Thymen Arensman won stage 14 of the Tour de France with a blistering solo attack in the high Pyrenean mountains in terrible conditions.
The Dutchman surged clear of a messy breakaway to climb to the summit finish at Superbagneres alone, holding off the chase of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard who finished second and third respectively on the queen stage of this year’s Tour.
The defending champion had won two stages back to back, wrestling back the yellow jersey with a dominant performance on Hautacam on stage 12, the race’s first real mountain test, before stunning all his rivals once more with a superb time trial on the ascent to Peyragudes on stage 13.
But this was Arensman’s day in the wind and fog in the mountains, winning his first Tour stage and claiming the first for Ineos of this year’s Tour in a much-needed boost.
Follow all the action on stage 14 of the Tour de France below:
Tour de France stage 14 LIVE
- Stage 14 | 182km from Pau to Luchon-Superbagneres | Live on TNT Sports and ITV4
- Four brutal categorised climbs on the menu including two hors-categorie ascents
- Remco Evenepoel abandons the Tour de France in tears
- 30km to go: Thymen Arensman launches solo bid for stage win
- Thymen Arensman wins stage 14!
Arensman delivers Tour de France relief for Ineos
17:20 , Lawrence OstlereWe’ll leave you with the report from today’s stage 14:
Thymen Arensman delivers Tour de France relief for Ineos as Tadej Pogacar grows lead
Oscar Onley speaks!
16:46 , Lawrence OstlereThe British rider is having a wonderful Tour de France. He explains slipping back in the final 4km: “Vingegaard attacked and everyone was just doing their effort from there.”
On his podium hopes: “Still a long way to go and a lot can change next week. I wasn’t really coming here with any GC ambitions and today was biggest test of my long climbing ability.”
GC after stage 14
16:43 , Lawrence OstlereHere’s how the general classification looks after stage 14, after Remco Evenepoel’s abandonment. Oscar Onley is up to forth in the standings and gained some time on Primoz Roglic.
- Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) 50hrs 40mins 28secs
- Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +4mins 23secs
- Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +7mins 53secs
- Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +9mins 18secs
- Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +10mins 21secs
- Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +10mins 34secs
- Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +12mins
- Tobias Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +12mins 33secs
- Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) +18mins 41secs
- Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +22mins 57secs
Jonas Vingegaard speaks!
16:20 , Lawrence Ostlere“A bit like yesterday, I can feel really happy with how my legs can feel today. It was probably one of the hardest mountain stages I’ve ever done. It was a hard day for everyone, to do that performance at the end of such a day is nice.”
Why were Kuss and Yates in the breakaway?
“Basically to go for the stage win. They couldn’t follow Arensman in the front but he did a good job, a good performance on the last climb so congratulations to him.”
Thymen Arensman wins stage 14!
16:10 , Lawrence OstlereArensman reaches the Superbagneres summit, and puts his hands over his face as he rolls over the finish line, before slumping down on to his handlebars.
What a ride, and what a day for Ineos.
Arensman closes in on win
16:07 , Lawrence Ostlere1km to go: Vingegaard flicks his elbow at Pogacar, inviting him to take up the pace, but Pogacar declines. He’s happy to let Arensman win the stage, as the Dutchman rides under the flamme rouge.
Pogacar sticks to Vingegaard's wheel
16:05 , Lawrence Ostlere2km to go: Pogacar and Vingegaard have caught Gall, and now Vingegaard attacks again, surging up this final climb. Pogacar follows but Gall cannot, and Lipowitz is finally shaken off.
Up ahead, Arensman still has 1min 30sec advantage.
Vingegaard attacks!
16:03 , Lawrence OstlereJonas Vingegaard puts his foot down, accelerating away from the GC group! Pogacar gives chase and manages to hold on to the Dane’s wheel without getting out of his seat. The only rider that can stick with the Tour de France champions is Florian Lipowitz, the young German who is currently third overall.
