Pau: Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe has turned in a cracking time trial to win the Tour de France's stage 13 time trial and extend his lead over Geraint Thomas.
Julian Alaphilippe crosses the line to extend his lead over Geraint Thomas.Credit:AP
The Frenchman was widely tipped to relinquish his yellow jersey to the Ineos leader on the 27.2-kilometre parcours. Instead, Alaphilippe enthralled fans in Pau with the ride of his life, putting more seconds between himself and race favourite Thomas in second place.
Alaphilippe, riding for Deceuninck–Quick-Step, extended is lead over Thomas to 1min 26secs, with Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) moving into third place 2min 12sec down on the yellow jersey.
Earlier, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) abandoned the Tour after suffering a leg injury when he crashed during his time trial.