Here’s Jeremy Whittle’s report from another brutal Pyrenean stage.
Cavendish has made it
He looks cooked but his Astana teammates got him over the line, in the time limit. He looks bent double on his bike. Shades on, no smile, close to tears, but what a competitor. He thanks his teammates and looks to be retching. No wonder. He takes on fluid. Arnaud Demare also made it by seconds.
Updated
The Girmay group goes over the line, and within the time limit. Cavendish has around 5’ 30” to stay in the race. He may be handed dispensation by the race commissioners, but he will have to ride for it. He was suffering from that very opening climb.
General classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 61:56:24
2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +3:09
3. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal - Quick-Step +53:19
4. João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates +10:54
5. Mikel Landa (ESP) Soudal - Quick-Step +11:21
6. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP) INEOS Grenadiers +11:27
7. Adam Yates (GBR) UAE Team Emirates +13:38
8. Giulio Ciccone (ITA) Lidl - Trek +15:48
9. Derek Gee (CAN) Israel - Premier Tech +16:12
10. Santiago Buitrago (COL) Bahrain Victorious +16:32
Updated
Not Doritos, but flipflops?
Spectator running alongside, his flipflop flies off his foot... goes past Pogačar's wheel pic.twitter.com/UxkIs01jsV
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) July 14, 2024
Tadej Pogacar speaks: “I wouldn’t have imagined this outcome after the second week. I am super happy with my shape. It was super hot. The team did a good job with cooling me down. They decided to contel today and make a hard pace on the climb. I kept myself cool, hydrating and eating enough. I saw he was suffering a bit, I saw he don’t have the legs. It was suepr tough. Now it’s really looking hod. Now it’s comfortable and we need to keep focused for the last six days.”
Paul Griffin gets in touch: “One of those astonishing sporting statements that you have to drink in and savour, like a Roger Federer masterclass, a Kevin Pietersen rampage, or Luke Shaw’s five-minute hat-trick later.”
Liam Rooney: “Carlton Kirby...thinks Alan Partridge on the Day Today was a documentary: “turning yellow to gold in this feat of cycling alchemy”
Thank you John for the km by km on the Tour this weekend.
Stage 15 result
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 5:13:55
2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +1:08
3. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal - Quick-Step +2:51
4. Mikel Landa (ESP) Soudal - Quick-Step +3:54
5. João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates +4:43
6. Adam Yates (GBR) UAE Team Emirates +4:56
7. Santiago Buitrago (COL) Bahrain Victorious +5:08
8. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP) INEOS Grenadiers “
9. Richard Carapaz (ECU) EF Education - EasyPost +5:41
10. Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon - AG2R - La +5:57
Updated
Now for the count-back, not least for the group beyond the grupetto, that containing Mark Cavendish and others. It’s a rest day tomorrow, and it will be required by all concerned before the next sprint stage. Carlos Rodriguez, the leader of Team Ineos, with Egan Bernal falling well short, lost fully five minutes. The margins back to the lower reaches of the top ten will be huge.
Vinegaard give his all but cannot prevent the loss of what turns out to 1’ 08, plus bonus seconds for the stage win, Pogacar takes on ice and fluids after a devastating ride. Evenepoel comes in third, having lost 2’ 51 to Pogacar, and that’s him in full command of third place. Nice moment between Pogacar and Vingegaard – respect between champions. Landa, who hauled Evenepoel along, comes in fourth.
Tadej Pogacar wins stage 15 and takes tighter grip on GC
Pogacar is all alone as he completes what has been a day to blow the race apart, leaving his fellow contenders way down the mountain, Vingegaard included. The defending champion will lose over a minute, and Pogacar is on the way to reclaiming the Tour title.
Updated
1 km to go: The crowds are huge and loud now. No let-up for Pogacar as he adds more and more seconds to his overall lead. Vingegaard swings all over the road and, just as on Saturday, he has no answer on the Pyrenean pass.
Cav news: he’s started the climb with his fellow stragglers.
2km to go: The open road, and a baking sun, and some hardy fans are all that can stop Pogacar now. He’s put the hammer down once again to his rival. Vingegaard’s recovery from his injuries has been remarkable but he can’t live Pogacar in his best form.
