Arensman soloes to Tour stage victory
Ineos Grenadiers' Thymen Arensman in action with riders during stage 14. photo: REUTERS
Dutch rider Thymen Arensman climbed to victory on the gruelling stage 14 of the Tour de France in the Pyrenees on Saturday as defending champion Tadej Pogacar extended his overall race lead.
Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, who had been third overall, pulled out of the race on the day's first climb of the daunting 2180m altitude Tourmalet.
The Belgian Soudal Quick-Step rider appeared exhausted after Friday's uphill time trial.
Arensman attacked on the third of four mountains on a colossal climb day while Slovenian Pogacar outsprinted Jonas Vingegaard for second just over a minute behind the winner.
Crossing the line in the mist at 1840m altitude, Arensman flung himself to the ground exhausted after taking a first win on this Tour for British team Ineos.
The 25-year-old produced a virtuoso climb amidst suffocating packs of near hysterical fans who had waited all day for the peloton to pass.
Behind him Pogacar fought off a string of attacks from his arch rival Vingegaard on a day the Slovenian never looked like attacking for the win.
Winner of the past two stages Pogacar pounced for the line from 50 metres with his trademark kick gaining another six seconds on the Dane.
Pogacar, overall race winner in 2020, 2021 and 2024, now leads Vingegaard by 4min 13sec with Florian Lipowitz moving into third place at 7min 53sec.
German Lipovitz of Red Bull rode on Pogacar's wheel until Dane Vingegaard, who won back-to-back Tour titles in 2022 and 2023, had attacked late on.
After three days in the Pyrenees the riders next have a hilly stage 15 over 169.3km from Muret to the medieval fortified town of Carcassonne.
Spectator hit by Ineos-Grenadiers team car
An Ineos-Grenadiers team car hit and knocked down a spectator during the 14th stage of the Tour de France cycle race, TV footage showed on Saturday.
The team car was in the middle of the road to the Col de Peyresourde, about 200 metres from the top of the ascent, when it struck the spectator, who was cheering the riders on. Organisers told Reuters they were not aware of the accident while Ineos-Grenadiers were not immediately available for comment.
Olympic champion Evenepoel pulls out of Tour de France
Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel pulled out of the Tour de France during Saturday's stage 14, a gruelling climb of the Tourmalet mountain in the Pyrenees.
The double Olympic champion was third in the overall standings and had won stage five in the 21-stage race, but appeared exhausted after Friday's uphill time trial.
The Soudal Quick-Step rider won both the Olympic road race and time trial gold in Paris, shortly after finishing third at the 2024 Tour de France and claimed the best young rider's white jersey.
But an accident in Brussels in December involving a postal delivery van scuppered the 25-year-old's preparation for this year's Tour.
The opening stages were contested near the Belgian border, but Evenepoel lost a minute of the first day after being caught in a cross wind split.
This tactical error deprived him of a golden chance of taking the leader's yellow jersey in the first week, where he would pulverise the field on a 33km time trial.
The team will now base its attention around fellow Belgian rider Tim Merlier, who has already won two sprint stages on this Tour.