Slovenian defending champion Tadej Pogačar (left) and British fastman Mark Cavendish, the two brightest stars of this year’s Tour.
Benoit Tessier, Reuters
–
The attack on the record act of the Belgian legend was expected already on Thursday’s stage, but instead, soon after the start in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux, an escape was born, which finally decided the whole stage, almost 160 kilometers long. The triumph of life was celebrated by the German cyclist Nils Politt, who attacked on a hill 12 kilometers before the finish in Nimes. The favorite peloton suffered a major loss to the refugees for almost 16 minutes.
Politt’s victory improved the mood in the Bora-Hansgrohe team, which lost its Slovak star Peter Sagan before the start of the twelfth stage. The seven-time winner of the scoring competition withdrew from the race due to knee problems, which he injured during a spurt in the third stage.
Profile 13. etapy Tour de France.
Slovenian Tadej Pogačar, the defender of the championship, continues to lead the yellow jersey for the leading rider. The only Czech cyclist on the Tour, Petr Vakoč, loses more than two hours in 114th place overall.
– .