Updated
3km to go: A flat section, and now above the trees is where Pogacar has climbed to Vingegaard is looking ragged in his motion, not yet cracked, but having to give everything. The seconds keep piling up and up.
4km to go: Pogacar looks behind, and sees that Vingegaard is 60m behind, and the gap goes out to 12, then 15, then 18, then 21 seconds. This is a demolition job, perhaps greater than Saturday’s
Pogacar pulls away from Vingegaard
5km to go: Evenepoel is 53 seconds back but he is going to be heading for the podium. Teammate Landa draws near to haul him back up the climb. And here goes Pogacar, as Vingegaard asks him for a turn on the front. Has Vingegaard cracked? He’s the best defensive rider in the game, and will need all those qualities.
6km to go: This really is a rivalry for the ages. Cycling has something that very few sports have, two greats taking each other on, toe to toe. Lemond v Fignon never had as many chapters as this rivalry. And, remember, there’s a time trial to finish, just like 1989.
7km to go: For a brief while, the gradient drops but there is still a long way to climb. And then comes a 9% gradient when a bend is turned. Vingegaard looks strong but Pogacar is sat off him, allowing himself to be paced.
Updated
8km to go: Richie’s good job comes to an end, and it’s Pogacar and Vingegaard, man to man, with Evenepoel way behind them looking a beaten man, even if he is compared to a young Eddy Merckx. He gives chase to Carapaz. His legs are good but not at the level of these two modern greats.
9km to go: The speed of Vingegaard and Pogacar in blowing away Mas and Johannesson is blinding. Only Carapaz can stay with them. ‘Richie, good job, damn,” says Jonathan Vaughters, the EF Education–EasyPost gaffer.
Pogacar and Vingegaard go away from the peloton
10km to go: Now Carapaz shows remarkable powers of recovery, and goes away from Mas, Le Plus and Johannesson.
But but but…the main action sees Pogacar and Vingegaard go away from the group. Vingo is in polka, Pog in yellow, and both look full of beans. Pogacar sits back, and even rides non-handed for a bit while he rids himself of unwanted cargo.
11km to go: Pogacar is impassive as Jorgenson, of Visma, leads the pack up the climb. Pogacar has a pair of lieutenants with him. Up ahead, Mas and Le Plus have gone. Carapaz didn’t have the legs. His bridging act might have caught up with him, but he sets off after Mas and Le Plus.
12km to go: The break toying with each other, and that will bring the peloton back. They could work together, but already we are at Lord of the Flies. They’ll all be burned by the peloton if they mess about. Carapaz, having made that effort, may not have the legs to see them off.
13km to go: Oof, that leading group is having its lead decimated, and this already looks one for the GC contenders. Off goes Carapaz, with Mas, on a break from the break. Carapaz looked ready to go but he can’t shake them to start with.
But is this where Vingegaard goes? He needs to make a move.
14km to go: Up they go, the Pyrenean roar greeting the breakaway, with 2’ 20”to the peloton, as Visma rider Kelderman drops off the front. Ben Healy drops back, and so does Simon Yates. The climb splinters the pack, and the gap starts descending. Pogacar and Vingegaard are within Doritos-chucking distance of each other.
Into the final climb, the Plateau de Beille
16km to go: The gradient is around 9.5%, and the legs will be tested from the start. Some nasty hairpins ahead. It’s been used in the Tour since 1998
“On the first four such occasions, the stage winner at Plateau de Beille also emerged as the winner of the general classification of that Tour.”
The first winner was Marco Pantani, who won the Giro/Tour double in 1998. The same double that Pogacar is going for.
23km to go: The Cavendish group is down to 10 riders. They need to make it to 48 minutes down, and are currently 36 minutes down with a 16km climb to come.
Updated
25km to go: At the bottom of the valley, the escapees – Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X), Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers), Richard Carapaz (EF Education Easypost), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Enric Mas (Movistar) – motor towards destiny.
30km to go: Before that final climb, over 15 or so km, there’s been much talk over the radio, ice packs taken on, gels necked. Jorgenson Kelderman of Team Visma went off ahead the main group, and found himself looking around. The peloton is hanging back for now. Any launching will take place on the final climb.
