Tour de France

Carcassonne, the stunning medieval city where Mark Cavendish tied Eddy Merckx for most stage wins in the history of the Tour de France, returned at the race for the first time since 2021, when the Brit – sporting our jersey – achieved this remarkable milestone. Coming after three leg-sapping days in the Pyrenees, stage 15 had breakaway written all over it, and this made for an incredibly fast start, with the peloton traveling at more than 50km/h in the first hour of the day.

A crash at the back of the bunch in the opening 30 kilometers made things more nervous, as many of the GC riders were involved in that incident and had to chase hard in order to return in the group, while at the front others were doing their best to book a place in the breakaway. When this finally took shape, Pascal Eenkhoorn was there for Soudal Quick-Step, and the former Dutch Champion put in a strong effort on this hard day of racing to take 13th place behind solo winner Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates).

It was the fourth stage finish this century in Carcassonne, and one that saw the general classification remain unchanged ahead of the rest day. The race resumes on Tuesday with another challenging stage to the mythical Mont Ventoux, the perfect terrain for more fireworks between the contenders.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images