Mauro Schmid won the 13th stage of the Tour de France. The Swiss took a sprint victory over the breakaway duo at Belfort and celebrated with a wheelie finish. Tom Pidcock took third place and made a leap into the overall standings at the first stage in the Vosges.
Schmid was able to achieve success thanks to an attack by a breakaway group of ten people 16 kilometers from the finish. Only Harold Tejada followed the Swiss. The duo worked well together and did not let their pursuers get close. In the last kilometer, Schmid was the smarter rider and had better legs in the sprint. 26-year-old team player Jako AlUla celebrated the biggest success of his career.
The sprint also brought back memories of Schmid’s Tour last year. At the 11th stage of Toulouse he was defeated by Jonas Abrahamsen. “The first 50 meters I thought maybe like last year. But then I felt my legs again,” he said in an interview with the winner.
Pidcock is now 13 seconds behind Evenepoel.
Just two seconds behind, Pidcock won the chase sprint. The peloton with Tadej Pogačar and the contenders for the podium reached the finish line only 7:32 minutes behind the breakaway. Pidcock, who was tenth before the stage, moved up to fourth. The Briton is now 13 seconds behind third-placed Remco Evenepoel. Florian Lipowitz lost one place and is now seventh.
After two flat stages, stage 13 went back into the Vosges and above. With 30 kilometers to go, the tour passed the 1,173-meter-high Ballon d’Alsace. After the 1st category mountain classification, everything went downhill until the finish. The longest section of the tour was 205 kilometers from Dole to the garrison town of Belfort.
After the start, there were 150 mostly flat kilometers left and it became unclear. Many drivers wanted to join the splinter group, and attack after attack ensued. Accordingly, the race was high in the first hour, averaging 55.3 km/h. The tailwind also pushed the professionals.
Large leading groups
37 riders finally made it into the first group to actually escape. Pidcock and the Germans Michel Hessmann and John Degenkolb were there. Sprinter Jasper Philipsen also took the lead. But Lidl Trek did not like the appearance of Mads Pedersen in the green jersey, and so the German team organized a group of 20 people.
The merger occurred 91 kilometers before the finish. There were now 57 riders ahead. The peloton behind them was already almost seven minutes behind. It was clear from the very beginning that the stage victory would end with a lead. The best-placed rider in the leading group was Pidcock, 11:49 minutes behind the yellow jersey.
Peloton on stage 13
Philipsen leads Pedersen in intermediate sprint
In the intermediate sprint, 68 kilometers before the finish, a triple fight for 25 points unfolded. Philipsen was clearly victorious, with Pedersen ahead of Biniam Girmay to score another 20 points. Philipsen moves up to second place in the points rankings.
In fact, the race began 39 kilometers before the finish. It was an 8.9 kilometer climb to the Ball of Alsace. More than 40 riders still remained in the leading group. Halfway through the climb, only 19 professionals remained ahead. Pidcock scored ten points in the mountain classification. He then completed the descent with eight other participants. On the descent, Tim Wellens was able to catch up.
Only after a steeper section of descent did attacks begin in the leading group. Schmid started 16 kilometers before the finish, Tejada reacted immediately and jumped onto the rear wheel of the Swiss rider. The duo also succeeded because their pursuers disagreed. With six kilometers to go they were 20 seconds ahead of each other, and at the Devil’s Lope they were still 18 seconds ahead. There was enough time to spy on each other. Schmid then began a sprint 200 meters from the finish.
Tough mountain stage in the Vosges on Saturday
On Saturday, the tour will include a challenging climb through the Vosges. Stage 14 covers 155 kilometers from Mulhouse to Le Markstein-Vellering. Only in the 1st category, professionals will have to master three mountain tests. There will likely be a lot of German fans on the route as the tour takes place close to the German border on this day.