Romain Bardet forced to quit race
The top 10 on General Classification after stage 13
Primoz Roglic leads from his friend and Slovenian compatriot Tadej Kagacar, with Egan Bernal back in third place.
The grupetto: Meanwhile at the back of the race, the lame and halt and the sprinters in the grupetto are still out there but will finish inside the time limit.
Stage 13 top 10
EF Pro Cycling’s Colombian rider Danny Martinez took the stage win.
Egan Bernal loses 35 seconds. The Ineos leader has lost 35 seconds on Roglic and Pogacar today.
Bernal finishes: He rools over the line just in front of Rigoberto Duran. “There is wreckage of ambition spread all over this mountain,” says somebody on Eurosport.
Roglic finishes. The yellow jersey is fourth over the line, closely followed by Pogacar on his wheel.
Egan Bernal is struggling: The reigning champion and Ineos leader is losing time as Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar make their way upwards towards the finish line.
Tadej Pogacar attacks: Back in the yellow jersey group, Pogacar attacks and is joined by his compatriot in the yellow jersey, Primoz Roglic. Richie Porte, Mikel Landa are behind them, while Egan Bernal is in a bit of trouble.
Schachmann crosses the line third. He’s about a minute in arrears.
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Martinez wins the stage!!!
100m: Kamna attacks!!! Martinez reacts and counters, then surges clear to win the stage by about 10 bike lengths.
200m to go: Danny Martinez ploughs on with Kamna on his wheel.
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300m to go: Martinez leads by a bike-length.
500m to go: Schachmann pops and it’s between Kamna and Martinez. Kamna attacks but is caught. Martinez counters ... but Kamna is able to stay in his wheel.
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1km to go: Martinez pushes on but can’t shake the two Bora Hansgrohe riders. The Colombian looks the most comfortable of the three riders as they approach a big right-hand hairpin. The gradient is 15%.
1.1km to go: Having got a free ride up the final two climbs, Kamna remains on Martinez’s wheel. Schachmann is trying to cling on but is struggling. It’s Martinez in front, followed by the two Bora Hansgrohe riders.
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1.5km to go: Martinez catches Scachmann as the climb ramps up to a gradient of 13%.
1.9km to go: Martinez has Schachmann in his sights, the German leading by just 12 seconds.
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3.2km to go: It’s uphill – seriously uphill – all the way for Schachmann, who has Danny Martinez and Lennard Kamnaon chasing him. Well, Martinez is doing all the chasing, while Schachmann hitches a ride on his wheel. Behind them with 7min 55sec to make up, Tom Dumoulin is leading the yellow jersey group.
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3.6km to go: With Kamna on his wheel, Danny Martinez briefly has stage leader Schachmann in his sights. The gap is 20 seconds.
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8.5km to go: Back in the yellow jersey group, Richard Carapaz is making the pace for Ineos but Jumbo-Visma’s Tom Dumoulin rides upsides him, turns his head and takes a long look into his face. Jumbo-Visma remain well represented in this group, with Dumoulin now taking up the lead. Roglic is tucked in behind him alongside another Jumbo-Visma man in Sepp Kuss. Cofidis team leader Guillaume Martin has been dropped.
9km to go: Schachmann has a lead of about 30 seconds over Martinez, who has Schachmann’s teammate Kamna glued to his wheel.
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11km to go: Scachmann has pulled out his earpiece and decided to ignore any advice or instruction from his team car - his is a difficult but pretty straightforward task from this point on. He’ll either succeed or fail and doesn’t need any distraction.
12km to go: Schachmann crests the Col de Neronne and will have four kilometres of flat road, two more downhill and then a horrific 5.4 kilometre ascent to the finish. He’s looking good for the stage win at the moment.
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12km to go: Daniel Martinez is trying to chase down Schachmann, but has another Bora Hansgrohe rider on his wheel in the form of Lennard Kamna. This is great for Bora, who have two riders in the first three, with one of them getting a handy tow up the penultimate climb from his unwilling pacemaker.
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13km to go: Led by Marc Soler, the group chasing Scachmann has been whittled down to eight riders. Actually, make that five or six as Soler and Julian Alaphilippe are dropped. Daniel Martinez is left in front and is riding hard.
14km to go: Back in the chase group, Marc Soler is making the pace. Schachmann is looking strong in front but is about to enter a nigh on vertical world of climbing hell.
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15km to go: Max Schachmann is on a stretch of flat road pacing himself behind a motorcycle camera team. He takes a drink from his water bottle and tears open an energy bar with his teeth before beginning his ascent of the penultimate climb.
