With most of the top sprinters out of the Tour de France after punishing mountain treks, world champion Peter Sagan claimed a third stage victory at the Tour de France on Friday, winning the relatively flat 169.5-km ride from Bourg d’Oisans by a whisker.
With most of the top sprinters out of the Tour de France after punishing mountain treks, world champion Peter Sagan claimed a third stage victory at the Tour de France on Friday, winning the relatively flat 169.5-km ride from Bourg d’Oisans by a whisker.
Sprinters Fernando Gaviria of Colombia and Dylan Groenewegen of the Netherlands, winners of two stages each, abandoned the race during Thursday’s stage ending atop the iconic Alpe d’Huez, exhausted after an opening block of racing in extreme heat.
Slovak Sagan, however, went through the first three mountain stages with relative ease and had enough gas in the tank for the final effort in Valence, where he outsprinted Norway’s Alexander Kristoff and Frenchman Arnaud Demare into second and third place respectively.
"My team did an amazing job. I took Kristoff's wheel for the sprint," said Sagan.
Briton Geraint Thomas retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey after he and Team Sky mate Chris Froome were booed by the crowd before the start.
The overall standings remained unchanged at the top with Thomas leading defending champion Froome by one minute 39 seconds and Dutchman Tom Dumoulin by 1:50.
The stage went through Virille, once home to 1990 Tour King of the Mountains Thierry Claveyrolat, who committed suicide in 1999.
The peloton set off from Bourg d'Oisans without Vincenzo Nibali after the 2014 champion withdrew from the race following a crash apparently caused by a spectator in the climb up to l'Alpe d'Huez.
A four-man breakaway featuring New Zealand's Tom Scully, Swiss Michael Schar as well as Belgians Thomas De Gendt and Dimitri Claeys were kept on a tight leash by the main bunch.
Schar went solo with 25km remaining, but Demare's Groupama FDJ team accelerated in front of the peloton to set up a mass sprint, and it was a compact bunch five kms from the line.
In yet another incident affecting the race, a flare was thrown into the peloton with under 20kms left, but no riders were injured.
One kilometer from the finish, former world champion Philippe Gilbert jumped away from the speeding pack but came up short.
Demare launched a sprint 200 meters from the line, only for Sagan to come around and snatch his 11th career Tour victory and extend his lead in the points classification
1. Riding through the woods
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Cyclists ride through the French woods during the 13th stage of the Tour de France - AFP
2. Beating the dust
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France's Romain Bardet rides through the so-called "Dutch Corner" in the ascent to l'Alpe d'Huez - Reuters
3. Tour de France3
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The 175.5-km Stage 12 from Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs to Alpe d’Huez - July 19, 2018 - The breakaway in action on the Lacets de Montvernier. - Reuters
4. Flat track
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The 169.5-km Stage 13 from Bourg dOisans to Valence - July 20, 2018 - The peloton in action - Reuters
5. Riding through the magic corridor
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Riders pass by a forest that appears right out of a fairytale - Reuters
6. Horsing around
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The 169.5-km Stage 13 from Bourg dOisans to Valence - July 20, 2018 - A fan on a horse cheers on the riders - Reuters
7. The race continues
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Riders in full cycling mode during the 13th stage of the Tour De France - Reuters
8. In bloom
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Sunflowers dominate this image, even as cyclists can be seen racing in the background during the 13th stage of the Tour de France - Reuters
9. The moment before the green jersey
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BORA-Hansgrohe rider Peter Sagan of Slovakia celebrates on the podium, before receiving the green jersey
10. Tour de France10
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Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas of Britain celebrates on the podium, wearing the overall leaders yellow jersey
11. Full speed ahead
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Cyclists continue their quest during the 13th stage of the Tour de France - Reuters
