THE RACE LIVE

There has been no change to the top order of the general classification after today’s stage. Lance Armstrong finished 33rd with the same time as the stage winner, McEwen. The American Discovery Channel rider will wear the yellow jersey in stage 14.

Robbie McEwen has put himself back in contention for the green jersey. The Australian champion won the 13th stage after catching Horner and Chavanel with about 400m to go in the 173.5km stage.
The top 10 in the stage from Miramas to Montpellier is:
1. Robbie McEwen (Australia) DVL
2. Stuart O’Grady (Australia) COF
3. Fred Rodriguez (USA) DVL
4. Guido Trentin (USA) QST
5. Thor Hushovd (Norway) C.A
6. Anthony Geslin (France) BTL
7. Robert Forster (Germany) GST
8. Magnus Backstedt (Sweden) LIQ
9. Gianluca Bortolami (Italy) LAM
10. Chris Horner (USA) SDV

Robbie McEwen has beaten Stuart O’Grady and Fred Rodriguez to win the 13th stage of the 2005 Tour de France.

Chavanel and Horner were caught by the peloton with about 400m to go. McEwen has won the sprint to claim his third stage win in the 2005 Tour.

Chavanel continues to lead Horner but the bunch is breathing right down the next of the leading pair.

Chavanel led Horner under the 1km to go banner. They are 8" ahead of the peloton.

The peloton is now 10" behind Horner and Chavanel. There are just 2km to go in the stage. Chavanel caught Horner with 12km to go. The pair have led the stage from the 9km to go mark.

Horner and Chavanel are 3km from the finish. They have a lead of 14" on the peloton which is being led by George Hincapie of the Discovery Channel team.

Horner has been driving the pace of the escape on the streets of Montpellier. There are less than 4km to go in the stage and Chavanel and Horner lead the bunch by 15".

The peloton is now less than 5km from the finish. As it passed under the 5km to go banner it was 16" behind the two escapees.

Chavanel and Horner have a lead of 18" on the peloton which is now being led by three Discovery Channel riders (including Armstrong). There are just 5km to go in the stage.

Horner and Chavanel are 22" ahead of the peloton which has caught up with Da Cruz et al just 6.5km from the finish of the stage.

Horner and Chavanel are now 22" ahead of the six counter-attackers and 25" ahead of the peloton.

Two riders have attacked the peloton with 9km to go. Commesso (LAM) and Grivko (DOM) have caught up with Turpin, Da Cruz, Voeckler and Flecha.

Horner and Chavanel have an advantage of 14" over Flecha, Turpin, Voeckler and Da Cruz. The peloton is at 20".

With 9.5km to go, Horner and Chavanel lead the four other escapees by 8" and the peloton by 18".

Horner and Chavanel lead the four chasers by 8" with 10km to go.

Chavanel is leading the stage he has been chased down by Horner with 10km to go.

Thomas Voeckler is the latest rider to attack the lead group. He has been reeled in but now Chavanel is going again... the Cofidis rider has a lead of about 20m and Flecha is leading the pursuit with 10km to go.

Chavanel could not drop the five escapees. There are now six riders with a lead of 10" on the peloton.

There are six riders in front of the peloton with 12km to go. Chavanel has caught and passed the five escapees...

Sylvain Chavanel has attacked the peloton with 14km to go. He is just 9" behind the five escapees.

With the race now on the streets of Montpellier (the leaders are 15km from the finish), the Discovery Channel team has come to the front of the peloton which is now just 14" behind Da Cruz’s group.

The attack by the Lampre-Caffita rider has been reeled in by the Discovery Channel team. The peloton is now just 15" behind the five escapees.

The five escapees are now just 20" ahead of the peloton. A Lampre-Caffita rider has attacked with 16km to go.

The peloton has reeled in the latest attack and the Discovery Channel team is now at the head of the peloton.

There are four riders now on the attack at the front of the peloton. They are from the Domina Vacanze, Quickstep, Cofidis and Bouyges team.

Knaven has been caught by the peloton with 18km to go.

Da Cruz’s attack was quickly reeled in by his fellow escapees. The five who have been at the front of the stage since the 17km mark are still working together and have a lead of 38" with 17km to go.

The last 17.5km of today’s stage are in Montpellier. There are a lot of twists and turns in the last section of the stage and, with 2.5km to go, the road narrows from a wide two-lane road to one lane.

