Tour de France 2022 stage 15 preview: A Carcassonne sprint finish without Cavendish

Stage 15 of the Tour de France 2022 starts in Rodez and finishes in Carcassonne.

Today’s stage has enough rolls to give the breakaway hope but not enough to impede the chase of the sprinters’ teams. Who will prevail?

Tour de France stage 15: expected timings

Tour de France stage 15 route

Rather than sending the riders on a direct southerly route through the rugged Montagne Noire to reach Carcassonne, race director Thierry Gouvenou has opted for something much more straightforward. The riders should have the wind in their favour as they begin their approach to Carcassonne from the north-west. The finish is the same one as last year’s, when Mark Cavendish claimed his 34th stage win, tying with Eddy Merckx for the record.

Useful Tour de France 2022 resources

• Tour de France 2022 route
• Tour de France 2022 standings
• Tour de France 2022 start list
• Tour de France 2022 key stages
• How to watch the 2022 Tour de France
• Past winners of the Tour de France
• Tour de France leader's jerseys
• Tour de France winning bikes

Tour de France stage 15: what to expect 

This shouldn’t be as testing a challenge as last year’s stage into Carcassonne, where the wind, heat and small, twisting roads made for a very difficult finale. There is a chance of crosswinds in the second half of the stage, but this should boil down to a simple contest between the sprinters’ teams and the breakaway. The former will be under orders to prevent more than a handful of riders getting into the break, and that should enable them to complete a successful pursuit, resulting in a bunch finish below Carcassonne’s spectacular citadel.

Tour de France stage 15: riders to watch

Until Cavendish’s victory last year, Carcassonne had a tradition for favouring breakaway winners. Magnus Cort (2018) and Yaroslav Popovych (2005), the two previous victors, had both been part of small groups. However, there’s so much strength and depth to the line-up of sprinters this year that it’s hard to foresee the likes of Fabio Jakobsen, Dylan Groenewegen, Caleb Ewan and Jasper Philipsen allowing this opportunity to slip by.