SAINT SOULAN: Tadej Pogacar extended his overall lead on the Tour de France when he won stage 14 in the Pyrenees on Saturday.

His arch rival Jonas Vingegaard came second at 39sec while Remco Evenepoel was third at 1min 10sec.

Ahead of another monster run in the Pyrenees on Sunday, Pogacar extended his lead to 1min 57sec over Vingegaard as Evene­poel dropped to third at 2min 22sec.

With bonus seconds for the win, his 13th Tour de France stage victory, Pogacar extended his lead by 43sec. He punched the air in triumph at the line.

“The plan was to come to the final and make the sprint hard, maybe take some seconds and a stage win. But in the end this it’s much better,” he said at the line. “I’m super, super happy to get this.”

Pogacar’s team UAE waited until the third and final climb of the day before sending Adam Yates on an attack seven kilometres from the line on the 11km ascent to the Pla d’Adet.

“It’s so noisy on the climb we had to scream at each other, I was telling him to attack,” Pogacar said.

Yates admitted he had been shocked by the instructions.

“I thought maybe he could go for the win, but it didn’t quite work,” said Pogacar.

The English rider was waiting to help after Pogacar unleashed his own ferocious acceleration. The Slovenian’s two podium rivals had followed, but were either unwilling or unable to match the pace.

Over the final section of a climb, packed on either side by raucous fans, 2020 and 2021 champion Pogacar kept up his pace all the way to the line after dropping Yates.

“I’m much better than last year, handling pressure and emotions,” Pogacar said.

“I’m getting more and more comfortable. I have to enjoy this while it lasts.”

Wearing a mask in the mixed zone, Evenepoel seemed relaxed and happy too.

“I tried to keep up as long as possible but he’s wild,” said the Belgian, who thanked his team members by name for their support.

Perhaps Pogacar heard him as the 25-year-old also named each and every one of his team-mates too.

Saturday’s stage first took the peloton up the feared Col du Tourmalet with tens of thousands of fans partying all day.

Before the peloton arrived, holidaying cyclists rode up the 19kmclimb at an average 7.5 gradient to 2,115m altitude, many pushing their bikes or using electric assistance.

When the peloton set off from Pau, the gateway to the Pyrenees, only 158 riders of the original 176 remained.

Cross-discipline maverick Tom Pidcock was absent, the latest to pull out with suspected Covid. He is due to protect his mountain bike Olympic title in just three weeks.

The race zipped through pilgrim site Lourdes, one of the most visited cities in France due to it’s grotto and fountain.

Sunday’s 15th stage falls on July 14 and should provide a show for the roadside and armchair fans alike.

Warren Barguil is the last Frenchman to provide a win on the national holiday back in 2017.

The wait is unlikely to end, but Romain Bardet, in his retirement year, will likely reach beyond himself trying.

Instead the five fearsome climbs should provide a further battle­ground for Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2024