And that’s it from me. Thank you very much for all your emails and for accompanying this amateur through stage 15, a day of bewildering drama which spelled the end of Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour.

A rest tomorrow and then the Alps await. Enjoy!

In the TNT studio they’re mulling over those final few hundred metres.

They all seem sure that Pogacar could have won if he’d wanted to.”I think he didn’t because of Jonas. He never once accelerated, he didn’t get out of his saddle in the last 100m.”

What a drama filled few hours. A big win for Evenepoel on unexpected terrain- the high mountains have always been his achilles heel.

The commentators speculate that Pogacar may not have wanted to win out of respect for Vingegaard, whose Tour has had a miserable end at the bottom of the plateau de Solsaison.

“That is a horrible way to end a tour,” writes Nick Wayne. “The poor man’s morale must be at rick bottom. I know everyone and their chainring were comparing him to Pog, but he was doing well enough to be on the podium. Whether that would have remained until Paris is now a pointless debate.

Wishing him a speedy recovery, and I hope he does sit out the Vuelta.”

It was the nutella that did it!

350m to go Uphill they go, wheel to wheel. Del Toro goes again, Evenpoel on his wheel, but here comes Pogacar….

1km to go Del Toro attacks, followed by Evenpoel!

1.3km to go Del Toro is riding his way into the white jersey and has made a miraculous recovery from the crash at the bottom of the mountain. The front three are still bunched together.

2km to go Pog looks over his shoulder. Evenepoel briefly takes a turn at the front but now the lead is back with the yellow jersey. Cow bells, flags, horns.

3km to go Pog, head down, leads the group of three. Seixas and Lipowitz are 33 seconds behind. The crowd applaud and urge them upwards.

3.5km to go Pidcock drifts backwards. Evenpoel looks better than Del Toro up with Pog at the front.

4km to go Seixas and Lipowitz drop Ayuso, and are now fourth and fifth.

4.6km to go Simmons has been hauled in and passed by. Yates drops back and Pogacar takes the lead, followed by teammate Del Toro and Evenepoel.

5.4km to go Yates is now leading Pogacar, Evenpoel and Del Toro. Pidcock has been dropped. Simmons still 16 seconds ahead.

6km to go Pogacar, Del Toro and Evenpoel have Yates, Pidcock and Voisard in their sights.

6.5km to go Lipowitz, Seixas and Ayuso have been dropped by the peloton. Pogacar acting as domestique for Del Toro. In the blink of an eye he’s reduced the deficit to 45 seconds behind Simmons

7.2km to go Pogacar is now setting the pace at the front of the peloton. Martinez has dropped off the back.

8km to go Schmid looks done. Simmons stretches his lead to 21 seconds over the Pidcock group, currently led by Yates.

8.5km to go Simmons attacks, draws up to Schmid and goes ahead, to the pleasure of his watching dad. Pidcock’s group are 12 seconds behind. The peloton are gaining – 1.37 adrift.

9.5km to go Schmid pushes on. Pidcock licks his lips and leads the chasing group of Simmons and Voisard and Yates. And the gap drops to 10 seconds.

Felix Groschartner who was involved in the crash with Vingegaard is hurting. He swaps bikes and soldiers on.

10km to go Red Bull take over at the front of the peloton after a radio message. They’ve got 2.27 to catch and they’re starting to motor.

10km to go The final, brutal climb begins. Schmid has 28 seconds on the chasing group.

Many thanks to the Tour de France for this detail: With its impressive figures - 11.3 km of ascent with an average gradient of 9% -, the climb to Plateau de Solaison makes its debut in great fashion on the roads of the Tour de France.

It’s the 47th climb to be classified HC since the introduction of this category in 1979. That year, only Col du Galibier and L’Alpe d’Huez were HC.

The last climb to join the list of HC ascents was Col de Vars, in 2024, but it was far from being a novelty, having been previously classified as a cat. 1 or even cat. 2 ascent. The most recent HC climb introduced in the Tour is the Col de la Loze, with the different sides used since 2020.

14km to go While Vingegaard’s Tour was coming to a painful close, the race shapeshifted. The lead at the front has grown. Schmid has 19 seconds over Group Pidcock and 2.53 to the peloton.

Vingegaard went down coming into a tight corner, his front wheel clippping a kerb. As he climbs into the ambulance, his right arm is in a sling. The commentators immediately bring up that 2am drug test.

