Stage 13 found the peloton in the predicament of deciding whether they wanted to mow down the stage like they had done the previous two days, or let a breakaway take the win.
The only thing standing in their way was the large Ballon d’Alsace and its descent at the end of the stage.
To everyone’s surprise, there ended up being a 57 man breakaway.
The intermittent sprint was one for the ages as Mads Pedersen, Biniam Girmay, and Jasper Philipson were led out by one of Philipson’s teammates. Philipson outlasted both of them while Petersen scored a photo finish for second over Girmay.
As the breakaway seemed to pull further away, the only GC contender in the front pack was Tom Pidcock, the former Ineos wonderkid. He had the potential to move into the top 5 overall by the end of the day.
Pidcock wanted it so badly that he even conquered the Ballon d’Alsace, dropping nearly all those around him.
After the Ballon d’Alsace, 10 riders survived over 8 minutes ahead of the peloton with the yellow jersey.
Harold Tejada of XDS Astana and Mauro Smid of Jayco AlUIa found themselves ahead of the rest.
As Tejada panicked, Smid, in his beautiful purple jersey, crossed the line first and smashed his wheel as he crossed the line to win Stage 13.
The action is only beginning this weekend.
