2023-07-15 16:22:00
On the extremely difficult last climb of the 152 kilometers, the dreaded Col de Joux Plane (HC), Pogacar attacked 3.7 kilometers from the summit and tore a gap to the defending Tour champion. But Vinegaard didn’t really let himself be shaken off and following two kilometers of “tug of war” caught up with his challenger once more.
In the fight for the bonus seconds in the mountain classification, Pogacar’s first attempt was slowed down by a careless motorcycle – and Vingegaard beat the rival at 1691 meters with his own weapons and secured the eight bonus seconds there in the sprint, Pogacar had five seconds bonus.
The Stars took no chances on the dangerous descent down to the day’s finish, allowing Rodriguez to catch up, break away and head for the solo win. In the sprint for the places and time credits behind him, Pogacar was ahead of Vinegaard this time. This increased the gap between the two in the final count of the day by one second to ten seconds.
Tour de France
Slowed down! Motorbike gets in the way of Pogacar when attacking
40 MINUTES AGO
Attack on Yellow! Pogacar attacks at the Col de Joux Plane
The fight for the podium on the tour turns into a thriller
Rodriguez not only ensured the second stage win for Ineos in a row, but also climbed to third place overall. 4:43 behind the yellow jersey, he is a second ahead of Bora captain Jai Hindley, who finished sixth, 1:46 behind the day’s winner.
His German teammate Emanuel Buchmann was 13th (+9:14) in the daily classification and is now 13th in the overall standings (+21:21).
Third place on the tour podium will now be as hard-fought as the yellow jersey – behind Rodriguez and Hindley, Adam Yates (+5:20) still has his sights set on the podium, but there is already a larger gap behind him.
Stage final: Giants lurking – Rodríguez takes his chance
Team Jumbo-Visma had previously put their stamp on the stage well into the last climb: With full team strength, the team controlled the ride over the first four climbs of the stage – even a large and strong breakaway group might never really pull away. With Nils Politt and Simon Geschke, two Germans were also represented there, but the attackers had no chance once morest the move of the Dutch racing team.
The Italian Giulio Ciccone collected points and prize money at least in the first climbs and the intermediate sprint, but there was nothing more to be gained.
Mass fall ensures neutralization
The stage was overshadowed by serious falls: A mass fall of around 25 riders following a few kilometers ensured that the race was even neutralized for a long time – because all medical staff was tied up in caring for the affected riders. Three riders had to abandon the stage because of this crash, including one of the top riders, Louis Meintjes from South Africa, who was 13th in the classification.
Many others resumed the stage with tattered racing clothes and large bandages. The Australian Hindley was also affected, but got off lightly.
Bora Captain in the middle: mass fall forces neutralization
Shortly therefollowing, the next fall followed, which, among other things, brought regarding the end of France’s hopeful Romain Bardet. At the start he was still in 12th place overall, but a concussion did not allow him to continue.
A total of five riders had to leave the 110th Tour de France on stage 14 because of these two falls.
Out for Bardet: Fall throws France’s star out of the race
On Sunday we continue with the next stage in the Alps, this time even with a mountain finish, before the second rest day of the tour is due on Monday.
More coming soon!
You might also be interested in: All 21 tour stages with profiles, mountain ratings and ascent information
Tour route, stage 15: Mountain arrival in the Alps
Tour de France
Attack on Yellow! Pogacar attacks at the Col de Joux Plane
BEFORE AN HOUR
Tour de France
Summit in the Alps: Pogacar saws Vingegaard’s throne
8 HOURS AGO
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