23km to go Schmid is maintaining his lead of 18 seconds over Group Pidcock. One minute 17 behind are Baudin, Paret-Peintre, Vauquelin and Van Wilder, while the Peloton push on adrift by 2’10”.

27km to go A field of liver and white cows lounge in a field as the leading group hurtle past – they’ve got about another 18k before they hit the imposing slopes of the Plateau de Solaison. But they’re losing time on the peloton who have hit beast mode – now 2.19 behind.

32km to go Schmid makes a break for glory, and rapidly has ten seconds on Pidcock. Further back, Campenaerts has dropped back and now leads the peloton for Visma.

Good afternoon William Preston!

“Normally, this is the best time of the year for me. Work wise, there’s a lot of people away on holiday so it’s quiet and I’d hit up ITV on the tellybox and really enjoy the days.

“This year, it’s only the superb coverage on this website, as the broadcasts are paywalled away, that makes the thrilling heroics of the breakaway come to life, or the peleton - a word I can never spell – getting a stomp on to close them down.

“It’s still the best thing in the world, but exists in words at the moment, and that’s also fine.”

It was a stinker of a decision wasn’t it. Hope we can help fill a few of a gaps.

36km to go Simmons takes over the pace-making briefly, tries to grab a bottle of water but can’t holds on and darts a dirty look at the responsible team-member. Schmid and Costiou have rejoined the lead group. The lead group hurl themselves over the penultimate climb with KOM points for Pidcock (2) and Simmons (1).

40km to go The category three Cote du Mont awaits. The lead group of five – Yates, Pidcock, Simmons, Rubio and Voisard - digs into the 7.6 per cent slope. Costiou is 8 seconds behind them, Schmid 19, and the peloton adrift by 2 mins 53.

“Just for Matt Pennifold’s query on the ‘fun’ jersey,” writes Guy Hornsby. “ I’m with him there, though I guess it depends on your definition of fun. My vote would go to Paret-Peintre, who always seems to be in the action. Also, a massive wistful shout to the ‘Combination’ jersey, which had a beautiful but short-lived life until 1989. That always takes me back to the glorious era of Lemond, Fignon et al. A different time.”

45km to go Rowdily enthusiastic crowds are five deep at the summit. Simmons takes the maximum KOM points, followed by Pidcock (8), Voisard (6), Yates (4), Rubio (2) and Costiou (1). But Simmons has been caught, with Pidcock on the charge on the descent.

48km to go Simmons’s gap is now 15 seconds over Pidcock’s group. He’s got 500m to the summit. And he’s putting time into the peloton as well – now 3’08” behind.

49km to go Van Wilder and Schmid are faltering at the back of the leading group. And now Simmons attacks with gusto! He’s soon got three, four, five metres on Pidcock.

Hello Alistair Connor:“You’ve got to admire his persistence, but the conventional wisdom says Pidcock should concentrate on improving his overall place, because he is too highly ranked to be allowed à breakaway stage win. I think it’s just his temperament, which is no doubt better suited to one-day races.”

51km to go Pidcock still at the front as they squeeze past the throngs of spectators at a horrifying 12 per cent gradient. The peloton are still 2.42 behind, led with gumption by Visma lease a bike.

52km to go Pidcock hits the front and pulls apart the lead group. Both Visma riders are now dropped, but Yates is still holding on at the back.

52km to go “With the steep climbs we’ve got coming, it is every man for himself,” say TNT. People are dropping off the front group including Healy. They’re going hard at the front of the lead group, but the peloton are gaining.

55km to go Things are about to get tough. The riders start the 4.6km climb at an average of 11 per cent gradient – the Col de la Croisette. Van Moer is riding hard at the front of the breakaway, Pidcock is on his shoulder. Nearly two minutes between them and the peloton.

61km to go Vinokurov is caught.

”Musing over whether there should a jersey for the rider having the most fun” writes Matt Pennifold, “but I suspect that Poge would win this as well.”

I love this idea, but what colour would it be? It is hard to out-fun the polka-dots. I’ll throw Pidcock and Carapaz into the ring too.

65km to go Vinokurov makes another break for freedom. In the front pack one of the riders has radioed to say no-one in the group wants to work with Pidcock.

68km to go I can tell you, thanks to the commentators, that this region of France is very famous for its plums. A juicy one for Tom Pidcock who in the virtual GC standings has moved up to fourth – though he is very unlikely to be there at the end of this race. The front group still have a 2 mins 28 gap.

