As it happened: Victory for the breakaway on stage 13 of the Tour de France

Hello and welcome to stage 13 of the Tour de France!

After a couple of sprint stages in succession, this one looks like prime territory for a breakaway to be allowed to go clear.

There is plenty of hunger in the peloton to get into the breakaway, especially among the (many) teams who remain winless, as reflected by all the efforts to do so on yesterday’s mostly flat parcours; therefore we’re anticipating a big fight to do so today, on a day that looks very well-suited to the escape artists.

Tour de France 2026 stage 13 preview - Longest stage of this year's race tackles Ballon d’Alsace on approach to finish that suits breakaway

After the crash in yesterday’s finale, there are three non-starters this morning - Jenno Berckmoes, Frits Biesterbos, and, most notably, Fernando Gaviria. The Colombian endured a frustrating Tour, although had been getting closer and closer as the race went on, before reaching the top ten for the first time on stage 12. But now his race ends prematurely, and he’ll be out of action for a little while having broken his collarbone.

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The riders are travelling through the neutralised section, preparing for the official start of the stage, where the fight to get into the break will commence.

This is a curious stage. The climb (and descent) of the category one Ballon d’Alsace near the finish will be decisive, but in order to get into the breakaway to contest for the stage win, riders will need a big rouleur engine, as there are no climbs inside the first 150km of the stage. So it could be that the stage is decided by the climbing prowess of a group of breakaway riders whose speciality is not climbing.

Although this does look like prime territory for a break to succeed, it’s by no means guaranteed. Much will depend on what kind of mood is in Tadej Pogačar, and before the start today he was non-committal about whether or not he’d put his UAE team to chase the break down.

Two potential winners today, from very different scenarios - could it be Mads Pedersen from a breakaway, digging deep to survive the final climb; or Tadej Pogačar from the peloton on a GC battle?

Just 1km left before the riders leave from Dole and take on the official start. This is going to be an intense beginning, as the fight to get into the break begins.

OFFICIAL START

And they're off! Ballerini was the first rider to attack, and now another group including Abrahamsen are trying their luck - among the first of what will surely be many attempts.

200KM TO GO

Five riders have a gap of 12 seconds, and it's a strong group - Michał Kwiatkowski, Kasper Asgreen, Louis Vervaeke, Alex Kirsch and Georg Zimmermann. This won't be the end of the action, and more attacks will come out of the peloton, but if those five riders keep working together and stay out the front of the road they could be a part of whatever definitive breakaway does eventually form.

The five leaders still are 20 seconds ahead. The attacks keep coming behind, including one from Mads Pedersen and another from Ben Healy. A lot of big names fancy their chances today.

140KM TO GO

15 seconds is the lead for Kwiatkowski, Asgreen, Vervaeke, Kirsch and Zimmermann. This was a good move to get into, as all the attempts to gain a gap from the peloton since have so far been unsuccessful.

They might have Asgreen up the road already, but EF really want Ben Healy in the break, and the Irishman keeps attacking in his trademark persistent style every opportunity he gets.

He's had a difficult Tour so far, but is now in the terrain where he can really flourish.

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180KM TO GO

The five riders up the road. They're working hard together, but the action in the peloton is making it difficult for them to build much of an advantage. Having been up the road for over 20km, they only have a lead of ten seconds.

The move of Kwiatkowski, Asgreen, Vervaeke, Kirsch and Zimmermann is over - they've been caught. The waves of attacks have never ceased, but now the new attackers don't have a group up the road to chase down.

170KM TO GO

There's been a split in the peloton, with a group of over 40 riders going clear from the rest of the peloton. There will be some concern among the GC teams as they try to figure out whether anyone dangerous has managed to make it in to this move. So far we have spotted any.

Tom Pidcock is the best-place rider on GC in the break. In 10th at 11:49, he'll be seen by many as a danger, and will likely spark a chase.

For now, though, it's Lidl-Trek who are trying to shut it down, having missed out on the move. They're also fearful of Jasper Philipsen, who is also in the break, and is a threat to Pedersen's green jersey.

160KM TO GO

This has turned into a battle between Alpecin and Lidl, as Philipsen’s teammates in the break look to keep this move clear, and Pedersen’s in the peloton try to shut it down. Right now, the gap remains at ten seconds.

