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Tour de France 2017: Stage 13

By SadhbhO'Shea
published

January 1 - July 23, Saint Girons, France, Road - WorldTour

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Chris Froome loses Tour de France lead to Fabio Aru

Welcome. Come inside, take off your shoes and sit down. We've got an action-packed day in store for you today as the riders tackle the short stage 13 from Saint-Girons to Foix. 

If you've not seen it yet, the big news this morning is that the UCI has reversed their decision regarding the 20-second penalties handed to Uran, Bennett and Pauwels. That mean they will start today with their original GC times from the end of yesterday's stage. You can read the full story, with UCI statement, here. 

With that in mind, this is how the general classification looks at the start of the day. 

At 101km, this is the shortest stage of the Tour de France. We can expect a very aggressive stage right from the off. It is also Bastille Day, so there will be a lot of interest from the French riders in the peloton. Can they get their fourth stage win of the Tour de France?

There are three first category climbs today, including the Mur de Péguère. It is a brutal ascent that features gradients of up to 18 per cent. In fact, it's so steep that race organiser ASO has made a point of stating the bike weight riders must adhere to, in their daily previews. They say that while riders might want to use a lighter bike the minimum weight for a bike is 6.8kg.

When he popped into anti-doping after the stage yesterday [each day 5 random riders plus the stage winner and yellow jersey must attend anti-doping], Nairo Quintana's bike was weighed. It came in just above the minimum weight at 6.84kg. We can assume that all of the riders will be riding as light a bike as they possibly can today. 

The last few riders are signing on. The stage is due to start in just over 15 minutes at 14:35 CET. There are some patches of blue sky out there and the riders can expect a slightly warmer day out than they had yesterday. 

Fabio Aru is in yellow this morning after taking the race lead from Chris Froome in a dramatic finale yesterday. He finished third on the stage to take a few bonus seconds, added to the time that Froome lost after cracking in the final few metres. Aru told reporters after the stage about his emotions after taking yellow. You can read his full comments here. 

Astana is a diminished team after the loss of Cataldo and the injury of Fuglsang. Yesterday, they were able to benefit largely from the work of Team Sky as they worked to protect the yellow jersey. With Froome out of yellow and Aru in it, will they be able to soak up the pressure today? It will be interesting to see how they cope. 

It will also be intriguing to see how Team Sky plays it today. They're going to have to work to crack not just Aru but Uran and Bardet who have looked strong in recent days. Will Sky work to try and hold things together or will they send people up the road in an attempt to break the race apart. They would have loved to have Geraint Thomas at this point. With two major cards to play in the general classification they would have had a strong hand today. Landa is still someone who could throw a spanner in the works. He was clearly stronger than Froome in the finale yesterday and at just 2:55 down the other teams won't want to give him too much room. 

Chris Froome will certainly be hoping for a better day of it this afternoon. After giving his yellow jersey to Fabio Aru - only the second time that he has lost the jersey after taking it - Froome said that he 'didn't have the legs'. How will he feel today? Read what Froome had to say about his day out yesterday. 

The riders have set off from Saint Girons this afternoon. The neutral zone is just 5.4km so the racing should be on very soon. 

Chris Froome spoke to the press at the start this morning. This is what he had to say.

According to Le Tour Data, this is the first time that we have had three riders within 25 seconds after stage 12. After a really close Giro d'Italia, it looks like we could be in for a tight finish to the Tour de France. There are still plenty of stages to come though, so that could change. 

The riders are still making their way through the neutral zone. We've got Team Sky, Astana and AG2R up front. Thomas Voeckler and Warren Barguil are in the mix behind the car too. They will be really keen to go on the attack today. 

One rider that isn't up front is Jakob Fuglsang. He's right at the back and it will be a day of survival for the Dane today as he continues to recover from an injury he picked up a couple of days ago. 

The riders pass through the KM0 and quelle surprise it is Voeckler and Barguil that launch the first attack. 

There are more riders trying to follow, including one from Team Sky. 

