It was a day for the climbers today – or more accurately – for Rafal Majka. The Polish national road champion exploded the Polka Dot Jersey contest, taking points on every single climb, including the full 25 points on the Hors Catégorie Grand Colombier. Just beaten to the stage win, Rafal took the Maillot à Pois and the day’s combativity prize, while Roman Kreuziger held on to 11th spot in the GC with a strong ride where he finished with the Yellow Jersey group.
A fearsome sight greeted riders looking at the stage profile today. From start to finish, the parcours resembled the inside of a shark’s mouth, and the climbers could smell blood. Ten climbs were to be crossed, with six of these being categorised – the most fearsome being the Grand Colombier, summiting at 1,501m after a gruelling 12.8km, 6.8% climb. Today’s stage was to be a decisive one in how the King of the Mountains classification would unfold – and Rafal Majka had his eye on the prize.
Beginning the day 13 points off the jersey, Rafal was on the hunt for points. While breaks attempted to get away at the start of the day, Rafal measured his efforts and pushed ahead as the group was nearing the summit of the Col du Berthiand – taking all of the points on the top of the first category climb. This was a theme that was to continue for the rest of the stage, with Rafal riding strong at the front, taking points on all of the day’s climbs. As part of a group that managed to extend a strong advantage on the peloton, the Polish national road champion was the holder of the polka dot jersey on the road, scoring enough points to take the lead in the classification.
Nearing the top of the Grand Colombier, Rafal went off the front with one other and worked hard to take maximum points on the summit. Leading the peloton by a little over eight minutes, Rafal took all of the points at the top, before beginning the tricky descent leading to the Lacets du Grand Colombier. The Lacets were relentlessly steep, with their stunning hairpin bends bringing little respite from the hard climb – but in spite of the difficulty, Rafal’s duo still led the peloton by 6’30”. His blistering saw his companion struggling to hold on, before taking more points at the top – this time solo – before beginning the descent to the finish.
After dominating the stage, it was down to two riders to contest the stage win, having been joined by one of the chasers on the descent of the Lacets du Grand Colombier. While Rafal was strong, his companion had fresher legs and just beat him to the line. In spite of this, he pulled on the Maillot à Pois and took the day’s combativity prize.
Rafal gave it his all today, and gave an insight into his ride from the finish line. “I’m happy with my performance today – it’s not easy to take the KOM jersey and win the stage. I wanted to take everything but in the end I didn’t want to take too much risk in the descent – I crashed four days ago and am still suffering a bit in my arms with the vibrations in the road. I knew Pantano would be quick at the finish, but still I’m happy with my race today.”
Sport Director, Steven De Jongh, was thrilled with Rafal’s performance. “It was an excellent race from Rafa today. We were aiming for him to be in the break and he was there. He did a good job picking up the KOM points, then in the last climb he tried to drop Pantano, as we knew he had a fast finish. He did well and dropped him but never got a big gap. He made one mistake on the downhill where he lost some seconds and they came into the finish together where Pantano was faster, but really well done by Rafa. He’s taken a good lead in the Polka Dot jersey – something that we’ve had an eye on after the rest day, and together with green this is something that we want to win here.”
While most of the attention was on the front of the race, Roman Kreuziger finished strongly – performing well on the last climb of the day, explained De Jongh. “Roman had a good day too and did a very good last climb where he looked very confident. He did a good job in following, which is what he had to do. We now hope that other opponents start to drop away like we saw some today. He showed he’s strong still with a good TT, and he has some good opportunities ahead.”
With plenty of opportunities to come in the mountains, Rafal still had his eye on a stage win. “I wanted to win, like always at the Tour de France but it is not finished and I still hope to win a stage. Second and twice third, I’m quite happy and I’m happy that I now have the Polka Dot jersey back – it’s still a long Tour and I hope to keep this jersey. It won’t be easy but I’m feeling strong.”
Peter Sagan finished safely within the time limit to keep his green jersey ahead of another stage where he could potentially pick up some more points tomorrow. A more gentle day lies ahead, with a 209km course that takes the Tour into Switzerland before the race’s second rest day in Berne. An undulating parcours with only one categorised climb, there’s a short and punchy 6.5% ramp before the finish that might trouble the pure sprinters, meaning the all-rounders have a strong chance of taking the win here, if a breakaway doesn’t get there before them. It’s a stage where anything can happen, so De Jongh was waiting to see how the day unfolded. “Tomorrow we have another chance for a breakaway, with a hard finish so we will see what happens.”
Stage Result
1. Jarlinson Pantano (COL) IAM Cycling 04:24:49
2. Rafał Majka (POL) Tinkoff +00:00:00
3. Alexis Vuillermoz (FRA) AG2R La Mondiale +00:00:06
4. Sébastien Reichenbach (SWI) FDJ +00:00:06
5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Etixx – QuickStep +00:00:25
19. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Tinkoff +00:03:07
56. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) Tinkoff +00:14:26
88. Michael Valgren (DEN) Tinkoff +00:21:53
133. Maciej Bodnar (POL) Tinkoff +00:28:07
144. Matteo Tosatto (ITA) Tinkoff +00:28:07
145. Oscar Gatto (ITA) Tinkoff +00:28:07
152. Peter Sagan (SVK) Tinkoff +00:28:13
GC After Stage 15
1. Chris Froome (GBR) Team Sky 68:14:36
2. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo +00:01:47
3. Adam Yates (GBR) Orica-BikeExchange +00:02:45
4. Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar Team +00:02:59
5. Alejandro Valverde (SPA) Movistar Team +00:03:17
11. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Tinkoff +00:05:24
33. Rafal Majka (POL) Tinkoff +00:57:56
54. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) Tinkoff +01:25:18
91. Michael Valgren (DEN) Tinkoff +02:05:06
93. Peter Sagan (SVK) Tinkoff +02:07:29
150. Matteo Tosatto (ITA) Tinkoff +02:44:43
151. Maciej Bodnar (POL) Tinkoff +02:45:23
159. Oscar Gatto (ITA) Tinkoff +02:49:11
