Stage 14 report: Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard crossed swords again in their vintage duel at the Tour de France as the Danish defending champion gained just one second over the two-times winner at the end of an epic, incident-packed stage.
Slovenian Pogacar beat Vingegaard in the sprint for second place behind stage winner Carlos Rodríguez of Team Ineos but now trails the Dane, who picked up an extra bonus second, by 10 seconds.
The top five on General Classification after stage 14
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 57hr 47min 28sec
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) +10sec
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +4min 43sec
Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +4min 44sec
Adam Yates (Bahrain Victorious) +5min 20sec
Rodriguez has just been speaking to reporters about today’s stage win. The Spanish rider who is celebrating his first Tour de France stage victory says:
“It’s incredible. Being here was a dream, getting a victory is incredible in the best race of the world. It’s something I’ve always wanted to achieve and now I’ve got a victory.
[I’m] super happy, super grateful and happy for the team for all their work and believing in me. It wouldn’t have been possible without them.”
Asked if he thought the stage win would be possible when he was dropped going up Col de Joux Plane, he says honestly: “no.” He says he wanted to take advantage of the descent, which he was confident on and again praises his team, and in particular yesterday’s stage winner and fellow Ineos Grenadier rider, Michel Kwiatkowski.
“Tomorrow is going to be a big day also,” he says.
The top five in stage 14
1.Carlos Rodriguez 3hr 58min 45sec
2. Tadej Pogacar +5sec
3. Jonas Vingegaard +5sec
4. Adam Yates +10sec
5. Sepp Kuss +57sec
Updated
If you like racing stats and an interesting fact to share with your friends, take a look at this on today’s stage winner, Carlos Rodriguez.
With an average speed of 58.6 km/h from the last summit to the finish, @_rccarlos becomes the youngest 🇪🇸 Spanish stage winner in @LeTour history at 22 years, 5 months and 13 days#TDFdata #TDF2023 https://t.co/2WU8OXFqdt
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 15, 2023
🏆🇪🇸 @_rccarlos wins in Morzine!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 15, 2023
🏆🇪🇸 @_rccarlos s’impose à Morzine !#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/RD6mKZ7RsB
Rodriguez takes the win on stage 14!!
The 22-year-old crosses the line first. Pogacar crosses ahead of Vingegaard to gain one precious second in the GC.
Updated
1km to go: Rodriguez has played a blinder on the descent so far. He’s been flying down with maximum speeds of 95kmh.
Ciccone is awarded today's most combative rider
Lidl-Trek’s Giulio Ciccone has been awarded the combativity prize.
5km to go: Pogacar and Vingegaard are glued to each other, so it doesn’t look like there’ll be huge changes at the top of the GC today despite all the excitement. Rodriguez, though, is extending his lead and if he wins, it will be two stage wins in a row for Ineos Grenadiers.
Updated
8km to go: Rodriguez looks hungry for the stage win as he attacks on the descent. He could make some big gains on the GC here.
10km to go: Rodriguez and Adam Yates have managed to get back to Pogacar and Vingegaard. The four of them start the final descent together.
Updated
12km to go: Vingegaard attacks over the top of the climb but Pogacar immediately counters. They’re back together quickly. It’s an epic battle.
Updated
12km to go: Oh no. Pogacar tries to attack but gets blocked by the motorbike and the throngs of fans on the roadside.
13km to go: It’s cagey at the moment. Will one of them attack before the top of the climb? I am loving the roadside excitement and outfits. There’s a man in a flamingo inflatable.
Rodriguez is now 45sec back and Hindley is at almost 2min. These front two are on a different level.
Updated
13km to go: Vingegaard has caught Pogacar. Will he counter attack? It looks like he’s winding it up…
Updated
14km to go: It’s 2.3km to go to the top of the climb and the gap is stabilising around 4-5sec. This is too close to call and the fans on the roadside are loving it.
15km to go: Vingegaard looks to be clawing his way back. Has Pogacar gone too early?
Updated
Key event
15km to go: Pogacar attacks. Vingegaard can’t hold on. Big move.
Updated
16km to go: It’s around 4km to the top of the Col de Joux Plane, and have to say, it’s looking like one tough day at the office for the riders.
16km to go: Hindley and Rodriguez have now been dropped. Adam Yates is putting in a big turn for Pogacar, while Vingegaard sticks close to his rival’s wheel.
Updated
17km to go: Of the other teams’ GC contenders, only Hindley and Rodriguez remain. Gall has just dropped off.
20km to go: We now have the familiar sight of Sepp Kuss pushing hard on the front with Vingegaard on his wheel and Pogacar close behind. Which one is going to attack first?
