Tour de France 2021 Stage 14, as it happened - Bauke Mollema plays his card right as Michael Woods takes polka dots

UAE Team Emirates lead a trundling peloton over the line almost seven minutes down - so that will put the Frenchman above both Rigo Uran and Jonas Vingegaard in the standings. He's still just over four minutes behind Tadej Pogacar, who keeps his yellow jersey ahead of Sunday's brutal stage into Andorra.

Omar Fraile lead home a group containing Elie Gesbert, Quentin Pacher and Louis Meintjes at 1'25" before Esteban Chaves completes the top 10 ahead of Giullaume Martin a few seconds later. Now we wait to see where the yellow jersey group comes - and the Frenchman Martin could rise to as high as second place on GC.

Patrick Konrad and Sergio Higuita sprint for second place and it's the Australian who pips the Colombian, with Mattia Cattaneo taking fourth and Michael Woods - the new polka dot jersey - content to sit back and roll in for fifth. They were just over a minute down on Mollema.

It was a high-class break and it was always going to take something special - but Bauke Mollema went early, when no one expected it, and then held off the chase with aplomb. A superb win in the Pyrenees to add to his win in the Massif Central four years ago.

If I'm correct, this will be the first Trek-Segafredo win on the Tour since John Degenkolb in 2018. Bauke Mollema has all the time in the world - well, just over a minute - to sit back and savour this one.

He was third a few days ago after the double ascent of Mont Ventoux but today he should pick up his first stage win on the Tour since 2017. The Dutchman was flawless today and made his attack when no one was expecting it. It was brave and bold. He's 1'15" ahead of the chasers, who have almost been caught by the Martin group. Frenchman Martin could move up into second place on GC after today at this race.

We haven't seen any images of Bauke Mollema on the descent for a while but the pack has just gone over the top of the climb some 5'45" down on the lone leader. Ineos have come to the front alongside UAE. At this rate, Richard Carapaz should put his attack in around the third week of the Vuelta.

The Dutchman pockets 5 KOM points that sees his tally grow to 41pts which keeps him in fifth place in the KOM standings - 10pts behind Woods. Make that 13pts in fact because the Canadian has just gone over in second place to pocket 3pts ahead of Higuita and Konrad. But the real fight now is for the stage and Mollema still has one minute to play with - although we're hearing there's a headwind in the run towards Quillan.

The Austrian champion ups the tempo from a chase group of four, momentarily going clear of Higuita, Cattaneo and Woods. With Poels far back, Woods doesn't need any KOM points to secure the polka dot jersey today. There's another quartet further back of Martin, Gesbert, Fraile and Meintjes, with Chaves somewhere in between.

The Colombian is the one driving the pace of the chase group, which is coming back together after Cattaneo, Madouas, Martin, Poels, Fraile and Rllland were distanced at the start of the climb following the acceleration from Chaves. The GC group, meanwhile, has hit the bottom slopes of the climb and it's UAE who are still in control back there.

Having rallied, Cattaneo is now on the front with Woods - who seems to have shrugged off that fall - and Konrad. Higuita bridges over but they're pulling clear of Martin and Meintjes. With still one minute advantage, Mollema remains the favourite for the stage.

Meanwhile, off the back of the pack goes Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe, Sonny Colbrelli, Geraint Thomas and many others...

The lone leader is now onto the Cat.2 Col de Saint-Louis (4.7km at 7.4%). He has 1'15" over the chasers and 5'35" on the pack. Esteban Chaves is leading the chase as the group begins to split into numerous factions.

With the peloton now almost six minutes back on the lone leader, Mollema, one of the 13 chasers - Giullaume Martin - has ridden himself to second place in the virtual standings. He's the only rider within five minutes of Pogacar on the road, jumping ahead of the likes of Uran and Vingegaard after ghosting into the break. He was ninth at 9'29" this morning.

Mollema is up and over that lump and his gap continues to grow - over a minute now for the flying Dutchman. No reaction as yet from behind.

The Dutch veteran now has 32 seconds on his breakaway companions and he'll take some catching - although we still do have one more climb and there are some decent uphill pedalers behind. That said, one of them - Woods - will be severely hamstrung by that crash.

Esteban Chaves was doing most of the pacing down the descent but, just as Woods gets back on, the Dutch veteran has now decided it's time to make his move. There's a small climb before the next categorised climb and Mollema - who's won on similar stages on the Tour, most notably a few years ago in the Massif Central - is a man on a mission.

Meanwhile, Eddy Merckx isn't that bitter, it seems, despite the prospect of his record being beaten soon by Mark Cavendish...

