Sunday was Bastille Day at the Tour de France, a second consecutive day in the high mountains of the Pyrenees, and for the second day in a row Tadej Pogačar put more time into Jonas Vingegaard with a summit finish victory. It’s the Slovenian’s third win of the 111th edition and 14th career stage triumph, moving him up to 13th on the Tour’s all-time win list. On the other hand, the Dane fortified his runner-up spot ahead of Remco Evenepoel. Derek Gee placed twelfth, preserving his ninth place on GC.
The Course
The second day in the Pyrenees, and last day before the last rest day, was a cracker. Five climbs were spread somewhat evenly along 197.7 km, the Cat. 1 Col de Peyresourde hit right out of the gate. Three more Cat. 1 climbs challenged the field before the second HC-rated summit finish in a row, Plateau de Beille, 15.7 km of 7.8 percent.
Joyeux 14 juillet 🇫🇷#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/353yBnXoxd
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) July 14, 2024
Attacks flew right away on the Peyresourde, with David Gaudu taking the maximum KOM points. On the way to the Col de Menté, a much larger breakaway formed and a real mob of riders saw Javier Romo tip over the Menté first. Atop the Col de Portet-d’Aspet Tobias Halland Johannessen was the fastest. When the race was in the long valley between the Portet-d’Aspet and Col d’Agnes, 101 km remaining, the 15-strong escape was 2:30 ahead of the Visma-LAB-led peloton.
Col d’Agnes, the penultimate climb, was a tough Cat. 1, 10.1 km of 8.1 percent. The fugitives arrived at its base with a 3:30 gap on a small yellow jersey group. Ben Healy, the last breakaway caught on Saturday, separated himself along with Enric Mas, Jai Hindley, Laurens de Plus and Matteo Sobrero. Healy’s teammate Richard Carapaz replaced him in the move as it clambered closer to the peak. De Plus nabbed the maximum KOM points.
On the way down to the valley floor Johannessen bridged over to make a escape quintet. The five riders brought a 2:35 lead to the foot of the HC-rated ascent.
Plateau de Beille
The yellow jersey was immediately thinned out. Gee struggled to hang on.
While Visma-LAB kept up the pressure behind, the breakaway skirmishes began. What Mas and Carapaz were up to was made irrelevant from the moment Vingegaard attacked with 10.5 km to go. Pogačar followed but once again Evenepoel couldn’t respond.
Evenepoel was 35…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…