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Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers) turned back the clock with a superb ride to conquer the Grand Colombier and hold off a rampaging peloton on Bastille Day.
"That was a crazy experience in the final," said Kwiatkowski. "The break was a free ticket to the bottom of the climb, but I didn’t think we could make it to the finish because UAE was pulling hard behind.
"UAE let too many guys up front, whereas I found out I had the best legs I’ve had in my life. I didn’t believe it was possible, but here I am!
"Winning atop Grand Colombier… I have bad memories with Egan Bernal here, thinking of quitting the race. Whereas the stage with Richard Carapaz at La Roche was full gas, and we only enjoyed the final 15k.
"As for today, the final climb was very long – the most brutal effort in my life. Without the fans, this win wouldn’t have been possible. I didn’t have the car behind me, so couldn’t hear the gaps. The fans helped me all the way to the finish."
A group of 20 riders got clear to form the early breakaway, but it was clear from early on that UAE Team Emirates weren't going to let it be a procession to victory for the escapees. Vegard Stake Laengen and Mikkel Bjerg were set to chase on the flatlands, and the peloton hit the base of the Grand Colombier with four minutes still to catch the riders off the front.
After some initial skirmishing at the base of the climb, Kwiatkowski jumped clear with 11 kilometres to go. He adopted a high cadence and set himself to power his way to the finish as he left his former breakaway companions behind.
The peloton behind was being led by UAE Team Emirates, and while a strong turn from Marc Soler dropped a number of GC riders, including Romain Bardet (DSM-firmenich), Thibaut Pinot and David Gaudu (both Groupama-FDJ), it did little to drag back Kwiatkowski.
The Polish former world champion stamped his way up the climb, through hordes of fans out to celebrate the Tour de France on Bastille day, and powered to the win.
Behind, the peloton continued to get strung out and reduced until an attack from Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) with 500 metres to go ripped the group apart. The yellow jersey of Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) was initially able to follow, but as Pogacar continued to sprint out of the saddle, Vingegaard dropped behind, allowing the Slovenian to arrive at the finish slightly behind breakaway rider Maxim van Gils (Lotto-Dstny) to take third on the stage and the accompanying four bonus seconds, with four seconds between his and Vingegaard's arrival.
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Stage 13 - Daily Highlights - Tour de France 2023
Vingegaard retained the overall race lead, but Pogacar is now just nine seconds behind his great rival for the final yellow jersey in Paris.
Australian Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe) was 15 seconds behind Pogacar on the stage, gaining time on all of his major rivals for the final spot on the podium, bar Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers).
