Mollema wins the Pyrenees stage

Tadej Pogacar rolled relaxed across the finish line and treated himself to a can of soda after the energy-saving Pyrenees dress rehearsal. Before the renewed exertions in the high mountains, the dominator of the Tour de France had a relaxing day in the peloton on the 14th stage from Carcassonne to Quillan and even gave the French a little hope of a podium in Paris. With the solo victory of the Dutch professional cyclist Bauke Mollema, Guillaume Martin improved to second place in the overall ranking as part of an escape group.

“That was another tough stage. I wanted to take the opportunity to make up some time. Overall it was a pretty good day for me and the team, who rode very aggressively,” said Martin, who is now second 4:04 minutes behind Pogacar. “We didn't have to work much and I still have a good lead. I feel quite comfortable in the situation,” said the Slovenian Pogacar. Pogacar leads by a whopping 4 minutes Third is the Colombian Rigoberto Uran, 5:18 minutes behind, closely followed by the Dane Jonas Vingegaard. This had already posed problems for Pogacar at Mont Ventoux and will probably try again on Sunday when he goes over the highest point of the tour on the way to Andorra - the 2408 meter high Port d'Envalira. However, the man of the day was Mollema, who followed in John Degenkolb's footsteps with his victory. In Roubaix in 2018, Degenkolb was the last professional member of the Trek team to achieve a stage success on the Tour. “I thought I would try it well before the finish. That was very hard, but now I’m pretty happy,” Mollema said. The 2019 Lombardy winner attacked from a breakaway group 40 kilometers from the finish and celebrated his second Tour stage victory after 2017.

Tadej Pogacar (in the yellow jersey) had no stress on Saturday. © APA/afp / THOMAS SAMSON

In the end, Bora professional Patrick Konrad, who was also in the group, only came in second. “I tried to follow Bauke, but there was no rhythm in the group anymore. I'm not unhappy, but I would be happier if I had won. That was a smart move on his part. When he had a 30-second lead, no one wanted to follow,” said the Austrian champion. Even before the start, the peloton had reduced further. Last year's stage winner Sören Kragh Andersen and the former mountain jersey winner Warren Barguil had to retire due to the consequences of Friday's mass fall. Before the start in Carcassonne, 32 riders had already had to leave the tour early.

Meanwhile, German top team Bora-hansgrohe appears to have become active in the transfer market. According to the Dutch internet portal “Wielerfits”, Jai Hindley will drive for the Bavarian team next year. The Australian surprisingly came second at the Giro d'Italia in 2019, but fell short of expectations this year. According to the regulations, teams and drivers themselves are only allowed to announce transfers from August 1st.

Hindley is not taking part in the current tour for his DSM team. As a result, the 25-year-old will also be missing on Sunday when the Pyrenees stages open with the climbing to Andorra. However, the finish is not at the Arcalis ski station, where Jan Ullrich took the yellow jersey in 1997, but in the capital Andorra la Vella after a downhill run.

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Mollema wins the Pyrenees stage

The Dutchman Bauke Mollema won the 14th stage of the Tour de France in the Pyrenees. Overall Tour leader Tadej Pogacar didn't allow himself to be stressed, but he now has a new pursuer: Guillaume Martin.

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