Pogacar wins mountainous stage 14 in the Pyrenees to extend lead

Two-times tour champion Tadej Pogacar surged ahead on the last climb to win the mountainous 14th stage of the Tour de France and extend his overall lead to nearly two minutes on Saturday.

The GC favorites climbers’ duel between Pogacar and two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard finally came when Pogacar peeled away with about 4.5 kilometers to go.

Pogacar caught up with and overtook his UAE Emirates teammate Adam Yates, Vingegaard was initially dropped but showed good composure to limit the damage.

The Dane crossed the line 39 seconds behind the Slovenian Pogacar, who completed the 152-kilometer (99-mile) trek in just over four hours. Remco Evenepoel of Belgium was third and dropped to third overall behind Vingegaard.

After about two hours riders reached the first of the day’s two big “hors catégorie” (beyond category) climbs — a 19-kilometer grind up the mighty Col du Tourmalet, one of the race’s most famed Pyrenean climbs.

The second HC climb to the finish at Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet was shorter at 10.6 kilometers (seven miles) but with a steeper gradient.

Irishman Ben Healy attacked first but was caught by Yates, who set up Pogacar for his 13th stage win of his Tour career.

Time bonuses for the victory added four valuable seconds and extended Pogacar’s lead over Vingegaard to 1 minute, 57 seconds. Evenepoel was 2:22 behind Pogacar heading into another big mountain stage on Sunday.

VIDEO: Stage 14 Highlights

Stage 14 Top 10

1  POGACAR Tadej UAE Team Emirates 4:01:51
2  VINGEGAARD Jonas Team Visma | Lease a Bike 0:39
3  EVENEPOEL Remco Soudal Quick-Step 0:04
4  RODRÍGUEZ Carlos INEOS Grenadiers 1:19
5  CICCONE Giulio Lidl - Trek 1:23
6  BUITRAGO Santiago Bahrain - Victorious 1:23
7  YATES Adam UAE Team Emirates 1:23
8  GALL Felix Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 1:26
9  JORGENSON Matteo Team Visma | Lease a Bike 1:29
10  GEE Derek Israel - Premier Tech 1:29

GC after Stage 14

1  POGACAR Tadej UAE Team Emirates 56:42:39
2  VINGEGAARD Jonas Team Visma | Lease a Bike 1:57
3  EVENEPOEL Remco Soudal Quick-Step 2:22
4  ALMEIDA João UAE Team Emirates 6:01
5  RODRÍGUEZ Carlos INEOS Grenadiers 6:09
6  LANDA Mikel Soudal Quick-Step 7:17
7  YATES Adam UAE Team Emirates 8:32
8  CICCONE Giulio Lidl - Trek 9:09
9  GEE Derek Israel - Premier Tech 9:33
10  JORGENSON Matteo Team Visma | Lease a Bike 10:35