best climber's jersey and was certain to finish the Tour of California with it, since there were no categorized climbs on the last stage. A breakaway formed made of two Etixx–Quick-Step riders, Matteo Trentin and Yves Lampaert, Danny Pate (Team Sky), Jacques Janse van Rensburg (MTN–Qhubeka) and Ruben Zepuntke (Cannondale–Garmin). Tinkoff–Saxo pulled at the front since they wanted to bring back the break so Sagan could have a chance to sprint for bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint. The team was down two riders since Maciej Bodnar and Michael Kolar had to abandon earlier in the race. Mark Cavendish has said that he would work for Alaphilippe and forget his own ambitions.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 8
With 40 mi (64.4 km) to race and 10 mi (16.1 km) to the intermediate sprint the breakaway was reeled in. Attacks came fast and often from Etixx–Quick-Step but were reabsorbed. On the intermediate sprint, Cavendish won, followed very closely by Sagan who gained two seconds as Alaphilippe finished third, stealing a single second. At that point the difference between the two leaders of the race was one second for Alaphilippe and it would be all decided on the final sprint. Immediately after the sprint, two Hincapie Racing riders went clear, Joseph Lewis and Oscar Clark. They were soon joined by BMC Racing Team's Manuel Senni and Jesse Anthony (Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies). The sprinters' teams came to the fore. With 20 mi (32.2 km) to go, the average speed of the race had been 28 mph (45.1 km/h).


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 8
The mass sprint was won by Mark Cavendish, second was Wouter Wippert and Peter Sagan came in third, reaping a four-second bonus and making him the winner of the overall classification of the 2015 Tour of California. Sagan was third by mere inches over fourth-placed Tyler Farrar and they had to wait for the photo-finish to make it official. Had Sagan not effectuated a bike throw as he crossed the line, he would not have won. It was the closest winning margin in the Tour's history. Sagan celebrated with a long, one-handed wheelie while saluting the crowd.


2015 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 8
"I'm very happy to win the Tour of California, also because this year I lost the green jersey, so I had to do something here to get on the podium," he said while laughing. He also shared his thoughts about waiting for the race judges to know if he had won the Tour: "They said it three times, and then I believed".


2015 Tour of California, Classification leadership
In the 2015 Tour of California, 5 jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding the finishing times of the stages per cyclist, the leader received a yellow jersey (Amgen Race Leader Jersey). Time bonuses were awarded for the first three finishers on mass-start stages (10, 6 and 4 seconds respectively) and on intermediate sprints (3, 2 and 1 seconds respectively). This classification was considered the most important of the Tour of California, and the winner of the general classification was considered the winner of the Tour of California.


2015 Tour of California, Classification leadership
Additionally, there was also a sprints classification, akin to what is called the points classification in other races, which awards a green jersey (Visit California Sprint Jersey). In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 15 in a stage. In addition, some points could be won in intermediate sprints as well as bonus seconds in the overall classification. The first across the line got 3 seconds, the second two and the third rider, one.


2015 Tour of California, Classification leadership
There was also a mountains classification, which awarded a Polka dots jersey (Nissan King of the Mountain Jersey). In the mountains classifications, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. Each climb was categorized, either first, second, third, or fourth category, with more points available for the harder climbs.


2015 Tour of California, Classification leadership
There was also a youth classification. This classification was calculated the same way as the general classification, but only young cyclists (under 23) were included. The leader of the young rider classification received a white and green jersey (Crunchies Best Young Rider Jersey).


2015 Tour of California, Classification leadership
The last jersey was awarded to the most combative rider of a stage for him to wear on the next stage. It was generally awarded to a rider who attacks constantly or spent a lot of time in the breakaways. This jersey was blue, white and yellow (Amgen Breakaway from Cancer© Most Courageous Rider Jersey).


2015 Tour of California, Classification leadership
There was also a classification for teams. In this classification, the times of the best three cyclists per stage were added, and the team with the lowest time was the leader.


2015 Tour of California (women's race)
The 2015 Amgen Tour of California Women’s Race (also known as the Amgen Tour of California Women’s Race p/b SRAM for sponsorship reasons) is the first edition of the new-look Tour of California women's race held in California, with a UCI rating of 2.1.