The peloton is strung out as they try to chase Voeckler and Barguil. Five or six riders in between the two groups as more splits happen down the bunch. 

Fuglsang is clinging onto the back of the bunch with Tiesj Benoot. He will want things to settle as soon as possible. 

Bahrain, Cannondale, Cofidis, BMC, FDJ and Fortuneo are all chasing this break. 

97km remaining from 101km

Fuglsang has been dropped. 

The pace is just relentless and Burghardt is now trying to bridge the gap. He's got four more riders not too far behind him. 15 seconds still for the two out front. 

Importantly for Barguil, the first climb of the day comes at 31 kilometres. Before that, though, is the intermediate sprint at Seix. 

That little group has been caught and we've got more riders trying to go. They've not had much space but Barguil and Voeckler have been out there for 8km already. 

Bahrain-Merida seems to be one of the teams very determined to get into this break. They've had Grmay and Arashiro trying their luck. They had Izagirre as their GC leader but he crashed out on the opening time trial. 

Barguil and Voeckler are still pushing but they can see the peloton looming behind them. 

That's 10km of this 101 stage done. Lots of chasing still going on and it looks like Barguil has resigned himself to being brought back. 

They have indeed been brought back by a group of around 20 riders. The gap is small now and nothing is solid at the moment. Fluid is certainly the word one might use to describe the situation at the moment. 

Chavanel has now gone on the attack with De Marchi and Gilbert. 

One kilometre until the intermediate sprint. Three riders out front but there are still plenty of points on offer there. 

Chavanel leads the break over the sprint, while Matthews mops up the points for fourth. Kittel is in fifth though and that really isn't much gain for the Australian. 

Fuglsang has managed to get himself onto the back of the peloton. He was sitting up without his hands on the bars in the neutral zone. He's clearly in a lot of pain. 

The first abandon of the day is Arthur Vichot. He crashed on the same day as Fuglsang. This has been a difficult race for FDJ, who have now lost more than half their riders. 

The gap to the current breakaway is just 17 seconds. Things have calmed down briefly on the front of the peloton, but it doesn't last long. 

83km remaining from 101km

Bora-Hansgrohe are another team that has not fared well in this Tour. They won a stage with Peter Sagan but he was promptly thrown from the race the following day. Their GC leader, Rafal Majka also left the race after crashing heavily on Sunday. 

There are 41 seconds between the peloton and the three leaders. The Bora-Hansgrohe pairing are in the middle at 17 seconds back. 

80km remaining from 101km

It looks like it's Rolland that has gone, and he's following Amador. Movistar need to do something today to try and save their Tour. The gap is one minute to the leaders. 

Burghardt appears to have morphed into Calmejane, who is now with Poljanski in that chase group. Burghardt now dropping back to the peloton. 

Full results from that intermediate sprint at Seix. 

75km remaining from 101km

Fuglsang settling into the day and he starts moving up the bunch. That leaves Steve Cummings to take his second favourite position during a bike race (after being in the break) as he mans the back of the peloton. 

I spoke too soon, Fuglsang has been distanced again. It's going to be a long day out. 

73km remaining from 101km

The chase group is now just three riders. In there is Mollema, Ulissi and Calmejane. Meanwhile, Astana has lost another rider with Grivko being dropped. Rolland is also off the back after attacking not that long ago. 

A replay is showing Fuglsang riding up the climb sitting up on the saddle without his hands on the bars. Fuglsang wants to fight on but you have to wonder how much longer this can last. It's going to be harder on the descent. 

Gilbert is dropped from the leading group and, as De Marchi attacks, Chavanel gets distanced too. 

Grivko has dropped back to Fuglsang, who continues to take his hands off the bars. This is painful to watch let alone ride. 

De Marchi's lead over the peloton is just 33 seconds at the moment with 2.4km to the top of this first climb. 

The peloton is diminishing by the second as LottoNL-Jumbo push the pace. They're closing in on that first chase group. 

Fuglsang spoke to the press at the start of the day about his injuries. He's riding a race of survival at the moment. 