Updated
35km to go: Angus Chisholm has a rather forceful point to make. And at length, too.
“The sanctimony regarding the chip thrower is pretty astonishing on a day when it’s come to light that there are several riders in the peloton (a compact group of people who will be exhaling and inhaling vast volumes of shared air) who are cycling with Covid, a disease which voluminous authentic scientific research has confirmed can lead to a) debilitating fatigue, b) neurological damage, c) skeletal muscle damage (still, it’s not like there’s been an obvious and marked increase in muscle injury issues across several sports around the world in the last few years… oh) and d) increased risk of cardiovascular disease, inter alia. There are several cases of athletes prematurely forced into retirement due to these proven sequelae of infection, to say nothing of Sonny Colbrelli’s career-ending cardiac arrest days after his own Covid bout. Only Evenepoel’s doctor appears to be alive to some of these risks, but then his team appear to be turning him out in close-to-useless surgical masks.
“Maybe it’s just me, but if I were a high performance athlete who had dedicated my life and made countless sacrifices towards the pursuit of competitive sporting excellence, I’d rather take on the risks of some uncoordinated nitwit throwing a packet of crisps at me on my bicycle than any of the above. But then, we seem to be in ignorance is bliss mode. The level of denialism in professional sports surrounding a newly introduced disease that affects all systems of the body related to athletic performance is astonishing, particularly when one of the industry’s dominant mythologies is the use of science to wring every last possible competitive advantage out of the athlete.”
40km to go: The quintet stays away, and actually adds a few seconds to the gap on a peloton taking it easy down this descent. A flat spot to come but for now, they weave through the villages before the final Plateau de Beille comes.
That Cav group, losing time, but there may be safety in numbers. Ahead of them is the group featuring Biniam Girmay in the green jersey.
50km: No mercy shown by this course as on an uncategorised climb, Simon Yates and Ben Healy are pulled back into the peloton. Tobias Johannesson is making his way back to the leading quartet. A brave ride from him.
Jai Hindley, a previous stage winner, has serious credentials. The gap to the peloton is 2’30 or so. Pogacar has three helpers, Vingegaard has just two. The Cavendish group is already 30 seconds down. The latest – and longest – descent begins.
55km to go: The descent begins of that leading quartet, with Norway’s Tobias Johanesson 30 seconds back and on a solo chase. The yellow jersey is three minutes behind – bridgeable, it would seem.
De Plus takes mountain points, Carapaz second
59km to go: Carapaz joins the group, and looks full of the effort it took to catch up on two climbs. There’s a sprinter group 26 minutes behind, and there is talk of time limits with two mighty climbs to come if you are in that group. Ouch. Jai Hindley completes that leading trio.
62km to go: Sivakov, a key Pogacar lieutenant, is shelled. Carapaz closes to the leading trio as they take on ice and fuel. Romo, who led over that previous climb, is now back in the main field but dropping ever backwards. So too Lenny Martinez, the French debutant couldn’t turn it on for Bastille Day. It’s brutal.
Updated
65km to go: There’s five at the front, Laurens de Plus (Ineos Grenadiers), Jai Hindley, Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Enric Mas, and Healy looks in danger of being dropped, though joins up with Carapaz, who is making up time. Sobrero is dropping back.
In the peloton, Vingegaard has been reduced to one teammate, as Evenepoel, while Pogacar looks stacked. All to play for, much to lose on that final climb.
Updated
67km to go: Carapaz sets off after the breakaway of the breakaway. He’s 47 seconds down. Back in the field, Nils Politt and Wout van Aert have been dropped. The domestiques are gone, and the GC contenders may have to work for themselves on that final climb.
70km to go: Rather oddly, before they reach the climb, the break is competing with each other, and there’s a gap of 40” to the group containing Richard Carapaz, a great climber. Red Bull team and Movistar have two men in this leading group. Ben Healy is up there with them. Simon Yates has dropped back, too, with almost a minute to make up. The Col D’Agnes is 10km, 9.9% gradient.
75km to go: Col d’Agnes is 5km away, and has featured five times previously. Alberto Contador was the last rider to go over the top in 2017. The first, in 1988, was Robert Millar.
