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133km to go: Armirail and Campenaerts have been reeled in
135km to go: Bruno Armirail has gone clear. He’s the local rider on this stage. He comes from Bagnères-de-Bigorre on the far side of the Tourmalet pass. He’s been joined by Victor Campenaerts
138km to go: Although Britain’s Ineos team has been largely racing in the shadows so far, but British riders on other teams have been making an impact. In this article, Jeremy Whittle reports on the growing influence of Oscar Onley and Joe Blackmore at the head of a new generation of British riders
141km to go: There are 17 riders up front but Visma don’t have a rider up there and they’ve chased the break down
143km to go: A good-sized break is going clear in Lourdes. Ben Healy is in there, so too is Geraint Thomas and stage 11 winner Jonas Abrahamsen
144km to go: The peloton is racing through Lourdes, where it will turn south and race directly towards the Pyrenees
146km to go: Stef Cras has indeed abandoned the race
147km to go: TotalEnergies climber Stef Cras has stopped at the side of the road and is in tears. It looks like the Belgian’s Tour is done, sadly
148km to go: Israel have been very active so far and have tried to force a break clear, but once again the peloton has reeled it in
150km to go: Like Jonathan Milan a few kilometers back, Fred Wright has sat up and dropped back to the bunch after no reinforcements arrived for his breakaway attempt
152km to go: Tadej Pogačar’s TT win at Peyragudes came aboard a Colnago Y1RS that was stripped to basics. In this piece, Alvin Holbrook examines the marginal gains that the UAE team adopted in order to give their leader an edge
155km to go: Bahrain’s Fred Wright has gone clear on his own. He’s got 10 seconds on the bunch
158km to go: Tadej Pogačar has won both stages in the Pyrenees and is favorite for today’s finish at Superbagnères. After his 21st Tour stage win yesterday at Peyragudes, the yellow jersey said he is “at the best moment of my career”. In this story, Andy Hood reports that Pogačar doesn’t have any qualms about chasing more wins even if it means riling his rivals
161km to go: After a quick conversation on his radio, Milan decides to sit up and drop back to the peloton
163km to go: That pair have been reeled in. Milan is still on his own, 17 seconds ahead of the bunch. He could drop back but the danger if he does that is that he might miss the next breakaway attempt and with it some points at the intermediate sprint
165km to go: Mike Teunissen and Ben O’Connor are trying to bridge up to Milan
168km to go: Milan is dangling off the front of the bunch, looking back in the hope that someone will bridge up to him but no one is keen so far. He’s 12 seconds clear
170km to go: Green jersey Jonathan Milan has accelerated clear coming out of a roundabout. His target is the intermediate sprint, which comes at KM 70, just before the riders reach Luz-Saint-Sauveur at the foot of the first climb, the Col du Tourmalet
171km to go: There’s still no breakaway. Decathlon’s Clément Berthet is getting bandaged at the medical car after an early crash
174km to go: The roads are a bit damp after overnight rain and it’s lot cooler than it has been for the last few days. A couple of hours back the temperature at the summit of the Tourmalet was just 8°C (46°F)
176km to go: The riders are on wide roads from the start in Pau to Lourdes with a bit of a tailwind pushing them along as well. There’s no hiding on these roads for riders who do break clear
178km to go: Bahrain’s DS has just warned their riders including polka dot jersey Lenny Martinez that Mike Woods, Skjelmose and Victor Campenaerts all said in pre-stage interviews that they want to be in the break
179km to go: Groupama-FDJ’s Quentin Pacher is the first rider to get a gap
180km to go: There’s no breakaway yet, but candidates for it are gathering
182km to go: … and US champion Quinn Simmons attacks from the start with Lidl-Trek teammate Mattias Skjelmose on his wheel
182.6km to go: Racing is underway on stage 14…
182.6km to go: The final climb to Superbagnères hasn’t featured on the Tour route since 1989. Its absence was partly as a result of the regional authorities opting for finishes in the town of Luchon, but also because of the weakness of a bridge that crossed the River Pique right at the foot of the climb. The opening of a new bridge two years ago has enabled the Tour to return to this famous ascent…
(Illustration: © A.S.O.)
182.6km to go: The stage begins with 80km of riding across the pre-Pyrenean plains from the start in Pau, then passage through the Gorges de Luz to reach the spa town of Luz-Saint-Sauveur at the foot of the western flank of the legendary Col du Tourmalet…
Illustration: © A.S.O.
182.6km to go: The riders have started the 7.5km neutralized section of the stage
Hi and welcome to Velo’s live coverage of stage 14 of the 2025 Tour de France.
The third day in the Pyrenees is the “queen stage”, a grueling mountain test that features 4,950 meters (more than 16,000 feet) of vertical gain on the 182.6km between the start in Pau and the finish at Superbagnères. It’s the first time the race has been to the Pyrenean ski resort that overlooks the spa town of Luchon since 1989 when Philippa York (then known as Robert Millar) won the stage and Laurent Fignon took the yellow jersey from Greg LeMond in their ding-dong battle for the overall title that ran all of the way to the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
The route of today’s stage reprises another epic battle, three years prior to York’s victory, in which LeMond also played a leading role. In 1986, the American was co-leader of the La Vie Claire team alongside defending TDF champion Bernard Hinault.
The previous day, France’s five-time Tour winner had launched a long-range attack through the Pyrenees that put him five-and-a-half minutes ahead of LeMond on GC. However, rather than sit on that lead, Hinault attacked again on the descent from the Tourmalet, the first pass of the day. He bridged up to lone breakaway rider Dominique Arnaud on the following pass, the Aspin, then dropped him on the next ascent, the Col de Peyresourde, and continued on alone. However, his lead, which had been three minutes over his GC rivals, was already tumbling. Topping the Peyresourde, Hinault led LeMond and the other GC contenders by a mere 25 seconds.
He was caught on the descent into Luchon and soon fell back as the front group tackled the first slopes of the 12.4km climb to Superbagnères. LeMond seized his opportunity to strike back, winning the stage and cutting Hinault’s lead to just 40 seconds. Will today’s rerun of that great stage bring a similar reversal of fortunes for the yellow jersey? It seems unlikely, but that was also the case in 1986…
(Illustration: © A.S.O.)