Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Saturday, July 18, 2026
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made. - Groucho Marx
Les Woodland's book Cycling Heroes: The Golden Years is available in the print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- July 4 - 26: Tour de France
Upcoming racing:
- July 26: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
Latest completed racing:
- July 8 - 12: Tour of Austria
- June 24 - 28: National Championshps
- June 17 - 21: Tour de Suisse
- June 17 - 21: Baloise Belgium Tour
- June 7 - 14: Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- June 14: Copenhagen Sprint
- June 14: GP Gippingen/Canton Aargau
- June 10: Circuit Franco-Belge
- June 7: Brussels Cycling Classic
- June 1 - 5: Ethias-Tour de Wallone
- May 8 - 31: Giro d'Italia
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Mauro Schmid's Team Jayco AlUla:
After coming painfully close last year, Mauro Schmid claimed his first-ever Tour de France stage victory in style on stage 13, taking the win in a two-man sprint to the line.
Schmid was inched out in a close and dramatic finale into Toulouse at last year’s Tour, but he made sure he wasn’t denied again, diving for the line so hard he did a wheelie across the line.
It was a true team effort from Team Jayco AlUla with Schmid finishing it off perfectly. The 26-year-old rode away from the remnants of the early breakaway with Harold Tejada in the final 15 kilometres. The duo never had a substantial lead on the chasers, with the gap topping out at 20 seconds, but it proved to be enough.
Mauro Schmid wins Tour stage thirteen. Sirotti photo
With the goal of stage wins at this year’s Tour de France, Team Jayco AlUla have been aggressive right from the start with much of the squad getting in a breakaway already during the race. The purple train was at it again on stage 13, with Schmid getting into a group of almost 40 riders after a long tussle to escape the clutches of the peloton.
Luke Plapp, Ben O’Connor, and Michael Matthews formed part of a large chase group that joined forces with Schmid and company after an hour of trying to bridge the gap. The juncture was made at a key moment, shortly before the two climbs of the day.
Team Jayco AlUla’s numbers paid dividends on the second, toughest of the ascents, the Ballon d’Alsace. As the lead group broke up on the challenging climb, O’Connor set a hard pace at the front, followed by Plapp. Meanwhile Matthews ensured the team had more options should it come down to a sprint finale.
Despite several attacks from other teams, Schmid looked calm and collected as he worked hard to keep in touch with the front of the race. The Swiss rider bided his time until he saw his moment when Tejada jumped clear with 15km to go.
Behind them, Plapp made sure to cover the plethora of counterattacks and prevent the catch from happening. It paid off with Schmid and Tejada coming into the final metres with a slim margin. Schmid had to take the sprint from the front but had the speed to keep his companion at bay and take his debut Tour de France stage win.
Mauro Schmid:
“I can’t believe it at the moment. It was an incredibly hard day from the start. We were keen as a team to be in the breakaway. We have tried many times already, and so far, it didn’t really go as planned. I felt really good, but it was full gas from the first minute. The boys came from the back so I could just sit on. It was pretty much perfect.
“[Last year] came to my mind a few times, I didn’t know how close the chase was in the end. I started to cramp up with four kilometres to go, so I got a little bit worried. I stayed at the back with two kilometres to go and hoped he would go from the front but then at some point he forced me to the first position. I launched it a bit late, and then the first 50m I thought maybe it’s the same as last year. When I saw the finish line, I found my legs again and went for it.
“In the end, I am the lucky one that gets to stand at the top, but it was a whole team effort, and everybody behind the scenes that works so hard for this. It’s really a victory for the team, and not only for me. Having Plappy there at the end, following all of the moves I think he played a really big part. Also, Ben on the climb was unbelievable.”
Content continues below the ads
Here's the report from GC second-place Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
With a grueling weekend ahead, the general classification contenders left the battle for the stage victory in the thirteenth stage of the Tour de France to the breakaway riders. Team Visma | Lease a Bike animated the race through Victor Campenaerts and Per Strand Hagenes, but the pair ultimately fell short of fighting for the win.
The thirteenth stage featured a long run-in before the two categorized climbs in the closing part of the race. The many flat kilometers after the start in Dole prompted almost every team to send riders up the road. Two groups eventually came together to form a breakaway of 57 (!) riders, which was allowed to build a significant advantage over the peloton. Campenaerts and Tour debutant Hagenes represented Team Visma | Lease a Bike at the front of the race.
