The man from Granada conquers the third Spanish stage victory in this Tour
MADRID, 15 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish cyclist Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) has prevailed this Saturday in the fourteenth stage of the 110th edition of the Tour de France, disputed between Annemasse and Morzine Les Portes du Soleil over 151.8 kilometers, achieving the third Spanish victory in this round while the Danish Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) retained the yellow jersey after neutralizing the attacks of the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates).
At the age of 22, the man from Granada completed a masterful performance in Morzine, in which he captured the first two overall with nine kilometers to go before going off alone to conquer the third Spanish stage victory of this Tour, after Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorius) reigned in the tenth stage and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), in the twelfth.
In a mountain day marked by a massive fall in the first kilometers that forced the race to stop for half an hour -and which ended with the abandonment of men like the Spanish Antonio Pedrero (Movistar), the Colombian Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost ) or the South African Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty)-, Pogacar and Vingegaard waged a new battle that leaves the Slovenian ten points behind the Dane in the general classification.
Pogacar, winner of the ‘Grande Boucle’ in 2020 and 2021, entered the finish line second, just ahead of the current champion of the French round, but the bonuses prevented him from cutting more seconds overall, where now the man from Almuñécar is third , at 4:43, after the debacle of Australian Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), who lost almost two minutes.
The pile-up at kilometer 5.5 disrupted the start of the day, which greeted the runners with rain. Race Direction forced to stop the test for several minutes to attend to those affected, while others were condemned to abandon. In the resumption, hostilities broke out.
The attacks followed one another in the first section, with five cyclists first crowning the Col de Saxel, of third category; As he descended, Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich) crashed and later retired.
By then, the Italian Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and the Norwegian Tobias Halland Johannenssen (Uno-X Pro Cycling) had managed to stand out with about twenty runners in pursuit, who caught them before reaching the top of Col de Cou . Another first class port, the Col du Feu, allowed the escapees to increase their lead, over a minute, over the peloton, increasingly fragmented by the hardness of the climb.
Ahead, the leading group was reduced by eleven units -among which were the Spaniards Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), Gorka Izagirre and Alex Aranburu (Movistar)-, and the chasing group was swallowed up before the intermediate sprint of Col of Jambaz.
Aspirants were also falling from the front as they ascended the Col de la Ramaz, until Ciccone tried to leave alone with 59 kilometers to go. The Jumbo-Visma stopped him and led a group of up to 25 cyclists, among whom Wout van Aert began to set the pace.
The Belgian crowned first before starting the long descent to the final obstacle: the Col de Joux Plane. In his ascent, men like Simon Yates or Pello Bilbao were left off the hook, and the group in the yellow jersey also suffered.
With 3.7 kilometers to go from the top, classified as Special, Pogacar launched his umpteenth attack, to which Vingegaard responded after a few moments of hesitation; in fact, he managed to get all eight bonus points at the top. Behind, Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) crowned 20 seconds behind the duo, with Australian Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) at 1:30 and Simon Yates, at 3:00.
With 10 kilometers ahead, the British Adam Yates (UAE Emirates) caught up with the Andalusian and both jumped for the last two Tour winners, whom they hunted down a kilometer later. It was then that the Spaniard, to everyone’s surprise, left alone to enter the finish line first and move up to third place in the provisional general standings.
The gala round will continue this Sunday with the fifteenth stage, just before the last rest day on Monday. The runners will face 179 kilometers of high mountains between Les Gets Les Portes du Soleil and Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc, a very demanding day with peaks of maximum hardness in the Côte des Amerands, with sections of up to 17% gradient.
–CLASSIFICATIONS.
-Stage.
1. CARLOS RODRIGUEZ (ESP/INEOS Grenadiers) 3:58:45.
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE Team Emirates)
3. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/Jumbo-Visma) mt
4. Adam Yates (GBR/UAE Team Emirates) 10.
5. Sepp Kuss (USA/Jumbo-Visma) mt
-General.
1. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/Jumbo-Visma) 57:47:28.
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE Emirates) def.
3. CARLOS RODRIGUEZ (ESP/INEOS Grenadiers) 4:43.
4. Jai Hindley (AUS/Bora-Hansgrohe) 4:44.
5. Adam Yates (GBR/UAE Team Emirates) 5:20.