Tadej Pogacar launched a decisive attack on the final climb of Stage 14 of the Tour de France to secure a solo victory and extend his commanding lead. The four-time champion clinched his fourth stage win of the year at the Le Markstein ski resort, finishing 38 seconds ahead of teammate Isaac del Toro. Local rider Paul Seixas finished third, while Jonas Vingegaard took fourth on the stage.
The 155-kilometer route from Mulhouse featured three Category 1 climbs, including the debut of the Col du Haag. Described as a forest path converted into a cycle path, the Col du Haag proved to be the deciding ascent with gradients reaching 16 percent. Riders faced rainy conditions during the descent from Col du Page and encountered early breakaways featuring Richard Carapaz and Valentin Paret-Peintre before Pogacar made his move with 1.6 kilometers left in the final climb.
Pogacar now leads Vingegaard by 4 minutes and 30 seconds in the overall standings, with Remco Evenepoel in third and Paul Seixas moving up to fourth at 5:19 behind the leader. The race continues with Stage 15, a mountainous ride from Champagnole to Plateau de Solaison in the French Alps, followed by a second rest day. The Tour will conclude with its traditional finish in Paris on July 26.
These events followed Stage 13, a 206-kilometer ride from Dole to Belfort. Swiss rider Mauro Schmid won the stage in a two-way sprint against Colombia's Harold Tejada. Britain's Tom Pidcock finished third in that stage, which allowed him to move into the top four of the general classification and narrow his gap to Pogacar.