The strong duo held on for a long time but was unable to follow when the race exploded on the Ballon d'Alsace. At the summit of the first-category climb, with around thirty kilometers remaining, only eight attackers remained. Behind them, the general classification favorites saved their energy with an eye on this weekend's demanding double-header. Friday’s stage victory went to Mauro Schmid. Because Tom Pidcock also finished with the front group, there were still some changes in the general classification.
Jonas Vingegaard before the start of stage ten. Sirotti photo
Leader Jonas Vingegaard remains second overall. “We came through the day well”, Leading Race Coach Marc Reef says. “Pidcock was in the breakaway, which meant several teams were at risk of losing positions in the general classification. They controlled the race because of that, so the pace on the final climb was fairly controlled. The most important thing for us was that both Bruno and Matteo were feeling much better again today.”
“Tomorrow is an important day”, Reef continues. His riders face four categorized climbs: the Grand Ballon (1), Col du Page (2), Ballon d'Alsace (1), and Col du Haag (1). “It's a very irregular stage, and after the final summit there are still six kilometers to the finish. Sunday's stage features a longer climb with a true summit finish. That will be a decisive day.”
Kevin Vauquelin's Team Netcompany INEOS posted this Tour report:
Kevin Vauquelin put in a strong performance from the stage 13 break at the Tour de France, sprinting to sixth place in Belfort.
The Frenchman had been part of a huge 58-rider breakaway group which split up over the first-category Ballon d'Alsace climb and subsequent descent.
The Netcompany INEOS rider put in a number of accelerations both on the climb itself and the run-in, as a select group contested the finish.
In the end two riders, Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) edged clear and would contest the win, with Schmid narrowly claiming the victory.
Vauquelin's chasing group arrived just two seconds later, on a day which saw Kevin continue to enliven the race and build form.
The peloton midway through the stage. Photo: ASO/Charly Lopez
Michal Kwiatkowski was present in the day's very first breakaway, and also joined Josh Tarling for a period in a counter attacking move, which would eventually join forces with the lead group at the 92km to go mark.
Race leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) finished in the peloton, 7:32 back on the stage winner, to retain the yellow jersey heading into the weekend.
Content continues below the ads
Here's the Tour report from GC leader Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
On the longest stage of this year’s Tour de France, UAE Team Emirates-XRG animated the day’s breakaway through Brandon McNulty and Tim Wellens. The pair went up the road in a move that counted some 57 riders, before finishing in fifth and ninth, respectively.
Held over 205.8km between Dole and Belfort, stage 13 of the Tour always looked likely to be a breakaway day, and so it proved. The parcours was almost completely flat for the first 140km, before a category 3 and a category 1 ascent dominated the finale.
The Col des Croix (5.1km at 4.8%) did not prove all that selective on Friday afternoon, but the subsequent Ballon d’Alsace (9.1km at 6.8%) sure did. Over the top of that final climb, only 10 riders remained at the front of the race, with the select group including both McNulty and Wellens for the Emirati squad.
However, on the descent that followed, two opportunists saw their chance and took it. Both Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) sensed a chance to attack and went up the road, with the pair ultimately battling it out for the stage honours. The day’s victory went to Schmid in a two-up sprint, whilst the rest were left to fight for the minor placings behind.
Despite their best efforts, neither McNulty nor Wellens could close the gap to the leading duo, but their efforts were not for nothing. Both riders sealed top-10 places on stage 13, with their display ensuring that UAE Team Emirates-XRG closed the gap to Lidl-Trek in the Tour de France team classification.
Meanwhile, back in the peloton, race leader Tadej Pogačar was kept safe and present by his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates. The pair of Florian Vermeersch and Nils Politt combined to keep the breakaway’s gap at a manageable distance, and ensure Pogačar remained in control of the Yellow Jersey heading into this weekend’s mountain stages.
Tadej Pogacar will head into the weekend in yellow. Sirotti photo
Reflecting on their afternoons, both McNulty and Pogačar were content with how things had played out on the Tour’s longest day.
McNulty: “We had Tim and I in the final section, it was a smaller group and everybody was playing games. In the end, that’s kind of how it goes sometimes. I missed the move but two guys got away. Tim and I tried to work together to either get away or close the gap, but in the end they stayed away. Overall, it was still a good day for us.”
