Tour de France Stage 14: Three Huge Climbs and Pogačar Stays in Yellow

The tour stage today was a massive three-climb trip up single-file bike paths. And through dangerous and slick descents, the lead of Tadeg Pogacar was extended as he won this stage. There was a six-rider breakaway, but it was methodically caught by the menically-driven UAE Emirates-driven Peloton.

All the while, it seemed inevitable that Pogacar would win this stage as he and his teammates dominated the front of the Peloton as it hunted the breakaway riders. He is the class of this tour and the best bicycle rider in the world, and he just might be the best bicycle rider ever. Do you think Jonas Vindegaard has any chance of catching him?

Tour de France Stage 14 Summary

The story of this stage of the tour was first a six-man breakaway. That breakaway was comprised of Richard Carapaz, the most agressive ruder of this stage. Ben Healy, who showed very well in last year’s tour, but has been fairly non-existent so far this year. The Johannessen brothers from Uno-X. Einer Rubio and Valentin Paret-Peintre, who were there chasing the king of the mountain points. He eventually fell away, like the rest of his breakaway mates.

Eventually, Tadej Pogacar won this stage. His 25th stage victory in the Tour de France, and 125th overall. Issac Del Toro, his young teammate, finished second. He was thirty-eight seconds back. That was the same time as the third-place finisher on the stage, 19-year-old French sensation Paul Sexias. The fourth-place stage finisher was Jonas Vindegaard, who looked strong but failed to respond to the final sprint of Del Toro and Sexias. Remco Evenepoel finished fifth on this mountainous stage.

It is worth noting that on this stage, the most aggressive rider from the stage yesterday. Tom Pidcock was not among the leaders. With his aggressive riding yesterday, he rode all the way into fourth place in the overall classification. He was not able to keep his fourth overall place and fell to ninth overall.

Three Category 1 Climbs

This stage from Mulhouse to Le Markstein Fellering was a 155.3-kilometer slog up three category 1 climbs. There were even climbs on this course that were not categorized. On the stage, there were 3,800 meters of vertical climbing. There are six categories of climbs, categories 5 to 1, and beyond categorization.

The three category 1 climbs on this stage were up the Grand Ballon, up the Ballon d’Alsace (and down both of them), and up the Col de Haag. The stage did not finish on that climb, but instead finished at about that elevation, on a plateau that was about as high.

King Pogacar

With his stage win, Tadej Pogacar cemented his overall lead. In doing so, he further established dominance over his rivals. Especially Jonas Vindegaard, who is clearly not as good as his rival. With the emergence of young riders Isaac del Toro and Paul Sexias in this tour, and Florian Lipowitz, Oscar Onley, and Remco Evenepoel in the last tour, there are probably enough good young riders that the talk of a Vindegaard retirement is probably not too far off.

Conclusion

Stage 14 of this tour was very demanding. It had three category 1 climbs. The result was the further coronation of Tadej Pogacar, as he won this stage and lengthened his overall lead. It is now almost assured that Pogacar will win this Tour de France. In tomorrow’s stage, there is no rest for the weary. Stage 15 goes from Champagnole to Plateau de Solaison. It is a 183.9-kilometer stage that goes up and down all day. It finishes on the beyond categorization Plateau de Solaison. It will likely be another win for Pogacar.