Nibali Uses Tough Stage 13 To Increase His Race Lead

Stage 13 was undoubtably the most difficult stage of this year's Tour so far, and provided a golden opportunity for riders to cut into the overall race lead of Italian Vincenzo Nibali -- but Nibali was having none of that. He stayed even with the strongest riders until there was about 5 kilometers to go on the final climb, and then he just powered his way to the top -- leaving everyone else behind, and extending his 2' 23" race lead to 3' 37". Rafal Majka of Poland finessed second, and Leopold Konig of the Czech Republic finished third.

Although three and a half minutes is not an insurmountable lead, Nibali's strong performance in stage 13 has to make him the favorite to win the Tour this year. But this race is far from over, and stage 14 is an even more difficult stage -- with a category 1 climb followed by an even tougher unrated climb, and finishing at the top of another category 1 climb. Here are the current standings:

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Race Leader)
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Astana Pro Team
2. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain) Movistar Team..........3' 37"
3. Romain Bardet (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........4' 24"
4. Thibaud Pinot (France) FDJ.FR..........4' 40"
5. Tejay Van Garderen (United States) BMC Racing..........5' 19"
6. Jean-Christophe Peraud (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........6' 06"
7. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands) Belkin Pro Cycling..........6' 17"
8. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Belgium) Lotto-Belisol..........6' 27"
9. Rui Alberto Costa (Portugal) Lampre-Merida..........8' 35"
10. Leopold Konig (Czech Republic) Team Netapp-Endura..........8' 36"
11. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........8' 51"
12. Laurens Ten Dam (Netherlands) Belkin Pro Cycling..........9' 18"
13. Pierre Rolland (France) Team Europcar..........9' 48"
14. Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spain) Trek Factory Racing..........10' 10" 
15. Christopher Horner (United States) Lampre-Merida..........10' 44"
16. Richie Porte (Australia) Team Sky..........11' 11"

GREEN JERSEY (Best Sprinter)
1. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) Cannondale..........341 pts
2. Bryan Coquard (France) Team Europcar..........191 pts
3. Alexander Kristoff (Norway) Team Katusha..........172 pts
4. Marcel Kittel (Germany) Team Giant-Shimano..........167 pts
5. Mark Renshaw (Australia) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........118 pts 
6. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Astana Pro Team..........117 pts
7. Andre Greipel (Germany) Lotto-Belisol..........117 pts
8. Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) BMC Racing Team..........115 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Best Climber)
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Astana Pro Team..........70 pts
2. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain) Team Katusha..........53 pts
3. Thibaud Pinot (France) FDJ.FR..........41 pts
4. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain) Movistar Team..........40 pts
5. Rafal Majka (Poland) Tinkoff-Saxo..........40 pts
6. Thomas Voeckler (France) Team Europcar..........34 pts

WHITE JERSEY (Best Young Rider)
1. Romain Bardet (France) AG2R La Mondiale
2. Thibaud Pinot (France) FDJ.FR..........0' 16"
3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........4' 27"
4. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) Team Giant-Shimano..........37' 50"

TEAM STANDINGS
1. AG2R La Mondiale (France)
2. Belkin Pro Cycling (Belgium)..........9' 24"
3. Team Sky (Great Britain)..........23' 46"
4. Astana Pro Team (Kazakhstan)..........29' 20"
5. BMC Racing (United States)..........33' 31"