Gilbert and Chavanel brought back and it's just De Marchi out front now. He's got 28 seconds on the bunch. 

70km remaining from 101km

The peloton has split into two big groups with all the major contenders in the first group. Barguil launches and attack and Contador is soon to follow. 

It looks like Landa has been sent to follow Contador. 

Barguil takes second at the KOM and then moves back. Contador is on the front and pushes on. 

The three chasers are almost halfway between the leader and the peloton. They're 11 seconds back on De Marchi and 20 in front of the peloton. 

This is how things looked at the top of the first climb. 

64km remaining from 101km

Contador and co catch up with De Marchi. The Italian might be quite relieved to have some good climbing company with him. 

No sooner have the riders completed the first descent, they're on the second climb of the day. Back in the bunch, Frank has been dropped. Bad news for Bardet. 

The riders are on the Col d'Agnes, a 10km ride that averages 8.2%.

63km remaining from 101km

Quintana is a few bike lengths ahead of the main group and is shepherded by Betancur. 

Up at the front of the things, Barguil and De Marchi have been dropped. It is just Contador and Landa together with a 22-second gap on the yellow jersey. 

The gap to Landa and Contador is growing. Contador lost more time yesterday and is now over seven minutes down on the GC. He said he's interested in stage wins now and today is a good day for that. 

Esteban Chaves is feeling the pain and he is dropped from the main group. This has been a difficult Tour de France for him. 

Team Sky is playing this very well at the moment. Froome is sticking to Aru while, bit by bit, Landa is gaining time. If Astana and the others aren't careful then they could have Landa a bit too close for comfort at the end of the day. 

Landa is more than likely going to leave Sky for Movistar at the end of the season, so he will want a strong result here to show his new employers. If he can beat Quintana in the GC, that will be a good footing to go into the team for 2018. 

A quick recap of the situation. We've got Contador and Landa up front with a minute on the yellow jersey group. Behind them is Quintana, Barguil, Vuillermoz and Kwiatkowski at 37 seconds back. 

60km remaining from 101km

There are just 21 riders in the yellow jersey group. Bauke Mollema is dangling off the back of it and having to fight very hard to keep them in touch. 

The gap to Landa and Contador is growing. They've got 1:27 and Landa is riding himself towards yellow at the moment. Aru will have to do something soon. 

We have an attack from Direct Energie but it doesn't go very far. It does help up the pace a little bit and that takes the gap down to 1:25. 

A close up shot of Contador's bike shows that he's got just one bidon on his bike. In his second bottle cage he's got a cut-off bidon with a few snacks. He does not want to bonk today. 

A happy Aru in yellow at the start. 

57km remaining from 101km

Initially, Landa was just sitting on Contador's wheel but as the GC gains seem more tangible, he is helping out his compatriot. The chasing group is still 37 seconds behind while the peloton is now 1:43.

A reminder of how the general classification stands at the moment. 

Meanwhile, Tony Gallopin and Romain Sicard are on the attack now. They're about 45 seconds behind the Quintana group and 40 seconds up on the peloton. 

55km remaining from 101km

The Quintana group is struggling to make any inroads into the leaders. Kwiatkowski is not helping and nor is Vuillermoz, while Barguil is clinging on for dear life at the moment. 

Vuillermoz is dropped from that second group and he has to chase back on.

Contador crosses the KOM first with Landa in his wheel as the gap grows to 2:28. Barguil leads the chasers over to claim some points in the polka-dot competition. 

Contador is really having to fight to keep up with Landa on the descent. There is little doubt that Landa is gunning to gain time in the GC. He's just 20 seconds now off that yellow jersey as the lead increases to 2:35.

Quintana leads the chasing group on that last ascent. 

We're over the halfway distance now and finally the peloton is making ground as Bardet attacks a the top of the climb. Froome is on his wheel. 

Uran is trying to chase down Bardet too. 

Aru is fourth in line and he's closing up the gap. Bardet is going for it though and he's going to use every ounce of his descending talent. 

Froome has passes Bardet and is leading down the descent. Froome showed at the Dauphine how well he can descent but he had a bit of a mishap yesterday when he ran off the road. 

Caruso has a little dig and the group comes back together, albeit in a long line. They're 2:18 behind the two leaders. 

43km remaining from 101km

Quintana can almost see Contador now. It's like a red rag to a bull. 

Quintana had a particularly bad day yesterday and admitted that trying the Giro/Tour double has taken its toll. He looked a bit second hand yesterday. 

Contador has a few words with Landa as he takes up the front. Behind, Quintana flicks the elbow and gets Barguil in to help the chase. This is about to come together. 

Contador hoovers up a gel from his cut-off bidon. His team car has not had the chance to get up to him, so this is a very handy little 'hack' for the Spaniard. 

Only a handful of seconds between the first two groups on the road. Still one more climb to come, the Mur de Péguère. This is what it looks like. 

The climb was used in the 2012 Tour de France when over 30 riders suffered punctures after a protester put tacks on the road. Cadel Evans was one of those to suffer a puncture and his team manager Jim Ochowicz fell in a ditch as he tried to help him out. 

35km remaining from 101km

We're hearing that Fuglsang has climbed into the team car and abandoned the race. We will bring you confirmation of that as soon as we can. 

It seems to be true former rider and Danish TV correspondent Chris Anker Sorensen has confirmed it. 

That gap to the leaders is going out again. Landa will struggle to get all the time he needs to move into yellow, but this has gone a long way. Meanwhile, Gallopin is brought back into the peloton after going on the attack earlier on. 

UAE Team Emirates doing the heavy lifting in the peloton. They'll be working for Maintjes, but with an Italian in yellow this could be a helping hand to Aru, too. 

The leaders approaching the steeper part of this final climb. Will one attack or will they continue to work together? The latter seems the better option. In the peloton, though, we can expect a few more attacks. 

30km remaining from 101km

This ride could well put Contador back into the top 10, not that he will be too worried about that. He wants a stage win. 

Kwiatkowski is dropped from the Quintana group as the gradient gets really tough. He shouts his situation into the team radio. 

Losing Kwiatkowski could help the Quintana group make a bit more headway. 

A mechanical for Sicard as the road ramps up. That's going to be tough to get going again. 

Dan Martin moves up to the front of the main group on this climb. This is the sort of terrain he likes. However, he's not been feeling great in the last few days. 

The main group is down to about 10-15 riders. AG2R La Mondiale has three riders but Vuillermoz and Latour are really struggling. 

Bennett is sitting in Martin's wheel with Aru in third. Bennett is having an excellent Tour de France. Uran, Bardet, Yates, Froome and Meintjes are also in that group. 

The leaders are almost at walking pace as they tackle the most challenging part of this climb. It's brutal. 

Martin continues to drive the pace at the front. How long before he makes a move? Froome is in fifth wheel, just behind Uran. He doesn't look comfortable, but then again he never does. 

Again, Quintana and Barguil are closing on the leaders, but that has happened a few times and they've been distanced yet again. 37 seconds is the current gap. 

Bennett has finally given up to ghost. He is shed off the back of the group and that is good news for Yates in the white jersey competition. 

 Bennett has gone backwards fast. He put on a good show yesterday but it is too much for him today. 

27km remaining from 101km

Meanwhile, Kwiatkowski is about to be brought back by the yellow jersey group and suddenly Froome attacks. 

Aru brings Froome back, who picks up a gel and bottle from the side of the road. Up front, Quintana and Barguil are with Contador and Landa. 

Martin was dropped with that Froome acceleration and now Yates is in trouble. 

Kwiatkowski did a pull on the front but pulls off and Froome attacks again. Froome can't shake Aru though and they pass over the top of the climb. Kwiatkowski moves back to the front to lead them down the descent. 

All of that pushing behind has done some damage to the lead up front. Contador, Quintana, Landa and Barguil are now 1:40 up after being at 2:40 at one stage. 

Bardet attacks on the descent and Aru follows. 

Bardet is brought back and Froome has a go. Kwiatkowski is already further up the road. 

