Wout Poels took his first career grand tour stage win with victory on the slopes of Mont Blanc at the Tour de France as Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar came home shoulder to shoulder after a mountainside tussle.
Poels was the last survivor of a big breakaway group that had gone clear of the main peloton after a crash caused by a spectator 50 kilometres in reshaped the 179km stage 15 from Les Gets to Saint-Gervais.
The 35-year-old came to the foot of the final climb up to Saint-Gervais with Wout van Aert but immediately attacked as the road ramped up and gradually eased clear to take the win by more than two minutes.
Some six minutes after Poels crossed the line, race leader Vingegaard and his main rival Pogacar came home together, with the Dane's advantage in yellow remaining at 10 seconds going into Monday's rest day.
Pogacar, having let the wheel of team-mate Adam Yates go earlier on the climb, put in a dig just after the flamme rouge but Vingegaard responded immediately to ensure he will start Tuesday's time trial still in yellow.
Carlos Rodriguez, who had paced back to the leading duo as they eyed each other on the road, was just behind to strengthen his hold on third place overall, with Yates up to fourth after Jai Hindley again faded.
Another huge crash that seemed to be caused by a fan...
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 16, 2023
All riders involved are back on their bikes 🙏#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/QkxrGaMhcV
A selfie-taking spectator caused a crash earlier in the stage with a mass pile-up involving three of defending champion Vingegaard's team-mates.
Nathan van Hooydonck hit the deck hard, with Jumbo-Visma's Sepp Kuss, Vingegaard's key lieutenant in the mountain, and Dylan van Baarle, crashing after Kuss was put off balance by the spectator.
All three got back on their bikes, although Van Hooydonck spent a couple of minutes lying on the ground before re-starting.
Seven riders abandoned the race on Saturday in two separate crashes.
