Stage 15

The road

At the start

The queen stage, into France

Andorra cost Ivan Basso his race to the cold and Nicolas Roche seven minutes; Nibali now leads Horner by fifty seconds and Valverde by 1:42. Today is the longest and hardest day of this Vuelta — two hundred and twenty-four kilometres and over five thousand metres of climbing, across the Bonaigua, over the border and up the Port de Balès to a summit finish at Peyragudes.

How it was won

1. 1123 km to go

   The break splits on the Bonaigua

   The morning's escape was far too big to work, and the second climb of the day starts pulling it apart. Barguil, Alexandre Geniez and De Greef go first, and Chérel, Cardoso and Edet come across to make six.

2. 285 km to go

   Six, then a chase, then a peloton

   De Greef takes the intermediate sprint on the descent. The six have 2:55 on a large and disintegrating chase group and 5:30 on the bunch, and there is a border and a hundred and fifty years of Tour de France mythology waiting up the valley.

3. 354 km to go

   Port de Balès, and Roche attacks

   Nineteen kilometres at six per cent with ramps over ten, in French sunshine and twenty-seven degrees. The six become two — Geniez and Cardoso — and out of the peloton Nicolas Roche, four minutes down after Andorra, goes hunting the places he lost.

4. 427 km to go

   Geniez descends away from Cardoso

   Twenty-seven kilometres from Peyragudes the Frenchman simply out-descends his last companion and rides on alone. Roche picks up his teammate Zaugg and grinds out a minute; Astana, watching from behind, do not appear to care.

5. 510 km to go

   Nibali makes his point

   With ten kilometres left Valverde dares to move, and Nibali will not have it: he goes himself, Horner glued to his wheel, and then drops back into the group having proved whatever needed proving. Urán tries, Rodríguez tries twice, and Horner drags a group of five up towards the line with the red jersey moving back to the front each time.

6. 6At the line

   Peyragudes belongs to Geniez

   Alexandre Geniez rides the queen stage of the Vuelta into France and up to the ski station alone, with Scarponi second and a defiant Nicolas Roche third.

The result