2026 Tour de France Stage 13 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 13 of the 2026 Tour de France! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
At 205 kilometres, stage 13 is the longest of the 2026 Tour de France. It's also the only stage that stretches beyond 200 kilometres. With the Ballon d’Alsace and its sweeping descent as the closing act, it’s a golden chance for the brave and the bold.
We’re heading for the Vosges Mountains. From the start, the route rolls gently north-east on undulating roads. The race is already 150 kilometres underway when the first climb appears. The Col des Croix is a 5.4-kilometre ascent at 4.9%. The riders fly down into the Moselle valley before tackling the climb of the day.
The Ballon d’Alsace was, 121 years ago, the very first real mountain ever tackled in Tour de France history. It's an 8.7-kilometre climb with an average gradient of 6.9% and ramps up to 8.8%. In other words, it’s a steady drag — not a brute, but one that quietly torments the legs. The summit is 30 kilometres from the finish line.
The first half is a proper descent, and the route then runs downhill towards Belfort as well. Yet, within the final 5 kilometres, an 800-metre stretch at 8% awaits, with the potential to shake things up in the breakaway.
It’s been a long time since Belfort last hosted a stage finish. You have to go back to the 1978 Tour, when Belgian Marc Demeyer out-sprinted the Dutchman Jan Raas to take victory. Get more details at cyclingstage.com.
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