Tour de France 2026 Favourites stage 13: For daredevil descenders

The longest stage of the Tour is set to appeal to the breakaway specialists. It is a predominantly flat 205.8-kilometre route, but with two climbs in the final 40 kilometres. The Ballon d’Alsace, crested with just under 30 kilometres remaining, is likely to sit heavily on the legs of the sprinters. (Slideshow route/profile)

First published on 29 June

At around 2,400 metres, the total amount of climbing should not pose a problem. But because the ascents come in quick succession and are packed into the run-up to the finale, the sprinters are likely to be out of contention.

The Ballon d’Alsace summit comes with just under 30 kilometres to go – a relatively long distance in terms of kilometres, but effectively much shorter in racing time, as roughly half of it is downhill. Riders dropped on the Ballon d’Alsace will have little opportunity to recover lost ground.

The route is fairly straightforward: around 150 kilometres of flat terrain before the Col des Croix (5.1 kilometres at 4.8%) offers a warm-up for the Ballon d’Alsace, an 8.9-kilometre climb at an average gradient of 6.9%. From the summit, there are still 29.9 kilometres to the finish.

That begins with a 16-kilometre descent, followed by a false-flat section descending towards a 670-metre ramp at 5.1% in Valdoie. From there, the route continues to fall gently all the way to Belfort.

The key question beforehand is what the GC teams will decide to do. A breakaway is easy to control on a route like this, but will they believe they can make a difference on the Ballon d’Alsace and the subsequent descent? Probably not. That would open the door for the attackers – particularly given that the move is likely to go clear on the flat, while the stage is decided on a climb and the descent that follows. The winner will need to be a strong climber, a capable descender, and quite possibly a fast finisher as well.

We’ll continue to update this article in the build-up to the Tour de France.

Favourites 13th stage - 2026 Tour de France

*** Tom Pidcock, Matej Mohoric, Julian Alaphilippe, Mathias Vacek
** Mathieu van der Poel, Romain Grégoire, Maxim van Gils, Kévin Vauquelin
* Mads Pedersen, Magnus Cort, Michael Matthews, Quinten Hermans, Alex Baudin

Another interesting read: route 13th stage 2026 Tour de France.

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