Stage 13 of the race was expected to be contested by the sprinters in another group finish, but a day of aggressive riding from the Saxo Bank, Belkin and Omega Pharma Quikstep teams have exposed the weakness of Chris Froome's Team Sky.

Nicolas Roche was involved in a decisive move by the Saxo Bank team that saw their team leader Alberto Contador get himself back into contention.

The stage was won by sprint specialist Mark Cavendish, but Contador took a minute and 10 seconds out of the lead of Chris Froome to move up to 3rd place over.

Dan Martin is expected to move up to 12th place overall after finishing today in the yellow jersey group.