What thrills will the 2024 Tour de France produce on Stage 14 as the race heads out of Pau through Lourdes and into the Pyrenees? Saturday’s route features two 'Hors catégorie' climbs with the Tour’s big names set for war on the Tourmalet before the finish on Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet.
The hills of Tuscany and the Galibier during the first week and the climbs of the Massif Central on Stage 11 have given fans a taste of what’s to come when the favourites put each other under pressure and now things really go up a notch, with a big haul of KOM points also on offer on Saturday and Sunday.
The action on the first half of the 151.9 km route of Stage 14 could be calmer than the second, with the dynamic format of the first Pyrenean stage accentuated by the fact that battle is more likely to really heat up from the intermediate sprint at Esquièze-Sère (km 70.2) onwards. After the sprint the GC battle could immediately explode with a festival of climbing ahead, featuring the Col du Tourmalet, the Hourquette d’Ancizan and the climb to Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet.
Fifty years on, the finish line at Pla d’Adet will be exactly where it was when Raymond Poulidor celebrated victory in the 1974 Tour.
Going into the stage Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) looks comfortable in the Yellow Jersey, with his 1’06” GC lead over second placed Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) and a 1’14” advantage over 2022 and 2023 Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Pogacar has already lit up the race on several occasions, whilst Evenepoel is impressing at his first Tour. Vingegaard proved with his brilliant stage victory at Le Lioran that he is more than capable of responding to his rivals’ attacks, despite his horror crash earlier this year and the tough recovery process he went through just to be here defending his title.
Depending on what happens in the GC battle on Stage 14, if it is not one of the three overall favourites who finishes first at Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet, there will be hot competition from the rest of the Tour’s strong climbers for the win. Pogacar’s teammate João Almeida could be a contender for victory, along with the likes of Carlos Rodríguez, Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).