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16km to go: With two monster climbs to come, Max Schachmann has a lead of 1min 15sec over the 14-man chase group. Neilsen Powless is on the road between the two groups but going backwards.
18km to go: Neilson Powless looks to have shot his bolt and has been left behind by Max Schachmann. The Bora Hansgrohe rider is going for victory and the chasing posse don’t seem to be reacting. Only six of the remaining 18 kilometres are flat or downhill.
20km to go: Pavel Sivakov is leading the 14-man chase, trying to close the 50-second gap to the two lead riders. Led by Zivakov’s Ineos team-mates, the peloton is a further 8min 30sec behind.
22km to go: Powless and Schachmann are working well together out in front, 39 seconds clear of the chase group. The peloton is 9min 26sec behind the two leaders and has dropped current King of the Mountains Benoit Cosnefroy.
28km to go: It’s pretty much all the way uphill from here on in for the leading duo and the group behind them, with the stage finish at an altitude of 1,589m (gradient 8.1%) at Puy Mary Cantal. Max Schachmann and Neilson Powless are about to begin a very long ascent which takes in two climbs. Team Ineos continue to boss the front of the peloton in a way they haven’t thus far in this Tour. The riders of Jumbo-Visma are in a group behind them.
34km to go: “The attitude of cycling to head injuries really is terrible and unsustainable,” writes Robin Hazlehurst. “Especially when compared to, say, rugby or other sports, but the fundamental problem is that while a rider is doing the concussion test they may be losing the race.
“Rugby or cricket or whatever can afford to put the game on pause for a few minutes or let a player leave the pitch for a bit to get checked out, but how can you do that in cycling? Withdraw the rider from the race while they are checked out then bus them back to the peloton if they pass? Surely that’s never going to fly, but hard to see how else it could be done. And what rider or team is going to agree otherwise to throw their race away for a possible concussion (even if perhaps they should).”
35km to go: Team Ineos have taken control of the peloton, which is 9min 55sec behind lone stage leader Neilson Powless, who is 44 seconds clear of the chasing lead group. Bora Hansgrohe rider Max Schachmann is on the chase after Powless.
36km to go: From Neilson Powless’s Wikipedia page: “Powless, who is Oneida, is the first Native American to compete in the Tour de France. His mother Jen Allred ran the marathon for Guam at the 1992 summer Olympics. He is also the brother of fellow racing cyclist Shayna Powless.”
37km to go: On the descent from an uncategorised climb, the American EF Pro Cycling rider Neilson Powless has put 43 seconds out of the lead group. He is now the lead group ... of one as he begins the ascent of the category three Cote d’Anglards-de-Salers. Altitude: 803 metres. Gradient: 6.9%. Length 3.5 kilometres.
An email: On the subject of Warren Barguil being unsteady on his feet, Alex Cowell writes. “On the one hand, the sport is still in the dark ages with its concussion protocol and it’s application,” he says. “On the other, any among us who have walked in those bike shoes can attest to being unsteady on our feet. I sure hope a doctor checked him out for possible concussion.”
54km to go: The gap between our 17-man breakaway and the peloton is nine minutes with three climbs to go. Dan Martin, Pavel Sivakov, Warren Barguil, Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Soler are among those who will fancy their chances of winning the stage.
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61km to go: The lead group go over the Cote de l’Estiade, a mere speed bump at 769m in height. The gap is a smidgeon over nine minutes. In the green jersey, Sam Bennett is hanging on for dear life at the back of the peloton.
70km to go: On Eurosport they are discussing viewer concerns that Romain Bardet looked very unsteady on his feet after his recent crash, with some noticing that a policeman who went to his aid signalled that he had a head injury. If he’s riding on with a possible concussion, that ought to be a source of huge concern and something that should be taken very seriously. Has he been assessed by the race doctor? And if not, why not?
72km to go: We have four climbs left today, two category three followed by a category two and a brutal category one ascent to the finish. For the record, Julian Alaphilippe was first across the line at the intermediate sprint, which went uncontested by any of the green jersey contenders.
82km to go: As the leaders approach today’s intermediate sprint, the gap is 7min 42sec.
85km to go: Reports are coming in that Trek-Segafredo rider Bauke Mollema, who was 13th on GC, has abandoned after being involved in that crash.
91km to go: There’s been a crash in the peloton, with Romain Bardet and Nairo Quintana among those who hit the deck. They’re back on their bikes.
94km to go: Madouas has given up on his solo effort and is back with the now 17-man breakaway group. The gap back to the yellow jersey group is 6min 45sec. Jumbo-Visma are at the front there, controlling the pace.
