Tadej Pogacar took another step towards a record-equalling fifth Tour de France crown after sealing victory on Le Markstein on Saturday.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider sealed his fourth victory of this year's Tour taking his career total to 125 wins while also increasing his general classification (GC) advantage over Jonas Vingegaard to four minutes and 30 seconds.
And to cap another glorious day for the Emirati team, Isaac del Toro came home in second place after winning a sprint finish to come home ahead of Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) and Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike).
The Mexican and Slovenian also come home in first and second place back on Stage 2 when De Toro had secured his first Tour win in what is his debut race.
Pogacar, also in the hunt for a third Tour title on the spin, launched the stage-winning attack on the steepest section of the Col du Haag climb to complete his latest solo win.
“Today I must say thanks to all the fans who came to the side of the road. It was really something unforgettable to see all of the crowds on the hills and on the top of the mountain. I’ve never seen something like this,” said Pogacar.
“I knew that Isaac [Del Toro] is not at 100 per cent, so I was waiting until the last 2km to
"I felt good, and the last 2km I know very well, and there were so many crowds that it gives you an additional boost to go to the top. I gave it a go today, I had good feelings, so I grabbed and took the opportunity.
“It was a really, really perfect day. We marked this stage since the beginning. I know this stage very well, it’s beautiful, it’s an incredible area for cycling.”
The biggest change on the GC saw Tom Pidcock drop back down, from fourth to ninth after he finished 3:34 down on Pogacar.
Ahead of Saturday's stage, Vingegaard's Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Bruno Armirali insisted the Dane was still in the running and that confidence remained high.
“Jonas is in good form. We’ll see what happens this weekend,” Armirial told IDL Procycling. “In any case, we’re confident and we hope he’ll at least hold on to second place … and, why not, that he’ll take first place. That won't be this weekend, because there’s a big difference, after all. But maybe towards the end of the Tour.
“He’s often at his best in the third week, so we’ll see how it goes. We’re really confident. We’ll see how he recovers, how we recover, and how Tadej recovers.”
But Pogacar's recovery clearly went very successfully after his latest dominant victory which increased his GC lead over Vingegaard by 44 seconds.
“Today was a big objective for us. On paper it was a nice stage. We controlled the beginning, it was a hard day, with the rain also and thunderstorms. But I think everyone did what we needed to do – and yeah, you saw the result,” said Pogacar's teammate Adam Yates.
“We're working super-well as a unit, and on the bus and on the dinner table we're having a good laugh. It's hard work, but when you an win like this it's enjoyable.”
Sunday's Stage 15 heads further south and involves a 183.9km run from Champagnole to the summit finish at Plateau de Solaison with a second rest day the reward next up.
“Tomorrow is a bit more difficult,” added Pogacar. “I don’t want to explain it too much, but tomorrow will be a hard day for us. But we will be ready.”
Stage 14 results
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 4:00:07
2. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +38
3. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) Same time
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +44
5. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +48
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4:30
3. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +5:04
4. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) +5:19
5. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) +5:22
