Tour de France stage 14 betting preview, free tips & TV details

ITV4, Eurosport 1 & S4C, 12.45pm Saturday

Julian Alaphilippe, 200-1 for Tour glory when the riders set off a fortnight ago, is now being quoted in single figures after his transformation from one-day specialist to potential grand tour winner took another massively impressive step forward in Friday's time trial.

France has been yearning for a home winner of the Tour since 1985 and Alaphilippe showed he might provide it with an astonishing show of strength in Pau, which took him to a 14-second victory over defending champion Geraint Thomas.

He now leads Thomas by 1min 26sec going into a crucial weekend in the Pyrenees which will tell us whether he has the strength to live with the proven mountain stars.

Thomas will still be happy with his position as he plots his way towards another Tour triumph, but Alaphilippe is demonstrating remarkable durability and is the biggest headache for Thomas and Team Ineos.

The days of the race being decided by what happened in what were usually two long TTs are over and the 27km test in Pau did not create huge time gaps among the rest of the field, although Romain Bardet's feeble effort means his dream is officially over.

Now the riders regroup for a fascinating road stage that can be best described as a short, sharp shock. The route from Tarbes to the top of the Tourmalet is not long, but it features a monumental amount of climbing, with the finish being 2,115 metres above sea level.

With a significant climb at halfway, before a descent and then a cruel drag of some 38km, the last 20 of which are savagely tough, this should be a key battleground, and it is hoped the candidates for victory in Paris next Sunday contest the stage win rather than let a group go miles clear and then scrap it out among themselves up the Tourmalet.

The time for watching and waiting is over. Too many riders need to take drastic action by now so, while a breakaway staying clear cannot be ruled out, it is likely the big guns will swallow up any escapees on the final ascent and make this a cracker.

Thomas won a similarly short but mountainous stage last year and will be the top name on many lists of potential winners after his serene progress to this point. His interrupted preparation for the race seems to have become a distant memory, but it should not be forgotten that he did not have the ideal build-up, having missed most of the Tour of Switzerland because of a crash.

He looked good on the first lumpy test in the opening week and his time-trial effort offered no cause for concern, but this is a different challenge and it cannot be taken for granted that he is every bit as good as last year, yet that's what the betting assumes.

Thibaut Pinot has been impressive but desperately unlucky, having lost nearly two minutes when the peloton split apart on Monday, and he will be on a mission to take back a chunk of that deficit. He did well in the TT and at the prices is the value to grab a victory, albeit one that would be scant consolation if that calamity at the start of this week were to cost him overall glory.

Emanuel Buchmann has had a solid Tour and is a rider to have on your side between now and Paris. He has shown really impressive form in the mountains this year and can boost his quest for a podium place with a strong show.

Egan Bernal went into the race as Ineos's joint-leader with Thomas and now seems to have accepted the role of deluxe domestique, but if he is still with the Welshman as the summit approaches he might not find his path to victory blocked by his teammate.

This test is the first part of a stunning weekend double-header with Sunday's route taking in three category one slopes before the second rest day on Monday. There is still everything to play for and the roads will be lined with passionate locals screaming on the man in yellow.

Recommendations
T Pinot
2pts each-way 6-1 Betway
E Buchmann
1pt each-way 28-1 Betway

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