2014 Tour de France Stage 14 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 14 of the 2014 Tour de France! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
The second day in the Alps is a rival for the queen stage epithet but it probably comes off second best to the Pla d’Adet stage three days later. The first two climbs – the Col du Lautaret and Col d’Izoard – are old Tour haunts. At 2,361m, the Izoard is also the roof of the race, with the route planners hoping it will be a springboard for a desperate chase up to Risoul, which is debuting in the Tour this year. The peloton tackles the Col d’Izoard from the Brianc?on side but the steep and technical descent alongside the Torrent d’Izoard could provide the impetus for the brave to set off and pressurise the race leader on the Risoul, which starts after a merciful period of flat along the valley floor.
Risoul has featured in ASO races in the recent past – twice in the Tour de l’Avenir and twice in the Crite?rium du Dauphine?. It’s only 6.1km in length and has an extremely constant gradient around seven per cent, so anticipate the pace up the climb to be punishingly high.
Chris Froome finished second up the climb in the Dauphine? last year, so it’s a mountain that will hold no worry for him. Indeed, with his climbing abilities, this provides the perfect opportunity for him to draw the blood of some rivals and see how they bleed.
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