Pogacar and Roglic in the fight -
SIPA
Finally a show!
Like what, no need to go deep in the Alps to create gaps, just one stage with many very dry coasts to vibrate.
In the Cantal mountains, it was Martinez who settled the breakaway and won the stage after a great battle.
But above all, we finally know the hierarchy of climbers for the general classification of this Tour.
And it is as favorable to the Slovenes as it is cruel to our French.
Thank you, the Massif Central!
Small indiscretion: to draw this stage, the man of the routes of the Tour de France Thierry Gouvenou used the data of the local users of the application Strava - very used by the amateurs of bicycle - to find and link short and very dry slopes .
Like last year, for the stage which led to Saint-Etienne.
And like last year, the stage was a bit crazy, creating a lot more gaps between the favorites than the Pyrenees and its high mountain passes.
Through the Massif Central, the Puy-de-Dôme and the Cantal, the runners had an extremely intense day with nearly 4,600 meters of vertical drop and an arrival at Puy Mary where the last two or three kilometers at more than 10% blows everything up.
“It was a hard day,” sums up the yellow jersey Primoz Roglic.
There were some incredible climbs from the start.
And the end may be only two kilometers, but I can tell you that you are in pain.
"
Here is the profile of this 13th stage!
Of the 191 kilometers on the program today, it will essentially be a gigantic game of slides which will become more complicated as you visit the Puys range. # TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/0ryWluZVpp
- Cycling Inside (@CyclingInside) September 11, 2020
In this suffering, it was the Colombian Daniel Felipez Martinez who won after a magnificent battle in the last kilometer with the German Lennard Kämna.
A little further behind, the favorites of the Tour also took advantage of the series of large percentages of the Col de Néronne and Puy Mary to clean up the Top 10. Far from the often too predictable big climbs of the Alps or the Pyrenees, this kind of irregular and very nervous stages - whose profile could be compared to classics - are more and more racing.
Long live the short and violent climbs!
Towards a Slovenian duel for the final victory
What would this Tour be without the edge in which Tadej Pogacar was trapped, on the road to Lavaur, last week?
The young Slovenian lost 1'21 to all the other leaders that day.
Since then, it's simple, he attacks everything, everywhere, all the time.
There isn't a mountain stage where he hasn't tried his luck, and we can also say thank you.
Thanks to him, we never got bored in the end of the stage.
This Friday again, it was he who set fire to the start of the Puy Mary wall, when the drop suddenly exceeded 14%.
Of course, only his compatriot Primoz Roglic was able to follow.
The yellow jersey, imperturbable, easily took its wheel, before ensuring the tempo until the finish line.
Without doing too much either, as the Colombians, including last year's winner Egan Bernal, had passed through the window.
The leader of the Jumbo wants to keep some juice, the Jura and the Alps arrive very quickly.
And he will have, again, to respond to the attacks of the intrepid Pogacar.
"I could barely follow him in the final, he's in great shape, that's for sure," said the latter at the finish of his elder brother.
I don't know what will happen in the Alps, but I will continue to fight, of course.
"
Excellent operation from Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar who took 35 seconds from Egan Bernal!
# TDF2020
▶ Follow Vélo Club live: https://t.co/mnBNrE4n9k pic.twitter.com/IfieR9rWYj
- France tv sport (@francetvsport) September 11, 2020
Because today's report is there: by dint of scratching time, Pogacar is now second in the general classification, 44 seconds behind Roglic.
And even if Bernal, third, is still under the minute, the tendency of this Tour is that it will be played between the two Slovenes.
“There is still a lot of road to do, swept the yellow jersey.
Day by day, we approach, but we will see.
Big steps still await us.
"
Very complicated day for the French
This time it's official, Julian Alaphilippe is far from his best form.
We had seen him waste a lot of time in the Pyrenees, waiting for better days.
Attacking at the start of this stage tailored for him, he raced ahead, in this large group of 17 fumbles.
But when Martinez, Schachmann, Soler and Kamna set off on the penultimate climb, he stuck to the road.
Like the day before.
Thibaut Pinot, who will also try to save his Tour with a stage, tried to start against to join the good shot of the day, but he quickly dropped the case.
It will be in the Alps or nothing for the leader of Groupama-FDJ.
Hard day also for the French who play the general.
Guillaume Martin and Romain Bardet, respectively 3rd and 4th this morning, have lost a lot of ground.
Bardet, not helped by a heavy fall 90 miles from the finish, was the first to give up in the Col de Néronne.
Martin followed him soon after.
“I didn't miss much to switch with the leaders, it's a shame because it could have changed my race, he debriefed.
So, I was alone in the transition part and I lost energy, which I missed on the final climb.
"
Romain Bardet and Guillaume Martin are released!
The peloton is accelerating and the French cannot follow # TDF2020
▶ Follow the race live: https://t.co/mnBNrE4n9k pic.twitter.com/LVeLPng6l4
- France tv sport (@francetvsport) September 11, 2020
The terrible last two kilometers of Puy Mary have finished finishing it.
Like Bardet.
The two men finished more than two minutes from Roglic and were ejected from the Top 10. "We'll see if I'm on the downward slope or if it was just a bad day," commented the rider of the Cofidis.
But I remain motivated for the future.
The Tour is not over.
"
To end on a slightly more positive note, we will still mention the beautiful tricolor group shot (Valentin Madouas 4th, Pierre Rolland 5th and Nicolas Edet 6th) in the top 10 of this crazy stage.
But that will not console many people.
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