Meintjes catches Froome and now he's going off on his own. 

Dan Martin and Yates have made it back to this group, which has come back together. Froome is on the back of it after his attack. 

After being dropped near the top of the climb, Martin is leading the way down this climb. He'll be hoping for some better luck on the descent than on Sunday. 

Froome attacks again on the descent and passes Martin with ease. Aru is having to chase hard. 

Uran is at the front of the second group and he is slowly bringing things back. 

Gruppo compatto on this descent in that group of favourites as the four leaders grow their advantage to 1:50. 

18km remaining from 101km

Despite all of the attacking, nobody seems to be able to get away. 

Aru moves to the front. He wants to settle things down.

The hiatus lasts just a few moments as Martin makes the next move with Meintjes in his wheel. 

While the main group of favourites is content with knocking seven bells out of each other, the four up front are working very well together. Landa leads the way and the gap has gone back up to two minutes with less than 15km to go. 

Contador is having a bit of trouble in keeping touch, but if he can stay close then he should be able to get back on as the road flattens. 

Martin digs again and he's getting a bit more of a gap at the moment. It looks like it's Yates chasing him down with Uran third in that group. 

12km remaining from 101km

This is a furious descent. It's getting less technical, but no less fast at the moment. 

George Bennett is about a minute back on the yellow jersey group. He is likely to drop out of the top 10 at the end of the day. 

8km remaining from 101km

Landa has been supreme on this descent. He's been on the front the whole way down. The gap is 2:02 with 7km to go. 

Uran's little jaunt is over as the road flattens out. The group of favourites is looking at each other, nobody knows what to do. Martin knows, he goes on the attack. 

5km remaining from 101km

More tentative looks at each other. Only Sky has numbers here and nobody seems to want to chase Martin down. He's got 15 seconds right now. 

Alberto Contador is awarded the combativity prize. That's of little concern to him right now. 

4km remaining from 101km

Aru pulls him back, and now Yates has a go. 

Kwiatkowski has been put back on the front to chase down Yates and Martin. He has done a strong job for Team Sky today. 

2km remaining from 101km

Yates joins up with Martin, but the chasers are not too far behind. 

Flamme rouge for the four leaders. 

They won't want to play around too much as time in the GC is crucial too. 

Landa still on the front. He made this mistake a few times in the Giro. 

Contador attacks

Barguil on his wheel

Barguil tries to go around the outside of Contafor

It works and Barguil takes the stage win. 

This time he really has taken it

Martin and Yates still have a bit of time on the other GC riders as they enter the final kilometre. 

Quintana finished second in that initial sprint with Contador third and Landa fourth. 

Yates leads Martin over the line 1:38 back. The third group is almost 10 seconds back on them. 

Landa actually lost two seconds in that sprint to the line. Doesn't sound like much but could be crucial. He was leading the bunch to the line, but took quite some time to notice that Contador had started the sprint. 

Barguil rode a stormer of a finish there. He learned from Chambery, bided his time and had so much more speed than Contador as they rounded those final few corners. He won by a clear margin, giving France a French winner on Bastille day. 

Barguil spoke briefly to French television after claiming his victory. He said: "It’s incredible. I didn’t do too much on the first climb, but went with it on the second with Quintana. It's a real pleasure to be racing like that, Exceptional."

This is how things finished on stage 13 of the Tour de France. 

The top 10 is much the same with a few key changes. Landa is now up to fifth and Alberto Contador is back into the top 10. Quintana has cut his deficit to 2:07 and could still, in theory, get onto the podium. 

After losing yellow yesterday, Team Sky played a canny game today. By getting Landa in the break, he becomes much more of a threat to the three riders in front of him and they can use that to their advantage later in the race. Froome avoided losing any time and he won't be concerned that he wasn't able to take yellow back today. 

Alberto Contador pays a quick post-stage visit to the Movistar bus to offer his thanks and congrats to Nairo Quintana. 

Froome also offers some thanks to a very tired looking Kwiatkowski. After missing out on the Tour squad last year, Kwiatkowski has been strong this year. 