80km to go: Simon Reeves gets in touch: “In the Netherlands, watching on NOS, and the commentary is at most sporadic—more like listening to a couple of bored middle aged men watching tv in a bar. I don’t speak a lick of Dutch, so they could be talking about the rashes on their arses for all I know. A way, I get to enjoy the race (from the Guardian) and the scenery from the tv.”
So does Gary Naylor: “Back in the day, the GC teams would call a truce, let the breakaway get ten minutes and ensure that a rider from it gets the stage before they fight for the overall lead. One of the more dispiriting aspects of 21st century Grand Tours is the hoovering up of mountains points by the usual suspects and the consequent devaluing of the Climbers’ jerseys. Let them have a day in the sun, eh lads?”
90km to go: The peloton – for now – seems happy to let this large group of non-GC contenders stay away. Simon Yates looks favourite if they manage to stay away. It’s up to three minutes.
100km to go: A speedy descent, and bidons taken on. Pogacar has gone back to his team car and seems to be annoyed about something. Mark Cavendish is off the back, 20 minutes or so, with two huge climbs to come. The break has extended its lead to the peloton to 2’ 40”, though Meintjes is no longer with them after a mechanical.
120km to go: John Little gets in touch: “Afternoon Mr Brewin, they are going up the steep side of the Aspet today, which does in 5km what the ascent from St. Girons does in 30km. On our last trip up, we couldn’t even outpace the forest bees, full respect to all the riders and doffed cap to Casartelli.
“Double weekend shift for you we see- it’s a dirty job etc- and very grateful we are as you are our only live access today. Are we really going to have to wait ‘til Friday for this Tour’s Pantani/Galibier moment? As for the commentary, we agree that Duffers is hugely missed and we’re big Sean fans here at Owl Towers.”
Guy Hornsby: “Afternoon John, afternoon everyone. On the cycling commentary, I’d agree there’s no perfect team. Back in the day it was of course Sherwen and Ligget, but I’d argue there’s better now. I’d second Millar as a favourite and ITV in general. He’s always illuminating, and still knows the Peleton really well, and works well with Ned, who is a bit hyperbolic but I like that he came to cycling late and fell in love with it. And Pete Kennaugh brings an ego-free voice too. Gary Imlach is, to me, the don of it all, ageless and sanguine. I do really like Eurosport, especially seeing Dani Rowe lately, and I have a soft spot for the Cycling podcast, especially Daniel Freibe and Mitch Docker. Really, we’re spoilt for choice in the UK.”
To be honest, this has served to kill the nerves ahead of the match tonight. On pod duty, talking bollocks into the night.
127km to go: William Preston gets in touch: “This brilliant from the off! This Col de Mente is beautiful, but the riders are getting such a Decent stomp on today they surely are missing the scenery.
“As I switched on the television, I thought for a moment it was the familiar sight of an FDJ team leader slipping off the back of the peleton, but was delighted to read Gaudu is up the front nd taking mountain points. As a team, they promised so much over the past ten years to top the GC, but bad luck hasn’t stopped their thrilling heroics when the road goes up with some brilliant rides! I note that Pinot is bike packing to Nice and looks very happy in his dotage.
“Have a wonderful afternoon, I’m off to the zoo so will rely on the most excellent coverage here!”
132km to go: S.Yates (Jayco-AlUla), De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers), Hindley, Jungels, Sobrero (RedBull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Martinez (Groupama-FDJ), Carapaz, Healy (EF Education Easypost), Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech), Martin (Cofidis), Mas, Aranburu, Romo (Movistar), Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty), Onley (dsm-Formenich) and Johannessen (Uno-X) are the break, but just a minute ahead of the peloton.
They go over that summit, and the descent begins. There wasn’t much of a push for the polka points on offer.
Updated
135km to go: Little rest for the wicked as they head over this peak. The descent took them past the memorial to Fabio Casartelli,
Remembering Fabio Casartelli on the Col du Portet d'Aspet.
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 14, 2024
Une pensée pour Fabio Casartelli dans l'ascenion au Col de Portet.#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/18pEvvF5tQ
140km to go: The descent drops down and down, some nasty hairpins, nastily steep before yet another climb approaches, a first category, the Col de Portet D’Aspet.
