Lesson number 2, stage victory number 4: Tadej Pogacar dominates the mountain time trial in Peyragudes, inflicting heavy time losses on his rivals and further strengthening his position as the absolute king of the Grande Boucle. The Slovenian, leading from the first flat intermediate checkpoint, managed the situation and won convincingly today, putting 36 seconds into Jonas Vingegaard, who still delivered a solid performance. Roglic and Lipowitz finished third and fourth, while Remco Evenepoel struggled again, losing over two and a half minutes.

A deadly stage for the thirteenth day of the Tour de France. Today the Grand Boucle tackled the time trial from Loudenvielle to Peyragudes, a brutal 10.9 km entirely uphill with gradients reaching up to 16%. A truly challenging climb made even more difficult by high temperatures that reached 35°C. In the early part of the race, Australian time trial champion Luke Plapp (Liv Jayco Alula) set an excellent benchmark for subsequent riders.

When the top general classification riders hit the road, the situation dramatically changed, starting with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma Lease a Bike), but especially with Primoz Roglic (Red Bull Bora Hasngrohe) who delivered an excellent mountain time trial, ultimately securing third place. In the much-anticipated duel between Pogacar and Vingegaard, there was never any doubt. The Slovenian, unlike his direct rivals, opted for a traditional bike instead of a time trial bike, and increased his advantage kilometer after kilometer, managing to put 36" into the Danish rider. A day to forget for Remco Evenepoel, who collapsed 2'39" behind and now sees his third place in the general classification seriously threatened. Tadej Pogacar, increasingly solid in his yellow jersey, leads the classification with 4'07" over Jonas Vingegaard, 7'24" over Remco Evenepoel, and Florian Lipowitz at 7'30".

Pogacar's outstanding performance nearly sent several sprinters over the time limit, including Arnaud Demare, Tim Merlier, Biniam Girmay, and Luka Mezgec. They were "saved" by the jury's decision, made about an hour before the start, to extend the maximum time from winner's time + 33% to winner's time + 40%. No problems for Jonathan Milan, who was actually two minutes faster than his competitors.

Tomorrow the Tour will restart from Pau for the fourteenth stage. The group will pedal to Luchon Superbeagneres in what promises to be a challenging day, with 4 mountain passes, two of which are hors categorie.

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STAGE RESULTS

1 Pogacar Tadej UAE Team Emirates-XRG 00:23:00

2 Vingegaard Jonas Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 36

3 Roglic Primoz Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe + 01:20

4 Lipowitz Florian Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe + 01:56

5 Plapp Lucas Team Jayco-AlUla + 01:58

6 Jorgenson Matteo Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 02:03

7 Onley Oscar Team Picnic PostNL + 02:06

8 Yates Adam UAE Team Emirates-XRG + 02:15

9 Martinez Lenny Bahrain Victorious + 02:21

10 Gall Felix Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team + 02:22

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 Pogacar Tadej UAE Team Emirates-XRG 45:45:51

2 Vingegaard Jonas Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 04:07

3 Evenepoel Remco Soudal Quick-Step + 07:24

4 Lipowitz Florian Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe + 07:30

5 Onley Oscar Team Picnic PostNL + 08:11

6 Vauquelin Kévin ARKEA-B&B HOTELS + 08:15

7 Roglic Primoz Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe + 08:50

8 Johannessen Tobias Halland Uno-X Mobility + 10:36

9 Gall Felix Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team + 11:43

10 Jorgenson Matteo Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 14:15