Tour de France stage 14 Live - Mende uphill finish perfect for attacks

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 14 of the Tour de France.

In Saint-Etienne the sun is out and temperatures are high as riders sign-on before stage 14. 

As always, we'll have all the action from the stage. 

UAE Team Emirates is the latest team to sign-on, with Tadej Pogacar smiling and waving to the crowd. 

Will he try an attack on the final steep climb to the finish above Mende?  

Pogacar spoke briefly on the sign-on podium.

"It's not a climb to gain a lot of time but I'll give my best as always," he said, perhaps hiding his intentions. 

"The Pyrenees are the big target," he added.  

The riders are lining up at the start line. They will soon roll out. 

Now the jersey wearers take their place on the front row of the grid. 

Jonas Vingegaard is in yellow, Wout van Aert in green, Simon Geschke in polka-dot and Tadej Pogacar in the best young rider's white jersey. 

Stage 13 winner Mads Pedersen also has a place up front.

This is today's stage. 

C'est Parti. 

The riders are on their way. 

It is 25C at the start but expected to be much hotter along the route across central France.

There is a slight tailwind for much of the stage but the attacks will be the big driving force today. 

We're expecting  attacks to get into the break of the day.

The Côte de Saint-Just-Malmont comes after just 14.2km is an ideal place for the attacks to go clear. 

Indeed, the stage is up and down all day. There are only 8km of flat roads during the whole 192.5km stage.  

Everyone looks serious in the peloton. There's tension and determination about getting in the break.

It's interesting to see Caleb Ewan talking to the race judges after being fined for motor-pacing yesterday. He is giving his version of what happened.

Click below for the full story. 

Ewan, Alpecin-Deceuninck fined for drafting after Tour de France crash

2Km to the official start.

Here we go! 

The flag drops and the stage is underway. 

Attack! 

The first to surge away is by B&B Hotels but more are joining the move. 

The road descends for a moment and that adds speed to racing.

190km to go

There are a dozen or so riders in the attack but more are coming.

Bauke Mollema is there and typical of the riders expected to go on the attack today. 

There 18 riders in the attack and they have a 30-second gap already. 

Is this the move of the day? 

185km to go

The riders are still in the suburbs of Saint-Etienne but the Côte de Saint-Just-Malmont come very soon. 

This is the stage profile.

The Côte de Saint-Just-Malmont is 7.7km long at 3.9%. Perfect to make your rivals hurt and get away from the peloton.  

The peloton is chasing, with Jumbo on the front to keep the pace high. 

Why?  

Well, Tadej Pogacar is on the move. 

He is in a group of counter attackers, forcing Jumbo to work early in the stage. 

Dani Martinez attacks ands crosses to the attack. 

Van Aert is with Vingegaard after they chased Pogacar.

The group is reforming but Pogacar goes again! 

Pogacar attacks for a 3rd time!!

Pogacar has dragged the strongest riders up to the break. 

The race is on! 

Vingegaard has marked Pogacar and the other GC have come up to them. 

Is that it from Pogacar? Or will there be more attacks? 

As the riders reach the top of the Côte de Saint-Just-Malmont, Neilson Powless (EF) and Chris Juul Jensen (BikeExchange-Jayco) are away but the peloton is chasing them. 

The two have just a 12-second lead. 

Roglic is in a chase group that is 30-seconds down on the Vingegaard peloton.

Froome is also suffering, with Caleb Ewan  already 3:00 behind. His race could be over.

The attacks keep coming but Vingegaard is wisely sat on van Aert's wheel.  

The Roglic group is 1:00 down. If the attacks keep coming, he might not get back up front. 

The Jumbo-Visma team seems to be scattered across different groups.

170km to go

The riders are on a rolling plateau for 50km or so and that will make it difficult for Ewan and any chasers. 

The Australian sprinter is already 5:00 down.   

The Roglic group is at 1:15. 

Did he crash early? Or is he just suffering due to the fast start?  

Matej Mohoric is attacking from the front group after Powless and  Juul Jensen were caught. 

Several teammates of the yellow jersey are missing up front: They are Roglic, Benoot, Van Hooydonck.

That means Vingegaard has just Kuss, Kruijswijk, van Aert and Laporte with him. 

The Roglic group is 1:40 behind. 

Of Course the speed and attacks mean that Pogacar does not have any teammates either. But he does not too bothered about that.  

165km to go

It will be hard for the Roglic group to close the gap because there are more attacks up front. 

Juul Jensen tries again and Rigoberto Uran also tries, as do a dozen others. 

The speed is so high that riders have little time to eat and drink. 

There are only 50 or so riders in the front peloton. 

The Roglic group is 1:50 back, with Ewan at 7:00. 

Van Aert keeps chasing surges in the peloton to drag Vingegaard back up to safety. 

The Roglic group is at 2:00.  

The race is only 5km from the Côte de Châtaignier climb and so the race will stay aggressive. 

Pinot and Bardet are in the Vingegaard group but they're at the back and seem to be suffering.

Up front Caruso surges away again. After struggling in the GC, the Italian is going for a stage win. 

The Côte de Châtaignier is 2.6km long at 7.3%. 

Is that Pogacar's next launch pad?

Vingegaard is at the back of the front group.

UAE are again upping the pace. 

Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels) is off the front but everyone is hurting. 

Vlasov is suffering. 

That indicates how hard the racing is at the moment. 

Vingegaard is back with his Jumbo teammates but he only has van Aert and Kruijswijk alongside him. 

At the summit, Bonnamour is brought back and Quinn Simmons surges to beat Simon Geschke for the maximum KOM points. 

There are 18 riders up front and on the attack.  

The peloton seems to be letting the attackers go clear. 

Pinot is the attack. 

Soler too for UAE, Bettiol and Uran EF, Jakob Fuglsang of Israel too, plus Dani Martinez of Ineos. 

Meanwhile the Roglic group is at 3:30. 

But if the peloton eases to let the break go clear, then they could, perhaps get back on if they chase hard.