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Greg van Avermaet Denies Peter Sagan Stage 13 in Rodez
Stage 13 looked to be set in the stone for Peter Sagan, but the Slovakian rider was denied the victory by Greg van Avermaet (BMC), in a spectacular sprint finish in de Saint-Pierre in Rodez today.
The Finale
The two riders were mano y mano at the conclusion of todays ‘s 195 kilometer stage from Muret to Rodez, but it was BMC’s van Avermaet who had more left in the tank after a stinging climb inside the final kilometer.
Indeed, Van Avermaet won by a mere bike length over Tinkoff-Saxo’s Sagan who took consolation in the fact that he extended his lead over Germany’s Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) in the green jersey points standings.
Meanwhile, Jan Bakelants of Ag2R-La Mondiale, took third place while race leader Chris Froome (Teak Sky) retained his yellow jersey when leading a group of the main favorites over the line for sixth place, seven seconds behind the winner.
Race Highlights
A six-man breakaway group lead the race over the day’s three lower-category climbs, at one point, building up a maximum lead of four-and-a-half minutes over the peloton.
However, the French duo of Pierre-Luc Périchon (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) and Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) were caught with 10km remaining, swiftly followed by Australian Nathan Haas (Cannondale-Garmin), who had riled his fellow escapees with a failed solo attack inside the final 25km.
Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Cyril Gautier (Europcar) and Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) continued to defy the onslaught of the peloton, until the very last kilometer, with the last man standing – Kelderman – swallowed up near the top of the 10% ramp ahead of the flat closing straight.
Sagan held van Avermaet’s wheel as the pair levelled out after the decisive uphill test. But van Avermaet proved the strongest in the two-man shootout as he kept his head down and never gave Sagan a glimpse at the win.
“It was really close. I went really early because last week at Le Havre [in stage five] I left it too late. I saw there was someone on my wheel so I just kept sprinting for the line,” said van Avermart after the first Tour stage win of his career.
Another successful day in the saddle for the yellow jersey saw Froome retain his 2:52 lead over American Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) in the general classification, with Colombian Nairo Quintana (Movistar) in third place at 3:09.
Stage 13 Results BEL 1 VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC RACING) 4:43:42 SVK 2 SAGAN, Peter (TINKOFF – SAXO) BEL 3 BAKELANTS, Jan (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 3 GER 4 DEGENKOLB, John (GIANT – ALPECIN) + 7 GER 5 MARTENS, Paul (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) GBR 6 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) ITA 7 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) ESP 8 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF – SAXO) ESP 9 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) USA 10 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) FRA 11 GALLOPIN, Tony (LOTTO SOUDAL) COL 12 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) NED 13 GESINK, Robert (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) GBR 14 THOMAS, Geraint (SKY) NED 15 MOLLEMA, Bauke (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 6 CZE 16 STYBAR, Zdenek (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 17 FRA 17 BARGUIL, Warren (GIANT – ALPECIN) AUS 18 MATTHEWS, Michael (ORICA GreenEDGE) SUI 19 FRANK, Mathias (IAM CYCLING) FRA 20 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) NED 21 KELDERMAN, Wilco (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) + 24 EST 22 KANGERT, Tanel (ASTANA) + 28 FRA 23 FONSECA, Armindo (BRETAGNE-SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT) ESP 24 HERRADA LOPEZ, José (MOVISTAR) BEL 25 PAUWELS, Serge (MTN – QHUBEKA) FRA 26 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 27 CHEREL, Mikael (AG2R LA MONDIALE) ESP 28 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING) FRA 29 GAUTIER, Cyril (EUROPCAR) + 37 BEL 30 DE GENDT, Thomas (LOTTO SOUDAL) NOR 31 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (MTN – QHUBEKA) USA 32 TALANSKY, Andrew (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) + 42 FRA 33 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ) COL 34 PANTANO, Jarlinson (IAM CYCLING) + 45 NOR 35 KRISTOFF, Alexander (KATUSHA) FRA 36 DEMARE, Arnaud (FDJ) + 47
General Classification after Stage 13 GBR 1 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) 51:34:21 USA 2 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 2:52 COL 3 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) + 3:09 ESP 4 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 3:58 GBR 5 THOMAS, Geraint (SKY) + 4:03 ESP 6 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF – SAXO) + 4:04 NED 7 GESINK, Robert (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) + 5:32 FRA 8 GALLOPIN, Tony (LOTTO SOUDAL) + 7:32 ITA 9 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) + 7:47 NED 10 MOLLEMA, Bauke (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 8:01
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