Arensman on the brink of victory
16:01 , Lawrence Ostlere3km to go: Arensman keeps his head down and pumps his legs, hurting but knowing how close he is to a first win at the Tour de France. Gall is 1min 40sec back and Pogacar is 2min 15sec back, with no signs that he wants to try an explosive burst to the line.
Make or break for Ineos
15:57 , Lawrence Ostlere5km to go: It’s not an exaggeration to say these next five kilometres will make or break Ineos’s Tour de France. They are nowhere on GC and have no stage wins so far, but this is a huge opportunity. Arensman looks shattered, but he’s so close now...
The gap to Gall is 1min 55sec, and to Pogacar 2min 20sec.
Gall breaks from the yellow-jersey group
15:53 , Lawrence Ostlere6km to go: Arensman’s lead is still a healthy 2min 30sec over Pogacar and the rest of the yellow jersey gang. Felix Gall has decided he’s had enough and he’s going for a solo chase, shooting off the front of the GC pack, but I’m not quite sure what is the point – he’s going to struggle to bring in two minutes all alone.
Arensman closing in on stage win
15:45 , Lawrence Ostlere9km to go: Arensman is losing only about 15 seconds per kilometre – either he needs to crack or Pogacar needs to explode for this to change.
Pogacar hunting Arensman for stage win
15:42 , Lawrence Ostlere10km to go: What a chase this is now – Pogacar is less than three minutes behind Arensman and the overall leader’s yellow-jersey group is about to sweep up the chasing pack that had been out in front for so long.
It is, surely, Pogacar v Arensman for the stage win.
Arensman leads by two minutes
15:36 , Lawrence Ostlere12km to go: Arensman is in an interesting position on his own out front as he climbs to Superbagneres – he’s two minutes clear of the chasing pack of Carlos Rodriguez, Lenny Martinez and co – and that gap is growing. But the Pogacar group is closing, now down from nearly four minutes to around three minutes behind Arensman.
The yellow-jersey group are soon going to sweep up the chasers, you’d think.
UAE up the pace for Pogacar
15:32 , Lawrence Ostlere14km to go: At the foot of this final climb, UAE Emirates up the pace at the front of the peloton with Marc Soler on the front. Do they think they can steal the stage win, or is this just a way to hurt Vingegaard?
The Dane is hanging on to Pogacar’s wheel for now, but his teammates – like Simon Yates – are falling away.
Final climb to summit finish
15:27 , Lawrence Ostlere17km to go: Arensman is approaching the start of the climb to Superbagneres now, still with a gap of 1min 30sec over the chasers – Martinez, Rodriguez, Johannessen, Paret-Peintre and Rubio – and 3min 40sec clear of Pogacar, Vingegaard and the rest of their group.
Arensman in pole position for stage win
15:20 , Lawrence Ostlere25km to go: Arensman is zooming down the final descent of the day towards the foot of the Superbagneres, with a lead of around 1min 30sec from the chasing pack.
Pogacar is still 3min 30sec, but the key point here is that the yellow jersey has no reason to take lots of risk on this rapid descent, which is wet and slippery, and that plays into Arensman’s hands.
Arensman storming clear
15:14 , Lawrence Ostlere30km to go: This is a serious stage-winning bid by Thymen Arensman, the Dutch Ineos rider who can both climb and time trial with skill. Arensman has put more than a minute between himself and the chasing group, featuring Martinez, Rodriguez, Johannessen, Paret-Peintre and Rubio.
Pogacar is three and a half minutes back, still climbing the Peyresourde.
Arensman the new solo leader
15:03 , Lawrence Ostlere35km to go: This is chaos at the front! Martinez is now joined by Arensman and Johannessen as a new trio – and now Arensman attacks solo! The chasers are all strung out behind him as this lot near the top of the Peyresourde.
Pogacar and the rest of the yellow-jersey group are about two and a half minutes off the front of the race, so he is very much still in the reckoning for victory at the Superbagneres summit finish.
