Stage 13 in this year’s Tour de France didn’t really have a level bit of road through the whole 191kms. Seven categorised climbs with a super-steep summit finish, it was a day for the breakaway. It started with a group of 5 including Julian Alaphilippe, growing to 15 with riders like Dan Martin and Marc Soler, then it quite simply blew itself apart with two climbs to go. Bora’s Max Schachmann went off on his own, followed by his teammate Leonard Kämna and EF’s Dani Martinez. When they caught Schachmann on the high slopes of Le Puy Mary, Martinez took over and Kamna couldn’t go round him. A spirited sprint to the line gave the EF rider his first Tour de France stage win. The GC got shook, but mainly by yellow jersey holder Primoz Roglic and compatriot Tadej Pogacar who took time on their rivals.

Final Kilometre

Once Jumbo Visma were happy with the makeup of the break and let them get 10 minutes, the winner was always going to come to that 15-strong group. And even though both Ineos and Deceuninck-QuickStep had powerful riders in the break (Pavel Sivakov and Julian Alaphilippe respectively) it was EF and Bora that made the race in front.

EF-in’ brilliant

EF started the day with three of their riders in the break – Martinez, Hugh Carthy and Neilson Powless. With the original plan to be a bridge for Rigoberto Uran later in the stage, when it became clear that the peloton was too far behind, they were given their head. It was then the EF-Bora show. Powless went off, to be caught by Schachmann on the fifth climb of the day.

Schachmann then went off up the road, head a-bobbin’, to try to do a Hirschi. It wasn’t to be as Martinez took off after him, followed by Bora’s Kamna who made the Colombian do all the work. It looked like the duo wouldn’t catch Schachmann but the climbs of the day and the final Le Puy Mary made Schachmann’s legs go slower and slower, so they could make the catch. With only Kamna with him under the flamme rouge, Martinez was the fresher of the two and powered to a marvellous win.

RogPog strike again

The Slovenian bromance continues and for all the other riders hoping for the podium, it’s a dangerous love, indeed. Primoz Roglic got a boost from Ineos riding on the front to the point of dropping their own riders and Egan Bernal was in trouble by the sharp end of the stage.

While the stage win was unfolding in front of them, the yellow jersey group became just the yellow jersey and his best friend, UAE Tadej Pogacar. With Bernal slogging his guts out to minimise his losses, Roglic rode with Pogacar (not letting the youngster try anything fancy) and crossed the line just in front of him – but very much ahead of his rivals. Pogacar, however, moved up to the second step on the podium with that ride. Bernal slipped to third, just a touch under 1min to Roglic.

Top 10 scrambled

It was a bad day for France (again) with Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) falling from third place to 12th, 3:14 off the top spot. Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) had a crash and he fell from 4th to 11th, losing 2.30 by the time he crossed the finish line.

Rigoberto Uran (EF) gained two places to sit in 4th, at 1:10, by the end of the stage. Richie Porte (Trek Segafredo) had a good ride today, jumping from 11th to 9th. Unfortunately, his teammate Bauke Mollema went down in the same crash as Bardet and had to abandon.

Look around you!

If you look at the field art in the first seconds of this little bit of film, the next tweet down will make sense!

While bovine relaxation was on display later on in the race.

Then we have a landscape perfect for a Bond villain.

That crash

It was nine years ago in July that Johnny Hoogerland and Juan Antonio Flecha were hit by a media car as it tried to pass the break group, with Hoogerland flying into a barbed wire fence. Unbelievably, he finished, with blood running down his legs, sobbing on the podium in pain as he picked up the polka dot jersey for the day. Here’s what has happened since …

The Last Word

Results

Stage 13 Top 5

1 Daniel Martinez (EF Pro Cycling) 5:01:47

2 Lennard Kamna (Bora-hansgrohe) +0:04

3 Maximilien Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe) +0:51

4 Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) +1:33

5 Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept) +1:42

GC Top 10

1 Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 56:34:35

2 Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Emirates) +0:44

3 Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:59

4 Rigoberto Uran (EF ProCycling) +1:10

5 Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) +1:12

6 Migel Angel Lopez (Astana) +1:31

7 Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) +1:42

8 Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren) +1:55

9 Richie Porte (Trek Segafredo) +2:06

10 Enric Mas (Movistar) +2:54

All the jerseys

Leader’s jersey Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)

Points jersey Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step)

King of the Mountains Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R la Mondiale)

Best Young Rider Tadej Pogacar (UAE)

Most Combative of the Stage: Max Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe)

For full race reviews, go to cyclingnews.

Official race website: Le Tour

Header image: ©GETTY/Velo/Stuart Franklin