After the break (a big one, no less) had its day on Friday, the Tour de France heads straight back into the mountains for a demanding 155.3-km stage through the Vosges mountains. While it’s shorter than many Alpine tests, there’s little chance for the peloton to catch its breath, with four classified climbs before the finish at Le Markstein. Sprinters should realize by now that they will be spending many many more days hangin’ in the grupetto. There are essentially no flat days left for the fastmen.
Stage 14 of the Tour de France
The climbing starts almost immediately with the Grand Ballon. It’s a long ascent that averages a modest 4.8 per cent on paper but features extended sections closer to seven and eight per cent if you ignore the flatter stuff. From there, the riders descend to Le Markstein before tackling the Col du Page and the Ballon d’Alsace, steadily tenderizing the legs before the decisive finale.
The Col du Haag
Everything is designed to set up the Col du Haag. The 11.2-km climb averages 7.3 per cent, but its steepest ramps arrive near the summit, where gradients approach 11 per cent. It’s a nasty little kicker that should see some proper damage to the contenders.
Once over the top, there are just over five mostly flat kilometres remaining to the finish.
Le Markstein was also the finish of a mountain stage three years ago, when Tadej Pogačar outsprinted Jonas Vingegaard for the victory. The approach is different this time, but another duel between the Tour’s biggest stars wouldn’t be a surprise.
Pogačar and his grip on yellow
Whether that happens depends largely on UAE Team Emirates-XRG. Pogačar has attacked whenever the opportunity has presented itself during this Tour, and another explosive mountain stage is unlikely to discourage him. Still, with more climbing to come, the yellow jersey may decide that simply defending his lead is enough.
Vingegaard will once again be the rider most likely to challenge the Slovenian if the favourites arrive together. Behind them, the fight for the remaining podium places is tightening, with Remco Evenepoel, Juan Ayuso, Florian Lipowitz, Paul Seixas and Mattias Skjelmose all still (sort of) in contention.
If the GC teams hesitate, a climber like Richard Carapaz ould look to make the most of an opportunity from the breakaway. Now there is a TT on Sunday–but you’d still think the guys going for the overall will throw down.
Speaking of the overall, Tom Pidcock moved up quite a bit due to him being in that massive breakaway on Friday. He climbed up six spots, after finishing well over seven minutes on the main bunch which had Pogi et al. The Brit is now sitting fourth overall, 4:15 behind. The question is, how many matches did he burn today and will that cost him on Saturday? That’s a big ole TDB.
You can watch the race on Flobikes.com beginning at 7:00 a.m. EDT. Canadian Cycling Magazine will have a full report on Saturday’s stage–it looks like a doozy, to say the least!
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