Tour de France Stage 13: Huge Climb up Ballon d’Alsace
The Tour de France saw a big increase in the degree of difficulty today. The stage featured a climb up the category 1 Le Ballon d’Alsace. The climb resulted in quite a bit of decimation in the Peloton, with riders attempting to break away and various chases forming. Meanwhile, the peloton, which contained the yellow jersey of Tadej Pogacar.
Englishman Tom Pidcock was named the most aggressive rider of the stage for being in the breakaway and continually pushing the pace. He rose to fourth place overall. However, two relatively unknown riders rode away from a huge breakaway to contest the win of this stage. Do you think Tadej Pogacar will win the stage tomorrow?
Tour de France Stage 13 Summary
The large mountain on this stage resulted in quite a bit of chaos. The first breakaway had no fewer than 57 riders. Slowly, the large breakaway group dwindled a bit. Tim Wellins kept riding off the front, and Tom Pitcock won the climb up the Ballon d’Alsace.
Mauro Schmidt and Harold Tejada broke away from the breakaway in this stage of the tour, leaving a group including Tim Wellens, Maxim Van Gils, Kévin Vauquelin, Luke Plapp, Tom Pidcock, Clément Braz Afonso, and Jordan Jegat, who desperately tried to get back to the two leaders.
Mauro Schmidt won this stage and popped a wheelie at the finish. Harolad Tejaja was second on the stage. Tom Pidcock was two seconds behind and finished third, after a long day pushing the pace. Maxim Van Gils was fourth. Brandon McNulty, an American, was fifth on this stage.
It was interesting at the end of the stage that the peloton and the yellow jersey were almost 8 minutes behind (7:36). Tadej Pogacar retained his overall lead in the tour. Jonas Vindegaard stayed in second place overall. Remco Evenepoel was third. Tom Pidcock, with his massive effort today, moved all the way up to fourth overall. Juan Ayuso, as a consequence, fell one spot to fifth overall. This is Pogacar’s ninth yellow jersey.
The ride of Tom Pidcock deserves special emphasis. Not only was he voted the most aggressive rider in this stage, he moved up to fourth in the overall standings. He is an exceptional rider, and he is getting his legs as the tour heads to the big mountains of the Alps.
The Green Jersey Competition
The green jersey in the Tour de France is given to the sprinter who has the most points. Riders can get points at intermediate spirits and from winning stages. Mads Peterson maintains the overall lead in the standings. He has 377 points. Jasper Phillipson is second with 336 points. Biniam Grimay is third with 333 points. Tim Merlier, winner of three stages so far, was fourth with 307 points. The fifth-place rider was Max Kantor. He has 239 points.
This is the most interesting competition in the race. With sprint finishes on stage 17 and the final stage on the Champs Élysées, we could see a change in leadership here. This is especially the case with all the intermediate sprints that offer points. We should see sprinters contesting for the intermediate sprinters, and we may see some odd things, with sprinters in early breakaways on mountain stages, like tomorrow.
Conclusion
This stage of the tour was noteworthy both because of the big mountain that was on it and because of the great ride by Tom Pidcock. Mauro Schmidt and Harold Tejada also deserve some credit for breaking away at the end and contesting the stage. Tomorrow is stage 14 from
Mulhouse to Le Markstein Fellering. The stage is 155.3 kilometers long and has more than 3,800 meters of vertical climbing. The stage features three category 1 climbs. It is sure to be another general classification battle, and another coronation for Pogacar. This is an appetizer as the riders twice have to climb the famous Alp d’Houz, in stages 19 and 20.
