Alberto Contador might be out of the Tour De France but his Tinkoff Saxo team are far from finished in the race as Rafal Majka took victory on stage fourteen.
Definitely, a stage for the climbers with the race reaching its highest point on the 2360m Col d'Izoard, a peak which will net the first rider over the summit 5,000 euros.
On this 177km stage from Grenoble to Risoul, 173 riders including race leader Vincenzo Nibali whose commanding performance on stage thirteen further increased his lead in the race, rolled out.
That number was soon down to 172 when Rafael Valls (Lampre) abandoned due to a knee injury.
With sixteen kilometres gone, the first break of the day formed and it featured Mikel Nieve and Geraint Thomas (Sky), Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Rafal Majka and Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff), Peter Sagan and Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale), Steven Kruijswijk (Belkin), Christophe Riblon (AG2R), Albert Timmer (Giant), José Serpa (Lampre), Amaël Moinard (BMC), Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Nicolas Edet and Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) and Simon Yates (Orica).
Peter Sagan, ahead of De Marchi and Thomas, took the sprint after 39kms as the lead stretched out to 3.25 and was over four minutes by the time, the riders started on the col de Lautaret with 95kms to go.
With French Prime Minister Manuel Vall watching on, Joaquim Rodríguez took the col de Lautaret climb.
Through the feedzone at Brancon, the riders started on the Hors Category Col d'Izoard climb which starts with gradients of 6% and then goes up to ten per cent for the final five kilometres.
Only twelve riders were left on the front as Joaquim Rodriquez took the 25 points plus the five thousand euros prize for being first over the top at the highest point of the race this year.
That dropped to Geraint Thomas (Sky), Mikel Nieve (Sky), Steven Kruijswijk (Belkin), Amaël Moinard (BMC), Alessandro de Marchi (Cannondale), Jose Serpa (Lampre-Merida), Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha), Rafal Majka (Tinoff-Saxo), Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Simon Yates (Orica-GreenEdge), five kilometres later.
A crash saw Giant Shimano's Dries Devenyns become the lastest rider to abandon as the riders started on the 12.6km climb to the finish.at Risoul with a lead of 1.04 over the group containing Vincenzo Nibali.
Rafal Maijka of TInkoff Saxo took to the front followed by Rodriquez and De Marchi, who were 36 seconds back with six kilometres to go.
Maijka keep going but with three kilometres left, Nibali attacked with Peraud in his wheel. Tejay Van Garderen, Bardet, Schleck and Pinot tried to bridge to Nibali but Maijka was away and the 24 year old Pole coasted to victory in 5.08. 28.
Second was Nibali who passed Peraud to finish 24 seconds down on Maijka's time with Thibaut Pinot of FJR finishing fourth fifty seconds down and Romain Bardet of AG2R fifth.
Alesandro Valverde finished 1.24 down in tenth and lost time to Nibali who now leads the race by 4.37.