"We always expect an aggressive Tadej Pogacar" - Wout van Aert unsurprised by continued attacks of Maillot Jaune at 2024 Tour de France
Cycling
Over three minutes clear in the general classification and on a relatively calm day for the Maillot Jaune hopefuls, Tadej Pogacar couldn't help himself but spark the GC fight into life on stage 14 of the 2024 Tour de France, attacking again on the penultimate climb.
Arguably the main issue for Pogacar's main rival, Jonas Vingegaard, was the fact that he was isolated. The likes of Tiesj Benoot, Christophe Laporte and Wout van Aert were all part of the day's breakaway and as such, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader was all alone when Pogacar attacked. Thankfully for the Dane however, on the descent, first Laporte, then van Aert and Benoot dropped back and eventually helped their leader limit the damage.
"We wanted to go for the stage win, with me and Tiesj," van Aert told the assembled media afterwards. "It was just difficult to create a breakaway, with so much interest. We tried to protect Tiesj's move, but in the end a large group was formed and there were many good climbers in it. Christophe and I tried there, but it didn't work for the stage win."
As such, the duo were called to action to help pace their leader back to Pogacar and then Evenepoel in a thrilling finale to the stage. "I didn't see the attack, because I was in front, but we always expect an aggressive Pogacar," van Aert concludes. "We are always ready for that, although I have to talk to Jonas to ask what happened. Now that Christophe, Tiesj and I were still in front, we could give him a hand in the final."
In the end, Vingegaard lost 12 seconds to Remco Evenepoel and just 2 seconds to Pogacar. With four stages still to go, there is still much to play for in the fight for the top 3 positions.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
- the time for a GC rider to retire is when they cannot win stages, or have a significant level drop like from winner/podium into top 5/10 consistently. Roglic is still competitive and Froome raced even though he became pack fodder.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- He should be in a different team. It was detrimental. For them it does not matter if he does not develop. He should have gone to a team where they need him to succeed.abstractengineer10-11-2026
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🇫🇷 #TDF2024 Fighting in the breakaway ✅ Supporting Jonas in the final ✅ What a performance!
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