John Degenkolb took 2nd in the bunch sprint in the streets of Valence, as Andre Greipel won his third stage this Tour de France. Simon Geschke was in the escape of the day.

Stage 15 was the last opportunity for the sprinters before reaching Paris next Sunday. The stage started in Mende and finished in Valence after 183km. 27 riders made up the first break of the day, as the group split 9 riders escaped and Simon Geschke was included.

With 40km to go the breakaway was caught back and the bunch sprint was prepared. In the streets of Valence Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) was once again the strongest and won his third stage this Tour de France. John Degenkolb sprinted to 2nd, taking his sixth top-10 finish. The top 20 of the GC remained unchanged.

After the finish Simon Geschke said: “It was a hard day in the break, we were on full throttle for 100km. I had fun being there, but in the end the best for the team was a bunch sprint with John. I didn’t have the best cards to win the stage out of that breakaway though.”

"I haven’t been able to speak to [John Degenkolb] yet but we missed Ramon Sinkledam in the sprint train now," Koen De Kort said. "He was very important for that but unfortunately he had to abandon yesterday. We decided to put him on the wheel of Greipel. I think that he was in the right spot but I’m not sure sure exactly what happened in the sprint but I think that Greipel was better by the looks of it.

"I think we had one stage where we completely took control. Today we sat back a little more and had the right guy in the break with Simon Geschke. I think it was a good day for us where we didn’t have work too much. We’ll see what happens but it would still be nice to get that victory. We are running thin in sprint opportunities but we’ll see how we feel and we’ll try for tomorrow."

Coach Rudi Kemna reflected: “It was a good race for us. Our aim was to get in the breakaway, which succeeded with Simon [Geschke]. He did a good job in making it to the group of nine riders that escaped from the large group, which got away early in the stage.

“In the bunch the guys could relax and we didn’t have to chase, which was an ideal situation for us. If the group would stay clear Simon had a chance for the stage victory, although he was out there with eight very strong riders.

“40km from the line they were caught back and we went full for the sprint preparation for John [Degenkolb], which went very well as he was brought in a good position behind Greipel. Unfortunately he was unable to pass Greipel and became 2nd.

“It was the closest one so far, which is another big disappointment for John.”