The Tour de France peloton suffered from 40°C heat on the southern French roads to Carcassonne, but few suffered as much as Quick-Step Alphavinir's Michal Morkoff. 1]

After falling off the bike in the early kilometers of stage 15, Morkoff rode alone behind the peloton for most of the 202.5-km stage. Accompanied by Soinier in the team car, he tried to reach the finish, but was unable to make the time cut, which was extended to 20% due to the heat, and finished 1 hour, 05 minutes, and 40 seconds behind stage winner Jasper Philipsen.

As Morkov crossed the finish line, Tour Director Christian Prudhomme greeted him as most of the teams parked on Boulevard Marcoux had packed their bags and headed to their rest day hotels.

After a brief conversation, Morkoff told the waiting press about the rest day, which was caused not by illness or injury, but by extreme heat.

"It was indescribably painful," he said. I knew it was going to be a difficult stage today. I knew it was going to be a difficult stage today. I was determined to get to the finish and see if I could keep going."

"I believed all day. Maybe I was a little optimistic, but with 25 km to go, I knew I had to go at an average speed of 60 km/h. Even if it was downhill, I couldn't do it alone."

"I am sad to leave such a big race. Prudhomme thanked me for my fight and said he thought I fought bravely."

Morkov's goal was 53:29, but he was unable to make the 12-minute time cut after a fight on the bike. He dropped out of the peloton in the first 20 km, and as the peloton approached the final sprint in Carcassonne, he was lying on the road more than 30 km further back.

With his loss, Quick-Step Alphavini was left with six riders in the Tour and without what is regarded as the best lead-out man in the sport.

After Morkov greeted the team staff waiting for him to finish and boarded the bus,

Tom Steele, Quick Step's Directeur Sportif, said,

"A lot of respect. 'To be able to finish like this, to really keep going and finish. That's the kind of rider he is. He's a rider who values fair play. He just set his pace, drank his drink, cooled himself down, and tried to finish."

"It's a shame for sure. He is our leader and one of those players who always makes a difference on the field. And now he's out. It's a shame, especially for him. I can't believe he missed the Tour. ...... He would have loved to finish in Paris."

"Maybe we'll leave him for the meeting," he added jokingly. He would be proud to have made it to the finish line." He's off the time limit, but at least he can go out feeling good."

Steele said this year's race, which has been run at an average speed of 42.971 km/h, was hard for the Tour. He acknowledged that circumstances have extended the time reduction, but noted that all competitors in the race have suffered.

"They set [the limit] at 20%. The Tour is very brutal. It's the toughest bike race and this year was a really tough Tour."

"Especially the heat, but also the pace they set, every day is hard, hard course, and hard pace. Everyone is tired. The riders who stopped to take a piss were having a hard time coming back today. It was really hard for everyone. I don't think many riders would ride their bikes for more than 45 minutes on a rest day.

"It's always difficult to ride alone and the heat saps your energy. At one point it was 40 degrees. I'm at my limit and I have to keep pushing because I can't recover if I'm alone. That means no bike rider is going to ride 200 kilometers in 40-degree temperatures for training," he said.

.