"It’s absolute chaos" - Lance Armstrong can't get over Tour de France stage 13 after massive breakaway has its day
CyclingSaturday, 18 July 2026 at 11:45
Stage 13 of the Tour de France delivered one of the most unpredictable days of this edition and drew a unanimous reaction on The Move. Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Bradley Wiggins, and Spencer Martin agreed it was the most entertaining stage so far after a giant break of 57 riders, Mauro Schmid’s win, and another twist in the fight for the overall standings.
The show opened with a very different tone to recent days. Rather than focusing on the Tadej Pogacar–Jonas Vingegaard duel, the debate turned to the chaos from kilometre zero and how such a large move could thrive without any team managing to shut it down.
“I think the big winners today were the viewers,” summed up Lance Armstrong as he began the analysis. The American said some earlier stages had been too predictable, but this time he enjoyed a wide-open race from start to finish.
“There were a few dull days, but today I was thoroughly entertained,” he said, highlighting the uncertainty created by a break that swelled to 57 riders.
Bradley Wiggins shared that view and said it was the type of stage many fans had been waiting for since the start of the Tour. “It was the stage we were waiting for,” the Briton explained. “It was a very strange day, with some teams making big mistakes and others panicking to try to protect positions on GC.”
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Blistering pace of stage
The 2012 Tour winner also underlined the blistering pace of the race. The organisers confirmed an average speed of 49.999 kilometres per hour, making it the fourth-fastest stage in Tour history despite nearly 2,400 metres of climbing.
Spencer Martin picked up on that number to stress the huge toll the riders paid all day: “The fourth-fastest stage ever with that much climbing. It’s insane,” he said.
One of the episode’s key themes was the enormous break that ended up shaping the race. George Hincapie admitted it is never easy to manage a move of that size and described the sheer chaos it creates both in the peloton and in the team cars.
“There must have been a ton of panic in the cars,” he said. “Directors asking who was up the road, which teams would work, and trying to figure out who had made the break.”
The American noted that in the Tour de France it is highly unusual to allow a break of such magnitude and believes the road captains of the major squads bear some responsibility: “We would never have let a 57-rider break go,” he said bluntly.
Armstrong went further, explaining what a situation like that feels like from inside the peloton. When a break reaches that size, he said, it becomes almost impossible to identify everyone involved.
Armstrong on controlling the breakaway
“The sports director starts asking who’s up there and you can barely recognise ten riders,” he recalled. “Then Race Radio starts reading out all 57 names one by one while someone in the car tries to write them down and check their GC positions. It’s absolute chaos.”
The Texan even recalled a similar scenario during his racing career, when a large move briefly threatened his Tour lead. He remembered in particular a stage where Alexander Vinokourov slipped into a break before his team realised.
“When we found out Vinokourov was up there, we panicked,” he admitted. “Luckily he punctured and came back to the peloton. If that hadn’t happened, that Tour probably would have changed completely.”
Beyond the spectacle of the break, another focal point of the discussion was Mads Pedersen. The Dane produced another huge effort to defend the points classification lead, something that especially impressed Armstrong.
The American highlighted the massive work the Lidl-Trek rider did to latch onto the second chase group and contest the intermediate sprint: “That might have been the effort of the Tour,” he said. “Everything he did to get there and bag those points could prove decisive in winning the green jersey.”
Bradley Wiggins also stressed the toll of fighting for that secondary classification: “Now the intermediate sprint is almost a stage within a stage,” he explained. “Then they still have to face the final climbs. There’s no respite for anyone.”
However, Spencer Martin believes the stage also exposed some tactical missteps by Lidl-Trek: “It was a disastrous day for them,” he analysed. “They missed the initial move, Pedersen had to burn a huge amount of energy to bridge, and then the team had to work for most of the day because Tom Pidcock was up the road.”
Tom Pidcock, the big winner from the break
Tom Pidcock the big winner
The Briton was, in fact, another central figure in the discussion. Both Wiggins and Armstrong agreed the stage could completely reshape the Q36.5 rider’s ambitions. Bradley Wiggins did not hesitate to name him the day’s tactical standout.
“My move of the day is Tom Pidcock,” he said. “Every morning he says he wants to get in the break, and then he does. He did it again today and is now fully in the fight for the podium.”
The former British pro recalled that Pidcock likely came to the Tour aiming primarily for a stage win, but he believes the circumstances have changed completely: “He’s now fully involved in the podium battle because that contest is still wide open,” he asserted.
Armstrong also underlined the Olympic mountain bike champion’s outstanding form, especially considering the heavy crash he suffered in the opening days of racing: “He’s had a brilliant last five days,” he noted. “And I don’t think that’s the last we’ll see from him.”
George Hincapie shares that view and believes that once a rider finds good sensations in a Grand Tour, he often keeps that momentum: “When the momentum swings your way, it usually keeps going in that direction,” he explained.
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Mauro Schmid praised
The four panellists also heaped praise on the stage winner, Mauro Schmid. Spencer Martin recalled the crushing disappointment he suffered a year ago when he lost a Tour stage by a few centimetres and feels that experience proved decisive.
“Losing a Tour stage in a sprint must keep you up at night for a whole year,” he said. “To come back twelve months later and win shows huge mental strength.”
He also highlighted that the Swiss rider admitted after the stage that he had been battling cramps for several kilometres before the finale. Armstrong paused on the exact moment the race was decided. After reviewing the footage multiple times, he explained that Schmid launched the decisive attack when the front group still had around a dozen riders.
“As soon as he got fifty metres, I thought it was done,” he said. “I knew the chasers would start looking at each other and lose their organisation.”
For the American, that acceleration was the true winning move of the stage and perfectly illustrates how to race these open-ended finales.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- I would like to see a Mathieu vs Mads showdown on stage 17, like we've had at Gent-Wevelgem. And then on stage 21 Pogačar can join in and why not Remco too.
Rafionain-Glas18-07-2026 - All valid points. Only problem is, everyone else looks more worn out (except Florian Lipowitz, who hasn't ridden to his fullest in order to protect cry-baby Remco's GC ambitions)Rafionain-Glas18-07-2026
- Armstrong is repulsive. The fact that he doped is bad enough but what really makes him a terrible person is how he attacked some really good people in cycling. Just ask Frankie and Betsy Andrew, Greg LeMond and Emma O'Reilly how he made their lives miserable so he could perpetuate his lie that he was clean. Those are just a few names on the list of people he bullied and/or went after with his lawyers to silence the truth. Even if he hadn’t doped, he is not someone I would ever want to know.
Rggg18-07-2026 - Roglič will fall out of GC, go in the breakaway and get caughtRafionain-Glas18-07-2026
- Answer: He doesn't look himself in the mirror and never has. Have you seen how grimy his face is?Rafionain-Glas18-07-2026
- How can this guy look himself in the mirror? He admitted doping 7 tdf titles and still says he has the record? What a clown. How come he has such visibility and importance in cycling, when he did so bad to the sport? Thousands must have stopped following cycling when this came outLobz7718-07-2026
- OK Duchenne, calm the farm. We get your obsession but there is no need to be a bigot. None at all.
Andrew18-07-2026 - Who was gifted what exactly?Andrew18-07-2026
- Great win for the Aussie team. Brings a bit of life into the race.whit2pet18-07-2026
- They said the same thing last year..
leedorney18-07-2026
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