107km to go: Groupama-FDJ rider Valentin Madouas has left Hugh Carthy behind and struck out on his own towards the summit of the Montee de la Stele.
109km to go: Carthy and Madouas are 41 seconds of the 15-man group they’ve just broken free from. The yellow jersey group is a further 5min 40sec back. There’s a small group of dropped riders, including Caleb Ewan, nearly 10 minutes behind the two stage leaders. Two of the four riders are from Lotto-Soudal and are nursing Ewan along. Lotto Soudal only have five of their original eight riders left in the race.
112km to go: EF Pro Cycling rider Hugh Carthy has broken away from the lead 17-man breakaway and Groupama-FDJ rider Valentin Madouas is quickly on to his tail. They’re 26 seconds clear of the leaders as they head up the third climb of the day towards Montee de La Stele.
129km to go: The grupetto, featuring Caleb Ewan, is almost 10 minutes behind the race leaders.
130km to go: The five-man breakaway is about to be joined by the 11-man chasing group. I’m no mathematician but by my calculations they’ll be 16-strong very shortly. The yellow jersey group are 5min 28sec behind. After 61 kilometres of racing, we can finally take a breath.
134km to go: The five-man breakaway has a gap of 27 seconds over the 11-man chasing posse containing Ineos rider Pavel Sivakov (Egan Bernal’s team-mate) and Arkea-Samsic rider Warren Barguil (Nairo Quintana’s team-mate). The peloton is 4min 57sec behind the leaders.
137km to go: The riders are now tackling the second of seven categorised climbs today, the Cat 3 Col de Guery. Altitude: 1,277m. Length: 7.8km. Gradient: 5%.
Stat of the day for @irishpeloton the top 10 of the Tour is spanned by 1min 42sec apparently this is the first time it’s been this close at stage 13 (ie around 8-9 days to go) since 1947. And we all remember that one...
— William Fotheringham (@willfoth) September 11, 2020
142km to go: Jumbo Visma are reluctant to let things settle and allow the chase group to catch up with the leading quintet because several of Roglic’s main rivals have team-mates in it that could help the likes of Egan Bernal and Nairo Quintana later in the stage.
144km to go: I’ve been misinformed. Apologies - the now nine-man No Man’s Land group has not been swallowed by the peloton. They are still stuck between the leading quintet and the yellow jersey bunch, which is being led by Primoz Roglic’s Jumbo-Visma team. Here’s what Mr Roglic had to say when talking about yesterday’s stage, before looking ahead to today’s.
“It was not an easy stage,” said the maillot jaune. “At the beginning we expected the break to go up the road immediately, but there were riders from other teams pulling and attacking which delayed this. So it turned out to be far from a rest day for our legs. Actually, it’s been a good warm-up thinking of the mountains that we will tackle tomorrow. We expect tomorrow’s stage to be very hard - especially its final. It will be a new challenge for us.”
146km to go: As riders continue to attack off the front of the main yellow jersey group, the gap from our leading quintet to the main GC contenders is 1min 24sec.
How things stand: Having finished the first categorised climb of the day, our five-man breakaway is 55 seconds clear of three pursuers, Lennard Kamna from Bora Hansgrohe and Hugh Carthy and Daniel Martinez from EF Pro Cycling. That trio have a lead of 24 seconds over the peloton, which has caught the rest of what was the No Man’s Land group. Your leaders after a truly bonkers start: Remi Cavagna and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Simon Geschke (CCC), Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Marc Soler (Movistar) and the race has yet to settle.
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154km to go: Having featured briefly in the lead group, Peter Sagan has now been dropped by the yellow jersey collective.
155km to go: Crowds line either side of a road two lanes wide as the five-man escape party go over the top of the Col de Ceyssat.
156km to go: The Grupetto, containing several high profile sprinters who are visibly suffering, is already 3min 47sec behind the leaders. They’re 2min 05sec behind the main bunch.
158km to go: Ineos rider Pavel Sivakov is making the pace in the 21-strong No Man’s Land/Thibaut Pinot group, which is 1min 10sec behind the five-man breakaway. Your stage leaders about two thirds of the way up the day’s first categorised climb: Remi Cavagna and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Simon Geschke (CCC), Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Marc Soler (Movistar).
158km to go: Jumbo-Visma are towing the peloton along, while Benoit Cosnefroy in the polka-dot jersey has been dropped from the lead breakaway.
160km to go: Remi Cavagna and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R-La Mondiale), Simon Geschke (CCC), Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Marc Soler (Movistar) are our leaders.
They lead the peloton by 1min 41sec with a group of 12 or 13 riders including Daryl Impey, Warren Barguil and Thibaut Pinot stuck in no-man’s land between them.
