Stage 14 - Vingegaard strikes back at Laruns, cuts Pogačar lead to 39 seconds

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) won Stage 14 at Laruns with a stunning 3-km attack on the Col d'Aubisque, the first Pyrenean summit finish of the 2026 Tour. The Dane took 30 seconds out of Tadej Pogačar on the road and cut the GC lead from 1'09" to 39 seconds with three mountain stages and a 36 km individual time trial still to come. Pogačar keeps yellow by a margin thinner than his margin of victory on Stage 7 of the 2024 Tour.

Stage 14 — top 10

• 🏆 Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) — 4h 38'52", bonus 10"
• Tadej Pogačar (UAE) — +0:30, bonus 6"
• Isaac del Toro (UAE) — +0:32
• Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora) — +0:54
• Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) — +0:54
• Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) — +0:54
• Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA-CGM) — +1:38
• Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora) — +2:11
• Tobias S. Foss (Netcompany Ineos) — +2:11
• Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) — +2:11

GC after Stage 14

• 🟡 Tadej Pogačar (UAE) — 46h 51'25"
• Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) — +0:39
• Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora) — +2:27
• Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) — +2:30
• Isaac del Toro (UAE) — +2:37
• Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) — +3:02
• Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora) — +5:48

Vingegaard's Aubisque masterpiece

The stage profile was always going to favour the Dane: 4,800 m of climbing with the Col du Tourmalet (HC, 17.2 km at 7.4%) and the Col d'Aubisque (HC, 16.5 km at 7.1%) in the final 80 km. Visma set tempo from the foot of the Tourmalet, with Matteo Jorgenson doing 4 km at 6.0 W/kg to thin the group. Sepp Kuss took over for the final 5 km of the Tourmalet.

The decisive moment came at 3 km to go on the Aubisque, with the gradient at 9.8%. Vingegaard accelerated once, blew the race apart, and only Pogačar could initially follow. The Slovenian lasted 800 m before cracking, then sat up, then watched the gap grow. Vingegaard crossed 30 seconds ahead. Pogačar's 6-second bonus for second place cut the damage to 24 seconds in pure time, with the bonus structure adding the remaining 6 seconds of additional gain.

Evenepoel: not enough punch

Remco Evenepoel is now 2'27" behind Pogačar and 1'48" behind Vingegaard. The Belgian finished at 0:54, losing 24 seconds to Vingegaard in the final 3 km of the Aubisque. The pattern is now established: Pogačar and Vingegaard are the only two riders who can sustain 6+ W/kg for 3+ km on 9%+ gradients. Evenepoel's limiter is power-to-weight on the steepest ramps — his time-trialling is still world-class, but he is racing for a podium, not for yellow.

UAE's tactics: defend on Sunday

UAE's sports director Joxean Fernández said post-stage: "We expected Jonas to attack. We will defend tomorrow on Superbagnères. Tadej is the strongest in the world on 3-week stages." The team will likely set tempo on the Peyresourde and then let Pogačar ride his own pace to the finish. A 39-second buffer gives Pogačar room for one bad day in the Alps.

Combative: Abrahamsen

Jonas Abrahamsen (NSN) took the day's combativity prize after a 165-km breakaway that he anchored with two NSN teammates. The Norwegian was caught on the lower slopes of the Aubisque, 6 km from the summit, finishing +18'44" in 22nd. The award was his second of the Tour after the Stage 5 break.

Other jerseys

• 🟢 Green: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) — 290 pts (+2 from intermediate sprint at Sainte-Marie-de-Campan)
• 🔴 Polka-dot: Tadej Pogačar (UAE) — 108 pts (+12 from Tourmalet and Aubisque summit finishes)
• ⚪ White: Isaac del Toro (UAE) — 25 years old, 4 seconds ahead of Lenny Martinez
• 🟡 Team: UAE Team Emirates-XRG — 8 seconds ahead of Visma

What it means for Stage 15

Stage 15 (Bagnères-de-Luchon → Superbagnères, 168 km, 4,500 m of climbing) is the second Pyrenees stage and the last mountain stage before the second rest day on Monday. The route includes the Col de Peyresourde (HC, 13.2 km at 7.3%) and finishes at the Superbagnères ski station — a 19.1 km climb at 7.2% with ramps to 12% in the final 5 km. Vingegaard has finished 1st + 1st at Superbagnères in the last two Tours. Expect a repeat. If Pogačar can limit his losses to 15 seconds on Sunday, his 39-second lead is defendable in the Alps.

Sources

• letour.fr Stage 14 ranking — letour.fr/en/stage-14
• letour.fr Stage 14 report — Vingegaard wins Laruns
• letour.fr GC after Stage 14
• Visma–Lease a Bike post-stage interview — Grischa Niermann
• UAE Team Emirates-XRG post-stage interview — Joxean Fernández