NIMES, France — Almost at the 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.
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 138-mile (222-kilometer) 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 Monday — a second rest day.
This ride showed yet again on the Tour how mighty efforts so often go unrewarded.
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.
“I really gave it absolutely everything, and as you can see from my meltdown at the finish I was pretty disappointed to come away empty-handed,” Bauer added, noting he’s usually a support rider. “I thought I had it, but then I realized in the last 50 meters that I had nothing.”