tour de france stage 13 winner

As it happened: Kwiatkowski solos to victory on Tour de France stage 13

A punchy 137km from Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne to Grand Colombier on Bastille day

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Happy Bastille Day and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 13 of the 2023 Tour de France!

The riders are completing sign-ons and the team presentation in Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne ahead of the start of the 137.8km route that finishes atop the Grand Colombier.

Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) has received a great cheer from the crowd before stage 13 of his final Tour de France.

As is commonplace on Bastille Day at the Tour, there should be an almighty effort by most French riders to try and get into the break of the day. The last French rider to win the Bastille Day Tour de France stage was Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic) in 2017, could today see the next French winner?

Here's another look at the day's profile with the hors catégorie Grand Colombier hosting the summit finish. 

Felix Gall (AG2R-Citroën) is assessing his aims for the day. If he can slip into a breakaway and re-find the climbing form that saw him win a stage at the Tour de Suisse, he could be a real threat for the stage win. 

Biggest cheer so far goes to, unsurprisingly, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ). The fan-favourite will be desperate to make it into the break and showed he is in strong form yesterday with a sixth-place finish. 

Simon Yates could play a big role in the day's finale and currently sits seventh overall.

We're just under half an hour away from the neutralised start of stage 13 in Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has just made his way to the stage. We're expecting to see the next round of his battle vs Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) today and the rest of the weekend should provide more of the same with two further mountainous tests.

Barry Ryan has put together a great preview of today's stage and for the two that arrive after it on what should be a race-defining weekend. Read it below.

Tight margins, endless permutations – New phase in Vingegaard vs Pogacar duel

Tony Gallopin (Lidl-Trek) is riding his final Tour de France, but will always have the memory of wearing the yellow jersey on Bastille Day during the 2014 race.

🇫🇷@tonygallopin can't wait to see you all on the Grand Colombier for Bastille Day! #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/kU5Ne8ulbU July 14, 2023

The riders are making their way to the start line in preparation for another day of racing in the sunshine.

Here's Pogačar and his typical hair tuft sticking out, ready for a big day of battle on the Grand Colombier. He won atop this summit in the 2020 race ahead of Primož Roglič and will be confident in repeating the feat. 

Stage 13 of the 2023 Tour de France is underway!

There are just over four kilometres of neutralised riding before the flag is dropped and the racing proper gets started. The crowds at the start in Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne were fantastic as expected on Bastille Day. 

Keep your eye on all the French riders once Christian Prudhomme waves the flag as they will all want to be in the break on this huge day for France.  

Front wheel change for Andrey Amador (EF Education-EasyPost).

137KM TO GO

Here we go! We're ready to go with Amador back in and the flag drops at kilometre zero.

Lotto-Dstny are straight into a tandem attack with Campenaerts and Eenkhoorn. A trio of Uno-X riders are bridging across as we are above 50km/h already on the flat start. 

There's a lot of interest obviously, but the pack will continue to swell with so many adamant on being in the break. French teams all towards the front. 

It's the TGV de Clermont-Ferrand, Rémi Cavagna, on the front now with Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) and Valentin Ferrin (TotalEnergies) with him. 

Esteban Chavez (EF Education-EasyPost) has been bridged across with Bettiol to help him, this will be the blueprint for all teams to get into the break as on such a flat start, any climber will want a rouleur to help them and drive a group away. 

130KM TO GO

Mechanical for Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) in the French national champion's jersey. An unfortunate start for the man in the tricolour. 

Here's how close our two likely protagonists for the day were on the start line. Will Pogačar and Vingegaard be separated by much more of a distance atop the day's summit finish?

Some of Cofidis' team are wearing lovely French tricolour helmets on Bastille Day.  

À jour de Fête nationale, casque spécial 🇨🇵#TDF2023 📷 @MathildeLAzou pic.twitter.com/HPRSMlhlW8 July 14, 2023

125KM TO GO

TotalEnergies have incredibly active in the opening 10km, launching nearly every rider on their team at least once, the latest of which is Pierre Latour who was runner-up on the Puy de Dôme. 

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was pacing for Mattias Skjelmose before the bunch again swelled. Both attacked non-stop in the opening of yesterday's stage, so for either to have anything left is incredibly impressive. 

Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) launched Cavagna into the next one of his attacks. The Belgian team are yet to have any success at this 2023 race.

Cavagna is joined by Ineos duo, Fraile and Castroviejo, Magnus Cort (EF Education EasyPost), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and British national champion, Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious). 

120KM TO GO

Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) has two Israel-Premier Tech riders in his wheel as he tries to bridge this gap. The elastic hasn't yet snapped and we continue to race at over 50km/h. 

We momentarily came all back together, but a new group of leaders has formed at the front: Pacher, Oliveira, Van Gils and Teunissen. 

This small group did have a 13 second advantage, but there is now a huge chasing group trying to bridge the gap. 

This huge group at the front has a growing advantage. If they work together they should be able to make it stick. 

110KM TO GO

It looks as though the peloton is calming down now and may be letting this be the break of the day. Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) is making one final effort to try and give Pacher some support in the lead group. 

Scratch that, were lined out again the peloton. Some teams have clearly missed this and don't want to give up the fight yet. The peloton is 21 seconds behind now and our lead group appears to be working well. 

Coquard is all alone in this 23 second gap and making a last ditch effort. It would be miraculous if he could somehow bridge this gap. 

The peloton is now 1:03 and the break has truly formed. Coquard is stuck 40 seconds back and shouldn't make it. 

Here is one of Bettiol's first attacks, he's made it into the eventual break of the day alongside teammate James Shaw. 

105KM TO GO

UAE Team Emirates immediately come to the break with their rouleurs, they clearly mean business. Bjerg and Laengen are towards the front and ready to try control this break. 

Pogačar obviously wants the stage win and the bonus seconds, but this effort will require his whole team to drive themselves into the ground before the final climb. Is trying to pull back this huge back worth it?

The gap is stable for now close to 1:30 as the teams behind try to grab a musette and have their lunch with the break finally away. 

100KM TO GO

The peloton is strung out a long way down the road all for this desire to win the stage. 

A look as the day's break is led by Mohorič.

UAE are really working at this with their three better-suited riders on flat terrain, Bjerg, Laengen and Trentin swapping turns on the front. As the foot of the climb arrives 17.4km from the finish, it should be a more manageable effort than if today were a 200km stage. 

Astana Qazaqstan have done a great job to get Harold Tejada into the break with Cees Bol as flat support. The team have had a very unlucky start to the 2023 race having lost three riders in Mark Cavendish, Luis Leon Sanchez and David de la Cruz all to crashes and injuries. 

Current order in the peloton is UAE on the front with their roulers, Bora-Hansgrohe, Ineos Grenadiers, Pogačar and his climbing support, Jayco AlUla then Jumbo-Visma and the yellow jersey, Vingegaard. 

The peloton is starting to slowly close the gap with it now down to 1:20. 

Very windy conditions out on the road now, blowing across the riders. 

52km/h average speed after just over an hour of racing, the peloton is by no means hanging around. 

UAE giving everything today for their superstar rider, Pogačar.

🤍👀⛰️ #TDF2023 📸 A.S.O./Pauline Ballet pic.twitter.com/gbQcElmqqb July 14, 2023

The break to the gap is stable at 1:30. The break are working well, but just aren't being given enough leeway to try and fight for the stage win. 

Bike change for Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and it's obviously a planned one. He got off his white aero Merida bike for the fast, flat start and has got onto his black lightweight climbing bike which he'll want for the summit finish. 

The man in yellow clearly isn't scared of Pogačar, but all the talking will be done on the inclines of the Grand Colombier. 

🇫🇷 #TDF2023 Jonas is ready. 👊 pic.twitter.com/5UtxRhTt3n July 14, 2023

Gap for the break has extended out towards the two minute mark which still isn't going to be enough to win atop the summit finish, especially without a pure climber in the move. 

Our 19 escapees are working together nicely so far to give themselves the best chance. Slightly surprising to only see three French riders in there: Pacher, Latour and Petit. 

Pogačar and his main climbing domestique, Majka. 

The leaders are on the early slopes of the uncategorised Col de la Lèbe now. It has very manageable gradients averaging around 3%, but is over 15km in length.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) has just gone out the back of the peloton. He had to fight the time cut yesterday with only De Buyst as help. He'll hopefully get some help from his team before they reach the foot of the final climb. 

Caleb Ewan survives Tour de France time cut but sprinters fear the Alps

The break to have lost motivation with UAE's earlier push putting them off trying fully. 

Some of the heavier riders are dropping on the inclines: Bol and Petit. 

UAE have pulled back 30 seconds on the opening half of this uncategorised climb. Mohorič and Asgreen have sensed the danger and started driving the pace to try and split the break into a more manageable size. 

Laengen's work is done, leaving only Bjerg and Trentin to work on the front, but they will have a long downhill section after this uncategorised climb which will make their job easier.

Teunissen takes the intermediate sprint points and cash prize ahead of Mohorič in second who pushes on. 

We've seen Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) all alone at the back of the race. He's apparently suffering from stomach problems and has little energy to stay in the bunch. Hopefully he can survive the time cut and recover overnight.

Ewan has only just passed the intermediate sprint point, a long way down on Turner and the peloton. 

The break are closing in on the peak of the uncategorised Col de la Lèbe and will start the descent into the valley that precede the Grand Colombier. Will Mohorič try and attack the descent?

The break's current advantage of 3:08 won't be enough on the final climb, but if they can extend it on this descent and into the valley, they someone with great legs may have a very slim chance of making it. 

Latour is majorly struggling on the descent. He should get back on, but this is energy he won't want to waste. 

EF and Intermaché are using their numerical advantage well in the breakaway. 

UAE Team Emirates have now established full control at the head of the peloton with their wheel team keeping Pogačar safe while also trying to keep the gap close enough. It's now 3:39. 

Latour is well dropped now at 40 seconds in arrears. 

With our summit finish approaching, here's a look at the profile of our finale climb. Hardest sections arrive at the start with a brutal opening 8 kilometres and despite a few sections of respite in the middle, the final ramp also tops out at over 12%.

Caleb Ewan has abandoned the 2023 Tour de France. He'd been sat at the back alone after dropping on our first uncategorised climb.

Grand Colombier incoming. 3km to the foot of the climb. 

The other GC teams are starting to come to the fore alongside UAE with Ineos, Jumbo, Bahrain and AG2R now at the front. The latter will be working for Gall who can climb with the very best on his day. 

This will take a miraculous effort from someone in the break if they are to hold off the charging peloton behind. 

EF have taken up the mantle on the front and told both their riders in the break to 'grit their teeth' as the hardest slopes come at the bottom of the climb. 

You would think this was the run into a sprint finish with the peloton motoring along to hold good position once the climb starts. Ineos are best positioned for the moment. 

Asgreen and Teunissen dropped straight away. 

Attack Quentin Pacher! Vive la France.

Ineos hit the front for Rodríguez and Pidcock, they are either feeling great or are just worried about positioning. 

UAE's rouleurs have competed their tasks and their climbing contingent are now coming to the front. Laengen has revived himself for one last pull before Großschartner, Soler, Majka and Yates take over. 

Politt hits the front in aid of Hindley. At the front, Pacher is giving everything on Bastille Day hoping that the incredible French crowds will spur him on to victory. 

Vingegaard is sat further back on Pogačar's wheel and the duo will need to come to the front with such big crowds on the road that will cause the path to narrow as they climb. 

Only Van Gils, Tejada and Shaw are still within 15 seconds of our lone leader as the peloton battle with flares and smoke further down the mountain. 

Will Vingegaard be able to live with Pogačar's inevitable explosive attack? We're about to find out as the climb continues. His team have been absent all day and letting UAE do all the work. 

