Chris Froome sprinted to sixth place to comfortably defend his yellow jersey during an exciting conclusion to stage 13 at the Tour de France.

An uphill finish in Rodez provided a thrilling duel with both sprinters, general classification contenders and the day’s breakaway going head to head in a battle to the line.

Froome’s legs propelled him to a top-10 finish, leading home a group of overall contenders, seven seconds back on stage winner Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing).

On the approach to the uncategorised drag a huge fight for position ensued, with the speed whipping up in the peloton as the bunch looked to shut down the motivated remnants of the day’s breakaway.

That happened in the very final metres, with van Avermaet fending off the advances of Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) at the line. With Froome sixth across the stripe, Geraint Thomas finished on the same time in 14th, enabling the Welshman to hold on to his fifth place overall, 4:03 back on his team-mate.

Froome also maintained every second of his 2:52 advantage, as well as the polka dot jersey on the day.

"What started out as a relatively easy day turned out to be quite heated in the final," said the race leader. "At one point it didn’t look as though we’d bring the breakaway back, so the peloton panicked and everyone was going flat out to catch them.

"There are some tired bodies out there. It was really hot, but I much prefer those conditions to how it was yesterday with the rain and cold. I’m happy with how things went. I didn’t lose time to anyone and got through it without any major issues, and we’re another day closer to Paris.

"It could have been an easier day but it was a mad dash in the last 40km as sprinters' teams panicked when they realized they might not catch the breakaway. I've seen very tired legs in the bunch, given the last three stages we've just done. Many people were hoping for an easy day but it didn't happen. The heat was close to 40°. We were asking for bidons and there wasn't enough.

"In a day like this, I'd like to feel safe at the 3km to go mark and then give way to the sprinters but in the finale, everyone wanted to be at the front: lead out men for their sprinter, team-mates of GC riders, then it was chaos at the bottom of the final climb. All you need is one GC guy to go to the front and everyone has to go up there as well.

"Today’s climb was only 500m long but there were gaps opening up, and the finish up to Mende tomorrow could be quite selective again. It’s 3km long but quite steep at over 10%, so I’d expect the GC contenders to be putting the pressure on. My legs are feeling good though, so I’m looking forward to it.

"Typical sprinters want more opportunities but I don't have any complain about the route. Seeing that even today some riders have tried to attack me in a short climb like this, it means they'll try more tomorrow. Mende is a 3-km climb where big gaps can be expected. Hopefully I'll get through without any major problem.

"I think Nairo Quintana and Tejay van Garderen are my two closest rivals – they’re the two closest guys to me on the general classification. I’m in a great position but this is far from over."

The 198.5-kilometre transitional stage played out in sweltering heat, with the thermometer touching 36 degrees Celsius out on the road.

Both Nicolas Roche and Thomas helped guide Froome through the finale, while for much of the day the team were able to sit just off the front as the sprinters’ teams set the tempo.

After failing to get a man into the day’s six-rider break Giant-Alpecin looked to control the stage, while in the closing kilometres Tinkoff-Saxo began to add men to the chase.