Leaders being hunted
14:50 , Lawrence Ostlere40km to go: The trio at the front of the race – Martinez, Kuss and Paret-Peintre – are being rapidly hunted by the strong chase group that has now splintered down to a select quintet: Johannessen, Rodriguez, O’Connor, Simon Yates and Arensman.
They are only 30 seconds behind the leaders and could soon be as one...
Martinez strengthens grip on polka dots
14:41 , Lawrence OstlereHere’s how the King of the Mountains classification looks after Martinez’s hard work so far today. He’s in place to scoop up another 10 points at the top of the Peyresourde, and there are 20 up for grabs at the summit finish at Superbagneres.
- Lenny Martinez, 52 pts
- Michael Woods, 38 pts
- Tadej Pogacar, 37 pts
Leading trio near Col de Peyresourde
14:31 , Lawrence Ostlere52km to go: After cresting the Aspin, Martinez held up a touch to link with Kuss and Paret-Peintre, and now this trio is clear at the front of the race as they descend towards the foot of the category-one Col de Peyresourde (7.8% gradient, 7.1km long).
They are a couple of minutes ahead of the chase pack of 10 riders, and it’s a very strong group featuring Johannessen, Rodriguez, Mas, O’Connor, Simon Yates, Arensman, Higuita, Muhlberger, Rubio Reyes and Woods.
The yellow jersey group is about three and a half minutes behind the leading trio.
GC as it stands
14:23 , Lawrence OstlereHere’s the GC after Evenepoel’s abandonment:
- Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) 45hrs 45mins 51secs
- Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +4mins 7secs
- Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +7mins 30secs
- Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +8mins 11secs
- Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +8mins 15secs
- Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +8mins 50secs
- Tobias Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +10mins 36secs
- Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +11mins 43secs
- Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +14mins 15secs
- Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) +16mins 57secs
Tour de France – stage 14
14:13 , Lawrence OstlereAn indication of the testing conditions out there today:
Martinez being chased by Kuss and Paret-Peintre
14:05 , Lawrence OstlereThe latest state of play:
With 2 km to go before the start of the ascent of the Col d'Aspin, Lenny Martinez has a lead of just 48 seconds over the duo of @seppkuss and @Valent1_Paret. 🔛
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 19, 2025
A 2 km du début de l'ascension du Col d'Aspin, Lenny Martinez n'a plus que 48 secondes d'avance sur le duo @seppkuss… pic.twitter.com/QkcENqYOPg
Martinez begins Col d'Aspin climb
13:56 , Lawrence Ostlere75km to go: Martinez has a rain gilet over his polka-dot jersey as he begins the second climb of the day – the Col d’Aspin. He picked up the maximum 20 King of the Mountains points on the hors-categorie Tourmalet and is on course for five more atop the category-two Aspin.
There are two chasers about a minute behind him – Sepp Kuss and Valentin Paret-Peintre – with another batch of chasers further back.
The yellow-jersey group are 3min 45sec behind Martinez.
The fog, by the way, has eased slightly, but there is still a light drizzle of rain in the air and the roads are slick.
Martinez leads stage 14 solo
13:43 , Lawrence Ostlere84km to go: Martinez goes over the top of the Tourmalet with a lead of more than a minute over the chasing group – the young Frenchman zoomed up the final few kms! The home fans are loving this, although they can’t see much because the fog is so dense. Race organisers will be having a close look at whether this is still safe.
Evenepoel and Skjelmose abandon the Tour de France
13:35 , Lawrence OstlereA huge shame – Remco Evenepoel has abandoned the race! It seems the Belgian has just been wiped out by illness on this Tour, and he’s done.
A sight no cycling fan wants to see 😢
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) July 19, 2025
Remco Evenepoel abandons the Tour de France 💔 pic.twitter.com/8LpJluYQRZ
Mattias Skjelmose has also abandoned the race. He crashed and hurt his left arm, but initially got back on his bike before deciding he couldn’t go on.
