Stage 13 – By the numbers
Stage 13, Narbonne to Nimes, 182km WeatherSunny, brisk northwesterly winds up to 40kph, temperatures in low 90s Stage winnerMark Cavendish (Team Columbia) used his team early to help shut down some late breakaways and position him in the final kilometers. He opened up his sprint with 150 meters to go to distance Robbie McEwen (Silence-Lotto) by two bike lengths for Cavendish’s fourth sprint in this year’s Tour.
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By Andrew Hood
Stage 13, Narbonne to Nimes, 182km
Weather
Sunny, brisk northwesterly winds up to 40kph, temperatures in low 90s
Stage winner
Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia) used his team early to help shut down some late breakaways and position him in the final kilometers. He opened up his sprint with 150 meters to go to distance Robbie McEwen (Silence-Lotto) by two bike lengths for Cavendish’s fourth sprint in this year’s Tour.
Yellow jersey
Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) finished 37th safely tucked in the main pack to survive his third full day in the maillot jaune. The sprinter teams helped ramp up the chase in the closing kilometers to assure his lead. There were no major shakeups in the GC.
Green jersey
Oscar Freire (Rabobank) sprinted to fifth in the finale to retain the points jersey, but Cavendish bounced into second with his fourth stage win. Freire leads 184-156, with Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) remaining third with 156 points. Kim Kirchen (Columbia) has given up chasing points and slipped from second to fifth.
King of the Mountains
Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) picked up points on two of the day’s three rated climbs to retain the polka-dot jersey while second-place Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) was third on the day’s second climb. Lang leads Kohl, 60-57, with Frank Schleck (CSC) third with 46.
Most aggressive rider
Niki Terpstra (Milram) won the day’s prize.
Best Young Rider
Cavendish won the stage and Vicenzo Nibali (Liquigas) as Maxime Monfort (Cofidis) moved from third to second at 2:49 back while Roman Kreuzinger (Liquigas) dropped from second to third at 2:53 back after getting caught out of a split to lose 11 seconds.
Best team
Team CSC-Saxo Bank retained its team’s classification with Ag2r-La Mondiale second at 4:49. Gerolsteiner remained third, now 15:23 back.
Top American
Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Chipotle) finished safely in the main bunch in 29th and remained third overall, 38 seconds back.
Lanterne Rouge
Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner) finished last at 15:12 after suffering a spectacular crash with about 8km to go when he hit a traffic sign after swinging through a round-about. Wim Vansevenant (Silence-Lotto) remains last at 2h08:02 back.
The peloton
No abandons or doping scandals; 158 riders remain
Medical report
? Fofonov (Credit Agricole), headache
? Gerard (FDJeux), headache; Scholtz (Gerolsteiner), cuts to second finger on right hand
? Posthuma (Rabobank), insect bite on his face
? Crash 172km – Krauss (Gerolsteiner), multiple contusions, dizziness as result of the crash
Jury report
? Posthuma, Ten Dam and Weening (all Rabobank), pacing behind team car, 20-second penalty
? Clement (Bouygues Telecom), illegal feed at 27km, 60 euros fine
Saturday’s Forecast
Continued sunny, southwesterly winds up to 20kpy, highs in 90s
Compiled by Andrew Hood