Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) won stage 13 as part of a breakaway. Together with Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) the pair broke away from a larger group on the descent from the Ballon d’Alsace. The pair held onto the lead right up to the finish line, where the Swiss rider wheelie over the line for the victory.
Tom Pidcock finished third, winning the sprint of the breakaway riders. The Briton would have liked to claimed the stage victory, he was still among the day’s winners. He made a huge leap forward in the general classification to fourth place.
“I was thinking a lot about the stage, but the clim was not difficult enough to make the difference, and then we came to the finish with some guys and it was really difficult to control there by myself. Third is frustrating but it was also very positive day we take everything from that.”
-Tom Pidcock
“I started to cramp up a little bit with 4K to go, so I got a little bit worried, so I stayed at the back with 2k to go and hoped he would go from the front. But then at some point he forced me to the first position - I think I launched it a bit late, and in the first 50 meters, I thought maybe it’s the same like last year. But when I saw the finish line, I found my legs again and just went for it.”
-Mauro Schmid
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