The 2025 Tour de France continued Saturday with stage 14 – a 182.6-kilometer challenging battle in the high mountains on a route from Pau to Luchon-Superbagneres. The stage would feature two Beyond Category climbs – one of them the Col du Tourmalet early in the stage. The winner of the GC classification sadly appeared decided already and the stage profile had otherwise invited to great fireworks and excitement for the spectators along the route and at home.

It remained to be seen if GC favorites such as Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, and Remco Evenepoel could find the needed motivation to challenge each other in stage 14 on the legendary climbs of the Pyrenees with Pogacar having such a significant lead in the GC before the stage. The experts at Roadcycling.com expected several breakaway experts to launch early attacks in the stage and for riders such as Michael Woods, Mattias Skjelmose, Julian Alaphilippe, Thymen Arensman and Sepp Kuss to be active. They would possibly be joined by Team Visma-Lease a Bike lieutenants if the team did not postpone everything until the third week in the Alps, where it would all be too late if the team wanted the GC win in Paris.

The Tour de France peloton left Pau in rainy weather conditions, but the roads were expected to dry up later in the stage, though with risk of new rain showers. Multiple attacks were launched from kilometer zero and Jonathan Milan was the first rider to establish a small lead. Looking pretty in his green jersey, the Lidl-Trek rider was up the road while waiting for other riders to join him. The Italian sprinter was on a mission to secure points in the intermediate sprint, which would be decided before the mountains.

The route of stage 14 would take the riders through the divine pilgrimage city of Lourdes, and it was possible some of the riders in the Tour peloton would need divine intervention to win today’s stage or even finish it. Sepp Kuss joined a breakaway attempt and perhaps the Visma-Lease a Bike team was aiming for a stage-win-band-aid in today’s stage to compensate for Tadej Pogacar’s complete domination. Fred Wright made an attempt for his Bahrain-Victorious team when 155 kilometers of stage 14 remained.

The peloton was traveling along the route at increasing speeds and several teams were active at the front. Riders from Ineos-Grenadiers, Uno-X Grenadiers, EF Education-EasyPost, and Groupama-FDJ were trying to form a gap.

The peloton passed through Lourdes, but the Tour de France riders would not stop to receive blessings from Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo though the riders in this year’s Giro d’Italia had even received blessings from the Pope and travelled through the streets of the Vatican City.

Geraint Thomas made a strong effort at the front of the peloton but did not open a gap. Mattias Skjelmose was lurking shortly behind him and Santiago Buitrago also tried. Bruno Armirail was active again today and formed a small gap. The roads were well-known to the Frenchman who was living nearby.

Mattias Skjelmose crashed when he hit some road furniture while passing through a small French village. What a sad event for the Danish climber and GC rider who also hit road furniture in this year’s Paris-Nice and had to abandon the race and give up his third place in the GC.

Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers), Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) and Matteo Vercher fought their way to a gap and formed the first real breakaway group of the day. The trio had a lead of half a minute over the chasing peloton with 123.5 kilometers left as the riders were approaching the intermediate sprint and not least the Col du Tourmalet.

Skjelmose got back on his bike and fought on, but he was alone and already more than four minutes behind. The Dane was receiving additional medical attention while riding his bike. Meanwhile, Remco Evenepoel was spotted at the Soudal-QuickStep team car and the Belgian rider did not appear to be having his best day in the saddle.

The sprinter teams were eager to earn the maximum points on the menu of the intermediate sprint, so riders from Lidl-Trek reeled in the breakaway trio and Thomas, Pacher and Vercher could forget about their hopes of a head start on the Tourmalet.

Jonathan Milan won the intermediate sprint ahead of Mathieu van der Poel and Biniam Girmay. Riders tried to launch new breakaways following the sprint. While Santiago Buitrago tried his luck, Tadej Pogacar was spotted at the front of the peloton while trying to control everything in his dominant fashion. Apparently Tadej – The Cannibal - Pogacar wanted to control who could enter breakaways and who could win the stage.

A complete peloton entered Col du Tourmalet, and the riders would now have to test their legs on the 18.9-kilometer climb, which was Beyond Category. 

A breakaway group got established and featured Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), Thymen Arensman (Ineos), Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos-Grenadiers), Einer Rubio (Movistar), Louis Barre (Intermarche-Wanty), Aleksandr Vlasov, Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Enric Mas (Movistar), Gregor Muhlberger (Movistar), Tobias Halland Johannesen, and Ivan Romeo.

