Tour de France 2019: Stage 13

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 13 of the Tour de France. Today's stage is the 27.2-kilometre time trial in Pau which should see a GC shakeup ahead of the Pyrenees.

Race hub

Stage 13 start times

Stage 12: Simon Yates wins in Bagnères-de-Bigorre

Tour de France time trial to set the scene for the high mountains – Preview

Portal says Thomas and Bernal will not race each other in Tour TT

Tour de France: Kruijswijk looking to solidify GC position in Pau time trial

Tour de France: Movistar waiting for Pau time trial in upbeat mood for Quintana

Alaphilippe heads into Tour de France time trial with 'pressure of France on my shoulders'

We're just under half an hour from the start of today's stage. Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) will be first off.

Riders will set off in one-minute increments until the final 35 men, who will have two minutes between them.

Despite Rohan Dennis' mysterious abandon yesterday, there are plenty of contenders for the win today, some stronger than others of course.

Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) and Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) are the big favourites for the win, while riders such as the Deceuninck-QuickStep duo of Yves Lampaert and Kasper Asgreen, Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Tony Martin (Jumbo-Visma) and Chad Haga (Team Sunweb) will be among the names there or thereabouts.

There are plenty more strong time trialists at the race, though.

Team Ineos

Geraint Thomas – Third in the Tour’s final TT last year

Michał Kwiatkowski – Former Polish TT champion, fourth at the World TT last season

Jonathan Castroviejo – Reigning Spanish TT champion. Both he and Kwiatkoski could save their energy

Egan Bernal – A good time trials considering his build, sixth at the Paris-Nice TT

Gianni Moscon – A big engine, even if out of form so far this season

Jumbo-Visma

Wout Van Aert – The prodigy, current Belgian TT champion, dominated the Dauphiné TT

Tony Martin – Four-time World TT champion, though perhaps not the same force he once was

Steven Kruijswijk – Strong against the clock, finished fourth at the Dauphiné TT

Deceuninck-QuickStep

Yves Lampaert – Belgian TT champion in 2017, was strong in the discipline early this season

Kasper Asgreen – Danish TT champ and former U23 European TT champion

Julian Alaphilippe – top ten at the Dauphiné TT and will be super-motivated

Bahrain-Merida

Vincenzo Nibali – One of the stronger GC men in the time trial, though form is in question

Jan Tratnik – Won the Tour de Romandie prologue

Damiano Caruso – Underrated against the clock, he finished fourth in the closing Giro TT this year

Team Sunweb

Chad Haga – A specialist, won the Giro TT in Verona

Søren Kragh Andersen – An all-rounder, took top fives in the Tour de Suisse TTs

Mitchelton-Scott

Adam Yates – Has improved against the clock and was sixth at the Dauphiné

Simon Yates – Also improved, winning the Paris-Nice TT

Luke Durbridge – Australian champion, but could be on energy-saving duty

Trek-Segafredo

Richie Porte – Hasn’t put in a top-quality TT this season, but among the strongest GC riders in the discipline

Bauke Mollema – Third in the mid-Giro TT, but might be saving energy to support Porte here

Katusha-Alpecin

Alex Dowsett – Reigning UK TT champion, though more of a top-ten threat here

Nils Politt – German Championships runner-up, took second at the Paris-Nice TT

Groupama-FDJ

Thibaut Pinot – Has improved a lot against the clock, but will look to limit losses against Thomas

Stefan Küng – Swiss national champion, has collected TT top tens this season

EF Education First

Rigoberto Urán – One of the premier GC time trialists, though hasn’t raced one this season

Tanel Kangert – Took fifth at the mid-Giro TT

Selected others

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) – On the podium at the Giro’s closing TT and is often in contention for the national title

Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) – Won the opening TT in País Vasco

Pello Bilbao (Astana Pro Team) – Runner-up to Castroviejo in Spanish Championship, seventh in the closing Giro TT

Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) – Four-time national champion, finished second at June’s European Games

And with that, we're off! Offredo begins his effort.

Martin, Asgreen, Langeveld, Haga and Dowsett all set off within the first ten minutes today.

Martin is off at three minutes past the hour.

There are three checkpoints on the 27.2km course today. One at 7.5km at Cériset, one at 15.5km at Coôate d'Equillot and one at 22km at Jurançon.

Martin and Haga are off, so we should see some very quick times early on. Asgreen is up next.

