Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Tom Pidcock came close to winning on the Tour's longest stage
ByMatt WarwickBBC Sport Senior Journalist- Published28 minutes ago
Britain's Tom Pidcock is up to fourth place overall in the Tour de France standings after a breakaway from which Switzerland's Mauro Schmid won stage 13.
Pinarello-Q36.5's Pidcock finished third on the demanding 205.8km run from Dole to Belfort, making up six places in the general classification as he and several others finished more than seven minutes ahead of the peloton.
Schmid, of Jayco-Alula, took the win from Colombia's Harold Tejada of XDS-Astana on the line after the pair pulled away from the larger breakaway group on a long descent with about 16km to go.
Pidcock - who was one of the favourites to win the stage once the breakaway was formed and fought hard to pull away on the category one Ballon d'Alsace climb - brought home six others to finish just two seconds behind Schmid and Tejada.
The Briton, 26, now sits four minutes and 15 seconds behind yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who had a quiet day in the peloton, as did second-placed rider overal Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark - three minutes and 36 seconds down overall - and Belgium's Remco Evenepoel, who is four minutes and six seconds off the lead.
Pogacar, 27, is aiming to become the joint-most successful rider in the Tour's history with five wins, alongside Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
"I don't really have voice left," said Pidcock's team manager Doug Ryder to TNT Sports afterwards.
"Tom was brilliant... the whole team rode so well - the commitment to [getting into] the break was so brilliant.
"Tom is a fighter and has really turned the race upside down and made it exciting. What he did today is pretty cool."
Denmark's Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek remains in the green jersey by 41 points over Belgium's Jasper Philipsen.
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Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, It's been a whole World Cup cycle since we saw Pidcock win so brilliantly on Alpe d'Huez
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Image source, ASOImage caption, 1 of 5
Previous imageNext imageSlide 1 of 5, Tom Pidcock, It's been a whole World Cup cycle since we saw Pidcock win so brilliantly on Alpe d'HuezEnd of image galleryPidcock, the impact man
It has been four years since Pidcock's brilliant win on Alpe d'Huez - one of the Tour's steepest, spaghetti-like ribbons of road - in the Alps near Mont Blanc.
After that win, many, including himself, saw the potential to go on and challenge for the yellow jersey across a whole three-week race. But he doesn't appear to quite have the same physiological make up as Pogacar and Vingegaard.
Nevertheless, he is the current pride of Britain on the bike, having also won Olympic gold in mountain biking and some of cycling's biggest one-day races.
A protracted departure from the British Ineos Grenadiers team, which he was expected to achieve so much with, left him searching for another place to win in the peloton.
He found it at Pinarello-Q36.5, where Ryder has embraced Pidcock and his talent and built a team specifically around his strengths.
Following a brilliant third overall in last year's Vuelta a Espana, Pidcock's progress had stalled, as he struggled with illness prior to this Tour and admitted to finding the going tough in the first week.
Known for his superb skills in descending at speed, Pidcock even managed to crash while going downhill on stage 10 after sliding out on a dusty left-hand corner.
But here on stage 13, he showed he still has the ability to animate, and win, a race. While it is unlikely he will challenge for the podium as the Tour hits the high mountains in the third week, he could yet win on the day.
"That's what I love about him - he's such an impact rider," said Ryder.
"Success [in this Tour] would be a stage win and a great GC result."
To try to chase down a breakaway, the group of differing teams behind must work together to close the gap by using the energy of several riders in the group.
The advantage in numbers should close the deficit to the breakway, who must ride into the wind for longer.
But peloton politics sometimes prevents riders from working together...
Tour de France stage 13 results
1. Mauro Schmid (Swi/Jayco-Alula) 4hrs 6mins 58secs
2. Harold Tejada (Col/XDZ-Astana) same time
3. Tom Pidcock (GB/Pinarello-Q36.5) +2secs
4. Maxim Van Gils (Bel/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) same time
5. Brandon McNulty (USA/UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
6. Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Netcompany Ineos Cycling)
7. Jordan Jegat (Fra/Total Energies)
8. Clement Braz Afonso (Fra/Groupama-FDJ United)
9. Tim Wellens (Bel/UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
10. Luke Plapp (Aus/Jayco-Alula) +11secs
Tour de France general classification after stage 13
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 47hrs 18mins 31secs
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +3mins 36secs
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4mins 5secs
4. Tom Pidcock (GB/Pinarello-Q36.5) +4mins 16secs
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa/Lidl-Trek) +4mins 22secs
6. Paul Seixas (Fra/Decathlon-CMA CGM) +4mins 35secs
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4mins 44secs
8. Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +5mins 8secs
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +5mins 45secs
10. Lenny Martinez (Fra/Bahrain-Victorious) +6mins 34secs
