Vive la France! Barguil wins stage 13 on Bastille Day

France's Warren Barguil won stage 13 of the Tour de France, becoming the first Frenchman to triumph on Bastille Day in 12 years.

The Team Sunweb rider held off Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) and Mikel Landa (Team Sky) on the final sprint in Foix.

Italy's Fabio Aru finished ninth but remained in the yellow jersey, six seconds ahead of Britain's Chris Froome in the general classification (GC).

"Winning on today of all days is extraordinary," said a jubilant Barguil. "I'm so happy. I took a big gamble going into the final corner and it paid off."

After a difficult first day in the Pyrenees on stage 12, when he lost the yellow jersey to Aru, defending champion Froome was back on form on the short 101km 13th stage from Saint-Girons to Foix.

"I felt a bit weak yesterday," he said. "But today I felt a lot better."

"We played around a bit today," he continued, referring to the decision to send Sky teammate Mikel Landa out in front with the stage leaders. "We'll continue to do that, but it went perfectly for us today."

German sprinter Marcel Kittel finished more than 20 minutes behind Barguil but collected valuable points to remain in the green jersey. Should be remain in contention through the mountain stages, it will be difficult to see him losing the green jersey before Paris.

The best German rider on stage 13 was Emanuel Buchmann, who finished 20th to go 17th in the GC.

mf/ (DPA, Reuters)