Julian Alapahilippe extended his overall lead at the Tour de France on Friday winning the 27.2km individual time-trial at Pau on stage 13 to keep the yellow jersey and send his home fans wild.
Defending champion Geraint Thomas was second while his Ineos co-captain Egan Bernal dropped down the overall standings and lost his best young rider’s white jersey.
Thomas dropped 14 seconds on Alaphilippe to slip to 1min 26sec adrift in the general classification after the baking hot race-against-the-clock around the Pyrenean town.
“If he carries on like this he’ll win the Tour,” Thomas said at the finish line.
The Welshman then told British broadcaster ITV that Alaphilippe’s barnstorming ride had taken him by surprise.
“He’s going incredibly well and is certainly the favourite or the one to watch at the moment,” he added. “But there is a long way to go and a lot of hard stages to come.”
“I just wanted to keep the jersey, but to win the stage, on this form, is just totally amazing,” said Alaphilippe, the 27-year-old former soldier who is sending France wild with belief they can win a first Tour since 1985.
Thibaut Pinot was just behind these riders at 49sec, looking happy and relaxed.
It was also a good day for top five pretenders Richie Porte, Steven Kruijswijk and Rigoberto Uran.
There were gasps and cries of horror when Wout van Aert fell in the home straight after getting caught up in the barriers and twisted his leg before being taken away in an ambulance.
Saturday’s stage 14 is a short 117km run over two Category 1 mountains with a summit finish at the fearsome classic Tour de France destination the Tourmalet, which some translate as ‘bad trip’ and which is the highest mountain pass in the Pyrenees.
Tour de France 2019 – stage 13 results (Pau – Pau ITT):
| 1 | Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | 35:00 |
| 2 | Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) | +14” |
| 3 | Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) | +36” |
| 4 | Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) | ,, |
| 5 | Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) | +45” |
| 6 | Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 7 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +49” |
| 8 | Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +52” |
| 9 | Enric Mas (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +58” |
| 10 | Joseph Rosskopf (CCC) | +01’01” |
| 11 | Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) | +01’03” |
| 12 | Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) | +01’07” |
| 13 | Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) | +01’09” |
| 14 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +01’11” |
| 15 | Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | +01’19” |
| 16 | Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 17 | Chad Haga (Team Sunweb) | +01’22” |
| 18 | Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) | +01’25” |
| 19 | Alberto Bettiol (EF Education First) | +01’26” |
| 20 | Mads Würtz Schmidt (Katusha-Alpecin) | +01’31” |
Tour de France 2019 – general classification after stage 13:
| 1 | Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | 53:01:09 |
| 2 | Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) | +01’26” |
| 3 | Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) | +02’12” |
| 4 | Enric Mas (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +02’44” |
| 5 | Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) | +02’52” |
| 6 | Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | +03’04” |
| 7 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +03’22” |
| 8 | Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) | +03’54” |
| 9 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +03’55” |
| 10 | Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 11 | Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) | +04’15” |
| 12 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +04’29” |
| 13 | Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) | ,, |
| 14 | Patrick Konrad (Bora-hansgrohe) | +04’34” |
| 15 | Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) | +04’44” |
| 16 | Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) | +05’34” |
| 17 | Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) | +05’46” |
| 18 | Mikel Landa (Movistar) | +06’00” |
| 19 | Roman Kreuziger (Dimension Data) | +06’07” |
| 20 | Xandro Meurisse (Wanty-Gobert) | +06’10” |
