As it happened: Almighty GC fight on the Peyragudes mountain time trial on stage 13 of the Tour de France

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage for stage 13 of the 2025 Tour de France.

There's just under two hours to go before the first rider rolls down the start ramp for today's mountainous individual time trial.

Mattéo Vercher (Team TotalEnergies) will be first off at 13:10 local time in Loudenvielle.

Here's a look at the profile of today's individual time trial from Loudenvielle to the summit of Peyragudes.

For more details on what today's 10.9km uphill race against the clock entails, read our in-depth stage preview here.

Ever wondered how a team prepares for the chaos of a mountain time-trial, with equipment dilemmas and potential bike changes?

We spoke to Red Bull's Dan Bigham to find out more.

Read more: Reverse engineering stage 13: How do teams prepare for a Tour de France mountain time trial?

Here's the key times for when the GC big hitters roll out later this afternoon:

(All timings are in the local time zone)

• Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) 16:47
• Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 16:53
• Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) 16:55
• Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) 16:57
• Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 16:59
• Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) 17:01
• Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) 17:03
• Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 17:05

A closer look at the course profile for today.

Just 40 minutes until the first rider of the day starts their effort.

Let's quickly run through yesterday's hectic first summit finish and the reaction from the GC contenders.

Tadej Pogačar attacked early on the Hautacam's slopes to win the stage and move back into the yellow jersey.

He now leads Vingegaard by 3 minutes and 31 seconds.

Read more: Tadej Pogačar punishes challengers with massive victory on Hautacam and regains race lead

Here's what Pogačar, his UAE team, Visma DS Grischa Niermann, Matteo Jorgenson, and Remco Evenepoel had to say about the first of this week's three Pyrenean battles.

• 'I feel at the best moment of my career' – Tadej Pogačar keeps getting better at the Tour de France
• 'We need to keep our feet on the ground' - UAE Team Emirates-XRG team morale high but realistic as Tadej Pogačar regains Tour de France yellow jersey
• 'It will be very hard to turn it around' – Jonas Vingegaard over three minutes down in Tour de France GC after plan fails on Hautacam stage
• 'No excuses' – Matteo Jorgenson loses 10 minutes on a 'really bad day' at the Tour de France
• 'Some teams rode as if they were there to support Pogačar' – Evenepoel and Soudal-QuickStep critical of Visma-Lease a Bike's Tour de France tactics on Hautacam

An alteration to today's stage that will surely please the less comfortable climbers at the Tour.

Weather-wise, it looks to be a cooler day for the riders compared to yesterday's searing heat on the Hautacam.

Highs of 25°C in Loudenvielle and just 21°C up at the Peyragudes ski resort.

Stage 13 starts

Mattéo Vercher (Team TotalEnergies) is off to set the first time of the day.

Vercher has just finished the opening flatter part of the course and has started the climb to Peyregudes.

The start of a time trial this deep into a Grand Tour is a chance to see riders you might have forgotten are at the race, and have been really struggling. Jordi Meeus is second-to-last on GC, having struggled to get involved in the sprints.

Here' the scene from the Peyragudes today.

We have a first proper climber on the road now - Lennert Van Eetvelt. The Belgian is well down on GC having crashed and lost lots of time, but he’s a very talented climber, and from the way he flew off the start ramp, looks like he’s going to go for a time today.

Of the riders to have reached the first checkpoint, Meeus is the fastest so far.

Van Eetvelt looks like he's on for a quick one. He's already caught and passed his minute man.

Our first jersey-wearer is on the road - Jonathan Milan, in green. He won’t be adding any points to his tally today, and will instead be looking on in fear as Tadej Pogačar is set to eat more into his lead in the points classification.

Van Eetvelt's set the fastest time at the first time check, 20 seconds faster than Meeus.

Durbridge and Benjamin Thomas have posted the third and fourth fastest times there. They’re both specialists against the clock, but not on an uphill time trial like this one.

Vercher’s the first rider to arrive at the finish, and he’s enjoying the occasion, giving a wheelie to please the fans as he covers the horribly steep final gradients to the line. His time is 30:01.

Van Eetvelt is through the second check, over a minute quicker than the previous best time set by Grignard.

Several riders have followed Vercher by reaching the finish, with Roel van Sintmaartensdijk the fastest among them so far with a time of 29:12.

Eduardo Affini rolls after the start ramp, his European champion's jersey showcasing his time trialling credentials. He’a another for whom the gradients will be too steep, however.

