MENDE (AFP) - Briton Stephen Cummings stole a march on a pair of Frenchmen to win the 14th stage of the Tour de France on Saturday as compatriot Chris Froome retained the overall leader's yellow jersey.

Romain Bardet attacked on the final climb at the end of the 178.5km stage from Rodez to Mende with Thibaut Pinot chasing him down.

But as they played cat-and-mouse in the final 1km, Cummings dashed up behind them and beat them to the line, taking a first ever victory for the MTN-Qhubeka team.