In a day characterized by rapidly changing breakaway groups and high speeds, it was Jasper Philipsen of the Alpecin-Deceuninck squad that emerged victorious in Pau to win Stage 13 of the 2024 Tour de France.
Last Stage for Sprinters?
Stage 13 was the last flat stage before the 2024 race moves into the Pyrenees, rolling 165 kilometers from Agen to Pau. Like many tour stages, even this ‘flat’ one serves up 2000m of climbing over its distance.
Today’s stage saw 161 riders make the start. Following the crash at the end of Stage 12 which involved Primoz Roglic, the medical team of Red Bull – BORA – Hansgrohe carefully assessed his condition yesterday and again this morning and made the decision that he would not start today. Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Jonas Rickaert and Soren Kragh Andersen, as well as Alexey Lutsenko of Astana Qazaqstan, fell outside the time limit, eliminating them from the race. Jesus Herrada dropped out from sickness as well.
The talking heads are saying that it’s another day for Biniam Girmay. Mark Cavendish continues to be close, but his leadout squad is somewhat diminished, limiting his chances.
The Usual (Break) Suspects
A large breakaway formed almost immediately with the usual suspects: Powless, Abrahamsen, Mohoric, Geniets, Skujins, Van der Poel, and Lazkano, with Cort, Gregoire, and Kwiatkowski jumping on as well.
By km 14, there was a 22 man break group off the front. Tratnik dropped out of the break to go back and help his teammates. There were 11 chasing at 20″ with the peloton at 35″.
By km 45, the leaders were up by nearly a minute, but the peloton was working hard to claw them back.
Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ), Bernard (Lidl-Trek) and Cort (Uno-X) attacked the break and went on their own, opening a 10″ advantage over the remaining breakaway riders at km 73. By km 82, they had opened the gap to 30″ with the peloton at 1’25”.
The peloton bridged to the chasers at km 96, leaving the quartet out front.
By the time the race moved into the final 50km, the gap was down to just 7 seconds.
44km to go and the yellow jersey group caught the attackers, making a group of 47 at the front. The peloton chased at 20″ with a group containing Cavendish trailing at 2’21”.
Attack After Attack
Richard Carapaz (EF Education First) and Tobias Johanessen (Uno-X) attacked the lead group and opened a small gap over the peloton.
Carapaz and Johanessen were caught with 21km to go, and soon after, it was Stuyven, Van Moer and Grellier making a move. With the high speeds, the peloton continued to fracture. The main group was 11 seconds back, a group of 15 chasers at 4’14” and the Cavendish group of 45 trailing by nearly nine minutes.
Burgaudeau counterattacked the peloton with Christophe Laporte on his wheel, quickly making for four riders at the front with a scant lead over the main bunch.
10km to go and they were all together.
Biniam Girmay’s Intermarche-Wanty teammates were again towards the front, with the sprint leader close behind, but it was KOM leader Jonas Abrahamsen making a final go of it in the final kilometers.
Abrahamsen’s attempt didn’t last. A late crash slightly disrupted the pack, but most of the sprint leaders stayed clear. At the line, it was Jasper Philipsen with the legs to take his second stage win.
Stage 13 Brief Results:
- Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) @ 3h 23’09”
- Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) s.t.
- Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) s.t.
- Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) s.t.
- Nikias Arndt (Bahrain Victorious) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 13:
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) +1’06”
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1’14”
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +4’20”
- Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +4’40”
- Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step) +5’38”
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +6’59”
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