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Valence - Slovakian Peter Sagan underlined his sprint credentials for the third time on the Tour de France Friday after powering to victory in the 13th stage from Bourg d'Oisans to Valence.
Sagan, of the Bora team, is one of the few real sprint specialists still in the race after surviving an Alpine stage trilogy that proved fatal to the hopes of rivals Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, Andre Greipel and Dylan Groenewegen.
All the aforementioned exited the race over two tough days in the Alps, and Sagan - who had won two stages on this edition so far - was quick to capitalise.
"It was very beautiful to win today after three days in the Alps," said Sagan, whose 11th career win on the race helped take his tally in the points competition to 398 points.
Norwegian Alexander Kristoff (UAE), who finished a close second, has 170 points while Frenchman Arnaud Demare, of Groupama, has 133.
"I was on the wheel of (Alexander) Kristoff, then I made my move. It's amazing. The team did an amazing job today."
Sagan, wearing the green jersey for the leader of the points competition he has won five times previously, was given extra work to do after Belgian upstart Philippe Gilbert (Quick Step) brazenly attacked a leading peloton full of ambitious sprinters 930 metres from the line.
But Sagan, and his rivals didn't flinch.
They kept the pace high and one-day classics specialist Gilbert was caught with 245m remaining.
The Groupama team of Demare, as well as Kristoff's UAE outfit had been key in chasing down a relatively tame four-man breakaway in the closing kilometres of the race.
But the Frenchman came up short when it came to payback.
He launched his burst first, but, as Kristoff and Sagan came up on his left, Demare ran out of juice.
"It's strange to be sprinting like crazies after being on the small ring (of the bike) in the Alps," said Demare.
"I thought I was going to win, I started my sprint well but I came up short."
The Frenchman banged on his handlebars in frustration as Sagan held up his palm in triumph.
The Slovakian now has one hand on his fifth green jersey, and one eye now on winning the final stage to the Champs Elysees.
But Sagan said he won't be performing any of his trademark wheelies just yet.
"There's a lot of tough stages to do before we get to" the Champs Elysees, said Sagan.
"I have to be a bit closer to Paris before I start doing a wheelie.
Britain's Geraint Thomas, fresh from winning two stages in the Alps, remained in the leader's yellow jersey.
Welshman Thomas leads Sky teammate Chris Froome by 1min 39secs, with Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) third overall at 1:50.
Although Froome is Sky's team leader, Thomas said: "I hope to keep the jersey as long as possible.
"But it's a three-week race and the Pyrenees are going to be even tougher."
The 14th stage on Saturday is difficult and technical ride over 188 km between Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Mende.
Results from the 13th stage of Tour de France, a 169.5km ride from Le Bourg-d'Oisans to Valence on Friday:
1. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR) 169.5km in 3hr 45min 55sec
(average: 45.2 km/h)
2. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/EAU) at 0.
3. Arnaud Dmare (FRA/FDJ) 0.
4. John Degenkolb (GER/TRE) 0.
5. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) 0.
6. Yves Lampaert (BEL/QST) 0.
7. Magnus Nielsen (DEN/AST) 0.
8. Andrea Pasqualon (ITA/WGG) 0.
9. Sonny Colbrelli (ITA/BAH) 0.
10. Taylor Phinney (USA/EFD) 0.
11. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA/DDT) 0.
12. Dion Smith (NZL/WGG) 0.
13. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/FDJ) 0.
14. Timothy Dupont (BEL/WGG) 0.
15. Pierre-Roger Latour (FRA/ALM) 0.
16. Nikias Arndt (GER/SUN) 0.
17. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/DDT) 0.
18. Jasper De Buyst (BEL/LOT) 0.
19. Christophe Laporte (FRA/COF) 0.
20. Michael Hepburn (AUS/MIT) 0.
21. Thomas Boudat (FRA/DEN) 0.
22. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 0.
23. Kvin Ledanois (FRA/FST) 0.
24. Mikel Landa (ESP/MOV) 0.
25. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 0.
26. Timo Roosen (NED/LNL) 0.
27. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 0.
28. Maximiliano Richeze (ARG/QST) 0.
29. Daniel Martin (IRL/EAU) 0.
30. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/LNL) 0.
31. Bob Jungels (LUX/QST) 0.
32. Lilian Calmejane (FRA/DEN) 0.
33. Jasper Stuyven (BEL/TRE) 0.
34. Nils Politt (GER/KAT) 0.
35. Tanel Kangert (EST/AST) 0.
36. Julien Vermote (BEL/DDT) 0.
37. Tom Dumoulin (NED/SUN) 0.
38. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/QST) 0.
39. Christopher Froome (GBR/SKY) 0.
40. Mikel Nieve (ESP/MIT) 0.
41. Jack Bauer (NZL/MIT) 0.
42. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/DEN) 0.
43. Stefan Kung (SUI/BMC) 0.
44. Michael Andersen (DEN/AST) 0.
45. Primoz Roglic (SLO/LNL) 0.
46. Ilnur Zakarin (RUS/KAT) 0.
47. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 0.
48. Marco Minnaard (NED/WGG) 0.
49. Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (DEN/AST) 0.
50. Matthew Hayman (AUS/MIT) 0.
51. Guillaume Martin (FRA/WGG) 0.
52. Warren Barguil (FRA/FST) 0.
53. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 0.
54. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/BAH) 0.
