Polish rider Rafal Majka has won stage 14 of the Tour de France and Italian Vincenzo Nibali tightened his grip as the Tour leader by finishing second, just 24 seconds behind Majka. Nibali has now extended his lead over second-placed Alejandro Valverde to four minutes, 37 seconds with eight stages left in the competition.

After Friday’s race, when Team Sky’s lead rider Richie Porte dropped out of contention, the team decided that it would try to animate the race. This became evident when Geraint Thomas and Mikel Nieve joined a 17-man break at the start of the stage.

Nibali was happy to remain in the pelotan being led by his team-mates as the break built an advantage of more than five minutes during the first of the day’s climbs. This advantage was then reduced to three minutes as they reached the summit of the day’s hardest climb, the Col d’Izoard.

The ascent also saw Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez reach the top of the mountain classification thanks to being the first over the top which meant he collected an additional 10 points.

Majka was one of the 17 riders to make the initial break and he managed to hold on to beat the fast-finishing Nibali and win his first stage of the Tour. He dedicated his win to injured Tinkoff-Saxo team-mate Alberto Contador who crashed out in stage 10.

While Nibali looks almost certain to win the Tour, the race for minor places is still wide open as the four riders below Valverde are all within 91 seconds of second place. Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot are currently locked in a battle for third place with both riders determine to win a place on the podium in Paris and the white jersey as the quickest rider under the age of 25.