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Tour de France stage 14 - Live coverage

By Patrick Fletcher
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All the action on a hilly stage to Lyon

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Hello there and welcome along as the Tour de France enters its second weekend. The big summit finish on the Grand Colombier comes on Sunday but first we have this hilly stage that takes us out of the Massif Central and over to Lyon, moving closer to the high mountains. Breakaway hopefuls will have marked this one out a long time ago. 

This stage is categorised in the Tour de France road book as 'flat'. Not sure how they've come to that conclusion. They haven't given the total elevation gain but the Col du Béal takes us up to 1400 metres, not to mention the four other categorised climbs and that long uncategorised uphill slog. After yesterday's feast of 4,400m of elevation gain, it's another heavy day.

The pre-stage podium ceremony is well underway in Clermont-Ferrand, and the riders will be rolling out at 13:05 local time, so in just over 10 minutes. 15 minutes in the neutral zone will follow before the stage officially starts. Yesterday's was full gas for a long time, and we're likely to see another active start today.

Before we get going, why not catch up on yesterday's action? 

Race leader Primoz Roglic on the podium a little earlier

We're off!

We've got the details on those restrictions, plus info on tomorrow's stage, where the authorities will attempt to stop anyone spectating on the two final climbs. 

The riders are sitting behind the director's car as we head through the last few kilometres of this neturalized zone. 

Wondering who'll be in the break today? We've picked out a few candidates for the remainder of the race. We already saw some of them up the road yesterday, while the first name on that list seems to me to be a prime pick for today. 

Today we're heading to Lyon, the finish location of the first ever stage of the Tour de France, all the way back in 1903. Maurice Garin was the rider who won that day and has the honour of being the first ever Tour stage winner. 

Here we go!

Total Direct Energie launch the first move but it's quickly snuffed out by Deceuninck-QuickStep's Kasper Asgreen. There's an intermediate sprint after 38km, and QuickStep obviously have Sam Bennett in the green jersey...

Thomas De Gendt tries a move, but it's not going anywhere. Total and FDJ look keen again.

De Gendt's Lotto Soudal teammate Roger Kluge is next to go, and he's joined by EF's Sergio Higuita in a little-and-large combo. 

Asgreen shuts it down once more before moving to the front of that group. The peloton is lined out and the accelerations are coming and going in a frantic start. 

Asgreen looks like he might want to break away himself here, rather than just policing for Bennett. He moves to the front and flicks his elbow out. It's stretched out massively but no gaps at the moment. 

Sunweb go next with Cees Bol.

Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) jumps across.

The attacks have stopped behind but it hasn't completely settled down yet. The gap is slim. 

A couple more riders clip off now in pursuit as we hit a false flat incline. The first proper climb comes after 31km. 

Kung is the next to respond and puts in a big acceleration from the bunch. 

Kung makes it across to make it three out front. They've only got a handful of seconds, though, and it's still kicking off behind. 

It looks like Matteo Trentin (CCC) wants to get involved. He's been interested in the intermediate sprints. Mountains classification leader Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R) also makes a move but they're brought back. 

Here's how the points classification stands ahead of this upcoming intermediate sprint

The pace has eased in the bunch now and things look to be calming down. Kung, Bol, Teuns move out to 30 seconds.

Hold on, Casper Pedersen (Sunweb) has other ideas. He springs from the pack and begins to make his way across. No reaction from anyone else in the peloton.

Bol sits up and starts to wait for Pedersen. 

Pedersen reaches Bol, and it's all smiles between the pair. They don't seem keen to try and get up to Kung and Teuns. Odd.

Kung and Teuns appear nonplussed as well. They talk it over before settling in and continuing to press on. 

Bol and Pedersen are now drifting back to the peloton. Perhaps Bol only wanted to go in a bigger break? Can't muster any explanation for Pedersen.

171km to go

Ineos' performance yesterday has attracted criticism from their former director Sean Yates, who wonders why they rode so hard on the penultimate climb, and whether Bernal got his training wrong. Full story at the link below.

Kung and Teuns hit the early cat-4 climb. It's only 1km, but the average gradient is 8.4%. Bora will surely look to hurt Bennett there. 