Updated
Declan from Galway emailed earlier to say he was at the foot of the Col de Joux Plane in a bar, which sounded lovely. He says he is “thankfully out of the heat” and had ridden over to Morzine and back this morning.
Updated
21km to go: Pello Bilbao has been dropped along with Simon Yates.
21km to go: Wout van Aert looked like he was dropped but found a burst of energy and has accelerated to the front. Putting in a final dig it seems.
22km to go: David Gaudu and Simon Yates are struggling as Rafał Majka comes to the front to set the pace for UAE Team Emirates.
23km to go: Here’s an update on the GC riders still in the front group:
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) +9sec
Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2min 51sec
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +4min 48sec
Adam Yates (UAE Emirates) +5min 03sec
Simon Yates (Team Jayco–AlUla) +5min 04sec
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) +5min 25sec
David Gaudu Groupama–FDJ +6min 52sec
Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) +07min 11sec
Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën T) +10min 33sec
Guillaume Martin +10min 46sec
Col de Jeux Plane: The one we’ve all been waiting for…the hors catégorie Col de Jeux Plane is a beast. It stretches for 11.6km and has an average gradient of 8.5% but a maximum gradient of 14%. Ouch. It promises to make the riders suffer, especially following those three first category climbs they’ve already pedalled up. It’s coming up in about 7km.
Updated
36km to go: Simon Yates (Team Jayco–AlUla) has also been dropped from the GC group and is 13sec behind. He’ll need to catch them before the base of the Col de Jeux Plane.
39km to go: Pidcock has failed to catch the GC group on the descent and now they’re on flatter terrain the gap is going out. He’s going to lose time today.
45km to go: Now we’re beating treated to footage of Pidcock descending. It’s a beautiful sight.
50km to go: Wout van Aert brings the GC group over the top of the climb, opening up a 30sec gap over Pidcock. What a performance from the Belgian.
Updated
51km to go: Pidcock has now dropped off the group with 1km to go. He’ll have to put those descending skills to the test if he’s going to get back to the group.
53km to go: Pidcock has managed to hold on during the steepest part of the climb. Will he be able to stay with the main group and go over the top with them?
Updated
59km to go: Tom Pidcock looks to be struggling with the high pace but is clinging on to the back of the GC group. There’s 4.5km to go.
Stage 14 withdrawals
Following a heavy crash in the very early kilometres of today’s stage, plus a few more falls, there have been quite a number of withdrawals from the Tour.
Here are all the official withdrawals so far, according to the official Le Tour website:
Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost)
James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost)
Ramon Sinkeldram (Alpecin-Deceunink)
Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty)
Antonio Pedrero (Movistar Team)
Romain Bardet (Team DSM-Firmenich)
57km to go: Ciccone is finally caught and the GC battle can begin in earnest.
59km to go: A last throw of the dice for Ciccone as he attacks Woods, who is swiftly swallowed up by the peloton.
Updated
Look away Ian from Dublin. Here’s one last glance at the Col de la Ramaz.
⛰ Next : the Col de la Ramaz!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 15, 2023
⛰ Prochaine difficulté : le Col de la Ramaz !#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/gZ2FuIJ6uK
Updated
60km to go: Ciccone and Woods are the last two remaining members of the breakaway as Jumbo-Visma continue to push a high pace.
62km to go: Ciccone isn’t giving up. He knows he can get to within two points of Powless on the mountain classification if he makes it to the top of this climb first. He has Woods for company.
Updated
64km to go: The riders have hit the Col de la Ramaz. Jumbo-Visma have already knocked off another 20sec to leave the breakaway looking rather doomed. Ciccone and Woods aren’t giving up yet though.
Updated
Ramon Sinkeldam of Alpecin-Deceunick abandons
Have heard Ramon Sinkeldam of Alpecin-Deceunick has also abandoned the Tour today. Not sure why yet but will update once there’s some additional info.
70km to go: It’s tough for the breakaway at the moment as the peloton are holding them at around 30sec. It’s difficult to see them staying away once the riders hit Col de la Ramaz.
Col de la Ramaz: Coming up next is the first category Col de la Ramaz, which is 1,619m high with an average gradient of 7.1% and 13.9 kilometres in length. It’s coming up in about 11km.
Ian from Dublin has emailed to say that this stage was used in last week’s Etape du Tour, which he rode. He’s not ready to see the Col de la Ramaz again so soon, it would seem.
Updated
Ciccone wins the intermediate sprint
81km to go: Ciccone clearly has good legs today and has taken the 20 points for the intermediate sprint. It won’t bother Philipsen though, as clearly it isn’t a day for the sprinters.
