RODEZ, France — Having left the mountains of the Pyrenees behind, Friday at the Tour de France was what the organizers call a transition stage. That is, a bridge to the Alpine stages, something that is not supposed to be difficult or change the overall results.
In the end, the two overall leaders remained the same after Stage 13. Chris Froome still has the leader’s yellow jersey and the American Tejay van Garderen is still in second, 2 minutes 52 seconds back.
But the 123 or so miles from Muret, near Toulouse, to Rodez were anything but easy.