Weather: Unsettled weather, overcast, with gusting winds and heavy fog on the summits, sunny in valleys, brisk winds

Stage winner: How many times can Alexander Vinokourov come back in one Tour de France? Vino crashed on stage 5, and lost time in the Alps only to win the stage 13 time trial. The Kazakh appeared to be reborn, then faltered mightily on stage 14, losing almost 30 minutes and suffering a second crash due to an errant spectator. Looking to again salvage his Tour, Vinokourov initiated the day’s main breakaway, and whittled it down through repeated attacks until he cracked his remaining rivals with 15km to go in the stage, finshing alone by 51 seconds to take his second stage win of a rollercoaster Tour.

Race leader: Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) padded his lead over everyone but Alberto Contador by following the Spaniard’s numerous attacks in the last 5km of the Col de Peyresourde. Rasmussen now leads Contador by 2:23, Cadel Evans by 4:00 and Levi Leipheimer by 5:25. With a rest day followed by a hard stage 16 that culminates atop the Col d’Aubisque, don’t expect Rasmussen to lose any time until Saturday’s 55.5 km time trial. Whether it will be enough to displace the race leader is anyone’s guess.

Green jersey: No changes as Tom Boonen (QuickStep-Innergetic) retained his 195-175 lead to Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) after the day’s breakaway and GC riders scooped up all the points in play.

King of the Mountains: Rasmussen retained his 142-140 lead to Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) as the day’s breakaway scored all the points over the day’s five rated climbs.

Best Young Rider: Contador widened his grip on the white jersey to 12:37 to Soler.

Best team: Astana pulled back into the lead thanks to Vinokourov’s victory, with Discovery Channel slipping back to second at 2:53 back and CSC in third at 15:01.

Lanterne Rouge: Wim Vansevenant (Predictor-Lotto) remained last in the GC at 3h04:58 back.

Most aggressive rider: Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) took the day’s prize, with the eight-member panel of French journalists offering consolation “because he started the Tour as the big favorite to win, stopped by bad luck and disappointment, it never erased his ambition.”

Top American: Christian Vande Velde (CSC) rode to eighth in the stage while Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) remained fourth overall at 5:25 back.

The peloton:Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas), Philippe Gilbert (FDJeux), did not startFred Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto), Cyril Dessel (Ag2r) and Christophe Le Mevel (Credit Agricole) abandoned.The peloton numbers 160 riders.

Medical report:Le Mevel (Credit Agricole) fall on the Col de Port, traumatism on right shoulder, transferred to hospital in Saint-Girons, X-rays revealed a fracture in the right clavicleEfimkin (Barloworld) crash on Col de Port, superficial cuts and scrapesIglinskiy (Astana) crash at 100km, without apparent serious injuriesRodriguez and Van Summeren (Predictor-Lotto), Moreau (Ag2r), Mercado (Agritubel), Nuyens (Cofidis), Sieberg (Milram) – all digestive problems

Jury decisions: No rulings

Tomorrow’s stage: Rest day