The results are:
Giulio Ciccone, 20 pts
Alex Aranburu, 17 pts
Michael Woods, 15 pts
Updated
Earlier I asked how you’re all watching today’s stage of the Tour. Here are some of the replies, with each very much setting the scene. Paulo is in a very hot Andalucia, Roger is over in the USA and cheering for Powless and Matthew has detailed his breakfast. It was a lump of French toast and bacon with (French) Canadian syrup, I’m told. Also, Aiden has tweeted from the Swedish island of Gotland to say hello.
88km to go: Led by Jumbo-Visma, the peloton have increased the pace and have reduced the gap to less than 20sec from the breakaway. Perhaps they are planning something on the next climb…
89km to go: Those ten points have moved Ciccone to within 12 points of Powless on the mountains classification jersey. Powless will have to dig deep to hold onto that polka dot jersey, with plenty of points yet play for today.
We’ll give you a round-up of who’s abandoned today at some point. I know there’s a few of you asking.
Justin from Bristol has emailed to pose a question: “Can I ask the audience, what’s been the most impactful accident in TdF history? Either the one that’s caused the most retirements, or the one that’s taken out the most Top 10 riders.” Thoughts?
97km to go: The gap to the peloton has gone over a minute for the first time today. Predicting some fireworks to come later in the stage with two big categorised climbs left to come: Col de La Rambaz and the Col de Joux Plane.
Updated
99km to go: Ciccone played that very cleverly, sitting on Woods’ wheel and attacking with 200m to go to get those 10 sweet points. Woods rolls over to take eight, before Landa and Pinot take six and four points respectively.
100km to go: Ciccone and Woods have gone clear, searching for the maximum mountain points. Who’s going to get the ten?
101km to go: Two kilometres to the top of the Col du Feu and our leading group have swelled to five riders. In there, you can spot Pinot, Landa, Ciccone, Aranburu and Woods. They’ve got 16sec on the chasing group.
103km to go: The riders are on the Col du Feu now. Interesting fact: It’s the first time this climb has been used in the Tour. Three riders (two from Movistar and one from Uno-X) had a small gap on the breakaway but it’s all come back together. But, wait…another four have gone clear, led by Juan Pedro López of Lidl-Trek.
Updated
108km to go: Jumbo-Visma are controlling the peloton and trying to give the breakaway a bit more of a lead to settle things down a bit. There’s still a lot of brutal climbing and kilometres to go…
Updated
116km to go: Giulio Ciccone sprints across the line to take ten points atop the Col de Cou. Powless is second and takes eight points to extend his lead in the mountains classification. Alaphilippe takes third.
Updated
117km to go: Straight after descending this climb, the riders will be on to Col de Feu. It’s a very similar climb at 5.8km long and an average gradient of 7.8%. Lots of climbing today…
Updated
I’ll be honest. I meant to give you stats and info on each climb before the riders reached them, but it’s been a chaotic start to today’s stage.
So, here’s a delayed look at the Col de Cou: It’s 7km long with an average gradient of 7.4%. That’s all I have.
Updated
121km to go: The breakaway has swelled to 24 riders and the highest placed on GC is Thibaut Pinot on 9min 8sec. The gap is only 20sec though, so it could all come back together. There’s around 4km to the top of the first category Col de Cou.
Updated
Romain Bardet has crashed heavily on the descent and has abandoned
Team DSM–Firmenich’s Romain Bardet has crashed badly on the descent following the first categorised climb of the day. James Shaw is also on the ground nearby. As I’ write, we hear that Bardet has had to withdraw from the Tour. It’s been a rough day already…
Updated
124km to go: A breakaway is formed of 20 riders, including Nielsen Powless, Julian Alaphilippe and yesterday’s stage winner, Michal Kwiatkowski.
Esteban Chaves of EF Education Easypost has abandoned
After being involved in the earlier mass crash, the Colombian national champion is out of the Tour de France with an injury.
❌@estecharu leaves the Tour de France. He was involved in the early crash.
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 15, 2023
❌@estecharu quitte le Tour de France. Il était impliqué dans la chute en début d'étape.#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/YYTQmoHu4K
132km to go: Daniel Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) is the first over the category three Col de Saxel climb, with Julian Alaphilippe second.
134km to go: The riders are around 1km from the top of the first categorised climb.
Updated
142km to go: Since the restart a few riders have tried to establish a break, including Ben O’Connor but they’ve been swiftly reeled back in.
