2024 Tour de France: Stage 14 Results

General Classification leader Tadej Pogacar triumphed today in the first Pyrenean stage of the 2024 Tour de France, besting rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and adding to his overall lead.

After Pogacar’s teammates Wellens and Pollitt led the peloton on the Tourmalet, controlling the advantage from the main breakaway of the day, Soler contributed to reduce the gap of the attackers. Then, on the first part of the final ascent, it was Sivakov and Almeida’s turn to lead the group, before an attack from Yates at 7 km to the arrival, who built up seconds of advantage on the chasers.

The move from the British rider was the prologue to a strong acceleration by Pogačar at 4,6 km to go: Vingegaard and Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) were the only two riders who could chase him with an initial gap of 10”. The lead opened even more due to the contribution of Yates, who supported the yellow jersey for as long as he could.

Pogačar overtook the only survivor of the main breakaway, Ben Healy (EF-EasyPost), and kept on pedaling at full speed until the finish line, obtaining his 13th stage victory in his career and giving UAE Team Emirates its 52nd success in 2024.

Vingegaard was 2nd with a gap of 39”, Evenepoel 3rd at 1’10”, while Yates obtained  7th place (+1’23”).

In the general classification, Vingegaard is now 2nd at 1’57” from Pogačar, Evenepoel is 3rd at 2’22”, Almeida is 4th at 6’01” and Yates is 7th at 8’32”.

Pogacar: “Thankful”

“The plan was to win the stage on the final sprint and try to catch a few bonus seconds, but winning like this is way better! We found ourselves in an ideal scenario,” Pogacar said after the stage. “Adam’s attack put me in a situation in which I could attack myself, following my instinct. It’s because of the excellent work of my teammates that I’ve done this, and I’m thankful to all of them. I’m super happy I’ve won. I’ve got one more Tour stage win now. Let’s keep this positive energy so we can win more! This Tour de France must be great to watch on TV!“.

Another very demanding stage awaits the peloton on Sunday: 197,7 km from Loudenvielle to the summit arrival of Plateau de Beille, with the Col de Peyresourde just after the start, the Col de Mente, the Portet d’Aspet and the Col d’Agnes).

Vingegaard: “Battle Not Over Yet”

Vingegaard looked back on the ride afterwards with mixed feelings. “I am satisfied with my own delivered performance, but at the same time of course disappointed with the time loss. This is Tadej’s territory, but of course I would have preferred not to have lost any time today. On the steep sections of the climb I felt like I was getting closer and closer. However, the final kilometers were right up Tadej’s alley, given the power he has. He deserved the stage win today. I am already looking forward to tomorrow. It will be climbing from the start. It will be a long, grueling day. Those days usually suit me. Together with the strong team I have around me, we will do everything we can to make it a success. The battle is definitely not over yet,” Vingegaard stressed.

“Unfortunately we lost time on the competitor today,” said sports director Grischa Niermann. “That’s the painful conclusion. We knew Pogacar would attack on the last climb. His acceleration is always hard for Jonas to answer. Jonas rode a very strong ride, as he rides Remco Evenepoel out of the wheel, for example. We look at the situation from day to day. We remain combative and certainly don’t give up. There are seven stages left, starting with tomorrow’s tricky stage. We are going to make a new plan.”

Evenepoel: “Satisfied”

“Third on this hard stage is a good result and I am satisfied, especially as the two guys who finished in front of me were stronger and have a lot more experience than me in these kinds of stages. The team did a great job the entire day, and especially on the final climb, and I want to thank them for that. To be on the podium on the first stage in the Pyrenees is an important morale-boost for Sunday’s stage. I have four minutes on the next rider in the rankings, which is good at the moment, but the Tour is still long and we need to remain at the top of our game and continue to give our best”, said Remco, who remained at the top of the youth classification.

Stage 14 Brief Results

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 4h01’51”
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +39”
3. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) +1’10”

General Classification after Stage 14

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 56h42’39”
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1’57”
3. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) +2’22”
4. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +6’01”