The Canadian is panicking a little as he bids to rejoin the leaders - taking the corners in instalments and almost coming a cropper again. It's silly - he has no need to lose his head trying to get back on right now when he can easily return once the road levels out in the valley and the adrenaline has settled down.

The Canadian crashes on a tight left-hander on the descent. He's back on his bike with a cut elbow and some torn big shorts - but that is far from ideal in his quest to win the stage and talke the polka dots. It looks like he slid when his wheel locked up - perhaps in some gravel or in melting tarmac. The roads are narrow and the surface isn't tip top.

Just before the descent, Pierre Rolland put in a short-lived attack on a small uphill ramp. There seemed no sense in it and he was quickly brought to heel. It's crazy to think that Rolland once won on Alpe d'Huez. Louis Meintjes also had an issue with his derailleur, which he kicked with his heel a few times to knock it back - a risky strategy, but he emerges unscathed.

We're hearing that Tim Declercq has battled back into the green jersey gruppetto, which is around 10 minutes down. The Belgian, who crashed yesterday, should be safe now he's surrounded by other bodies - and some teammates. But we're hearing that both Nacer Bouhanni and Cees Bol - who crashed, too, in that same pile-up - are some 18 minutes down. They'll be fighting the time cut today.

The yellow jersey group, meanwhile, is still being led by UAE Team Emirates and has come over the summit of that last climb four minutes down. Movistar are riding en masse near the front - they failed to get anyone in the break despite being fairly active earlier. Imanol Erviti's break a few days ago aside, the Spanish team have had a rotten Tour.

But it's not the Canadian who wins the sprint over the summit. He took the initiative by darting clear with 300m remaining and while Poels was at the back of the group - but the Dutchman rallied and timed his surge to perfection, zipping past his rival just in time to take the maximum 2pts. That puts him on 49pts with Woods's single digit putting him on 51pts and ahead of Quintana on 50pts. It could well come down to the final climb today, where there are more points on offer.

The four French chasers have managed to join the break just ahead of the next climb, the Cat.3 Cote de Galinagues (2.2km at 9%). A reminder that the four who bridged over are: Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Elie Gesbert (Arkea-Samsic) and B&B Hotels duo, Quentin Pacher and Pierre Rolland. It's the shortest climb of the day but the steepest, with some double-digit sections. And Pacher immediately comes to the front to put in a big pull - paving the way for teammate Rolland? - but he will pay for that, surely.

Three become 10 and it looks like the stage winner will be one of these riders who now hold a gap of 2'30" over the peloton: Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious), Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation), Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Louis Meintjes (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert), Esteban Chaves (Team BikeExchange), Omar Fraile (Astana-PremierTech), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Sergio Higuita (EF Education-Nippo). Who's your pick?

This time it's the Canadian who takes maximum points over the summit of the Croix de Morts ahead of Poels - that puts him level with Nairo Quintana and on 50pts in the KOM standings. He should be our new polka dot jersey tonight. Poels meanwhile is up to 47pts now. But the leading trio will be joined by the chasers to form a 10-man super group quite soon.

Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Elie Gesbert (Arkea-Samsic) and B&B Hotels duo, Quentin Pacher and Pierre Rolland, have formed a quartet after getting out of the pack. So this is the state of play: our three leaders have 30 seconds on the chase group, 1'45" on the French foursome, 2'55" on the peloton and almost eight minutes on a gruppetto that includes the green jersey.

Our leading trio start the next climb, the Cat.2 Col de la Croix des Morts (6.8km at 5.7%) and it looks like we're going to see a big dual between Poels and Woods for the polka dot points today - and, perhaps, the stage. Their advantage over the seven chasers is only 40 seconds though, with the peloton at around two minutes.

Poels and Woods have 30 seconds on Cattaneo, who himself has 25 seconds on a chasing group of seven: Bauke Mollema and Guillaume Martin joined Konrad, Higuita, Chaves, Fraile and Meintjes in pursuit. The main pack, led by UAE, is 1'35" down.

Woods went from distance but Poels plugged away before the summit before catching up then pipping the Canadian for the maximum 5pts. That puts the Dutchman up to 44pts with Woods, who took 3pts, now on 45pts. So they’re both ahead of Wout van Aert now (43pts) but Quintana remains in the polka dot hotseat on 50pts.