Gap to the break is holding at 3:48 for now with Pacher still only 8 seconds ahead of his pursuers. 

We're going through the beautiful switchbacks on this climb with a wall of noise spurring on the riders on each corner. 

Kwiatkowski is pacing himself nicely behind and appears to be closing in on the leaders. Pacher has been caught as Van Gils goes!

Shaw and Tejada are close behind, but our last Frenchman, Pacher,  is dropped. 

Ben O'Connor dropped. It hasn't been his year at the 2023 Tour de France. Soler pacing on the front for UAE. Bernal also dropped too. 

The break have got a good chance now with the gap at 3:37. We do know, however, that either Pogačar or Vingegaard could melt that advantage very quickly if they fully launch. 

Kwiatkowski has caught and attacked the trio that were leading. The former World Champion has been great at this Tour and on the attack in breakaways non-stop. 

Kelderman dropped already, that's a big surprise for Jumbo-Visma. 

Kwiatkowski has 13 seconds over the chasers for now after his well paced opening 6km of the climb. If he can get over this hardest sector, he'll get a small chance of recovery on a flat section.

Nice move from the Ineos rider.

On the attack ⚡️@Kwiato steals on a match on his fellow escapees to take a solo lead. Keep pushing, Kwiato 👊👊👊 pic.twitter.com/5M5lboEYiz July 14, 2023

Kwiatkowski is flying away from the trio behind him with a gap now of 38 seconds as he goes over the flatter section. Soler is still turning himself inside-out for his leader before Großschartner takes over and pushes the pace again. 

Bardet has been dropped already under the pressure of UAE. 

Take a look at the Grand Colombier in all its glory below. 

Grand Colombier is a piece of art 😍#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/wNijARdczp July 14, 2023

We ramp up again to 12% gradient with around 6km to go, but once Kwiatkowski passes that he will find the slopes easing somewhat, albeit to averages still of 7%, which could help him find an incredible victory. 

Soler pulls over and now we get the best climbers in UAE's team. There are nods between Großschartner and Majka agreeing that it's time to go and win the stage. Kwiatkowski is holding them off brilliantly for now still 3:13 ahead. 

Pinot, Buchmann both dropped. 

Martin is also dropped as UAE ramp the pace up even more. Landa also struggling off the back.

Kwiatkowski is looking brilliant at the head of the race with a 2:36 lead still over the peloton. Can Pogačar or Vingegaard close that much time in the final few kilometres?

Großschartner, Majka, Yates and then Pogačar, that is the order of UAE with Vingegaard close behind. he only has Kuss with him. 

The gap to Kiwatkowski is falling - now at 2:18. Pogačar is marshalling the troops to try and capture this stage win. 

Majka moves up in the peloton with Yates behind him and UAE continue to drive things. They've worked all day long for this, but Kwiatkowski is still posted at 2:20 in front. 

If this gap is correct, Kwiatkowski is in a fantastic place to take this stage win. He has to maintain his effort though as the final ramp is brutal. 

Majka gets out of the saddle now and ups the pace again. We're entering the final phase of this stage. We've still got a big group of GC riders in here though as the inclines may not be hard enough. 

The gap is holding to Kwiatkowski above two minutes.

3km to go for @kwiato +1:03 - Chase group2:23 - GC group (with @_rccarlos and @tompidcock)Come on Kwiato!!!!! #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/NPEB6Z9WEM July 14, 2023

Kwiatkowski is splitting the huge crowds and is closing in on an amazing stage victory.

Yates goes! Kuss goes after him and Pogačar and Vingegaard are close behind. 

We're all back together now after that small attack. 

Yates is now doing the leadout for Pogačar in the finale. Kuss is in between the UAE duo for now, however. Pidcock and Hindley are back onto the four. Simon Yates and Rodriguez are the only others able to follow. 

Flamme rouge for Kwiatkowski, he's got some tough gradients ahead of him, but should have this! What a ride from the Pole.

The bonus seconds are all going to disappear up the road. UAE's tactics haven't paid off. 

STAGE FINISH

Michał Kwiatkowski wins stage 13 of the 2023 Tour de France atop the Grand Colombier!

Behind Pogacar goes! he explodes out of the group with Vingegaard close behind him. The Dane is holding on as they fly past remnants of the break.

Pogačar drops him and he's going to get some bonus seconds, ignore what I said before - what an acceleration. It's around a seven second gain with that final charge to the line as Van Gils hung on for second. Wow.

It won't be yellow, but Pogačar's done well to salvage some time gain after failing to reel in the break. 

Pidcock and Rodríguez share a nice embrace with Kwiatkowski after a fine day for Ineos Grenadiers. 

Here's our stage winner, Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers). He has showed excellent from in the 2023 Tour, back to his World Championship winning best from nearly a decade ago. What a stage win for the Polish rider. 

Here's what stage winner Kwiatkowski had to say after the stage:

"Not alone, I had 18 friends in the breakaway, yeah obviously I had a nice advantage on the final climb, but it was a crazy experience, to be honest. When I entered the breakaway I though this is just a free ticket to maybe the bottom of the climb, but I never thought this group will kind of fight for the stage win because UAE were pulling pretty hard in the back. But to be honest it's not easy to I guess chase 19 guys rotating on the flat for more than 100 kilometres."

"We just didn't want to miss any big breakaway. Every day we were pretty much trying to go in the big moves because you never really know when people are moving on the flat who will actually enter that breakaway, maybe someone from the GC, maybe no one will be happy to chase. Today was UAE, but I think they just let too many guys in the front and I just found probably the best legs I ever had in my life."

I didn't believe that was possible, but here I am."

"Winning on top of the mountain like this on Grand Colombier, obviously I had memories here with Egan Bernal [in 2020] here kind of thinking about quitting the race and unfortunately he did later on so that was bad memories for us, but then with Richard [Carapaz] that was also different. That was like full gas racing from the start to the finish and in the end, we could enjoy the last 15 kilometres together, but today was just like - the last effort was probably one of the hardest in my life, but I managed myself well, paced myself well and knew that was going to be a very long effort."

Pogačar's late surge to the line gained him another 8 seconds in the GC battle vs Vingegaard, with that gap at the top now only 0:09. Bilbao was the big loser on GC, dropping two places to seventh and losing 45 seconds to his rivals for the top five.

The current GC standings at the 2023 Tour de France after stage 13

Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) had another great day in his GC campaign as he finished fifth on the day behind our two breakaway survivors, Pogačar and Vingegaard, here's what he said after stage 13:

"I think Bastille Day should be renamed Ineos day," Pidcock joked in reference to the British team winning on Bastille Day two years in a row. "Two pretty iconic climbs, two wins, it's pretty special."

"It's especially funny because we were at one point talking about Kwiato coming back to help us position into the final climb because UAE weren't giving the break any time and then he wins the stage so it always happens on the day you least expect it and it's super nice because I've spent basically the whole time with him preparing for this race in Tenerife, Suisse and now here so I know how hard he's been working and how much this will mean to him. It's really nice to see."

"I think it's actually easier now that I can ride in the front group because you ride so fats, the steep bits don't feel quite so bad. When you ride slow they feel worse. I think I did quite a good ride myself."

Its a 17k climb and he [Pogačar] just rode the end like it was a bunch sprint. I was probably doing 700 or something, so God knows what he [Pogačar]was doing."

A look back at the eventually race-winning move from Kwiatkowski.

👋 @kwiato 🇵🇱 is going solo at 11km from 🏁👋 @kwiato 🇵🇱 s'en va seul à 11km de 🏁#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/skiwzxo2Uf July 14, 2023

Today's stage was just the first of a trio of mountain stages that conclude the second week at the 2023 Tour de France. Next up is a 151.8km stage that is up and down all the way to the line in Morzine Les Portes du Soleil. There are three categorised climbs in the opening 52km of racing, two of which are category 1, before another 50km from the finish. 

The day's racing will be decided, however, on the Col de Joux Plane and its descent. The Joux Plane is 11.6km at 8.5% and could see more GC action than today with four climbs already in the legs. If anyone crests it solo, they will have to hold off the chasers on a 12km descent to the line which is fast and technical but does have new safety measures as implemented by ASO in agreement with the CPA. 

Kwiatkowski spent a long period of his career working as a domestique in respective Team Sky and Ineos trains for Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome, after an early career period that saw him win the World Championships. At 33, he's been able to maintain his form and attack breakaways in the 2023 Tour and achieve an incredible victory atop the Grand Colombier. Chapeau Michał. He now has two Tour de France stage wins on his decorated palmares that includes a duo of wins at both Strade Bianche and Amstel Gold Race and a monument victory at Milan-Sanremo.

NEVER. GIVE. UP.Vive la France! #TdF2023 @LeTour @INEOSGrenadiers pic.twitter.com/Wdy5frCO7h July 14, 2023

Make sure to read Stephen Farrand's great race report from stage 13 which includes a gallery from the day's action and also to look out for all the biggest news coming out of the race from our team on the ground. 

Tour de France: Kwiatkowski wins stage 13 on Grand Colombier as Pogacar closes in on yellow

That wraps things up for Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 13 of the Tour de France won by Ineos' Michał Kwiatkowski. Check back tomorrow for live coverage of the 14th stage as Pogačar and Vingegaard go to battle again. 

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Tour de France LIVE: Tadej Pogacar attacks Jonas Vingegaard as Michal Kwiatkowski wins stage 13

The fight for the yellow jersey took another twist as tadej pogacar attacked jonas vingegaard on the grand colombier, article bookmarked.

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Former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski soloed to the top of the Grand Colombier mountain on the Tour de France and Tadej Pogacar cut a little more time off Jonas Vingegaard’s lead in the fight for the yellow jersey on Friday.

Kwiatkowski, a seasoned veteran with the Ineos Grenadiers team, was part of an early breakaway and went solo about 11 kilometers from the daunting mountaintop finish.

Vingegaard and Pogacar watched each other closely. Well shepherded by his UAE Team Emirates teammates, Pogacar did not attack before the last 500 meters of the 17.4-kilometer-long ascent, yet managed to gain some precious time.

Pogacar crossed the line in third position behind Kwiatkowski and Maxim van Gils, four seconds ahead of Vingegaard. He was awarded a time bonus of four seconds for his third-place finish to cut Vingegaard’s overall lead to just nine seconds ahead of two big mountain stages scheduled in the Alps over the weekend before Monday’s second rest day.

Follow all the latest from today’s stage 13 below.

The yellow jersey speaks after stage 13

Jonas Vingegaard: “My goal today was to keep the yellow jersey, I still have it so I’m happy. I know Pogacar is much more explosive than me. I don’t think the followers always understand our tactics but as long as we get it, it’s OK.”

Tour de France standings after stage 13

A good day for Tom Pidcock, who clung on to finish fifth and gain significant time against some of his rivals in the top 10 of the general classification. He’s eighth overall going into two tough days in the Alps.

If you click on the ‘stopwatch’ on the infographic above, you’ll be able to see all the latest standings.

Here’s how everything is shaping up after stage 13:

Michal Kwiatkowski speaks

Kwiatkowski is asked, what was your plan today? “We just didn’t want to miss the big breakaway. You never know who will enter that breakaway. Then I found probably the best legs I ever had in my life. I didn’t believe that was possible, but here I am!”

Tour de France result – Michal Kwiatkowski wins stage 13

The moment Kwiatkowski sealed victory on stage 13:

Tour de France LIVE – Pogacar outsprints Vingegaard to the line

Tadej Pogacar storms up the final few hundred metres from Vingegaard who can’t quite keep in touch, and Pogacar takes perhaps four seconds over his rival on the line – plus a four-second time bonus for finishing third on the stage. That 17-second gap in the GC could be down to less than 10 tonight once that’s all confirmed.

Michal Kwiatkowski wins stage 13!

