The Tour heads into the Vosges.Stage 13 Review: if the heatwave is over, the Tour hasnt stopped sizzling. A break of five was away early and UAEs Nils Politt played the role of prison guard who refused to let anyone else escape, it suited his team to have a small move stay away. Only so many other riders and teams were desperate that a mob of 37 went clear, including Tom Pidcock, 10th overall at nearly 12 minutes down as the best placed rider overall.Jasper Philipsen was there and so Lidl-Trek chased but struggled to bring it back and gave up. Only for Mads Pedersen to move in person, towing a move of 20 across including Biniam Girmay so he could be there to contest the intermediate sprint.The front group swelled to 57 when the Pedersen counter move got across, also including three riders from Jayco to join Mauro Schmid. Bahrain led the peloton, chasing for Lenny Martinez who was one place ahead on GC with five minutes, notable because it suggests a GC bid for them.After Jasper Philipsen pipped Mads Pedersen for the intermediate sprint it was time for the climbers and baroudeurs to take over. Ben Healy had a go on the Col des Croix but was easily reeled in.Onto the Ballon dAlsace and while some riders traded moves, Thomas Voeckler on the moto for FranceTV was purring at the tactics of the Jayco team, cest magnifique he exclaimed as the Australian team were doing the tactical equivalent of a lullaby to pacify the move so that Michael Matthews could stay on, perhaps not great TV but Voeckler knows his tactics and how to win from a bad hand. But moves by Tom Pidcock, Maxim Van Gils and Kevin Vauquelin shook things up and Matthews lost 30 seconds over the climb and could not get back and by now nine riders crested the climb with Tim Wellens not far behind and able to make a group of 10.On the flat riders took turns to attack and it was Mauro Schmid and Harold Tejada who got away and took ten seconds. A small gap but enough as the pair had to commit while behind things started to get tactical with Luke Plapp able to help mark things for his Jayco team mate ahead. Vauquelin, McNulty, Pidcock made moves and in the streets of Belfort Wellens went clear and looked to be closing in as Schmid played poker in the final 1.5km but not taking any more turns. Wellens was swept up and the front duo sprinted for the win with it going to Schmid, avenging his loss to Jonas Abrahamsen in the avenues of Toulouse a year ago.Plapps delight at the finish was obvious and the team will be too as its their first World Tour win of the year (only Movistar and Picnic-PostNL left). But theyre also resigned to losing him to Swiss team Pinarello-Q36.5 which out-bid Groupama-FDJ.Pidcock got the combativity prize and is up to fourth but it was the stage win he wanted. A mistake by other teams to let him back into the GC race? Yes because even the risk is something Visma, Red Bull and Lidl-Trek wont want to face. After a lot of work to win the stage he could pay a day later with the steep summit finish to come, but if that happens hell have more space to aim for another stage so hes almost in a tails he wins, heads he wins scenario assuming he can get a result from either outcome in the days to come.After Stage 12 when Tim Merlier wasnt far off Sren Wrenskjolds fresh speed record, Stage 13 was even faster at 49.999km/h, the third fastest road stage despite a mountain on the way.The Route: 155km and 3,800m of vertical gain, plenty for a relatively short stage. Theres a 15km dash from Mulhouse via the vineyards to the foot of the Grand Ballon.Then 21km at 4.8% which sounds soft but its a climb in three parts, the first third with plenty of 7%, then a middle section that eases and descends, then the final third kicks up again with 7-9%. At the top theres a brief descent and then its along the Route des Crtes to pass through the finish line later and a long descent.The Col dOderen is a regular climb with gentle gradients. A brief descent and the Col du Page is very different, a forestry road thats narrow and kicks up to the pass but short. The descent is longer and on the same small road for a while before reaching civilisation of sorts in Larcenaire and some hairpin bends.Its up the Ballon dAlsace again, the same road as used on Stage 13 with its even slope all the way to the top. The descent is different, more irregular and ends with the hairpins below the Alfeld lake dam. From here theres a lull on the course, past Sewen to Masevaux on a regular road that barely descends.The Col de Hundsruck isnt a categorised climb but it counts for the efforts. Theres a steep start and some irregular moments in the first half, then even some cobbled moments in the village of Bourbach but decorative. The second half is more regular and followed by a fast descent with some tricky corners. Then comes 7km up the valley floor.The Finish: the new Col du Haag is described in more detail in a recent Roads to Ride post. For the race the steep start is notable, itll eject some. Theres a brief descent and then its onto the cycle path, an old forest road that has been rescued and repurposed into a car-free way to climb up and in the shade most of the way. The profile above doesnt quite look right, the Virage Hibou has a flat section before. Then as the profile shows it kicks up with double-digit gradients and a tricky hairpin as it emerges again on the Route des Crtes where theres six kilometres across to the finish in Le Markstein.The Contenders:Tadej Pogaar (UAE) is the obvious pick for a mountain stage. Only hes won at Le Markstein before and also he seemed tired in post-stage interviews, normal when someones ridden 200km at 50km/h but unusual for him but having mentioned this its not worth extrapolating much from it. He also said hes up for this stage and how itll be difficult for his rivals. If he doesnt go solo on the Haag he can win from a group. Isaac del Toro is a contender too.Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) faces another challenge, can he cope with the multiple climbs ending with a steep climb? If so his power suits for the finish. Meanwhile Florian Lipowitz doesnt live far away and presumably German fans will be out but hes always steady its hard to see the win.The breakaway has a decent chance today. UAEs Wellens and McNulty were in the break yesterday and raced for the win in the final hour and the likes of Nils Politt and Florian Vermeersch wont last long today which leaves few riders to pull for hours and they need numbers for Sundays Alpine stage too. Obvious picks are Richard Carapaz (EF Education-Easypost) who can go after mountains points and hope the stage win is within reach, likewise team mate Alex Baudin and both might need each other to help set the pace today.If he could chose Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quickstep) might prefer to win Stage 15 as its on his home roads but who gets to pick? Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X) is out of the GC race but capable of a result but has yet to take a World Tour win. Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos) finds terrain to suit, likewise Einer Rubio (Movistar).PogaarDel Toro, CarapazEvenepoel, Baudin, VP-P, THJ, Arensman, VingegaardWeather: sunshine and 22C with the risk of the clouds building into a thunderstorm. A 10km/h breeze from the west means a light tailwind off the Ballon dAlsace and a headwind in the finish which is more exposed.TV: KM0 is at 1.30pm and the finish is forecast for 5.40pm CEST.The post Tour de France Stage 14 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