Following his crash earlier in the stage, 🇩🇰 @skjelmose_
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 19, 2025
abandons the #TDF2025
Suite à sa chute en début d'étape, 🇩🇰 @skjelmose_
abandonne le #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/6WVvZ72qij
Martinez leads near the top of the Tourmalet
13:28 , Lawrence Ostlere96km to go: The leader, Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) leads the way, and he’s nearing the top of the Col du Tourmalet in misty, wet weather.
He’s being chased about 45sec behind by Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Valentin Paret Peintre (Soudal-Quick Step), Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers), Michael Storer (Tudor), Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla), Gregor Mühlberger, Einer Rubio (Movistar Team), Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) and Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X).
And not far behind them are Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike), Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Emiel Vestrynge (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Enric Mas (Movistar Team), Sergio Higuita (XDS-Astana) and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies).
What’s left a splintered peloton is a further minute back down the mountain.
Tour de France – stage 14 preview
13:14 , Lawrence OstlereThe first and most common climb in Tour de France history is can be ‘make or break’, former Ineos Grenadiers’ road captain Luke Rowe tells The Independent.
Stage 14 preview:
Tour de France faces famous Tourmalet on brutal stage 15: ‘You can cook yourself’
'I almost blew up' - Tadej Pogacar
12:58 , Flo Clifford“Super happy, this time trial was quite a big question mark already in December for me,” stage 13 winner Pogacar said. “I wanted everything to be perfect and the team delivered. I started the day good, had an easy day in the morning, nice preparation and I was really targeting to do from start to finish all out and try to smash as much as possible on the pedals. I almost blew up in the end but I saw the timer on the top and it gave me an extra push because I saw that I’m gonna win.
“This was the biggest decision to make, which bike today. Obviously we’re racing on road bikes most of the year, 99% of the time, so in the end we did calculations and I decided to be more comfortable, riding the last 12 stages on the same bike.”
Peloton takes on the Tourmalet
12:54 , Lawrence Ostlere110km to go: Our escaping trio featuring Geraint Thomas are caught just before the start of the Tourmalet climb, and they ride the famous ascent together – immediately there are splinters in the pack.
At the intermediate sprint at the foot of the climb, Jonathan Milan beats Mathieu van der Poel to maximum points to tighten his grip on the green jersey.
'No explanation' - Remco Evenepoel
12:41 , Lawrence OstlereRemco Evenepoel, 11th on yesterday’s stage and still third overall but more than seven minutes down, said: “It was bad. With a normal feeling I should be in the top three on a day like this. I was really bad, [there is] no explanation.
“My start was good [but] five minutes in I wasn’t feeling good and couldn’t push the power. It was a very bad from me.”
Thomas in mini breakaway
12:26 , Lawrence Ostlere120km to go: There have been a flurry of attempted breakaways in these opening kilometres, but none have stuck as the peloton reels them in one by one.
The latest to go is the trio of Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) and Matteo Vercher (Total Energies). While I’d love to see Thomas go for the stage win today, you’d think he’s going to need some more firepower bridging across to join him if he’s to make a breakaway stick.
The trio have about 20 seconds on the peloton.
Stage 14 preview – ‘there’s no easy way up’
12:23 , Lawrence OstlereFrom Lapize’s fury in 1910, to Eddy Merckx’s dominant performances on the mountain in 1969 and 1974, to Bernard Hinault v Greg Lemond in 1986, and Thibaut Pinot’s emotional stage win in 2019 when the climb was used as a rare summit finish, the Tourmalet is steeped in historic moments. But Rowe has ridden alongside the yellow jersey on the Tourmalet stage before, and he advises caution.