2015 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup
The 2015 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup was a one-day road cycling race. It was run as part of the ninth Tour of Chongming Island, which includes both a multi-stage event and a single-stage event. The single-stage race, which was part of the 2015 UCI Women's Road World Cup, was held on 17 May 2015, in Shanghai, China.


2015 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup
On wide, mostly flat highways, there were no significant breakaways in the first half of the race, until the duo of Hongyu Liang (China Chongming–Liv–Champion System) and Anastasia Chulkova (BePink–La Classica) established a one-minute lead over the peloton. Their advantage was slowly broken down, predominately due to the work of the Team Hitec Products riders, and they were reabsorbed into the peloton with 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to go. In a bunch sprint, the Italian rider, Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle–Honda) won, beating 2014 winners Kirsten Wild (Team Hitec Products) and Fanny Riberot (France national team).


2015 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup, Entry
Ten of the UCI women's team entered the race, each featuring five or six riders. They were joined by eight national teams containing either four or five riders, bringing the total entry up to 93 riders.


2015 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup, Course
The route changed from previous years. The race started at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center and took place almost entirely on wide, straight highways, with corners predominantly being expansive ninety-degree bends. The course initially followed the Middle Ring Road, the Huaxia Elevated Road and the G1501 Shanghai Ring Expressway, before entering the 10-kilometre-long (6.2 mi) tunnel under the Yangtze River to reach Changxing Island, shortly followed by a 8-kilometre-long (5.0 mi) bridge to Chongming Island, from where the route followed the course of previous years, along slightly smaller roads to the finish.


2015 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup, Preview
After four rounds of the 2015 UCI Women's Road World Cup, there had been four different winners; Jolien D'Hoore at the Ronde van Drenthe, Lizzie Armitstead at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio, Elisa Longo Borghini at the Tour of Flanders, and Anna van der Breggen at the La Flèche Wallonne Féminine. Anna van der Breggen led the World Cup standings as the racing moved to China for the Tour of Chongming Island, with 290 points, but her Rabo-Liv team were not invited to take part in the event. Kirsten Wild won both the stage race and the World Cup event in 2014, and repeated her success in the 2015 stage race. She was the pre-race favourite to win the 2015 World Cup race on a course that favoured sprinters.


2015 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup, Race
There were early attacks by two of the Asian teams, China Chongming-Liv-Champion System and the Korean national team, but on each occasion they were caught back up by the peloton reasonably quickly. The first intermediate sprint was won by Simona Frapporti (Alé–Cipollini), while a subsequent Queen of the Mountain climb was won by Lauren Kitchen (Team Hitec Products). Crossing the Shanghai Yangtze River Bridge, some riders fell off the back of the peloton in the strong crosswinds.


2015 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup, Race
Shortly after, two riders, Hongyu Liang (China Chongming–Liv–Champion System) and Anastasia Chulkova (BePink–La Classica), broke away and established a lead of roughly one minute, during which Chulkova claimed the second intermediate sprint. Team Hitec Products riders were at the front of the peloton to close the gap, though another group threatened to split around 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the finish. The peloton caught up with the leading duo with 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) of the race remaining.


2015 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup, Race
Closing towards the finish in a bunch sprint, Wiggle-Honda had intended Chloe Hosking to be the sprinter to try and win, but she got caught up behind a crash in the final kilometre, and so Giorgia Bronzini acted as a lead-out for Annette Edmondson. She had initially intended to move out from behind Kirsten Wild (Team Hitec Products) for a sprint with around 700 metres (2,300 ft) to go, but there was no room, so she stayed in Wild's draft. She then found that Edmondson had not been able to follow her, and opted to defend her position and launch a late sprint to pass Wild. Bronzini won, followed by Wild and Fanny Riberot, riding for the France national team. The first 74 riders were all designated the same time.


2015 Tour of Croatia
The 2015 Tour of Croatia was the first edition of the Tour of Croatia cycling stage race. It started on 22 April in Makarska and ended on 26 April in Zagreb, and consisted of five stages. It was part of the 2015 UCI Europe Tour, and was rated as a 2.1 event. The race was won by Maciej Paterski (CCC–Sprandi–Polkowice), who also won two stages, the points classification and the mountains classification. The second-placed rider was Primož Roglič (Adria Mobil), while Paterski's teammate Sylwester Szmyd was third. CCC–Sprandi–Polkowice also won the team competition.


