Pierrick Fedrigo of France won yesterday’s 15th stage of the Tour de France by leading a two-man final breakaway, as Bradley Wiggins kept the overall lead as he kept with his rivals in the main pack far behind.

The 158.5-kilometre (99-mile) route from Samatan to Pau had a mostly flat layout, but teams with strong sprinters didn’t try to chase down the breakaway riders.

Fedrigo, of the FDJ-BigMat team, collected his fourth Tour stage victory by leaving a group of six riders with about 6.5 kilometres (4 miles) left, with only Garmin-Sharp rider Christian Vande Velde of the United States able to stay close.

Vande Velde made a brief burst to try to outsprint Fedrigo in the last 200 meters, but his rival accelerated to the line to become the fourth French rider to win a stage this Tour.

“It’s incredible ... the stars need to be aligned,” said Fedrigo, whose last Tour stage win was also in Pau two years ago. “There are days when things go like that.”

Fedrigo said the victory was especially satisfying because he was sidelined for six months last year after suffering from tick-borne Lyme disease.

Wiggins finished 11 minutes, 50 seconds behind Fedrigo in the main pack. The 32-year-old Team Sky leader is looking to become Britain’s first winner of cycling’s showcase race

Overall, Wiggins leads second-place teammate Christopher Froome by 2:05. Vincenzo Nibali of Italy is third, 2:23 behind, while defending champion Cadel Evans remains fourth, 3:19 back.

Wiggins said he and other riders were looking forward to today’s rest day.

“A lot of people are tired now - mentally more than physically,” he told French TV. “It was hard today nonetheless, it was quite hot. And the road was hilly.”

The rest day comes before two punishing days in the Pyrenees that, along with a final time trial in the next-to-last stage, are likely to determine the winner of the three-week race, which ends on Sunday in Paris.