55. Edward Theuns (BEL/SUN) 0.
56. Sep Vanmarcke (BEL/EFD) 14.
57. Ramon Sinkeldam (NED/FDJ) 24.
58. Julien Simon (FRA/COF) 29.
59. Yoann Offredo (FRA/WGG) 29.
60. Pavel Kochetkov (RUS/KAT) 33.
61. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL/WGG) 33.
62. Daniele Bennati (ITA/MOV) 40.
63. Maxime Bouet (FRA/FST) 40.
64. Imanol Erviti (ESP/MOV) 40.
65. Paul Martens (GER/LNL) 43.
66. Heinrich Haussler (AUS/BAH) 43.
67. Silvan Dillier (SUI/ALM) 43.
68. Marco Marcato (ITA/EAU) 47.
69. Roberto Ferrari (ITA/EAU) 47.
70. Laurent Pichon (FRA/FST) 47.
71. Koen de Kort (NED/TRE) 52.
72. Simon Gerrans (AUS/BMC) 59.
73. Kristjan Koren (SLO/BAH) 1:05.
74. Oliver Naesen (BEL/ALM) 1:07.
75. Jon Izagirre (ESP/BAH) 1:07.
76. Jesper Hansen (DEN/AST) 1:07.
77. Amal Moinard (FRA/FST) 1:07.
78. Jrme Cousin (FRA/DEN) 1:14.
79. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA/BAH) 1:23.
80. Bauke Mollema (NED/TRE) 1:23.
81. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) 1:23.
82. Thomas Degand (BEL/WGG) 1:23.
83. Kristijan Durasek (CRO/EAU) 1:23.
84. Maciej Bodnar (POL/BOR) 1:23.
85. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EFD) 1:23.
86. Rudy Molard (FRA/FDJ) 1:23.
87. Simon Geschke (GER/SUN) 1:23.
88. Laurens ten Dam (NED/SUN) 1:23.
89. Audrey Amador (CRC/MOV) 1:23.
90. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC) 1:23.
91. Robert Gesink (NED/LNL) 1:36.
92. Jay Thomson (RSA/DDT) 1:36.
93. Patrick Bevin (NZL/BMC) 1:36.
94. Julien Bernard (FRA/TRE) 1:36.
95. Jos Herrada Lopez (ESP/COF) 1:36.
96. Tomasz Marczynski (POL/LOT) 1:36.
97. Amund Grondahl Jansen (NOR/LNL) 1:36.
98. Florian Vachon (FRA/FST) 1:36.
99. Romain Sicard (FRA/DEN) 1:50.
100. Fabien Grellier (FRA/DEN) 1:51.
101. Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN/SUN) 1:56.
102. Marcus Burghardt (GER/BOR) 1:56.
103. Simon Clarke (AUS/EFD) 1:56.
104. Daniel Oss (ITA/BOR) 1:56.
105. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP/SKY) 1:56.
106. Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE/FDJ) 2:02.
107. David Gaudu (FRA/FDJ) 2:02.
108. Nicolas Edet (FRA/COF) 2:02.
109. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BMC) 2:02.
110. Franco Pellizotti (ITA/BAH) 2:02.
111. Oliviero Troia (ITA/EAU) 2:02.
112. Olivier Le Gac (FRA/FDJ) 2:02.
113. Chad Haga (USA/SUN) 2:02.
114. Lukas Pstlberger (AUT/BOR) 2:08.
115. Gregor Mhlberger (AUT/BOR) 2:08.
116. Mathias Frank (SUI/ALM) 2:08.
117. Rafal Majka (POL/BOR) 2:08.
118. Thomas De Gendt (BEL/LOT) 2:08.
119. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/LOT) 2:08.
120. Rory Sutherland (AUS/EAU) 2:08.
121. Anthony Turgis (FRA/COF) 2:08.
122. Tim Declercq (BEL/QST) 2:08.
123. Pawel Poljanski (POL/BOR) 2:08.
124. Ian Boswell (USA/KAT) 2:08.
125. Egan Bernal (COL/SKY) 2:08.
126. Omar Fraile (ESP/AST) 2:08.
127. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/SKY) 2:08.
128. Daniel Navarro (ESP/COF) 2:08.
129. Gianni Moscon (ITA/SKY) 2:08.
130. Luke Rowe (GBR/SKY) 2:08.
131. Antwan Tolhoek (NED/LNL) 2:08.
132. Anthony Perez (FRA/COF) 2:08.
133. Marc Soler (ESP/MOV) 2:08.
134. Serge Pauwels (BEL/DDT) 2:08.
135. Damien Howson (AUS/MIT) 2:08.
136. Daniel Martnez (COL/EFD) 2:08.
137. Darwin Atapuma (COL/EAU) 2:08.
138. Luke Durbridge (AUS/MIT) 2:08.
139. Daryl Impey (RSA/MIT) 2:08.
140. Wout Poels (NED/SKY) 2:08.
141. Tom Slagter (NED/DDT) 2:08.
142. Elie Gesbert (FRA/FST) 2:08.
143. Romain Hardy (FRA/FST) 2:08.
144. Dimitri Claeys (BEL/COF) 2:08.
145. Niki Terpstra (NED/QST) 2:08.
146. Toms Skujins (LAT/TRE) 2:08.
147. Damien Gaudin (FRA/DEN) 2:08.
148. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/QST) 2:08.
149. Tom Scully (NZL/EFD) 2:45.
150. Lawson Craddock (USA/EFD) 2:45.
151. Michael Schr (SUI/BMC) 2:48.
152. Michael Gogl (AUT/TRE) 3:16.
153. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/BAH) Withdrawn
