{"id":199157,"date":"2025-07-21T13:00:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T13:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=199157"},"modified":"2025-07-21T13:33:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T13:33:16","slug":"evenepoel-drops-out-on-the-tourmalet-as-pogacar-increases-gc-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/07\/21\/evenepoel-drops-out-on-the-tourmalet-as-pogacar-increases-gc-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"Evenepoel Drops out on the Tourmalet as Poga\u010dar Increases GC Lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

A stage that offers more than 5,000m of altitude gained and includes two HC climbs was always going to feel like a Tour de France \u2018queen stage,\u2019 and Saturday\u2019s stage 14 did not disappoint \u2013 except perhaps the fans of Tadej Poga\u010dar who wanted him to win a third stage in a row.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Generous Pogi<\/strong><\/h2>\n

He didn\u2019t. He finished second, 1:08 behind Thymen Arensman, who burst out of a small breakaway group on the category 1 climb to the Col du Peyresourde (7.1km @ 8.1%) with 34.1km left to ride on the 182.6km course from Pau to Luchon-Superbagn\u00e8res and soloed courageously to the finish line. It marked the first Tour victory for his INEOS Grenadiers team since July 15, 2023, when Carlos Rodr\u00edguez also won that Tour\u2019s stage 14.<\/p>\n

“I heard the gap with the GC group, and I thought with Tadej and Jonas [Vingegaard], three-and-a-half minutes probably isn’t enough,\u201d Arensman said afterwards. \u201cI have to move. Maybe it’s suicide, maybe it’s not. I can’t believe I held them off, but I was really fading on this last climb, the second half. But I think with all the spectators, they gave me an extra few Watts, and I just could hold them off. It’s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

That climb was the second HC ascent of the stage, 12.4km @ 7.3% to the ski resort of Luchon-Superbagn\u00e8res, and on some of the double-digit gradients Arensman looked as if he were about to stop or fall over. But he plugged on and maintained a healthy gap all the way to the line.<\/p>\n

But, with no disrespect to Arensman, it must be said that Poga\u010dar looked as if he could easily have caught and passed him on that final climb. That he didn\u2019t was probably due to a media discussion that took place Friday when some commentators suggested that perhaps the Slovenian was too greedy and should give lesser riders a chance to win a stage. \u201cI’m not here to make enemies, but this is the Tour de France,\u201d he replied. \u201cI\u2019m paid to win races, not to give them away.\u201d \u00a0But I think he gave this one away.<\/p>\n

About 4km before the finish line, Vingegaard (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike) burst out of a small pursuing group, followed closely by Poga\u010dar and the new Red Bull\u2013BORA\u2013hansgrohe GC leader, Florian Lipowitz. The young German was eventually dropped, as the two GC rivals pursued their intense rivalry up the mountain. It seemed that Poga\u010dar could have ridden away at any moment and sprint towards the finish, but he chose to sit on the Dane\u2019s wheel.<\/p>\n

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Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd Tour de France\u2122 (@letourdefrance)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n