Approaching the finish of stage 14, Tadej Pogačar glanced over his shoulder, turned off his bike computer and, after crossing the line, held up one arm, four fingers in the air.
The World Champion has claimed his fourth victory in this year’s Tour de France with another solo win at Le Markstein, in the Vosges. It is his 125th career stage win and his 25th in the Tour, bringing him ever closer to Mark Cavendish’s record of 35.
Starting in a wet Mulhouse, close to the Swiss and German borders, today was the first of two back-to-back mountain stages, with 3,800 metres of elevation gain across 155.3 kilometres.
Pogačar’s winning move came on the final Col du Haag, which made its first appearance in the Tour de France this year. It did not disappoint. Towards the top of the 11.2-kilometre climb, the road became a narrow bike path and the crowds became thicker, lining the sides of the road, standing on the verge – and even climbing trees to get a glimpse of the race.
Although UAE Team Emirates-XRG had been on the front all day, it was Decathlon CMA CGM and Visma-Lease a Bike who turned the screw on the final climb, distancing riders like Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q.36 Pro Cycling Team), who started the day at fourth on GC. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) looked good on the front, his relentless pace causing Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) to lose contact.
But with 1.6 kilometres to the top —7.5 to the finish line— Pogačar launched his attack, immediately opening a gap on the double-digit gradients. Like on the Tourmalet on stage six, or at Le Lioran on stage 10, it was Vingegaard who was first to follow.
To the delight of French fans, Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) clearly had good legs, shaking off the other GC contenders to catch Vingegaard just before the summit. The two worked together to minimise their losses, with Isaac del Toro —despite appearing to suffer— clawing his way back and sitting on. On the flat finish, it was del Toro who would snatch second place ahead of Seixas in third, and Vingegaard in fourth. Evenepoel recouped his losses on the climb to finish fifth.
Rewarded for his efforts, Seixas has moved up two places on GC, and taken the young rider’s jersey from Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek). Pogačar has increased his lead on Vingegaard to 4 minutes and 30 seconds.
“I must say thanks to all the fans that came to the side of the road. It was something unforgettable,” said Pogačar after the stage. “To see all the cars on the hills and on top of the mountain - I’ve never seen something like this.”
“It was a perfect day. We marked this stage since the beginning,” he continued. “I knew that Isaac [del Toro] is maybe not 100%, so I was waiting for the last two kilometres to see if there was going to be any movement. Decathlon and then Jonas did a really hard pace on the climb, and one by one there were guys dropping. I felt good, so I said I would try the last two kilometres, [which] I know very well…I have good memories from here and today, as a team, we have another one.”
Vingegaard, meanwhile, told Visma-Lease a Bike that today was “not a bad stage. I got some answers about myself, at least. My legs are where I want them to be, so I’m happy.”
Earlier in the day, there had also been some action in the hotly contested green jersey competition, with an early intermediate sprint offering valuable points. Thanks to a lead-out from his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammates, Jasper Philipsen claimed 25, ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Max Kanter (XDS-Astana). Pedersen remains in green by a margin of just 36 points.
Pogačar’s victory also disguises some valiant breakaway efforts. After the first climb of the day, the 21.6-kilometre Grand Ballon, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Einer Rubio (Movistar Team), and Uno-X Mobility brothers Tobias and Anders Halland Johannessen found themselves alone ahead of the peloton.
By the foot of the Col du Haag, they had a lead of just one-and-a-half minutes. As the seconds fell, Tobias Johannessen and Carapaz decided to roll the dice one final time with a gutsy attack. Carapaz went solo, with Johannessen eventually catching back on. But today, unfortunately, was not their day. The pair finished eight and ninth respectively.
Tomorrow promises another GC battle in the mountains, but Pogačar was reluctant to give too much away about his plans. “I don’t want to explain it too much, but tomorrow will be a hard day for us,” he said. “We will be ready to fight, and to see what’s going to happen. There are a lot of options.”
TOUR DE FRANCE 2026, STAGE 14: MULHOUSE > LE MARKSTEIN (155.3KM)
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 4:00:07
2. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +38s
3. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, s.t.
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Dan) Visma-Lease a Bike, +44s
5. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, +48s
6. Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek, +50s
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, s.t.
8. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +1:18
9. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +1:40
10. Mattias Skjelmose (Dan) Lidl-Trek, s.t.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 14
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 51:18:28
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +4:30
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +5:04
4. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +5:19
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +5:22
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +5:44
7. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +5:50
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+7:35
8. Tom Pidcock (Gbr), Pinarello Q36.5, +7:59
10. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +8:25