Updated
148km to go: The break goes over the Col de Mente, a grim old gradient. Richard Carapaz looks in good nick but is beaten to the top by Javier Romo of Movistar. Simon Yates is in the break that now begins a long descent.
🏁 147 km
— Maillot à Pois E.Leclerc (@maillotapois) July 14, 2024
⛰ Col de Menté (cat. 1) ⛰
1️⃣ 🇪🇸@romoliver_99, 10 pts
2️⃣ 🇪🇨@RichardCarapazM, 8 pts
3️⃣ 🇪🇸@aranburualex, 6 pts
4️⃣ 🇪🇸@EnricMasNicolau, 4 pts
5️⃣ 🇧🇪@LaurensDePlus, 2 pts
6️⃣ 🇳🇴@TobiasJohannes1, 1 pt#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/fJ3hm80bwv
Bad news for Big Sir Jim’s team.
💛 Former 2019 Tour winner @Eganbernal is dropped from the Yellow Jersey group.
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 14, 2024
💛 L'ancien vainqueur du Tour 2019 @Eganbernal est lâché du groupe Maillot Jaune. #TDF2024 l @MaillotjauneLCL pic.twitter.com/kUwwPQSppx
Updated
Biniam Girmay penalised five sprint points
After pulling in front of Michael Matthews at the intermediate he drops to the lowest score possible in his group. Thankfully for the Eritrean, there were only three riders in that lead group. Very little harm done.
⚠️ @GrmayeBiniam is downgraded to 3rd place in the intermediate sprint.
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 14, 2024
⚠️ Déclassement de @GrmayeBiniam à la 3ème place du sprint intermédiaire.#TDF2024 https://t.co/fonMIb6zIT
150km to go: Simon Yates, like his brother Adam yesterday, if far earlier in the race, is trying to bridge to the break. The peloton is 1’ 30” behind Simon Yates and his fellow chasers. Ben Healy is alongside him, and full of attack.
155km to go: This is the break that enters Marignac and has a first-category climb up 10km or so to the Col du Mente ahead that will almost instantly split the pack. And does so. Rui Costa is one of those to blow out early. As is Girmay, who will be back in the grupetto before too long.
Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla), Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers). Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), Nans Peters (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Nico Denz, Jai Hindley and Bob Jungels (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ), Rui Costa (EF Education-EasyPost), Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech)
Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Enric Mas, Alex Aranburu, Davide Formolo and Gregor Mulhberger (Movistar), Louis Meintjes and Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty), Magnus Cort and Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) Mathieu Burgaudeau and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies)
Updated
Girmay in green takes 20 sprint points
160km to go: Meintjes leads Girmay to the sprint, and Michael Matthews has a dig, then pulls back to say Girmay cut him up but he was nowhere near catching him. There’s some cross words exchanged.
Updated
165km to go: The gap is a minute to the yellow jersey group. No Philipsen. Girmay could end up closing off the green jersey by winning the imminent sprint.
Should say, of the new breed, a fan of Orla in the studio and Adam Blythe, good Sheffield accent plus all over the detail. Peter Kennaugh is good on that, too. Need more Chris Boardman, too.
170km to go: Into Luchon, they go, and something of a breakaway is formed. Girmay is in there ahead of that sprint.
Gary Naylor gets in touch: “Who are your preferred voices behind the mics? I find Ned Boulting a little too keen to sell the drama when the pictures speak for themselves, but I still go with ITV because David Millar knows his stuff and has a beautiful voice. Also, Gary Imlach is unimprovable, the best sports anchor for a decade or more. On Eurosport, they also suffer from speaking too much, but the revolving cast never find the chemistry the best teams need when there are hours to fill - not sure how you fit Robbie McEwan and Sean Kelly into the same studio.”
I go as far back as Richard Keys being the main man, but Gary Imlach is the pro’s pro. Like Ned a lot – a gent - and David Millar is great, as you say. As I have a Discovery sub I tend to watch Eurosport, and while I lament David Duffield – and used to think David Harmon was good – I don’t mind a Carlton Kirbygasm, and Rob Hatch is Mr Dependable. Jonathan Harris-Bass is a former colleague, a very droll man. Always good to hear him and his recipes. I should save a word for Richard Moore, so sadly missed, who brought us the excellent Cycling Podcast, with Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie. As for Sean Kelly, I love his verbal tics – “the general classement” and “the Tour of France”. And you can’t argue with him as a cyclist. That golden era is still the one I go back to.