161km to go: Marc Soler joins the five man breakaway, making it a six-man breakaway. They’re still only 1min 07sec ahead of the peloton containing all the main GC contenders, with over five kilometres of the first climb to go.
162km to go: Peter Sagan has been dropped from the Sagan group, which means we’re going to need to come up with a new name for that particular collective. Thanks for that, Pete. A good dig from Marc Soler means he’s about to catch our leaders Rémi Cavagna and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R-La Mondiale), Simon Geschke (CCC) and Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation).
163km to go: It’s chaos out on the road, where our five-man breakaway is being chased by Movistar’s Marc Soler. He’s 21 seconds behind, having broken off the front of the 13-man Sagan group. They are 50 seconds clear of the peloton, where Jumbo-Visma’s attempts to control any further breakaways have failed utterly. Today’s stage has yet to settle down.
164km to go: The riders hit the day’s first categorised climb, the Cat 1 Col de Ceyssat. It’s 1,078m in altitude, with a 6.1% gradient and is 10km in length.
164km to go: Thibaut Pinot attacks off the peloton, under orders to get in the breakaway.
166km to go: The five-man breakaway has a lead of 1min 46sec over the peloton. the Sagan group is about a minute behind the breakaway.
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171km to go: A group of 13 riders including Peter Sagan, Jack Bauer, Matteo Trentin and Daryl Impey have escaped the peloton and are trying to bridge the gap. None of them are major GC contenders, so Primoz Roglic and his team-mates won’t mind.
172km to go: De Gendt fails in his effort to join the breakaway and is swallowed up by the peloton, where the riders of race leader Primoz Roglic’s Jumbo-Visma team have moved to the front and spread across the road in a bid to stop anyone else escaping. It’s a wide road, so they may have their work cut out. The gap is 48 seconds as we approach the first categorised climb of the day.
176km to go: Remi Cavagna and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R-La Mondiale), Simon Geschke (CCC) and Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) lead, while Thomas De Gendt is trying to bridge the 17-second gap from the peloton, which has already shed several sprinters including – I think – Caleb Ewan, Sam Bennett and Edvald Boasson Hagen.
177km to go: Julian Alaphilippe, Dan Martin and Alessandro De Marchi have joined the breakaway, where Alaphilippe is putting the hammer down in a bid to make sure they stay away. Nils Politt, Niccolo Bonifazio and Tejay van Garderen can’t keep up and are quickly dropped. This is a brutal start to a brutal stage.
181km to go: While there’s no guarantee they’ll stay away, ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for today’s early breakaway: Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R-La Mondiale), Niccolo Bonifazio (Total Direct Energie), Simon Geschke (CCC), Nils Politt (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Tejay van Garderen (EF).
The gap is 18 seconds but they’re about to be joined by several gate-crashers who have jumped off the front of the peloton.
182km to go: Our six breakaway riders are being kept on a tight rein. They’re 16 seconds clear of the bunch but Dan Martin and Julian Alaphilippe are trying to bridge the gap.
185km to go: Team Groupama FDJ are leading the peloton as they try to chase down the escapees. George Bennett has dropped off the back of the bunch and seems to have a puncture.
187km to go: A group of five or six riders including polka-dot jersey wearer Benoit Cosnefroy and Tejay van Garderen have made a break for it. The gap is only 11 seconds.
They're racing on stage 13
Francois Marchand semaphores the signal to start racing on the most difficult stage of this year’s Tour so far.
The roll-out has begun ...
It’s an early start for the peloton today, who have just begun their roll-out from Chatel Guyon. They’ll ride in procession for six kilometres or so before getting the signal to start racing on what promises to be a very interesting and intriguing day.
Stage 12 recap
The prodigious Marc Hirschi, thwarted on stage two in Nice and again on stage nine to Laruns, finally struck gold to take his debut Tour de France stage victory, writes Jeremy Whittle.
The main jersey-wearers
- Yellow: Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)
- Green: Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
- Polka-dot: Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale)
- White: Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)
The top 10 on GC after stage 12
Primoz Roglic remains in yellow but Ahead of the Alpine stages, up to 16 other riders will still fancy chances of overall victory in one of the tightest Tours for years.
Stage 13: Chatel-Guton to Puy Mary Pas de Peyrol (191.5km)
From William Fotheringham’s stage-by-stage guide: “Arguably the hardest stage, with seven climbs ending with the highest pass of the Massif Central. It’s a day that should decide the polka-dot best-climber’s jersey, while the finish will show who is looking good for the Alps. Will favour a pure climber such as Mikel Landa or Nairo Quintana, but anyone wanting to win has to show well here.”
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