70km to go A morning interview with Evenpoel, who we learn had one big spoon of Nutella for breakfast. It’s currently powering him along in the peloton, who trail the leading pack by 2 mins 50.

On they go, past a chalked Appuie Bon Dieu across the road. The sun is out, the energy high

78 km to go The break has a 2 mins 2o buffer as I type. They have, I think, just entered the beautiful departement of Haute-Savoire.

“Afternoon Tanya,” lovely to hear from you James, (travelling back from Norwich.)

”Interesting to see the usual suspects (Pidcock, Healy et al.) in the breakaway again today. Whilst their bravery is to be commended, I can’t help but feel that these repeated efforts are somewhat futile when facing the sheer artillery of Team UAE. They’re like a two-wheeled ‘Light Brigade’, charging into Pogacar and UAE’s valley of Death.”

Half a league onward – I love the fearlessness of it, despite the inevitability of UAE. It must take some mentality to do that.

81km to go Romain Bardet thinks that the breakaway “is a tactical move from most of the GC teams. [The final climb] is one of the most brutal climbs on the TDF. To have a teammate in the front group will be a massive advantage.”

Visma and UAE are at the front of the peloton.

87km to go The wide beautiful waters of the Rhone accompany the breakaway, which now has one minute 40 on the peloton. A 4km 3 per cent gradient climb on the way. And things are relatively gentle until the Col de la Croisette rises in about 40km.

91km to go The break suddenly has a minute and rising on the peloton

Tobias Johannessen, who was riding his brother’s bike after an earlier puncture, gets his own bike back

98km to go Vinokurov has been caught by a group including Healy, Paret-Peintre, Pidcock, Bernal, Rubio and some satellite riders for the big teams. They are now 15 seconds ahead of the peloton.

101km to go Nico Vinokurov, the Kazakhstan national champion, has made a lone break, and he’s putting his foot down. He’s 10 seconds ahead of the pack.

105km to go Well played EF education! They’ve wheeled in the breakaway for their man Carapaz. Meanwhile, Jan Tratnik gets a new bike.

Solid Pogacar love from Nick Wayne. “First the endless GOAT superlatives then the booing. C’mon people, make your mind up. IMHO he’s an amazing and admirable cyclist. Loved or not, he races clean and that’s the bottom line.”

109km to go There aren’t too many spectators at this stage, odd handfuls of people who look as if they’ve pottered out from their front door five minutes before the train screams past. The group at the front still have 20 seconds on the chasing pack, with EF education working hard to join in.

119 km to go “We need Carapaz in the breakaway today for KOM points,’” says the EF team radio. And the pink shirts lead the peloton.

124 km to go Two becomes ten. Oliveira, Matthews, Schmid, A. Johannessen, Skaarseth, Van Dijke, Garcia Pierna and Izagirre have joined Arensman and Azparren up at the front. They’ve got nine seconds on the peloton.

Philip Terry has been wrapping his head around Sunday afternoon speculation. “What if…Pogi wins today and puts more time between himself and Jonas then turns superdomestique to ensure second place for Del Toro? Well, it’s a hot lazy afternoon in France and time for an after lunch ponder!”

132km to go Arensman and Azparren hold onto their pocket lead. Time for a little rest and some freewheeling with fields stretching out on either side.

139km to go Seixas le GOAT reads a banner. On the Decathalon radio, he says he feels “super good.” The peloton are strung out in one long snake now, with 30k of descent, and undulating uphills, ahead. Arensman and Azparren still have ten seconds on the pack.

142km to go Arensman and Azparren have the most successful break attempt of the day so far, currently 14 seconds ahead of the peloton. They’re currently passing a ski-jump to the right on a road lined by pines.

147km to go Paret-Peintre, wearing the polka-dot jersey hits the front in search of KOM points, but Carapaz is on his wheel. They battle but Paret-Peintre finds some extra zip to cross first and capture two points, Carapaz must be content with one. Seixas is back with the peloton, and he pats his teammate on the back to say thank you for the help.

149km to go Shuffle, shuffle. Carapaz is caught, Seixas works to rejoin the peloton and Azparren has a shimmy up front.

150km to go Seixas pulls over to the side of the road and gets a rapid rear wheel change.

151km to go The vibrant riding and sherbert pink jersey of Carapaz accelerates to chiming cow bells and soon has a six second lead on the peloton.