Grignard has set the new fastest time and will head to the hot seat. Not for long, though - Van Eetvelt will surely be replacing him soon.

Now the Australian champion, Luke Plapp, begins. He is a rider who could be up there, given he can both time trial and climb.

Van Eetvelt sets the new fastest time, by 57 seconds. He didn’t look to be totally committed on his ride though, especially considering how he looked at the start, and didn’t grow his advantage on the final section of the climb.

NEW FASTEST TIME - VAN EETVELT

Coquard is starting his ride, despite a finger injury. He hurt it yesterday when trying to grab a musette. The Frenchman has had a rough Tour this year, ever since attracting blame and scrutiny for his role in the crash that saw Jasper Philipsen abandon in the first week.

Plapp is ineed going for it - he's just put a whole minute into Van Eetvelt on the second time check.

Plapp is under a kilometre from the finish - albeit the hardest kilometre of the course.

Unlike Van Eetvelt, who looked like he knocked off the pace, Plapp is clearly giving it his all - and it shows in the time. He’s gone a whole 2:51 quicker.

NEW FASTEST TIME - LUKE PLAP

The Australian could be in the hotseat for a long time with a time like that.

Iván Romeo is off and running. He's a rider who could post a strong time if he goes for it, as someone who can both climb and time trial.

Girmay completes his ride in relaxed fashion, moving to the side of the road to give some high fives to a cluster of fans with Eritrean flags.

Here's Plapp finishing his ride, mouth open with the effort.

The polka-dot jersey of Lenny Martinez has started his ride. He’ll need to produce one hell of a ride to finish high enough to add to his KOM tally today, and is already only wearing the jersey on behalf of Tadej Pogačar, who overtook him yesterday - and is likely to extend his lead today.

Plapp and Van Eetvelt remain first and second at the finish, but Vito Braet has joined them on the virtual podium with the third best time.

Romeo is not going for it. He's reached the time check with a time outside of the top 20 fastest.

Coquard reaches the finish, and waves to the crowd. It's a wave of goodbye - he's actually planning on leaving the race after today, to have his damaged hand operated on.

Sivakov hasn’t completely sat up, despite having work to do for teammate Pogačar. He’s set the third fastest time at the second check.

Matis Louvel is giving us a demonstration of how steep the final gradients of the Peyragudes are. He’s weaving from side to side, trying to take a more bearable and less steep line.

Lenny Martinez has committed to his ride - he’s just nine seconds slower than Plapp at the second check. For the first time, Plapp is under pressure.

Sivakov took his time up the final part of that climb, posting the 16th best time at the finish.

Lenny Martinez is giving his all as he nears the summit.

Martinez falls short, 23 seconds slower than Plapp. That's still good enough for second-best, for now.

Former time trial world champion Tobias Foss is on the road, but isn’t going hard, posting the 13th fastest time at the first check.

Lenny Martinez finishing his ride.

Fred Wright has posted the third best time, beating Lennert Van Eetvelt. But there’s lots of daylight between himself and the top two, with Plapp 2:42 quicker, and Martinez 2:19 quicker.

Foss has finished, and he sped up as the climb went on - he posts the third fastest time of the day, 2:26 slower than Plapp.

A big name at the start list now - Wout van Aert. If he goes for it he could set a very good time, but might rest up with work to be done for Vingegaard in the stages ahead.

Clément Champoussin has set a very good time at the finish - the third fastest in fact. He's 59 seconds slower than Lenny Martinez in second, but 55 seconds faster than Lutsenko in fourth.

Van Aert is resting up - he's in at the first check with only the 27th fastest time.

Bruno Armirail starts his ride, to a chorus of cheers from local fans recognising his French national champion’s jersey. Given how strong he looked in the break yesterday, he could set a competitive time.

The stunning backdrop at the top of the Peyragudes.

Armirail is on course for a good time. He’s come through the first check third fastest, just two seconds slower than Plapp.

Alaphilippe is also going for it, setting the third fastest time at the second check.

Einer Rubio has just finished, setting the fourth fastest time.

A promising time for Santiago Buitrago, who’s third fastest at the second check. He dropped out of GC contention after a crash early in the Tour, but seems to be recovering now.

Alaphilippe finishes with the third best time, in between his French compatriots Martinez and Champoussin.

Buitrago finishes, with the fourth fastest time.

