The breakaway quartet of Lawson Craddock, Nicolas Edet, Vegard Breen and Timo Roosen have been swallowed up by the peloton.

And the gap to the leaders is starting to drop quickly, now down to four minutes 20 seconds. 

Rob Hatch
BBC Radio 5 live commentator

Stage 15 wasn't a great day for Nairo Quintana's Movistar team. They were isolated, Jesus Herrada, an important domestique rider, climbed off his bike ill, and we wonder if that is related to rumours of Quintana being sick too. 

Alejandro Valverde attacked for Quintana, but he didn't follow through again. Does he not have the form, is he ill or is he still waiting for his moment?

Worth mentioning that one of the leading pair, Tony Martin, is a five-time Tour de France stage winner. The 31-year-old German is known as a time-triallist and won a silver medal in that event in the 2012 Olympics behind Sir Bradley Wiggins. 

France's Julian Alaphillipe, 24, was on course for a first Tour stage win yesterday before he had a mechanical, so looks determined to try again today. 

The peloton are in pursuit of the breakaway quartet, and they have reduced the gap to the leading pair to five minutes as Martin and Alaphillipe pass into Switzerland. 

Image source, Reuters

The race for the yellow jersey hasn't quite materialised into the competition some cycling fans would have hoped, unless you're a die-hard Team Sky supporter. Chris Froome seems to be bossing it. 

The challenge of Movistar's Nairo Quintana has faltered but is he ill or saving his energy for the Alps at the end?

A few thoughts from our commentary team of Rob Hatch and Rob Hayles to follow. 

Image source, Getty Images

Here's a quick reminder of which riders are wearing the designated jerseys of this year's Tour.

Yellow jersey: Chris Froome holds a one minute 47 second lead over Dutchman Bauke Mollema, with Britain's Adam Yates 2:45" off the pace.

Green jersey: Slovakian Peter Sagan is still in the sprinters' jersey with 340 points, 62 ahead of Mark Cavendish.

Polka dot jersey: Poland's Rafal Majka holds the king of the mountains jersey, with a decent lead over Belgium's Thomas de Gendt.

White jersey: Bury's Yates remains out in front, with a three minute three second lead over South Africa's Louis Meintjes.

As they approach Switzerland, Tony Martin and Julian Alaphilippe are now almost three minutes ahead of the chasing quartet of Lawson Craddock, Nicolas Edet, Vegard Breen and Timo Roosen.

The peloton is another three minutes back. 

Now that our team have decided that Adam Yates is now known as 'the shadow', we want to know your best cycling nicknames and the stories behind them.

Let us know via #bbccycling, external and we'll use the best of them. Supporting pics are most welcome. Oh, and keep them clean! 

Rob Hayles
Former GB cyclist on the BBC 5 live podcast

Any time you see Adam Yates, he's on the back of the yellow jersey group, and normally you think he might crack, but if he does lose the wheel, it's just because he's riding his own tempo. And he always gets back to the pack.

He's always punching tickets, just rolling around the back of those riders who drop off the main group, and so far they have not been able to get rid of him. He's isolated from his Orica-BikeExchange team-mates but he is sitting pretty at the minute. 

Image source, AFP

Tony Martin and Julian Alaphillipe (Etixx-QuickStep) are still well out in front. 

One minute and 52 seconds behind them are the quartet of Lawson Craddock (Cannondale-Drapac), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Vegard Breen (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) and Timo Roosen (LottoNL-Jumbo).

The peloton, including Chris Froome and Adam Yates, are five minutes and 15 seconds behind the leading pair

Rob Hatch
BBC Radio 5 live commentator on the podcast

Adam Yates has shown a face of calm. A lot of that is probably to do with what's going on in his Orica-BikeExchange team. They have a new co-sponsor, the main sponsor has signed for another year as well. They had the stage win with Michael Matthews, Yates is still in the white jersey, so there is no pressure. There is confidence in the team, but the big thing for me is when we get past the second rest day on Tuesday, do the demons start to play with Yates' head?

Does he go for the yellow jersey, or stay where he is in third overall, and get on the podium in Paris?

Image source, AP

Adam Yates on BBC Radio 5 live after stage 15: "The shadow is a pretty cool nickname, so I'll take that. It's another day closer to Paris, hopefully stage 16 is easier as yesterday was tough. There was not much I could do as Team Sky rode such a hard race, you just hope your legs will respond. 

"We are in a great position, the legs are good, and we have a rest day to come."

Image source, get

Our commentary team of Rob Hatch and Rob Hayles have nicknamed Adam Yates 'the shadow' for the way he has hung onto the back of the yellow jersey group all Tour. 

The Briton, who is still in third place overall, and wears the young riders white jersey, has had been in brilliant form and sounds confident of staying there. 

Can he hang onto third place, or does he fancy something more?

German rider Tony Martin and France's Julian Alaphilippe, both Etixx-QuickStep, have been putting the hammer down and are now one minute 55 seconds ahead of a four-man counter-attack, which includes Lawson Craddock, Nicolas Edet, Timo Roosen and Vegard Breen. 

The peloton is now over four and a half minutes behind the leaders. That is a decent gap. 

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

Image source, BBC Sport

Stage 15 might not have been an entertainment blockbuster but that didn't stop the BBC Radio 5 live podcast, hosted by OJ Borg, Rob Hatch and Rob Hayles, delving into the hot issues on the Tour. 

They discuss the belated success of IAM cycling, Adam Yates becoming 'the shadow', and why Nairo Quintana hasn't mounted a sustained challenge on Chris Froome. 

If you haven't latched onto this podcast gold, then I insist you do so. Now. Just click right here.