Stronger Sprinters Use Downhill Finish To Win Stage 13

I thought the medium-grade climbs in the second half of the 198.5 kilometer stage 13 might keep the sprinters from winning this leg of the Tour, but it didn't turn out that way. Their teams were able to pull some of the stronger sprinters through the mountains, and then they used the downhill finish to make it another good day for the sprinters.

The winner was Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium, who barely beat Slovakian Peter Sagan at the finish line. Another Belgium rider, Jan Bakelants, finished in third, 3 seconds behind the first two riders. The overall standings were not affected. British rider Christopher Froome is still in the Yellow jersey -- nearly 3 minutes ahead of American Tejay Van Garderen.

Stage 14 will be a bit more difficult -- with two category 4 climbs, two category 2 climbs, and a tough unrated climb at the finish.

Here are the standings after stage 13:

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Leaders)
1. Christopher Froome, Great Britain (Team Sky)
2. Tejay Van Garderen, United States (BMC Racing)..........2' 52"
3. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas, Colombia (Movistar)..........3' 09"
4. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte, Spain (Movistar)..........3' 58"
5. Geraint Thomas, Great Britain (Team Sky)..........4' 03"
6. Alberto Contador, Spain (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........4' 04"
7. Robert Gesink, Netherlands (Lotto NL-Jumbo)..........5' 32"
8. Tony Gallopin, France (Lotto-Soudal)..........7' 32"
9. Vincenzo Nibali, Italy (Astana Pro Team)..........7' 47"
10. Bauke Mollema, Netherlands (Trek Factory Racing)..........8' 02"

GREEN JERSEY (Best Sprinter)
1. Peter Sagan, Slovakia (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........285 pts
2. Andre Greipel, Germany (Lotto-Soudal)..........261 pts
3. John Degenkolb, Germany (Giant-Alpecin)..........238 pts
4. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain (ETIXX-Quick Step)..........192 pts
5. Bryan Coquard, Francee (Europcar)..........120 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Best Climber)
1. Christopher Froome, Great Britain (Team Sky)..........61 pts
2. Joachim Rodriguez Oliver, Spain (Team Katusha)..........52 pts 
3. Jakob Fuglsang, Denmark (Astana Pro Team)..........41 pts
4. Richie Porte, Australia (Team Sky)..........40 pts 
5. Romain Bardet, France (AG2R La Mondiale)..........35 pts

WHITE JERSEY (Best Young Rider)
1. Nairo Alenander Quintano Rojas, Columbia (Movistar)
2. Warren Barguil, France (Giant-Alpecin)..........6' 44"
3. Romain Bardet, France (AG2R La Mondiale)..........14' 17"

TEAM LEADERS
1. Movistar (Spain)
2. Team Sky (Great Britain)..........6' 07"
3. Tinkoff-Saxo (Russia).........27' 11"
4. Astana Pro Team (Kazakhstan)..........32' 40"
5. BMC Racing (United States)..........34' 20"