Armirail is going quick, but perhaps not quick enough to challenge Plapp and Martinez - he’s third fastest at the second check, 12 seconds slower than the latter and 21 seconds from the former.

Here’s Julian Alaphilippe, currently third in the clubhouse.

Armirail is nearing the finish, but hasn’t managed to close the gap on the leading two on the final phase of the climb. He places fourth, just behind Alaphippe.

Van der Poel is off! This won't be a day he'll be competitive at, but the Dutchman is always box office whenever he rides.

Bruno Armirail, showing off his French national colours with the fourth best time of the day so far.

One potential threat for some riders today is the possibility of finishing outside of the time cut - and therefore having to leave the race, if the organisers decide to enforce it. That could be bad news for Tim Merlier - the two-stage winner currently has the second slowest time, with only Luka Mezgec slower.

Merlier’s green jersey rival Jonathan Milan is not under threat, having finished much quicker. His hold on the green jersey could be under threat from Tadej Pogačar - who, according to Robbie McEwen, is now the Italian’s main rival for the jersey.

'It's very far from over' – Robbie McEwen sees Tadej Pogačar as main rival for Jonathan Milan in Tour de France green jersey battle

We've had a first entry into the top placings at the finish for a while - Harry Sweeny, who's third fastest. That's a terrific ride from the EF rider, who is having a revelatory race.

We’re nearing the business end of this time trial now. Thymen Arensman is next to start, then Simon Yates and Sepp Kuss, after which we’ll be into the top 20 on GC. Things are about to heat up, and we’ll start to see the times get faster and faster.

Incidentally, the riders have been using road bikes so far today - Plapp’s leading time was on a road bike with disk wheels. But we might see some time trial bikes used by the GC candidates to come later, with Jonas Vingegaard expected to do so having been seen warming down on one yesterday.

Quinn Simmons enjoyed support from the roadside during his ride. His flamboyant haircut and constant attacking seems to have made him a bit of a cult hero at this Tour.

Adam Yates isn't hanging about, despite being far down on GC and tasked with domestique duties for Pogačar. He's just posted the second fastest time at the second check.

Enric Mas starts. We're into the top 15 on GC.

Mathieu van der Poel at the finish.

Adam Yates reaches the finish, with the second fastest time so far. He lost time to Plapp on the final part of the mountain, finishing 17 seconds slower having only been four seconds off at the last check.

Matteo Jorgenson starts his ride. He had a rough day yesterday, plunging down the classification to tenth overall, but is a very good time trialist and will hope to recover today.

JORGENSON STARTS

There’s just nine riders left to start. Things are getting tense.

Adam Yates, setting the second quickest time at the finish.

Jorgenson's flying! He's set the new fastest time at the first check, a whole 8 seconds better than Plapp.

Here goes Primož Roglič. He's started to show some signs of form lately, though faded badly towards the top of the Hautacam yesterday. Historically, he shines in a mountain time trial - can he gain ground today?

PRIMOZ ROGLIC STARTS

A huge cheer at the start as the nation’s new sweetheart Kévin Vauquelin starts his ride. The young Frenchman proved his climbing credentials on a longer mountain yesterday, and now continues his fight to stay high up on GC.

Florian Lipowitz is off. He looked great yesterday, and appears set to be a real contender for the podium if he can continue climbing that well.

Roglič is going well! He's matched Jorgenson's time at the first check.

Time for the world champion! Although he's wearing the white jersey today as the race's best young rider. Having won the first time trial last week, can he add a second today?

EVENEPOEL STARTS

Jorgenson is again fastest at the second check, although only fractions of a second faster than Plapp.

Vingegaard is down the ramp and off - he had a bruising first time trial last week, and lost even more time yesterday. He'll want to make a statement with his ride today.

VINGEGAARD STARTS

And now, finally, here comes Tadej Pogačar, resplendent in yellow. He's opted for a road bike today - but frankly you suspect he'd win even on a penny-farthing the way he's been riding

POGACAR STARTS

So that's it, everyone is out on the field.

Evenepoel has smashed everyone's time at the first check, a whopping 9 seconds faster than Jorgenson already.

Vauquelin and Lipowitz also produced strong times, 11 and 12 seconds slower than Remco in 4th and 5th for now.

Wow! Primož Roglič has just set a stunning time at the second check, a whole 30 seconds faster than Jorgenson. They had the same time at the first check.

That looks like a superb time, but we expect some coming up to be even quicker.