Updated
The race has restarted
Back on the move, the race has resumed with a neutral zone of about 2km. To summarise, we’ve had two riders from two teams (Louis Meintjes of Team Intermarché–Circus–Wanty and Antonio Pedrero of Movistar Team) abandon following that crash and plenty of torn jerseys and road rash among the peloton.
Sneak peek into the data 👇
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 15, 2023
This is what a massive crash looks like to us, with speeds suddenly dropping to 0 km/h #TDFdata #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/Oan7kRNK9V
Updated
Louis Meintjes of Team Intermarché–Circus–Wanty has withdrawn
Louis Meintjes of Team Intermarché–Circus–Wanty has also been forced to abandon. He has a broken collarbone.
Antonio Pedrero of Movistar Team has abandoned
Not surprising as he was put into the ambulance but sad to see Predrero’s Tour is over. Intermarché–Circus–Wanty’s Adrien Petit has a nasty looking gash just under his glute (the polite way of referring to it says Carlton Kirby).
Race temporarily stopped following mass crash
Jens Voigt of Eurosport says the first rain in a long time, on what have been dry and dusty roads, has made the surface slippery and like an ice rink. He thinks about 30 riders were caught up in that crash, with approximately 15 down.
Updated
Huge crash with lots of riders down
After only a few kilometres, there’s been a crash and riders are across the road. The race has been neutralised. Fred Wright is standing up and looking for a new bike, but Antonio Pedrero of the Movistar Team is looking in a far worse condition as he’s put on a stretcher and into an ambulance.
Updated
They're racing on stage 14
And we’re off…the riders aren’t holding back and Neilson Powless looks like he’s after some more mountain points today. An early attack by another rider has been quickly reeled in.
Updated
On my earlier request about how you’ll be watching the Tour de France today, Jim has been the first to get in touch. “Unfortunately, I’ll [be] watching todays stage from my sofa after fracturing my elbow and hand on opposite arms! - I fell off my bike,” he emails (via some difficulty typing, I presume).
Sorry to hear that Jim and best wishes for a speedy recovery. Hopefully, the riders will put on a good show for you today.
Updated
Still rolling… As the roll-out continues, you might notice that Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) are not among the starters, having abandoned the race yesterday.
Today’s roll-out has begun
Stage 13: The riders are rolling out en masse through the neutral zone and will be given the signal to begin racing in approximately eight kilometres time.
It’s going to be a big day, as the climbing stats show. I’ve been checking them out whilst devouring an almond croissant (got to get your fuelling right for a long stage).
On this beautiful Saturday, I’d love to know how you’re planning on viewing this stage and where. Let me know if you’re also celebrating the Tour de France by eating pastries and tuning into the TV coverage…
More than 4,000m of elevation with Col de Joux Plane as the main challenge of the day ⛰️
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 15, 2023
Stage 14 is a gruelling one and fatigue is growing. Once they reach Morzine, the riders will have overcome 40,000m of elevation since the start from Bilbao 🥵#TDFdata #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/g7UAqWhFx3
Updated
Annemasse, today’s starting town: “Surrounded by mountains, the town on the Swiss border has understandably produced good climbers, such as Philippe Chevallier, winner of a stage in Pau in 1983. Jérôme Coppel then became the ambassador of Annemasse in the peloton, and showed particular proficiency in time trials, notably in 2015 when he won a bronze medal at the Richmond World Championships in the United States.
“The onus is now on brothers Aurélien and Valentin Paret-Peintre to make their home town shine. In 2004, Annemasse was the starting point for a stage towards the end of the Tour that Juan Miguel Mercado win in Lons-le-Saunier.”
Who's in what jersey?
Yellow: Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
Green: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Polka-dot: Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)
White: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates)
Michal Kwiatkowski climbs to stage 13 win as Pogacar cuts gap to Vingegaard
Stage 13 report: Michal Kwiatkowski took a solo victory on stage 13 of the Tour de France, as Tadej Pogacar turned the screw a little further on his rival, the defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, by clawing back eight more seconds. Jeremy Whittle reports from Culoz …
Updated
The top five on General Classification
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 53hr 48min 50sec
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) +9sec
Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2min 51sec
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +4min 48sec
Adam Yates (UAE Emirates) +5min 03sec
Stage 14, Saturday 15 July: Annemasse-Morzine, 152km
William Fotheringham on stage 14: The stage 14 battleground, the Col de Joux Plane, is long, and steep, with the final 6km all about 10%; it’s followed by one of the Tour’s trickiest descents to the finish. With climbing right from the start, the break will go early and may well contest the finish. A good chance for riders such as Mikel Landa, but the final descent has Pidcock written all over it.