Mauro Schmid is a rider who has had a tremendous spring this year, but hadn't been able to bring that form into his summer block. Today at the Tour de France, the Swiss rider returned to showing his best level, and has taken the biggest win of his career in Belfort after a tremendous collective perf...

Barring serious incident, illness or injury, it's incredibly likely Tadej Pogaar will win the 2026 Tour de France. There might be as many six more general classification days to come in eight stages, but with the form he has shown so far in this race, the strongest team here, and crucially 3:36 over second place, it feels rather inevitable.If he achieves this, then the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider will join an exclusive club of five-time Tour winners, equalling the record, alongside the greats: Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurin. Five five-time winners, it has a ring to it.There is one issue with this Lance Armstrong. The American 'won' seven titles between 1999 and 2005, titles that were later stripped from him after he was found to have used performance enhancing drugs through his career. Officially, no-one won those Tours, due to the whole era being tainted with doping.Therefore, officially, Pogaar will equal the record if he wins a fifth Tour in just over a week. However, unofficially, will he have broken the record? Armstrong, for his part, used his podcast The Move this week to press his case, which has never claimed to be an impartial space. "He knows damn well what the real record is," the Texan said, suggesting that Pogaar would go on to try and win seven.In his post-stage 13 press conference, the Slovenian addressed the question: "I got this question in the morning. I don't know, I can't say anything. I don't go for records, I just want to finish this Tour with yellow in Paris, that's the main focus."He has said he doesn't care about records before, but this is the same rider who is clearly trying to win Paris-Roubaix so he has won all five Monuments, who won Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Suisse this year on his quest to win every major stage race, who told L'quipe that he wants to be the best in history. Why would he be doing all of this if he didn't care about records?The Armstrong argument feels like a sideshow, particularly for a cyclist who was only six when he 'won' his last Tour, but it is interesting that Pogaar feels he "can't say anything" on the topic. Perhaps he will only be sated once he does break the unofficial as well as the official record; perhaps it doesn't matter which record he's going for, if this crushing form lasts.On that crushing form, the world champion seemed slightly irked when asked what he would say to his rivals who feel like they are now racing for second place."I don't know how to respond to that," Pogaar said. "If you go for only second place, then it's a pity. In a Grand Tour, when you have a strong team around you, there are so many possibilities, you have to hope for the best. That's my opinion."It is difficult to hope for the best when the race appears to be heading in only one direction. The weekend could be key, but it is difficult to see a scenario where he hasn't extended his lead by Sunday evening."It could be a day for a lot of attacks, it's a playground for that," he said of Saturday's stage 14, with its three first-category climbs. "I hope we can set a good pace that's good for us and not easy for the others. We will see. "Tomorrow will be a tough day, and we have to be prepared for any attacks from the contenders. It will be good to watch on the TV like every day."

