Michal Kwiatkowski of Ineos Grenadiers claimed a solo victory on stage 13 of the Tour de France, while Tadej Pogacar continued to put pressure on his rival, defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, by clawing back eight more seconds.
Kwiatkowski, a former world road race champion and a stage winner in the 2020 Tour, made his move 12km from the finish at the top of the Grand Colombier climb. He was the last survivor of the breakaway group that had fractured at the foot of the climb.
The 33-year-old rider admitted that his stage win came as a surprise. “Through the whole day I was thinking: ‘What am I doing here? What is my objective?’ So this win came completely unexpected,” Kwiatkowski said.
The anticipated battle between Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates and Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma was relatively subdued for most of the climb. However, in the final 500 meters, Pogacar launched an attack to gain bonus seconds.
Vingegaard had closely followed Pogacar’s wheel throughout the 17km climb, waiting for his opportunity. But when Pogacar made his move, the defending champion struggled to close the gap. Pogacar held off Vingegaard to the finish line, reducing the gap between them to just nine seconds.
Despite the narrowing gap, Vingegaard remains unfazed and confident in his abilities. “If I win, I win; if I don’t, then I don’t,” he said. He also emphasized that the race will not be decided by seconds alone.
For Kwiatkowski, the stage win marked a strong start to the upcoming mountain stages. “I had my worst day in this Tour on Thursday, riding at the back, really suffering. Today I had my best legs,” he shared.
As the breakaway group navigated the tight hairpin bends on the lower section of the climb, Kwiatkowski launched a solo attack to distance himself from the chasing peloton. He feared that the attacks from favorites like Pogacar and Vingegaard would accelerate the pursuit, but he managed to hold on and secure the victory.
Ineos Grenadiers also celebrated the performances of their young talents, Carlos Rodriguez and Tom Pidcock. Rodriguez sits in fourth place overall, while Pidcock is in eighth. The next two mountain stages will be crucial for their aspirations of a top-five finish.
Pidcock, who won on Alpe d’Huez on Bastille Day in 2022, expressed his admiration for Pogacar’s strength. “It’s a 17km climb and he just rode the end like it was a bunch sprint. I was probably doing 700 watts or something, so god knows what he was doing,” Pidcock said.
Kwiatkowski’s unexpected victory and Pogacar’s relentless pursuit of Vingegaard have added more excitement to the Tour de France, setting the stage for thrilling battles in the upcoming mountain stages.
How did Tadej Pogacar manage to gain an advantage over Jonas Vingegaard in Stage 13 of the Tour de France?
Stage 13 of the Tour de France. However, Pogacar managed to gain an advantage by reclaiming eight seconds from Vingegaard.
Michal Kwiatkowski, a former world road race champion and stage winner in last year’s Tour, took the victory on stage 13 with a solo effort. He made his decisive move 12km from the finish at the top of the challenging Grand Colombier climb. Kwiatkowski was the only survivor from the breakaway group that had fragmented at the foot of the climb.
Surprisingly, the 33-year-old cyclist confessed that his stage win caught him off guard. “Throughout the entire day, I was questioning myself, unsure of my objective,” Kwiatkowski revealed. “So this win came as a complete surprise.”
While there was an expectation of a fierce battle between Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates and defending champion Jonas Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma, the showdown on stage 13 was relatively quiet. Nonetheless, Pogacar managed to further assert his dominance by recouping eight seconds from his rival Vingegaard.