Pogačar's through the first check...and he's the quickest so far! 5 seconds up on Evenepoel. Vingegaard is 4 seconds slower than the Belgian.

Those three are, inevitably, well up on everyone else at the first check.

Here's Tadej Pogačar a little earlier, resting up before unleashing the watts on this climb.

Jorgenson’s at the finish - and he’s slower than Plapp. The American sets the second best time, 4 seconds slower.

Florian Lipowitz appears to be having another great day, setting the second fastest time at the 2nd check - only his teammate Roglič has been quicker.

Evenepoel is struggling! He's well down at the second check, only setting the third fastest time, a whole 26 seconds slower than Roglič.

At long last, someone has bettered Luke Plapp - and it's Primož Roglič. He's gained a whole 37 seconds over the Australian. Roglič is looking something like his best again.

NEW FASTEST TIME- ROGLIC

It doesn’t seem like Roglič will be in the hotseat for too long though - Vingegaard is flying, and has gone 28 seconds quicker at the second check.

Here comes Pogačar...and it's big! 24 seconds up on Vingegaard, 52 seconds up on Pogačar, and over a minute on everyone else.

Things are going bad to worse for Evenepoel. He has had some kind of chain issue - that will have cost him a few more seconds.

Remco Evenepoel, struggling.

Vauquelin is a little down at the finish, setting the 8th best time at the line.

Onley was much quicker - he's fourth at the finish.

And now Lipowitz arrives, with the second best time, 35 seconds down. It's a 1-2 for Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe for now.

Just three more riders are left to finish...

Primož Roglič at the finish straining under the effort of setting the best time.

Evenepoel is nearing the finish and Vingegaard is just behind him - he can see him and might catch him!

He does indeed, Vingegaard rides past Evenepoel metres from the line. That’s the new fastest time for Vingegaard, and he’s put a packet of time into Remco.

NEW FASTEST TIME - VINGEGAARD

But here comes Pog…

Vingegaard was 45 seconds quicker than Roglič, but Pogačar is going to be even quicker.

Pogačar wins yet again, his second in two days, and fourth of this Tour. He's a whole 36 seconds quicker than Vingegaard, who himself looked very strong today.

POGACAR WINS

Evenepoel had a bit of a nightmare. He finished way down in 12th, a whole 2:39 behind the yellow jersey.

Evenepoel does hold on to third overall, but is now only 6 seconds ahead of Lipowitz.

Meanwhile Pogačar is now 4:07 up on Vingegaard, and an enormous 7:24 ahead of Evenepoel.

Special mention to Luke Plapp, who spent most of the day on the hotseat. Ultimately, only four riders went quicker than him - Lipowitz, Roglič, Vingegaard and Pogačar.

In terms of positions, the only change in the GC top ten sees Onley and Vauquelin swap places, the former now 5th and the latter 6th.

This was the dramatic moment that Vingegaard overtook Evenepoel just before the finish line, despite starting his ride two minutes after. That surely can’t have happened to Evenepoel before, given his status as the best time trialist in the world. That can’t have been good for the Belgian’s ego.

Here's our full report of everything that happened in today's stage

Tour de France stage 13: Tadej Pogačar demolishes rivals, extends lead in mountain time trial up Peyragudes

Today is win No.21 for Tadej Pogačar, putting him up to 6th on the all-time list. No rider, not even Cavendish or Merckx, had reached as many when they were the age Pogačar is now.

While Pogačar and Vingegaard are, as is so often the case, miles ahead of the rest of the field, the GC has compressed beneath them. Between Remco Evenepoel in 3rd place and Primož Roglič in seventh is a gap of just 1:26 - it’s all to play for in the race for a podium place.

Vingegaard might have suffered another defeat to Pogačar today - the third time he has finished runner-up behind him at this Tour so far - but he still deserves great credit for that performance. He looked much better than yesterday, and was 44 seconds quicker than the next best rider today.

Thanks for joining us today, when Tadej Pogačar wrote yet another chapter into his illustrious history. Right now the main question at this Tour is less will he win it, than how many stages he will take along the way - with four in the bag already, could the all-time record of eight (shared by Maertens, Merckx and Pélissier) be under threat?

That said, Jonas Vingegaard looked much better today, and said at the finish that he plans to continue to fight for yellow. There’s still a lot of racing to go until Paris - starting with tomorrow’s final stage in the Pyrenees, which we’ll have live coverage of again.