On the back of two dominant stage wins for the perennial Tadej Pogačar, hope reigned that a breakaway just might – just maybe – be allowed to fight it out on stage 14 to Luchon-Superbagnères via three first- and hors-catégorie Pyrenean giants.
It was touch and go as Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-ADQ teammates kept the fragmented break on a fairly short leash, but a daring solo move from Thymen Arensman, who spread his wings on the Peyresourdes with 37 km remaining, stuck over the penultimate crest, and his almost three-minute advantage over the yellow jersey group at the foot of the final climb was enough to send him all the way.
The Dutchman's head was bobbing like a dashboard toy in the closing kilometres, as Jonas Vingegaard drew out Pogačar 4 km from the summit, but he held on to win by over a minute to the yellow jersey. After marking his rival into submission, Pogačar sprinted into the last few-hundred metres to take a morale-sapping handful more seconds away from the Dane, extending his lead to 4:13.
Big news from early in the stage was Remco Evenepoel's abandon after a horrible couple of days in the dreaded Pyrenees, and with a great final climb for the German, that meant Florian Lipowitz moved onto the overall podium and into the white jersey with 1:25 over Oscar Onley.
[race_result id=17 stage_id=86009 count=10 gc=0 year=2025]
[race_result id=17 stage_id=86009 count=10 gc=10 year=2025]
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