Tadej Pogachar made several attempts on stage 14 of the Tour de France, but was unable to push past race leader Jonas Vingegaard as they battled for the maillot jaune on the road to Mende.

Whether it was the early 10km of the transition stage following the Alps or the final 3.5km remaining on the steep slopes of the Croix Neuvecote in the final stages, the two were pulling away from the rest of the pack, as they had done in Super Planche and Chatel.

Pogachar initially made an unexpected move on the first climb of the 192.5-km stage, with 184 km to go. He pounced on the break, which was still steep that day, on the Côte de Saint-Juste-Marmont and caught Vingegaard in the gap marked by his Jumbo-Visma teammate.

Pogachar tried again later in the climb, but was marked by Vingegaard himself and many of his teammates were not in sight. Pogachar later explained that the purpose of his early attack was to stress his rivals.

"At first, Van Aert tried to get into a big break. 'There was a big gap and a lot of racers in front of me trying to break. I tried to put a little stress on the players behind me." [In the beginning I was just going with the flow. I went into the break and they needed to close it. They might have been a little stressed.

"They are a very strong team and for me it was impossible to get into the break," he admitted, despite having the strongest team in the race caught flat-footed.

As the race approached the Côte de Chatainier at the 40km mark, the fallen riders caught up and the peloton slowed down, allowing the breakaway to build a 14-minute lead.

However, the hostilities of the early stage would resume later in the day as the riders entered the 3km, 10.2% Croix Neuve hill before the finish at the airfield above Mende. A breakaway group was ahead, but 12 minutes later, Pogachar again battled his way to the Vingee goal.

He launched two attacks, one at 3.5 km and the other at 2 km from the finish. However, neither was able to push past his Danish rival, and Vingegaard responded to the acceleration with little room to spare and did not concede any time at the finish.

"After all," Pogachar said after the finish, "the plan was to go full on the last climb. But today was a little different with the short climb." [The legs are there and the heat is not a problem. The heat is not a problem.

Since his unexpected crash on the Col de Granon three days ago, Pogachar has tried to make up time on Vingegaard in two of the three stages, but has yet to catch him by a second.

After the finish in Mende, Pogachar admitted that the Pyrenean climbs to come might be better suited to regaining time, as opposed to the short, sharp impacts on the Mende.

"It's almost impossible. Nothing is impossible. Today was a short, steep climb, so I think I can make up more time in the Pyrenees because there are more open climbs."

"I do my best every day. I lost a lot of time and I need to make up for it. I'm going to do my best every day."