Thymen Arensman managed to hold off all the GC favourites and won his first-ever Grand Tour stage. The second-ever win of the Dutchman’s career can certainly be called his biggest achievement yet.
Meanwhile behind him, Primož Roglič was launched by his teammates and just below the top of Sierra Nevada managed to put Evenepoel behind.
“In the end, I got a little bit tired. I didn’t have my best legs; unfortunately, I couldn’t attack earlier. Nevertheless, I’m happy with the time gained on Remco. Tomorrow is a rest day and we are all looking forward to it. Today I was able to make another step towards my big goal, to wear the red leader’s jersey in Madrid”, a motivated Roglič said.
“We wanted to make the race hard”, Chris Harper explained Team Jumbo-Visma’s plan. “Primoz was eager to take this opportunity to once again win back time. He said he felt okay at the beginning of the day. We already expected that it wouldn’t be easy to ride away on this climb. I’m glad he managed. We intended to send some riders off in the breakaway. They dropped back and on the climb’s steep part, we decided to increase the pace. I don’t think it was too early because we managed to drop a big group of strong riders. I think it gives Primoz the confidence that he will make up time again today. The third week will be exciting. We’ll see if there are opportunities to catch up. Primoz is in good shape. He’s also very motivated to make the most of it. It’s going to be a great final week.”
How do you think it will pan out? Will Remco wear the red in Madrid? Or will it be someone else?
Stage 15 results
1. Thymen Arensman (Team DSM) – 4:17:17
2. Enric Mas (Movistar) + 1:23
3. Miguel Ángel López (Movistar) + 1:25
4. Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceunink) + 1:30
5. Primož Roglič (Jumbo Visma) + 1:44
6. Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroen)
7. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) + 1:55
8. Jai Hindley (Aus)
9. Louis Meintjes (Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux)
10. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) + 1:59
General classification after stage 15
1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) – 56:40:49
2. Primož Roglič (Jumbo Visma) + 1:34
3. Enric Mas (Movistar) + 2:01
4. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) + 4:49
5. Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) + 5:16
6. Miguel Ángel López (Astana Qazaqstan) + 5:24
7. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) + 7:00
8. Thymen Arensman (Team DSM) + 7:05
9. Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroen) + 8:57
10. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) + 11:36
