PAU, France — Jasper Philipsen won the 13th stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish and two-time champion Tadej Pogacar kept the yellow jersey on Friday.
Several riders fell in a crash a few hundred meters from the line but Pogacar, who was just ahead, avoided it.
Philipsen held off Belgian countryman Wout van Aert and German rider Pascal Ackermann after 3 1/2 hours to clinch his second stage win this month, eighth overall on the Tour, and 11th on major races. He also owns three stage wins on the Spanish Vuelta.
“We pushed hard from the start and we never slowed down. The crosswinds livened up the entire stage,” Philipsen said. “I had my best feelings since the start of the Tour.”
Pogacar placed ninth in the stage and still leads by 1 minute, 6 seconds from Remco Evenepoel of Belgium and by 1:14 from two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark.
The flat trek gave sprinters valuable points in the green jersey contest, taking the peloton on a 165-kilometer (103-mile) route from Agen to the southwestern city of Pau on the Pyrenees mountains’ northern edge.
Biniam Girmay of Eritrea, who has won three stages so far, placed fourth and kept the green jersey.
Primoz Roglic, the 2020 runner-up to his Slovenian countryman Pogacar, withdrew ahead of the stage a day after a crash.
As riders prepared to start Friday’s stage, one fan held up a sign with “Allez Paugacar!” written on it, a play on words with the city of Pau and Pogacar.
A four-rider breakaway consisting of Julien Bernard, Romain Gregoire, Michal Kwiatkowski and Magnus Cort snaked through rolling countryside before being caught some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the end.
Two minor climbs up Côte de Blachon and Côte de Simacourbe soon followed. Richard Carapaz of Ecudaor and Tobias Johannessen of Norway attacked on the second one but were reeled in with 21 kilometers (13 miles) left.
The tempo was high throughout and Pogacar was surprisingly near the front of the peloton, putting himself at needless risk of potentially being caught in the crash which sent at least four riders flying into the crash barriers.
“I was expecting the stage to heat up but it turned out to be chaotic from the start,” Pogacar said. “I was not planning to contest the sprint, and when I saw how dangerous it was becoming I just took it easy to the line.”
Saturday’s 14th stage starts from Pau and hits the mountains, where two huge climbs await on a 152-kilometer (99-mile) slog to Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet.
Riders tackle a 19-kilometer (12-mile) grind up the Col du Tourmalet, one of the race’s most famed Pyrenean climbs, and the stage finishes with a shorter but steeper climb.
Pogacar will doubtless seek to attack Vingegaard, who just beat him to win Stage 11 on Wednesday.
“I like the upcoming stages in the Pyrenees. I’ve checked them and it’s all climbs I already know and like,” Pogacar said, adding that tired riders could lose time. “The way we have raced in the last three days is going to affect how these stages unfold, as we are racing hard every day.”
Pogacar is also contesting the red polka dot jersey, awarded each year to the best mountain climber.
