Was stage 13 the calm before the storm for the general classification favourites? They let the breakaway riders take centre stage on the route to Belfort on Friday, via the Ballon d’Alsace – a legendary summit they will tackle again on Saturday. This time, the first major climb in the history of the Tour de France will be accompanied by three other great summits: the Grand Ballon, the Col du Page and the Col du Haag, leading to Fellering. The route presents a total of 3,800 metres of elevation gain and promises fireworks on roads that have already seen the greatest champions in history go head-to-head.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) recently got a revenge by winning at Le Lioran, where he had been beaten in 2024. He had already won at the Markstein in 2023, but back then he finished a distant runner-up in the overall standings. Three years on, he returns as the leader of the Tour de France, with the chance not only to equal André Leducq’s 25 stage wins – placing him fourth on the list of riders with the most Tour stage victories – but also to emulate Annemiek van Vleuten, who established her absolute dominance at Markstein during the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2022. In any case, the Slovenian can extend his lead over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who is 3’36” behind. The Dane has second place to defend and a score to settle with the Slovenian.
Every second will count in the battle for the podium. From second to tenth, Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates XRG), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) are all within… 2 minutes and 58 seconds of each other! The battle for the white jersey is just as intense, with Ayuso, Seixas, Del Toro and Martinez separated by 2 minutes and 12 seconds. At this rate, even the time bonuses awarded to the top three in each stage could prove decisive by the time the race reaches Paris. But first, there are some massive mountain passes to conquer.