Kwiatkowski may not have planned to get in to the breakaway today but he’ll be very glad he did. The super domestique is going to clinch the second Tour de France stage of his career!

And Pogacar attacks!!!

Tour de France LIVE – Adam Yates attacks!

1km to go: Adam Yates has attacked! That was unexpected. Sepp Kuss follows him and so do Pogacar, Vingegaard and Jai Hindley. Tom Pidcock holds on too. Meanwhile up the road, Kwiatkowski is nearly home and dry...

Tour de France LIVE – Pogacar and Vingegaard locked in stalemate

2km to go: Kwiatkowski is closing in on the summit finish. Is Pogacar loading up for an attack or is the yellow jersey fight heading for a truce today?

Tour de France LIVE – Kwiatkowski closing in on stage 13 win

4km to go: Michal Kwiatkowski has got over the worst of the steep gradients and this surely is his stage now! He leads the chase trio by one minute and the peloton by two minutes.

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Tour de France 2022: Mads Pedersen wins stage 13 in Saint-Étienne – as it happened

The 26-year-old Dane beat Britain’s Fred Wright into second to win his first Grand Tour stage, while his compatriot Jonas Vingegaard remains in yellow

• Read our stage 13 report from Saint-Etienne
• 15 Jul 2022 Top 10 on General Classification after stage 13
• 15 Jul 2022 Mads Pedersen wins stage 13!!!
• 15 Jul 2022 Caleb Ewan crashes!
• 15 Jul 2022 Seven riders clear in the breakaway
• 15 Jul 2022 Warren Barguil withdraws after positive Covid test
• 15 Jul 2022 Top 10 on GC after stage 12
• 15 Jul 2022 Stage 13: Le Bourg D'Oisans to Saint Etienne (192.6km)

Fred Wright: In his post-race interview, the 23-year-old Briton said that he knew if he was going to beat Mads Pedersen he would have to attack him on the stiff climb some kilometres before the finish. “I just didn’t have the legs, to be honest,” he says.

💪 The battle of the breakaway came down to these 3 💪 La bataille de l'échappée a mis en lumière ses 3 coureurs ! #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/6aseAbPl4Q — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 15, 2022

Stage 13 report: On a great day for Danes, Mads Pedersen broke his Tour de France stage duck, while his compatriot Jonas Vingegaard remains in the overall leader’s yellow jersey.

Top 10 on General Classification after stage 13

• 1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) 50hrs 47mins 34secs
• 2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 22secs
• 3. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +2mins 26secs
• 4. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM) +2mins 35secs
• 5. Adam Yates (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +3mins 44secs
• 6. Nairo Quintana (Col/Arkea Samsic) +3mins 58secs
• 7. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +4mins 07secs
• 8. Tom Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +7mins 39secs
• 9. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +9mins 32secs
• 10. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus/Bora-Hansgrohe) +10mins 06secs

Mads Pedersen speaks: “It’s incredible to finally take a [Grand Tour stage] win,” he says, his voice cracking with emotion. “I definitely missed out on the opportunities in the first week and in the last two weeks of this race there’s not a lot of chances for a guy like me. So to get the chance today and take the reward, it’s really nice. Not just for me but for the whole team. We came here to ride only for stages and now we have one so it’s such a relief.”

The peloton rolls over the finish line. They’re nearly six minutes behind the winner, Mads Pedersen. Wout van Aert is first man over the line to snaffle a few more points towards the green jersey.

Pedersen wins pulling a cart. Not literally, of course ... but neither Wright nor Houle were able to offer anything in the way of resistance when the 26-year-old kicked for the finish line to win his first stage in the Tour de France .

Mads Pedersen wins stage 13!!!

The Dane attacks with 150 metres to go, wins easily and deserves the stage win after all his good work earlier in the stage. Pedersen wins the stage for Trek-Segafredo. Wright was second and Houle was third.

500m to go: Cat and mouse. Cat and mouse. Cat and mouse.

1km to go: Houle continues to lead with Pedersen on his wheel and Wright directly behind him.

2km to go: The road is narrow with barriers either side. Houle is on the front, wary of attacks and looking over his left shoulder.

3km to go: Fred Wright attacks after a tight left-hand turn but is unable to escape Pedersen and Houle.

4km to go: Fred Wright takes his turn at the front of a leading trio who are working very well together. If this goes to a sprint finish, Mads Pedersen will be favourite.,

7km to go: The leading trio are pedalling downhill towards a finishing stretch boasting numerous roundabouts that could conceivably cause problems for any rider who hasn’t done his homework.

9km to go: Houle attacks Pedersen and Wright as the road kicks up steeply but is unable to get away from them. If this lead trio start playing cat-and-mouse in the closing kilometres, Kung, Ganna and Jorgenson, who are 22 seconds behind them, might be able to catch up with them.

10km to go: Pedersen, Wright and Houle are working together but haven’t quite managed to shake off Kung, Jorgenson and Ganna, who are 18 seconds behind as the road widens and kicks upwards

10km to go: Mads Pedersen attacks off the front of the breakaway but Fred Wright and Hugo Houle catch him. They put a gap of 11 seconds between themselves and Ganna, Jorgenson and Kung

12km to go: Bikeexchange-Jayco have given up the chase at the front of the peloton, having realised that no other teams were interested in helping them. Our stage winner will come from the breakaway.

14km to go: Your six leaders: Stefan Kung (Groupama–FDJ), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Hugo Houle (Israel–Premier Tech) and Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) – a Swiss, an American, an Italian, a Dane, a Canadian and a Brit. The gap is 2min 18sec.

19km to go: Fred Wright and Matteo Jorgensen are the two best climbers in the breakaway, while Pedersen is probably the best sprinter. He did, however, fire a lot of bullets early in the stage as he launched one attack after another and may pay the price later.

21km to go: The seven-man breakaway has been reduced to six. Bearded Trek-Segafredo rider Quinn Simmons seems to have evaporated. He was doing a massive shift at the front, presumably in the service of his teammate Mads Pedersen.

23km to go: The gap remains at 2min 25sec but BikeExchange-Jayco continue to force a blistering pace at the front of the bunch, knowing there’s a stiff, if uncategorised climb for the breakaway to negotiate ahead of the finish.

29km to go: Jack Bauer, Amund Groendahl Jansen and Michael Matthews continue on their downhill chase of the race leaders. The gap is 2min 32sec. Behind the yellow jersey group is the polka dot jersey group, featuring Simon Geschke and Rigoberto Uran, among others. They’re four minutes off the pace. The stragglers including Fabio Jakobsen and Peter Sagan are further back, while Caleb Ewan is way off the pace and being nursed home by his team-mate Tim Wellens.

😱 What a save! 😱 De justesse ! #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/Mo5Ok1PQWj — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 15, 2022

33km to go: Having crested the top of the final climb, Jack Bauer leads the bunch downhill. Behind him, his teammate Amund Groendahl Jansen has a bad wobble as his back wheel slips out from under him but does well to stay upright.

37km to go: The gap is reduced to 2min 37sec and the peloton is strung out like Wednesday’s washing on the climb. Two riders from Team BikeExchange–Jayco are making a ferocious pace at the front of the bunch with Michael Matthews on third wheel. They haven’t given up hope of putting the Aussie in position to win the stage.

44km to go: The seven-man breakaway power their way up the Cote de Saint-Romain-en-Gal with the gap back to the peloton getting bigger and bigger. It’s now 3min 11sec and looking increasingly likely the winner of today’s stage will come from the breakaway.

Who’s in it? A reminder: Stefan Kung (Groupama–FDJ), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), Mads Pedersen and Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), Hugo Houle (Israel–Premier Tech) and Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious).

45km to go: At the front of the bunch with the wind blowing hard, race leader Jonas Vingegaard and his rival Geraint Thomas appear to reach a mutual agreement to slow things down. With Caleb Ewan out the back and Fabio Jakobsen struggling badly today, the sprinters’ might not get to contest this stage.

48km to go: The riders of Alpecin-Deceuninck continue to make the pace at the front of the group, in a state of affairs that is likely to displease their counterparts from Lotto-Soudal, who would have hoped the peloton might slow down to benefit Caleb Ewan. There is a lot of needle between the two teams and there’s every chance Alpecin-Deceuninck are making a blistering pace for no reason other than mischievous devilment. The gap between the stage leaders and the bunch is 2min 25sec.

49km to go: Our seven-man breakaway is well on its way up the final climb of the day. The peloton hits the bottom of it and the injured Caleb Ewan is immediately dropped. The gap is 2min 06sec.

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2022 TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 13 RESULTS

Trek Segafredo’s Mads Pedersen won stage 13 of the 2022 Tour de France. The 26-year-old former world champion attacked from the breakaway with 7 miles to go taking Bahrain Fred Wright and Israel Premier Tech’s Hugo Houle with him. The Peloton remained content to let them go after some unsuccessful chase attempts from the sprinter’s teams, Pedersen’s breakaway pulled out to 4 minutes ahead of the race. The trio began attacked each other into the finale where Pedersen broke into a sprint with 300 meters to go to win the stage. Wright finished second with Houle in third.

“It’s incredible to finally take a win, I knew my shape was really good. I definitely missed out on the opportunities in the first two weeks.” Pedersen said after the win.

“We came here with riders to target stages, so now thats done its a relief.

“I thought it was a mistake to be in the break early but it paid off.

“With 2-3kms to go on the final climb I knew I didn’t want to be at the finish with six guys so I attacked.”

Jonas Vingegaard held onto his lead in the overall competition, Tadej Pogacar is 2:22 behind in second with Geraint Thomas in third at 2:26 back.

Saturday’s stage 14 is a demanding 119 mile ride from Saint Ettiene to Mende.

TOUR DE FRANCE 2022 NEWS

Overall standings, 2022 tdf stage 13 results, 2022 tdf stage 13 gc standings, 2022 tdf stage 13 sprint points, 2022 tdf stage 13 kom points, 2022 tdf stage 13 young rider.

Photos: Sprint Cycling Agency

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY – A VERY UNLIKELY TOUR DE FRANCE CANDIDATE

2022 TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 13 RECAP AND PHOTO GALLERY

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THROWBACK THURSDAY, 2008: MEMORIES OF TEAM LANCE – BEFORE THE FALL

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Results and Highlights From the 2023 Tour de France

Stage-by-stage updates, results, and highlights from this year’s race.

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Read below for stage-by-stage updates, results, and highlights from each stage of the 2023 Tour de France

Stage Winner : Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe)

Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) was a surprise winner of Stage 21 of the 2023 Tour de France. Meeus won a sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées over the Tour’s top sprinters, Jasper Philipsen, Dylan Groenewegen, and Mads Pedersen.

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) enjoyed some champagne on the ride in and was officially crowned winner of the Tour de France for a second year, winning by 7 minutes, 29 seconds over second place Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)—by the largest margin of victory since 2014.

Final General Classification Standings

• Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma): 82:05:42
• Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): -7:29
• Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates): -10:56
• Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla): -12:23
• Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers): -13:17

Stage Winner : Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won Stage 20 of the 2023 Tour de France. Pogačar was able to outsprint Jonas Vingegaard and a few other strong riders at the on the flat drag at the top of the Col du Platzerwasel. The win was Pogačar’s second stage win of the this Tour and his 11th career Tour stage win. Vingegaard was third to Pogačar (Stage 17 winner Felix Gall was second), losing just a few bonus seconds, and maintaining his lead in the yellow jersey competition heading into the mostly ceremonial final Stage 21.

The Winner of the Day

He won’t win the yellow jersey in this year’s Tour de France, but Tadej Pogačar was able to go out with a bang on Saturday. Pogačar won a sprint to the finish on a mountain stage—something he’s done many times in the Tour de France. But this win comes only a few days after Pogačar cracked on Stage 17 and effectively lost the GC to Vingegaard. Pogačar never lost faith, securing his 11th TdF stage win and his fourth white jersey of his still very young career.