While other riders tried to join the breakaway from the UAE Team Emirates-headed main peloton, Martinez, Arensman, and Rubio left their breakaway compatriots behind and formed a front trio on the Tourmalet. Remco Evenepoel was unable to keep up with the GC favorites group and it would be a long day in the saddle for the Olympic Champion.

The breakaway action got reshuffled on Col du Tourmalet and Martinez formed a new front duo with Ben O’Connor of Jayco-Alula. Lenny Martinez was on a mission to increase his lead in the KOM Best Climber Classification and had to be determined and focused as he was at risk of being overtaken by Pogacar in the KOM classification as Pogacar could possibly win both the yellow, the green, and the polka-dot jerseys in this year’s Tour.

As Martinez went solo on Col du Tourmalet it was sadly reported Skjelmose had been forced to abandon this year’s Tour, which had been his main goal of the season. The whole team at Roadcycling.com is wishing him a full and speedy recovery after his crash. Remco Evenepoel also abandoned the race, though fortunately not because of a crash.

Martinez continued his solo ride up the Tourmalet and was applauded by fans along the route while passing though the foggy weather conditions of the legendary mountain. 

Frenchman Martinez was the first rider to reach the summit of Col du Tourmalet and would enter the history book while securing valuable points for the KOM classification. 

The chasing breakaway group, which featured riders such as Kuss, Simon Yates, Arensman, Rodriguez, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Ben O’Connor, and Storer, reached the summit 01:47 minutes after Martinez.

It started raining and the riders entered the long and winding descent into the valley before they would reach Col d’Aspin, which was the next mountain on the climbing menu. The racing conditions were very foggy, and the downhill stretch would require maximum attention from all riders in the Tour. Martinez’ experience from mountain biking would be of great use today as it had taught him great bike handling skills. Perhaps the riders would listen to the tune of One Foggy Day in the team busses after the stage.

Kuss, Valentin Paret-Peintre, and Emiel Verstrynge formed a chase trio on the descent, and they were approximately one minute behind Martinez and thirty seconds ahead of the remains of the breakaway group with eighty kilometers left of the stage – albeit with three categorized climbs yet to come. Pogacar was spotted at the front of the GC favorites group with teammate Pavel Sivakov almost four minutes behind front man Martinez.

Martinez approached Col d’Aspin, which was a category 2 climb, despite its noteworthy heritage. The French rider almost got clipped by his Bahrain-Victorious team car but avoided a crash and handed over his rain jacket to his sports director.

Martinez entered Col d’Aspin with a lead of approximately 45 seconds over a chase duo featuring Kuss and Paret-Peintre. The next chase group was 01:25 minutes behind, while Pogacar and the rest of his GC favorites group was about 03:45 minutes back while spearheaded by Nils Politt.

The Col d’Aspin stretch of today’s stage 14 was dominated by Martinez who continued his admirable performance up the climb while receiving accolades from the many spectators under overcast skies.

Kuss and Valentin Paret-Peintre were one minute behind Martinez about 2.5 kilometers from the summit, while the Johannesen group was 02:30 minutes back and the GC favorites group was four minutes behind with Pogacar near the front – possibly in the process of planning another attack on his GC rivals later in the stage.

Martinez remained in front when he reached the summit of Col d’Aspin and earned more points for the KOM classification. Kuss and Paret-Peintre, however, were closing in on the Frenchman whose advantage had dropped to thirty seconds. The riders entered a wet and slippery descent.

Martinez joined forces with Kuss and Paret-Peintre on the descent as they were heading towards the valley stretch, which would take them to Col de Peyresourde, which was a Category 1 climb.

The front trio approached Col de Peyresourde with a lead of approximately 26 seconds over a chase group, which now only featured Simon Yates, Arensman, Rodriguez, O’Connor, and Tobias Halland Johannessen. A second chase group was 32 seconds back.

Kuss, Paret-Peintre and Martinez were caught by the chasers and a group featuring Kuss, Paret-Peintre, Martinez, Arensman, Rodriguez and Johannessen pressed on up the Col du Peyresourde. O’Connor was chasing eight seconds behind, while Simon Yates and Rubio were fifteen seconds back.

Martinez, Arensman, and Johannessen dropped the other riders in the breakaway front group and Arensman then went solo with 3.5 kilometers of Col de Peyresourde left to conquer for the rider from the Netherlands. It had started raining again.

Arensman continued solo up the climb with a lead of half a minute over Rubio, Rodriguez, Paret-Peintre, Martinez and Johannessen. Kuss and Yates were one minute behind, closely followed by O’Connor and Jordan Jegat of Team TotalEnergies. The main GC favorites group was closing in on the breakaway optimists as the time difference was now three minutes.

