Tough stage in the Pyrenees

Pogacar’s victory: Gall nears the top 10!

A tough stage of this year's Tour de France was scheduled in the Pyrenees on Saturday.(Bild: AP/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Overall leader and top favorite Tadej Pogacar has won the first Pyrenean stage of this year's Tour de France. With a spirited attack on the final climb, he was able to pull away from his pursuers. Only Jonas Vingegaard managed to keep the gap within limits. The Dane is now in second place in the overall standings. Felix Gall put in a strong performance and finished in eighth place.

Top favorite Pogacar won the 14th stage of the Tour de France with aplomb and extended his lead in the overall standings. The Slovenian from the UAE team triumphed on Saturday after 151.9 km from Pau up to Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet with a lead of 39 seconds over his arch-rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma). The Dane is now second in the overall standings of the Tour of France, 1:57 minutes behind Pogacar in the yellow jersey.

"The day was fantastic. The plan was to sprint in the finale and get a few bonus seconds. But in the end, of course, the result is much better, which is good news," said Pogacar after his 13th Tour stage win. The Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal) crossed the finish line in third place (+1:10 min.) and is now 25 seconds behind Vingegaard in the race for the Tour victory. The red-white-red hopeful Felix Gall finished eighth after a strong performance, 1:26 minutes behind Vingegaard, and is getting closer and closer to the top ten in the overall ranking in eleventh place (+10:54).

The next challenge is already waiting
The stage with more than 4,000 meters of climbing began relatively calmly. A group led by Bora helper Marco Haller broke away at the front, but the 33-year-old from the Red Bull racing team was caught again early on at the Col du Tourmalet. The UAE team, which had to make do without climbing specialist Juan Ayuso, who was ill with coronavirus, controlled the race at a brisk pace. However, Gall came easily over the first two mountains and also stayed in the leading group for a long time on the final climb, which was around 10 km long.

Felix Gall(Bild: AP/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Compared to the eleventh stage, Pogacar initially took a more defensive approach and guarded Vingegaard's rear wheel. His UAE teammate Adam Yates, who has a larger gap to the top favorites in the overall standings, attacked and caught up with Ben Healy, who was now riding solo at the front. With just under five kilometers to the finish, Pogacar got going, caught up with Yates and took the lead shortly afterwards. The 25-year-old Slovenian extended his lead second by second on the way to his third Tour victory.

On Sunday, the French national holiday, the peloton faces its second major Pyrenean challenge in a short space of time. After five categorized climbs with almost 5,000 metres of climbing in 197.7 kilometers and a mountain arrival on the Plateau de Beille, there could be changes in the overall standings again on the queen stage of this year's edition before the second rest day on Monday.