The Other Winner of the Day

Of course, we be remiss not to mention Jonas Vingegaard, who did exactly what he needed to do on the penultimate stage to win the 2023 Tour de France—barring a Sunday disaster. Stage 20, in fact, mirrored a lot of what Vingegaard was able to do during the middle portion of the Tour, prior to his big gains on the Stage 16 TT and the Stage 17 mountain stage. He hung right with Pogačar and never let his top rival’s advantage on a given stage swell too much. Vingegaard, of course, is a worthy champion that will enjoy some champagne on the Champs-Élysées.

And One More Winner of the Day

Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Lidl) earned maximum points on the first four categorized climbs of the stage, and with it, claimed the King of the Mountains classification at the 2023 Tour de France (as long as he crosses the finish on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday). Ciccone seized the polka dot jersey on Stage 15 and rode brilliantly to pick up points where he could throughout the Tour’s final week. Ciccone becomes the first rider to win the KOM and not win the GC in the same Tour since Romain Bardet in 2019. Sometimes it’s more fun when we spread the wealth.

Best Moment of the Day

It wasn’t a big surprise to see Thibaut Pinot get in the breakaway on the last mountain stage of his storied Tour de France career. And I guess it’s not much of a big surprise that Pinot launched a solo attack with over 30K to go in the stage. The three-time TdF stage winner put on a show for the home fans in France on Stage 20, and what a sight it was to see his supporters on his solo ride up the Petit Ballon. The dream wasn’t to be though, as the yellow jersey group caught Pinot up the Col du Platzerwasel. Merci, Thibaut. Merci.

Stage Winner : Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious)

It doesn’t get any closer than that! Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) took a sprint finish to win Stage 19 of the 2023 Tour de France. Mohorič got in a breakaway that included many of the top sprinters and classics riders. That breakaway included the likes of Jasper Philipsen and Mads Pedersen, so Mohorič knew he had to make a move early and that’s exactly what he did, breaking free, along with Stage 18 winner Kasper Asgreen and Ben O’Connor, of that breakaway with 30K to go in the stage.

Despite a good effort by the chasers—including Philpsen, his Alpecin teammate Mathieu van der Poel, and Pederson—to try and bring back the three attackers, they ultimately couldn’t gain ground and seemed to lack full cooperation. But the pure strength of Mohorič, Asgreen, and O’Connor showed through. Down the final stretch, O’Connor, knowing his speed couldn’t match that of Mohorič or Asgreen, made his move, but that was quickly answered by the pair and it was a drag race between Mohorič and Asgreen, who gapped O’Connor and made their dash for the line. It was a photo finish, but Mohorič narrowly edged out Asgreen for the stage win.

Stage Winner : Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step)

Kasper Asgreen won Stage 18 of the Tour de France in dramatic fashion. Asgreen got in the original breakaway of the day at kilometer zero. On a stage that seemed destined for a sprint finish out of the peloton, Asgreen and the others in the break managed to fend off the hungry peloton. Asgreen outsprinted Pascal Eenkhoorn (Lotto-Dstny) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) for the win at line.

The Biggest Winner of the Day

It’s no secret that it’s been a rough Tour de France for the Soudal Quick-Step team. The team’s top sprinter, Fabio Jakobsen, withdrew from the race after Stage 12. The squad’s top stage hunting threat, Julian Alaphilippe, has struggled to be a factor in any stage. But Asgreen got Soudal Quick-Step off the schneid Thursday, winning in the most unlikely of ways. Asgreen got himself in the early break and held out just long enough to claim the Stage 18 victory—the first grand tour stage win of his career.

The Biggest Loss of the Day

This goes to anyone from the peloton that was hoping to get the stage win today. The flat stage was tailor-made for the pure sprinters, but the peloton struggled to pull back the four-man breakaway. It seemed in the last 10K that a catch was inevitable, but the break stayed strong and held out just long enough. Alpecin-Deceuninck, which has already racked up four stage wins this Tour, is the team that loses the most on the day. Their top sprinter Jasper Philipsen—responsible for those four wins—was fourth on the stage and the top finisher from the peloton. It would have been his stage to win—if the peloton caught the break, that is.

Stage Winner: Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën)

Felix Gall won Stage 17 of the Tour de France, a stage that ended up being the craziest of the 2023 Tour so far. Gall made his move from the breakaway and rode away from a talented group of riders to claim the first grand tour stage win of his career.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of fireworks behind Gall. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) cracked on the stage losing well over five minutes to Jonas Vingegaard in the yellow jersey. Vingeagaard placed fourth on the stage and gained a significant amount of time that will likely carry him to Paris in the maillot jaune.

We’ll get to the stage winner shortly, but first we must acknowledge that Vingegaard won the 2023 Tour de France on Wednesday. First, Pogačar massively cracked on the Col de la Loze, then Vingagaard went on the offensive to deliver the dagger. Vingegaard finished fourth on the stage, 1:52 back of the stage winner Gall, but more importantly, he gained 5:45 on the man that was by his side for the first 15 stages of the Tour, Pogačar. With just four stages remaining, Vingegaard now leads by a whopping 7:35 over Pogačar. Assuming he stays upright, Vingegaard will win his second straight Tour de France on Sunday.

The Other Biggest Winner of the Day

Felix Gall has been one of the Tour’s revelations, and on Wednesday he confirmed that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with for the future in the WorldTour. The 25-year-old, who entered the day in 10th place in the GC, conquered the Col de la Loze and rode to the win on the stage that many have called “the hardest of the Tour.” Gall emerged on the radar after he took the polka dot jersey after Stage 5 of this year’s Tour. But now he earned his signature moment, winning on an absolutely brutal day in France. Gall moves up the eighth in the GC, but more importantly, he’s etched his name into TdF history forever.

After losing over a minute and a half to the yellow jersey on Tuesday, Pogačar effectively lost the 2023 Tour de France on Wednesday. Pogačar didn’t ride a bad individual time trial on Tuesday’s Stage 16, despite losing 1:38 to Vingegaard. But on Wednesday’s Stage 17, Pogačar had the worst day we’ve ever seen the 24-year-old have at the Tour de France. “I’m gone. I’m dead,” Pogačar said to his team over the radio during the stage after he cracked and lost over five minutes to Vingegaard ending what was a terrific GC battle through the first 16 stages of the Tour.

Other Notable Gains from a Wild Stage

Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla) made the day’s biggest jump within the top 10 of the GC. While he was second on the stage for the second time this Tour (though this time it was to someone other than his twin brother), Yates moved from eighth to fifth. He’s 12:19 behind the yellow jersey, but just 18 seconds behind Carlos Rodriguez for fourth place in the GC. Simon’s twin brother Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), meanwhile, was able to further solidify his spot on the podium. Adam Yates is in third place with a 1:16 advantage on Rodriguez, who lost time today.

Stage Winner : Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) roared to the Stage 16 win in the 2023 Tour de France’s lone individual time trial. Vingegaard put down an incredible TT over 22.4km and he won the stage by 1:38 over second place Tadej Pogačar, who also happens to be his biggest rival in the GC battle. Vingegaard earned his Jumbo-Visma team its first stage win of the Tour, and more importantly, he made the most significant time gains of the Tour so far.

Jonas Vingegaard is the clear winner of the stage and quite likely the entire 2023 Tour de France after Tuesday. Vingegaard, the defending Tour champion, put down the individual time trial of his life on Tuesday—a day after the rest day—providing further evidence of the Magic of the Yellow Jersey. Vingegaard’s hold on the yellow jersey was just 10 seconds entering Stage 16, but it ballooned all the way to 1:48 after the time trial—a margin that will most likely prove decisive in the battle for the maillot jaune. After a lot of back and forth between Vingegaard and Pogačar in the mountains during the first 15 stages, Vingegaard dealt Pogačar the first major blow of this Tour.

Tadej Pogačar had the second best time of the day on Stage 16—a minute and 13 seconds ahead of Wout Van Aert!—but he may have lost the 2023 Tour de France Tuesday. Very little has separated Vingegaard and Pogačar during the first two weeks of the Tour, but Vingegaard tacking 1:38 in addition to his 10-second advantage on the individual time trial may prove to be decisive in the GC battle. It’s, of course, never over until it’s over. Pogačar will have two significant mountain stages before the Tour reaches Paris on Sunday, so the chances are there. But psychologically, it will be tough for Pogačar to regroup after Tuesday’s time trial.

While it’s clear that Jumbo-Visma’s energy at the 2023 Tour de France has been focused on helping Vingegaard win the yellow jersey—something they’ve been very successful at!—it was still surprising to see the Dutch superteam without a stage win through the first two weeks of the Tour. That changed on Tuesday, thanks to the maillot jaune himself. Vingegaard rode an unbelievable TT to Stage 16 to claim the stage win by 1:38. Surely, the GC gains are the most important, but Jumbo-Visma won’t be too upset to finally snag a TdF stage win in 2023.

Stage Winner : Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious)

Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) won Stage 15 of the 2023 Tour de France, capturing the win from the breakaway and beating a talented group to claim the first TdF stage victory of his career.

Poels spent a lot of time in the breakaway on Sunday, but his strength showed throughout the entire day. He stayed patient in the break and joined an attacking group with around 35K to go in the stage. That quartet included Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates). In the early parts of the final climb of the day—Mont Blanc—Poels made his move on Van Aert and extended his lead from there.

The Biggest Loser of the Day

Normally we call this section”The Biggest Loss of the Day” because it sounds nicer. But we’ll throw that out of the window for this one. The biggest loser of the day on Sunday was the fan that interfered with the peloton early in Stage 15, causing a massive crash.

It’s got to be the fans! Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) battled up the Mont Blanc and finished together at the finish of Stage 15. Vingegaard’s yellow jersey advantage remains at 10 seconds as we enter the rest day on Monday before the final week of the Tour de France. The margins couldn’t be closer, and who doesn’t love a tremendously close GC battle in the Tour de France? Fans will enjoy an action-packed—and surely attack-filled—final week of this Tour.

Stage Winner : Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers)

Spain’s Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) won Stage 14 of the 2023 Tour de France during a wild day in the GC. Rodriguez was dropped on the final climb up the Joux Plane, but he was able to return on the ensuing descent, and gap the two GC leaders and ride to the stage win—the second in as many days for INEOS—and improve his own GC positioning.

We expected to see GC fireworks on Stage 14 and we got exactly that. But at the end of the stage, there ultimately wasn’t a ton of change at least as far as the top two in the Tour were concerned. So therefore, the biggest winner of the day is Carlos Rodriguez and his INEOS Grenadiers team. Rodriguez capitalized on Pogačar and Vingegaard focusing on the overall GC situation. He seized his opportunity on the descent in the run-in to the finish and claimed victory on the day and moved into the podium, now sitting in third place overall in the GC, 4:43 back of the yellow jersey.

As we watched the absolute most thrilling stage of the 2023 Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar had Jonas Vingegaard on the ropes and was ready to launch an attack as they approached the top of the Col de Joux Plane. But that plan was foiled. Pogačar attacked, but was forced to stop his acceleration when the motorbikes got in the way. Eventually, Vingegaard was the one to attack and gain the time bonuses on offer at the top of the climb. You can blame the fans. You can blame the motorbikes. But maybe your blame should go to the race organizers, who should have had barrier set up to remove the chance of any interference with the battling riders.

The Other Biggest Loss of the Day

With 146K to go in Stage 14, a massive crash involved a majority of the peloton, leading to the abandonment of five riders. The race was also neutralized—a good decision by the race officials given that there wasn’t even a breakaway formed at the time of the crash. After losing GC hope Richard Carapaz, EF Education EasyPost’s Esteban Chaves and James Shaw were caught up in the crash and forced to abandon the Tour. Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Antonio Pedrero (Movistar) and Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich) also abandoned.

