Tadej Pogačar took stage 14 of the 2024 Tour de France atop the hors categorie finish of Pla d'Adet to extend his lead in the general classification.
The Slovenian accelerated with four kilometres to go to put 39 seconds into Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who moved up to second overall. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) finished third on the day, 1:09 behind.
It had been a day raced at warp speed, with UAE Team Emirates stating their intentions for the stage win early by setting a high pace over the climbs of the Col du Tourmalet and Hourquette d'Ancizan.
Having attacked his rival Vingegaard unsuccessfully earlier in the week, there was to be no such disappointment on stage 14, as Pogačar romped away to a dominant second stage win of the race.
He was as swashbuckling as ever in victory. He revealed after the stage that the manor of his winning attack was not as planned.
"It was instinct. We tried to go for the stage, but more for the sprint, it was this kind of situation," Pogačar said.
"Adam [Yates] attacked, and Visma had to try to maintain the gap, and I see that if I bridge to Adam...he can pull me a little bit. This was really perfect, and I must say a big thank you to all the team today. They were amazing, and this victory is for all my teammates."
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Pogačar's lead over Vingegaard has now grown to 1:57. With a second day in the Pyrenees tomorrow ahead of a challenging final week and that crucial final day time-trial in Nice, the UAE Team Emirates man is keen to keep the pressure on the reigning Tour de France champion.
"I'm super, super happy... but let's keep on this momentum and good energy in the team, good legs. And, yeah, we try to maintain this position," he said.
As the battle for this year's maillot jaune in the Tour de France hit the Pyrenees for the first of two crucial stages, the question on everyone's minds at the start of the day was whether Tadej Pogačar could halt the momentum of reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard, or could the Dane cut the deficit?
The battle to join the breakaway was competitive in the first hour of the stage. The flat terrain of the opening 70 kilometres suited the bigger riders in the peloton, making life difficult for slighter climbers who would benefit from the steep gradients in the second half of the day.
Eventually a large group would make it clear ahead of the ascent of the Col du Tourmalet. That group included the duo fighting it out for the green jersey. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) bested Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) for minor points at the intermediate sprint at the foot of the Tourmalet to grow his lead in that competition.
During the course of the Tourmalet climb the group shrank to ten riders, including world champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Oier Lazkano (Movistar) and Ben Healy (EF Education-Easypost). They had a lead of just under four minutes on the descent on their way to the second classified ascent of the day, the second category Hourquette d'Ancizan.
Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) put in a gargantuan effort behind, decreasing the advantage of the leaders on the next climb. Once again, the team of the leader Tadej Pogačar revealed their intentions to win the stage.
In the front, Lazkano and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) raised the pace, ending the hopes of Van der Poel and several others. More attacks reduced the group further until just Lazkano, Healy, Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty), Gaudu and Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) remained at the front over the Hourquette d'Ancizan. Their lead had been greatly diluted by this point, having just 90 seconds of an advantage over the top.
As the front group hit the final climb of the day, the Hors Categorie Pla d'Adet, Healy went solo. However, with his lead only just north of a minute and Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) drilling it at the front of the peloton, hopes weren't high for Healy.
Surprisingly it was Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), sitting 7th on GC at 6:59, who launched the first attack from the group of favourites, forcing Visma-Lease a Bike to chase through Matteo Jorgensen.
With 4.6km to go, Pogačar made his move. Vingegaard was unable to close the gap immediately, attempting to steadily move across the his Slovenian rival with Evenepoel in his wheel.
Healy held admirably before Pogačar blasted past him having paired up with Yates, who only lasted a few hundred metres with the yellow jersey before Pogačar moved ahead.
Soon Vingegaard pulled clear of Evenepoel with the gap just at seven seconds to Pogačar with 3.5km to go.
As the gradient eased, Pogačar was able to extend his lead, eventually pulling away to win by 39 seconds. After doubts abounded earlier this week, momentum is now surely with Tadej Pogačar ahead of a second day in the Pyrenees on Sunday.
Results
Tour de France 2024 stage 14: Pau > Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet 152 km
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 04:01:51
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +39s
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:10
4. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:19
5. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +1:23
6. Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain Victorious, same time
7. Adam Yates (Gbr) UAE Team Emirates, same time
8. Felix Gall (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +1:26
9. Matteo Jorgensen (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:29
10. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, same time
General Classification after stage 14
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 56:42:39
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:57
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +2:22
4. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +6:01
5. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +6:09
6. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal-Quick Step, +7:17
7. Adam Yates (Gbr) UAE Team Emirates, +8:32
8. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +9:09
9. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, +9:33
10. Matteo Jorgensen (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +10:35
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Dan Challis is a freelance journalist based in the Scottish Borders. As well as writing for Cycling Weekly and CyclingNews, Dan also writes a weekly newsletter called Global Peloton.
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