Mark Cavendish won Stage 13 of the Tour de France, giving him his second stage win of the event and his 25th overall, moving to third on the all-time win list.
"My team did an incredible job today. We're going to have some champagne tonight," said Cavendish. "Yesterday they gave everything and I let them down."
The Stage 13 victory caps off what has been a trying week for the British cyclist. Cavendish came in second Thursday, losing to Marcel Kittel by half a wheel length in a sprint towards the finish line. During Wednesday's Stage 11, Cavendish had urine thrown at him by a spectator during his ride from Avranches to Mont Saint Michel.
Meanwhile, yellow jersey holder Chris Froome had his lead chipped away by Bauke Mollema, who takes over second place, behind Froome by 2:28, and Alberto Contador who jumps to third, 2:45 off the leader.
"There's no such thing as a calm stage on the Tour de France," said Froome, referring to the flat terrain stretching from Tours to Saint Armand-Montrond. "Having lost a minute there, that's always a bitter pill to swallow because we've worked really hard already to get the advantage we had."
Alejandro Valverde, who was in second place going into the beginning of Stage 13, dropped out of the top 10 cyclists on the leaderboard, after stopping to repair a puncture that cost him a time. Valverde had to stop to change a wheel after a puncture and never caught up to the pack.
"It doesn't surprise me what happened today," said Froome. "Just a reminder that I need to stay awake at all times in this race."
Saturday's Stage 14, starting Saint-Pourcain-sur-Sioule and ending in Lyon, is a hilly affair that features seven categorized climbs, though none of them are mountainous.
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