As anticipated, attack followed attack at the start of the day, with French veteran Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) and polka-dot jersey holder and compatriot Barguil attacking from the flag.

Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie), Philippe Gilbert (QuickStep Floors) and Alessandro de Marchi (BMC Racing) were next to try their luck, leading through the intermediate sprint, but the peloton still remained active.

Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) beat Marcel Kittel (Team Sunweb) from the peloton, but it was not long before the fast men were spat out the back as the day’s climbing started.

Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), in obvious discomfort from his fractured wrist and elbow, was dropped almost immediately too, while team-mate Andriy Grivko cracked too as yellow jersey Fabio Aru became isolated.

Up the road, De Marchi stayed out solo over the Col de Latrape, with Barguil active in the polka dot jersey behind, before Contador attacked, marked by Landa.

As Kwiatkowski came into sight, however, Froome attacked to join his Polish team-mate and his efforts initially split the group – Yates among those behind the gap – before it came back together on the descent.

The lead in the yellow jersey group repeatedly changed on the descent, with several riders giving it a go, but the gap to the front quartet held around the two-minute mark.

Uran got a small gap but was caught at the bottom of the descent, while Martin took advantage of a lull at the bottom to attack too.

With Froome the only rider in the GC group with a team-mate for company, the defending champion repeatedly tested Aru, before Yates bridged across to Martin.

Aru would not be beaten, however, and as Barguil was outsprinting Contador, Quintana and Landa to claim his first Tour de France stage win – becoming the first Frenchman to win on Bastille Day since 2005 – Aru and his rivals were all together.

Martin and Yates’ attacks earned them nine seconds, but Aru still leads by six seconds overall from Froome.

Tour de France 2017: stage 13 – result

1) Warren Barguil (FRA) – Team Sunweb – 2.36.29hrs
2) Nairo Quintana (COL) – Movistar – ST
3) Alberto Contador (ESP) – Trek-Segafredo
4) Mikel Landa (ESP) – Team Sky +2”
5) Simon Yates (GBR) – Orica-Scott +1.39
6) Daniel Martin (IRL) – QuickStep Floors – ST
7) Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) – Team Sky +1.48
8) Chris Froome (GBR) – Team Sky – ST
9) Fabio Aru (ITA) – Astana
10) Rigoberto Uran (COL) – Cannondale-Drapac

General classification

1) Fabio Aru (ITA) – Astana – 55.30.06hrs
2) Chris Froome (GBR) – Team Sky +6”
3) Romain Bardet (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale +25”
4) Rigoberto Uran (COL) – Cannondale-Drapac +35”
5) Mikel Landa (ESP) – Team Sky +1.09
6) Daniel Martin (IRL) – QuickStep Floors +1.32
7) Simon Yates (GBR) – Orica-Scott +2.04
8) Nairo Quintana (COL) – Movistar +2.07
9) Louis Meintjes (RSA) – UAE Team Emirates +4.51
10) Alberto Contador (ESP) – Trek-Segafredo +5.22