We'll (hopefully) have the top tens at every checkpoint today. As long as I can keep up with the times as they come in, at least.

Asgreen is off. Dowsett will follow in a few minutes.

It'll be intresting to see who comes out on top of these early runners – Asgreen, Martin, Haga and Dowsett.

Martin is taking it very easy here.

Martin is taking it very easy here.

The German has done a ton of working during the Tour so far. He's been caught and passed by both Haga and Asgreen (who has also been on head-of-the-peloton duties a lot).

Asgreen has been a phenomenon this season. He took second at Flanders, finished third at the Tour of California (including a sixth-place finish on Mount Baldy), won the Danish TT Championships and so far this Tour has been on the front constantly, keeping the break on a tight leash.

Haga and Asgreen are fastest through the first checkpoint with times of 11:50, ten seconds up on Dowsett.

Offredo passes the second check. He was 1:27 down after 7.7km though.

Haga comes through soon after, 2:35 faster.

Asgreen goes ten seconds faster than Haga at the second check.

Dowsett has shed more time, meanwhile. He's 30 seconds down.

Lampaert heads off in under a minute.

Haga heads in to the finishing ramp.

Haga crosses the line with a time of 36:22.

And Asgreen promptly blows it away, 30 seconds faster.

Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale) has put in a fast time at the first check, 12:07.

Dowsett crosses the line with a time of 36:32, third fastest so far.

Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) sets off in a few minutes. He'll put in a fast time today, no doubt.

The television graphics showed Martin finishing over 12 minutes down but he actually finished 5:53 down on Asgreen.

So far, the only riders within a minute of Asgreen at the third check and the finish are Haga and Dowsett.

Steve Cummings crosses the line almost two minutes down.

And the Australian time trial specialist is off!

No, not that one. It's Aussie champion Luke Durbridge!

Küng set off less than five minutes ago but he's hit the deck early on.

Meanwhile, Yves Lampaert is 39 seconds down at the first check. He's not going all-out today.

Nelson Oliveira sets off in three minutes.

Despite his crash, Küng is about to catch his minute man, Luke Rowe.

38:32 for Mathieu Ladagnous today, good for a top ten spot so far. He's a local lad from Pau.

Durbridge passed the first check 50 seconds down on Haga.

Anthony Perez of Cofidis has displaced Dowsett as third-fastest man at the second check.

Woah, Matej Mohorič has gone one second faster than Asgreen and Haga at the first check!

Lampaert finished eighth fastest.

Perez falls to fourth at the third checkpoint, 50 seconds down.

Damiano Caruso, who was strong at the Giro, sets off.

Here's a shot of the fastest man so far, Kasper Asgreen, in action.

Mountain classification leader Tim Wellens sets off.

Nelson Oliveira is flying! 11:39 at the first checkpoint for the Portuguese Movistar rider.

Simon Yates heads off.

Oliveira is fastest at the second checkpoint too, four seconds up on Asgreen.

Nils Politt, Jan Tratnik and Wout Van Aert start in the next five minutes.

Thomas De Gendt, Gianni Moscon and Søren Kragh Andersen follow shortly after.

Küng, who crashed earlier, takes fourth at the finish with a time of 36:50.

Van Aert heads off now. He's the big favourite for the win along with Thomas today.

CCC's Joey Rosskopf goes third fastest at the first check.

De Gendt, Kragh Andersen and Moscon are the next three men off.

Mohorič finished 52 seconds down at the finish, in fourth place provisionally.

Oliveira is fading through his effort, he's six seconds down at the third check.

Oliveira crosses the line. It's a great ride from the Portuguese rider but he falls just short. His time is 36:03, 11 seconds down.

Ineos man Jonathan Castroviejo sets off. He's the Spanish TT champion.

22:33 for Rosskopf at the second checkpoint. That's the fastest time so far.

Tratnik is second fastest at the first check, with a time of 11:44.

11:33 at the first check for Van Aert! He's quickest in Cériset.

De Gendt is even faster. 11:28 for him.

Here's a shot of the second-fastest man so far, Nelson Oliveira.

Rosskopf goes second at the third check, one second down on Asgreen. Meanwhile, Peter Sagan sets off.

Tratnik goes fourth fastest at the second checkpoint. 

Van Aert sets a time of 22:28 shortly after. He's fastest at the second check.