Kung leads Teuns over the top as Bora hit the front and light it up on the approach.

Sagan will be hoping he can take maximum points from the bunch at the intermediate sprint, which comes 6km after the climb, and that Bennett will have been dropped and won't pick up any.

Bennett is latched onto the back of this Bora train. And they're getting a gap over the rest of the bunch...

Sagan reaches the top of the climb with Schachmann and almost drops the German in the process. Trentin is there and looking to get back on but Bennett has been distanced right at the top there. 

Bennett seems resigned now. He has another Bora rider, Daniel Oss, sitting on his wheel, but Oss chooses to go and leave him behind now, taking away as many points as possible. 

Bennett did well to hold on initially as Bora opened up a gap on the rest of the peloton, but he didn't have the legs at the top of the climb. 

Bennett is now in a nine-rider chase group that also clipped off on the climb.

159km to go

Schachmann looks tired after his efforts in yesterday's break, but he musters a final lead-out for Sagan ahead of the line. He's got plenty of space to play with. 

Intermediate sprint being disrupted by a dog who's ran across the road ahead of both groups so far.

Sagan crosses the line to get 15 points, followed by Schachmann, who gets a pat on the back. Trentin survives to cross next, while Bennett sprints from that nine-rider group to take sixth place at the sprint. Points on the way.

155km to go

Deceuninck-QuickStep take control of the peloton now, putting Tim Declercq on the front. 

Intermediate sprint results

And here's how that sprint has altered the overall points classification

Slim pickings really for Sagan. After all that effort, he gains five points on Bennett, who looks pretty good for green in Paris. 

We're climbing now, on the uphill approach to the official start of the Col du Béal.

QuickStep are working in the bunch. Bennett is unlikely to be in contention today, so we assume they're working for Alaphilippe, with the idea of keeping this break under control and letting the Frenchman attack the finale. With two short climbs in the last 10km, it's good terrain for him, but he's been in the break for two days in a row now and hasn't looked like the Alaphilippe of 2019. 

We're still around 10km from the official start of the Béal. The gap to Kung and Theuns has gone out to 4 minutes.

"It's looking more likely it'll be Roglič and Pogačar fighting over the victory."

Bora are lined up behind Declercq as we head to the climb. We already saw how much damage they can do on stage 7.

The leading duo are on the Col du Béal now. It's 10.2km at 5.6%. It has never been used in the Tour before but you might remember it from the 2014 Dauphiné, where it saw a battle between Froome and Contador. That was on the other side, however, and today we're going over the easier side. 

The gap to Kung and Teuns has yawned out to 5:42. After a chaotic start, we've settled into a pretty calm situation, with a full peloton and a small, relatively unthreatening breakaway. 

The peloton hit the Col du Béal now, and Bora immediately take over on the front.

Bora seem keen to try and make this hard. Perhaps they fear Bennett might just be able to survive the day and the late climbs if the pace is too sedate. Sagan is clearly feeling good and would be one of the contenders for the stage win, the way this stage is going. Bora also have plenty of good riders for this terrain, as we've already seen. 

Caleb Ewan is dropped as Bennett slips down the pack. 

It's Emanuel Buchmann on the front for Bora at the moment and he's brought the gap down to 4:30 already. He's putting Pierre Latour in trouble at the back of the bunch. Latour was originally going to be AG2R's leader for the Tour but he's not had a great race so far. 

Buchmann is more than 45 minutes down overall, so his GC hopes are long gone. He seemed to suffer from his injuries from the Dauphiné and it's been a real shame for the rider who placed 4th overall last year and appeared to be getting better and better. 

Kamna takes it up now and Bennett is getting closer and closer to the back of the bunch. 

1.7km to the top and Kung starts to ride away from Theuns. 

Kung looks around and sees Theuns can't handle his pace. Will he back off? No, he'll accelerate out of the saddle. The Swiss rouleur seems to want to go alone, all of 126km from the finish. 

125.5km to go

Bennett is dropped now. He has QuickStep teammates with him and hope they can limit the damage. 

And now Bora take the peloton to the top of the climb, three minutes down on Kung. They've only got two riders on the front now, and Jumbo-Visma are lined up behind them.

