Jurgen Van Den Broeck may still not have the legs he had in the Criterium du Dauphiné but the Belgian was pleased with the outcome of the first stage in the Alps. Having felt clear progress, he hopes to continue his steady rise in the overall standings.

Before the start of the thirteenth stage there was one minute of silence for the victims of yesterday’s plane crash in Ukraine. Then the peloton left for a stage of 197.5 kilometers from Saint-Etienne to Chamrousse. Yellow jersey Vincenzo Nibali claimed the victory. Jurgen van den Broeck became twelfth at 2’09”. In GC the Lotto Belisol rider moves up one place and is eighth in GC now at 6’27”.
  
“Compared to the stages in the Vosges there’s definitely progress," he said. "I followed until the last seven kilometers, then our group fell apart. A strong Pinot and Valverde took off. Nibali is obviously the strongest of all.

"Afterwards also Bardet and Van Garderen attacked. I could maintain myself and because Porte lost time I gained one place. Strange things can happen the next stages. We already had the stages in England, the cobblestone stage, the Vosges and now the heat. Much can happen. The gap with the third place is just over two minutes. The French riders Bardet and Pinot have made a strong impression.”
 
“There’s definitely progress compared to the Vosges," manager Marc Sergeant sia.d "Like we had hoped and expected riders have disappeared that stood in front of Van den Broeck. He’s eighth now and Rui Costa, the man behind him, stands at more than two minutes. Van den Broeck is eighth just 2’03” from the 3rd place. We have hope he will gain places if he maintains this level and possibly improves.”