Key events
Here is the stage route and profile of stage 13:
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Mountain individual time trial starts with Mattéo Vercher
The first rider, Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies), has rolled down the ramp in Loudenvielle to kick of today’s time trial stage. On TNT Sports, they’re excited about the “first true mountain time trial in 21 years”.
Stage 13: Loudenvielle to Peyragudes individual time trial, 11km
Here’s a look at today’s stage, Friday 18 July: Loudenvielle to Peyragudes individual time trial, 11km, with William Fotheringham’s preview:
Three kilometres of flat, eight straight uphill against the watch, culminating in a final kilometre at 16%. This is a day for the GC men, with absolutely no hiding or bluffing. Whoever wins here will have a very good chance of winning overall in Paris, so it’s a day for Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard to show exactly what they’ve got in the tank. For everyone else, it’s damage limitation.
Preamble
After an absolutely brutal day in the mountains yesterday, the Tour de France riders are in for a 10.9km individual time trial (ITT), complete with an 8km, category one climb with an average gradient of 7.9%. So, not your usual flat ITT.
Of course, all eyes will be on the GC contenders, namely Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) who is leading in the yellow jersey with a 2min 10sec gap on second placed Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
It could all go as expected – Pogačar gained substantial time on Vingegaard during stage five’s flat ITT – but today could also throw up some suprises. Away from the duelling duo, Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is 13secs behind Vingegaard, Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) is in fourth place and young Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL) has got pundits excited.
Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick-Step), Felix Gall (Decathlon-Ag2R La Mondiale), Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Cristián Rodríguez (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) round out the top 10 on GC.
Today’s stage will start at 1.10pm CEST (12.10pm BST) with the first rider, last placed Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies) rolling down the ramp, and is scheduled to wrap up after Pogačar takes his turn at about 5.05pm CEST (4.05pm BST). As always, get in touch with your predictions, questions and thoughts on today’s stage via the email linked above.
Here’s a recap of yesterday’s stage: