Laurance launches to fifth as Rodriguez moves up GC

Axel Laurance sprinted to fifth in a last gasp effort on stage 15 of the Tour de France as Carlos Rodriguez moved up to ninth on the GC after his breakaway antics.

A tight sprint finish on the line saw Laurance challenged by Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Wout Van Aert (Visma Lease A Bike) to take fifth as Tim Wellens (UAE Emirates - XRG) soloed to the win.

Rodriguez finished as part of the same group and moved up to ninth on the GC after being in the break for half of the 169km stage.

Heading up the Côte de Sorèze with 85km to go, Rodriguez managed to bridge over to the front group to form an eight-man breakaway. As they started to descend, they had a 41 second gap, before Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Quinn Simmonds (Lidl-Trek) accelerated up the final hill of the day, the Pas du Sant.

The pair were joined by Victor Campenaerts (Visma Lease A Bike) and Wellens, with Wellens eventually going clear with 40km remaining.

Rodriguez continued to push on the descent into Carcassonne as part of the chasing group of seven riders. Campenaerts accelerated solo with 2km to go as the third group caught the chasers onto the home straight, with Laurance launching his sprint to take fifth.