The Tour de France is often shaped as much by survival as by strength. Across three weeks of racing from the Grand Dpart in Barcelona on 4 July to the final stage in Paris on 26 July, crashes, illness, heat, fatigue and withdrawals can quickly reshape the peloton, from nervous sprint stages and exp...

Tom Pidcock said hes back in the game at the Tour de France, after clawing back more than seven minutes from the breakaway on stage 13 and climbing to fourth overall. The Pinarello Q36.5 rider finished third on the stage to Belfort, attacking out of a front group that contained 57 riders a third of the entire peloton and finishing behind the tearaway leaders, Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), the latter of whom won the stage. Of course Im disappointed for the stage, Pidcock said afterwards. Im ambitious, I want to try and win, thats the main thing. But we take the positives. The biggest positive was a remarkable fight-back in the general classification. Having lost almost 10 minutes on stage six in the Pyrenees, Pidcock managed to propel himself from 10th to fourth, just nine seconds off Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) in third.There was even a moment during the stage when the live timings had Pidcock as virtual second overall. A repeat of his Vuelta a Espaa podium last year, he told the media post-stage, is now a real possibility. Its certainly good, he said. Im back in the game after the Tourmalet [on stage six]. In the Vuelta, I was getting better in the race. First week I was getting dropped, losing time. Its all to play for. Around 100m beyond the finish line in Belfort, Pidcock pulled up on his bike and stopped in front of his Pinarello Q36.5 soigneur, who placed a towel around his neck, as if toasting his ride with a wreath. The Briton then took a bottle of water and emptied it over his face, before he was rushed to the podium, where he received the days award for the most combative rider. I was close again, third again, but obviously we took a lot of time in GC and Ive got a gold number tomorrow [as the winner of the combativity award], he said. Im straight back in there with the podium fight, but I know realistically with the time trial Im going to lose a lot.Well see what the next days bring. Today obviously was a big day, but well take it day by day. Today we didnt really know exactly what we wanted or wanted out of it. In the end, we were in the break, going for the GC and the stage, so every day brings something new.The race goes deeper into the mountains this weekend, with a summit finish to Le Markstein on Saturday, and the races first hors catgorie finale on the Plateau de Solaison on Sunday. Following Mondays rest day, there will be a 26.1km time trial into Thonon-les-Bains, which counts a second-category climb and 500m of elevation within it. For sure a top-10 is very realistic now, Pidcock said of his GC prospects. I know for sure Im going to lose a lot of time in the time trial, so a podium is going to be difficult, but well see.

At the Tour de France, the racing does not always end at the finish line. Sprint deviations, sticky bottles, feeding breaches, littering fines, time penalties, yellow cards and relegations can all become part of the daily story, especially in a race where every stage result and jersey position is wa...

Only a fool would brush aside Tom Pidcocks chances.Thats the message from Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling after the Briton rode himself into contention as a potential Tour de France podium finisher following a gutsy ride on stage 13.The 26-year-old was the highest-placed GC rider in a huge 57-man break as the peloton headed away from central France and east into the mountains. Before the flag dropped, he was 11:49 down on the yellow jersey of Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and 7:43 adrift of Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) in third.Just over four hours of racing later, and after finishing third in Belfort, Pidcock had jumped from 10th to fourth overall, now sitting just nine seconds shy of Evenepoel. This weekend poses arguably the two toughest tests to date, with the Vosges mountains set to be the setting for high-stakes action which will almost certainly produce another reordering in the GC.As he proved at the 2025 Vuelta a Espaa when he finished third overall, Pidcock can climb in the high mountains and maintain his form in the last week of the race. So did the likes of Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe and Lidl-Trek make a needless mistake in letting Pidcock back into the podium picture?I dont think you should ever underestimate a double Olympic and double world champion, Doug Ryder, manager of Pinarello Q36.5, told Cycling Weekly. Hes a great rider and he showed last year at the Vuelta that he can sustain three weeks of high-level riding.Tomorrow is a tough day and weve got to see how he recovers from today. Hes not making things easy for himself as he likes to ride really hard, but well take it day by day, and see how he feels and how hes going.Its such a tough last week that you can easily lose 10 minutes in a stage you could lose 10 minutes on Sunday in Paris if your legs arent great so theres so much to race for. But thats cool.Pidcocks main goal on the road from Dole to Belfort was to win the stage, in what would have been first since he won at Alpe dHuez on debut at the 2022 Tour. He and his other breakaway companions were unable to bring eventual victor Mauro Schmid and Harold Tejada back into the fold in time, but Pidcock was still the days big winner.For sure Tom is disappointed he didnt win, Im sure of that, but in the end youre on a fine edge with both options. I dont think he did anything wrong in terms of going for a stage win, Ryder said.Im really happy for him because as a team we went all in today and they committed everything to go for a stage win. The bonuses that come with that are great for Tom and for our team.However the next eight stages play out, Pidcock will not change his approach. Whats lovely about him and our team is that were still creating excitement in this race and I think it brings another perspective and dimension into this race, Ryder added.And thats what I love about Tom: hes an impact rider and when he does something he does it with purpose, and thats pretty cool to see.

