(CNN) Going into the Tour de France's first big mountain climb in the Pyrenees, the question was: How much time would Geraint Thomas make up on Julian Alaphilippe?

At the end of the 14th stage, however, it was Alaphilippe who extended his overall lead over the defending champion to more than two minutes to give the host nation real hopes of producing its first race winner since Bernard Hinault in 1985.

The race concludes July 28th in Paris, so Alaphilippe isn't getting ahead of himself.

"I'm happy to profit from this exceptional moment I'm having," Alaphilippe, 33rd last year, was quoted as saying by the Tour's website. "The hard work pays off.

"One more day in yellow, I couldn't ask for anything better. The closer we'll get to Paris, the more I'll ask myself if I stay in the lead but firstly I need to recover from today's hard stage."

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