Tour de France 2013 results, Stage 13: Mark Cavendish wins; Chris Froome’s overall lead diminishes

Britain’s Mark Cavendish bounced back from Thursday’s finish to win his second stage of the tour this year. Meanwhile, overall leader Chris Froome saw his advantage dwindle by one minute and 10 seconds during Friday’s Stage 13 of the Tour de France.

After losing by half a tire to Marcel Kittel of Germany on Thursday, Cavendish responded with his 25th career stage victory at the Tour de France. It’s a big win for Cavendish, who’s reputation as the fastest man in cycling had taken a hit after Kittel captured his third stage win.

Froome, meanwhile, entered the day with a three minute, 25-second lead, and wasn’t expected to relinquish any ground in Stage 13. A slower-than-anticipated performance coupled with a charge from Bauke Mollema, however, has Froome just two-minutes, 28-seconds ahead of the Dutchman.

Alejandro Valverde, who came in sitting just behind Froome in second place, suffered a disastrous day. He tumbled from second place all the way out of the top ten, losing nearly ten minutes in the process. A blown tire severely set him back, which he was unable to recover from.

Alberto Contador now moves into the third-place slot, sitting two-minutes, 45-seconds behind the leader.