Tour de France: Carlos Rodriguez wins Stage 14 as epic Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard battle ends in stalemate

Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) stole in to win Stage 14 of the Tour de France as Jonas Vingegaard emerged from his Alps showdown with Tadej Pogacar having carved out a slight advantage in the GC battle.

Pogacar crossed the finish line ahead of Vingegaard, collecting two bonus seconds more than the Dane. However, Vingegaard extended his overall lead in the GC to 10 seconds after picking up bonus points earlier in the stage for cresting the Col de Joux Plane ahead of his Slovenian rival.

Two riders – Antonio Pedrero (Movistar Team) and Louis Meintjes (Team Intermarché–Circus–Wanty) – abandoned and more crashes followed, with Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and British debutant James Shaw (EF-Education EasyPost) also having to leave the race.

General classification contenders Vingegaard and Pogacar managed to stay clear of the drama, and hit the foot of the decisive final climb of the day – the Col de Joux Plane – unscathed.

Vingegaard’s team-mate Sepp Kuss set the pace at the front of a select group at the start of the climb. However, when Pogacar gave Adam Yates the nod, the Brit sprung off the front. Only Vingegaard could follow Pogacar and Yates.

Then, when Pogacar made his move with 3km of the climb remaining, Vingegaard could not react initially, but the Dane reeled him in with 2km of the climb to go.

Vingegaard surprisingly topped the climb ahead of Pogacar to collect the eight bonus points as the Slovenian switched off, meaning the Dane had a 12-second virtual lead heading towards the finish in Morzine.

Yates and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) rejoined the front pair on the descent, and the Spaniard powered away to seal his victory.

More to follow

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