Tour de France: Martínez wins stage 13

Daniel Martínez (EF Pro Cycling) won stage 13 of the Tour de France atop the steep slopes of the Puy Mary in the Massif Central. The Colombian triumphed from the early break, crossing the line first after a battle between EF Pro Cycling and Bora-Hansgrohe played out over the final 40km of the race.

Martínez dispatched Bora-Hansgrohe men Max Schachmann and Lennard Kämna on the final climb, with Schachmann having earlier left behind Martínez's teammate Neilson Powless to make a solo bid for glory.

"I'm really really happy. I love climbing in the mountains," Martínez said. "I did a good job today. I'm really happy to come back at the Tour and I feel the stage went incredibly well."

Schachmann was caught by Martínez and Kämna just 1.6km from the line, and was dropped soon after, leaving the duo to do battle on the double-digit inclines of the final kilometre. Kämna just missed out in the sprint, while Schachmann trailed in third place, 52 seconds later.

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) solidified his grip on the race lead, crossing the line with compatriot Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) as Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) struggled on the finishing climb. The Colombian lost 38 seconds to Roglič and fell to third overall, 59 seconds down, as Pogačar moved up to take second overall, 44 seconds back.

"I saw the final climb for the first time but it's a nice one, it's steep. I saw it already from the bottom because right away the road is short but hard to come to the top," Roglič said. "It was a really nice day, I'm super happy [to gain time on Bernal] - as long as you can gain time, every second is to your advantage."

How it unfolded

Stage 13 of the Tour de France would see another showdown for the GC men, finishing as it did atop the steep slopes of the Pas de Peyrol on Puy Mary in the Massif Central. Seven classified climbs filled out the stage, including three third-category tests, two second-category hills and two first-category climbs, including the finisher (5.4km at 7.7 per cent).

As ever at the Tour, attacks flew from the very start of the day, with names such as Tejay van Garderen (EF Pro Cycling) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) among those attempting to get away.

The opening 19km saw a different group emerge, though, with king of the mountain leader Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) joined by Deceuninck-QuickStep duo of Julian Alaphilippe and Rémi Cavagna, plus Simon Geschke (CCC Team) and Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation).

That quintet quickly established themselves as Jumbo-Visma settled into a rhythm at the head of the peloton, though a larger group jumped away and managed to get across to the leaders over the opening 50km.

Marc Soler (Movistar Team), Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), Max Schachmann, Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic), Hugh Carthy, Daniel Martínez, Neilson Powless (EF Pro Cycling), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), David de la Cruz (UAE Team Emirates), Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept), Romain Sicard (Total Direct Energie) and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) all bridged the gap, making it a strong 18-man break of the day.

Cosnefroy's presence in the break was a short one, dropping from the group on the category 1 Col de Ceyssat. The remaining 17 riders had a 5:30 advantage over the next climb, the third-category Col de Guéry, while the second-category Montée de La Stèle – 106km from the line – saw Carthy and Madous briefly strike out before being brought back.

A long, up-and-down descent to the intermediate sprint followed, with the group extending their advantage to seven minutes in the meantime.

There was drama in the peloton with 86km to go as Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) were involved in a crash in the peloton, with the Dutchman forced to abandon as a result of his injuries.

The gap to the peloton edged out to just over nine minutes as the race rolled through the valley and up the category 3 Côte de l'Estiade, with the break sweeping up the intermediate sprint points along the way.

Powless drifted off the front on a downhill midway between the Estiade and day's fifth climb, the Côte d'Anglards-de-Salers. Schachmann set off in pursuit on the climb, joining the American with 30km to run, and then dropping him on the uphill run to the day's penultimate climb, the Col de Néronne (3.8km at 9.1 per cent).

On the climb, and with 14km to race, Martínez headed off in pursuit, with both Kämna and Soler jumping on his wheel, followed by Soler, though the Spaniard didn't hold on for long. Schachmann passed the summit 35 seconds ahead on the chase duo, 55 seconds up on the rest of the break, and 8:35 up on the peloton.

Ineos Grenadiers had taken charge there, pushing the pace and dropping Bardet and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), among others, on the Néronne. Up front, Schachmann hit the final climb to Puy Mary – 5.4km at 8.1 per cent and an even steeper finish – 20 seconds up on the chasers.

He would be caught inside the final two kilometres, with Martínez overcoming the German's teammate Kämna on the run to the line.

Further down the climb, the Slovenian duo of Pogačar and Roglič had blown the peloton apart on the harsh gradients of the final kilometres. Bernal, who had seen his team do so much work earlier on, was put in trouble immediately, dropping behind a chase group of Porte, Landa and López.

The Colombian fought doggedly, but to no avail as Roglič hardened his grasp on the overall race lead. He and Pogačar finished together, 6:05 after Martínez, with Porte the best of the rest of the GC men as Bernal shed over half a minute.

Porte, Landa and López also gained time on Bernal, while Urán finished with him and Quintana lost two seconds to his countryman. Bardet and Martin, meanwhile, both finished over two and a half minutes behind Roglič and Pogačar.