Swiss rider Mauro Schmid said he had to overcome cramps before he beat Colombian Harold Tejada in a two-man sprint finish to win the 13th and longest stage of the Tour de France 2026 on Friday.
Briton Tom Pidcock, who finished third at two seconds back, was the big winner of the day, as he climbed up the standings from 10th to fourth overall.
The Olympic mountain bike champion is now just 4 minutes, 15 seconds behind race leader Tadej Pogačar and nine seconds off Remco Evenepoel for the final podium spot.
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Jayco AlUla's Schmid and Astana's Tejada had broken clear of a 10-man group at the head of the race with 16 kilometers to ride, and they held off their charging former breakaway companions to contest the sprint finish.
Tejada launched first, but Schmid dragged him back and pipped him to the line after 205 kilometers from Dole in the Jura to Belfort in the Vosges.
It was particularly satisfying for Schmid, who lost an almost identical finish to Norwegian Jonas Abrahamsen in the 11th stage in Toulouse last year. I can't believe it at the moment. It was an incredibly hard day from the start. I felt really good from the start, but it was just full gas from the first minute."
Schmid said he had started to suffer cramps with 4 kilometers left, and that his attempt to make Tejada lead out the sprint in the final kilometer failed.
"At some point, he forced me to the first position," said the 26-year-old. "I launched a bit late. The first 50 meters, I thought maybe it's the same as last year. Then, when I saw the finish line, I found my legs again and just went for it."
Behind them, Pidcock edged Maxim van Gils and Brandon McNulty to claim four bonus seconds for finishing third.
He was more disappointed with missing out on the stage win than celebrating his jump up the standings, which he said he does not expect to last with two tough mountain stages to come this weekend and a time trial on Tuesday.
"Third is frustrating, but it was also a very positive day, so take everything from that," Pidcock said. "It would be nice to say, yeah, we can defend (fourth place), but for sure in the time trial, I will lose some minutes. And I'm going to feel my legs tomorrow, that's for sure."
Calculated Mauro Schmid Shines In Tour de France 2026 Stage 13
The peloton finished 7 minutes, 32 seconds after the stage winner, meaning Pidcock jumped six places, having begun the day almost 12 minutes behind Pogačar.
The first two-thirds of the race was all about the green jersey contenders battling for points at the intermediate sprint.
That meant 57 riders got away from the peloton, building up a lead of over eight minutes at one stage.
Belgian Jasper Philipsen pipped category leader Mads Pedersen in the sprint but still trails the Dane by 41 points.
At that point, it was clear that Pidcock had a lot to gain from being in the breakaway beyond simply contesting the stage victory.
The group started to break up on the 5.1-kilometer Col des Croix climb and then exploded on the 8.9- kilometer Ballon d'Alsace.
Pidcock was among 10 riders to go over the top in the lead, with 30 kilometers still to ride, though a dozen or so other riders were within around half a minute.
Schmid made his move at the end of the descent, with Tejada the only man to react initially. The two worked together until the final kilometer to ensure that one of them would take the victory.
"Mauro is a very calculated rider, he's very smart and just (I'm) stoked for him because to come that close in the Tour de France (last year), you never know if you'll even get that form again," said Jayco sporting director Matthew Hayman. "You never know if you'll get that form, get in the breakaway and then be in the position to win a stage - and he's shown his real class today."
Tour de France 2026 Stage 13 Results – Top 25
- Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) – 4:06:58
- Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) – 4:06:58
- Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 4:07:00
- Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 4:07:00
- Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 4:07:00
- Jordan Jegat (Netcompany INEOS) – 4:07:00
- Kévin Vauquelin (TotalEnergies) – 4:07:00
- Afonso Clément Braz (Groupama - FDJ United) – 4:07:00
- Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 4:07:00
- Luke Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla) – 4:07:09
- Raúl García Pierna (Movistar Team) – 4:07:55
- Michael Valgren (EF Education - EasyPost) – 4:07:57
- Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla) – 4:07:59
- Nicolas Breuillard (TotalEnergies) – 4:07:59
- George Bennett (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 4:07:59
- Marc Hirschi (NSN Cycling Team) – 4:07:59
- Lars Craps (Lotto Intermarché) – 4:07:59
- Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) – 4:08:01
- Ben O'Connor (Team Jayco AlUla) – 4:08:06
- Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) – 4:09:21
- Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) – 4:09:21
- José Félix Parra (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) – 4:09:21
- Rick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 4:09:21
- Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 4:09:23
- Robbe Dhondt (Team Picnic PostNL) – 4:10:17
Tour de France 2026 Overall Standings – Top 25 After Stage 13
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 47:18:31 (B36)
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 47:22:07 (B12)
- Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 47:22:37 (B10)
- Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 47:22:46 (B4)
- Juan Ayuso (Lidl - Trek) – 47:22:53
- Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 47:23:06 (B4)
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 47:23:15
- Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 47:23:39 (B14)
- Lenny Martinez (Lidl - Trek) – 47:24:16
- Mattias Skjelmose (Bahrain - Victorious) – 47:25:05
- Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) – 47:28:57
- Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS) – 47:30:46
- Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) – 47:31:14
- Davide Piganzoli (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 47:32:09
- Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – 47:33:21 (B6)
- Sean Quinn (EF Education - EasyPost) – 47:33:39
- Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 47:34:07
- Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 47:34:44
- Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) – 47:36:14 (B4)
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 47:36:57
- Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 47:37:02
- Sepp Kuss (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 47:39:23
- Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team) – 47:48:50
- Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 47:51:48
- Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 48:00:59
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