And How About One More Winner of the Day

Despite the motorbikes/fans/race organizers spoiling what could have been a perfect day for Pogačar, the Solvenian’s ability to withstand the torrid pace set all day long by the Jumbo-Visma squad is a big win. Ultimately, Pogačar lost one second to Vingegaard and now trails by 10 seconds in the GC standings, but he’s shown that he may hold a slight advantage in form over Vingegaard. It’s going to be a wild last week of racing.

Stage Winner

Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers) won Stage 13 of the 2023 Tour de France, The 33-year-old won the stage atop the “Beyond Category” Grand Colombier after spending all day in the breakaway and then attacking what was left of it on the lower slopes of the final climb. It was clear throughout most of the 137.8km ride from Châtillon-Sur-Chalaronne to the summit of the Grand Colombier that UAE Team Emirates wanted to set-up Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar for the win. But Kwiatokoski, a super-domestique with an impressive resume of his own, proved too strong to catch, holding-off Belgium’s Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Soudal) and then Pogačar to take the second Tour de France stage victory of his career.

Biggest Winner of the Day

While they didn’t win the stage, UAE Team Emirates has to be feeling good about its chances of winning its third Tour de France in four years. The team rode an impressive race from start to finish, lined-up at the front of the peloton throughout much of the day and setting a ferocious pace on the final climb to whittle down the yellow jersey group. But that was just an amuse bouche, as Great Britain’s Adam Yates attacked the group about 2 kilometers from the summit, drawing out Vingegaard’s teammate Sepp Kuss, and then Vingegaard and Pogačar themselves. Pogačar saved his own attack for the final ramp to the finish line, and while Vingegaard was able to follow at first he soon succumbed to the Slovenian’s acceleration. Jumbo-Visma clearly thinks the Alps will prove to be the Tour’s most important battlegrounds, but UAE is confident, strong, and looks to have all the firepower they need to win the Tour.

Gutsiest Ride of the Day

Kwiatkowski seems to have been given a free role at INEOS, chasing breakaways despite the fact that the team has two riders, Spain’s Carlos Rodríguez and Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock, in the top-10 overall. The 33-year-old rewarded the team’s faith today, ensuring that no matter what happens with its young GC riders, the team won’t go home from the Tour empty-handed.

Unsung Hero/Head-Scratcher

If you watched earlier seasons of the Movistar documentary “The Least Expected Day” on Netflix, then Spain’s Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) should be a familiar name to you. (And if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?) The mercurial rider is immensely talented, but he often gave his directors and teammates headaches by making some bone-headed decisions from time to time. After transferring to UAE Team Emirates after the 2021 season, the 29-year-old is now one of Pogačar’s most important domestiques, which he showed with his pace-setting midway up the Grand Colombier. But just for good measure, he also showed why Movistar found him so frustrating: once he pulled off from the yellow jersey group, he caught back on to the back of it, which meant he must have had a little left in the tank that he could have given while he was on the front. His directors will certainly discuss this with him before tomorrow’s stage.

What Were They Thinking?

Intermediate sprints are usually designed for, um, sprinters. But today’s came in the town of Hauteville-Lompnes, midway up a long, gradual climb. We get that these are business decisions (towns pay lots of money to host the Tour’s intermediate sprints), but we can’t help but wonder what the Tour organizers were thinking today. Our best guess is that there were few bidders to host the sprint, leaving ASO with no other choice but to put it on a plateau.

Biggest Loser of the Day

Today was Bastille Day and the French were out in force on the Grand Colombier–so much so that the ascent was closed to anyone hoping to climb it early in the morning. But they had little to cheer for thanks to a lackluster showing from the Tour’s French riders. Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) did his best, attacking on the lower slopes of the Grand Colombier only to be caught by Kwiatkoski and others a little while later.To make matters worse, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Romain Bardet (DSM-firmenich) were both dropped from the yellow jersey group thanks to the pace set by UAE Team Emirates, leaving David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) as the home nation’s best chance for a high finish in Paris (although that’s a bit of stretch given the fact that he’s ninth overall and almost 7 minutes beyond Vingegaard).

Best North American

Sepp Kuss rode valiantly on behalf of Vingegaard, covering Yates’ attack near the top of the Colombier and then hanging on to finish twelfth on the stage. He’s now back into the Tour’s top-10 overall, but will likely sacrifice himself for the sake of Vingegaard in the Alps, where his team thinks the race will be decided.

Rookie of the Day

Riding his first Tour de France and only his second grand tour, Rodríguez maintained his position on the Tour’s General Classification, ending the day fourth overall, 4:48 behind Vingegaard. INEOS is happy to let the 22-year-old (and Pidcock) follow wheels in the yellow jersey group, giving them the space and the freedom to ride their best Tours possible without any pressure from the team.

There’s still a lot of race left, but Rodríguez looks to be a true podium contender–if he can somehow overcome the nearly two minutes that separate him from Australia’s Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe), who currently sits third overall.

Another Two Bite the Dust

Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan (Lotto Destny) was dropped about 55km from the end of the stage and abandoned the Tour soon after. Ewan barely survived the time cut on Stage 13 and was seen clutching his abdomen after getting dropped. Once thought to be a rider who would dominate Tour field sprints for years, Ewan now hasn’t won a stage at the Tour since 2020. INEOS also lost one its domestiques: Great Britain’s Ben Turner. It’s a good thing Kwiatkowski won a stage today, because without Turner, the team will need him to stay back and support Rodríguez and Pidcock in the Alps.

Stage Winner : Ion Izagirre (Cofidis)

Make it two stage wins for the Cofidis team in the 2023 Tour de France. That’s thanks to a brilliant Stage 12 ride by Ion Izagirre. With 30K to go on the final climb of the day, Izagirre broke free of the breakaway that included the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, riding to the day’s stage win. For Izagirre, it’s his second career stage win—he won

Let’s hear it again for Cofidis! The French team ended a 15-year Tour de France stage win drought on Stage 2 when Victor Lafay rode to the victory. But they weren’t finished there. Izagirre made his move on the Mathieu van der Poel and the rest of the breakaway at the perfect time and rode clear to the win. Cofidis also had Gui Martin positioned nicely in that select breakaway as a backup plan. It was terrific execution on the day during what has been a dream Tour for Cofidis.

Thibaut Pinot was surely going for a stage win on Thursday; it was not to be. But the 33-year-old from Groupama-FDJ, riding in his final Tour de France, made the move into the top ten of GC. He shot up from 15th overall, 9:36 behind the yellow jersey to tenth overall, 6:30 down. It’s likely not the last we’ve seen of Pinot’s stage win attempts in this year’s Tour, but regardless, it’s cool to see the veteran in the top ten overall.

The Heartbreak of the Day—and the Whole Tour (So Far)

It’s been a strong couple weeks for American Matteo Jorgensen. But unfortunately for the Movistar rider, he doesn’t have a stage win to show for it. Few riders—if any—have spent more time in the breakaway during the first 12 stages of the Tour, but the big win has been just out of his grasp. No defeat was more heartbreaking than Sunday’s Stage 9 on the Puy de Dôme. On Stage 12, Jorgensen appeared to be the strongest rider in the group chasing Izagirre, but he left it too late. He launched a number of (ultimately futile) attempts to try and bridge the gap, but it wasn’t to be. The good news for the American is that there are plenty of pro-breakaway stages remaining for him to try and claim his well-deserved glory.

Stage Winner : Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Jasper Philipsen won Stage 11 of the 2023 Tour de France, picking up his fourth stage win so far and continuing to assert his dominance in the sprints. It was a wet and technical finish in Moulins on Tuesday, but that didn’t stop Philipsen, who sprinted past Dylan Groenewegen in the closing meters to claim win No. 4 of the Tour.

Philipsen has proven himself to be the king of the sprints in this year’s Tour de France, capturing his fourth stage victory in the first 11 stages. Additionally, he improved upon his lead in the green jersey points competition. He now leads that by a staggering 145 points. What’s perhaps most impressive about his Stage 11 victory was that he did it without the aid of his top Alpecin-Deceuninck comrade Mathieu van der Poel, who was not spotted up front in the run in to the finish. Philipsen has proven that he can win in multiple different ways and he could be well on his way to a second straight Stage 21 victory in Paris.

Another day, another goose egg in the stage win column for Soudal-QuickStep. The QuickStep team was right at the head of the peloton for much of the ride into the finish in Moulins, working for Fabio Jakobsen, but in the final sprint, Jakobsen was a non-factor sitting on the back of the bunch and ultimately finishing 16th on the day. Jakobsen crashed during the tricky Stage 4 finish, and it appears the sprinter hasn’t fully recovered from those injuries.

The Close Call of the Day

Well, that could have been bad. As the pace ramped up with just over 5K to go in the stage, the Jumbo-Visma train was at the front with Soudal Quick-Step’s Julian Alaphilippe sandwiched in between then. The yellow jersey of Jonas Vingegaard made his way along the edge of the road next to Alaphilippe and—perhaps not noticing him—Alaphilippe drifted towards Vingegaard and the pair nearly collided. Thankfully, nothing happened and Alaphilippe gave the maillot jaune an apologetic tap of the back and the run into the finish continued.

Stage Winner : Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)

Pello Bilbao won a sprint out of the breakaway to claim the Stage 10 victory after a thrilling of racing.

Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) takes his first Tour de France stage win at 33-years-old. This is the first win by a Spanish rider in 100 stages. He also slides into the top 5 for the overall standings. Bilbao rode an incredibly smart sprint, shielding himself with Zimmermann and O’Connor as long as possible before throwing the hammer down. Bilbao becomes the 5th first-time stage winner of the tour. In his post-ride interview he dedicated his ride to Gino Mäder, who died recently after suffering a terrible crash in the Tour de Suisse.

Krists Neilands (Israel–Premier Tech) rode a perfectly aggressive race, earned the KOM points on Côte de la Chapelle-Marcousse (Cat 3), and just kept building his lead in front of the two chase groups. With 10 km to go, the team radio told him, “It’s the day of your life, the day of your life, let’s go.” But with less than a kilometer to go, he couldn’t hold off the chasers. He put up an incredible battle and came away with 4th place.

Biggest Villain(s) of the Day

The road and the heat. Man-eating speed bumps, loads of gravel, and chipped pavement all made fast descents even more dangerous than usual. And by the end of the race, temperatures soared to 97-degrees and riders had a hard time staying hydrated. Groups of 4-5 stuck together just to survive.

Newest Race Strategy?

Sometimes race leaders wait until the last mile to make their move. And sometimes they do it with 100 miles to go. Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard went on the attack early in the race to split the peloton. That set the pace for an aggressive day. Still with 48 miles to go there was a 14-man breakaway that took off. The pace throughout the stage was bonkers, making it difficult for such riders as Wout van Aert, who always wants to be the one to set an ambitious pace. Riders started dropping like flies with 30 km to go.

The peloton eventually calmed down and came together, led entirely by Jumbo-Visma.

Cutest Couple

Frenemies and cyclocross stars Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert worked together for a bit to attack out of the peloton with 40 km to go. They broke up after 10 km of riding together as Wout dropped Mathieu to ride on. They proved that when conditions are tough, working with anyone is better than no one.

Stage Winner: Mike Woods (Israel-PremierTech)

Canada’s Mike Woods (Israel-PremierTech) won Stage 9 atop the Hors Categorie (“Beyond Category”) Puy de Dôme, one of the most famous climbs in Tour history. The 36-year-old from Toronto paced himself from the base of the climb, catching four riders on his way to his first Tour de France stage victory.