Servais Knaven has attacked the peloton. The winner in Bordeaux two years ago is now about 10" ahead of the bunch that’s being led by the Davitamon-Lotto team.

With the peloton just 35" behind the five escapees, the man who instigated today’s escape at the 17km mark, Da Cruz, has attacked the lead group.

Cruz, Voeckler, Turpin, Horner and Flecha are now just 35" ahead of the peloton.

Today is the 27th birthday of one of the T-Mobile riders in this year’s Tour, Stephan Schreck.

The Davitamon-Lotto team is currently driving the peloton in the hope of delivering their sprinter, the Australian champion Robbie McEwen to the line in first place. The last time a stage of the Tour concluded in Montpellier was in 1994. The winner was Rolf Sorensen, and Neil Stephens was second.

Cruz, Voeckler, Turpin, Horner and Flecha now just 50" ahead of the peloton which continues to be led by the Davitamon-Lotto team.

One of the riders in the lead group today, Chris Horner, missed out on making his Tour debut when he raced for the Francaise des Jeux team in 1998 because of a crash during the Midi-Libre stage race in May in the Languedoc-Roussillon region (where today’s stage concludes).

The average speed of the third hour is 43.5km/h. The average for the first three hours is 46.5km/h.

The peloton is now just 1’00" behind Cruz, Voeckler, Turpin, Horner and Flecha. There are about 35km to go in the 173.5km stage.

Cruz, Voeckler, Turpin, Horner and Flecha are now just 1’30" ahead of the peloton which continues to be led by riders from the Davitamon-Lotto team.

The leader of the youth classification at the start of the 13th stage, Alejandro Valverde abandoned his first Tour in the feedzone today. This means that two riders from Discovery Channel team will wear two of the four prize jerseys in the race tomorrow.
Lance Armstrong’s yellow jersey was never threatened today. And Yaroslav Popovych will be back in the white jersey as the leader of the youth classification.
The Ukranian’s leads Kazakstahn’s Andrey Kashechkin by just seven seconds in the Best Young Rider category.

This is the second stage of the Tour de France that Thor Hushovd has worn the green jersey. He led the points classification for two days last year, but on one of those days he was also in the lead of the general classification so he wore the yellow jersey instead.

Cruz, Voeckler, Turpin, Horner and Flecha have about 45km to go in the 13th stage. They are now 1’55" ahead of the peloton.

There are a lot of Norwegian fans at the site of today’s finish. There is an enormous Norwegian flag hanging from a building 70 meters from the finish line with ’Grimstad’ written on it in white letters. This is the home town of the rider who currently leads the points classification, Thor Hushovd.
The green jersey’s team, Credit Agricole, is now moving to the head of the peloton.

The leaders are 50km from Montpellier. They’ve been on the attack since the 17km mark. The peloton is now 2’00" behind the five escapees. If Cruz, Voeckler, Turpin, Horner or Flecha are going to winn the stage then they’re going to have to pick up the pace some time soon.
The bunch is closing in fast thanks to the efforts of the Davitamon-Lotto team which continues to set the pace.

The peloton is 2’15" behind the peloton at the 118km mark.

Cruz, Voeckler, Turpin, Horner and Flecha are now 2’30" ahead of the peloton with about 55km to go in the 173.5km stage.

Carlos Da Cruz instigated today’s escape at the 17km mark. He’s never won a stage of the Tour before but he’s come close. In Saint-Maxient l’Ecole at the end of the 18th stage in 2003, the Francaise des Jeux rider was beaten by a fellow escapee, Pablo Lastras.
The average speed of that 203.5km stage was 49.938, the second fastest road stage in the history of the Tour.
Da Cruz was part of a 16-man escape group that finished 24’05" ahead of the peloton.

There have been no attacks in the lead group since they escaped the peloton at the 17km mark. Cruz, Voeckler, Turpin, Horner and Flecha are cooperating in the escape but they have not been able to hold off the peloton since the Davitamon-Lotto and Lampre-Caffita teams began chasing after an hour of racing.
After reaching a maximum gain of 9’20", the five escapees are now just 3’05" ahead of the bunch.

The peloton is now 3’10" behind Cruz, Voeckler, Turpin, Horner and Flecha.

The peloton has 67km to race before reaching Montpellier. The Davitamon-Lotto and Lampre-Caffita teams are still leading the pursuit of the five escapees who are now 3’30" ahead.

The peloton is now 3’40" behind the five escapees - Da Cruz, Voeckler, Turpin, Horner and Flecha.

