cycling: Tour de France Stage #13 Prognosis: Short & sweet!

Cycling: Friday, the thirteenth stage and we have pure excitement at the Tour de France! The top four in the overall standings are currently within 55 seconds. The three-time tour winner Chris Froome (Sky) lost valuable time yesterday and thus also the yellow jersey. Can Fabio Aru (Astana) successfully defend the Maillot Jaune on French National Day?

The spice is in the brevity: Only 101 kilometers

When the peloton heads into Foix tomorrow from Saint-Girons, everyone involved will know this will be a fast stage. Because there are only 101 kilometers to cover. There used to be individual time trials that were longer. But tomorrow is a mountain stage. Three climbs of the first category have to be conquered on the French national holiday. This difficult profile, coupled with the comparatively few kilometers, could be an extremely exciting affair. Right from the start it goes slightly uphill before after 31 kilometers the summit of the Col de Latrape (5,6 km at 7,3%) is crossed. After that, at the latest, the leading group of the day should form. Since an extremely fast race is expected, the chances of a successful escape are to be assessed as rather small.

Who dares on the Mur de Péguère?

Up to the Col d'Agnes (10,0 km at 8,2%), the first favorites could even show up. But it's still a few kilometers to the decisive Mur de Péguère (9,3 km à 7,9%). The steep Mur de Péguère literally invites you to attack. After the mountain classification, there are still 27 kilometers to go. So a relay station could be worth its weight in gold tomorrow. As experience with short stages in Grand Tours has shown, these are usually driven very quickly from the start. Decisive attacks by classification drivers often come much earlier. An early attack would be particularly suitable for professionals who are already at a distance, such as Nairo Quintana (Movistar) or Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo).

Our tip: Simon Yates sprints to victory - Fabio Aru stays ahead

Since there are still 27 kilometers to go tomorrow after the Mur de Péguère, it is unlikely that a soloist will be able to break away and stay ahead. It is much more likely that the best drivers will arrive together in a small group. Accordingly, there would then be a sprint for the day's victory. Here we give Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) good cards. The young professional is currently wearing the white jersey and is considered a climber with strong sprints. The steep ramp should meet him. Also, there's a chance he'll go on the offensive and try to break away himself.

*** Simon Yates
** Rigoberto Uran, Daniel Martin
* Romain Bardet, Fabio Aru, Chris Froome

Are there attacks on Chris Froome?

If a classification driver from the top ten has a bad day tomorrow and cannot follow the others, he could lose an enormous amount of time. Perhaps Fabio Aru, Romain Bardet and Rigoberto Uran will take advantage of Chris Froome's small phase of weakness. Especially the poisonous, short ramps are not for the Brit. The final part of the Mur de Péguère would therefore come at just the right time. But Team Sky made such a strong impression today that it's hard to think of keeping Froome at a distance for 27 miles. If the challengers want to crash Chris Froome in the Tour de France, they have to take advantage of the upcoming mountain stages.

Tour de France preview: Those were the Velomotion predictions

The current overall ranking of the 2017 Tour de France after 12 of 21 stages