France’s Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) finished second and Slovenia’s Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) finished third. After an aggressive day of racing from the breakaway, American Neilson Powless held on to finish sixth on the Puy de Dôme, extending his lead in the Tour’s King of the Mountains competition. He’ll wear the polka dot jersey into the first rest day and to start the Tour’s second week

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) clawed back 8 more seconds, and now sits just 17 seconds behind Denmarks’ Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) on the Tour’s General Classification. It seems like an eternity since the two-time Tour winner lost over a minute to Vingegaard at the end of Stage 5, and he’s now regained almost all the time he conceded. More importantly, after gapping the Dane on Stage 6 and Stage 9’s summit finishes, he clearly has a mental edge of his biggest rival to win the Tour.

American Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) attacked the 14-rider breakaway with about 40km to go, heading up the road on his own and slowly extending his lead. Helped by the fact that the four riders chasing him weren’t working well together, it looked for a while as if the 24-year-old from Boise, Idaho was about to take his first Tour de France stage win.

But as the climb steepened, word came that Woods was steadily closing the gap from further down the mountain, and before we knew it, there he was. Jorgenson was clearly running on fumes as first Woods and then France’s Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Slovenia’s Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) caught the American. He ended the day one spot away from the podium, a painful result considering how close he came to winning–and his two fourth-place finishes in last year’s Tour.

Best Mathlete

American Neilson Powless went on the attack again today, joining the breakaway in an attempt to pad his lead in the Tour’s King of the Mountains competition. Well, Powless needs to send a thank you note to his elementary school math teacher (or at least his director sportif): by winning each of categorized climbs in the middle of the stage, Powless ensured that he had enough points to keep the polka dot jersey–no matter what happened on the Puy de Dôme, which awarded 20 points to the rider who was first to the summit. Powless’ sixth-place finish on the stage earned him another six KOM points, extending his lead even more.

Powless now leads Austria’s Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) by 18 points and with only 16 points available between Stages 10 and 11, the American is guaranteed to wear the jersey through Thursday. Look for him to continue his polka dot assault: Gall might be given more freedom to fight for the jersey himself after his captain, Australia’s Ben O’Connor, lost more time at the end of Stage 9, meaning his team might be shifting its goals to fight for stage wins–and the King of Mountains prize.

Unsung Hero

American Sepp Kuss and Belgian Wout van Aert get all the prestige as Vingeggard’s top two domestiques (deservedly so), but let’s take a minute to recognize the pace-setting done by Dutchman Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma). Today he took over after van Aert pulled off and before Kuss took his turn, shedding more riders from the GC group. It’s too bad that Pogačar seems to be profiting from the hard work being done by Vingegaard’s team. Perhaps we won’t see so much of Kelderman, Kuss, van Aert, and co. at the front during the Tour’s second week.

Eeriest Moment

One of the conditions of the agreement that allowed the Tour to revisit the Puy de Dôme was that fans would not be allowed to line the climb’s upper slopes, which meant an eerie almost awkward silence as the riders tackled the final portion of the ascent. In a Tour that’s already seen overzealous fans cause some mayhem, the silence was likely a welcome treat for riders annoyed by fans getting in their faces during the Tour’s most important–and painful–moments.

Worst Luck?

Jorgenson needed a bottle at about 33km to go, but was unable to get one because the cars and motorbikes had been moved out of the gap as his pursuers dangled close behind. On a sweltering day that asked a lot of the riders in terms of hydrating and fueling, those few minutes without a bottle–and without his team car–might have made the difference between winning and losing the stage.

A day after they won Stage 8, today could have been another chance for Lidl-Trek, with Denmark’s Martin Skjelmose and Italy’s Giulio Ciccone contenders to win on the Puy de Dôme. But the team missed the move, a tactical blunder that cost them a chance to take a historic victory. To his credit, Skjelmose tried to bridge up to the move after it escaped, but he was joined by Italy’s Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), who already had Powless up the road and was ordered not to work with the Dane.

And to the idiot gentleman who brought a clothesline to the roadside of the Tour de France: Please leave your laundry at home!

Stage Winner : Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) won a Stage 8 sprint, holding off Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to win his first stage of the 2023 Tour de France. The run-in to the finish saw some punchy climbs, but the top sprinters were all there and Pedersen took the win in the end.

Pedersen claimed his second career Tour de France stage win. It was stage that was designed nicely for his strengths with some climbs near the end and a technical finish. The Lidl-Trek team was perfectly positioned to springboard Pedersen to the finish. Alpecin-Deceuninck had a strong leadout train as well, putting Philipsen in good position to win his fourth stage of the Tour. But Pedersen had the advantage from the start of the sprint and was able to hold off Philipsen in what seemed like an impossibly long final stretch to the line.

Stage 8 saw the withdrawal of Mark Cavendish, one of the all-time great Tour de France riders. Cav suffered a collarbone injury and was forced to abandon , ruining his chance of breaking the all-time TdF stage wins record. It’s an especially hard pill to swallow for Cavendish and cycling fans alike, with the crash coming a day after the Manx Missile nearly captured his record-breaking stage win were it not for a mechanical issue in the closing meters. Although he announced his retirement at the end of the season in May, maybe there’s a chance

Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla) was the lone GC rider to lose time on Saturday, crashing with about 6K to go in the stage—outside of the 3K safe zone where riders don’t lose any time for crashes.. Simon Yates entered the stage in fourth place in the GC, 3:14 off the yellow jersey and now he sits in sixth place, 4:01 back and now behind Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) and his twin brother Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates).

The Run-Through-A-Brick-Wall Moment of the Day

How about the reaction from the Lidl-Trek team car after Pedersen’s epic Stage 8 win? Listen for yourself and get pumped up on this Saturday.

This was a stage that had cycling fans screaming at the top of their lungs at the finish. After a long, sleepy, and mostly flat stage, all the action was crammed into the last 3K. Why all the screaming? Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) came this close to winning the stage and breaking the TdF stage wins record, only to be passed by the seemingly unstoppable Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) with 500 meters to go.

Philipsen was once again positioned perfectly for the win by his leadout ace during this year’s Tour, Mathieu van der Poel, in what he referred to as the team’s “dream Tour” during post race interviews. Cavendish, however, made it very clear that he is more than capable of winning a stage this year, with a second place finish being his best one yet. If Cav keeps getting stronger as he seems to be, there will very likely be more screaming fans tomorrow.

Biggest Winners of the Day

The Alpecin lead out train offered another masterclass in how to win stages in this year’s Tour, with Mathieu van der Poel delivering Jasper Philipsen to another stage win. The other big winner for us during this stage was the one and only Mark Cavendish, who almost made it to the line first before Philipsen overtook him at the last moment. The fact that the Manx Missile’s finish position has come closer and closer to number one with every sprint stage, we think he has the power and form necessary to win number 35 this year. For today, Philipsen keeps the green jersey for another day.

Biggest Surprise of the Day

On a stage that often resembled a recovery ride until the last 10km as the riders gave their legs a bit of a break after two stages in the Pyrenees, the commentary surrounding Wout van Aert and whether he’s on the wrong team was loud and impossible to miss. Christian Vande Velde openly questioned on air what Wout would be able to do if he were on a team he could lead during the Tour instead of having to work for Jonas Vingegaard. With persistent media speculations about tension between Van Aert and Vingegaard on the Jumbo-Visma squad, the riders have routinely denied that anything is amiss, but the questions about whether that’s true have never been this blunt.

Gutsiest—Erm, or Maybe Stupidest—Ride of the Day

With approximately 20K to go, French riders Pierre Latour, the white jersey winner of 2018, and Nans Peters, a 2020 Tour stage winner, took off, working together in an attack that it seemed impossible to hold to the line. This didn’t seem to phase these two, as they spiced up an otherwise sleepy stage, putting up to 40 seconds on the peloton. Eventually Latour went solo in an all out effort, putting the sprinters on notice before blowing up with 3.5K to go.

Strongest American Rider of the Day - Nielsen Powless

Polka Dot Powless kept the King of the Mountains jersey for another day after recapturing it yesterday. The California native has become the de facto team leader for EF Education-EasyPost after Richard Carapaz crashed during Stage 1 and was forced by his injuries to leave the race. Powless went after the KOM competition right out of the gate during this year’s Tour, and so far he’s worn polka dots six out of the seven stages.

Tadej Pogačar won Stage 6 of the 2023 Tour de France, and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) took the yellow leader's jersey during an busy day in the Pyranees. While Vingegaard took over the GC lead, Pogačar made the biggest statement of the day, passing and gapping Vingegaard on the final climb of the day. Pogačar won the stage and narrowed the gap to Vingegaard.

Tadej Pogačar, who made us think that maybe he was playing with us all day. He saved it all for the last 2 km. taking even Jonas Vingegaard by surprise. He took back much of his deficit on the yellow jersey today. He put himself back in the race.

With 2.5K to go on the climb to Cauterets up the Plateau du Cambasque, Tadej Pogačar attacked Vingegaard with a huge surge. Today’s final stretch hints that this whole tour might come down to seconds. Pogačar ended up 24 seconds ahead of Vingegaard on the stage.

Wout van Aert can lead a race forever. The super-domestique did so much work to set the pace for this entire stage. The pacemaking was literally perfect, many times looking like the only one working. With 4.4 km. to go he finally pulled over and left it up to Vingegaard looking like he had given it every ounce of his being.

Strongest American Rider(s) of the Day

Neilson Powless (EF Education–EasyPost) had a very strong day earning the overall KOM on the climbs.

And Sepp Kuss has been wildly consistent through the tour so far. Today, as usual, he dropped every one of his competitors to bring Jonas Vingegaard up the climbs. He’s easily one of the most valuable riders for Vingegaard.

Stage Winner : Jai Hindley (Bora–Hansgrohe)

Jai Hindley won Stage 5 of the 2023 Tour de France, claiming the yellow leader’s jersey along with it. It was an eventful first day in the Pyrenees as the top climbers in the world shined and shook up the GC in a big way. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl–Trek) was second in the stage and Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) came across third on the day. Emanuel Buchmann (Bora–Hansgrohe) was fourth and Jonas Vingegaard was fifth on the stage. Ciccone, Gall, and Buchmann were all 32 seconds behind Hindley and Vingegaard was 34 seconds behind the stage winner.

Jai Hindley put himself in the right breakaway and made all the correct moves on Stage 5 to rocket himself to the stage victory and the yellow jersey. It was an absolutely brilliant day in the saddle for the Australian, who said after the race that he was merely “improvising.” Hindley is no stranger to wearing the leader’s jersey at a Grand Tour; he won the 2022 Giro d’Italia. This may not necessarily be just one quick day in yellow tomorrow for Hindley. More on that in a bit.

When Jonas Vingegaard attacked off the wheels of his teammate Sepp Kuss on the Col de Marie Blanque with 19K to go in the stage, it was our first opportunity of the Tour to see if co-favorite Tadej Pogačar had the legs to match him. He did not. Vingegaard blazed ahead up the climb and maintained that advantage even on the descent of the Col de Marie Blanque. All told, Vingegaard finished 1:04 ahead of Pogačar on the stage, and is 53 seconds up on him in the GC.

Pogačar is in a tough position after Stage 5, now 53 seconds behind the reigning Tour champion Vingegaard. Pogačar, who won the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, has a lot of work to do over the next few weeks to attempt a comeback on Vingegaard. Pogačar suffered a fractured wrist in April and lost some time on the bike while he recovered. Is that lost fitness the difference maker here?

Could it be the 47 seconds that Vingegaard surrendered to Hindley? Hindley is, of course, a former Grand Tour winner and not a rider to be taken lightly. It may have been a bit surprising that the Bora–Hansgrohe rider was allowed to get in the breakaway that eventually launched Hindley to the win. But that was the calculation that the Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates squads made. It’s possible that Thursday’s stage—once again in the Pyranees— is Hindley’s lone day in the yellow jersey. It’s also possible that Hindley is in yellow for much longer than that. Never doubt the power of the maillot jaune.

