Stage 13 should produce some of the most inspired and aggressive racing of the 2017 Tour de France. First of all, Friday is Bastille Day, so the route will be packed with vacationing fans eager to see a Frenchman win the stage and—in the case of AG2R La Mondiale’s Romain Bardet—the yellow jersey.Secondly, it’s the shortest road stage the Tour has organised in decades. At only 101km, we should see fast, aggressive racing from start to finish. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, it features three Category 1 climbs including the vicious Mur de Péguère, an ascent whose final 3.5km are some of the steepest in this year’s Tour—a bad sign for Chris Froome, considering how he faltered on the steep finish of Stage 12.
The new wearer of the yellow jersey, Astana’s Fabio Aru, and Bardet (who currently sits only 25 seconds adrift in third) must be smelling blood in the water after what happened to Froome at the end Stage 12. And while Team Sky still have the strongest team in the Tour, it can no longer be said that they have the Tour’s strongest rider. Expect to see Froome and his team ride defensively, knowing that Froome should fare well in the Alps and in the Tour’s final time trial. There’s no need for them to try and take back the yellow jersey, especially as not having to defend it takes some pressure off their shoulders.But Aru and Bardet need to keep attacking. In fact, had they known Froome was in less-than-perfect form, they might have done so earlier on Stage 12. Don’t expect them to make the same mistake on Stage 13.
