Some Late Climbs Should Spice Up on Stage 13
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Stage 13 of the 2024 Tour de France could go either way: on one hand, this is the one of the final chances for the Tour’s sprinters to win a stage. But on the other hand, it’s a stage that also suits a breakaway thanks to a hilly finale that could make it hard for the sprinters’ teams to chase down a group of strong puncheurs.
Date: Friday, July 12
Distance: 165.5km
Start location: Agen
Finish location: Pau
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Beginning in Agen, which hosts the Tour for the fifth time, the first two-thirds of this 165.5km-stage are rolling and technical. Things get even harder with about 50km to go thanks to a series of categorized and uncategorized hills as the race approaches the finish in Pau, the last stop before the Tour heads into the Pyrenees over the weekend.
After a fast start, a breakaway filled with strong rouleurs will certainly head up the road early in the stage, with Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility)–who enters the stage tied with Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) for the lead in Tour’s King of the Mountains competition–likely going on the attack to score the two points available on the two Category 4 climbs in the final hour of the stage. Abrahamsen has been the most prolific breakaway artist in this year’s Tour–he’s spent over 600km off the front of the peloton–and could add more mileage to his tally on Stage 13.
These late climbs should make it tough for the sprinters’ teams to chase down any escapees–especially now that Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), who won his third stage of the Tour on Thursday, has a commanding lead in the Tour’s green jersey competition and therefore won’t care about scoring more points at the Intermediate Sprint in Nogaro midway through the stage.
Then again, this is a relatively short stage and there are still several sprinters hoping to win in Pau. Aware of the challenges at the end of the day, their teams could let a group escape but pin it to a small gap, keeping the breakaway close so that it’s easier to catch at the end. The danger in this kind of approach lies in the fact that a second group of even stronger riders could spend much of the day riding tempo in the peloton before launching a late-race move of their own in the finale.
No matter what, expect an exciting battle between the breakaway and the peloton, with the sprinters’ teams needing to find a balance between setting a pace that’s high enough to keep an early breakaway close while still leaving enough left in their tanks to either prevent or chase down any late-stage attacks over that final series of climbs.
And they need to do it at a speed and intensity that’s not too high for their own sprinters to follow. It sounds like a tall order–and it is–but it’s stages like these that are often some of the most exciting of the Tour.
After Thursday’s sketchy finish in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, the GC teams might be more eager to let a smaller group escape to contest the finale in Pau. The run-in to the finish of Stage 13 isn’t as bad as it was at the end of Stage 12, but it still poses some threats with two pinch-points in the final 4km, a hard left-hander just before the red kite with 1km to go, and then two more bends inside the final kilometer. And it’s a downhill run-in to the line, so speeds will be high.
That’s why this is another stage with an extended “safe zone,” and riders who crash or have mechanicals within the final 5km will receive the same time as the stage winner. But as we saw with Slovenia’s Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) at the end of Stage 12, crashes can happen when you least expect them to–especially approaching the end of a sprint stage as the peloton speeds toward the finish line.
The weather is forecast to be cloudy and cool in Pau. Rain is expected in the morning, but the roads will hopefully be dry by the time the stage finishes later in the day.
Riders to Watch
With Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Intermarché-Wanty winning stages during the Tour’s first and second weeks, Uno-X Mobility is now the only team left in the 2024 Tour de France that has never won a stage. Of course, this is only the team’s second Tour de France, so there’s no pressure on the Norwegian wild card team–yet–but that doesn’t mean they’re any less eager to win one.
That’s why we’re expecting to see Denmark’s Magnus Cort go on the attack on Stage 13–perhaps alongside Abrahamsen, who would make a perfect breakaway partner. Cort’s a two-time Tour stage winner who excels on stages like this one. There’s a chance he’s saving himself the third week, but Stage 13 could be a perfect opportunity for the Dane.
We’re also keeping an eye on Slovenia’s Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious), one of the Tour’s other breakaway specialists. The three-time Tour stage winner has had a quiet Tour so far, but Stage 13’s punchy finale might lure him out of the peloton. The team lost Great Britain’s Fred Wright and Spain’s Pello Bilbao on Stages 11 and 12; winning Stage 13 would be the perfect way for the team to rebound after losing two of its best riders.
It’s also been a while since Movistar’s won a stage at the Tour, so don’t be surprised if they send Spainiards Oier Lazkano and/or Alex Aranburu up the road on Stage 13.
And in the event of the field sprint, Girmay is the hottest sprinter in the Tour, and he’ll have no issues with the stage’s hilly finale. Look for him to go head-to-head again with Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) if a big group comes to finish together in Pau.
How to Watch Stage 13 of the Tour de France
You can stream Stage 13 of the 2024 Tour de France on NBC’s Peacock ($5.99/month or $59.99/year). If you’re looking for ad-free coverage, you’ll need a subscription to Peacock Premium Plus, which runs $11.99 per month or $119.99 for the year.
Stage 13 could be one of the more exciting non-mountain stages of the Tour’s second week. The hilly part of the stage begins as the riders pass through the town of Madiran with about 50km to go–at about 10:25 a.m. EDT. We’ll be tuning in to watch the action unfold from there all the way through to the finish–at around 11:30 a.m. EDT.
How to Watch Stage 13 of the Tour de France in the Canada
If you live in Canada, you can catch all the action on FloBikes. An annual subscription will cost you $29.99/month or $150/year.
How to Watch Stage 13 of the Tour de France in the U.K.
UK viewers can watch the Tour de France on ITV4, Eurosport, and Discovery+.
A standard Discovery+ subscription, featuring Eurosport’s cycling coverage, costs £6.99 monthly or £59.99 annually. The premium subscription, which includes all this plus TNT Sports, is available for an extra £29.99 per month.
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