The Tour de France can be decided on the hardest days, but also on some that look less difficult. Although Tadej Pogacar didn't have to move and wasn't tested during today's 13th stage, the average speed of almost 50Km/h will in his opinion continue to build fatigue in everyone in the race, somethin...

Aero bikes, aero bikes everywhere This years scorchingly fast Tour de France is shaping up to be one of the quickest ever. But are bike brands struggling to keep pace with modern cyclings rapid racing revolution? We talked to Colnagos lead engineer about how the pelotons current crop is pushing their equipment to the limit

Despite just nine seconds separating Tom Pidcock from the Tour de France podium after stage 13, rival teams professed that they were not worried by his rise.After infiltrating the day's break, the Pinarello Q36.5 rider ended up gaining 7:34 on his general classification rivals, which moved him up to fourth. He's now seven seconds ahead of Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), 20 seconds ahead of Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), 29 seconds ahead of Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and seven seconds behind Remco Evenepoel (also Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) remains far ahead in the lead, obviously, and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is over 30 seconds ahead, but the GC has been shaken up. It could be enough to make other riders and teams uncomfortable. However, sports directors at both Red Bull and Lidl-Trek remained confident that giving up so much time to Pidcock, who finished third at the Vuelta a Espaa last year, would not hurt their chances overall. Asked if he was concerned, Red Bull's Patxi Villa said: "Not really. I mean, the effort of today will come tomorrow... What he did today was a move, you have to measure a bit what you do now. I believe that was a super ride, but I think there will be a cost, a bill will come. Not tomorrow, then sometime."Steven de Jongh, DS at Lidl-Trek, concurred. "That's not too worrying," he said. "The gap we gave to Pidcock is just minimal. I'm not underestimating him, but I think he had a different run-up to the Tour than he had to the Vuelta. Of course, you cannot exclude him, but I'm happy where we are now. It's a different picture, but for us it's still good."The key, according to both, is that both stages 14 and 15, plus the time trial on stage 16, will prove who the real podium contenders are. This weekend sees back-to-back mountain stages, with Saturday a battle in the Vosges, counting three category-one climbs, before the first hors catgorie summit finish of the race on Sunday, to the Plateau de Solaison. There follows the second rest day, after which there is a 26.1km individual time trial, potentially the weakest of Pidcock's suits."Tomorrow is a master stage, so to keep the team good, we just pulled when we had to," Villa explained. "When the gap goes a bit too much, it's too much... being together it's ok, but giving more time to a guy like Tom, that would not be comfortable. That's why we pulled the last 4km of the climb to the finish line. "It's a risk you take, but we wanted to keep the team together and as comfortable as possible, and we entered into the action when it was getting critical. Tomorrow will be a big fight, one of the biggest of the Tour probably. We are facing here one of the key moments of Tour. Tomorrow will give a pretty clear idea."De Jongh agreed: "The next two days are super hard, then the rest day and the TT, and things will change. Tomorrow is super hard, it's a full GC day, like Sunday is. It's a very hard stage, we reconned it and it's very hard."Pidcock's rivals might feel calm about their chances of overcoming the Pinarello rider in the rest of the race, but it does still seem like a mistake to give him this time that they will still have to fight to take back. The Tour moves on, and in 24 hours the top 10 could be changed again, but for now, the Briton's will feature more significantly in other teams' morning briefings.