Thor Hushovd became the first world champion since Oscar Freire in 2002 to win a stage of the Tour de France by soloing to victory on the 152.5km stage 13 to Lourdes.
- Thor Hushovd celebrates victory on stage 13
Frenchman Jeremy Roy cleared the summit of the hors categorie Col d’Aubisque with a 53 second advantage over compatriot Davide Moncoutie, who in turn held a one minute, ten second lead over Hushovd.
But Garmin-Cervelo rider Hushovd, voted the best descender in the peloton last year, soon caught Moncoutie on the drop off the Col du Soulor before jumping the Cofidis man on the flat run-in to Lourdes and in turn powering past Roy, who went on to finish third.
Sprinter Hushovd, who held the yellow jersey from stages two to nine, attacked from a nine-man break on the 16.4km ascent of the Col d’Aubisque, which averages 7.1 per cent,to defy his reputation as a sprinter before Moncoutie and Roy countered.
Roy, who was first across the Col du Tourmalet on stage 12 to collect the Prix Jacques Goddet and 5,000 euros, soon distanced both Hushovd and Moncoutie to reach the 1,709m first and earn enough points to become the new leader of the King of the Mountains classification.
Hushovd used his superior descending skills to regroup with Moncoutie and the pair trailed Roy one minute, 20 seconds going into the final 22km.
- The world champion attacked on the Col d’Aubisque
With Moncoutie struggling to hold the wheel the Hushovd, let alone share the work, the duo began to eat into Roy’s lead, whose advantage was cut to half-a-minute with 15km left, while back in the peloton, Philippe Gilbert attacked before finishing 10th to earn valuable points for his green jersey campaign.
Hushovd made the decisive move with three kilometres remaining, putting on the afterburners to accelerate past Moncoutie with ease and destroy what remained of Roy’s bid for glory, while Moncoutie soon followed to claim second.