Michał Kwiatkowski sets off. He probably won't be allowed to go all-out here.

Rosskopf comes to the finish. He lost time in the final part of the course and takes second in Pau with a time of 36:01.

Thomas De Gendt is crushing it so far, wow. He's 16 seconds up on Van Aert at the second checkpoint.

Dylan Teuns, stage winner on La Planche des Belles Filles, sets off.

Kragh Andersen and Politt goes fifth at the second and third checkpoints, respectively.

Van Aert sets the fastest time at the third check, 29:12.

Simon Yates had a rest day today. He crosses the line four minutes down.

2014 Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali sets off.

Politt sets a time of 36:25 to go fifth at the finish.

Meanwhile, De Gendt is fastets at the third check! 11 seconds up on Van Aert.

Van Aert has crashed! He hits the barrier on the inside of a corner. It looks bad. He's still on the ground.

Race radio says an ambulance has been called for Van Aert.

He's still on the ground. His thigh looks exposed, with his shorts cut open on the barrier.

Tratnik takes fourth at the finish.

It's probably the end of Van Aert's Tour de France.

De Gendt is fastest at the finish! His time is 35:36.

Van Aert is still on the floor on the inside of the corner. He's being tended to by a medical team.

No big names passing through time checks right now. De Gendt still leads at every point of the stage.

30 riders left to start now. They're all at two-minute intervals.

Max Schachmann is fast at the second check. He's 21 seconds down on De Gendt.

An ambulance just made it's way through the finish line. It's carrying Van Aert, no doubt.

Greg Van Avermaet is the next rider off.

Here's a shot of Van Aert from earlier on. He was on course to set one of the fastest times so far before his crash.

Schachmann takes fifth at the third checkpoint.

Fabio Aru sets off.

Here's a look at Thomas De Gendt during his effort. He's the fastest man so far.

Gaudu, Mollema, Landa and Porte are the next men to start.

Schachmann is heading to the final very slowly. It looks like he's crashed.

Still no riders have been troubling the top of the standings at any of the checkpoints.

Schachmann has a cut to his right knee and he's grimacing. He's really struggling his way up the climb to the finish.

Schachmann finishes over five minutes down.

But hey, at least Peter Sagan was having fun out there today. He's 2:57 down on current leader De Gendt at the finish.

Romain Bardet sets off in five minutes. He's starting on a road bike equipped with a disc wheel and full TT bars (no clip-ons), and will reportedly switch to a TT bike after 10km of the stage.

Fabio Aru is 12th at the first check, 26 seconds down.

Warren Barguil sets off.

Kazakh TT champion Alexey Lutsenko is fifth fastest at the first check.

Bauke Mollema sets a time of 11:38 at the first check, fourth fastest.

Bardet sets off and yep, he's on a road bike.

Landa loses 22 seconds at the first checkpoint.

Valverde sets off.

Here are the remaining riders to take the start.

155 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 16:57:00
156 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 16:59:00
157 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 17:01:00
158 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 17:03:00
159 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 17:05:00
160 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 17:07:00
161 Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep 17:09:00
162 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 17:11:00
163 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 17:13:00
164 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos 17:15:00
165 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos 17:17:00
166 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 17:19:00

Porte is one second down on De Gendt at the first check.

Patrick Konrad is off. Just the top ten on GC to start now.

At the second check, Mollema sets a time of 22:37, good for fifth.

Fuglsang fourth at the first check. 11:33.

Landa is tenth at the second check, 37 seconds down.

Quintana sets off.

At the second check, Porte is just second. He's less than a second behind De Gendt.

Bardet lost 38 seconds at the first checkpoint.

Valverde is fast at the first check with a time of 11:32.

Former yellow and white jersey wearer Giulio Ciccone finished 4:40 down on De Gendt today.

He tells Cyclingnews that he’s really struggling after hurting his knee in the crash. He can’t push his leg and so its causing problems in his back, despite trying different treatments. He hoped today would be a recovery day but he’s pessimistic about carrying on in the Tour.

Aru crosses the line 12th, a nice time for him.

Urán sets a time of 11:31 at the first checkpoint.

Schachmann left the race in an ambulance after the finish. We'll see if he continues the Tour tomorrow or not.

A great time for Pinot at the first check – he goes fourth, three seconds down.

Meanwhile, Porte is second at the third check.

