Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) finished third, winning the sprint of the breakaway riders behind the leading duo. He edged out Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe). Although the Briton would have liked to have claimed the stage victory, he was still among the day’s winners. This is because he made a significant leap forward in the general classification to fourth place, as the peloton containing the GC favourites only crossed the finish line seven and a half minutes behind.

A year ago, stage winner Schmid had found himself in a similar situation. On that occasion, the 26-year-old went into a two-man sprint as part of a breakaway in Toulouse alongside Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X, but came off second best. This time, however, he turned the tables. “I’m sure I thought about last year a few times in the final kilometres,” said Schmid after his victory. “But I think I’ve learnt a few things from last year as well.”

For Schmid, who had already won a stage in a Grand Tour once before in 2021 – at the Giro d’Italia – this was his 14th victory as a professional, and already his fifth this year.

Whilst little has changed in the battle for the yellow jersey – with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) continuing to lead the general classification, which remains unchanged apart from Pidcock’s breakaway, and also retaining the mountains jersey – the points classification remains tight. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin – Premier Tech) managed to reduce the gap to Mads Pedersen (Lidl – Trek). Both were part of the breakaway group, which at one point numbered almost 60 riders, although the Dane only joined via the second wave.

2026 Tour de France – Results of Stage 13

Here’s how the 13th stage of the 2026 Tour de France unfolded

A five-man breakaway group, comprising Georg Zimmermann (Lotto Intermarché), Kasper Asgreen (EF Education – EasyPost), Michal Kwiatkowski (Netcompany INEOS), Alex Kirsch (Cofidis) and Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step) had built up a minimal lead; however, this remained within half a minute for the entire 20 kilometres and was broken shortly afterwards.

Further attacks followed, including one by local hero Romain Gregoire (Groupama – FDJ United), before a strong group of 30 riders broke away from the peloton. They, too, remained at the front for several kilometres, though their lead was only in the low seconds. It was only after more than 50 kilometres that the gap began to widen slowly. At the back, only Lidl–Trek were working, with Mads Pedersen himself leading the chase. The reason: his rival for the green jersey, Philipsen, was among the breakaway riders.

However, when the peloton eased off and allowed the gap to the front to widen to two minutes, a chasing group formed, comprising, amongst others, Pedersen, as well as Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team) and all-rounders such as Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility), who had not given up hope of making the break. As the intermediate sprint was not held until after 137 kilometres, there was still enough time to make the break.

Full throttle at the Ballon d’Alsace

With 92 kilometres to go and 24 kilometres before the sprint, the group came together – the peloton was six and a half minutes behind at that point. Only three riders were involved in the sprint. Philipsen won ahead of Pedersen and Girmay. Pinarello – Q36.5 subsequently took control of the group of nearly 60 riders. This was because, in Pidcock, they had by far the best-placed rider in the general classification, who was just under twelve minutes behind Pogacar.

Pinarello continued to up the pace on the Col des Croix (3rd category), forcing the first professionals, such as John Degenkolb (Team Picnic PostNL) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), to drop back. It was then Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost) who launched the first attack, significantly reducing the size of the group. By the time the race reached the Ballon d’Alsace (1st category), the peloton was eight minutes behind. At the front, Rick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) attacked, causing many support riders – and Pedersen too – to drop from the group. By the middle of the climb, 20 riders remained.

The chasing pack failed to react to the attack by Schmid and Tejada

3,500 metres from the summit, it was Van Gils who went on the attack, cutting the leading group in half once again. Next was Luk Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla), followed by Pidcock just before the summit. However, he was unable to break away. Ten riders began the descent and the final 30 kilometres together.

There, Tejada and Schmid broke away; with ten kilometres to go, they had a ten-second lead. They doubled that over the next five kilometres. And that proved to be enough. Both played a game of poker in the final stretch, but found their legs in time for the sprint, in which the Swiss rider prevailed over the Colombian.