- Jonas Vingegaard defends the yellow jersey on the difficult 14th stage of the Tour de France from Annemasse to Morzine (152 km).
- The day’s victory surprisingly goes to the Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez, who reaches the finish ahead of Tadej Pogacar (2nd) and Vingegaard (3rd).
- The demanding alpine stage with 5 categorized climbs is overshadowed by a mass crash shortly after the start of the race.
Jonas Vingegaard defended his overall lead in the Tour de France on the tough Alpine stage, finishing in Morzine. The Dane from the Jumbo Visma team withstood the attacks of Tadej Pogacar in the last climb of the day up the Col de Joux Plane.
Vingegaard also expressed some luck. When his Slovenian pursuer got out of the saddle just before the top of the pass, he was stopped by a motorbike that was driving too slowly. The attack fizzled.
Rodriguez sneaks back
In the overall standings, the defending champion is now 10 seconds ahead of Pogacar. The Dane got more bonus seconds than Pogacar at the Col de Joux Plane. The Slovenian fought back at the finish and secured second place in front of Vingegaard, but lost a second to Vingegaard overall.
The fact that the two tour favorites did not decide the day’s victory among themselves was ultimately their own fault. Because the pace dropped after the last climb, Carlos Rodriguez, who had been suspended before, was able to catch up again. The 22-year-old Spaniard from the Ineos Grenadiers team immediately overtook the two top favorites and, not least thanks to his good downhill qualities, secured the day’s victory.
In the overall standings, Rodriguez moved up to 3rd place and is now just ahead of Australian Jai Hindley.
Stage interrupted after mass fall
The first really difficult stage in the Alps started with chaotic scenes. Only 5 kilometers after the sharp start in Annemasse there was a mass crash in a small descent, in which numerous riders fell to the ground. It is not clear who triggered the fall. But because almost every team was involved, race director Christian Prudhomme felt compelled to neutralize the race.
After about 23 minutes, the race resumed with a two-kilometre neutral phase. It was the first mass fall on this year’s tour. The Spaniard Antonio Pedrero and the South African Louis Meintjes had to give up the race and were taken to the hospital.
The 14th stage subsequently claimed more victims. After Esteban Chaves got off his bike shortly after the restart, Romain Bardet and James Shaw were also hit later and also had to give up the race after a fall. The Frenchman Bardet was 12th in the overall standings.
This is how it goes
The drivers have to earn the second rest day honestly. Sunday’s stage may not be quite as tough as Saturday’s, but it’s still tough. Three first-category climbs have to be conquered on the 179 km from Les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc. The final ascent to the ski area at 1,372 meters is 7.7 percent steep over a distance of 7 km.