Tour de France 2024: Unstoppable Pogacar triumphs on first stage of the Pyrenees
Thomas Huber
· 13.07.2024
The 14th stage was the first Pyrenean stage of the Tour de France 2024. Not only did the peloton have to cross the legendary Col du Tourmalet, but the final climb to Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet was also a tough one. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) attacked there with 4.2 kilometres to go and was subsequently unstoppable. The Slovenian finished as the soloist 39 seconds ahead of second-placed Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike). Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) finished third.
Pogacar's attack cannot be countered by Vingegaard
When Tadej Pogacar launched his decisive attack, the Slovenian managed to open up a gap to his rivals. Although Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel were also able to increase the pace, they were unable to close the gap to the Slovenian. As Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Pogacar's noble helper Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) were still ahead of the field of favourites, Yates was able to help Pogacar to the front after he had caught up. After Pogacar had also left Adam Yates' rear wheel, he was unstoppable: He took more and more seconds from Vingegaard. Although the Dane was able to distance Evenepoel, he clearly missed the connection to the Slovenian. In the end, Pogacar took almost 40 seconds off Vingegaard. With the stage win, Pogacar further extended his lead in the overall standings. Jonas Vingegaard is now the new overall runner-up.
"The victory today was instinctive. We actually wanted to win the stage in a sprint today. Because Adam Yates started, he was able to pull me a bit afterwards. So it went perfectly. Many thanks to the whole team!" - Tadej Pogacar in the winner interview
Tour de France 2024: Results - the top 10 of stage 14
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 4:01:51
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:39
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) +1:10
- Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:19
- Guilio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +1:23
- Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) +1:23
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +1:23
- Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +1:26
- Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) +1:29
- Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) +1:29
Tour de France 2024: The current standings in the overall standings
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 56:42:39
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) +1:57
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) +2:22
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +6:01
- Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +6:09
- Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step) +7:17
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +8:32
- Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +9:09
- Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) +9:33
- Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) +10:35
How the 14th stage of the Tour de France 2024 went
The 152-kilometre stage from Pau to Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet saw numerous attacks right from the start. Time and again, riders around Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) tried to break away from the peloton and get into the leading group of the day. The sprinter teams in particular were wide awake and fended off numerous escape attempts.
Only after almost 40 kilometres did Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Arnaud De Lie, Cedric Beullens (both Lotto-Dstny) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) manage to break away from the peloton. A little later, Oier Lazkano (Movistar), Kevin Vauquelin, Raul Garcia Pierna (both Arkea-B&B Hotels) and Magnus Cort Nielsen (Uno-X Mobility) also managed to break away. They then caught up with the leading quartet.
Runaways are let go
A short time later, another 15 riders around Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) broke away from the peloton. Before the only intermediate sprint of the day, however, this group was unable to catch up with the leaders. Coquard won the special classification. As a result, the sprinters dropped back.
Lazkano wins the mountain classification on the Col du Tourmalet
The remaining riders in the chasing group caught up with the leading group 78 kilometres before the finish. A large lead group went into the legendary climb of the Col du Tourmalet. However, several riders around Simon Geschke (Cofidis) had to break away there, so that a ten-man breakaway group arrived at the mountain classification. Oier Lazkano (Movistar) won the Hors Categorie classification from David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2 R La Mondiale).
Politt with strong tracking work
In the peloton, Nils Politt did an outstanding job for his UAE Team Emirates. He set the pace in the peloton for a long time and kept the breakaway on a short leash. He left less than four and a half minutes buffer to the leaders. Among other things, the rider from Cologne rode the climb up the Col du Tourmalet almost completely alone in the wind.
The breakaway's lead melts away
At the Hourquette d'Ancizan mountain classification, only five riders were still in front: Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), David Gaudu, Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Louis Meintjes (Intermarche-Wanty) and Oier Lazkano. The quintet's lead at the classification was already less than a minute and a half.
The final ascent
On the final climb of the Hors Categorie to the finish at Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet, Gaudu and Healy broke away first, and a little later the Irishman tried to ride solo. At the same time, the thinned-out peloton of around 15 riders around Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) approached from behind. Seven kilometres from the finish, Healy had a lead of around one minute on Pogacar and Co.
Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) then launched an attack to which no one in the group of favourites responded. When he caught up with Healy around 4.2 kilometres before the finish, his team-mate Tadej Pogacar launched his attack. He quickly caught up with Yates and Healy, so that the two UAE riders then rode to the front. Both Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) could not quite follow Pogacar and had to leave a gap. Vingegaard distanced the Belgian a little later, but Vingegaard could not get any closer to Pogacar. In the end, Pogacar clearly won the stage. Although Vingegaard finished second, he was 39 seconds behind the stage winner at the finish. Healy, who fought valiantly, fell back.
