The decisive attack at just the right moment. In the day of the major breakaway, it is Mauro Schmid who claims victory. The Swiss rider triumphed in the thirteenth stage of the 2026 Tour de France, the Dole-Belfort route of 205.8km: decisive was his late attack to catch Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) in a two-man sprint, with Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), the day's favorite, left to rue his third-place finish. Consolation came with the award for most combative rider, but above all with an enormous leap in the general classification: the British rider is now in fourth position, 4'15" behind Tadej Pogacar. A relatively quiet day for the overall contenders, who finished 7'32" down. But tomorrow it's back to serious business.

THE RACE. It was supposed to be a breakaway day, but it turned out to be a day of attacks and counterattacks. The first escapees were Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost), Michal Kwiatkowski (Netcompany Ineos), Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step), Georg Zimmermann (Lotto Intermarchè), and Alex Kirsch (Cofidis), but after 30 kilometers the peloton regrouped. As the kilometers passed, a group of 37 escapees – including Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin - Premier Tech) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – built up a significant advantage, triggering an exhausting chase from Mads Pedersen and the green jersey group. At 90km the reunion occurred with 57 riders at the front, awaiting the intermediate sprint at Mélisey, located 68km from the finish. Philipsen won it, the Belgian outpacing Pedersen, his main rival for the green jersey.

For the overall contenders it was a quiet day. Pogacar's UAE Team controlled the race while allowing the breakaway riders space, with the leading group gaining up to 9 minutes. On the first climb, the Col des Croix, the front group remained compact but was reduced from 57 to 34 riders. The decisive moment came at the first-category climb, the Ballon d'Alsace – the Tour's oldest ascent – where attacks and counterattacks were launched to try to win the stage. Ten riders gained 33": Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies), Brandon McNulty and Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team), Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany INEOS), Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama - FDJ United), Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), Mauro Schmid and Luke Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla) attempted to gain ground on the final descent, with the British rider trying to control his direct rivals from a distance.

The breakaway was decided by the counterattack orchestrated by the Schmid-Tejada duo, the two gained approximately 20", and even hesitations 200 meters from the finish line couldn't allow the chasers to close the gap: the Swiss rider calculated everything to the millimeter, winning his 14th career victory. "I can't believe it," he said at the finish line, "it was an extremely hard day. We tried hard over the last two or three days, everything went according to plan, we went all out for the entire day." Tomorrow it's back to climbing with the fourteenth stage, the Mulhouse - Le Markstein Fellering, 155km with 3,800 meters of elevation gain.

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STAGE RESULTS

1. Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) in 4h06'58"

2. Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) st

3. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) at 2"

4. Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) st

5. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) st

6. Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany INEOS) st

7. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) st

8. Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama - FDJ United) st

9. Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) st

10. Luke Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla) at 11"

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) 47h18'31"

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma Lease a Bike) +3'36"

3. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4'06"

4. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) +4'15"

5. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) +4'22"

6. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) +4'35"

7. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4'44"

8. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG) +5'08"

9. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +5'45"

10. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) +6'34"