Van Hooydonck, Jumbo-Visma Rider, Crashes in Tour de France Stage 15

In a dramatic turn of events during Stage 15 of the Tour de France, Belgian cyclist Nathan Van Hooydonck, a rider for team Jumbo-Visma, was involved in a crash. The incident occurred when a fan on the right-hand side of the road caught the attention of another Jumbo-Visma rider, causing him to go down hard. Van Hooydonck, who was right behind him, also fell in the crash. Several other riders were also caught up in the incident.

The crash happened with approximately 128 kilometers left in the stage. A rider at the front of the peloton hit the ground, leaving no escape route for the riders behind him. The crash resulted in multiple riders going down, including Van Hooydonck, Biniam Girmay, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Egan Bernal, and others.

Despite the crash, the race continued with the rest of the peloton and breakaway groups vying for position. At one point, there was a gap of 10 seconds between the chase group and the peloton. However, as more attacks came from behind, the gap closed, and the peloton regained its unity.

In the meantime, a breakaway of 24 riders formed, with Julian Alaphilippe and Alexey Lutsenko taking the lead. They managed to build a 25-second gap over the rest of the breakaway and a 40-second lead over the peloton. However, their advantage soon started to diminish as the peloton closed in.

With 136 kilometers left in the stage, the duo at the front faced a gap of 33 seconds from the peloton. Behind them, a group that included Tiesj Benoot, Wilco Kelderman, Rafal Majka, Tom Pidcock, Mads Pedersen, and Jasper Philipsen made a move but were shut down by Dylan Van Baarle.

As the race progressed, the attacking continued, with different riders making moves to catch up to the leaders. Eventually, a larger chase group joined the lead group, further intensifying the race. The stage featured several climbs, with the riders pushing their limits to gain an advantage.

Despite the crash and the intense competition, the stage concluded without any significant changes in the general classification. Jonas Vingegaard retained his second-place position, gaining a second on race leader Tadej Pogačar. With the crash behind him, Nathan Van Hooydonck and the rest of the riders will continue to battle it out in the upcoming stages of the Tour de France.