Bora lift the pace in sight of the KOM banner, and take another 10 seconds back on Kung in 200 metres. It's active at the front, as Ineos get themselves up towards the front. 

And now Bennett reaches the top with his teammates. The live timings have him at 45 seconds down, but that's to the lead Bora rider. He's much closer to the back of that strung-out bunch. 

The riders are plummeting down a winding, wooded descent now. 

Crash. Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) and David de la Cruz (UAE Team Emirates) come off on a left-hander. Both are back on their bikes. 

Some splits in the peloton over the top of that climb and on this descent. Very small gaps for now but the race is on. 

Kamna continues to lead the peloton down here. Jumbo-Visma are behind, and Ineos the third team in the bunch. 

QuickStep appear to be placing their eggs in the Bennett basket. They put a number of riders back with him, leaving Alaphilippe with relatively little support in the main peloton. 

The gap is now one minute between the front of the peloton and the Bennett group. 

112km to go

The road flattens out, and we now have a rise up and dip down ahead of the third climb of the day, the Côte de Courreau (4km at 5.7%).

Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) abandons. He has been suffering all day. After Romain Bardet's exit yesterday, it's another blow for AG2R. 

Bora continue to hammer it with three men on the front for Sagan. Bennett is still timed at just over a minute. 

Bennett has four riders leading his group. It's Devenyns, Cavagna, Asgreen, and Declercq. Morkov has been dropped, it seems, so that would leave only Jungels with Alaphilippe in the peloton. 

104.5km to go

Bora can twist the knife and drive home this advantage on the next climb. After that, though, there's a 15km descent and 15km in the valley, ahead of the uncategorised slog uphill, so there's room for Bennett to chase back, but still plenty of climbing to be done. 

Puncture for Lukas Postlberger! That's a blow for Bora's onslaught. 

There are a couple of other sprinters in the Bennett group, including Bol, Bonifazio, and Venturini, but Ewan is long gone and already at 10 minutes. 

Sagan grimaces on the climb, where he's suffering but needs to keep the pace high enough to make Bennett suffer more. CCC are up towards the front of that peloton with Trentin and Van Avermaet, as are QuickStep with Jungels and Alaphilippe. 

Change in the peloton. Alessandro De Marchi takes it up for CCC. 

Bennett continues to lose ground on the climb! 1:30 is his deficit to the bunch now. 

101km to go

15km of gentle downhill now

Grossschartner leads the bunch down the descent but now CCC take over. They seem really up for it today.

Lots of talk about concussion this morning, after Romain Bardet's abandon yesterday. The Frenchman got back on his bike and completed a very hard stage before having to go to hospital for brain scans. Here's the story. 

92km to go

Bennett is taking turns in that chase group, which needs all hands on deck. 

83km to go

Kung sits up and takes a drink. It appears he's resigned to his fate now and is happy to slot back into the bunch. 

80.5km to go

All over for Bennett? With the gap at 1:30, it looks like the QuickSteppers in that chase group are sitting up and calling off the chase.

Meanwhile Bora and CCC are still giving it full beans on the front of the peloton. 

Yes, that's it. They've all sat up. Bora's efforts have borne fruit. Bennett will be playing no further part in this stage, and the same goes for Boasson Hagen, Kristoff, Bol, Venturini, and Bonifazio, who are also in that group. Ewan was already long gone, and Viviani, Greipel and Hofstetter are all also behind the green jersey group and out of contention.

With all the pure sprinters dropped, there are still plenty of more robust fastmen here, including Sagan, Trentin, Colbrelli, Mezgec, Laporte, Pedersen, Stuyven, and, of course, Wout van Aert...

65.5km to go

Bora successfully dropping Bennett on that climb a little earlier

Over in Italy, Tim Merlier has beaten Ackermann and Gaviria on stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatico. Here's the link you need for that.

We're just seeing Bora tapping it out on the front for now. It's certainly no easy pace, but it's a little less frantic than the pretty much full-gas racing we had from the start. CCC continue to do their bit in what's turning out to be their best team performance so far. This stage might not just be their best opportunity of the Tour but also their last, with only mountains or time trials left after this, apart from stage 19, which isn't flat but does give hope to the likes of Bennett. 