The UAE Team Emirates train comes to the front of the pack in a bid to assert some control for their yellow jersey, Tadej Pogacar, but not before Louis Meintjes (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert), Esteban Chaves (Team BikeExchange) and Spanish champion Omar Fraile (Astana-PremierTech) go clear. Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Sergio Higuita (EF Education-Nippo) are also trying their luck.

On the front, meanwhile, the Canadian Woods has joined Poels and Cattaneo in a trio that has 35 seconds over the pack.

After Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels) has a little dig ahead of the climb, a duo went clear - Wout Poels and Mattia Cattaneo. The Dutchman is clearly thinking of taking back the polka dot jersey he wore for a day earlier in the race, while the Italian senses a chance to keep the QuickStep wagon rolling. They're on the Col de Montsegur now which is 4.3km at 8.7%. Michael Woods, another polka dot contender, is doing his best to bridge over.

Geraint Thomas, Miguel Angel Lopez and Wout van Aert are on the nose of the peloton as if anticipating the impending fireworks from the next climb, which is coming right up. What a relentlessly active start to today's stage - and now we see Mark Cavendish and his trusty leadout man Michael Morkov dropping off the back, quite understandably.

Dries Devenyns bridges over to the break from the peloton in what is clear spoil tactics for the intermediate sprint. The Belgian comes to the front and takes second place behind Rockaert, with Michael Matthews and Sonny Colbrelli coming over for seventh and eighth when the peloton comes through just seconds later. That will see Cavendish's lead come back into double figures again (he had a 101-point lead on Matthews going into the stage).

Meanwhile, Stefan Bissegger hit the deck near the sprint for some reason - he's okay but needs a bike change.

Around 30 riders seem to have edged ahead following a series of surges from Simon Geschke of Cofidis. It will probably spell the death-knell for these five escapees, who are: Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo), Jonas Rickaert and Kristian Sbaragli (Alpecin-Fenix), Anthony Turgis (Team TotalEnergies) and Maxime Chevalier (B&B Hotels). It looks like Bahrain-Victorious are hungry because Sonny Colbrelli, the Italian champion, fancies some intermediate sprint points to keep the pressure on Mark Cavendish and Michael Matthews.

The break is still only 300m and 22 seconds ahead as Marco Haller of Bahrain-Victorious has a dig off the front of the pack. The Austrian is pegged back as the road continues to rise up towards the intermediate sprint at Lavelanet. These are roads often used in the Ariégeoise sportive, which I rode back in 2015 I think it was. Lovely roads to cycle on - but unforgiving with their constant lumps and bumps. More attacks from behind sees the gap come down to 15 seconds.

Pello Bilbao has had some issues with his steed. He needed to change his bike near the summit and then again part way down the descent. The race is really on now and we have numerous riders off the back including sprint duo Nacer Bouhanni - bashed up after his fall yesterday - and Andre Greipel, who had a puncture. The five leaders still have that precarious lead of 35 seconds so it continues to be very unsettled.

And here's a photo that surfaced of Bilbao's tumble:

Nairo Quintana still wears the polka dot jersey. The Colombian has 50pts with his nearest challenger, Wout van Aert, up to 43pts after his starring role in the double ascent of Mont Ventoux. Canada's Michael Woods is one point back and ahead of Dutch duo Wout Poels (39pts) and Bauke Mollema (36pts). Any of these guys could be in polka dots tonight if they play their cards right. And both Woods and Van Aert have been in the thick of it today.

Not content with having won five out of the previous 13 stages - four of those through Mark Cavendish - Deceuninck-QuickStep have been very much to the fore today with early attacks from Alaphilippe and Asgreen. Well, now we have the Italian Mattia Cattaneo having a pop - his acceleration sparks a reaction from a rider from Israel Start-Up Nation, Michael Woods, just as the camera on the back of the peloton picks out Chris Froome starting to go backwards.

Over the top of the climb it was Sbaragli who took the 2pts ahead of Skujins. But this quintet only has 12 seconds now on the strung-out peloton after Cattaneo's acceleration.

"There's going to be fireworks on this first third-category climb," says Sean Kelly, who's licking his lips as the five leader hits the Col du Back (3.1km at 5.3%). Their advantage is still only 40 seconds as behind we see an instant attack by the first man to don polka dots this year - the Dutchman Ide Schelling of Bora-Hansgrohe. But his time off the front doesn't last long...

The Dane is caught and he's also Cort. As the road narrows and starts to edge uphill towards the foot of the first climb, Steven Kruijwijk comes to the fore again - he looks like he's very keen to get involved in the move which eventually does stick today. Cort then takes it up with another dig in a bid to coax out some big-hitting companions. He gets one in Julian Alaphilippe, but the duo ease and we go back to zero. The five riders still only have 30 seconds so they're not going to survive unless a strong group successfully manages to counter.