Pogačar: “It was a really tough day. It was fast and I am happy that it is over. You need to be quick with thinking and I think today we managed pretty well. With the riders, we spoke well and it was all good. Everything was quite under control today, and we knew it was going to be a tough day for us anyway, but in the end it played much better than I expected.
“I think it was even better for us that Tom [Pidcock] was in the front, because then other teams had to chase him in the end a bit. So we could sit on the wheels for the last 30km. Markstein [for stage 14] is a nice place, and I am looking forward to riding up again tomorrow.”
Frits Biesterbos left the Tour before the start of stage 13. Here's the update from his Team Picnic-PostNL:
New to the professional peloton in 2026, Frits Biesterbos impressed in the opening half of the season and earned a spot on Team Picnic PostNL’s Tour de France squad, making his dream a reality in Barcelona. Across twelve days of racing, he played an important role in the sprint successes. Frits will conclude his debut Tour ahead of stage 13, with his focus now shifting to the second half of the season.
Biesterbos said: “Getting the call to ride the Tour was something I’d dreamed of, so I embraced the opportunity with both hands. It’s been an incredible experience and I’m proud of the role I could play in our sprint results. I’ve learned an enormous amount over these twelve days, and I’ll take all of that into my next goals this season. I’m determined to be back here one day.”
Team Picnic PostNL coach Matt Winston added: “Frits has done a really good job in his first Tour de France. He’s not only been strong on the bike but he also brings a good atmosphere and positive energy to the group, so we’ll miss having him here. After yesterday’s stage we sat down together and agreed that this was the right moment, looking at his overall development and with a clear view to the future. Frits is an important part of our plans for the coming years and he’s been a real value to the team on the biggest stage.”
Content continues below the ads
Here's the Tour de France report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Contrary to popular belief, Ballon d’Alsace isn’t the first ever climb that the race tackled, but it’s the first big one that featured on the course of the Grande Boucle. It happened in 1905, when France’s René Pottier was the first to go over the top of what at the time was a long and arduous unsurfaced ascent which ended up playing a big role in the outcome of the 299km stage to Besançon.
This year, Ballon d’Alsace was visited for the 22nd time in the Tour de France’s history, and it proved to be a stern test for the breakaway riders, who had to overcome this 8.9km ascent averaging 6.9% in their quest for glory in Belfort. Eventually, the large leading group was reduced to just a dozen or so men, from which Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) took the win.
Soudal Quick-Step rider Tim Merlier signs autographs before the start of stage thirteen. Sirotti photo
The peloton, where Ilan Van Wilder got to spend a quiet day, arrived at the finish more than seven minutes later, and the 26-year-old Belgian remained Soudal Quick-Step’s best placed rider on the general classification ahead of Saturday’s draining stage to Le Markstein.
And here's the Tour report from Remco Evenepoel's Team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe:
Saturday marks the beginning of the block of stages that will decide the Tour de France. The race heads into the Vosges, offering German fans a unique opportunity to experience the Tour up close.
Located less than 20 kilometres from the German border, Mulhouse hosts the start of Saturday’s stage. It is not only the opening of the weekend but also the start of the Tour’s decisive phase. Two mountain stages, each featuring nearly 4,000 metres of climbing, kick off the final third of this year’s race.
Remco Evenepoel at the start of stage ten. Sirotti photo.
Now is the time for German fans:
For fans travelling from Germany, this is a weekend not to miss. With the Vosges closer than ever, there has rarely been a better chance to see Florian Lipowitz racing almost on home roads. At the same time, the weekend will feel like a home race for Nico Denz. Every fan lining the roadside can make a difference - now is the perfect time to support the team during the most important days of the Tour.
Two days that could reshape the General Classification:
Saturday features the iconic Vosges climbs of the Grand Ballon and the Montée du Haag before the summit finish at Le Markstein. On Sunday, the race already turns towards the Alps, taking on the steep Col de la Croisette before finishing atop the Plateau de Solaison—the climb that decided the Critérium du Dauphiné just a few weeks ago.
One thing is already clear: this weekend has the potential to completely reshape the general classification. With Remco Evenepoel sitting third overall and Florian Lipowitz in sixth, Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe has tactical options that very few teams can match.