Tour de France: Kragh Andersen clinches Stage 14 with late solo attack

Lyon, Sept. 12: Soren Kragh Andersen claimed his first stage triumph in the Tour de France after a blistering attack at the end of Stage 14 on Saturday.

Team Sunweb rider Andersen pounced with three kilometres to go in Lyon, with his late solo attack ultimately enough to clinch a surprising stage win.

In a sprint finish for the remaining podium places, Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) edged out Simone Consonni (Cofidis), while Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) – who crossed the line in 29th – retained the yellow jersey.

With Roglic keeping things steady on the 194km route from Clermont-Ferrand to Lyon, Sunweb timed their attack to perfection.

Tiesj Benoot went first on the penultimate climb, and though he was caught, Marc Hirschi attacked with just under four kilometres remaining, opening up a gap which Kragh Andersen exploited.

Peter Sagan crossed over in fourth place, with the Slovakian closing to within 43 points of Sam Bennett in the points classification.

A DREAM COME TRUE

It was a remarkable push from Kragh Andersen, and from a youthful though inexperienced Sunweb team.

Sunweb have no contender for the yellow jersey, but they put together an excellent team ride on Saturday, leaving Kragh Andersen overcome with emotion.

"I feel very emotional. I've dreamed about this but it's hard to say you're good enough until you do it. I'm amazed," he said.

"I had really good legs the whole day but you never know how good the other guys are.

"It took me a long time in the Tour to get confidence in myself but I knew if I was suffering then they were suffering."

Sunweb, who also had Casper Phillip Pedersen finishing in the top five, are 18th in the team standings.

STAGE RESULT

1. Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) 4:28:10 2. Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) +0:15 3. Simone Consonni (Cofidis) +0.15 4. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:15 5. Casper Phillip Pedersen (Team Sunweb) +0:15

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 61:03:00 2. Tadej Pogacar (Team Emirates) +0:44 3. Egan Bernal (Team INEOS) +0:59

Points Classification

1. Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) 252 points 2. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) 219 3. Matteo Trentin (CCC) 169

King of the Mountains

1. Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) 36 2. Nans Peters (AG2R La Mondiale) 31 3. Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb) 31

WHAT'S NEXT?

Stage 15 is a 174.5km mountainous route from Lyon to Grand Colombier, as Le Tour makes its way towards the Alps, giving defending champion Egan Bernal – one of the world's best climbers – a chance to shine. A rest day follows on Monday.