Canadian Houle races to third in Stage 13 of Tour de France

SAINT-ETIENNE, France — Canadian rider Hugo Houle finished third in Stage 13 of the Tour de France, narrowly missing Canada's first stage victory in 34 years.

The Israel-Premier Tech cyclist from Sainte-Perpetue, Que., was in the lead group of three riders that broke away from the pack with 20 kilometres to go in the stage.

Danish rider and former world champion Mads Pedersen launched a sprint with 300 metres to go and held on for his first Tour de France stage victory in four hours 13 minutes and three seconds, finishing just ahead of Britain's Frank Wright and Houle.

It was the third stage win in four days for Danish cyclists.

Houle's result moved him up eight places in the overall classification to 35th, 1:06.09 behind race leader Jonas Vingegaard.

Houle's previous best Tour de France stage result was a seventh-place finish in Stage 12 of the 2020 race.

The only Canadian to win a Tour de France stage is Steve Bauer, who took the opening stage in 1988.

Bauer is the sporting director at Israel-Premier Tech.

Houle's teammate, Montreal rider Guillaume Boivin, also had a strong performance in Stage 13, finishing 17th. He rose eight spots in the general classification to 134th overall.

Antoine Duchesne of Saguenay, Que., riding for Groupama FDJ, was 63rd in the stage (No. 91 overall), and Ottawa's Michael Woods, also of Israel-Premier Tech was 97th in the stage (No. 62 overall).

Pedersen was crowned world champion in 2019. He also won Gent-Wevelgem two years ago but had never tasted victory in a Grand Tour.

Following two brutal days of racing in the Alps, Vingegaard enjoyed a quiet day in the pack, well protected by his Jumbo-Visma teammates.

Two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar, who gave away the yellow jersey