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UAE Team Emirates masterclass in the Pyrenees

This Saturday was one of Tadej’s most successful days in the 111th Tour of France. With the exceptional help of the UAE Team Emirates he won stage 14 in the Pyrenees, increasing his lead in the overall standings. Nils Politt, Pavel Sivakov and João Almeida did a great job dictating the pace at the front of the group of favorites before Adam Yates attacked on the final climb to Pla d’Adet. Tadej jumped across to his teammate as Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel couldn’t follow.

With Adam’s help Tadej maintained his advantage over them for a while, then accelerated 4 km before the finish line and drove himself to victory.

“In the end, it was more about racing by feel than a planned attack. We wanted a stage win, but we expected a sprint finish. After Adam’s attack, Visma had to pull, and I waited for the right moment to join him in the front with a gap to the others. Once I was able to do that, the position was perfect for us. I owe a big thank you to everyone in the team, they were exceptional and I dedicate the victory to them. The plan was to get into the sprint, win the stage and gain a few bonus seconds. However, this outcome was much better. This is very good news for me, I am very happy to have such an advantage. We have to continue like this, with positive energy and good legs,” Tadej said at the finish, after his second Tour stage win of the year and 13th of his career. He increased his overall lead to 1:57 over Vingegaard and 2:22 over Evenepoel.

The Pyrenees clearly suit Tadej, here he won two stages in a row in 2021 and passed the last mountain tests on the way to his second victory on the Champs-Élysées. Otherwise, this was his third stage with the ascent of the iconic Tourmalet and he celebrated his third victory.

Tomorrow he will face an even more demanding, 197.7 km long Pyrenean stage with the finish at Plateau de Beille. “Tomorrow’s stage will be very demanding from the start, we will have to start sharply and carefully. We have a very strong team, we already showed that this time, I don’t think we need to be scared,” Tadej commented after victory number 16 in his exceptional 2024 season.

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