Mechanical for Adam Yates, who gets a new bike and gets back into the peloton.

Also over in Italy, stage 2 of the Giro Rosa has been won by... you guessed it...

54km to go

This is what awaits us in the finale.

Alaphilippe is riding towards the very back of the bunch. You'd back him to try something today after his success on the late climb in Nice, but he's surely fatigued after two days in the break - two days in which he might have been considered a top favourite but simply found himself up against stronger riders. He got everyone all excited when he took the yellow jersey but it's clear Alaphilippe isn't enjoying quite the same state of grace as 2019. 

The Bennett group is more than nine minutes back now and just focusing on getting to the finish rather than chasing. Ewan's group is at 15 minutes. 

We're coming to the steep section at the top of this uncategorised climb now. After that it'll be 20km of downhill, so we have 42km to go but we'll be at the finale in no time. 

This most open of stages could still go one of a number of ways. Those two late climbs are both 1.4km, with respective gradients of 5.6% and 4.8%. It might not be enough for the real puncheurs to dislodge those with a faster finish, plenty of whom still have plenty of teammates with them. It can still be controlled but it depends on who tries to light things up. 

40km to go

Race leader Roglic heading downhill

Sagan hasn't won a race since last year's Tour. There's plenty of talk of a decline in the three-time world champion's career, but this seems like a good opportunity to put a stop to that. He was relegated in the stage 11 sprint but it was actually his best sprint of the Tour so far, which was certainly an encouraging sign.

Then again, remember the last time Bora lit up the race to filter out the sprinters? Wout Van Aert took full advantage that day, and has to be considered a contender here. His main role is to look after Roglic, so it remains to be seen how much freedom he gets, but if it's some sort of bunch finish he'll be hard to beat. 

27.5km to go

CCC have two cards in Trentin and Van Avermaet and they have a strong team out there with Schar, Geschke, De Marchi, and Hirt all in that peloton. 

Puncture for Lutsenko, who gets a rear wheel change. 

The pace is really high now as CCC stretch out the peloton. It's going to be a fast approach to the first of these climbs, with positioning all-important.

Predictions please

Change in the bunch. The Bora-CCC domination is over, as Jumbo-Visma take it up now with Tony Martin. 

Van Aert is second wheel, with Roglic tucked in behind him.

4km to the foot of the penultimate climb and Jumbo are making it a fast approach.

A reminder of what we've got left 

Teams organise themselves into their trains now. Sunweb, who've worked well as a team all Tour, move up through the middle. They've still got Hirschi there. 

Here we go then. They have a fair bit of road furniture to negotiate in Lyon before we embark on these two climbs. 

12.5km to go

Rowe, Castroviejo, and Kwiatkowski are there with Bernal and Carapaz

11km to go

It's the Côte de la Duchère (1.4km at 5.6%) and Tiesj Benoot immediately attacks

The Belgian has a gap but no one is reacting for now

It's a good move from Benoot but there's still a long way to go. Jumbo hit the front but the chase isn't fast-paced

Counter-attack! And it's from another Sunweb rider...!

It's Soren Kragh Andersen who's chasing down his own teammate. It doesn't last long, and now Valentin Madouas (FDJ) is on the move. 

Madouas is a real talent who has a bright future in the Ardennes Classics. He has daylight but others are accelerating now too. 

9.7km to go

Madouas is caught, as Kamna leads the peloton. 

Problem for Richie Porte! 

Porte needs a bike change and that's not good timing. He should be able to get back in but it might take the likes of Pedersen to do so. 

Kamna was descending so fast he clipped off the front of the bunch, and he catches Benoot with 7.4km to go. The German keeps going now.

We saw Postlberger do this the other day, putting the pressure on other teams and allowing Sagan to sit in the wheels. 

6.1km to go

De Gendt attacks!

It's a 1.4km climb with a gradient of 4.8% and Kamna is flying up it! De Gendt is closing, though, as Porte gets back to the bunch

Alaphilippe attacks!!

Huge crowds in Lyon and Kamna is soaring up through the corridor, but De Gendt and Alaphilippe are both moving at pace too. 

