Cort Nielsen wins stage 15 of Tour de France

Carcassonne (France), July 23: Denmark's Magnus Cort Nielsen of Astana won the 15th stage of the Tour de France road cycling race, coming out ahead in a three-rider sprint to the finish line, while Geraint Thomas of Britain (Sky) kept the overall leader's yellow jersey.

Cort Nielsen, 25, claimed his career-first Tour stage win after beating Spain's Jon Izagirre (Bahrain) and the Netherlands' Bauke Mollema (Trek), who were the last survivors of a breakaway group of 29, reports Efe.

Cort Nielsen needed four hours, 25 minutes and 52 seconds to finish the hilly 181.5-km (112.7-mile) course, while the peloton reached the finish line 13 minutes later.

The overall standings remained unchanged, with Thomas in front of defending champion Chris Froome -- his countryman and fellow Sky teammate -- by one minute and 39 seconds, while Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) kept third, one minute and 50 seconds off the pace.

Monday will be a day off for the riders, their second of the 2018 Tour.