The 13th stage of the Tour de France was a typical transition stage after the Pyrenees and it covered 198.5 kilometers from Muret to Rodez. Besides the hilly profile, the riders had to conquer a very tough final - a ramp of 570 meters with a slope of 9.6%.

Already in the day’s first kilometer, the attack that led to the group of the day was successful. The six riders were controlled by the field at any time and they could never build a bigger gap than five minutes. But the attackers made it an exciting finish because the last ones weren’t caught until the last 500 meters. While Greg van Avermaet (BMC) rode to victory, Jan Barta reached the finish as best BORA – ARGON 18 rider 1:58 min later followed shortly after by Emanuel Buchmann.

"It was a very difficult stage. The temperatures were extremely high and the course was a constant up and down. Then relatively quickly a leading group of six riders was formed. We only wanted to be represented in larger groups and not participate in smaller ones. And soon Giant-Alpecin took over responsibility and started to chase. There were strong riders in the leading group and so it got very tight catching the breakaway. The finale was raced very fast and hard. In the end, not the sprinters but the classics riders went for the victory. For us, the final was just too hard. The riders didn't have the legs today to go for top rankings. So we decided to conserve our energy for the next stages", said Enrico Poitschke after the 13th stage.