Tour de France 2017: Stage 13 Recap (Saint-Girons - Foix)





Warren Barguil (Team Sunweb) was able to conquer the mountains on a short Stage 13 route, as the French rider took home a stage victory in the Pyrenees Mountains on Bastille Day in France.

 Barguil and Direct Energie rider Thomas Voeckler were the first to attack on the day, however the duo were quickly pulled back in before the day's only intermediate sprint in the village of Seix.

As the peloton approached Seix, the Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) and Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie) set the pace, as Chavanel beat out Gilbert to the line to take the day's intermediate sprint title and 20 points towards the green jersey.

Once the lead group had passed through Seix, they soon reached the foot of the Col de Latrape, 25 kilometer into the stage.

3 kilometers into the lead group of ten riders, Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) decided to make his move as he broke off from the front of the pack.

Philippe Gilbert and Sylvain Chavanel attempted to match De Marchi's surge, but could not hold their response and were once again brought back into the group.

De Marchi would be able to hang on through the ascent and reach the summit of the Col de Latrape in first, taking 10 points in the King of the Mountains race, while current King of the Mountains, Warren Barguil, reached the top second to take 8 points, followed by Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo).

On the second climb of the day, up the Col d'Agnes, Contador put in his attack and was followed closely by Mikel Landa (Team Sky).

A response was soon put in by a four-rider group made up of Warren Barguil, Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), and Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R La Mondiale), as they looked to catch the two man lead group.

Contador was the first rider to the summit of the Col d'Agnes, with Landa on his wheel summiting second.

30 seconds later Barguil reached the top, along with Quintana and Kwiatkowski, as Vuillermoz trailed 10 seconds behind the three-man chase pack.

As the leader made their way to the start of their ascent up the Mur de Peguere, Contador and Landa held on to their lead, as Barguil, Kwiatkowski, and Quintana followed 30'' back.

Kwiatkowski was the first rider dropped on the climb, and Barguil and Quintana caught Contador and Landa less than a kilometer from the summit.

Barguil would prevail on the climb in the new lead pack of four riders, followed by Landa, Contador, and Quintana.

On the descent, the breakaway group held on to a 2' lead on the chase pack, which included yellow jersey holder Fabio Aru (Astana) along with top five general classification contenders Chris Froome (Team Sky), Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac), and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale).

With 5 kilometers to the finish, Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) put in a gutsy attack, and was joined by Orica-Scott rider, and white jersey holder as leader of the best young rider classification, Simon Yates.

After hairpin turn into the finish line in Foix with 200 meters to go, Barguil smoothly pulled away from Quintana and Contador, taking home a stage victory for himself, AG2R La Mondiale, and France on the nationally significant Bastille Day.

The top five finishers on Stage 13, from first to fifth, were Warren Barguil, Nairo Quintana, Alberto Contador, Mikel Landa, and Simon Yates.

No jerseys changed hands after Stage 13, as Fabio Aru will remain 6'' ahead of Chris Froome in the general classification standings, Marcel Kittel will keep his comfortable lead in the points classification, Warren Barguil cushioned his place atop the mountains classification, Simon Yates added 9'' to his lead over Louis Meintjes as best young rider, and Team Sky remained as the best overall team ahead of AG2R La Mondiale.

Stage 14 will cover 181.5 kilometers, beginning in the suburban town of Blagnac, outside the city of Toulouse, and finishing northeast of Toulouse in the small city of Rodez.

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