Wellens wins Tour de France stage 15

CARCASSONNE:

Tim Wellens overpowered his breakaway companions in brutal fashion to claim victory on Stage 15 of the Tour de France, offering yet another sign - if one was needed - of UAE Team Emirates-XRG's iron grip on the race.

The Belgian national champion, one of defending champion and overall leader Tadej Pogacar's domestiques, jumped away from a leading group of six some 43 kilometres from the finish and never looked back, beating compatriot Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) by 1:28.

France's Julian Alaphillipe took third place, nine seconds further back. Wellens' master, Pogacar, still leads Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard by 4:13 in the overall standings, edging 169.3km closer to a fourth Tour title after the hilly ride between Muret and Carcassonne.

German Florian Lipowitz sits in third place, 7:53 off the pace. The top guns stayed quiet all day, Pogacar slowing down after Lipowitz and Vingegaard were caught up behind an early crash.

It was hectic stage with relentless attacks from riders looking for a rare occasion of a victory as flat and mountain stages are the exclusive domain of top sprinters and general classification contenders.

The group who would fight for the win took a definitive shape after more than 100 kilometres and Wellens was not only the stronger rider, he was also the smartest.

Having done very little in the breakaway - one of the perks of riding for the yellow jersey holder — Wellens attacked on a slightly uphill section, catching everyone off guard. The 34-year-old crushed the pedal and the chasing group quickly disappeared in the background as he sped to his maiden Tour de France win to complete his grands tours stage victory collection after prevailing in the Grio d'Italia in 2016 and 2018 and in the Vuelta a Espana in 2020. Monday is a rest day on the Tour de France, in Montpellier.

Earlier, Thymen Arensman gave Ineos-Grenadiers something to cheer about, despite a doping cloud hanging over the team, as he won the 14th stage of the Tour de France following a superb solo ride in the 182.6-km mountain trek between Pau and Superbagneres on Saturday.

Slovenian Tadej Pogacar retained the overall leader's yellow jersey as he took second place by beating chief rival Vingegaard in a two-man sprint finish, one minute 12 seconds behind Arensman, the first rider from the British outfit to win on the Tour in two years.

Ineos Grenadiers have been facing questions about one of their team carers, who is at the centre of allegations involving alleged message exchanges in 2012 with a doctor connected to the notorious Operation Aderlass doping scandal, which rocked the sporting world in 2019.

Bradley Wiggins won the Tour in 2012 with the team, which was then known as Team Sky before Chris Froome went on to win another four for the squad.

The team carer was seen at the beginning of the Tour in Lille but has not been sighted in recent days.

"I have no idea about this, you have to ask the management about this. I'm just focused on my job, doing my own thing," Arensman told reporters.

Ineos Grenadiers were not immediately available for comment.

Although no formal charges have been brought, the development has cast a shadow over the team's Tour campaign.

"Ineos Grenadiers Cycling Team is aware of recent media allegations relating to the 2012 season and a member of its staff. These allegations have not to date been presented to the team by any appropriate authority," the team said in a statement.

The team added that it had formally requested information from the International Testing Agency (ITA) and reaffirmed its zero-tolerance policy regarding doping violations.

The ITA told Reuters it would not further comment on the matter.