“I think the best way to stamp his authority is cross the finish line first, not attack on a certain climb because it’s got an iconic name,” says Rowe. “If I’m UAE, then if Visma want to put the pressure on, just let them ride. Just sit there. There’s only one guy from their team you’ve got to follow. Wait, wait, wait, and attack 3k from the finish line. There's no reason to do more. You’ve got that gap – now it’s just about preservation.”
Stage 14 preview – ‘there’s no easy way up’
12:12 , Lawrence OstlereTourmalet is just one part of a merciless stage 14 which also features the Col d’Aspin and Col de Peyresourde, all part of the series of mountain passes at the heart of the Pyrenees known dramatically as the ‘Circle of Death’. That trio is just the warm-up before the final 12.4km hors-categorie climb to the summit finish at Superbagneres.
After the past two days, in which Tadej Pogacar first destroyed his rivals on the road to Hautacam and then ripped up the mountain time trial to extend his vast lead over Jonas Vingegaard to more than four minutes, he may be tempted by the lure writing more history on the Tourmalet, and by the prize of the Souvenir Jacques Goddet, awarded to the first rider over the 2,115m summit.
Stage 14 preview – ‘there’s no easy way up’
11:59 , Lawrence Ostlere“It’s a b****r,” says Luke Rowe, the former Ineos and Team Sky road captain who marshalled Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas to glory in the yellow jersey. “But it’s an iconic part of the Tour de France. You ask someone who watches the Tour, ‘Name me three climbs’, they'd all mention the Tourmalet.”
There were many times when Rowe led the entire peloton to the foot of the climb, setting the pace, although he was usually left behind by the summit.
“There's no easy way of going up,” says Rowe, who is joining TNT Sports’ live coverage from stage 16 to Paris. “Whether you're riding a Tour de France and are amongst the fittest 0.1 per cent of the planet's population, or whether you're a club rider, it's tough. It's very exposed, there’s not a lot of cover, and the temperature often plays a factor. You can easily cook yourself up there. It can make or break your race.”
Stage 14 preview – ‘there’s no easy way up’
11:51 , Lawrence Ostlere“Vous êtes des criminels!” Octave Lapize is said to have shouted in the general direction of race organisers at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet. Lapize would go on to win the 1910 Tour de France, but he was extremely annoyed he had to climb a mountain to do it.
It was the first time a mountain pass had ever been included in the Tour’s route, a decision considered downright sadistic by riders at the time. The Tourmalet has since become an integral part of its story, featuring more than any other mountain climb, and on Saturday it will be ridden for the 91st time when the peloton traces the same Pyrenean roads that peeved Lapize 115 years ago.
Both sides of the Tourmalet are brutes to climb, but the longer western ascent being tackled by this year’s peloton is the more common approach. It is steep, at 7.4% average gradient, but what makes it so gruelling is the feeling that it might never end, going on for 19km, when the 20km leading to the foot of the climb are all incline too. The wind blows hard and, in mid-July at southern tip of France, it is usually ridden in hideous heat, though the weekend’s forecast is not quite so intense.
Stage 14 – prediction
11:42 , Lawrence OstlereOf course there is an obvious answer, here. Tadej Pogacar is the best rider in the peloton on just about any terrain and a brutal mountain stage like this one will only accentuate his dominance over the rest, should he choose to show it. That may ultimately come down to Visma-Lease a Bike and whether they are willing to push his buttons – and whether Jonas Vingegaard feels fresh enough to attack – or whether they would rather keep their powder dry for the Alps in the hope Pogacar’s form somehow tails off in the Tour’s final week.
If the GC race is a little less frantic then that opens up a real opportunity for the breakaway. The winner will need phenomenal climbing legs, so it’s worth looking to riders such as Carlos Rodriguez, Ben O’Connor and Mattias Skjelmose who are more than 20 minutes behind Pogacar overall and therefore might be allowed to escape up the road and compete for the stage win. Simon and Adam Yates are also well down the GC field, though they may have more pressing duties looking after their team leaders Vingegaard and Pogacar respectively.
