Thymen Arensman of Ineos Grenadiers claimed victory in Stage 14 of the Tour de France after a superb solo ride in the 183km mountain trek between Pau and Superbagneres.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) retained the yellow jersey as he took second place, beating chief rival Jonas Vingegaard in a two-man sprint finish to come home 1 minute 12 seconds behind Arensman.
Ireland’s Ben Healy put in a heavy shift to stick with the general classification leaders up to the last few kilometres of the HC climb to the finish. The 24-year-old finished the stage seventh, 2′46 behind Arensman, to return to the top 10 in the GC.
Healy now sits ninth in the GC, 18′41 back on Pogacar, and fourth in the race for the white jersey, awarded to the top rider under 26.
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Defending champion Pogacar extended his GC lead over Vingegaard by six seconds to 4′13 at the end of the Pyrenean stage.
But the day belonged to Arensman, as the Dutchman went solo from the day’s breakaway in the penultimate climb to the Col de Peyresourde before his team car hit a spectator amid the usual roadside chaos on the Tour.
Arensman held firm on his way up to Superbagneres as Vingegaard attacked several times in an attempt to drop Pogacar.
But the world champion did not flinch and easily beat the Dane in the final metres to further cement his domination.
There was also a surprise early in the stage as Remco Evenepoel, who had been third in the GC at the outset of the day, abandoned the race midway through the first climb.
The 25-year-old Belgian had struggled on the last two stages, most notably Friday’s time trial, and was dropped by the peloton in the early stages of Category 1 climb.