The Moment of the Day

The official Tour de France YouTube has made some great highlight videos. But they’ve also been great about showing fans the terrific raw—erm, unedited—emotion that the Tour brings out. Take the above video of Hindley after the stage as evidence.

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) claimed his second stage win of the 2023 Tour de France, sprinting to the Stage 4 victory on Tuesday. It was a crash-marred last 5K after a very slow day in the peloton. Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck team once again delivered a great leadout and Philipsen had the legs at the end to hold off a hard-charging Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny). Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) was third across the line to make for the same three men on the podium as Stage 3 (just flip Ewan and Bauhaus).

Alpecin-Deceuninck continued to assert its dominance, claiming the stage win for a second straight day. But Stage 4 was a lot different than Stage 3, despite both days being relatively flat stages. The Stage 4 finish on the motorsport track, Circuit Paul Armagnac created plenty of chaos, which saw three different crashes in the final 2K. But the Alpecin team once again held strong and Mathieu van der Poel emerged at just the right moment to deliver Philipsen to his second win in as many days.

Jasper Philipsen won Stage 3 of the Tour de France, capturing a sprint victory over Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny). Philipsen received a terrific leadout from his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Mathieu van der Poel and was delivered to the finish in great position to use his power to take the stage win.

It was a bit of a controversial finish, as race organizers took a little while after the finish before declaring Philipsen as the stage winner officially. There was some question about whether Philipsen drifted into Wout Van Aert’s line in the closing meters of the finish. Ultimately, there would be no relegation and Philipsen was given the stage victory.

Winner of the Day

It’s Alpecin-Deceuninck. Who is going to be able to beat this team when Mathieu freakin’ van der Poel is providing a picture perfect leadout? Meanwhile, Philipsen’s speed these days seems to be the best in the world. Between Philipsen and MVDP, we likely haven’t seen the last stage win for Alpecin in this Tour.

Biggest Loss of the Day

This goes to Wout Van Aert and Jumbo-Visma for a second straight day . After a miscalculation in the sprint finish on Sunday’s Stage 2, Van Aert missed out on another good opportunity to grab a stage win on Monday’s Stage 3. This sprint, however, was a little different—and maybe he has a complaint for the ASO. Neck and neck with Philipsen in the closing meters, Van Aert looked to be running out of room between Philipsen and the barriers. Van Aert let up—possibly to avoid a crash?—and Philipsen rode to the stage win (though there was a fairly lengthy delay before race officials declared Philipsen the winner). Did Philipsen impede Van Aert? Watch for yourself and you be the judge.

Touching Moment of the Day

This came from the Arkéa–Samsic team car as the lone holdout of the breakaway, Laurent Pichon, rode solo through the streets of Spain. Over the radio the team told Pichon: “I’m so proud of you. You are a warrior. You give us so much great emotion. Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy! I love you very much.”

Pinchon, for his efforts on the day, was given the combativity award—and rightfully so. How can you not get emotional about the Tour de France?

Celebration(s) of the Day

Nothing against Philipsen’s fist pump as he crossed the finish line of Stage 3, but let’s give it up for Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost). The American, once again, spent the majority of the day in the breakaway to gain precious King of the Mountains points to retain his polka dot jersey. He summiting all four climbs first and gave the fans a nice waving of his arms at the top—a rare mid-race celebration that we can all appreciate! Powless claimed the maximum seven KOM points on offer on Stage 3 and extended his lead in the competition as we head into another sprint stage on Tuesday.

Stage Winner : Victor Lafay (Cofidis)

Victor Lafay won Stage 2 of the 2023 Tour de France. The Cofidis rider broke free of the lead group of riders that included many of the race favorites with 1K to go in the Tour’s longest stage (208.9K). It was a surprise victory for Lafay, who managed to hold off a hard-charging Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar in the waning meters to capture his first-career stage win.

Victor Lafay and the whole Cofidis team are easily the biggest winners of the day. It’s been 15 years since the French team has won a stage in the Tour de France, and on Sunday, Lafay came through in thrilling fashion to get Cofidis the win on the day. With Van Aert in the reduced peloton coming to the finish, Lafay knew his only shot of taking the stage would be by launching an early attack. He went with 1K to go, and thanks to a bit of misjudgement on Van Aert’s part and some pure guts on Lafay’s part, he won the sprint and earned the first stage win for Cofidis since Sylvain Chavanel in 2008.

It’s unquestionably Wout Van Aert and the Jumbo-Visma squad for missing a surefire opportunity at a stage win. Jumbo had both the numbers and the speed in the reduced peloton for the bunch sprint at the end. But the tactics just weren’t there for the Dutch superteam. Van Aert made his emotions known just as he crossed the finish line, slamming his handlebars, knowing full well he left it too late to take his tenth career TdF stage win.

Another Big Day for the American

Neilson Powless will keep the polka dot jersey for another day—and it’s been well-earned. The American riding for EF Education-EasyPost got himself in the break and banked key King of the Mountains points. Powless was first over four climbs that offered points and he now holds a four-point lead over Tadej Pogačar in the KOM competition. It looked for a time that Powless might be able to hold out for the stage win—and perhaps a shot at the yellow jersey. But a motivated peloton brought him back on the last major climb of the day.

Carapaz Abandons

After a Stage 1 crash involving Enric Mas (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) forced Mas to abandon the 2023 Tour de France, Carapaz was able to limp to the finish of the opening stage. But unfortunately for the Ecuadorian national champion, he wouldn’t start Sunday’s second stage, suffering a fractured kneecap. It’s never fun to see two of the peloton’s top stars leave the Tour after just one stage.

Stage Winner : Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates)

Adam Yates (UAE team Emirates) claimed Stage 1 of the 2023 Tour de France, winning an unusually difficult opening stage and claiming the race’s first yellow jersey. Adam Yates outlasted his twin brother, Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla), as the two riders broke free after the final climb of the day.

It’s gotta be the Yates family, right? There simply cannot be a better feeling for Adam and Simon’s loved ones than watching the two twin brothers battle it out for not only a stage win in the Tour de France, but also the maillot jaune.

Who Was the Other Biggest Winner of the Day?

We’ve never seen a Grand Départ this tough before—and we’re better for it. An opening stage prologue or short time trial always felt like a bit of a tease. It was always the Tour, but was it really the Tour?

Instead this year, we didn’t have to wait too long for the fireworks. There was a nervousness in the peloton that is normally reserved for later in the race. With the prize of a guaranteed yellow jersey for the stage winner at the end, anything could happen. The punchy climbs of the Basque region of Spain—particularly the last three—provided some terrific Stage 1 excitement.

The downside of an action-packed first stage is the inevitability of a crash and that’s just what we saw on the descent of the Côte de Vivero. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) went down with around 23K to go in the stage. Mas entered the Tour as a top podium threat and was ultimately forced to abandon, while Carapaz managed to get back on his bike and finish the stage, but lost enough time to take him out of podium contention.

Top American of the Day

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) will become the first American to wear the polka dot jersey since Nate Brown in 2017. Powless, who very nearly claimed the yellow jersey at the Tour last year, was first across the top of the second category Côte de Vivero. Powless figures to be a major player in the mountains classification—and Saturday marks a strong start for him.

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Sprint | Lanobre (111 km)

Points at finish, youth day classification, kom sprint (1) col de ceyssat (36 km), kom sprint (3) col de guéry (63.4 km), kom sprint (2) montée de la stèle (85.5 km), kom sprint (3) côte de l'estiade (130.5 km), kom sprint (3) côte d'anglards-de-salers (157 km), kom sprint (2) col de neronne (180.5 km), kom sprint (1) pas de peyrol (191 km), team day classification, race information.

• Date: 11 September 2020
• Start time: 12:05
• Avg. speed winner: 38.07 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 191.5 km
• Points scale: GT.A.Stage
• UCI scale: UCI.WR.GT.A.Stage - TM2022
• Parcours type:
• ProfileScore: 302
• Vert. meters: 4459
• Departure: Châtel-Guyon
• Arrival: Pas de Peyrol (Le Puy Mary)
• Race ranking: 1
• Startlist quality score: 1662
• Won how: 0.1 km solo
• Avg. temperature:

Race profile

• Col de Ceyssat
• Col de Guéry
• Montée de La Stèle
• Côte de l'Estiade
• Côte d'Anglards-de-Salers
• Col de Neronne
• Pas de Peyrol

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Giro d'Italia 2024: Preview, full schedule and how to watch live

The Giro d’Italia 2024 is about to kick off the Grand Tour season in men’s road cycling .

On Saturday 4 May, Venaria Reale will host the opening stage of the 107 th edition of the Corsa Rosa that will see its conclusion three weeks later in Rome on Sunday 26 May.

All eyes will be on the Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar , who aims to become the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 to achieve the Giro-Tour double.

Reigning champion and Olympic time trial gold medallist, Primoz Roglic , will not be defending his crown, as he has got his eyes set on the Tour de France.

The 2024 edition of the Italian Grand Tour features gruelling mountain stages in the Alps, gravel roads in Tuscany and more than 70 kilometres of time trial. The winner will lift the prestigious Trofeo Senza Fine (Endless Trophy) and wear the coveted Maglia Rosa in the Italian capital.

This year's race will cover a total of 3400.8 kilometres , making it the shortest edition in 45 years.

Find everything you need to know about the Giro d’Italia 2024 below, including the riders to look out for and how to watch the event live.

• Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2024: Tadej Pogacar powers to second victory
• Jambaljamts Sainbayar: From braving Ulaanbaatar's freezing roads to making history for Mongolian cycling

Who are the riders to watch at the Giro d’Italia 2024?

Pink jersey (general classification).

There is one overwhelming favourite for the Giro d’Italia 2024, and that is Tadej Pogacar .

Fresh off his second Liège–Bastogne–Liège title in impressive fashion, the two-time Tour de France winner is arriving to Italy in top shape.

Pogacar started his season by conquering the gravel roads of Strade Bianche , riding 81 kilometres solo to claim victory in Siena.

At Volta a Catalunya , the Slovenian swept four out of seven stages, securing the overall victory and sending a clear message to his rivals at the Giro about who the man to beat is.

Geraint Thomas suffered heartbreak at last year’s Giro d’italia, narrowly missing out on the overall victory by just 14 seconds.

The 2018 Tour de France champion was leading the race going into the penultimate stage, only to relinquish the pink jersey to Primoz Roglic after the Slovenian's formidable performance in the individual time trial.

The INEOS Grenadiers leader has some unfinished business with the Corsa Rosa and will try to pose a challenge to Pogacar.

Among the outsiders is Australia's Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R), who finished fourth in the 2021 Tour de France.

This year, the 28-year-old has consistently finished within the top five in week-long stage races. At the Giro d'Italia warm-up race, the Tour of the Alps, he was the runner-up behind the former Maglia Rosa wearer Juan Pedro Lopez , who also will be lining up at the start line in Venaria Reale.

French veteran Romain Bardet recently said that he is at his best level in years and is convinced he can challenge for the podium.

A second place at the Liège–Bastogne–Liège behind Pogacar was a boost of morale for the 33-year-old, who has not been on a Grand Tour podium since 2018, when he finished third at the Tour de France.

Daniel Martínez will lead the BORA - hansgrohe team. The Colombian climber is no longer in the shadow of INEOS stars Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal , following his move to the German team ahead of this season.

In 2021, Martínez was a strong domestique for compatriot Bernal and helped him secure the overall victory. He also achieved his best overall result in a Grand Tour by finishing in the top five that year. With the absence of teammate Roglic, it is up to Martínez to secure a top result.

“The Killer Bees” Team Visma|Lease a Bike made history in 2023, becoming the first team to claim all three Grand Tours in a single year. Although a repetition of the historic achievement looks difficult, the Dutch team have put their faith in 21-year-old prodigy Cian Uijtdebroeks .

