Norway’s Kristoff wins Tour stage; Nibali leads

NIMES, France – Almost at the finish line, Jack Bauer and Martin Elmiger were exhausted but could see it coming – their first Tour de France stage victory. Those last 50 meters, however, got in the way.

A bunch of sprinters leading the pack came speeding like a runaway train and plowed past the huffing breakaway duo in the final milliseconds. Stage 15 belonged to Norwegian speedster Alexander Kristoff, his second stage victory in this Tour.

The 138-mile stage went smoothly for overall leader Vincenzo Nibali of Italy. He made sure his main rivals couldn’t claw back any time, and he kept his yellow jersey by finishing in the trailing pack.

After two days in the Alps, Sunday’s stage offered some relief over a flat course from Tallard, southeast France’s parachuting capital, toward Nimes, known for its Roman arena and bullfighting. More relief comes today – a second rest day.

This ride showed yet again on the Tour how mighty efforts so often go unrewarded.

Bauer is a New Zealander who had a better shot of holding off the sprinters than Swiss champion Elmiger. Bauer dropped his bike after the finish line, sat on the ground and cupped his face in his hands, crying.

They had led nearly from the starter’s gun.

“It’s a fantasy for any cyclist to win a stage at the Tour and especially for a Kiwi cyclist, not many of us turn professional and not many of us get a chance to start the Tour de France,” Bauer said.

The 29-year-old rider came to the Tour to help Garmin-Sharp leader Andrew Talansky, who dropped out before Stage 12 because of injuries from an earlier crash.

The pack perfectly timed its move on the breakaway duo and proved too strong. Bauer was pedaling with his last remaining strength, and when he looked back a last time they were already zooming by. He finished in 10th place, with Elmiger 16th.

The Swiss rider with IAM Cycling took his finish more in stride. This, after all, wasn’t the first breakaway to fail in this Tour.

“I am not disappointed because I actually did not have the best legs today,” Elmiger said. “Being caught by the pack is not so bad when you are convinced you have given everything. As I have already said three times this Tour after breaks have failed, one of these days the wheels will turn in my favor.”