CLIMB KING KUSS LEGS IT FOR A HOME WIN

AMERICAN Sepp Kuss won stage 15 as the Tour de France crossed into Andorra – but defending champion Tadej Pogacar tightened his grip on the Yellow Jersey.

Kuss (left), who has a home in the tiny principality, was the last survivor of a 32-man breakaway on the bumpy 118 miles from Ceret to Andorre-la-vieille and held off a challenge on the final descent from Alejandro Valverde.

Britain’s Mark Cavendish (right), who equalled Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 career stage wins on Friday, came home safely on the time cut with nine minutes to spare. While his lead in the sprinters’ green jersey was trimmed by Michael Matthews, Pogacar’s bid to retain the maillot jaune looks impregnable as he goes into today’s rest day with a 5min 18sec advantage over nearest challenger Rigoberto Uran.

But in stifling heat, the honours went to Kuss, who said: “It’s incredible. I was really suffering in this Tour. I still can’t believe I’m in the Tour de France – much less winning a stage.

“I didn’t feel I had the spice in the legs and today I knew it was finishing where I lived, was really motivated for the stage and finally had really good legs again. I’m so happy. My girlfriend and her family were on the climb cheering me on and I also want to say hi to my parents back home because I haven’t seen them for a long time.

“It was a hard day in the breakaway and I know the final climb quite well. I don’t ride it so much because it’s so hard but I knew if I got a gap there I could try and hold it to the finish.”