2013 Tour de France stage 20 results and photos

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2013 Tour de France
100th edition: June 29 - July 21, 2013

Stage 20 results and photos

Back to 2013 Tour de France | Photos from Stage 20 (posted below results and maps) |

Saturday, July 20: Stage 20: Annecy - Annecy Semnoz, 125 km

Rated Ascents:

Km 12.5: Côte du Puget, 5.4 km @ 5.9% gradient, Category 2
Km 17.5: Col de Leschaux, 3.6 km @ 6.1%, Category 3
Km 43.0: Côte d'Aillon-le-Vieux, 6 km @ 4%, Category 3
Km 51.0: Col des Prés (1,142m), 3.4 km @ 6.9%, Category 3
Km 78.5: Mont Revard, 15.9 km @ 5.6%, Category 1
Km 125.0: Annecy-Semnoz, 10.7 km @ 8.5%, Hors Category

Stage 20 finish

Weather: At Annecy at 12:25 PM local time it is 23C (74F) with some clouds and forecast to rise to 28C (83F). Wind is from the south at just 2 km/hr (1 mph) and later should come from the west at 10 km/hr (6 mph). Humidity is 65%. There is a 20% chance of thunderstorms this afternoon.

The Race: By the end of the descent of the first categorized climb, the Côte du Puget, ten men (including Jens Voigt, Juan Antonio Flecha, Pierre Rolland, Cyril Gautier and Christophe Riblon) were clear, but Movistar kept them on a short leash. On the Col de Près the gap was only 1min 22sec. Rolland, looking to get the maximum KOM points sprinted for the top a bit too aggressively and almost pushed Igor Anton into the spectators.

Bam! Jens Voigt blew the break apart on the lower slopes of Mont Revard. In just a few kilometers he was alone (in the big ring!) and the gap back to the Yellow Jersey group, which had been stabilized at about one minute grew to 1min 35sec. Philippe Gilbert and Tejay Van Garderen jumped out of the peloton and bridged up to a small group with Rolland, Riblon and Marcus Burghardt that was chasing Voigt. Soon it was Clarke, Gilbert, Gautier, Simon, Rolland and Riblon 90 seconds behind Voigt with Igor Anton in between. The Froome group was 3min 22sec behind Voigt.

Voigt, at 42, was the oldest man in the 2013 Tour. He went over Mt Revard more than a half-minute ahead of Anton and 2min 10sec in front of the Rolland group with theFroome group 3min 40sec back.

Two kilometers to the start of the final climb Sky moved to the front of the Froome Group and upped the pace.

With the start of the final climb there was still a lot to be decided. Beyond the KOM classification there was the fight for both second and third places with four riders within 47 seconds of each other. After the day's intermediate sprint Peter Sagan had the Green Jersey sewn up, he has only to finish the Tour to be the points winner.

Sky's pressure blew up the peloton before the official start of the climb, reducing it to about 12 riders. At this point it was Voigt up front followed by Rolland, Van Garderen and Alexis Vuillermoz at 52 seconds with the peloton 15 seconds further back.

Very quickly the Rolland trio was picked up by the Froome group, led by Rui Costa, and now only 8 riders strong.

8.5 km to go Alejandro Valverde led the Yellow Jersey group up to Voigt. Rodriguez attacked and took Quintana with him. Then, in an astonishing display of raw power Froome blasted by the pair. Froome couldn't hold the gap and Rodriguez and Quintana clawed their way back to him. Contador, marked by Richie Porte, was tossed.

Contador didn't have the suds on the day he needed them and with 5 km to go he was the virtual fourth place. Rodriguez did most of the work up front, pounding up the hill to gain a place on the podium.

Under the one-kilometer banner Froome attacked and was quickly marked by Quintana. A few seconds later Quintana dropped Froome and headed up the road for the KOM title, GC second place and the White Jersey. Then Rodriguez took off, leaving Froome to take third in the stage and the 2013 Tour de France.

Results: