# 2015 Circuit de la Sarthe

The 2015 Circuit de la Sarthe (full name 2015 Circuit Cyclist Sarthe–Pays de Loire) was the 63rd edition of the Circuit de la Sarthe cycling stage race. It was run in the Sarthe department between 7 and 10 April 2015 and consisted of five stages, two of which took place on the same day. It was rated as a 2.1 event on the 2015 UCI Europe Tour. The race was won by the defending champion, Ramūnas Navardauskas (Cannondale–Garmin). Navardauskas won the race by one second ahead of Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff–Saxo), thanks to six seconds won on the final stage at intermediate sprints.

## Schedule

The race consisted of five stages. Two of these took place on the same day, with a short road stage in the morning and an individual time trial in the afternoon. The three flat stages were seen as opportunities for sprinters such as Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), who was without a victory to that point in 2015, while the time trial and the summit finish were expected to decide the general classification.
| Stage | Date | Route | Distance | Type | Winner |
| 1 | 7 April | Sablé-sur-Sarthe to Varades | 189 km (117 mi) | Flat stage | Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) |
| 2a | 8 April | Varades to Angers | 85 km (53 mi) | Flat stage | Anthony Roux (FRA) |
| 2b | 8 April | Angers to Angers | 6.8 km (4 mi) | Individual time trial | Adriano Malori (ITA) |
| 3 | 9 April | Angers to Pré-en-Pail | 186 km (116 mi) | Summit finish | Manuele Boaro (ITA) |
| 4 | 10 April | L'Épau Abbey to Le Lude | 176 km (109 mi) | Flat stage | Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) |

## Stages
### Stage 1
#### 7 April 2015 — Sablé-sur-Sarthe to Varades, 189 km (117 mi)

Stage 1 result :
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) | Cofidis | 4h 32' 27" |
| 2 | Nathan Haas (AUS) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 0" |
| 3 | Raymond Kreder (NED) | Team Roompot | + 0" |
| 4 | Alexey Tsatevich (RUS) | Team Katusha | + 0" |
| 5 | Tony Hurel (FRA) | Team Europcar | + 0" |
| 6 | Thomas Boudat (FRA) | Team Europcar | + 0" |
| 7 | Armindo Fonseca (FRA) | Bretagne–Séché Environnement | + 0" |
| 8 | Juan Sebastián Molano (COL) | Colombia | + 0" |
| 9 | Enrique Sanz (ESP) | Movistar Team | + 0" |
| 10 | Russell Downing (GBR) | Cult Energy Pro Cycling | + 0" |
General classification after stage 1 :
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) | Cofidis | 4h 32' 17" |
| 2 | Romain Lemarchand (FRA) | Cult Energy Pro Cycling | + 1" |
| 3 | Nathan Haas (AUS) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 4" |
| 4 | Jacques Janse van Rensburg (RSA) | MTN–Qhubeka | + 4" |
| 5 | Raymond Kreder (NED) | Team Roompot | + 6" |
| 6 | Alexey Tsatevich (RUS) | Team Katusha | + 10" |
| 7 | Tony Hurel (FRA) | Team Europcar | + 10" |
| 8 | Thomas Boudat (FRA) | Team Europcar | + 10" |
| 9 | Armindo Fonseca (FRA) | Bretagne–Séché Environnement | + 10" |
| 10 | Juan Sebastián Molano (COL) | Colombia | + 10" |

### Stage 2a
#### 8 April 2015 — Varades to Angers, 83.9 km (52 mi)

Stage 2a result :
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Anthony Roux (FRA) | FDJ | 2h 04' 57" |
| 2 | Quentin Jaurégui (FRA) | AG2R La Mondiale | + 0" |
| 3 | Thomas Voeckler (FRA) | Team Europcar | + 0" |
| 4 | Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) | Cofidis | + 5" |
| 5 | Alexey Tsatevich (RUS) | Team Katusha | + 5" |
| 6 | Michael Kolář (SVK) | Tinkoff–Saxo | + 5" |
| 7 | Lorrenzo Manzin (FRA) | FDJ | + 5" |
| 8 | Marco Benfatto (ITA) | Androni Giocattoli | + 5" |
| 9 | Raymond Kreder (NED) | Team Roompot | + 5" |
| 10 | Geoffrey Soupe (FRA) | Cofidis | + 5" |
General classification after stage 2a :
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Anthony Roux (FRA) | FDJ | 6h 37' 11" |
| 2 | Quentin Jaurégui (FRA) | AG2R La Mondiale | + 5" |
| 3 | Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) | Cofidis | + 8" |
| 4 | Thomas Voeckler (FRA) | Team Europcar | + 8" |
| 5 | Romain Lemarchand (FRA) | Cult Energy Pro Cycling | + 9" |
| 6 | Nathan Haas (AUS) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 12" |
| 7 | Jacques Janse van Rensburg (RSA) | MTN–Qhubeka | + 12" |
| 8 | Raymond Kreder (NED) | Team Roompot | + 14" |
| 9 | Alexey Tsatevich (RUS) | Team Katusha | + 18" |
| 10 | Thomas Boudat (FRA) | Team Europcar | + 18" |

