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Saturday, July 13, 2024

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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

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Current racing:

• June 29 - July 21: Tour de France

Upcoming racing:

• July 27 - August 11: Olympic cycling

Latest completed racing:

• June 9 - 26: Many National Championships
• June 15 - 18: La Route d'Occitanie Cancelled because security forces busy with Olympics
• June 9 - 16: Tour de Suisse
• June 12 - 16: Baloise Belgium Tour
• June 2 - 9: Critérium du Dauphiné
• June 5 - 9: ZLM Tour
• June 7: GP Canton Aargau
• June 2: Brussels Cycling Classic

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Tour de France Stage 13 reports

We posted the report from the race organizer with the results.

Here's the Tour stage 13 report from second-place Wout van Aert's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Wout van Aert crossed the finish line second in the Tour de France for the second day in a row. After finishing behind Biniam Girmay in the sprint on Thursday, today the Belgian only had to acknowledge compatriot Jasper Philipsen. Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line safely in the peloton.

Wout van Aert finishes a close second to Jasper Philipsen. Sirotti photo

After little to nothing happened in previous sprint stages, it was a little different today. Right from the start in Agen there was action in the peloton. A group of more than twenty riders chose to attack, but because the speed of the peloton was maintained, the escape attempt came to nothing.

Due to the wind, some teams, with Team Visma | Lease a Bike in the lead, decided to pull away. This tore the peloton into pieces, with the Team Visma | Lease a Bike troops proving to be well on their toes.

Despite several breakaway attempts, another sprint came, this time from a reduced peloton. Van Aert was excellently positioned in the wheel of teammate Christophe Laporte, who dropped his teammate a few hundred meters before the finish line. Van Aert anticipated Philipsen's sprint, came very close, but eventually had to settle for second place.

"This was a great day," Van Aert declared afterwards. "It was plenty of racing all day. At the end I was perfectly in Christophe's wheel. He dropped me off excellently. Maybe I was even a little too far in front, because Jasper could start his sprint from my wheel. It's a shame that I missed out on another stage win, but there was simply someone better today."

The peloton heads into the Pyrenees tomorrow. Vingegaard is surely looking forward to that. "We are approaching terrain that suits me well. Today was a good day for us. We all got to the finish safely and didn't lose any time. The important thing now is to recover and be at the start tomorrow as good as possible. The next two stages are going to be tough. We'll see what we can do as a team in the mountains."

Here's the Tour report from third-place Pascal Ackermann's Team Israel-Premier Tech:

Pascal Ackermann finished in third place again on stage 13 of the Tour de France, which turned into a real leg-breaker of a crosswind stage.

“Third again, and I don’t really know what I could have done differently today,” Ackermann explained. “It was a real epic stage. The team was amazing once again, and I think we showed everybody that we are not just a team from the second division but one of the best teams here. I’m really proud of the guys.”

The day's early break.

Early in the stage, a big group of over 20 riders managed to get away. Hugo Houle and Jakob Fuglsang were quick to join the move, but the peloton was not in the mood to let the break go. In the first crosswind section, the bunch split up, with only a handful of riders left in the front echelon, amongst them was Ackermann.

“Visma went all in on one of the first climbs in the crosswind, and I was a bit proud of myself as I was one of the few guys following, with only GC favorites in the group. It was a really nice feeling. For sure, it was hard on the legs, but I managed to recover well afterward.”

The pace never really dropped throughout the stage as the peloton split up several times towards the finish line. The IPT riders were always well represented near the front, and in the final kilometers, the team set up Ackermann perfectly for the sprint. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out as hoped for.

“It was a really messy final with a late crash, and once again, somebody hit my front wheel in the sprint, which really took out my speed, and I had to launch again. It’s frustrating. However, before the Tour started, I don’t think anybody was expecting me to be this good, but I wanted to show that I’m still there with the best riders. I think I can be really proud

Here's the Tour report from points classification leader Biniam Girmay's Team Intermarché-Wanty:

On Thursday July 12, a chaotic sprint finish decided the outcome of the thirteenth stage of the Tour de France between Agen and Pau, with green jersey Biniam Girmay taking fourth place.

Because of the wind, this flat stage gave rise to a far from classic race scenario, with constant attacks at the start of the race leading to the formation of a twenty-rider breakaway, which never enjoyed more than a one-minute lead.

In the second half of the race, the peloton split into several parts following a series of curbs. Biniam Girmay, present in the first group, could count on the support of Georg Zimmermann, Laurenz Rex, Hugo Page and Mike Teunissen at his side. 

With his four team-mates, he tackled the final stretch towards Pau to challenge for victory. Girmay then avoided a crash in the final hectometres to claim his eighth top-10 finish of the year.

In the points classification, Biniam Girmay remains in the lead with a 75-point advantage over Jasper Philipsen, the day’s winner. The green jersey will wear its jersey for a ninth consecutive day this Saturday at the entrance to the Pyrenees.

Biniam Girmay goes into the Pyrenees owning the points jersey. Sirotti photo

Biniam Girmay:
“The wind made this flat stage very difficult. The general classification riders went ahead, which made the race tougher, but that was to be expected. The final sprint was quite long, and I found myself locked in the last 200 meters. To be honest, I didn’t have the best feeling today, it wasn’t my best day. Above all, I’m glad I didn’t fall, that’s the most important thing. We’re on the Tour de France, and the more days go by, the harder it’s going to be. We’re ready for a tough weekend in the mountains. Recovery and fitness are paramount.”

And here's the Tour stage 13 report from GC second-place Remco Evenepoel's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Crosswinds hit the Tour de France Friday afternoon, just 20 kilometers from the start of the stage which travelled to Pau. The city, located in the heart of Béarn, made its first appearance at the race in 1930, and now returned after five years, the previous stage finish it had hosted being the stage 13 individual time trial of the 2019 edition, which Julian Alaphilippe won with the yellow jersey on his shoulders after an amazing ride.

The bunch rolled out of Agen, and it took just a couple of minutes for the crosswinds to split it into small groups, just as a breakaway was taking shape. Remco Evenepoel immediately booked a place in that move, which put some pressure on the chasers, who had to chase hard and spend a lot of energy in order to make the catch.

The white jersey and his Soudal Quick-Step teammates remained vigilant, so when new echelons formed in the last 60 kilometers of the day – as soon as the peloton exited a sheltered point – they were well placed at the front. Evenepoel and Mikel Landa were among our four riders in the main group, who pushed an insane pace, sweeping the escapees and opening an insurmountable gap in the chasers. Remco did some big turns at the head of the reduced bunch, who had to deal with the numerous attacks coming from those hoping to avoid a mass gallop in Pau.

Remco Evenepoel will ride stage 14 in white. Sirotti photo

All these moves were brought back and the day came down to a messy sprint, won by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck). A crash that occurred in the closing kilometer blocked Remco Evenepoel, but the Belgian got the same time as the rest of the riders and will go into the first Pyrenean stage sitting in second overall.

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