152km to go Break hoovered up. Lots of jostling for position.

153km to go The ascent has started, and there’s a break of sorts, – Mohoric, Alaphilippe, Delbove, Turgis and Degenkolb have a seven second lead over the peloton.

160 km to go At 96km an hour, the peloton zips down to to the bottom of the Cote des Rousses, a category three climb of 6.7km at 5.2 per cent.

Another email drops, hello David Sheidlower! “Just speculation from a data geek: we know that previous dominant riders when the field was this strong relied on technical and tactical improvements that were not widely used yet. For Pogacar and Del Toro (the young Mexican is having such a good tour- it’s great to see him) perhaps the team has come up with a new algorithm that lets them make adjustments by the rider during the race based on the power meter readings they see on the handlebars.

“With a rider as strong as Pogacar finding that extra power to solo up mountains is clearly making a difference and since it is his own power either way, it is totally legit if he is doing better math than his rivals.”

162km to go An attack forms, burns briefly, but is caught. There are a few mechanicals off the back of the peloton, including Del Toro.

168km to go Nothing much to report. A waiting game, with 1.3km to go till the sprint.

And hello Gwyn Williams. “As the pros get underway in the Jura, spare a thought for the more than 17,000 amateur riders from around the world tackling this year’s l’Etape de Tour de France.

“Riders have been out since early this morning, riding the exact same route that will be Stage 20 of the Tour in just a few days - Le Bourg d’Oisan to Alpe d’Huez. While a few will post times not all that far off what the pros will do, the vast majority of the riders are doing it just for the sake of the accomplishment. Many are using the race to raise money for charities, others just for the love of the sport.

“Some will struggle to meet the time cutoffs on the road, but finish the whole route or not, everyone taking part should be very proud of themselves for even attempting 170 km with 5400 m of elevation gain and some of the most iconic Tour climbs. I know I’m certainly very proud of my son (Jack Kreisler) who is currently about two-thirds of the way through the Etape.”

Thank you Gwyn. Best of luck to Jack and everyone else out on the winding roads. I am full of admiration and awe. My cycling holidays go only as far as a few days toddling past sunflowers in the Loire valley.

173km to go Lidl-Trek’s Toms Skujins makes a little break for freedom before Alpecin gobble up the gap.

174km to go Eight km to go until the sprint, with the white socks and boots of Alpecin still leading, three in a line, followed by Mads Pedersen and Lidl-Trek, controlling the peloton until the sprint.

178 km to go The gorgeous greens of the trees, burnt yellow of the fields, colour the scenery as the pelaton makes steady progress upwards, bobbing helmets and shifting shoulder blades.

182km to go The royal blue jerseys of Alpecin dominate the front of the peloton at this tentative stage, with early eyes on the intermediate sprint, just over 17km into the race.

A stat, courtesy of TNT: Paul Seixas is the youngest rider ever to wear a leader’s jersey at the TdF.

We’re just a km before the flag drop. Nice and easy at the moment, swarming like lazy summer bees.

A quick word from Tadej Pogacar: “I got four hours of sleep today, couldn’t fall back to sleep [after doping], so have been chilling, listening to old Eminem hits and drinking coffee.”

And hello to Ger Nugent, whose email is the first to thump on the Guardian doormat.

“I realise there’s some disappointment (to be kind) regarding Pogacar’s dominance, but I for one am always really intrigued by his, and the team’s, tactics.

“No boos coming from me that’s a certainty. The sheer athleticism of the man is incredible and should, in my humble opinion, be shown the respect he justly deserves.”

The peloton will pedal away from Champagnole in about five minutes, with kilometre zero at 12.20.

Doping control have been visiting in the night – Pogacar at 5am and Vingegaard at 2am – he isn’t impressed.

If you’re watching at home, in France, or anywhere else, do email in with your thoughts on the Tour so far. I’d love hear from you.

There’s just one minute 20 seconds between second-placed Vingegaard and seventh-placed Del Toro. But disappearing into the distance is Pogacar.

Adam Blythe: “He’s not unbeatable but – it’s easier to find weaknesses in his team than in him.

Robbie McEwen: “I’ve run out of words of advice, we thought [the team] might be slightly depleted but they popped up again yesterday, they’ve got a stranglehold on the race, and it becomes a mental thing for the others.”

Matt Stephens:”We haven’t seen any sharp attacks from Jonus so far, what he lacks is that real punch. His favourite terrain is to come.”