Cycling:Andre Greipel claimed a third victory of the Tour de France with a stage 13 success to Le Cap d'Agde. Yellow jersey Bradley Wiggins led Team Sky colleague Edvald Boasson Hagen into the finishing straight of the 217-kilometre route from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux, but Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) burst from behind the Norwegian's wheel to triumph.
It was his third stage success after wins on stages four and five, equalling Peter Sagan’s haul of triumphs. Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) was second, with Boasson Hagen third.
The win, two weeks prior to the London 2012 Olympic road race, showed Greipel will be a major threat to world champion Mark Cavendish’s bid for gold on the opening day of the Games on July 28.
With Team Sky’s priority Wiggins’ bid to win the Tour and with Chris Froome a place behind in second overall, Cavendish has had limited support in his sixth Tour and was cast adrift on the 1.6km Mont Saint-Clair, a brutal short, sharp category three ascent rising out of the coastal town of Sete.
Wiggins retained a lead of two minutes five seconds from Froome, with Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) 2mins 23secs behind in third and Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) fourth, 3:19 adrift.
The Tour enters the Pyrenees on the 191km 14th stage from Limoux to Foix, which features two category one climbs, but is likely to favour a breakaway.