180km to go: Next comes a descent. There’s a grupetto already formed, Cavendish included. Bardet, Lazkano and Gaudu are the breakaway trio. There’s a sprint at the bottom that should interest Girmay. Here’s the polka points just won, and what comes ahead. The gap to the yellow jersey group is just 10 seconds.
🏔 Col de Peyresourde (cat. 1) 🏔
— Maillot à Pois E.Leclerc (@maillotapois) July 14, 2024
1️⃣ 🇫🇷@DavidGaudu, 10 pts
2️⃣ 🇪🇸@LazkanoOier, 8 pts
3️⃣ 🇫🇷@romainbardet, 6 pts
4️⃣ 🇪🇸@solermarc93, 4 pts
5️⃣ 🇪🇨@RichardCarapazM, 2 pts
6️⃣ 🇸🇮@TamauPogi, 1 pt#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/ApupP4xB55
⛰️ Les ascensions du jour :
— Maillot à Pois E.Leclerc (@maillotapois) July 14, 2024
1️⃣ Col de Peyresourde, 10 pts
1️⃣ Col de Menté, 10 pts
1️⃣ Col de Portet-d’Aspet, 10 pts
1️⃣ Col d’Agnes, 10 pts
🅷🅲 Plateau de Beille, 20 pts
＝ 𝟲𝟬 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 à prendre ⚪️🔴
Il s’agit du total le plus élevé du #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/Hku4nhV6wB
David Gaudu takes 1o mountain points
191km to go: It’s an eight percent climb, with Jakob Fuglsang, the veteran, to the fore, with Team Ineos’s Lauren Le Plus. Geraint Thomas is dropping off the front. Healy, Saturday’s hero, is looking strong again. Wout Poels, the former super domestique, is off the back, too Abrahamsen, who wore the polka dot jersey for two weeks, is being spat off the back. Biniam Garmay looks far stronger. Simon Yates leads an attack down the left-hand side of the road, Bardet goes up to the front in chase of polka points. Lazkano and Gaudu – from Saturday’s escape – go clear. Gaudu is the stronger, and takes the points at the peak.
Updated
195km to go: Neilson Powless is the first to make a move up the type of climb your car would be in second gear and screaming. Arnaud DeMare and Mark Cavendish are among the sprinters already spat out the back. Romain Bardet is up the front, so is Ben Healy, and so is Jai Hindley. Adam Yates is keeping watch at the front of the yellow jersey group.
Away they go up the Col de Peyresourde!
What a brutal climb to start the day. Not much fun for those who barely made the time limit on Saturday – that includes Mark Cavendish. Monsieur Prudhome waves them away up the hill, and it’s French riders to the fore on this 7km climb.
More on Dorito-gate
The Professional Cyclists’ Association (CPA) said it will take legal action against a spectator who threw potato chips at UAE Team Emirates’ Tadej Pogacar and Visma-Lease A Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard during the Tour de France stage 14.
Charging solo up the last stretch of Pla d’Adet, Pogacar had to dodge a fan who leaped out to hurl a bag of chips at the Slovenian race leader.
The spectator did the same thing to Denmark’s Vingegaard, who came through moments later.
“The CPA will take legal action against this guy with pleasure due to what he did to both Pogacar and Vingegaard,” CPA President Adam Hansen wrote in a post on X on Saturday. “This is disrespectful and will not be tolerated.”
Vingegaard finished 39 seconds behind Pogacar, while Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel, who was second in the general classification before stage 14, finished 70 seconds behind, meaning he slips to third overall behind the Dane.
“There was quite a bit of booing and someone was throwing chips, I heard also they threw the chips at Tadej and that’s strange to do,” Vingegaard said after the stage. “Just stay off the road. I don’t understand why you go to a bike race and boo at people.” Reuters
😡 In a world where you can be anything, don't be this stupid guy.
