Richard Carapaz broke away to his second career Tour de France stage win as Tadej Pogacar stayed safe in yellow three days from Paris.
The flamboyant Ecuadorian rode clear of his fellow escapees a little over three kilometres from the top of the summit finish in Orcieres-Merlette to win by 45 seconds from stage 13 winner Mauro Schmid and Matteo Jorgenson.
It was an emotional moment for the 33-year-old, who lost his mother at the start of the year and said before this Tour that he wanted dedicate the race to her memory.
“It’s been a special day,” said Carapaz, whose previous Tour win also came from a breakaway on stage 17 in 2024.
“For me to come back here on the Tour has been something that cost us a lot. This is a very beautiful stage that I dedicate to my family. I think that’s what I’m most grateful for – to know the work I do can be compensated with all of this.
“We tried (to win from breakaways) several times and it was impossible to reach, but today it was. It’s been a very, very hard day. I knew it was a hard final climb. I was waiting for the chance, I tried a couple of times and it’s great to have the win.
“Every year it’s more difficult to win but the reward is here and I’ll enjoy it now.”
Pogacar and the rest of the general classification hopefuls crossed the line four minutes 35 seconds after Carapaz, with Pogacar retaining his four minute 32 second advantage over Remco Evenepoel ahead of two big days going up Alpe d’Huez.
The fight for the break had started on the first climb, the Cote d’Engins, early on the 185km stage from Voiron, with several groups forming on the road.
Carapaz was in a group of six riders to hit the final climb together and the 2021 Olympic champion launched his first attack on a tight right-hand corner four kilometres from the top.
Valentin Paret-Peintre, Schmid and Jorgenson shut that down quickly enough but had no response when Carapaz attacked again.
After several attempts in breakaways already in this Tour, it was a 25th professional win for Carapaz, but his first since stage 11 of last year’s Giro d’Italia. The win saw him move up to 10th in the general classification, albeit 21 minutes down.
The big question for Pogacar had been the health of his team.
Adam Yates again fought his way to the finish still apparently suffering with the illness that slowed him on Wednesday but Brandon McNulty, who started the day feeling a sore throat, abandoned midway through the stage – the first UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider to withdraw.
However, Isaac del Toro was able to hang with Pogacar and the rest of the team to remain third overall, 19 seconds ahead of French teenager Paul Seixas.
