Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen sprinted to win stage 15 of the Tour de France as race leader Jonas Vingegaard survived a crash but lost two key team-mates.

Vingegaard came off his bike in a pile-up soon afterwards but continued despite landing heavily on his head.

The Dane maintained his lead over Tadej Pogacar with a week of the Tour to go.

The mostly flat 202.5km route from Rodez to Carcassonne was supposed to be a routine stage for the riders fighting for the yellow jersey but it turned into a day to forget for Vingegaard and his team.

Their collective strength has helped him build his advantage over Pogacar, so it was a blow to lose Roglic – their co-leader and one of the pre-race favourites – before the stage began when he decided to pull out with injuries he sustained in a crash on stage five.

Things got worse later in the day when Kruijswijk, renowned for his climbing strength, went down and suffered a suspected broken collarbone – it was immediately apparent his Tour was over and he was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

Vingegaard himself was involved in a crash only few minutes later when there was a touch of wheels in the bunch, and another Jumbo-Visma rider, Tiesj Benoot, was hurt at the same time.

Both of them were able to recover and ride on but it was a reminder of how unpredictable the Tour can be and a boost for Pogacar, who lost two team-mates – George Bennett and Vegard Stake Laengen – after they tested positive for Covid-19 earlier in the race.

Monday is a rest day before the race enters the Pyrenees on Tuesday, with a 178.5km route from Carcassonne to Foix. The Tour finishes in Paris next Sunday.

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