Stage 13 was supposed to be an uneventful transition stage that the sprinters would decide. The cycling gods, however, decreed otherwise. Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) took a sprint from Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Bauke Mollema (Belkin) to win the flat, 173-km run from Tours to Saint-Amand-Montrond in 3:40:08, but Cavendish’s victory paled in importance next to the elimination of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) as a GC threat and the rise of Mollema and Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff). Chris Froome (Sky) remains the maillot jaune, but his lead has been reduced and he and his team have been shown to be vulnerable.

Mark Cavendish powers to victory in stage 13 of Tour de France 2013; Chris Froome's overall Tour de France lead reduced to 02:28 minutes.

Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) has won his third stage of this year’s Tour de France. Kittel took a crash-marred bunch sprint to win Stage 12, a flat, 218-km run from Fougeres to Tours in 4:49:49. Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) finished second, and Peter Sagan (Cannondale) finished third. Chris Froome (Sky) remains the yellow jersey.

German Marcel Kittel sprints to third stage victory in Tour de France for Team Argos-Shimano; Team Sky's Chris Froome preserves overall Tour de France lead.

Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) has won Stage 11 of the Tour de France 2013. The German, who suffered a concussion, among other injuries, in a Stage 1 crash, powered over the flat, 33-km course from Avranches to Mont Saint-Michel in 36:29. Chris Froome (Sky) was the only rider to finish within 1:00 of Martin, finishing 0:12 behind the Omega Pharma-Quick Step man. Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM) took third at 1:01. Froome remains the yellow jersey, and he extended his lead today.

World Champion Tony Martin powers to time trial victory in stage 11 of Tour de France 2013; Christopher Froome increases overall Tour de France lead.

Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) has won his second stage of this year’s Tour de France. The German took a crash-marred bunch sprint to win Stage 10, a flat, 197-km run from Saint-Gildas-des-Bois to Saint-Malo, in 4:53:25. German national champion Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) finished second, and Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) finished third. Chris Froome (Sky) remains the yellow jersey.

German Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) sprints to victory in stage 10 of Tour de France 2013 ahead of fellow German André Greipel of Lotto-Belisol; Team Sky Pro Cycling's Chris Froome keeps overall Tour de France lead before tomorrow's individual time trial.

We're only a third completed and the grande boucle has already given us a roller coaster ride.

Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) has won Stage 9 of the Tour de France 2013. Martin took a two-up sprint from Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) to win the mountainous, 168.5-km ride from Saint Girons to Bagneres-de-Bigorre in 4:43:03. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) towed home the maillot jaune group at 0:20, and Chris Froome (Sky) remains the maillot jaune.