Stage 13 -- July 14: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Cap d'Agde, 217 km (134.8 mi)
So much for the sprinters having it easy by cruising through the majority of the stage, letting their teams pull in the lead break and then doing their big effort in the final meters once their leadout men pull to the side. That's a rarity in this Tour ... I mean, just look at the total stage wins by Mark Cavendish so far -- ONE. Today's looked like it might be one of those stages, but thanks to an ultra steep but short little climb not too far out from the finish, the peloton was splintered into pieces as the big GC-names came to the fore briefly, and Bradley Wiggins in his Yellow jersey even turned into a leadout man for Edvald Boasson Hagen, only for the big German, André Greipel, to prove he can survive a tough little climb if there's a victory to be had at the line. There was and it was his third and counting of this years Tour.
Only once has Greipel had to go through Cavendish in a dash for the line so far in his three victories, but you have to be there to win the sprint too, and right now Cavendish is either getting caught up in accidents, or unable to survive those nasty little climbs they are throwing in to really make the sprinters work for it. That Peter Sagan and Boasson Hagen were in the mix isn't a huge surprise, but seeing Greipel suddenly come through to hit the line first, was.
It's probably why Wiggins felt up for leading it out for Boasson Hagen. After that third category climb of the Mont Saint-Clair, 23 kilometers from the finish, the purest of sprinters should have been gone, and it should have been ideal for the likes of Hagen. In fact, had he not slightly overcooked the final bend, Wiggins might well have won it himself for he rolled back the years to his old persuit days and at one stage even put a bikes length between him and those following. It was a savage turn of speed but when he pulled over and Boasson Hagen came through there was the sudden emergence of one of those pure fast men in Greipel.
“It was very close,” acknowledged Greipel at the finish. “I was next to last over the climb. But the team worked great and brought me up to the front.”
It was a fine win on an exciting finish. Yes it is nice to see Cavendish do what he does best, but I think the fans much prefer to see a tricky little lump thrown in near the end to really test the riders and make them work for that victory. It only encourages the purest of sprinters to work on other aspects of their game if they aren't content to wait it out for Paris and the small handful of stages that have a flat run in on this 2012 Tour.
All the big favorites made it over safely as Cadel Evans forced the pressure briefly at the front. It had the potential for splits, but Sky had their heads on a swivel and had Wiggins and Froome near the front on the way up the picturesque climb on the edge of the Mediterranean. Evans's pressure up the climb was what destroyed the dream for the early break who must have been hoping to just survive the climb knowing they would have an easy run-in to the finish, but they had little more than a minute going onto the climb and that was always too close for comfort. Breakaway hero of the 2012 Tour, Michael Morkov, was once again in the mix but was caught near the summit and proceeded to blow. He came in with a large group 8-36 behind the hard working Greipel.
Tomorrow things get more challenging again. It's a run up to the line a sprinter might like, but what comes before it not even André Greipel or Edvald Boasson Hagen will survive on to be in the mix unless one of them attack very early and put forth the rides of their lives. Two hard category one climbs that must see those looking to dethrone Sky make a move. Time is ticking.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Sometimes it is just best to be in the front, it is best to do the effort in first position than further down the peloton in 20th, especially when there are chances of splits in the bunch. You have to pay attention to every single day, even a day like today because of the bends in the last 400 metres.” -- Brad Wiggins explains what he was doing at the head of the peloton through the final kilometer of the stage.
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FAKE TWEET OF THE DAY
@MarkCavendish That's what too many easy wins in past years will make an organizer do. You do know there was a road around that little climb, right?
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ABANDONMENT'S
Tony Gallopin of RadioShack went home due to an illness that he has suffered with for a large portion of this Tour.
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STAGE 13 RESULT
1. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol in 4-57-59
2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky
4. Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale
5. Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge
6. Simon Julien (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 13
1. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Sky in 59-32-32
2. Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky at 2-05
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 2-23
4. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing at 3-19
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto-Belisol at 4-48
6. Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Radioshack-Nissan at 6-15
