By Nick Butler

Rafal Majka of Poland won stage 14 of the Tour de France ©AFP/Getty ImagesVincenzo Nibali increased his stranglehold on the Tour de France title with second place behind Poland's Rafal Majka on another punishing mountainous stage today.


On a 177 kilometre stage that featured the highest point on the race circuit, Majka led a breakaway on the final two climbs, taking in the infamous 7,742-foot Izoard pass, before a finish up to the Risoul ski station.

It marked the first victory on this Tour for his Tinkoff-Saxo Bank team, who had endured a disappointing time until today after losing Spanish team leader Alberto Contador when he crashed out injured on Stage 10.

"This is a victory for Alberto because we came here trying to win the Tour for him," said the 24-year-old Pole.

"This is my first victory and maybe it's not finished, if I can get in another long breakaway I can try to win another stage."
 
But by finishing only 24 seconds behind Nibali increased his overall lead to 4min 31sec ahead of Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who lost a minute to the Italian rider.

Vincenzo Nibali gained further ground over his yellow jersey rivals with another strong performance ©Getty ImagesVincenzo Nibali gained further ground over his yellow jersey rivals with another strong performance ©Getty Images



The one-two result was the reverse of yesterday's first Alpine stage, where Nibali won in dominant fashion and Majka was second.

Two French riders, Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet, conducted a two-man sprint and crossed another 24 seconds back, with Bardet lying third overall, while American Tejay van Garderen was fifth, 54 seconds behind the Polish stage winner.

Tomorrow's stage should offer some respite from the rigour of the Alps, as the peloton meanders the 222km from Tallard to Nimes.

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