This Friday, Tadej pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) crushed the hill time trial of the 13th stage of the Tour de France 2025, contested between Saint-Gaudens and Peyragudes (25,1 km). The three-time winner of the Tour won with a time of 23 minutes all round, relegating its main rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) à 36 seconds.
In the general classification, his lead now increases to 4 minutes and 7 seconds on the Dane, winner in 2022 and 2023.
French side: Lenny Martinez in good shape, Vauquelin relegated
Among the tricolors, Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious) distinguished himself with a fine 9th place at 2'21 '', confirming his role as French leader after the withdrawal of Adrien Petit and the failure of David Gaudu. Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), on the other hand, lost ground. Only 11th at 2'27'', he fell from the 5th to 6th place overall, overtaken by Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL).
Please note that the deadlines have been extended to 40% for this particular stage, allowing all riders to escape elimination, especially pure sprinters like Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) ou Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
Plapp between fire and microphones
Surprise of the day, Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) has long held the best time, even settling on the hot seat of France Télévisions for a large part of the afternoon. The Australian, national time trial champion, finally finished 5th at 1'58'', after spending long minutes commentating on his own performance for Australian television.
Remarkably, Pogacar realized his effort without extensions, favoring a lighter and more agile bike for this steady climb of Peyragudes. Unlike Evenepoel and Vingegaard, who had opted for more streamlined machines for the initial flat, the Slovenian quickly took the lead on the first intermediate point, at km 4, where he already had a 12'' lead over Vingegaard.
On the final slopes, with percentages above 9%, he further increased the gap, climbing the last 8 km at a W/kg estimated around 6.5, according to data shared by UAE Team Emirates. The Dane, meanwhile, maintains an impressive pace but seems unable, for the moment, to compete with the Slovenian's state of grace.
On Saturday, the 14th stage will take the peloton from Pau to Luchon-Superbagnères, with two passes classified as hors catégorie and a finish at 1 meters above sea level. A day made for climbers where Pogacar could further extend his lead...