The intermediate sprint isn’t yet for the best part of 100km away, but there are no climbs preceding it; so should this break succeed in going clear, the 25 points should be Philipsen’s. Given he only trails Pedersen by 46 points in the points classification, Lidl will not want to let him have them.

There are fifteen riders in the break to the peloton, where Pedersen has tried taking things into his own hands by pacing.

Some of the other notable names in this breakaway group, as well as Philipsen and Pidcock - Healy, Vauquelin, Van Gils, Mohoric, Wellens, McNulty, Hagenes, Schmid, Gregoire, Alaphilippe and Jegat.

150KM TO GO

Momentum is running out in the peloton. Lidl-Trek are lacking the numbers and support to keep it up, and the gap to the breakaway has grown to 40 seconds. It looks like Lidl might now have given up the ghost, as they've stopped chasing.

The peloton is over a minute behind the break now. More attacks have been made out of it though, including a move with Biniam Girmay, which has prompted Mads Pedersen to (yet again) attack himself to try and chase him down. The Girmay group remains closer to the peloton than the break, however, 50 seconds behind the latter and only 20 seconds ahead of the former.

140KM TO GO

The peloton has sat up, and is now two minutes behind the breakaway group, which has a total of 37 riders in it. But the 20-man chase group featuring Pedersen and Girmay haven’t given up yet, and are 55 seconds behind the leaders, and chasing hard to try and join them.

Jasper Philipsen will be eager for them not to. He was in a reflective mood yesterday, accepting of the fact that he was simply slower than Tim Merlier when it came to the sprints. But if that chasing group doesn’t join them, he stands to start turning his Tour around, potentially putting himself right back in contention to challenge Pedersen for the green jersey.

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Slowly but surely, the Pedersen chase group is making inroads. They've still 48 seconds to bring back, but are gradually eating into that deficit.

Having ridden such a great Tour so far, with fun aggressive tactics, this had threatened to be their first mishap, but they're going about well in their efforts to amend the situation.

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Mads Pedersen looks exhausted, his mouth wide open and head going from side to side, as he tries to help this group join the leaders. Progress has stalled, however, and they’re still stuck at about 45 seconds. This is going to be a hard one for him.

As well as Girmay, other riders in the group include several stage-hunters - O’Connor, Asgreen, Kwiatkowski, Matthews, Plapp, Cort and Abrahamsen among them.

120KM TO GO

Given the size of this group, surely today will be a day for the breakaway. Already the UAE-led peloton has allowed them 4:15, and are showing no signs of wanting to chase them hard.

The big question is whether the second group can catch them. Right now, it's looking hard for them, as the gap is holding stubbornly at 45 seconds.

While Tom Pidcock is the headline British name in the 37-mean leading group, his Pinarello teammate Fred Wright is another who has managed to make it. He's been speaking to Cyclingnews about his desire to win what would be a first ever professional international race.

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Still the chase goes on, and for the first time in a while the Pedersen group has made inroads. They've brought the leaders to within 35 seconds - will they eventually be able to join them? Pedersen and Girmay (pictured) have over 30km until the all-important intermediate sprint.

It looks inevitable that the break will succeed today, but that hasn’t been the case for much of this Tour. Some in the peloton have even felt the breakaways aren’t trying to succeed, deflated by the knowledge that Tadej Pogačar can bend races to his will. Thankfully for those up ahead today, it seems the yellow jersey has no interest in chasing them down.

Are the Tour de France breakaways doing enough to try and beat UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Tadej Pogačar?

The Pedersen group is closing the gap! They’re now just 20 seconds away. It looks as though they should join them before the intermediate sprint after all, and all of the green jersey’s work all day will have been worth it.

90KM TO GO

That's it, the catch is made. So we now have a massive lead group of 58 riders.

Things should calm down a little now as they all have a breather after that long chase, but hostilities will reignite again soonish as they head towards the landmark that chase was all for - the intermediate sprint, coming up in just over 20km.

One rider who was in the Pedersen group that’s now joined the leaders is Brandan McNulty. The UAE rider has been given some freedom off domestique duty for the yellow jersey, and now has a chance to land himself, and the USA, a stage win - one that’s much needed for the nation, given they’re now on a 100-stage streak without one at the Tour.