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 13, 2024
😡 Dans un monde où vous pouvez être qui vous voulez, ne soyez pas cet idiot. pic.twitter.com/oLTkNsXlNK
Updated
Today’s stage is steep. Look at that start. Loudenville is being traversed for the depart fictif.
🚲 Stage 15 / Étape 15 🚲
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 14, 2024
🚩 Loudenvielle
🏁 Plateau de Beille
📏 197,7 km
⏰ 11:55 CEST > 17:41 CEST
⛰ 1xHC, 4x1️⃣
💚 km 37#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/mMuEfKfecT
Evenepoel seems to be looking backwards towards Carlos Rodriguez of Team Ineos. He still has the time trial to come, too.
"The podium could have been decided today"
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 7, 2024
Remco Evenepoel says he was disappointed that Jonas Vingegaard didn't ride with him and Tadej Pogačar, but that he understands why he didn't 🤍🇧🇪#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/mmDoZdQIQn
News on the Dorito chucker.
The spectator who threw a packet of chips at Tadej Pogacar yesterday was taken into police custody for aggravated violence according to Le Parisien. He will be interviewed by the gendarmes today after a night in the sobering up cell.
Le spectateur qui a jeté hier un paquet de chips sur Tadej Pogacar a été placé en garde à vue pour violences aggravées selon le Parisien. Il sera entendu par les gendarmes aujourd'hui après une nuit en cellule de dégrisement. #TDF2024https://t.co/WKTUBGaaSb
— Le Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) July 14, 2024
General classification at start of stage 15
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 56:42:39
2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +1:57
3. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal - Quick-Step +2:22
4. João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates +6:01
5. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP) INEOS Grenadiers +6:09
6. Mikel Landa (ESP) Soudal - Quick-Step +7:17
7. Adam Yates (GBR) UAE Team Emirates +8:32
8. Giulio Ciccone (ITA) Lidl - Trek +9:09
9. Derek Gee (CAN) Israel - Premier Tech +9:33
10. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +10:35
Jeremy Whittle reported from Saturday’s summit finish.
Pogacar admitted after the stage that he was indebted to his British teammate Adam Yates, whose lone attack, seven kilometres from the finish, paved the way for the Slovenian’s explosive effort.
“It was a little bit of improvisation,” Yates said after the stage. “I was ready to do the pace, as usual, and Tadej told me to attack. I was like, ‘What?!’”
Yates revealed that Pogacar’s tactics are sometimes even a mystery to his teammates. “With Tadej, I’ve got no idea sometimes. This morning, he said: ‘You can win if you go full gas.’ You never know.”
The Netflix cameras will have garnered plenty of material from Saturday. More of the same.
Over the years, the great double acts have all made a deep mark on cycling’s consciousness. French bike racing has never got over Poulidor and Anquetil, whose rivalry reached its zenith 60 years and two days ago. The Italy of the 1940s and 50s was bitterly divided between the tifosi of Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali. A single Tour de France, 1986, created a narrative of conflict between Hinault and Greg LeMond which remains a bone of contention to this day. In Belgium, the cold war between Eddy Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck lasted for most of the early 1970s, centred on the great one-day Classics. This year, the sport is embracing what has the makings of the finest soap opera of them all: Pogacar and Vingegaard.
William Fotheringham’s stage 15 guide
More Pyrenean nastiness; anyone who is struggling will dread the start straight up the Col de Peyresourde. Three early first category climbs soften the legs, the Col d’Agnès will create an initial selection before a climax up the 15km “Plateau of the Bees”. It’s Bastille Day, so the French climbers will be buzzing: a final flourish for Romain Bardet or Warren Barguil, perhaps, or a breakthrough for Romain Grégoire or Lenny Martinez. More likely, a foreigner will win.
Preamble
Following the shock and awe of Tadej Pogacar on Stage 14, what about the follow-up? Jonas Vingegaard didn’t quite crack but he lost 43 seconds to a rider going up the final climb in record time. More of the same today? Perhaps so. The climbs are steeper which may better favour Vingegaard’s staying power. But expect more wildcat attacks if Team UAE are feeling up to it. And a few Frenchmen breaking for the border and a stage win on this Bastille day of all days.
