Stage 14 Mountains
PAU > SAINT-LARY-SOULAN PLA D’ADET
Saturday, 13 July | 151.9km | Start: 12:20 Finish: 16:32
The Pyrenees only feature for two days this year, but they do get to play host to the first major mountaintop showdown of the race.
Today’s route
As with most Pyrenean stages, today starts outside the big mountains with their valley roads, in a city on the periphery. For the 75th time, Pau is where the stage begins, resulting in a gradual incline for the first 70km until the foot of the Col du Tourmalet, site of the intermediate sprint.
Ascending the most-climbed mountain in Tour history from its west side (the longer of the two), the peloton then have two climbs to come: Hourquette d’Ancizan (8.2km at 5.1%) – a modern-day regular first used in 2011 and now featuring for the sixth time – follows the Tourmalet, before a summit finish at Pla d’Adet.
10km, the opening stretches regularly exceed 10%, but the severity lessens towards the top. The climb was last visited a decade ago when a young Rafał Majka triumphed.
Stage 14 profile
What to expect
Being the first mountain summit finish of the race, riders on the hunt for the maillot jaune don’t need to be reminded how crucial stage 14 is to the overall result of the race. Lose contact with the lead group on one of the three cols, and a rider will be waving au revoir to their chances.
A big breakaway group will form after the intermediate sprint, with riders from the big GC teams among them, ready to drop back later in the stage to assist their appointed leaders.
The peloton will take a breather on the Tourmaletrelatively speakingwith the team of the highest-placed GC rider (the yellow might be on the shoulders of a breakaway rider) asserting control. Speed will be increased on the Hourquette d’Ancizan and a few big-name riders will be gapped. They will no doubt chase back on, but in doing so will know that they’re going to be dropped again on the final climb when UAE, Visma or Ineos sit on the front and ride at an uncomfortably high pace. The question we’re all asking is: when will the likes of Tadej Pogačar or Primož Roglic make their move? Early or late on the climb?
Riders to watch Jonas Vingegaard turned the screw on the Tourmalet 12 months ago, and it’s on this mountain we will see whether or not he is recovered from his horrific injuries sustained in early April. His former Jumbo team-mate Roglič excels in mountain sprints, and after his win in the Dauphiné will be confident of his chances today, but it’s Pogačar that everyone will be watching. Th