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80KM TO GO

UAE Team Emirates XRG had been setting tempo at the front of the peloton, but now Bahrain-Victorious have taken over from them.

They're riding in defence of Lenny Martinez's ninth-place on GC, which has been usurped by Tom Pidcock - he's 5:15 ahead of the Brit on GC, and the peloton is currently 7 minutes down from the break.

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The breakaway is only 4km away from the intermediate sprint. Here's a reminder of what the green jersey rankings are going into it - all al of the top three are present in the break to compete for the points.

1 Mads Pedersen 357

2 Biniam Girmay 317

3 Jasper Philipsen 311

4 Tim Merlier 307

5 Max Kanter 239

INTERMEDIATE SPRINT

Philipsen takes the 25 points at the sprint, after being ably led-out by his teammate Planckaert - but only just. It was a close one on the line, with Pedersen placing second and Girmay third. Here's what the rankings look like now:

1 Pedersen 377

2 Philipsen 336

3 Girmay 333

A couple of Red Bull riders have been given the day off from domestique duty and been allowed up the break today - Van Gils and Tim Van Dijke.

The team are very serious about chasing the podium with one of their two co-leaders, Evenepoel and Lipowitz, but unlike their GC rivals UAE, Visma, Decathlon and Lidl-Trek, they so far do not have a stage win. They will try to put that right today.

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It might not be long now until the fight among the breakaway riders for the stage win begins. At the moment, Pinarello Q36.5 are setting tempo at the front for Tom Pidcock, trying to maintain their big lead of 7:40 over the peloton, and catapult him up the GC. But we’re nearing the first of the day’s two climbs, the category three Col des Croix (5.1km at 4.7%), and such a big group is surely to thin out once we start going uphill.

The break is on the climb, and riders are indeed dropping out, including Pinarello’s Fred Wright. Pidcock still has Hermans and Meurisse working for him at the front.

50KM TO GO

Just over 1km until the summit of the climb, and we have a first attack from the breakaway - and surprise, surprise, it's come from Ben Healy. He's brought about five riders with him, but the rest aren't far away.

KOM - COL DES CROIX

Hermans goes over the top of the climb first, pacing for Pidcock after the Healy move was brought back. It’s still a large group that’s together at the front, of about 40 riders. They will now descend before taking on the day’s big test - the historical, category one Ballon d’Alsace.

The gap from the break to the peloton is now up to eight minutes. It's still only Bahrain leading at the front of the peloton, but more riders' spots on GC are coming under threat now - Pidcock is now third place on the virtual GC. Will more teams assist Bahrain?

40KM TO GO

They’re about to start climbing the Ballon d’Alsace, and an exciting fight for the stage win is shaping up. Pidcock is the man many will have their eyes on, especially with such a long descent so close to the finish.

But this group is full of quality climbers who will fancy their chances of getting the better of him on the climb - McNulty, Healy, Tejada, Vauquelin, O’Connor, Plapp, Bennett, Izagirre and Jegat all look like potential winners.

Pedersen, Girmay and Philipsen are among those dropped as they start the climb, while Pluimers has attacked out of the front. Pidcock's final teammates are also finished, leaving up to the Brit to fend for himself from here to the finish.

Vauquelin set the pace briefly at the front of the group, but Pidcock has taken over after Jegat attacked. The Brit's pace is enough to bring him back.

A blast from the past as Marc Hirschi rides at the front of the race, having attacked out of the lead group. He's labouring though, and is about to be caught by the rest of the group, which is being led by Jayco-AlUla, who have O'Connor, Plapp and Schmid.

Out the back they continue to be dropped, including one of the top stage hopefuls Ben Healy.

4m from the top, Jegat tries another attack, after Jayco-AlUla were riding tempo with O'Connor. He didn't quite manage to get away, but Van Gils counter-attacks and now has a good gap of a few seconds.

Pidcock has dragged a group of about seven riders to the wheel of Van Gils. With him are Jegat, Vauquelin, Braz Afonso and a few others - plus Plapp, who has just attacked them all and got a gap.

1km from the summit, eight riders are together - Plapp, Pidcock, Schmid, Vauquelin, Tejada , Van Gils, McNulty and Braz Afonso. Plapp and Schmid are working in tandem to attack, but neither have managed to go clear.

