"Tadej Pogacar told me to go attack and I was like; what?!" - Adam Yates reveals stage 14 move was unplanned for UAE at 2024 Tour de France

Stage 14 of the Tour de France 2024 was very important for the classification of the race. Maillot Jaune wearing Tadej Pogacar took the win after an attack with 4.3 km to go on the climb to the Pla d'Adet, set up perfectly by teammate Adam Yates.

UAE Team Emirates finally played their cards well with an attack almost at the beginning of the climb by Yates. The Brit, who finished on the podium of the Tour de France twelve months ago, went ahead of the group of favourites in search of lone leader Ben Healy. It looked like Yates was going for the stage win, but it was a strategic move and then, as Pogacar made his attack, neither Jonas Vingegaard nor Remco Evenepoel could respond.

"It was a little bit of improvisation," Yates admits in his post-stage interview with ITV Sport. "I was ready to do the pace like normal, the he told me to go attack and I was like; what?! So yeah, I attacked. I looked behind a couple of times to see where he was and when he came across I couldn't too much for him, but in the end it was a good day and we've taken time!"

"With Tadej I've got not idea! This morning he said 'you can win if you go full gas,' and then yeah, I just kept looking behind to see if he was bridging and like I said, you never know," Yates continues. "The good thing is, the team is working well, we controlled all day."

We will see if this performance of Adam Yates and Tadej Pogacar ends up being decisive in the fight for the Tour de France. But for now, the Slovenian is 1 minute and 57 seconds ahead of his great rival Jonas Vingegaard in the general classification.