Uran on the verge of Tour de France top 10

During the battle for the general classification on the slopes of Plateau de Beille, Team Sky's Rigoberto Uran was fighting on two fronts: for a place in the top ten and for the best young rider's white jersey. 

The young Colombian went on to finish fifth, 48 seconds behind Omega Pharma-Lotto's Jelle Vanendert, ensuring he took the white jersey and moved up the special classification ahead of Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) and Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) who are now 1:07 and 1:25 back respectively.

Team Sky directeur sportif Sean Yates praised Uran for his ride and the earlier efforts of Xabier Zandio who made the day's break which formed before the category two Col de Portet d'Aspet.

"It was a good day all round, and for Rigoberto especially," he said. "It went very much as planned."

"Xabier [Zandio] made the breakaway and that was perfect for us. It enabled the rest of the team - including Rigoberto - to know we had all bases covered and didn't have to waste any extra energy."

"It (the break) was always likely to come back and then turn into a battle between the GC guys on the final climb but Xabier couldn't have done any more, he judged it just right."

While he didn't gain any time on stage 14, 24-year-old Uran moved from 18th to 11th on general classification which Yates said is "all good, without getting carried away."

"When we lost Brad we had to re-evaluate and look at what was the best way to go and Rigo will be doing everything he can to win the white jersey and climb into the top 10 overall," he explained. "He [Uran] played it cool today and did it to perfection. He did great. There's still a lot of competition in that young rider category but with the finish on the Galibier to come - where altitude will have an effect - you'd hope that's to Rigoberto's advantage."

"The team being successful, with Xabier in the break and Rigo going well, lifts the whole squad. Flecha is recovering all the time from his crash all the time too. It's not easy for him but he's a tough cookie and he's able to keep an eye on Rigoberto on the flat."