{"id":253427,"date":"2026-07-17T19:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/the-inner-ring-tour-de-france-stage-14-preview-3\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T19:00:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:00:47","slug":"the-inner-ring-tour-de-france-stage-14-preview-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/the-inner-ring-tour-de-france-stage-14-preview-3\/","title":{"rendered":"The Inner Ring | Tour de France Stage 14 Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Tour heads into the Vosges.<\/p>\n

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Stage 13 Review<\/strong>: if the heatwave is over, the Tour hasn\u2019t stopped sizzling. A break of five was away early and UAE\u2019s Nils Politt played the role of prison guard who refused to let anyone else escape, it suited his team to have a small move stay away. Only so many other riders and teams were desperate that a mob of 37 went clear, including Tom Pidcock, 10th overall at nearly 12 minutes down as the best placed rider overall.<\/p>\n

Jasper Philipsen was there and so Lidl-Trek chased but struggled to bring it back and gave up. Only for Mads Pedersen to move in person, towing a move of 20 across including Biniam Girmay so he could be there to contest the intermediate sprint.<\/p>\n

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The front group swelled to 57 when the Pedersen counter move got across, also including three riders from Jayco to join Mauro Schmid. Bahrain led the peloton, chasing for Lenny Martinez who was one place ahead on GC with five minutes, notable because it suggests a GC bid for them.<\/p>\n

After Jasper Philipsen pipped Mads Pedersen for the intermediate sprint it was time for the climbers and baroudeurs<\/em> to take over. Ben Healy had a go on the Col des Croix but was easily reeled in.<\/p>\n

Onto the Ballon d\u2019Alsace and while some riders traded moves, Thomas Voeckler on the moto for FranceTV was purring at the tactics of the Jayco team, \u201cc\u2019est magnifique<\/em>\u201d he exclaimed as the Australian team were doing the tactical equivalent of a lullaby to pacify the move so that Michael Matthews could stay on, perhaps not great TV but Voeckler knows his tactics and how to win from a bad hand. But moves by Tom Pidcock, Maxim Van Gils and Kevin Vauquelin shook things up and Matthews lost 30 seconds over the climb and could not get back and by now nine riders crested the climb with Tim Wellens not far behind and able to make a group of 10.<\/p>\n

On the flat riders took turns to attack and it was Mauro Schmid and Harold Tejada who got away and took ten seconds. A small gap but enough as the pair had to commit while behind things started to get tactical with Luke Plapp able to help mark things for his Jayco team mate ahead.\u00a0 Vauquelin, McNulty, Pidcock made moves and in the streets of Belfort Wellens went clear and looked to be closing in as Schmid played poker in the final 1.5km but not taking any more turns. Wellens was swept up and the front duo sprinted for the win with it going to Schmid, avenging his loss to Jonas Abrahamsen in the avenues of Toulouse a year ago.<\/p>\n

Plapp\u2019s delight at the finish was obvious and the team will be too as it\u2019s their first World Tour win of the year (only Movistar and Picnic-PostNL left). But they\u2019re also resigned to losing him to Swiss team Pinarello-Q36.5 which out-bid Groupama-FDJ.<\/p>\n

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Pidcock got the combativity prize and is up to fourth but it was the stage win he wanted. A mistake by other teams to let him back into the GC race? Yes because even the risk is something Visma, Red Bull and Lidl-Trek won\u2019t want to face. After a lot of work to win the stage he could pay a day later with the steep summit finish to come, but if that happens he\u2019ll have more space to aim for another stage so he\u2019s almost in a tails he wins, heads he wins scenario assuming he can get a result from either outcome in the days to come.<\/p>\n

After Stage 12 when Tim Merlier wasn\u2019t far off S\u00f8ren W\u00e6renskjold\u2019s fresh speed record, Stage 13 was even faster at 49.999km\/h, the third fastest road stage despite a mountain on the way.<\/p>\n

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The Route<\/strong>: 155km and 3,800m of vertical gain, plenty for a relatively short stage. There\u2019s a 15km dash from Mulhouse via the vineyards to the foot of the Grand Ballon.<\/p>\n

Then 21km at 4.8% which sounds soft but it\u2019s a climb in three parts, the first third with plenty of 7%, then a middle section that eases and descends, then the final third kicks up again with 7-9%. At the top there\u2019s a brief descent and then it\u2019s along the Route des Cr\u00eates to pass through the finish line later and a long descent.<\/p>\n