2015 Tour of Croatia, Teams
19 teams were invited to take part in the race. Three were UCI Professional Continental teams, fifteen were UCI Continental teams, while the peloton was completed by an Italian national team.


2015 Tour of Flanders
The 2015 Tour of Flanders (Dutch: 2015 Ronde van Vlaanderen) was the 99th edition of the Tour of Flanders one-day cycling race. It took place on 5 April and was the eighth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The race was one of the cobbled classics and was the second of the cycling monuments on the 2015 calendar. The 2014 champion was Fabian Cancellara; he was not able to defend his title after breaking two vertebrae in a crash at E3 Harelbeke.


2015 Tour of Flanders
The race was initially dominated by a breakaway group of up to seven riders before the favourites in the chasing group started to attack on the climb of the Taaienberg, 36 kilometres (22 miles) from the finish. Eventually, Alexander Kristoff and Niki Terpstra broke free and contested the victory in a two-man sprint, won by Kristoff, who became the first Norwegian to win the race. Greg Van Avermaet finished third.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Route
The route of the 2015 edition of the race was only slightly adjusted from that of the 2014 edition, with two climbs added to the route in the first 100 kilometres (62 miles), the Tiegemberg and the Berendries. It was 264.9 kilometres (164.6 miles) in length, 5.8 kilometres (3.6 miles) longer than in the previous year and featured 19 small climbs, some of them cobbled. The race started in the Belgian city of Bruges, in the Grote Markt, with a 9.2-kilometre (5.7-mile) neutral zone. The racing began after the riders passed through Loppen, on the outskirts of Brugge.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Route
The first part of the route was a 43.6-kilometre (27.1-mile) route south to the city of Kortrijk, passing through Zwevezele, Ardooie and Izegem. This part of the route was almost entirely flat. After Kortrijk, the route turned east towards the region known as the Flemish Ardennes. The final 150 kilometres (93 miles) were kept from the 2014 edition, with the toughest part of the race starting at the steep Koppenberg.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Route
In the last 45 kilometres (28 miles), five climbs were set to prove decisive: the Steenbeekdries at 39 kilometres (24 miles) remaining, the Taaienberg at 37 kilometres (23 miles) remaining, the Kruisberg with 28 kilometres (17 miles) to go, the Oude Kwaremont at 17 kilometres (11 miles) remaining and finally the Paterberg, 13 kilometres (8.1 miles) before the finish. Several climbs needed to be tackled more than once, as the route took two laps of a circuit. These included the Oude Kwaremont, which was ridden three times, first after 112 kilometres (70 miles) as the second climb of the day and the Paterberg, which was featured twice.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Route
First lap of the circuit (red) and transition to the second lap (green).


2015 Tour of Flanders, Teams
As the Tour of Flanders was a UCI World Tour event, all 17 UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and were obliged to send a squad. Eight Professional Continental teams received wildcard invitations.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Pre-race favourites
The field of the race was marked by the absence of defending champion Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) and former winner Tom Boonen (Etixx–Quick-Step), both ruled out by crashes earlier in the season. Several riders were named as potential favourites for the victory, among them Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), who came into the race after a victory at E3 Harelbeke and a third-place finish at Gent–Wevelgem just a few days before.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Pre-race favourites
In the absence of Cancellara, Trek Factory Racing's squad was led by Stijn Devolder, the only former winner in the peloton, although he was not considered to have the best chances. Etixx–Quick-Step's squad featured Niki Terpstra, Zdeněk Štybar, and Stijn Vandenbergh, all of whom were considered serious contenders. Team Katusha was led by Alexander Kristoff and Luca Paolini, the latter of which had proven his good form by winning Gent–Wevelgem earlier in the week, but had declared to work for Kristoff for this race.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Pre-race favourites
Other possible contenders included Milan–San Remo winner John Degenkolb (Team Giant–Alpecin) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff–Saxo), although Sagan's form had been called into question prior to the race. In addition, commentators named Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team), Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL–Jumbo), Lars Boom (Astana), Filippo Pozzato (Lampre–Merida), Jürgen Roelandts, Jens Debusschere (both Lotto–Soudal), and Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) among the high number of possible contenders. Barry Ryan of Cyclingnews.com declared the race "wide open and [...] a nightmare to predict".