KOM - BALLON D'ALSACE

Pidcock attacked 800m from the summit, but Plapp dragged the rest of the group back onto his wheel. Over the summit Pidcock attacked again to take the top KOM points, and now they begin the descent - Pidcock's happy hunting ground.

Ten riders are at the front together - Pidcock, Plapp, Schmid, McNulty, Wellens, Vauquelin, Tejada , Van Gils, Jegat and Braz Afonso. The Jayco pair are aware of the fact that fast-finisher Matthews is just 30 seconds behind, and could yet join them again on the descent.

As for the peloton, they're still on the climb, 8:30 behind. Pedersen has dropped back into it, and it setting the pace for Lidl-Trek, who are now defending Ayuso and Skjelmose's places on GC.

20KM TO GO

The descent isn’t quite steep or technical enough for Pidcock to make full use of his special skills, and the 10-man lead group remains all together. It could be that strength in numbers is what makes a difference in this finale - both Jayco (Schmid and Plapp) and UAE (Wellens and McNulty) have two cards to play, and will likely try firing them up the road as we get closer to the finish. This is a hard stage to call!

Wellens is the first to make an attack, as the gradient shallows and they near the bottom of the descent. That causes a split in the group briefly, but they're all back together again now.

Meanwhile the Matthews chase group is 35 seconds behind, and the peloton a distant 8:10.

Schmid and Tejada have attacked together, and now lead the rest by ten seconds. Panic is ensuing in the chase, this is a dangerous, committed move, and they're disappearing up the road.

10KM TO GO

A lot of effort is being made in the chase, but they’re struggling to cohere. Still the leading pair lead by 10 seconds.

Both stand to gain a lot - neither has ever won a stage at the Tour de France, and both their respective teams (Jayco and Astana) are winless so far at this Tour.

The advantage is leaning towards Schmid and Tejada! The chase is slowing down and the gap is growing, up to 20 seconds. There's just 6.5km left to ride.

So it looks like it’s going to be Colombia’s Tejada versus Switzerland's Schmid for the stage - the latter came out on top in that equivalent fixture a the football World Cup recently - will there repeat this time?

The two leaders have slowed as they enter the final 2km. Behind, attacks have been made by Vauquelin, McNulty and others, but they're all still 18 seconds adrift.

1KM TO GO

Tejada leads Schmid under the flamme rouge. The others haven't given up yet, but still have 18 seconds to make up. Unless they play too many games, the win should be one of theirs.

SCHMID WINS

Tejada opened up the sprint, and led for much of it, but Schmid battled back to take the win! Just seconds behind, Pidcock won the sprint for third place.

Tom Pidcock might have had to settle for third place in the end, but he still stands to gain a lot in the GC. We now wait for the GC group to arrive at the finish to find out how many places has leapt up.

The peloton arrived at the finish 7:32 after Schmid, Lidl-Trek and Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe dragging them over the line after a hard chase.

That sees Pidcock leapfrog up to fourth overall - he might not have won the stage, but he now has a great place on GC to defend, which he has being saying throughout this Tour is something he would like to try to do.

This is a career-defining victory for Mauro Schmid. He’s won big before, notably at the Giro d’Italia five years ago, but the Tour de France is at a whole different level. He’s long been a quality all-rounder, and has excelled in the classics, but to win on a stage with as hard a climb as the Ballon d’Alsace is a fine effort.

It’s also a great victory for his Jayco-AlUla team, who made top use of the very strong riders they managed to get into the break, with Matthews, Plapp and Schmid all working smartly together to seal the victory. Chapeau.

One of the big stories of the day is Pidcock’s massive jump on the GC. Big GC teams such as Lidl and Red Bull were concerned enough by him to commit to a big chase for much of the finale, with the former's Simmons leading eventually leading the peloton over the line. Is the Brit now a genuine podium contender?

Tom Pidcock rockets himself into Tour de France top five with big breakaway ride

Thanks for joining us today, for what was exactly the kind of fierce, all-in battle for a breakaway victory that we’d hope for, one that remained unpredictable throughout the day and went down to the wire.

Tomorrow could be another one for the breakaway, but then again it could also be one for the GC, as the race takes on some proper mountains, including the category one Le Markstein near the finish. There promises to be action for both the stage win, and in the race for the GC - be sure to follow along with us for all the action!