Tim Wellens of Team UAE won a baking and hilly Stage 15 of the Tour de France 2025 at Carcassonne on Sunday after a 45-kilometer solo rampage toward the walled citadel.

Overall leader Tadej Pogacar held on to the overall lead with an advantage of 4 minutes, 13 seconds on Jonas Vingegaard, who had to fight to catch up when caught behind an early mass fall.

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Wellens had been part of an early break that only really got away once the fall sent a shockwave though the race.

It was a large and mixed group that was whittled down to five, before the Belgian champion suddenly accelerated and caught the others napping.

This was a fifth win for Team UAE, with Pogacar previously having won four stages on a thoroughly dominant Tour for the team.

Wellens was so far ahead at the finish line that he had time to high-five dozens of Belgian fans on the run in on the eve of Belgium's national holiday.

"This makes me happier than winning a stage myself," Pogacar said. "He helps me keep this thing every day (he said pointing to the yellow jersey)."

Having previously won stages on the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, this triumph completes the set of stage wins on the three big tours for Wellens.

"Everybody wants to win a stage at the Tour de France, this is the special one," Wellens said. "I knew I was going to complete the trilogy and was enjoying the home straight with the fans. I'd been planning to lift the bike in the air, but I was so happy I forgot to do it."

Julian Alaphilippe Red-Faced In Tour de France 2025 Stage 15

The remaining 167 of 184 riders embarked toward Carcassonne on yet another nervy stage.

After a mass fall early on, with Florian Lipowitz and Vingegaard involved, the Pogacar group raced on, leaving two-time winner Vingegaard and a pack of 30 riders to exhaust themselves catching up.

There was embarrassment for Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, who celebrated at the line thinking he had won the stage, when he'd actually finished third.

Sprinting for third place long after Wellens and Victor Campenaerts took the top two spots, Alaphilippe pipped Wout van Aert at the line.

Poor Alaphilippe hung his head when his horrified compatriots told him.

He had been part of the early fall, losing his race radio, and had no idea the stage had already been won, he explained.

Tadej Pogacar Coughing At Tour de France 2025

Pogacar entered the Pyrenees on Thursday trailing in second behind surprise yellow jersey Ben Healy but emerged with two more stage wins and a four-minute advantage at the top of the overall standings in his bid for a fourth Tour de France title.

The defending champion said he had been ill.

"Half the peloton is coughing," Pogacar said. "I've got this red nose. It's because of all the ice packs and air conditioning, I think, but I'm better now."

Monday is the final rest day before the 2025 edition soars into the Alps on Tuesday's Stage 16 with the 15.8-kliometer ascent of Mont Ventoux at 7.9% gradient to its 1901m high summit.

"Mont Ventoux is for after the day off, so I don't want to talk about it now," Pogacar said after the podium ceremony at Carcassonne. "All I know is that Jonas will be attacking. I just don't want to think about it."

Tour de France 2025 Stage 15 Results – Top 25

1. Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) – 3:34:09 (B10)
2. Victor Campenaerts (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 3:35:37 (B6)
3. Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 3:35:45 (B4)
4. Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 3:35:45
5. Alexandre Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers) – 3:35:45
6. Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 3:35:45
7. Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) – 3:35:45
8. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) – 3:35:45
9. Michael Valgren (EF Education - EasyPost) – 3:35:45
10. Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) – 3:35:45
11. Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) – 3:35:45
12. Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) – 3:35:45
13. Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal Quick-Step) – 3:35:45
14. Ivan Romeo Abad (Movistar Team) – 3:35:45
15. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) – 3:35:45
16. Neilson Powless (EF Education - EasyPost) – 3:35:45
17. Warren Barguil (Team Picnic PostNL) – 3:35:45
18. Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) – 3:35:45
19. Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) – 3:35:45
20. Guillaume Martin Guyonnet (Groupama-FDJ) – 3:35:45
21. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) – 3:35:45
22. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 3:35:45
23. Ben O'Connor (Team Jayco AlUla) – 3:35:45
24. Alexey Lutsenko (Israel - Premier Tech) – 3:35:45
25. Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) – 3:40:10 

Tour de France 2025 Overall Standings – Top 25 After Stage 15

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 54:20:44
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 54:24:57
3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 54:28:37
4. Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) – 54:30:02
5. Kévin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) – 54:31:05
6. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 54:31:18
7. Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) – 54:32:44
8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – 54:33:17
9. Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) – 54:39:10
10. Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost) – 54:39:25
11. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) – 54:40:31
12. Ben O'Connor (Team Jayco AlUla) – 54:46:28
13. Guillaume Martin Guyonnet (Groupama-FDJ) – 54:47:47
14. Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 54:52:39
15. Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 54:52:53
16. Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) – 55:03:40
17. Sepp Kuss (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 55:04:14
18. Cristian Rodriguez (Arkea-B&B Hotels) – 55:08:13
19. Sergio Higuita (XDS Astana Team) – 55:12:39
20. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) – 55:14:18
21. Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) – 55:16:00
22. Warren Barguil (Team Picnic PostNL) – 55:20:45
23. Simon Yates (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 55:23:08
24. Aurélien Paret Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) – 55:29:05
25. Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar Team) – 55:31:03

Who Won The Tour de France In 2024?

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar won the Tour de France in 2024 as part of a memorable season that saw him become the first rider since 1998 to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same season. 

He then added a win at the 2024 World Championships in Switzerland to became the first cyclist since 1987 to win the Giro, TDF and a world championship in the same season. 

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