Favorites stage 13 Tour de France 2023 | French riders eager to shine on July 14th, but Pogacar as well!

The race kicks off on Quatorze Juillet in Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne, in the French region of Ain. From this starting point, the riders embark on a 137-kilometer stage, which is relatively short by Tour de France standards. The A.S.O. continues the trend of including more shorter and entertaining stages in recent years.

While the transitional stages on Tuesday and Thursday were more like shark teeth rides, Friday's stage resembles a stingray's back - mostly flat! In the first 75 kilometers, there are hardly any altimeters to overcome. However, the route includes the Col de la Lebe, which is an uncategorized climb but features the intermediate sprint. With a length of 7.9 kilometers and an average gradient of 4.9 percent, this climb could, as far as we are concerned, also be an opportunity for climbers to gain some points.

After descending to Artemare, we enter the valley, but not for long. Ten kilometers later, the challenging Grand Colombier begins—a climb of no less than 17.4 kilometers with an average gradient of 7.1 percent. It is a hors catégorie climb, where we will undoubtedly see the top climbers in action!

The first seven kilometers of the Colombier are quite steep, but the rest of the climb can be described as erratic. There are flatter sections interspersed with multiple segments above ten percent gradient. The last time the Tour reached the Colombier was in 2020 when Tadej Pogacar won ahead of Primoz Roglic.

Times
Start: 1:45 p.m.
Finish: about 5:15 p.m.

It will get hotter again in France on Friday, and the Tour participants will notice that, too. The mercury will rise above 30 degrees Celsius again, with wind from the south. This means that for the majority of the stage there will be crosswinds, but on the final climb, it will mainly be at the riders' backs.

Going to the limit on one climb, that's what Tadej Pogacar does best. The Slovenian from UAE-Team Emirates already proved in 2020 that he can handle the Grand Colombier and take advantage of the associated time bonuses. Moreover, this stage, with its flat start, is usually not too difficult for strong riders like Mikkel Bjerg and Matteo Trentin to control.

If you mention Pogacar, you have to mention Jonas Vingegaard. The Danish Jumbo-Visma team leader is engaged in a fierce battle with Pogacar for the overall classification of this Tour de France. So far, in the mountain stages, Pogacar leads 2-1, but after the Grand Colombier, it could be a draw. Vingegaard will need to finish ahead of his rival for that to happen.

Moving on to riders who will have to attempt a long breakaway, as the top two contenders are usually too strong for the other classification riders. Riders like Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek, whose teammate Giulio Ciccone had a hard crash on Thursday), Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën), Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), Tobias Halland Johanessen (Uno-X, winner here in the 2021 Tour de l'Avenir), Jack Haig/Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), Daniel Felipe Martínez (INEOS Grenadiers), Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies), and Warren Barguil (Arkéa Samsic) could potentially have a chance to win the stage. The latter two will be motivated due to Quatorze Julliet, but will it be enough?

The story goes that a stage like this is not only about climber's legs, so riders like Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech), and Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) will also try their luck. For the riders who are still within fifteen minutes of the overall lead, it will be a tougher task as they pose too much of a danger to the top ten and may not be inclined to attack during the flat start. We are talking, for example, about Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis).

If the battle among the general classification contenders intensifies, we can expect to see Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe), Carlos Rodríguez, Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), the Yates brothers, and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) in the mix. On their national holiday, the French will especially hope for the latter, along with experienced riders Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich).

Top favorites: Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
Outsiders: Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X) and Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies)
Longshots: Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe), Carlos Rodríguez, Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Adam Yates (UAE-Team Emirates), Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ)