Home > News

RECAP: What you need to know about the 2020 Tour de France so far

Catch up on the highs (and lows) of the first 15 stages

Photo by: Sirotti.it

As the riders prepare for the second and final rest day of the 2020 Tour de France, we’re taking a look back at what has happened so far in this year’s unconventional race. Here are the highlights of the Tour up to now:

RELATED: How to watch the 2020 Tour de France in Canada

2020 Tour de France Stage 1 Nice Alexander Kristoff
photo: Sirotti

Stage 1 (170km from Nice to Nice): A rainy start

Alexander Kristoff of UAE-Emirates took the win on the first stage, but the big story was the slick roads and crashes. Sam Bennett, Dominico Pozzovivo, Pierre Latour, Pavel Sivakov, Thibaut Pinot, Angel Lopez, Marc Soler, Julian Alaphilippe, Nairo Quintana and many more were involved in a number of crashes.

Stage 2 (190km from Nice to Nice): Alaphilippe takes charge

Alaphilippe took the yellow jersey from Kristoff and the stage win on this sunny day. He dedicated his stage victory to his late father, who passed away four months ago. 22-year-old Sunweb rider Marc Hirschi surprised many by attacking with Alaphilippe at 9km to go. The two riders were later joined by Mitchelton-Scott’s Adam Yates. In the end, Hirschi finished second in the stage and Yates would move to second in the GC. Benoît Cosnefroy grabbed the polkadot jersey and has remained the king of the mountains since.

Stage 3 (198km from Nice to Sisteron): Ewan’s sprint

Caleb Ewan’s sprint was the the talk of this relatively flat stage. Alaphilippe stayed in yellow but the Australian Lotto-Soudal rider came from mid-pack, squeezing through tiny gaps to take the stage in a sprint finish.

Stage 4 (157km from Sisteron to Ocières-Merlette): Roglič is here

On the first of the mountain stages, GC favourite Primož Roglič of Jumbo-Visma did not disappoint as he took the stage ahead of fellow Slovenian, UAE Team Emirates’ Tadej Pogačar. Alaphilippe remained in yellow but the stage would be the first of a number of show-downs between the Slovenian cyclists.

Stage 5 (183km from  Gap to Privas): The bottle that cost Alaphilippe the yellow jersey

On an otherwise unremarkable stage, Wout van Aert of Jumbo-Visma took the stage, but his victory was overshadowed by the drama surrounding the GC. After the the riders crossed the line, Alaphilippe was penalized 20 seconds for taking a bottle inside 20km to go.  Adam Yates therefore moved into the yellow jersey. “If I’m honest I don’t think anybody wants to take a jersey like this,” said Yates.

Stage 6 (191km from Le Teil to Mont Aigoual ): Mostly uneventful

Another relatively uneventful stage, the rider to Mont Aigoual was mostly flat but finished in a climb. Alexey Lutsenko of Astana got away from the peloton on the first climb and managed to hold them off until the end, where he won his first Tour stage. Yates stayed in the yellow.

2020 Tour de France Stage 1 Nice
Photo: Sirotti.

Stage 7 (168km from Millau to Lavaur ): Team tactics

On this mostly flat but windy stage, Bora-Hansgrohe split the peloton from the start to get Peter Sagan back in the green jersey (he would remain in green for the next two stages). With 33km to go the Ineos Grenadiers formed an echelon and the bunch divided again leaving many favourites behind and giving Wout Van Aert his second stage win. Yates remained in yellow once again.

Stage 8 (141km from Cazères to Loudenvielle): The first mountain/Pinot’s back pain

The first mountain stage of the Tour was taken by first-time Tour de France stage winner Nan Peters of AG2R. Yates stayed in yellow, but the race cameras were focused on French favourite Thibaut Pinot. The popular Groupama–FDJ rider lost almost 19 minutes on the GC due to back pain from his crash in the first stage. Pinot was visibly disappointed as he fell back.

RELATED: Everything you need to know to watch the Tour de France

Stage 9 (153km from Pau to Laruns): Hirschi grows his fanbase

Marc Hirschi rode away on this mountain stage with 87 kilometres left, and his attack managed to get a lead of four minutes. The Swiss rider impressed viewers with his breathtaking cornering and time-trial-like style of riding. He held off the chase group until 1.4 km to go, when he let himself be absorbed into the group of Egan Bernal, Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič and Mikel Landa. Hirschi attacked on the final sprint but ultimately Pogačar took the stage, followed by Roglič then Hirschi. Roglič moved into yellow on a big day for the Slovenian riders.

