Denmark's Magnus Cort claimed his maiden Tour de France stage win ©Getty Images

Denmark’s Magnus Cort sprinted away from two rivals to earn a maiden Tour de France stage victory in Carcassonne.

The 15th stage of the Grand Tour saw riders faced with a 181 kilometres route from Millau featuring three categorised climbs.

General classification hopefuls allowed a breakaway to take the stage honours yesterday and it was a similar story today, with a 29-man move allowed to go clear at the 50km mark.

The breakaway were allowed to build a lead of nearly 15 minutes but the climbs took their toll on several riders forced to drop back as the stage progressed.

Slovakia’s world champion Peter Sagan was among those to drop back, with the Pic de Nore climb in the final 50km ending his chances of a fourth stage win of the race.

Poland’s Rafal Majka sprang clear towards the summit of the climb only to be chased down by a group of seven riders, including Cort.

Bauke Mollema delivered the key attack inside the final seven kilometres, with the Dutchman followed by Cort and Spain’s Jon Izagirre.

The trio stayed together until the run in to the finish, where Izagirre opened the sprint to the line.

Cort proved too powerful for his rivals and moved clear to secure Astana’s second successive stage win, following Spain’s Omar Fraile triumph yesterday.

The Dane crossed the line in 4 hours 25min 52sec, with Izagirre awarded the same time in second.

Mollema ended two seconds down.

Britain's Geraint Thomas will head into the final rest day in the race lead ©Getty Images
Britain's Geraint Thomas will head into the final rest day in the race lead ©Getty Images

Despite an attack from Ireland’s Dan Martin, which ultimately proved fruitless, the general classification riders enjoyed a comfortable day for the second straight stage.

They ended over 13 minutes down on the stage winner but it had no impact on the overall standings.

Britain’s Geraint Thomas remains in the overall race lead with an advantage of 1min 39sec to his compatriot and Team Sky colleague Chris Froome, the defending champion.

The Netherlands’ Tom Dumoulin remains third at 1:50, while Slovenia’s Primož Roglič is fourth at 2:38.

Riders will enjoy the final rest day of the race tomorrow.

The International Cycling Union WorldTour race is set to resume on Tuesday (July 24), with a 218km route from Carcassonne to Bagnères-de-Luchon.

The stage will favour climbers but conclude with a tricky descent.