My pick is Enric Mas, the Spanish Movistar rider who has four podium finishes at the Vuelta a Espana and one stage win at his home grand tour. Mas has never won a stage of the Tour de France, but the 30-year-old is an excellent climber and his 24-minute deficit on GC gives him plenty of space to get away. “A stage win would be great,” Mas said after falling down the overall rankings following a tough stage 12 on Thursday. “But I'd also like to get a good result in the GC, so I hope both things happen. I’m going for it.”
The challenge for the breakaway will be building a big enough lead over Pogacar at the base of the day’s final climb to beat the yellow jersey to the summit finish at Superbagneres. Given Pogacar’s form, even a three or four-minute headstart might not be enough.
General classification after stage 13
11:30 , Flo Clifford- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), in 45:45:51
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), +4’07”
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), +7'24”
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), +7’30”
- Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL), +8’11”
- Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels), +8'15”
- Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), +8’50”
- Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), +10’36”
- Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), +11’43”
- Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), +14'15”
Official start
11:16 , Flo CliffordChristian Prudhomme waves his flag and racing is underway!
Key moments of stage 14
11:07 , Flo Clifford4,950m of elevation gain crammed into 180km, stage 14 is a beast.
Starting in Pau and finishing atop Superbagneres, returning to the Tour for the first time since 1989 after the construction of a bridge to allow the riders (and caravan) access, the route features four categorised climbs in total.
Those are:
- HC Col du Tourmalet (19km at 7.4% average)
- cat-two Col d’Aspin (5km at 7.6% average)
- cat-one Col de Peyresourde (7.1km at 7.8% average)
- HC Superbagneres (12.4km at 7.3% average)
The Tourmalet is the Souvenir Jacques Goddet and marks the first time the race reaches the 2,000m above sea level mark (in fact 2,115m).
There’s also an intermediate sprint, which will probably mark the finish line for any points jersey hopefuls in terms of racing before they focus on simple survival. That comes 70.1km into the day’s racing at Esquieze-Sere, at the bottom of the Tourmalet.
Neutralised start
11:00 , Flo CliffordThe riders are rolling out in Pau for a brief neutralised start, with the stage set to get underway properly at around 12:15pm local time (11.15am BST).
Who is leading the Tour de France? Yellow jersey and general classification standings
10:53 , Flo CliffordAll the individual classification rankings are available here. No surprises for guessing that Pogacar leads most of them: he tops the overall and KOM standings and is not far off Jonathan Milan’s lead in the points classification.
The only one he can’t win is white as he is no longer eligible for the best young rider jersey, meaning one of Evenepoel, Lipowitz, Onley, or Vauquelin is likely to take the honours in Paris.
Who is leading the Tour de France? Yellow jersey and GC standings
'I did everything I could' - Jonas Vingegaard
10:40 , Flo CliffordJonas Vingegaard had this to say after stage 13: “I think I can be happy with my performance today. I did probably my best ever performance, Tadej was just stronger and he deserves to win, so congrats to him.
“Yesterday was really disappointing, I hoped for more, but at the end I was just a bit empty. Yesterday was probably one of my worst performances and today was one of my best, so it’s nice to come back like this. I did everything I could.
“We bounced back today, yesterday was a terrible day for us, until the final climb I actually felt quite good but all of a sudden lights went out. I also know that the level I showed yesterday was not my normal level, so it’s not like I lose the belief in myself. Today was just back to normal. I just have to keep on trying.”
How are the podium hopefuls faring?
10:26 , Flo CliffordSeventh overall Primoz Roglic, the last of the ‘Big Four’, had a superb day, third on the stage and looking brilliant on the TT bike.
Fourth-placed Florian Lipowitz also had a great day out, narrowing the gap to Evenepoel to six seconds, on a phenomenal stage for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and their TT setup. Both riders stayed in their aero position for almost the entire climb and it was clear a huge amount of thought went into the team’s planning.