Bernal sets off. Just Thomas and Alaphilippe remain.

Bardet changes bike and it's not exactly a speedy switchover... He stood waiting for maybe 10 seconds while the AG2R car stopped and the mechanic fetched the TT bike.

Landa comes to the finish. He's had a decent TT, for him. 1:09 down in 13th place.

Quintana is 25 seconds down at the first check.

Meanwhile Porte is nine down at the finish. He's second fastest.

Yates is 11th at the first check, 14 seconds down.

Urán matches Porte at the second check, 22:13.

Fuglsang is slowing. He's eighth at the third checkpoint, 26 seconds down.

Pinot is fourth fastest at the second check! 22:25.

Kruijswijk goes fastest through the first check! 11:22.

Fuglsang crosses the line with a time of 36:07 for sixth.

Barguil crosses the line shortly after with a time of 38:13.

Bernal is ninth at the first check, 12 seconds down.

The GC finishers so far...

Richie Porte, Trek 0:35:45
Jakob Fuglsang, Astana 0:36:07
Bauke Mollema, Trek 0:36:09
Mikel Landa, Movistar 0:36:45
Warren Barguil, Arkéa 0:38:13

Quintana is in 18th at the second checkpoint, 46 seconds down. That's pretty bad.

Thomas goes through the first checkpoint just one second down on Kruijswijk.

37:26 for Bardet at the finish. Not good.

36:11 for Valverde at the line. A decent time for him.

11:17 for Alaphilippe at the first check! Five seconds up on Kruijswijk. Wow.

Urán misses out on De Gendt's time by 0.28 of a second. Yeesh.

Kruijswijk passes the second checkpoint. He's flying. Fastest at 22:07.

Pinot crosses the line. A very nice TT for him – fourth at 35:49.

Bernal lost 32 seconds by the second checkpoint.

Bernal lost 32 seconds by the second checkpoint.

Thomas is fastest there. His time was 13 seconds faster than Kruijswijk.

Alaphilippe sets a time of 21:48 at the second check, faster than Thomas...

36:51 for Quintana at the finish. Not a great time for the Colombian.

Adam Yates finished 28th with a time of 37:08. A very bad day for the Brit.

35:58 for Mas, good for sixth fastest so far in Pau.

36:19 for Buchmann at the finish.

28:40 for Thomas at the third check. Kruijwijk faded, 23 seconds down.

35:45 for Kruijswijk at the finish.

Alaphilippe was five seconds up on Thomas at the third checkpoint.

Bernal crosses the finish line with a time of 36:36.

Thomas finishes very strong. He goes fastest! 35:14 for the Welshman.

Alaphilippe powers towards the finish now..

35 minutes flat for Alaphilippe! Wow...

A stunning ride by Alaphilippe, to say the least.

Stage 13 result

1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:35:00.
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos 0:35:14.91
3 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:35:36.10
4 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:35:36.40
5 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:35:45.52
6 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:35:45.72
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:35:49.08
8 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:35:52.52
9 Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:35:58.41
10 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team 0:36:01.34

General classification after stage 13

1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 53:01:09
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos 0:01:26
3 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:12
4 Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:44
5 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos 0:02:52
6 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:04
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:22
8 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:03:54
9 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:03:55
10 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
11 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:15
12 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:29
13 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
14 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:34
15 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:44
16 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:34
17 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:46
18 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:00
19 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Dimension Data 0:06:07
20 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:06:10

Here's a look at how the GC contenders performed

Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:35:00
Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:14
Rigoberto Urán (Col) EF Education First 0:00:36
Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:45
Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:45
Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:49
Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:58
Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:07
Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:09
Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar 0:01:11
Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:19
Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos 0:01:36
Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar 0:01:45
Patrick Konrad (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:48
Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar 0:01:51
Dan Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:06
Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:08
Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:26
Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa-Samsic 0:03:13

Here's Alaphilippe on the road to an unexpected time trial victory in Pau.

Here's what Alaphilippe had to say after the stage.

"I knew that I really could do a good performance on this parcours. I just gave everything, especially in the first part was really good for me. I went full gas and I see what I can do the line, at the end. my sport director said I was first time, ten seconds or whatever. I gave everything I have and I won the stage."

Our brief report, along with full results and gallery from stage 13, is up here.

We'll have more news and reaction coming throughout the evening, so keep checking back on Cyclingnews.