World champion Thor Hushovd joined the breakaway on the mountainous Stage 13 of the Tour de France and engineered himself to a stage victory in Lourdes on Friday.
A victory by a sprinter on this 156km (97-mile) mountainous stage was probably not anticipated by many observers, especially as the route included the “above category” ascent of the Col d'Aubisque.
After the race, Hushovd was quoted at CyclingNews:
“This is my nicest win at the Tour de France ever. To win alone with the
rainbow jersey after passing the Col d'Aubisque is extraordinary. It's
beyond what I thought I was able to do.”
Yellow jersey
Meanwhile, France's Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) retained the yellow jersey for another stage, finishing at the front of the peloton.
This was Hushovd's 9th career win at the Tour de France and follows seven days in the yellow jersey earlier in this year's Tour. A veteran cyclist and current world champion, the Norwegian joined the US-based Garmin-Cervelo team this year.
Hushovd joined a 10-man breakaway that formed about 40 miles into the bike race from Pau to Lourdes.
Setting pace
After Thursday's battle on the Luz-Ardiden, the peloton appeared complacent on Friday's big climb on Aubisque. Voeckler's Europcar team set the pace for the peloton, and the overall leaders obediently rode behind them.
France's Jeremy Roy (FDJ) attacked the breakaway on the climb and stayed ahead over the top and into the 30-some mile mostly downhill run-in to Lourdes. Another Frenchman, David Moncoutie (Cofidis) followed him over the summit by about a minute, followed still further by Hushovd.
A fast descender, Hushovd caught Moncoutie, then the two pursued Roy. As they neared Lourdes and with Roy within sight, Moncountie sat back and let Hushovd do all the chasing.
At the 3-kilometer banner, Hushovd accelerated. He dropped Moncoutie and quickly caught and passed Roy at 2.3km. He finished 10 seconds ahead of Moncoutie and 26 seconds ahead of Roy, who looked devastated as he crossed the line.
As a consolation, he earned the polka-dot mountains jersey for the day.
Phillippe Gilbert (Omega) bridged from the main pack and into the back of the remaining breakaway riders on a late attack. He moved into 9th place overall, displacing American Tom Danielson (Garmin Cervelo) to 10 place overall. The other cyclists remained static.
Top 10 overall
1 Thomas Voeckler, Team Europcar
2 Fränk Schleck, Leopard Trek — 1:49
3 Cadel Evan, BMC Racing Team — 02:06
4 Andy Schleck, Leopard Trek — 2:17
5 Ivan Basso, Liquigas-Cannondale — 3:16
6 Damiano Cunego, Lampre – ISD — 3:22
7 Alberto Contador, Saxo Bank — 4:00
8 Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel-Euskadi — 4:11
9 Phillippe Gilbert, Omega — 4:35
Thomas Danielson, Team Garmin-Cervelo — 4:35
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