Alaphilippe moreso than De Gendt... he reaches the Belgian and surges past him. Carapaz is out in counter too

Alaphilippe reaches Kamna now, and attacks him! Just shy of the summit with 4.5km to go

Kamna gets back on and De Gendt is still there too. It's coming back together behind though

It's back together but not really, as Hirschi goes now!

Sagan responds now!!

Van Avermaet is there too, but Jumbo shut it down. 3.5km to go

Sagan finds himself on the front and there's plenty of looking around. Kragh Andersen attacks now!

A nice attack ahead of the descent and this one sticks. Kragh Andersen has a gap! 6 seconds with 2.8km to go

Who's going to take responsibility to chase this? It seems like Cofidis are, for Laporte

Scratch that. Laporte has cramps. Andersen is getting away. 11 seconds with 1.5km to go!!

This needs a serious chase and lead-out and not a moment's hesitation. Andersen has a gap he can certainly win with.

Into the final km and Andersen is on his way to victory!

The gap is enough as he heads into the final 400m

He sits up, celebrates, and punches the air

Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) wins stage 14 of the Tour de France

Sagan opens the sprint for second place but he locks up and is beaten by Mezgec. It looked like Consonni got third. 

What a win that was for Soren Kragh Andersen. So many attacks went in that finale, and it wasn't that his was the strongest (although he certainly had the power), but the best timed. If anyone, Alaphilippe was most impressive on that climb, but Andersen tried his hand at that perfect moment - past the top, but before the drop towards the line - just when the likes of Sagan, Van Avermaet, Alaphilippe were catching breath after their attacks. 

Stage winner Team Sunweb rider Denmarks Soren Kragh Andersen celebrates as he crosses the finish line at the end of the 14th stage of the 107th edition of the Tour de France cycling race 197 km between ClermontFerrand and Lyon on September 12 2020 Photo by STEPHANE MAHE POOL AFP Photo by STEPHANE MAHEPOOLAFP via Getty Images

(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

And we have to say that wasn't just an individual win but a collective one. Sunweb, as I think one of their riders said in their celebratory huddle just then, played that perfectly. Benoot attacked on the first climb, then Hirschi launched a dangerous move right after the second, which drew out the likes of Sagan and Van Avermaet. During the slight lull, they still had Kragh Andersen to fire out at the perfect moment. Many raised eyebrows at Sunweb's Tour team - mainly the omission of Michael Matthews - but it has to be said they're having a fantastic race. This is their second stage win after Hirschi's a few days ago, and it's another one that was based on teamwork. Add in the strong lead-outs for Bol - which haven't paid off yet - and it's been a strong Tour so far from Iwan Spekenbrink's men. 

Let's hear from the winner

Asked if he was inspired by Hischi’s win, he adds: "Of course, it gives the whole team motivation and we believe in ourselves. When you see this young guy doing these amazing things, I’m also inspired and I believe a bit more in myself. It’s amazing and we also didn’t expect to go so well. We are here with the youngest team in the Tour, so it’s also with the purpose of future that we are here but we are already performing and we are super happy."

Our stage report page is here

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Results
PlaceRider (Country) TeamResult
1Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb04:28:10
2Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott00:00:15
3Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis00:00:15
4Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe00:00:15
5Casper Phillip Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb00:00:15
6Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo00:00:15
7Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team00:00:15
8Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale00:00:15
9Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain McLaren00:00:15
10Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb00:00:15
Swipe to scroll horizontally
General Classification
PlaceRider (Country) TeamResult
1Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma61:03:00
2Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates00:00:44
3Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers00:00:59
4Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Pro Cycling00:01:10
5Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic00:01:12
6Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team00:01:31
7Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott00:01:42
8Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Bahrain McLaren00:01:55
9Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo00:02:06
10Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team00:02:54

Let's hear from the race leader, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)

The winner

Here's a round-up of the initial post-stage reaction in Lyon

We have a story on lone breakaway start Stefan Küng, who was confused about Bora's tactics, and the tactics of the whole peloton for that matter. 

A reminder that the full results, a full write-up, and a photo gallery can be found in our report page. 

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