Tour de France Stage 13 preview: Biniam Girmay eyes more sprint success in Pau

The Eritrean secured his third stage of the tour yesterday – can his sprint rivals hit back?

(Letour)

Biniam Girmay will look to cement his place at the head of the sprinting field at this year’s Tour de France as the trailblazing Eritrean targets a fourth stage victory.

Girmay all but locked up the green jersey with victory into Villeneuve-sur-Lot yesterday as Intermarche-Wanty continued a remarkable Tour.

The rest of the peloton’s fast men will be hoping to hit back on what shapes as their penultimate opportunity of the race.

The 165km route from Agen to Pau is a relatively familiar one with the finish town so often used as a portal into the Pyrenees.

Arnaud Demare and Marcel Kittel are among the past winners in the city, and the former may be in the mix after being relegated out of second place on Stage 12 yesterday.

Two fourth category climbs late in the parcours are unlikely to be sufficiently significant to force riders from the sprinting field, but an iffy weather forecast could cause issues.

The peloton will be relieved that temperatures are set to drop ten degrees but rain may well fall, potentially prompting a more cautious approach.

Primoz Roglic was caught up in a crash yesterday to further weaken his bid for an elusive yellow jersey, while Arnaud De Lie lost key sprint lieutenant Jarrad Drizners in a blow to the Belgian’s hopes of a maiden stage victory.

Mark Cavendish will be without leadout man Michael Morkov after the veteran Dane’s final Tour de France was ended prematurely by Covid, and Fabio Jakobsen failed to finish Stage 13 while seemingly battling an illness of his own.

Stage 13 map and profile

(Letour)

(Letour)

• Full stage-by-stage guide to the 2024 Tour de France

Start time

The neutralised rollout will start at 12.30pm BST, with racing underway soon later. The stage is expected to finish around 4.20pm BST.

Prediction

Mathieu van der Poel was another of those caught up when Alexey Lutsenko tumbled inside the final few kilometres yesterday, leaving Jasper Philipsen freelancing to the finish. The Belgian produced a solid enough sprint to take fourth but if Van der Poel can produce another of his irrepressible leadouts, a second win of the 2024 Tour could be Philipsen’s for the taking.