The 13th stage of the Tour de France 2010 on July 17th led over 196 kilometers from Rodez to Revel . On this stage with a flat profile there were two sprint classifications and five mountain classifications, two of the 3rd category and three of the 4th category. After Tyler Farrar gave up , 176 of the 198 registered participants started.
After 5.7 kilometers of neutral ride, during which Lance Armstrong crashed but was able to continue, the riders reached the real start at 12:48 p.m. After several failed attempts by other drivers, Juan Antonio Flecha , Sylvain Chavanel and Pierrick Fédrigo were able to pull away after four kilometers . A group of drivers as well as Pawel Brutt tried unsuccessfully to follow the group of three. However, these three finally let the field go. Rein Taaramäe left the tour.
Chavanel won the first mountain classification. The field drove over the summit about six minutes behind, after which the lead stabilized. Fédrigo was the first to cross the second mountain classification and was also ahead in the first sprint classification. Columbia and Lampre now controlled the pace in the field. With the lead falling again, it was Fédrigo who was the first to reach the third mountain classification. When the field reached the mountain classification, Christophe Moreau sprinted out of the field to score the final point. Thomas Voeckler was still able to snatch the point away from him. Sergei Ivanov and Alexander Vinokurow tried to attack after the refreshment zone, but broke it off. Chavanel won the fourth mountain classification in the top group and Flecha the second sprint classification. Due to the pace of work in the field, the group's lead was now significantly smaller and the teams of the classification drivers took the lead. Jesús Hernández fell, but this was without consequences.
On the climb to the last mountain classification, the field split, with Armstrong and Anthony Charteau in the rear group. The outliers were caught again with ten kilometers from the finish when Team Columbia increased the pace again. When this caused Mark Cavendish to lose touch and the team reduced the pace a bit, Alessandro Ballan took the opportunity to attack and won the mountain classification. A trio of Carlos Barredo , Damiano Cunego and Nicolas Roche followed him without being able to reach him. Vinokurov and Luis León Sánchez were the closest attackers. Vinokourov took the lead and Ballan fell back into the field. Thomas Voeckler tried in vain to catch up with the Kazakhs who were driving in front of him, but he was finally caught by the field. Vinokourov saved a lead of 13 seconds on the peloton at the finish and won the stage that had been missed the day before. The sprint of the field was won again by Cavendish in front of Alessandro Petacchi , who fought back the green jersey as his greatest competitor Thor Hushovd only finished eighth in the points classification .
Gerald Ciolek
Martin Elmiger
Denis Menshov
Yukiya Arashiro
Nicolas Roche