The 161 riders still in the Tour represent 25 nations. The 92nd Tour began with riders from 28 countries.
Below is a summary of who abandoned when.
29 - Spain (Constantino Zaballa abandoned during stage five; Isaac Galvez abandoned during stage eight; Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano and Jose Angel Gomez both abandoned with injuries sustained in crashes in stage nine; Manuel Beltran abandoned during stage 12; Alejandro Valverde abandoned during stage 13).
26 - France (Mengin did not start stage eight; Sylvain Calzati abandoned during stage eight; Jean-Patrick Nazon abandoned during stage 11; Nicolas Fritsch abandoned during stage 12)
22 - Italy (Claudio Corioni abandoned during stage six; Alessandro Spezialetti did not finish stage seven; Dario Frigo did not start stage 11; Stefano Zanini abandoned during stage 11; Angelo Furlan abandoned during stage 12).
15 - Germany (Jens Voigt finished outside the time limit in stage 11)
10 - Australia
9 – Belgium (Kevin Hulsmans finished outside the time limit in stage 11; Tom Boonen did not start stage 12)
8 - USA (Dave Zabriskie abandoned during stage nine)
8 - The Netherlands (Van Bon Abandoned during stage eight)
6 – Switzerland (Steve Zampieri abandonded during stage seven).
4 - Ukraine (Honchar did not start start eight)
3 - Austria (Gerrit Glomser abandoned during stage 10); Kazakstahn and Sweden
2 – Denmark, Norway and Russia (Evgeni Petrov did not start stage 10).
1 – Estonian (Kirsipuu abandoned during stage nine); Colombia, Finland, Hungary, Uzbekstahn, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Venezuela
0 – Brazil (Luciano Pagliarini abandoned during stage nine); Luxembourg (Kim Kirchen abandoned during the 11th stage); South Africa (Robbie Hunter abandoned during stage 12)

The peloton has just past the site of the 2nd intermediate sprint in Moussac (at the 96km mark). Davitamon-Lotto and Lampre-Caffita continue to set the pace of the chase. They are 4’00" behind the five escapees.

The average speed for the 2nd hour of racing in stage 13 is 45.2km/h. The average for the first two hours is 48.1km/h.

The points for the 2nd intermediate sprint of stage 13 were won by:
1. Juan Antonio Flecha (FAS) 6pts
2. Carlos Da Cruz (FDJ) 4pts
3. Chris Horner (SDV) 2pts

Da Cruz, Voeckler, Turpin, Flecha and Horner are near the site of the second intermediate sprint (in Moussac at the 96km mark).

The peloton is 4’20" behind the five escapees at the 91km mark.

Cruz, Turpin, Voeckler, Flecha and Horner are now 4’35" ahead of the peloton.

Contrary to a previous newsflash, we can report that the maximum gain of Cruz, Turpin, Voeckler, Flecha and Horner over the peloton was 9’20". This time was taken when the escapees were at the 50km mark.

The Davitamon-Lotto and Lampre-Caffita teams are leading the peloton’s pursuit of the five escapees. The bunch is now 5’00" behind Cruz, Turpin, Voeckler, Flecha and Horner.

The maximum gain of the five escapees was 8’50" at the 39km mark. Cruz, Turpin, Voeckler, Flecha and Horner are now 5’40" ahead of the peloton that’s being led by riders from the Davitamon-Lotto team.

With the peloton at the 80km mark, the deficit to the five escapees is 5’40".

The retirement of Valverde means that there are now 161 riders still in the race.

The winner of the stage to Courchevel has just abandoned the Tour de France. He has been ill for the past couple of days. He stepped into the Illes Balears team car in the feedzone.

Valverde has been at the back of the peloton for most of the stage. The leader of the Best Young Rider classification is about to abandon his first Tour de France.

The five escapees are currently in Uzes at the 78km mark. Da Cruz, Turpin, Voeckler, Flecha and Horner are 6’00" ahead of the peloton.

There are 100km still to go in the 13th stage. Here is a reminder of the riders who escaped the peloton at the 17km mark (and currently lead the peloton by about 6’30"):
Carlos Da Cruz (France - FDJ)
Juan Antonio Flecha (Spain - FAS)
Chris Horner (USA - SDV)
Ludovic Turpic (France - A2R)
Thomas Voeckler (France - BTL)

The peloton is still being led by Robbie McEwen’s Davitamon-Lotto team. This bunch is 6’40" behind the five escapees.