Christian Prudhomme
Credit: AFP Photo/Lionel Bonaventure

Rest day and COVID-19 testing

On the Tour’s first rest day, more than 800 COVID tests were administered. All riders tested negative for COVID-19, but the head of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme, and four team staff members tested positive.

Stage 10 (168km from Île d’Oléron to Île de Ré): Flat and windy

An incredibly flat stage was one for the sprinters. Deceuninck–Quick-Step’s Sam Bennett managed to nab the green jersey from Sagan, coming third in the intermediate sprint and narrowly beating out Caleb Ewan to take the stage win.

Stage 11 (167km from Châtelaillon-Plage to Poitiers): Sagan’s elbow

Another flat staged ended in a dramatic final sprint, as Ewan, Bennett, Van Aert and Sagan all fought to cross the line first. Ewan took his second stage win of the tour, followed by Sagan and Bennett. Controversially, Sagan was penalized for elbowing Van Aert in the sprint, which moved Bennett up to second on this stage and significantly increased his green jersey points lead over Sagan.

Stage 12 (218km from Chauvigny to Sarran): Hirschi’s redemption

The hilly longest stage of this year’s Tour saw Mark Hirschi finally take his first stage win. After finishing second and third, the Swiss rider once again went off on a solo breakaway with 40km to go and managed to hold off the peloton until the finish. The yellow jersey remained with Roglič and the green with Bennett, who have remained GC and points leaders since.

Stage 13 (191km from Châtel-Guyon to Puy Mary): Bernal cracks

Colombian Dani Martinez of EF Pro Cycling beat out two Bora-Hansgrohe Germans on the light mountains of stage 13, but the big story was Egan Bernal seemingly cracking on the 5.4 km, 8.1 percent Puy Mary final climb. Roglič and Pogačar attacked the yellow jersey group and the Colombian was unable to chase, crossing the line 37-seconds behind the Slovenians. Romain Bardet was involved in a crash along with Nairo Quintana and Bauke Mollema.

Stage 14 (194km from Clermont-Ferrand to Lyon): A bad day for AGR2

Sunweb’s Søren Kragh Andersen won this mountain stage. AG2R had a miserable stage, as Romain Bardet announced he had suffered a small brain haemorrhage following his crash and would abandon the race. Meanwhile, Bardet’s teammate Pierre Latour pulled out midway through stage 14.

Stage 15 (174km from Lyon to Grand Colombier): A bad day for Ineos

After a brutal battle up the 17 kms of Grand Colombier, Jumbo-Visma managed crack most of the competition. Bernal dropped to 13th and Quintana fell to ninth, while Pogačar eared his second victory of the 2020 Tour, narrowly out-sprinting race leader Primoz Roglič.

In summary

It’s been a dynamic 15 stages, and there are still six stages to go, including this years only time trial. After the rest day, the riders will fight through three mountain stages, one flat stage and finally a mountainous time trial before they ride onto the Champs-Élysées in Paris. In the fight for the green jersey, Sam Bennett (269 points) is holding off Peter Sagan (224 point) with a lead of 45 points on the seven-time points competition winner. Benoit Cosnefroy is still clinging to the climber’s jersey with 36 points, but Roglič and Pogačar are close behind, with 34 and 33 points respectively.

The current GC ranking:

1) Primož Roglič (Slovenia/Jumbo-Visma) 65:37:07
2) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) +0:40
3) Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/EF Pro Cycling) +1:34
4) Angel Lopez (Colombia/Astana) +1:45
5) Adam Yates (Great Britain/Mitchelton-Scott) +2:03
6) Richie Porte (Australia/Trek-Segafredo) +2:13
7) Mikel Landa (Spain/Bahrain-McLaren) +2:16
8) Enric Mas (Spain/Movistar) +3:15
9) Nairo Quintana (Colombia/Arkea-Samsic) +5:08
10) Tom Dumoulin (The Netherlands/Jumbo-Visma) +5:12