This Saturday, Thymen Arensmann (Ineos Grenadiers) won the solo race 14th stage of the Tour de France, between Pau and Luchon-Superbagneres (182,6 km), at the end of a masterful breakaway in the Pyrenees. The 25-year-old Dutchman thus secured his first stage victory on the Grande Boucle, after having distinguished himself on the 2022 lap (victory in the 15th stage in Sierra Nevada). This victory confirms its rise in power in the major tours and offers a significant success to the Ineos team, which had not yet raised its arms in this 2025 Tour.
A well-constructed escape, a breathtaking finale
thymen Arensman was part of a breakaway of around twenty riders formed in the first ramps of the Col du Tourmalet, where the sustained pace quickly caused damage. Among the names in this breakaway: Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R), Julius Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) or even Kevin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels). The final scenario was drawn in the Peyresourde pass, where Thymen Arensman attacked 11 km from the summit to fly solo, gradually distancing his breakaway companions.
He then resisted the return of the group of favorites in the final climb towards Superbagneres, 10,7 km long at 6,7%, creating a gap of 1'20''. Despite a high tempo led by UAE and a brief attack by Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) 3 km from the summit, Arensman held on until the finish, crossing the line 1'08" seconds ahead of Tadej pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), second in the stage and still Yellow jersey.
Long-distance duel: Pogacar and Vingegaard size each other up
Although the two main favorites for the general classification attacked each other several times in the final kilometers, neither managed to really make a difference. Vingegaard attempted a sudden attack with 3 kilometers to go, immediately followed by Pogacar, who then launched a counterattack in the last 1 meters, without success.
Thanks to a slight break in the sprint, Pogacar gained 6 bonus seconds, extending his lead over Vingegaard to 4'13'' in the general classification.
Kevin Vauquelin climbs in the general classification, Evenepoel abandons
Another highlight of this 14th stage: the abandonment of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), then White Jersey, distanced from the first slopes of the Tourmalet. The Belgian was still suffering from pain in his ribs following his fall during the Belgian Championships on the road, on June 29 in Zottegem.
This defection allows Florian Lipowitz (RedBull-Bora-hansgrohe), 24, to take the White Jersey and provisionally join the podium of the general classification. As for the Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin, although he was distanced 5 km from the finish, he took advantage of Evenepoel's withdrawal to climb to the 5th place overall, in an edition where the outsiders are getting dangerously close to the favorites.
The next stage is this Sunday between Muret and Carcassonne, which should allow the peloton to catch their breath a little before Monday's rest day and the big showdown at Mont Ventoux on Tuesday...