The Col d\u2019Oderen is a regular climb with gentle gradients. A brief descent and the Col du Page is very different, a forestry road that\u2019s narrow and kicks up to the pass but short. The descent is longer and on the same small road for a while before reaching civilisation of sorts in Larcenaire and some hairpin bends.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s up the Ballon d\u2019Alsace again, the same road as used on Stage 13 with its even slope all the way to the top. The descent is different, more irregular and ends with the hairpins below the Alfeld lake dam. From here there\u2019s a lull on the course, past Sewen to Masevaux on a regular road that barely descends.<\/p>\n

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The Col de Hundsruck isn\u2019t a categorised climb but it counts for the efforts. There\u2019s a steep start and some irregular moments in the first half, then even some cobbled moments in the village of Bourbach but decorative. The second half is more regular and followed by a fast descent with some tricky corners. Then comes 7km up the valley floor.<\/p>\n

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The Finish<\/strong>: the new Col du Haag is described in more detail in a recent Roads to Ride post<\/a>. For the race the steep start is notable, it\u2019ll eject some. There\u2019s a brief descent and then it\u2019s onto the cycle path, an old forest road that has been rescued and repurposed into a car-free way to climb up and in the shade most of the way. The profile above doesn\u2019t quite look right, the \u201cVirage Hibou\u201d has a flat section before. Then as the profile shows it kicks up with double-digit gradients and a tricky hairpin as it emerges again on the Route des Cr\u00eates where there\u2019s six kilometres across to the finish in Le Markstein.<\/p>\n

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The Contenders:\u00a0<\/strong>Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/strong> (UAE) is the obvious pick for a mountain stage. Only he\u2019s won at Le Markstein before and also he seemed tired in post-stage interviews, normal when someone\u2019s ridden 200km at 50km\/h but unusual for him but having mentioned this it\u2019s not worth extrapolating much from it. He also said he\u2019s up for this stage and how it\u2019ll be difficult for his rivals. If he doesn\u2019t go solo on the Haag he can win from a group. Isaac del Toro<\/strong> is a contender too.<\/p>\n

Remco Evenepoel<\/strong> (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) faces another challenge, can he cope with the multiple climbs ending with a steep climb? If so his power suits for the finish. Meanwhile Florian Lipowitz<\/strong> doesn\u2019t live far away and presumably German fans will be out but he\u2019s always steady it\u2019s hard to see the win.<\/p>\n

The breakaway has a decent chance today. UAE\u2019s Wellens and McNulty were in the break yesterday and raced for the win in the final hour and the likes of Nils Politt and Florian Vermeersch won\u2019t last long today which leaves few riders to pull for hours and they need numbers for Sunday\u2019s Alpine stage too. Obvious picks are Richard Carapaz<\/strong> (EF Education-Easypost) who can go after mountains points and hope the stage win is within reach, likewise team mate Alex Baudin<\/strong> and both might need each other to help set the pace today.<\/p>\n

If he could chose Valentin Paret-Peintre<\/strong> (Soudal-Quickstep) might prefer to win Stage 15 as it\u2019s on his home roads but who gets to pick? Tobias Halland Johannessen<\/strong> (Uno-X) is out of the GC race but capable of a result but has yet to take a World Tour win. Thymen Arensman<\/strong> (Netcompany-Ineos) finds terrain to suit, likewise Einer Rubio<\/strong> (Movistar).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/td>\nPoga\u010dar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>\nDel Toro, Carapaz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>\nEvenepoel, Baudin, VP-P, THJ, Arensman, Vingegaard<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Weather<\/strong>: sunshine and 22\u00b0C with the risk of the clouds building into a thunderstorm. A 10km\/h breeze from the west means a light tailwind off the Ballon d\u2019Alsace and a headwind in the finish which is more exposed.<\/p>\n

TV<\/strong>: KM0 is at 1.30pm and the finish is forecast for 5.40pm CEST<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Tour heads into the Vosges. Stage 13 Review: if the heatwave is over, the Tour hasn\u2019t stopped sizzling. A break of five was away early and UAE\u2019s Nils Politt played the role of prison guard who refused to let anyone else escape, it suited his team to have a small move stay away. Only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":253428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6804],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-253427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}