Today is the 26th time that a stage of the Tour de France has concluded in Montpellier. The last winner in this city in the Herault department was Denmark’s Rolf Sorensen.

With the peloton at the 58.5km point of today’s 173.5km stage, it is 7’10" behind the five escapees.

Of the five riders who are in today’s escape group, one has previously won a stage of the Tour de France.
Juan Antonio Flecha won the stage to Toulouse in 2003 while riding for the iBanesto team. In fifth place on that day was the man who instigated today’s escape, Carlos Da Cruz (FDJ).

The peloton is being led by the Davitamon-Lotto and Lampre-Caffita teams. The advantage of the five escapees has dropped from 8’50" at the 39km mark to 7’35" after one hour and 10 minutes of racing.

The peloton appears interested in chasing down the five escapees. With the advantage of Da Cruz’s quintet up to 8’45" the Davitamon-Lotto and Lampre-Caffita teams have come to the front of the bunch which is now strung out in one long line because of the rapid pace.

The peloton has had the benefit of a tailwind in the first hour of today’s stage. The average speed was 51.0km/h.

The last time a stage between the Pyrenees and the Alps (or vice-versa) concluded with a bunch sprint was in stage 12 of the 1998 race.
The winner of the stage from Tarascon-sur-Ariège to Le Cap d’Agde was Tom Steels.
This was at the end of a day that included a brief strike/protest by riders early in the stage. Once the racing began again, the two Jalabert brothers were involved in an escape. They were caught by the peloton the day that the stage was raced at an average speed of 48.764km/h - the fifth fastest non time trial stage in the history of the Tour.

Further to the previous flash, here is a summary of the winners of the stages located between the major mountain passes of the Tour (ie. the Pyrenees and the Alps) since the beginning of the ’Armstrong Era’. All have been won by riders who have escaped the peloton. (The information below includes the stage winner and the deficit of the peloton at the end of the stage.)

1999
Stage 12 – Saint-Galmier to Saint-Flour: 1st David Etxebarria (peloton at 12’35”)
Stage 13 – Saint-Flour to Albi: 1st Salvatore Commesso (peloton at 22’24”)
Stage 14 – Castres to Saint-Gaudens: 1st Dmitri Konyshev (peloton at 13’27”)
2000
Stage 11 – Bagnere de Bigorre to Revel: 1st Erik Dekker (peloton at 5’05”)
Stage 13 – Avignon to Draguignan: 1st Vincente Garcia Acosta (peloton at 4’00”)
2001
There were no stages between the mountain ranges. Instead it was a transfer after the climbing time trial to Chamrousse in stage 11, followed a mountain stage in the Pyrenees.
2002
Stage 13 – Lavelanet to Bezier: 1st David Millar (peloton at 9’56”)
2003
Stage 10 – Gap to Marseille: 1st Jakob Piil (peloton at 21’23”)
Stage 11 – Narbonne to Toulouse: 1st Juan Antonio Flecha (peloton at 42”)
2004
Stage 14 – Carcassone to Nimes: 1st Aitor Gonzalez (peloton at 14’12”)

Since the beginning of the ’Armstrong Era’ (ie. when the American first won the Tour de France) none of the intermediate stages between the Alps and the Pyrenees (or vice-versa) have concluded with a bunch sprint.
Many pundits suggested that the close battle for the green jersey after Tom Boonen’s retirement yesterday would prompt the sprint teams to try and keep the race together today.
That appears unlikely as at the 39km mark, the peloton was already 8’50" behind the five escapees.

The five escapees are at the 41km mark. They have a lead on the peloton of 7’15".

The peloton is now 7’15" behind Da Cruz (FDJ), Flecha (FAS), Horner (SDV), Vockler (BTL) and Turpin (A2R).

Da Cruz (FDJ), Flecha (FAS), Horner (SDV), Vockler (BTL) and Turpin (A2R) are now 5’20" ahead of the peloton. Yessiree, this is the escape of the day... the questions are: how far will this quintet be allowed to go? And will they stay ahead of the peloton all the way to Montpellier on this hot day of racing?

Robbie McEwen has just gone to the rear of the peloton to consult the race doctor. No reason has been given.

The peloton was 3’20" behind the five escapees as it crested the Col de la Vayede (at the 26.5km mark).

