BELFORT – Swiss rider Mauro Schmid edged Colombian Harold Tejada in a two-way sprint to win the 13th stage of the Tour de France, while defending champion Tadej Pogacar safely kept his overall lead on Friday.
With several riders closing in behind them, Schmid made the decisive move with 200 meters left and held off Tejada before lifting his front wheel at the line in celebration. Olympic mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock finished just behind in third.
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Pogacar's yellow jersey group cruised in a few minutes later as the high temperatures of recent heat waves finally dropped.
Four-time Tour champion Pogacar remains 3 minutes, 36 seconds ahead of two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard in the overall standings, and 4:06 ahead of Remco Evenepoel in third place. Pidcock climbed up to fourth at 4:15 behind Pogacar.
Stage 13 was the longest of this year’s race at 206 kilometers (128 miles) and featured a sharp nine-kilometer Category 1 climb — the second-hardest climbing category — up Ballon d’Alsace. Schmid won in just over four hours.
A large group of riders formed at the front at the foot of the big climb, with Pogacar's yellow jersey group not contesting the stage win. The group was whittled down on the descent toward the finish in the northeast city of Belfort, and became a two-way duel to the line.
Saturday's 14th stage is a mountain stage with three big climbs in the Alsace region and ending at Le Markstein ski resort.
The race concludes with its traditional finish in Paris on July 26. ___
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