Tadej Pogačar won stage 14 of the Tour de France on Saturday with another searing attack on the road to Le Markstein. The victory is the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider’s fourth stage win of the race so far, and further extends his overall lead to 4.30.

Wearing the yellow jersey, Pogačar attacked on the brutal slopes of the Col du Haag, 7.2km from the finish line, distancing a group of favourites and building a lead of 24 seconds before reaching the final flatter 6km.

Behind him, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) joined forces with home favourite Paul Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM), though Pogačar’s teammate, Isaac Del Toro, sat on their wheel, eventually taking second place, while the young Frenchman was third.

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The win further cemented Pogačar’s grip on the yellow jersey, which has extended to 4.30 over Vingegaard, with Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) rallying to retain third place, 5.04 down.

Pogačar’s team was active throughout the race, monitoring their deficit to what was, at first, a huge breakaway group, which once again contained Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) who for a while assumed virtual second place overall. However, with a smaller group escaping on the first climb, UAE gradually brought Pidcock’s group back.

The smaller group lasted onto the last of four classified climbs, the Col du Hag, but was unable to resist the pressure UAE were exerting behind them. They splintered before the final climb, with Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) the last to be caught.

“Today I must say thanks to all the fans that came to the side of the road because it was really something unforgettable I think, to see all the crowds on the hills on the top of the mountain, it’s just, I’ve never seen something like this, so thanks to all and I think all the cyclists, all the riders have such a massive respect towards each other and I think we all put on a great show and it’s nice to see this kind of racing,” Pogačar said post-stage.

While many expected the race leader to attack on the final climb, it was a bit surprising to see the move come so late in the climb. It had to do with his teammate Del Toro, who was dropped on the lower slopes.

“I know Isaac is not maybe at 100% as him, so I was waiting for the last two kilometres to see if there’s going to be any movement, but actually Decathlon and then Jonas made it a really hard pace on the climb and there was one by one guys dropping and I felt good, so I said I would try the last two kilometres. I know it well and also so much crowd that is gives you additional boost to go to the top. I gave it a go today, I have good feeling so I grabbed it and took the opportunity.”

How it unfolded

One of the big mountain tests of the entire Tour, the 155.3km stage 14 rolled out of Mulhouse, tackling four classified climbs and 3,900m of vertical ascent before the finish at Le Markstein, in the Vosges Mountains.

Rolling out in a torrential downpour, then suddenly into sunshine, the race stayed together for the opening kilometres, Alpecin-Premier Tech taking control ahead of the day’s intermediate sprint. Sure enough, with his team leading him out, Jasper Philipsen took maximum points, chipping away at Mads Pedersen’s lead in the green jersey competition, the Lidl-Trek rider finishing second.

With the sprint done and the ascent of Le Grand Ballon looming, the attacks started, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) making the first move. He was soon joined by teammate Ben Healey as, for the second stage running, a large breakaway formed. This time it contained 38 riders and, as on stage 13, included Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5).

After Friday’s breakaway exploits, Pidcock had started the day fourth overall, just nine seconds from the podium, and his presence up the road ensured the peloton allowed them too much space. With the gap around 1.30, UAE Team Emirates-XRG took control, Nils Pollit leading the way.

However, just ahead of a downhill half way up the climb, Healey and Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) attacked the break, gaining a small advantage before being caught again.

Other than Carapaz and Healey, EF Education-EasyPost had Alex Baudin and Georg Steinhauser in the break, and with their eyes on the stage win, they set to work trying to extend the breakaway’s advantage.

Over the top, Carapaz made another move, taking Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep) with him, the pair managing to gap the rest of the break on the descent before being joined by Healey and the Halland Johannessen brothers, Tobias and Anders (UNO-X Mobility). They quickly built a lead of 30 seconds over a chasing group of Castrillo, his Movistar teammate Einer Rubio and Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos).

By this time Pidcock had moved from fourth overall into a virtual second place, pushing Jonas Vingegaard down a spot, but despite this three of his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates in the British rider’s group kept working, maintaining the advantage over the peloton, even though they had dropped to more than one minute behind the leaders.

The second category Col du Page came next, the leading group hitting it with 93km to go, their lead over the chasing group unchanged. A puncture saw Arensman dropped, while Rubio reached the leaders, cresting the climb with Pidcock’s group 1.50 behind and the peloton at 3.20.

The Col du Haag was making its debut in the Tour de France and set a brutal test, the 11.2km ascent averaging 7.2%, the gradient of the final kilometre ramping into double digits, before the almost flat closing 6km. At the front, with his brother dropped, and their advantage plummeting, Tobias Halland Johannessen managed to a follow a move from Carapaz, though the Ecuadorian was soon alone at the front.

In the favourites’ group, Decathlon-CMA CGM fought for the lead as the race hit the bottom of the climb, persisting with their effort and soon leaving Pogačar with only Isaac Del Toro in support. Then, with Pidcock dropped from the favourites’ group, Vingegaard sent teammate Sep Kuss to work on the front.

Despite this, Carapaz’s lead stubbornly remained more than 50 seconds until Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked with 11km to go. This drew out Vingegaard, the Dane’s pressure putting Lipowitz’s teammate, Remco Evenepoel, in trouble and bringing both Halland Johannessen and Carapaz to heel.

Just moments later, Pogačar attacked through a sea of fans, quickly gaining a gap and shattering the chasers, though on the run in, Evenepoel, Lipowitz and Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) teamed up for the final run to the line.

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