2015 Tour of Flanders, Race report
The race started with a small delay caused by a farmers' strike. When racing got under way, five riders broke free of the pack after 20 kilometres (12 miles): Jesse Sergent (Trek Factory Racing), Damien Gaudin (AG2R La Mondiale), Ralf Matzka (Bora–Argon 18), Matt Brammeier (MTN–Qhubeka), and Dylan Groenewegen (Team Roompot), while Clément Venturini (Cofidis) was briefly in the front group as well before dropping back. At Sint-Eloois-Winkel, there was a bonus sprint, in which Brammeier won his body weight of 73 kg (161 lb) in local beer.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Race report
Lars Bak (Lotto–Soudal) and Marco Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli) were able to bridge the gap to the leaders, creating a group of seven at the front. After 60 kilometres (37 miles) of racing, the leaders were about seven minutes clear of the peloton, but the gap started to come down once the riders reached the first climbs.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Race report
There were several attacks from the main group when it navigated the area around Oudenaarde, with André Greipel (Lotto–Soudal) featuring in all of them, to no avail. Just before the cobble section of the Haaghoek, a neutral car by supplier Shimano tried to overtake the leading group and hit Sergent, who fell and had to withdraw with a broken collarbone, which later required surgery. With the lead group now down to six riders, they led the main field by three minutes, with Team Sky leading the chase, after their rider Bradley Wiggins had recovered from an earlier crash. Another incident involving a car by Shimano occurred a little later when it crashed into the back of a FDJ team car, which in turn brought down rider Sébastien Chavanel, forcing him to abandon as well.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Race report
On the Kaperij, the tenth climb, Bak and Gaudin were able to break free from their group. On the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, Greipel again unsuccessfully attacked, before the main field reached the breakaway at the top of the climb. On the Koppenberg, Greipel again attacked and an increase in tempo caused Wiggins and other riders to lose contact. At the front, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) and Stijn Devolder (Trek Factory Racing) led the chase to bring back Greipel. Once they reached him, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) was on the attack after the climb, leading at a maximum of half a minute.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Race report
At the climb of the Taaienberg, 36 kilometres (22 miles) from the finish, the favourites came into play. Niki Terpstra was the first to move, with Greg Van Avermaet following after crossing the top, soon followed by a larger group. On the third and final lap of the course, Lutsenko attacked the 26-rider strong group again, joined by Van Avermaet and Nelson Oliveira (Lampre–Merida). They were caught before the Kruisberg, soon followed by an attack by Terpstra and Alexander Kristoff.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Race report
The two created a thirty-second lead and held it to the finish, even with a counter-attack from Van Avermaet and Peter Sagan late on. Terpstra did not contribute to the pace making over the last kilometre, trying to use Kristoff's slipstream to win a sprint. This proved unsuccessful however, as Kristoff took the second monument victory of his career, outsprinting Terpstra to the line. He became the first Norwegian to win the race.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Post-race
Kristoff was delighted with his win, saying: "I'm really happy to win, it's a really good feeling [...] My family is here today, and it was a big dream and my big goal this season and I managed to do it." On his run-in to the finish line with Terpstra, he commented: "At the end, I came with Niki, and he didn't really want to work with me, but I understand that. In the end I could still beat him." Geraint Thomas was disappointed with his performance, tweeting after the race that he "just lacked the legs of last weekend", referring to his E3 Harelbeke victory.


2015 Tour of Flanders, Post-race
The magazine Cycling Weekly commented on the race by criticising the route as "more attritional [...] than it is tactical", citing the lack of attacks and the teams' reluctance to send riders into break-aways. Reporter Stephen Puddicombe also criticised Niki Terpstra for not attacking Kristoff before the finish, writing: "Did Terpstra really believe he had any hope of winning the two-man sprint against one of the quickest finishers in the world?"


2015 Tour of Flanders for Women
The 2015 Tour of Flanders for Women was the 12th running of the Tour of Flanders for Women, a women's bicycle race in Belgium. It was the third race of the 2015 UCI Women's Road World Cup season and was held on 5 April 2015 over a distance of 144.9 kilometres (90.0 miles), starting and finishing in Oudenaarde.


2015 Tour of Flanders for Women
Italian Elisa Longo Borghini won the race with an attack just before the Kruisberg, 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the finish. Jolien D'Hoore won the sprint for second, Anna van der Breggen was third.


2015 Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan)
Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan) 2015 is 30th round of Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan) which took place between May 28 till June 2, 2015 in Iranian Azerbaijan. The tour had 6 stage.