The chasers have caught the previous lone leader so we now have five out clead with a gap of just 45 seconds on the pack. Magnus Cort has just zipped clear for EF Education-Nippo but he only has about 20 metres on the pack who are keeping him on a tight leash.

We're on a little kicker ahead of the first climb and Denmark's Kasper Asgreen looks like he's using it as a platform to go clear and join some of those riders up the road. He came out of the wheels of Harry Sweeny, who has been very active these past few days for Lotto Soudal, and has now strung out the front of the pack as many - including Mohoric - try to join him.

Sbaragli has 35 seconds on the four chasers (Skujins and Rickaert caught Turgis and Chevalier) and 1'15" on the peloton. The Asgreen dig comes to nothing but he's still on the front and waiting for another chance.

French duo Anthony Turgis (Team TotalEnergies) and Maxime Chevalier (B&B Hotels) are doing their best to bridge over to Sbaragli while the Latvian champion Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) has just gone clear of the pack with Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Fenix). None of these riders are exactly blockbuster names and the peloton seems to have eased up a little ahead of the first climb where we will no doubt see some more big-hitters try to get involved.

The Alaphilippe group came to nothing, which was a shame, and now there's just the single rider out ahead - the Italian Kristian Sbaragli of Alpecin-Fenix. There's a lot of interest from others, though, and we even saw Welshman Geraint Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers trying his luck off the front just now.

Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) and Quentin Pacher (B&B Hotels) go clear with a small gap. Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) tried to get involved but he couldn't bridge over. Pacher was on the offensive in the finala yesterday while the other two have already won stages in this Tour.

... but it's incredibly strung out because the pace is high! The world champion Julian Alaphilippe looks pretty hungry - he's on the front and sniffing out an opportunity, inadvertently making things fairly rotten for his teammate Declercq on the back. Sergio Heneo, meanwhile, has a flat tyre and needs a change.

Our current leaders are Steven Kruisjwijk (Jumbo-Visma), Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) and Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious). But their advantage is small as numerous riders look to bridge over as the peloton rampages along a straight road lined with plane trees.

There are multiple attacks and the Belgian breakaway specialist is at the fore - as is Kasper Asgreen of Denmark. On the other side of the peloton, Tim Declercq - heavily bandaged after his fall yesterday - is clinging on for dear life. He's going to suffer big time today.

Movement from the outset with a flurry of attacks. There are going to be some tired legs today - especially from those who crashed yesterday in that incident with the gravel and a drop off the road into bushes and trees. Warren Barguil and Soren Kragh Andersen elected not to start today after they were involved in that crash which ended the race for Simon Yates, Lucas Hamilton and Roger Kluge. That puts us down to just 149 riders.

It's the first of five days in the Pyrenees with a day that takes in the foothills of Cathar castle country. Five categorised climbs are on the agenda on what should be a big day for both the yellow and polka dot jerseys. Here's the profile of the 183.7km route to Stage 14.

It wasn’t pretty and it was far from orthodox – but Britain’s Mark Cavendish now stands tall alongside the great Eddy Merckx as the leading stage winner of the Tour de France.

The 34th stage win of Cavendish’s Tour career – and fourth of a remarkable comeback race – came after a scrappy and fiercely contested bunch sprint in Carcassonne, with Danish veteran Michael Morkov ensuring his teammate took the win by completing a slick one-two for Deceuninck-QuickStep.

Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix), Spain’s Ivan Garcia (Movistar) and Dutchman Danny van Poppel (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) completed the top five after a sweltering 220km stage through the Languedoc region of south-west France.

From start to finish, Deceuninck-QuickStep played a blinder – monitoring the early breakaway attempts, keeping a lid on the three-man move once it did go up the road, regrouping after Tim Declercq was involved in a large pile-up with 60km remaining, then putting out all the fires on a frantic approach to Carcassonne.

Cavendish was brought to the flamme rouge behind a blue train of Kasper Asgreen, Davide Ballerini and Morkov. But a series of turns disrupted the sprint and saw QuickStep react by having Ballerini zip clear inside the final few hundred metres.

Spaniard Garcia led the chase on Ballerini with Morkov and Cavendish in his slipstream, while Philipsen came around the outside of the green jersey entering the final straight. As Garcia caught Ballerini, Morkov powered past, expertly checking his speed before the line to ensure Cavendish made the headlines with the latest landmark win of an astonishing comeback.

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