The Belgian has been under the wings of reigning Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard at the O Gran Camiño and Tirreno-Adriatico. Now he faces the ultimate test as Grand Tour captain.

Cyclamen jersey (points classification)

This year’s course is more sprinter-friendly than usual, featuring eight expected mass sprint finishes. Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek will aim to defend the maglia ciclamino (mauve jersey for the points classification) that he secured last year.

However, he will face a fierce competition for the mauve jersey as several of the world's top sprinters will travel to Italy.

Soudal Quick-Step will fully support Remco Evenepoel at the Tour de France, giving Tim Merlier the opportunity to pursue success at the Giro.

The Belgian has been one of the fastest sprinters during the first part of the season, winning three stages at the UAE Tour, the Nokere Koerse, and the sprinters’ classic Scheldeprijs.

Another challenge will come from Australian Kaden Groves . In 2023, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider added stage wins at both the Giro and the Vuelta a España, where he also left with the green jersey.

Biniam Girmay will be back on Italian soil, where he outsprinted Mathieu van der Poel in the Giro two years ago to take his first Grand Tour stage victory. The Eritrean looks to be close to his form from 2022.

Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij will finally get his Grand Tour debut. The 22-year-old beat Mads Pedersen twice to claim two stage wins at the Paris-Nice in March and is one of the most promising sprinters in the peloton.

Five-time Vuelta a España stage winner Fabio Jakobsen is set to race his first Giro and can complete the set of Grand Tour wins, having already secured a stage victory at the Tour de France in 2022.

Will Filippo Ganna sprint for stage wins again? The Italian time trial specialist was fighting in the bunch sprints at last year’s Vuelta a España and showed a new side of his talent.

Despite not having shone in the last couple of years, Caleb Ewan and Fernando Gaviria are both multiple Grand Tour stage winners and they have the power to be competitive in the bunch sprints.

Blue jersey (mountains classification)

Unlike in the Tour de France, the winner of the mountains classification in the Giro d’Italia is usually not the same as the winner of the general classification.

Thibaut Pinot , who has since retired, clinched the blue jersey in the previous edition while finishing fifth overall.

However, the breakaway riders often view for the mountains classification.

A potential contender is Simon Geschke of Cofidis. The German rider was close to seal the polka dot jersey at the Tour de France in 2022, but ultimately Jonas Vingegaard ended up with both the yellow and polka dot jersey.

Other names to watch are Britain's Simon Carr , who just won a stage and the mountains classification at the Tour of the Alps, and Dutchman Koen Bouwman , who is aiming for his second blue jersey after claiming it in 2022.

Key stages of the Giro d’Italia 2024

Five stages are singled out by cycling experts as the most decisive for the Giro d'Italia 2024.

The first one arrives already on stage two , which is the earliest summit finish in 35 years. It is a true climbing test, which takes the peloton to Santuario di Oropa (6.2% over 11.8km) and will give an early indication of who will be the main general classification contenders.

A 40.6-kilometre time trial awaits the peloton on stage seven . The course is technical and the uphill finish should shake up the top ten. Some will see it as an oppornunity to gain time, while others will try to limit their losses.

Stage 15 is the queen stage of the 2024 Giro d’Italia. Containing 5,200 metres of elevation gain over 220 kilometres, it is a brutal day in the mountains. Hopefully, snowfall will not affect this blockbuster Alpine stage.

The riders get a rest day following the queen stage, but already on stage 16 , climbing legs will be tested again. It includes the Passo dello Stelvio , the Cima Coppi of this year’s race. At an elevation of 2,757 metres it is the second highest pass in the Alps.

The lack of oxygen at high altitude will make the peloton suffer. With over 100 kilometres remaining from the summit of Stelvio, the favourites who might fall behind still have the chance to catch up before the final ascents to Passo Pinei and Monte Pana.

Stage 20 , the penultimate stage before the procession around the streets of Rome, promises a decisive battle in the mountains for the final general classification. Two gruelling ascents of Monte Grappa - 18.2 kilometres at 8.1% - will determine who earns the right to wear the pink jersey in Rome and hoist the Endless Trophy .

Day-by-day route of the Giro d’Italia 2024

Saturday 4 May, stage 1: Venaria Reale-Torino, medium mountains, 140 km ⭐⭐⭐

Sunday 5 May, stage 2: San Francesco al Campo–Santuario di Oropa (Biella), medium mountains, 161 km ⭐⭐⭐

Monday 6 May, stage 3: Novara-Fossano, hilly, 166 km ⭐⭐

Tuesday 7 May, stage 4: Acqui Terme-Andora, hilly, 190 km ⭐⭐

Wednesday 8 May, stage 5: Genova-Lucca, medium mountains,178 km ⭐⭐⭐

Thursday 9 May, stage 6: Viareggio-Rapolano Terme, medium mountains, 180 km ⭐⭐

Friday 10 May, stage 7: Foligno-Perugia, individual time trial, 40,6 km ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Saturday 11 May, stage 8: Spoleto-Prati di Tivo, high mountains,152 km ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sunday 12 May, stage 9: Avezzano-Napoli, medium mountains, 214 km ⭐⭐⭐

Monday 13 May: Rest day

Tuesday 14 May, stage 10: Pompei-Cusano Mutri (Bocca della Selva), medium mountains, 142 km ⭐⭐⭐

Wednesday 15 May, stage 11: Foiano di Val Fortore-Francavilla al Mare, hilly, 207 km ⭐⭐

Thursday 16 May, stage 12: Martinsicuro-Fano, medium mountains, 193 km ⭐⭐⭐

Friday 17 May, stage 13: Riccione-Cento, flat, 179 km ⭐

Saturday 18 May, stage 14: Castiglione delle Stiviere-Desenzano del Garda, individual time trial, 31,2 km ⭐⭐⭐

Sunday 19 May, stage 15: Manerba del Garda-Livigno (Mottolino), high mountains, 222 km ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Monday 20 May: Rest day

Tuesday 21 May, stage 16: Livigno-Santa Cristina Val Gardena (Monte Pana), high mountains, 202 km ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wednesday 22 May, stage 17: Selva di Val Gardena-Passo Brocon, high mountains, 159 km ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thursday 23 May, stage 18: Fiera di Primiero-Padova, hilly, 171 km ⭐⭐

Friday 24 May, stage 19: Mortegliano-Cima Sappada, medium mountains, 157 km ⭐⭐⭐

Saturday 25 May, stage 20: Alpago-Bassano del Grappa, high mountains, 181 km ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sunday 26 May, stage 21: Roma-Roma, flat, 122 km ⭐

How to watch the Giro d’Italia 2024

The Giro d'Italia 2024 will be shown live around the world. Here is a list of the official broadcast partners across different territories.

• Albania - Eurosport
• Andorra - Eurosport
• Austria - Eurosport
• Belarus - Eurosport
• Belgium - VRT/RTBF.be/RTL Belgium/VTM Medialaan/Eurosport
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - Eurosport
• Bulgaria- Eurosport
• Croatia - Eurosport
• Cyprus - Eurosport
• Czechia - Eurosport
• Denmark - Eurosport
• Estonia - Eurosport
• Finland - Eurosport
• France - La Chaine L’Equipe
• Georgia - Eurosport
• Germany - Eurosport
• Greece - Eurosport
• Hungary - Eurosport
• Iceland - Eurosport
• Ireland - Eurosport
• Israel - STARZPLAY/Eurosport
• Italy - Rai/Eurosport
• Latvia - Eurosport
• Liechtenstein - Eurosport
• Lithuania - Eurosport
• Luxembourg - Eurosport
• Malta - STARZPLAY/Eurosport
• Moldova - Eurosport
• Montenegro - Eurosport
• Netherlands - NOS/Eurosport
• North Macedonia - Eurosport
• Norway - Eurosport
• Poland - Eurosport
• Portugal - Eurosport
• Principality of Monaco - Eurosport
• Romania - Eurosport
• San Marino - Rai/Eurosport
• Serbia - Eurosport
• Slovakia - Eurosport
• Slovenia - Planet TV/Eurosport
• Spain - EITB/Eurosport
• Sweden - Eurosport
• Switzerland - SRG SSR/Eurosport
• Ukarine - Eurosport
• United Kingdom - Eurosport
• Vatican City - Rai/Eurosport
• Wales - S4C

North and Central America

• Canada - FloSports
• Dominican Republic - Eurosport
• United States - MAX USA/BeIN Sport

South America

• Argentina - + Claro/DirecTV
• Bolivia - + Claro/DirecTV
• Brazil - + Claro/DirecTV
• Chile - + Claro/DirecTV
• Colombia - + Claro/DirecTV/Caracol TV
• Ecuador - + Claro/DirecTV
• Guyana - DirecTV/Eurosport
• Paraguay - + Claro/DirecTV
• Peru - + Claro/DirecTV
• Suriname - + Claro/DirecTV
• The Caribbean - DirecTV
• Uruguay - + Claro/DirecTV
• Venezuela - + Claro/DirecTV
• Afghanistan - Eurosport
• Armenia - Eurosport
• Azerbaijan - Eurosport
• Bahrain - STARZPLAY
• Bangladesh - Eurosport
• Bhutan - Eurosport
• Cambodia - Eurosport
• People’s Republic of China - Zhibo.tv
• India - Eurosport
• Indonesia - Eurosport
• Iran - STARZPLAY
• Iraq - STARZPLAY
• Japan - J Sports
• Jordan - STARZPLAY
• Kazakhstan - Eurosport
• Kuwait - STARZPLAY
• Kyrgyzstan - Eurosport
• Lebanon - STARZPLAY
• Malaysia - Eurosport
• Maldives - Eurosport
• Mongolia - Eurosport
• Myanmar - Eurosport
• Nepal - Eurosport
• Oman - STARZPLAY
• Pakistan - Eurosport
• Philippines - Eurosport
• Qatar - STARZPLAY
• Russia - Eurosport
• Saudi Arabia - STARZPLAY
• Singapore - Eurosport
• Republic of Korea - Eurosport
• Sri Lanka - Eurosport
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Former winner Bernal to compete in 2024 Tour de France

Colombian rider Egan Bernal, who has made a promising start to the season, announced on Wednesday he would be taking part in the Tour de France in a bid to repeat his triumph of 2019.

"I'm done with the first part of the season, now in Colombia for a few days to prepare for a good Tour de France!!!", the Ineos rider wrote on his Instagram account.

¡DON EGAN BERNAL ⚡️! pic.twitter.com/NFAzj4Kq1Z — Deporte Colombiano 🇨🇴 (@DeportColombia) April 27, 2024

The 27-year-old announced himself to the public five years ago when in the space of a couple of months he landed Paris-Nice, the Tour de Suisse and, crowned it with the Tour de France.

Two years later he collected his second major Tour with victory in the Giro d'Italia.

"EF con Carapaz y Urán para el Tour de Romandía 2024" El (EF) le pondrá un par de rivales muy conocidos a Egan Bernal en el Tour de Romandia; Richard Carapaz y también el Toro de Urrao, "que será la última vez que esté ahí la leyenda colombiana".🤩😊 https://t.co/4Jn6OVLPPo a pic.twitter.com/nZOe7mZg6h — ⚡MazaCiclismo⚡ (@RuedaPedal) April 22, 2024

In January 2022, however, he suffered a serious training accident in Colombia that almost cost him his life.

Back in the saddle last year, Bernal had a difficult season, far below his pre-crash form. But he made a good start to 2024, finishing third in the Tour of Catalunya in March behind Slovenian Tadej Pogacar and Spaniard Mikel Landa.

Before returning to Colombia, he finished the Tour de Romandie in 10th place on Sunday.

The Tour de France starts on June 29 and runs till July 21.