Chris Froome has finally overcome his fear after recovering from a puncture to retain the yellow jersey. On the other hand, Bauke Mollema won the 15th stage of the Tour de France which took place yesterday (Sunday, 16 June).
For a moment, Froome’s hopes seemed to disappear when he suffered a problem with his bike’s wheel a few seconds before approaching to the category One climb when he lost around one minute to his biggest rivals. It was Michal Kwiatkowski the one who came to help and give his wheel to his team-mate right before arriving up to the hill.
⚡️FLASH⚡️ AG2R on the attack, Froome saves the yellow jersey and the 1st stage victory for Mollema. It’s stage 15 in 30 secondes. #TDF2017 pic.twitter.com/oCTVsn7jfI
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 16, 2017
“I had a problem with my rear wheel that had to be changed. Kwaitkowski gave me his wheel because the team car was far away.”- Froome said.
He also added: “We did all we could to return to the top of the race. Thanks to my team-mates, Sergio Henao and Mikel Nieve, who helped me. It was a time of stress. I thought I might not see the lead again.”
Nothing worth having comes easy ? #MondayMotivation #TdF2017 #TDF #cycling
? @Yorick_32 pic.twitter.com/wcVJkG1258— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) July 17, 2017
Stage 15 results:
1 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo: 4:41:47″
2 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates: +19″
3 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal
4 Primoz Roglic (Slv) LottoNL-Jumbo)
5 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb: +23″
6 Nicolas Roche (Ire) BMC Racing Team: +1:00″
7 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie: +1:04″
8 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ
10 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Team Dimension Data
General Classification after stage 15:
1 Chris Froome (Gbr) Team Sky: 64:40:21″
2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team: +18″
3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale: +23″
4 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac: +29″
5 Daniel Martin (Ire) Quick-Step Floors: +1:12″
6 Mikel Landa (Esp) Team Sky: +1:17″
7 Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica-Scott: +2:02″
8 Louis Meintjes (Rsa) UAE Team Emirates: +5:09″
9 Alberto Contador (Esp) Trek-Segafredo: +5:37″
10 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team: +6:05″
