Leaving with the breakaway of the day, the Polish Michal Kwiatkowski flew 11 km from the summit to seek his second victory on the Grande Boucle. Attacked in the last meters by the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, the Dane Jonas Vingegaard retains the yellow jersey.
Published on: 07/14/2023 – 18:19
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The Polish Michal Kwiatkowski won the 13th stage of the Tour de France by winning alone, Friday July 14, at the top of the Grand Colombier, where Tadej Pogacar grabbed eight seconds on the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard.
Leaving with the breakaway of the day, the Ineos rider flew 11 km from the summit to seek his second victory on the Grande Boucle with 47 seconds ahead of the Belgian Maxim Van Gils and 50 over Tadej Pogacar.
Attacking with 500 meters to go, Pogacar edged Danish rival Jonas Vingegaard by four seconds, as his UAE team led the field throughout the day.
With the four bonus seconds reserved for the third of the stage, the Slovenian is nine seconds behind the Dane in the general classification, on the eve of the first alpine stage.
“A completely crazy experience”
The French failed to shine on this national holiday and all lost time on the leaders, whether Romain Bardet or Thibaut Pinot, far behind, but also David Gaudu, 16th in the stage at almost a minute from Pogacar.
Kwiatkowski and the twenty other breakaways had a lead of almost four minutes at the foot of the Grand Colombier, a non-category pass in the Jura representing one of the most difficult climbs in France with its 17.4 km at 7.1% of mean.
In the furnace, with more than 30 degrees in the shade, the 33-year-old Pole managed to break away 11 km from the goal in the “pyramid of Bugey” invaded by particularly enthusiastic spectators.
“It was a completely crazy experience. Without the public, I would not have won. They pushed me to the top”, commented the 2014 world champion, who had already won the Tour in 2020, at La Roche-sur-Foron, ahead of his teammate Richard Carapaz. “I was able to savor this time,” he added.
With AFP
