Cycling: Wellens wins Stage 15 to underscore UAE's Tour control
The Belgian national champion, one of defending champion and overall leader Tadej Pogacar's domestiques, jumped away from a leading group of six some 43 kilometres from the finish and never looked back, beating compatriot Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) by 1:28.
France's Julian Alaphilippe took third place, nine seconds further back.
"It's a very special victory, everybody wants to ride the Tour but not everybody wins on the Tour de France," said Wellens.
"Suddenly there was a big crash... I followed one move and I was in the breakaway.
"I had an opportunity, I took it and I had legs to finish it."
Wellens' master, Pogacar, still leads Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard by 4:13 in the overall standings, edging 169.3km closer to a fourth Tour title after the hilly ride between Muret and Carcassonne.
German Florian Lipowitz sits in third place, 7:53 off the pace.
"I'm actually happier than for any of my wins," said Pogacar, who added he was recovering from a sore throat.
"With all the ice we're having (to cool down from the heat) and the air conditioning, half of the peloton has a sore throat, it's a pain."
The top riders stayed quiet all day, Pogacar slowing down after Lipowitz and Vingegaard were caught up behind an early crash.
It was a hectic stage with relentless attacks from riders looking to capitalise on the rare opportunity of a victory as flat and mountain stages are the exclusive domain of top sprinters and general classification contenders.
The group who would fight for the win took shape after more than 100 kilometres and Wellens was not only the stronger rider, he was also the smartest.
Having done very little in the breakaway - one of the perks of riding for the yellow jersey holder - Wellens attacked on a slightly uphill section, catching everyone off guard.
The 34-year-old attacked and the chasing group quickly disappeared into the background as he sped to his maiden Tour de France win to complete his grands tours stage victory collection after prevailing in the Giro d'Italia in 2016 and 2018 and in the Vuelta a Espana in 2020.
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