An amazing performance on the final climb of Stage 14 from the man in the Yellow Jersey, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), saw him extend his lead in the general classification. Brilliantly assisted by his UAE teammates, in particular by Adam Yates who shook up the race on the ascent to Saint-Lary-Soulan (Pla d'Adet), Pogacar finished in style, crossing the line 39” ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and 1'10” ahead of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) who was third. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) at +1'19” and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) at +1'23” completed the top five. Pogacar therefore increased his overall lead to 1’57” over Vingegaard, who has moved up to second in the GC, with Evenepoel now third at 2’22”.
Goodbye to Pau
Following the withdrawals of Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and Guillaume Boivin (Israel-Premier Tech) due to illness, 157 riders started stage 14 of the 2024 Tour de France, which would cover 151.9 km between Pau and Saint-Lary-Soulan (Pla d'Adet). The start was frantic yet again and after a hard crash in the last kilometre of yesterday’s finish in Pau, Amaury Capiot (Arkea-B&B Hotels) was forced to abandon early on the stage. Passing through Lourdes (km 37.6), Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Cedric Beullens and Arnaud de Lie (Lotto-dstny) managed to break away from the peloton.
Counter attackers
Later, at km 51, Oier Lazkano (Movistar Team), Kevin Vauquelin, Raul Garcia Pierna (Arkea-B&B Hotels) and Magnus Cort Nielsen (Uno-X) joined them to form an eight-man breakaway, after which followed a 15-man counterattacking group including Chris Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AlUla), Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale), Marco Haller (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ ), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Rui Costa, Ben Healy, Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-dstny), Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Louis Meintjes, Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) and Fabian Grellier (TotalEnergies).
Fierce fight for the green jersey
Both groups had permission to go clear from the peloton, which was controlled by UAE Team Emirates. Only 30” separated the two front groups as they passed through Esquieze-Sere (IS, km 70.2), which the peloton reached 4’10” behind the leaders. Coquard beat De Lie in the intermediate sprint, before Girmay outpaced Philipsen in the second group in the fight for ninth. The four of them then sat up as the climb to the Col du Tourmalet - Souvenir Jacques Goddet (HC, km 89.6) began. That left 17 breakaway riders to attack the climb to the Tourmalet, with Vauquelin and Costa among the climbers who fell out of the group as the steep ramps and the pace took their toll. Then, with the summit in their sights Gaudu and Lazkano accelerated away from the group and it was the impressive Spanish Tour de France debutant Lazkano who was first to the top, 12” ahead of Gaudu and 25” in front of Armirail.
The peloton accelerates
2’55” was the gap between the leaders of the race and an accelerating peloton at the foot of the Hourquette d’Ancizan (Cat. 2, km 123.4), with the breakaway reduced to five men on the climb: Kwiatkowski, Gaudu, Healy, Lazkano and Meintjes. This time it was Gaudu who got the better Lazkano at the top, with the peloton arriving 1’15” after them, having shaved off more than a minute and a half on the ascent.
Exciting finish in Saint-Lary-Soulan (Pla d'Adet)
The five remaining breakaway riders began the punishing 10.6 km climb of Saint-Lary-Soulan - Pla d’Adet (HC, km 151.9, 7.9% average gradient) together, with Healy going solo early on the final ascent. Yates attacked 7km from the finish to chase down Healy, before Pogacar himself attacked with 5km remaining, joining Yates as they accelerated past the Irishman. Pogacar went on to finish the job powerfully, with Vingegaard and Evenepoel chasing him hard to the line, limiting the damage as much as they could.
