LE MARKSTEIN, France (AP) 鈥� Tadej Pogacar launched a trademark attack on the last climb of the day to win the 14th stage of the on Saturday and extend his commanding lead as he chases a fifth title.
The Slovenian star raised his arms in the air after clinching his fourth stage of this year’s race and 25th overall. Barring injury or mishap, a fifth Tour crown is looking increasingly inevitable. Only Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault have five Tour victories.
Pogcar’s UAE Emirates XRG teammate has been impressive so far. The 22-year-old Mexican finished Saturday’s stage in second place and French hope Paul Seixas was third ahead of two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard, who is again being dominated by Pogacar in the big climbs.
Pogacar now leads Vingegaard by 4 minutes, 30 seconds overall in the standings, with Remco Evenepoel 5:04 back in third place and the 19-year-old Seixas improving to fourth at 5:19 behind Pogacar.
Saturday鈥檚 155-kilometer (96-mile) route featured three big Category 1 climbs 鈥� the second-hardest category in climbing 鈥� in the Alsace region and ended at Le Markstein ski resort.
After the first big ascent up Grand Ballon, a group of five were at the front, including Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, with Pogacar’s large yellow jersey group rolling behind as riders tackled the descent in rainy conditions.
After the second big climb, nine kilometers up Ballon d’Alsace, the gap to the yellow jersey group was about two minutes. But with Pogacar’s teammates setting a fast pace in the peloton, it was just over one minute ahead of the day’s final big climb up Col du Haag, leading to the finish.
With Pogacar poised to attack at any moment, Vingegaard sat on his wheel as Carapaz surged ahead alone. After Carapaz was caught, Pogacar attacked with 1.6 kilometers left in the climb and Vingegaard could not follow him.
Seixas closed in on Vingegaard with screaming fans lining the route perilously close to the riders.
Up ahead, there was no such stress for Pogacar as he cruised to another dominant stage victory.
Sunday’s 15th stage concludes with a daunting HC (the hardest category) up Plateau de Solaison in the French Alps, where the irrepressible Pogacar could well attack again.
Monday is the second rest day of the race, which concludes with its traditional finish in Paris on July 26. ___
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