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Tour de France standings 2017: Frenchman Warren Barguil wins on Bastille Day

Warren Barguil is the first Frenchman to win a stage of the Tour de France on Bastille Day since 2006.

Jul 14, 2017, 3:28 PM UTC

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Last week, on Stage 9, Warren Barguil lost by millimeters to Rigoberto Uran after a brutal day of climbing. There was no question about his victory Friday — the Frenchman and current King of the Mountains sprinted to the line to win Stage 13 of the Tour de France. He became the first Frenchman to win on Bastille Day since 2006.

Barguil won by gapping to a breakaway of Mikel Landa and Alberto Contador up the third of three Category 1 climbs with the help of Nairo Quintana. Then on the long descent — 26 kilometers — to Foix, he happily let the others do much of the work at the front while he bided his time for the final attack.

He navigated the sprint brilliantly, going wide around a tight final turn and surging ahead of a worn out trio. Barguil capped what had been a fascinating day of tactics.

Entering Stage 13, Sky appeared to be fracturing. Chris Froome lost the yellow jersey after his teammate Landa left his team leader to struggle up the steep ramp to Peyragudes on Wednesday. Froome would have cracked no matter what, but symbolically, the image of the domestique zooming away from his captain was concerning.

Turns out it was all a rope-a-dope. Landa spent the day in a breakaway with aging Tour legend and fellow Spaniard Contador, riding ahead by more than two minutes of the new yellow jersey bearer, Fabio Aru, who was powerless to chase with no teammates by his side.

For as long as there was a proper peloton — it was a tough day for non-climbers — Team Sky was content to drive a swift-but-not-deadly pace at the front. Aru’s team, Astana, didn’t have the caliber athletes to break the train. Aru’s best teammate, Jakob Fuglsang, finally abandoned the Tour after riding for two days on a fractured wrist.

On the final climb, two groups formed. First was a lead group of four riders — Barguil and Quintana chased down Landa and Contador before the summit, and Barguil went over the top first to further cement the polka dot jersey. At the start of their descent, they had roughly two-and-a-half minutes over an elite chase comprised of Aru, Froome, Michal Kwiatkowski, Romain Bardet, Dan Martin, Simon Yates, Louis Meintjes, and Uran.

The descent began with several attacks in the chase group. Bardet, perhaps the best descender, was the first, though his effort was fruitless. Froome put in a better effort that gave the former yellow jersey wearer a six-second gap on his rivals, but it too was slowly hauled in, this time by Aru.

The yellow jersey group was, then, in a tricky situation — each man wanted to take time from the others on the general classification, but they had to work together (minus Team Sky’s Froome and Kwiatowski) well enough to keep Landa (2:55 out of yellow entering the day) from taking over the top of the standings.

Landa was reeled into a manageable two-minute gap, but that only heightened the paranoia in the group. Martin was allowed to escape (1:41 out of yellow entering the day), but Froome was heavily checked. He tried to launch off his teammate, Kwiatowski, with roughly 5 kilometers to go and Aru quickly on his wheel.

The Tour’s Top 3 — Aru, Froome, and Bardet — would finish in a bunch, keeping that same order in the new general classification. Things are a little more crowded at the top now, however. Uran gained 20 seconds and is now 35 seconds out of the yellow jersey. Landa was the biggest winner of the day, jumping from seventh to fifth, now 1:09 back. Daniel Martin is in sixth after taking nine seconds from Aru and Co.

The next two stages will be relatively calm. Then after Monday’s rest day, the Tour tackles the Alps and a Stage 20 time trial. Unlike years past, the 2017 Tour is gearing up for an exciting finish before Paris. Allez!