Mads Pedersen took stage 13 of the Tour de France even as the overall lead remained unchanged after the 193-kilometre flat route from Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Etienne on Friday.
The former world champion and Trek-Segafredo rider crossed the finish line in front of Briton Fred Wright and Canadian Hugo Houle, all three clocking 4 hours 13 minutes and 3 seconds.
The defending champion Tadej Pogacar of the UAE Team Emirates was 5 minutes and 45 seconds down in 12th in the peloton along with Jonas Vingegaard - same time in 19th - who retains the yellow jersey for the third day.
Pedersen, 26, sprinted away boldly with 250 metres to go and sailed away from Wright and Houle to grab his first Tour de France stage victory of his career.
“It's incredible to finally take a win [at the Tour],” said Pedersen, who became the first Danish rider to win the men's World Championship road race title in Yorkshire, England, in 2019.
“I knew the shape was really good. I definitely missed out on some opportunities in the first week.
“In the last two weeks, there are not a lot of chances for guys like me, so to take the chance today and get the reward is really nice, not just for me but the whole team.
“We came here with riders only for stage wins and now we have one, so it's a big relief.”
Pedersen made several attacks on the day before staying on strongly to come home best of the trio in the final sprint.
"For a long time, I thought it was a mistake to be in the break, because we only had two minutes, but in the end, it paid off,” he said.
“Today it was super hard for everyone. Everyone was really on the limit. I really didn't want to be at the finish with six guys, because that's too many guys too control.
“I tried to attack and luckily it split the break, there were only three and that's a lot easier to control. From 10km to 5km, it was about making the gap as big as possible so that we had time to slow down and chance a bit in the last few kilometres. Luckily, it paid off for me.”
There were no changes to the overall lead as Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma leads the GC by 2:22 ahead of Pogacar and 2:26 ahead of third-placed Briton Geraint Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers.
The race heads into 195km stage 14 from Saint-Etienne to Mende on Saturday.
Stage 13 Results Top 5:
1. Mads Pedersen (DEN) Trek-Segafredo - 4hrs 13mins 03secs
2. Fred Wright (GBR) Bahrain Victorious - same time
3. Hugo Houle (CAN) Israel-Premier Tech
4. Stefan Kung (SUI) Groupama - FDJ +30secs
5. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team - same time
General Classification after Stage 13:
1. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Jumbo-Visma - 50hrs 47mins 34secs
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - +2mins 22secs
3. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - +2mins 26secs
4. Romain Bardet (FRA) Team DSM - +2mins 35secs
5. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - +3mins 44secs
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 630bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh810,000
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
GRAN%20TURISMO
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Neill%20Blomkamp%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20David%20Harbour%2C%20Orlando%20Bloom%2C%20Archie%20Madekwe%2C%20Darren%20Barnet%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
