LE MARKSTEIN, France (AP) — Tadej Pogacar launched a trademark attack on the last climb of the day to win the 14th stage of the Tour de France on Saturday and extend his commanding lead as he chases a fifth title.The Slovenian star raised his arms in the air after clinching his fourth stage of this year’s race and 25th overall. Barring injury or mishap, a fifth Tour crown is looking increasingly inevitable. Only Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault have five Tour victories.Pogcar’s UAE Emirates XRG teammate Isaac Del toro has been impressive so far. The 22-year-old Mexican finished Saturday’s stage in second place and French hope Paul Seixas was third ahead of two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard, who is again being dominated by Pogacar in the big climbs.“I gave it a go today,” Pogacar said. “I had good feelings.”
He now leads Vingegaard by 4 minutes, 30 seconds overall in the standings, with Remco Evenepoel 5:04 back in third place and the 19-year-old Seixas improving to fourth at 5:19 behind Pogacar.Saturday’s 155-kilometer (96-mile) route featured three big Category 1 climbs — the second-hardest category in climbing — in the Alsace region and ended at Le Markstein ski resort.After the first big ascent up Grand Ballon, a group of five were at the front, including Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, with Pogacar’s large yellow jersey group rolling behind as riders tackled the descent in rainy conditions.