Another little snippet from Barguil, saying that this win makes up for missing out by such a fine margin to Uran on stage 9. 

Mikel Landa talks to Nicolas Portal after the stage. The discussion is probably a bit happier than it was this time yesterday. 

With the GC as it is, Team Sky could have two riders on the podium at the end of this year's Tour de France. The question will be, can one of those be in yellow?

Fabio Aru kept his slim lead in the overall classification to have a second day in yellow. Before stepping out on stage to get his jersey, he said: "From the spectators point of view very exciting, but I stayed calm, in spite of the attacks. My team-mates have fallen, some are injured, and that’s why I was alone. The next few days will be better for them. I know what counts is to get to the end of each evening feeling in control of the race."

Fabio Aru kept his slim lead in the overall classification to have a second day in yellow. Before stepping out on stage to get his jersey, he said: "From the spectators point of view very exciting, but I stayed calm, in spite of the attacks. My team-mates have fallen, some are injured, and that’s why I was alone. The next few days will be better for them. I know what counts is to get to the end of each evening feeling good and in control of the race."

Aru was very quickly isolated today and lost another key rider in Fuglsang, but he will be pretty happy with how things panned out. He never looked like he was in serious trouble and wasn't really put under too much pressure. His lead is slim, but he still has control. Tomorrow should be a much calmer day, although it is the type of terrain that could be lit up if there is a hint of crosswinds. 

Fabio Felline made it across the line as the last rider. He was just 20 seconds inside the time cut. 

Fabio Felline made it across the line as the last rider. He was just a minute inside the time cut.

Another few yellow jerseys for Aru to sign. 

Froome had this to say at the finish line: Yesterday was a difficult day for me but today feel a lot better and we played a good strategic game with our team. Mikel was not a long way back on GC. Maybe the next few days we can do the same thing again.

Simon Yates held onto his white jersey today and even put in a bit of time into his closest rival Meintjes. He spoke in the mixed zone after collecting another white jersey. 

After suffering a heavy crash two days ago, Jakob Fuglsang finally called it quits today. It was always going to be a tough ask for him to finish today, particularly at the speed it was being ridden. You can read the full story on Fuglsang's abandon here. 

You can also take a look back at today's stage with our report here. There's also full results and an extensive gallery. 

Tomorrow's stage to Rodez is a much more rolling affair and one that Michael Matthews has put on his list of targets. Surely, riders such as Greg Van Avermaet will favour a stage like that. They will certainly be happy to be out of the mountains for a day or two. 

This is what the stage looks like tomorrow. 

Louis Meintjes lost some ground on Simon Yates in the best young riders' competition on today's stage. He spoke of the confusion in the UAE Team Emirates press release:

You can find more quotes from the finish of today's stage in our article here.

Mikel Landa, on the Team Sky website, said that Contador was a "nice wheel to follow".

So what did you think of today's stage? It certainly didn't fall victim to the doldrums like previous stages have. But Bernard Eisel insists that there is no such thing as a boring Tour de France stage, only boring commentators.

Even if you watched today's stage, you shouldn't miss Barry Ryan's full account of the day of racing.

Looks like Dan Martin ended the stage without much left in the tank

Damiano Caruso:

"It was really fast and brutal. From the start to the finish, it was all day à bloc and in the final climb I lost the wheel of the best GC riders and then I finished with my grupetto. The legs feel good but it wasn't enough to stay with the best riders. We still have to work and I'm looking forward to the next days. Now, I have lost more time on GC so maybe I will have the chance to take a breakaway."

If you missed watching the Tour stage today because you were trapped at work, you can catch the video highlights here.

Hear from Fabio Aru on his first day in the maillot jaune in this article: Aru lets Team Sky attack as he focuses on defending yellow jersey

Chris Froome says that Mikel Landa is now a "real threat" to win the Tour de France. Read more here.

Thank you for following the Tour de France live on Cyclingnews. Tune back in tomorrow for a day that could be one for the sprinters to Rodez.

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