Whenever things get tough at the Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar playfully ducks out of the competition. This was the case on the difficult 14th stage through the Vosges. At the finish line in Le Markstein Fellering, the Slovenian raised his right index finger and celebrated his fourth stage win of the year just a few meters from the finish. The 27-year-old now enters the Alpine stage with a 4:30 lead in the overall standings.
Isaac del Toro crossed the finish line 38 seconds behind his victorious UAE teammate. Paul Seixas became third. Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Juan Ayuso and Florian Lipowitz followed, a few seconds behind. The battle for podium places behind the Tour leader remains exciting. There are only 80 seconds between the second Vingegaard and the seventh del Toro. There is still hope for the German Lipowitz, who lost several seconds in this stubborn battle – but still won one place and is now sixth.
Pogačar won for the third time in this tour as a soloist. Seven kilometers from the finish he attacked from a small leading group on the final climb. The 27-year-old briefly climbed out of the saddle 1.6 kilometers before the mountain classification on the Col du Haag, sped up just a few steps – and again no one was able to follow him. Vingegaard at least tried and also went for a shot – but the Dane could not resist Pogacar’s explosive power. In the classification of mountains, the man had… Yellow Jersey The lag is 18 seconds. In the final, flatter kilometers to the finish, he gained even more seconds.
Lipowitz dares to attack, Evenepoel resists
Evenepoel had to become the first of the podium contenders to be eliminated on the eleven-kilometre final climb. Once again the Belgian showed his fighting qualities and returned to the others when things got worse. Lipowitz had earlier carried out the first attack from the group of favorites, but Vingegaard immediately followed it up.
Florian Lipowitz (right) and Remco Evenepoel (left) in action during the 14th stage.
Stage 14, over 155 kilometers from Mulhouse to Le Markstein-Vellering, included a daunting ride through the Vosges. Only 51.4 kilometers of uphill adds up if you just add up the climbs by category. Drivers had to overcome three mountains of the 1st category. After the last climb, the last five kilometers were on a high plateau.
Philipsen won the intermediate sprint
In Mulhouse it all started due to heavy rain – an unusual sight on this tour, which is still characterized by heat. It was still warm, 27 degrees, and after just a few kilometers the sun came out again. The best conditions again occurred during the intermediate sprint at 12.6 kilometers. Jasper Philipsen scored 25 points ahead of green jersey Mads Pedersen and Max Kanter.
A little over two kilometers later, it was the climbers’ turn. It was a 21 kilometer long climb to the Grand Ballon. A German long-range duel took place. Georg Steinhauser led a breakaway group of 38 in the final kilometers of the mountain classification, while in the peloton Nils Politt took it upon himself to work on the speed of his captain Pogačar.
Crowds of spectators I’m Grand Ballon
In the mountain competition, Valentin Pare-Paintre and Richard Carapaz saw a close sprint duel for ten mountain points, with the Frenchman from the Soudal Quick-Step team taking the lead. The peloton arrived at the Grand Ballon just 80 seconds apart. The professionals were greeted by many thousands of fans, and many black, red and gold flags could be seen near the German border. The destination was only a few kilometers away, which must have attracted a particularly large number of spectators. Many people were able to see professionals here twice.
Nils Politt (right) climbs the Grand Ballon among cheering crowds of spectators.
On the descent, the breakaway units reformed. Paret-Paintre and Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) cleared the mountain classification, Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and twins Tobias Johannessen and Anders Johannessen (both Uno-X) were able to catch them on the descent. The new race leader crossed the finish line for the first time at a distance of 44 kilometers. Later, another Rubio came to the front.
Breakaway sextet in front of Alsace ball
On the second difficult climb of the day, Pare-Paintre again took on ten mountain points. This time Carapaz offered no resistance; The Ecuadorian apparently wanted to save his strength for a possible victory at the stage. Shestet was two minutes ahead on the Malz Alsace. In the final meters of the climb, the peloton swallowed up the pursuing group.
In the leading group, Healy worked hard for his teammate Carapaz. With 32 kilometers to go, the Irishman had to pay tribute to his speed work; there were now only five riders ahead. In Uno-X, Anders Johannessen did his job at the bottom of the final climb. With 1:24 minutes left in the match, the last four breaks went up the Col du Haag.
Carapaz was already in the lead at the end of the climb, but there were still almost nine long kilometers left before the mountain classification. 2.6 kilometers before the top of the Carapaz pass, he was out of breath, and now Tobias Johannessen passed it. But a few seconds later the Norwegian was defeated by the favorites. There are only six riders left in the yellow jersey group. Evenepool had to be demolished in advance. Then came the arrival of Pogacar – and the race for places on the podium began.
As a result, Carapaz received the golden starting number of the most combative rider, and the 33-year-old rider rose to third place in the mountain racing classification. Pare-Paintre, with 25 mountain points, is now second in this ranking after Pogacar.
Arrival in the Alps before a day off
The climb will continue as part of the tour on Sunday. The 15th stage covers 184 kilometers from the Jura to the Alps. The second mountain visit of this tour is on the menu. The climb to the Plateau de Solezon is 11.3 kilometers long and has an average steepness of 9.1 percent. Monday is the second day of rest.