Magnus Cort Nielson brings Astana a second stage win in a row in Carcassonne

Another victory for Team Astana on stage 15 with a perfect sprint from a breakaway group on the streets of Carcassonne

Magnus Cort Neilson was part of a long-day breakaway on stage 15 of the Tour de France from Millau to Carcassonne, 181 km. A huge  break of 28 riders got awony on the 1st category climb of Pic de Nore. 

Inside the final 7 km, Magnus Cort launched an attack out of the breakaway with, Bauke Mollema and Ion Izagirre. Thee Astana rider was the strongest in the sprint taking his first Tour stage win.

"Yesterday we all were happy with the win of Omar Fraile and this gave me confidence that everything is possible for me in this Tour. In the final I tried to hold a big concentration on my rivals, because I knew someone could attack. I was pretty sure in my sprint, but always there is a risk that someone would try to do something before finish. So, I was able to response to all attacks and to come for a sprint" - said Magnus Cort.

After doing a great job and closing all attacks of the rivals, Michael Valgren finished fourth.

The peloton finished 13 minutes behind the breakaway.

"It is amazing! It was one of my biggest dreams when I’ve started riding a bike. This is my first Tour de France and I am so happy to win a stage here. I thank a lot my team for giving me a chance to ride this Tour. A special thank to Michael Valgren, who did absolutely incredible job today, providing me a huge help! Everything was just perfect today and our sports director Lars Michaelsen had a big belief in me in this stage. Many days ago we already discussed this stage and he said me it could suit me really well. So, today I went in a breakaway together with Michael Valgren and, finally, everything worked out perfectly. So, I am very happy!" – explained Magnus Cort.

Tomorrow is the second rest day of the race before it enter's it's third and final week in the Pryrenees before heading to Paris.

VIDEO: 2018 Tour de France Stage 15 Highlights

2018 Tour de France Stage 15 Top 10

1 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 4:25:52 
2 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida   
3 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:02 
4 Michael Valgren (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:29 
5 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:34 
6 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida   
7 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie   
8 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:37 
9 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:02:31 
10 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo

2018 Tour de France GC after Stage 15

1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 62:49:47 
2 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:39 
3 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:01:50 
4 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:38 
5 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:21 
6 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:42 
7 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:57 
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:04:23 
9 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:06:14 
10 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:06:54