(Morzine) Could the Tour de France be played on bonuses? Even on the most difficult terrain, defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and double monarch Tadej Pogacar could not create distance between them on Saturday after a dramatic day in the Alps.
In a class of their own, once again Pogacar and Vingegaard finished second and third respectively at Morzine ski resort after another hard-fought battle that concluded a day of attrition on Stage 14.
Both riders were well ahead of their pursuers in the overall standings at one point on the final ascent, the dreaded Col de Joux Plane. However, they allowed eventual stage winner Carlos Rodriguez to return, while the pair watched each other like track cyclists in a velodrome, waiting for an opening to get the biggest bonus at the top of the steep climb. Vingegaard won this duel.
Michael Woods was the best Canadian on the stage, finishing 43rd. His compatriots Hugo Houle and Guillaume Boivin finished 58th and 120th respectively.
Rodriguez, a Spaniard making his Tour debut for Ineos-Grenadiers, then moved away from the duo on the descent to Morzine. He completed the course in three hours 58 minutes 45 seconds, five seconds ahead of Pogacar and Vingegaard.
Ottawa’s Michael Woods was the top Canadian in 43rd place, 27:19 behind the winner. Quebec’s Hugo Houle was 58th, 29:03 behind Rodriguez, and his compatriot Guillaume Boivin finished 120th, 37:29 from the top.
Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey, increasing his overall lead by one second to 10 seconds after Pogacar sprinted to secure second place in the stage.
Rodriguez moved up to third place overall, 4:43 behind Vingegaard, after his first Tour stage victory.
He was more than a minute behind but he took advantage of the duel between the two leaders to claim victory.
“I didn’t think it was possible when I was dropped into the Joux Plane,” he said.
“I tried to go up at my own pace and then go down as fast as possible. I am a good descender, I wanted to take advantage of it. I almost fell several times. […] I took risks. »
In the overall standings, Woods dropped from 34th to 32nd, and trailed Vingegaard by one hour 26 minutes 43 seconds. Houle (2:13:13) moved up seven places from 67th to 60th, while Boivin (3:27:58) is now 126th from 131st at the start of the day.
Vingegaard accumulated a total of 12 bonus seconds for his first place at the top of the climb and his third place. Pogacar had 11 — second at the top and second at the finish — as the race entered the Alps with a 151.8 kilometer stage between Annemasse and the ski resort of Morzine.
“It’s going to be really tight,” Pogacar said after the race.
For Pogacar, the gloves fell definitively on the last ascent of the day. Literally. He threw them at the start of Joux Plane, the culmination of a brutal segment in the Alps comprising no less than five climbs.
Pogacar and Vingegaard began to climb into the lead group after the last runner in the breakaway was caught 58 kilometers from the finish.
Pogacar was the first to attack at Joux Plane and pulled out a small gap, but Vingegaard got into step and gradually came back to catch the Slovenian UAE Team Emirates rider 1.6 kilometers from the top.
Pogacar then attempted another acceleration 500 meters from the top, but he slowed down as the racing bikes got in his way and he had to reduce his effort. His Danish rival from the Jumbo-Visma team then opened the sprint in the last corner before the summit and obtained the eight bonus seconds, against five for Pogacar.
The start of the stage was marked by a pile-up shortly after the peloton left the town of Annemasse.
Spanish rider Antonio Pedrero was evacuated by ambulance and Louis Meintjes, who was 13th overall, retired with a possible broken collarbone. Esteban Chaves, of the EF Education Easypost team, also abdicated.
Dozens of runners fell in a bend on a slippery road and many were treated. Adrien Petit, Meintjes’ teammate in the Intermarche-Circus-Wanty team, got back on his bike with a bandage on his right leg.
The organizers decided to neutralize the stage for around 15 minutes, before local hopeful Romain Bardet and James Shaw joined the list of retirements further down the road after crashing on a descent. Bardet was diagnosed with a concussion, the Frenchman’s team said.
The 179 kilometer long 15th stage to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc on Sunday is another tough hike with a summit finish before the second rest day on Monday.