Stage 13

The road

At the start

The first hors catégorie: Chamrousse

The Alps begin in earnest: 197 kilometres to Chamrousse over the little-known Col de Palaquit and then the long grind to the ski station, with stretches at twelve per cent — the first hors catégorie climb of this Tour. Vincenzo Nibali leads Richie Porte by 2:23 and Alejandro Valverde by 2:47, and three Frenchmen sit in the top eight. Somebody has to attack the yellow jersey today.

How it was won

1. 146 km to go

   De Marchi rides through the break

   Fourteen kilometres of new Alpine road in blistering heat. Dropped earlier, Alessandro De Marchi comes back through the shattered escape, passes Kadri and Bakelants and crests a minute clear of them, three ahead of the field.

2. 214 km to go

   The gap melts on Chamrousse

   What looked like a stage win drains away on the first hors catégorie climb of the Tour: the Italian is caught with 13.8km still to climb by a group already reduced to twenty.

3. 313 km to go

   Porte disappears

   Nibali's closest challenger on paper simply comes off the back, thirteen kilometres from the summit. The leaders glance around in disbelief looking for a Sky jersey that isn't there; Porte will finish the day outside the top ten.

4. 410 km to go

   Valverde's blow

   Pinot goes first and is marked; König and Majka slip clear; then Valverde unleashes a savage acceleration and only Nibali and Pinot can hold it as Rolland, Rui Costa, Horner and Rogers all fall away.

5. 56 km to go

   Nibali settles the Alps

   With 5.6 kilometres of Chamrousse left the yellow jersey attacks. Pinot and Valverde both try to follow; neither sees him again. Within a few hairpins he has bridged to König and Majka and ridden straight past them, and this Tour de France has stopped being a contest.

6. 6At the line

   Alone at Chamrousse

   Nibali takes his third stage of the race, Majka second, König third, and the yellow jersey's advantage becomes a chasm.

The result