And Oscar Onley leapfrogged Kevin Vauquelin into fifth overall with another fine performance; he sits 10 seconds off Lipowitz and the battle for the final podium spot, and the white jersey, is looking fascinating.
How are the podium hopefuls faring?
10:19 , Flo CliffordNo more superlatives for Tadej Pogacar, who won yet another stage and extended his lead over his rivals. He’s now more than four minutes clear of Vingegaard and no-one else is within seven minutes of him.
Vingegaard had a much better day and had the morale boost of catching his two-minute man, Remco Evenepoel, proving he’s clearly the best of the rest.
Evenepoel was the big victim of stage 13, never looking comfortable on the bike, unable to stay in his aero tuck, and baffled as to what went wrong. He lost 2’39” and is in danger of losing both his third place overall and the white jersey, with Lipowitz and Onley lurking six and 16 seconds behind him. Here’s hoping he can bounce back today.
Stage 13 report
10:11 , Flo CliffordTadej Pogacar became the youngest rider to reach 21 Tour de France stage wins as he stretched his advantage in the yellow jersey to more than four minutes in Friday's mountain time trial to Peyragudes.
It was a fourth stage win of this year's Tour for the 26-year-old, who is now 14 shy of Mark Cavendish’s all-time record.
A day after he underlined his dominance so far with a solo win on the Hautacam, Pogacar extended his lead over Vingegaard to four minutes and seven seconds, and barring misfortune, it is hard to see how anyone can stop him winning a fourth title.
Race leader Tadej Pogacar makes history with fourth stage win of this Tour de France
Stage 13 results
09:57 , Flo Clifford- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in 23’00”
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), +36”
- Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), +1’20”
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), +1’56”
- Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), +1'58”
- Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +2’03”
- Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) +2’06”
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2’15”
- Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) +2’21”
- Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +2’22”
Stage 13 recap
09:50 , Flo CliffordTadej Pogacar was once again at his brilliant best on stage 13 of the Tour de France, becoming the youngest rider to ever record 21 stage wins at cycling’s biggest race as he hammered his rivals once more.
The Slovenian rode the 10.9km mountainous time trial from Loudenvielle to Peyragudes in 23 minutes flat, extending his advantage over Jonas Vingegaard to more than four minutes, with the Dane second on the day, 36 seconds back.
Pogacar obliterated the competition yesterday to storm to victory atop Hautacam and seize the yellow jersey, and has another brutal day in the Pyrenees to follow on Saturday to further stamp his authority on the race.
Primoz Roglic rolled back the years with a vintage performance to finish third atop Peyragudes, while Remco Evenepoel had a torrid day, losing more than two and half minutes to Pogacar.
Stage 14 start time
09:45 , Flo CliffordStage 14 gets underway the earliest of all the stages so far, at 12pm local time (11am BST). The winner is expected to come in around 5.10pm local time (4.10pm BST).
Stage 14 route map and profile
09:40 , Flo Clifford
Stage 14 preview
09:35 , Flo CliffordPerhaps the second-most brutal stage of this Tour (stage 18 is pure pain), featuring four famous Pyrenean climbs one after another over 182.6km of racing – the organisers’ schedule has an estimated five hours and 10 minutes in place, and that’s just for the winner.
Even the ‘flat’ opening section is a constant tilt uphill until the serious climbing begins: the Col du Tourmalet, Col d'Aspin, Col de Peyresourde before a summit finish at Luchon-Superbagneres.
The route is a tribute to Bernard Hinault, the last French winner, on the 40th anniversary of his fourth yellow jersey in 1985 – although it was a stage Greg LeMond won by nearly five minutes over his rival.
Good morning
09:30 , Flo CliffordBonjour and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of stage 14 of the Tour de France!
It’s the third and final day in the Pyrenees, and arguably, it’s the toughest day of this year’s Tour; it should be a cracker.