Arensman was the first rider to reach the summit of Col de Peyresourde and gained the maximum points for the KOM classification, though he was rather aiming for a stage victory for himself or teammate Rodriguez, who was in the five-man chase group.

Arensman continued to increase his advantage on the descent, and he was now 01:40 minutes ahead of the five chasers when 22 kilometers remained. The British Ineos-Grenadiers team wanted the stage win today.

Arensman approached the Luchon-Superbagneres climb, which would take the Ineos-Grenadiers rider to the finish line of today’s stage 14. The Dutchman had a lead of approximately two minutes over a chase group, which featured Kuss, Simon Yates, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Martinez, Rodriguez, O’Connor, Rubio, and Johannessen. A flag held by a spectator caught the wheel of one of the chasers and almost caught a crash.

Arensman impressively entered the Luchon-Superbagneres climb with a lead of 02:12 minutes over the first chasers. It would be a grand feat for the Ineos-Grenadiers team to win a stage on the Beyond Category climb.

Yates got dropped from the chase group and now only Paret-Peintre, Rodriguez, Rubio and Halland Johannessen were in the first chase group, but 02:30 minutes behind the front man and with Tadej Pogacar and his gang closing in on them along with other GC classification favorites.

Paret-Peintre got dropped from the chase group on the climb and Johannessen carried on his hard work with Rubio, while Arensman’s teammate Rodriguez did not contribute.

Felix Gall launched a solo breakaway from the GC favorites group, which had now caught the Rodriguez-Johannessen-Rubio group on the climb. Perhaps Pogacar and Vingegaard were preparing to fire on all engines.

Arensman carried on his hard work for the Ineos-Grenadiers team, which now had a TotalEnergies logo stamped on the rear part of their bibs – perhaps the team was now running on natural gas?

 With five kilometers left of the stage Arensman was still solo in front. Gall was chasing him two minutes behind, while the Adam Yates-led GC favorites group was 02:21 minutes behind. Admirably, Ben Healy was still part of the group and was delivering a surprisingly admirable performance on the most difficult climbs while fighting for a top 10 GC position for his EF Education-EasyPost team, which had sadly been forced to start the Tour without Richard Carapaz.

Jonas Vingegaard attacked with approximately 3.5 kilometers of the stage remaining. Tadej Pogacar responded immediately and Vingegaard did not open a gap. Vingegaard and Pogacar caught Gall and Pogacar launched a counterattack, but Vingegaard responded. The advantage of Arensman was now just 01:30 minutes with two kilometers remaining. What a blow for Arensman and the Ineos-Grenadiers team if they did not win the stage.

Spectators were eager and they were almost touching the riders on the climb while causing dangerous situations.

Vingegaard was still leading Pogacar when they entered the final kilometer in foggy weather conditions, while Arensman was still 01:20 minutes ahead.

Thymen Arensman fought on and crossed the finish line in 04:53:35 as winner of stage 14 of Tour de France 2025 for his Ineos-Grenadiers team. What an important victory for both him and his British team, which was perhaps finally entering a new golden age.

Pogacar launched a sprint effort in the final meters and Vingegaard proved unable to respond. Pogacar finished second in the stage, while Vingegaard completed the stage podium. Felix Gall finished fourth, while Florian Lipowitz took fifth and Oscar Onley was sixth.

“I can’t really believe it. I got sick after the Giro, but I still had a good preparation leading up to the Tour, but I had to be patient in the first stages. I already finished second in a stage of my first tour and what I did today was amazing,” Thymen Arensman told Roadcycling.com after the finish.

“Carlos Rodriguez did a super job for me, and I just had great legs and am in the best shape of my life. I knew Jonas and Tadej were closing in on us, so I knew I had to move if I wanted to win. Winning is unbelievable and crazy. I just wanted to experience the Tour de France this year, which is the biggest race in the world and to win a stage in my first Tour is just crazy,” Arensman explained.

Tadej Pogacar remains general classification leader following today’s stage. Jonas Vingegaard is 04:13 minutes behind in second place, while Florian Lipowitz jumped to third place, now 07:53 behind the leader. Oscar Onley is fourth in the GC, Kevin Vauquelin is fifth, while Primoz Roglic is sixth, and Feliz Gall seventh. Ben Healy is ninth, while Carlos Rodriguez completes the GC top ten.

The Tour de France will continue Sunday with stage 15 – a 169.3-kilometer ride on a route from Muret to Carcassonne. The stage will be contested in hilly and somewhat mountainous terrain and the profile appeals to breakaway optimists while the GC favorites will likely prioritize recovering their strength.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from the 2025 Tour de France.