### Stage 2b
#### 8 April 2015 — Angers to Angers, 6.8 km (4 mi), individual time trial (ITT)

Stage 2b result :
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Adriano Malori (ITA) | Movistar Team | 7' 58" |
| 2 | Alex Dowsett (GBR) | Movistar Team | + 9" |
| 3 | Ramūnas Navardauskas (LTU) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 15" |
| 4 | Tiago Machado (POR) | Team Katusha | + 16" |
| 5 | Manuele Boaro (ITA) | Tinkoff–Saxo | + 20" |
| 6 | Jesús Herrada (ESP) | Movistar Team | + 20" |
| 7 | Steve Cummings (GBR) | MTN–Qhubeka | + 21" |
| 8 | Nathan Haas (AUS) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 22" |
| 9 | Michael Valgren (DEN) | Tinkoff–Saxo | + 22" |
| 10 | Christophe Laporte (FRA) | Cofidis | + 25" |
General classification after stage 2b :
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Adriano Malori (ITA) | Movistar Team | 6h 45' 27" |
| 2 | Alex Dowsett (GBR) | Movistar Team | + 9" |
| 3 | Anthony Roux (FRA) | FDJ | + 12" |
| 4 | Ramūnas Navardauskas (LTU) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 15" |
| 5 | Nathan Haas (AUS) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 16" |
| 6 | Tiago Machado (POR) | Team Katusha | + 16" |
| 7 | Manuele Boaro (ITA) | Tinkoff–Saxo | + 20" |
| 8 | Jesús Herrada (ESP) | Movistar Team | + 20" |
| 9 | Steve Cummings (GBR) | MTN–Qhubeka | + 21" |
| 10 | Michael Valgren (DEN) | Tinkoff–Saxo | + 22" |

### Stage 3
#### 9 April 2015 — Angers to Pré-en-Pail, 186 km (116 mi)

Stage 3 result :
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Manuele Boaro (ITA) | Tinkoff–Saxo | 4h 49' 41" |
| 2 | Pierre Rolland (FRA) | Team Europcar | + 0" |
| 3 | Jonathan Hivert (FRA) | Bretagne–Séché Environnement | + 0" |
| 4 | Pierrick Fédrigo (FRA) | Bretagne–Séché Environnement | + 0" |
| 5 | Arthur Vichot (FRA) | FDJ | + 0" |
| 6 | Tiago Machado (POR) | Team Katusha | + 0" |
| 7 | Ramūnas Navardauskas (LIT) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 0" |
| 8 | Jan Bakelants (BEL) | AG2R La Mondiale | + 0" |
| 9 | Steve Cummings (GBR) | MTN–Qhubeka | + 0" |
| 10 | Nathan Haas (AUS) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 4" |
General classification after stage 3 :
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Manuele Boaro (ITA) | Tinkoff–Saxo | 11h 35' 18" |
| 2 | Adriano Malori (ITA) | Movistar Team | + 3" |
| 3 | Ramūnas Navardauskas (LTU) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 5" |
| 4 | Tiago Machado (POR) | Team Katusha | + 6" |
| 5 | Nathan Haas (AUS) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 10" |
| 6 | Steve Cummings (GBR) | MTN–Qhubeka | + 11" |
| 7 | Arthur Vichot (FRA) | FDJ | + 20" |
| 8 | Pierre Rolland (FRA) | Team Europcar | + 20" |
| 9 | Jan Bakelants (BEL) | AG2R La Mondiale | + 21" |
| 10 | Pierrick Fédrigo (FRA) | Bretagne–Séché Environnement | + 23" |

### Stage 4
#### 10 April 2015 — L'Épau Abbey to Le Lude, 176 km (109 mi)

Stage 4 result :
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) | Cofidis | 4h 11' 56" |
| 2 | Alexey Tsatevich (RUS) | Team Katusha | + 0" |
| 3 | Samuel Dumoulin (FRA) | AG2R La Mondiale | + 0" |
| 4 | Tony Hurel (FRA) | Bretagne–Séché Environnement | + 0" |
| 5 | Leonardo Duque (COL) | Colombia | + 0" |
| 6 | Armindo Fonseca (FRA) | Bretagne–Séché Environnement | + 0" |
| 7 | Ramūnas Navardauskas (LTU) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 0" |
| 8 | Raymond Kreder (NED) | Team Roompot | + 0" |
| 9 | Jan Bakelants (BEL) | AG2R La Mondiale | + 0" |
| 10 | Sven Erik Bystrøm (NOR) | Team Katusha | + 0" |
Final general classification :
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Ramūnas Navardauskas (LTU) | Cannondale–Garmin | 15h 47' 13" |
| 2 | Manuele Boaro (ITA) | Tinkoff–Saxo | + 1" |
| 3 | Adriano Malori (ITA) | Movistar Team | + 4" |
| 4 | Tiago Machado (POR) | Team Katusha | + 7" |
| 5 | Nathan Haas (AUS) | Cannondale–Garmin | + 9" |
| 6 | Steve Cummings (GBR) | MTN–Qhubeka | + 12" |
| 7 | Jan Bakelants (BEL) | AG2R La Mondiale | + 20" |
| 8 | Arthur Vichot (FRA) | FDJ | + 21" |
| 9 | Pierrick Fédrigo (FRA) | Bretagne–Séché Environnement | + 24" |
| 10 | Alexey Tsatevich (RUS) | Team Katusha | + 26" |