The points for the Col de la Vayede (at the 26.5km mark) were won by:
1. Chris Horner (SDV) 3pts
2. Carlos Da Cruz (FDJ) 2pts
3. Ludovic Turpin (A2R) 1pt

The peloton is now 2’05" behind the five escapees.

It seems as though Flecha, Voeckler, Horner, Turpin and Da Cruz have been given the green light by the peloton to continue with the escape that they began at the 17km mark. The bunch doesn’t seem too interested in chasing the five escapees down. They are currently 1’35" ahead. The best placed in the general classification of the five in the lead of stage 13 is Horner (SDV). He began the stage in 29th place overall (15’22" behind Armstrong).

The five escapees are now 1’35" ahead of the peloton that’s being led by the Discovery Channel team.

Lance Armstrong (DSC) wears the yellow jersey as the leader of the general classification. The six-time Tour champion is currently 38” ahead of Mickael Rasmussen (RAB) and 2’34” ahead of Christophe Moreau (C.A).
Thor Hushovd (C.A) wears the green jersey for the first time this year. He inherited the lead in the points classification after Tom Boonen’s retirement before the start of stage 12. The Norwegian has 142pts, 22 more than Stuart O’Grady (COF) and 35 more than Robbie McEwen (DVL).
Rasmussen wears the polka-dot jersey as the leader of the mountains classification. He has 160pts, 71 more than Moreau and 72 more than Santiago Botero (PHO).
Alejandro Valverde (IBA) wears the white jersey as the leader of the youth classification. The winner of stage to Courchevel has a lead of 3’09” on the former leader of the young rider category, Yaroslav Popovych (DSC).

The five escapees had a lead of 1’15" at the site of the first intermediate sprint (at the 22km mark). The points in Maussane-les-Alpilles were won by:
1. Thomas Voeckler (BTL) 6pts
2. Carlos Da Cruz (FDJ) 4pts
3. Ludovic Turpin (A2R) 2pts

Juan Antonio Flecha (Spain - FAS), Chris Horner (USA - SDV), Carlos Da Cruz (France - FDJ), Ludovic Turpin (France - AG2R) and Thomas Voeckler (France - BTL) lead the peloton by 36" at the 19.5km mark.

Five riders have established an escape group at the 17km mark. Da Cruz (FDJ) began the move. He was joined by Flecha (FAS), Horner (SDV), Voeckler (BTL) and Turpin (A2R). They lead the bunch by 25".

The peloton is currently at the 17km mark. There is a small group of riders trying to break free of the bunch but that’s been the case for most of the stage so far. The peloton is chasing down anything that moves.

The bunch is all together at the 12.5km mark. The first sprint is due in less than 10km.

Since the capture of Lang and Quinziato there have been a number of attacks but none have been successful enough to warrant a time check. The Discovery Channel team is currently at the head of the peloton.

The peloton has caught the two riders who escaped at the 2km mark. The pace of the race is extremely rapid early in stage 13. The bunch is now at the 9km mark.

The peloton is at the 8km mark. The last time check for the two escapees - Quinziato and Lang - was 10".

Juan Antonio Flecha has recently attempted an escape but he has been reeled in by the peloton.

The sun is shining brightly in the south of France today. The temperature is so hot that the bitumen is sticky at the 80km mark. The organizers have arranged for the road to be hosed down at this point to minimize the risk of problems as the peloton passes that site.

The 13th stage will be raced in hot conditions. The temperature at the start in Miramas early this afternoon was 31 degrees Celsius in the air and 42 degrees at road level.

Quinziato and Lang lead the peloton by 15" after starting their escape at the 2km mark.

Two riders have attacked the peloton at the 2km mark. They are Manuel Quinziato (SDV) and Sebastian Lang (GST).

The flag has fallen to signal the official start of the 13th stage at 1.30pm. There are 162 riders still in the race with no overnight withdrawals.

There is one small climb in stage 13. It’s a category-four ascent with points awarded to the first three riders at the top. The Col de la Vayede is at the 26.5km mark.

We can expect to see three teams controlling the peloton in the first 22km of today’s stage. Credit Agricole, Cofidis and Davitamon-Lotto will surely try and minimize the chance of attacks on the approach to the site of the first intermediate sprint because Thor Hushovd, Stuart O’Grady and Robbie McEwen are all still in contention for the green jersey.
The first intermediate sprint of stage 13 is in Maussane-Les-Alpilles after 22km of racing.
The second sprint with 6, 4 and 2 points on offer for the first three riders at the line, is in Moussac at the 96km mark.