Mads Pedersen outsprints rivals to secure victory on stage 13 of Tour de France

Former world champion Mads Pedersen took his first Grand Tour stage win on stage 13 of the Tour de France as Fred Wright suffered more breakaway heartache.

Pedersen comfortably outsprinted Wright and Hugo Houle at the end of the 192km stage from Le Bourg d’Oisans to Saint Etienne as the breakaway prospered after three punishing days in the Alps.

Wright came within three kilometres of glory on stage eight into Lausanne, and was then in the final break into Megeve a couple of days later.

This time he was within touching distance of the win, though he will have known what was coming once he and Houle failed to shake Pedersen, the superior sprinter, on the road into town.

The trio had gone clear of four other escapees in the final 12km of the stage to finish five minutes ahead of the main pack, with the main contenders finishing together to ensure Jonas Vingegaard retains the yellow jersey, two minutes 22 seconds ahead of Tadej Pogacar with Geraint Thomas in third.

After the big battles of Wednesday and Thursday on the high ground, Friday’s profile appeared relatively flat – a rare opportunity for sprinters who have been starved since the race left Denmark.

But, given an undulating route, crosswinds and high, high temperatures in the Rhone Valley, there were never any guarantees and so it proved.

Seven riders got away early on, and Pedersen always held the trump card given the presence of team-mate Quinn Simmons in the breakaway.

They were given a short leash, rarely more than two-and-a-half minutes. But when Caleb Ewan, one of the handful of sprinters who would have fancied this terrain, crashed 70km from the finish, Lotto-Soudal dropped back and the peloton’s chase lost impetus.

Pedersen knew he was the marked man in the