On what was referred to as a medium mountain stage, a sprinter/classics rider would take the day. Such is the paradoxical nature of the Tour de France, where the fastest are sometimes the slowest, and the meek looking are sometimes the strongest.Then again, today's victor is somewhat of a paradox himself. Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo Test Team) was born in Australia to German parents, but now lives in Germany. He speaks German and English, but with an Aussie accent. He favors the cold weather riding conditions of the northern spring classics, but has recently decided to move back to the warm weather of Australia.
Confused yet?
An area that is not of confusion for the 24-year old Haussler is his capabilities as a racer. He is an excellent rider. During the spring Classics campaign, Haussler would narrowly miss out on claiming two of the five monuments of cycling, the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Milano-San Remo; finishing second in both. And today, the German-Australian would take the biggest prize of his young career, a stage in the Tour de France.
Involved in a breakaway from the start, Haussler would shed all of his companions on the way to Colmar. Solo, the emotionally overcome Haussler would cross the line over four minutes ahead of the next rider, Amets Txurruka (Euskatel-Euskadi). Brice Feillu (Agritubel), the French revelation from Stage 7, rounded out today's podium.
Stage 13 Results
1. Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervelo Test Team 4:56:26
2. Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:04:11
3. Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel
Say It Ain't So
As a result of this morning's withdrawal of Levi Leipheimer (Astana), who sat in fourth on the General Classification, everyone moves up a spot. Leipheimer, who crashed in the final kilometers of the yesterday's stage, was found to have a broken wrist this morning. With surgery scheduled for this afternoon, the void created by Leipheimer's absence, both physically and psychologically, may cause Astana to reassess their tactics for the Alpine stages.
General Classification After Stage 13
1. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
2. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
3. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
4. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream
5. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana
6. Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - HTC
7. Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Slipstream
8. Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
9. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas
10. Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
To The Mattresses
The competition for the maillot vert and the maillot à pois rouges has been fought tooth and nail. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) once again takes over the Points lead, proving that that the Green Jersey goes to the most consistent finisher and not the best sprinter of the Tour. The big Norwegian was able to get up and down on the undulating parcours, and took the points for his 6th place finish. He now holds a 5 point lead over Mark Cavendish (Columbia - HTC) who sauntered to the line today in the autobus.
Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) battle with Egoi Martinez (Euskatel-Euskadi) would yield him the maillot à pois rouges, which had sat on the Spaniard's shoulders for the past few days.
Jersey Leader's After Stage 13
Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - HTCNext: Stage 14 - Colmar to Besançon (199 km)
Sprinters, come out and play! A relatively flat stage will surely call out the sprinters with the high mountains in their near future. Can Cavendish come back over the top of Hushovd in the battle for the green jersey?
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