Britain’s Fred Wright overtook in the final sprint as Mads Pedersen won stage 13 of the Tour de France

Former world champion Mads Pedersen took his first Grand Tour stage win on stage 13 of the Tour de France when Fred Wright suffered even more heartbreak.

Pedersen passed Wright and Hugo Houle at the end of the 192km Le Bourg d’Oisans to Saint Etienne stage as the breakaway succeeded after three tough days in the Alps.

Wright came within three kilometers of glory on Stage 8 in Lausanne and then was in Megeve for the final break a few days later.

Mads Pedersen clinched his first Grand Tour stage win on Friday in stage 13 of the Tour de France

This time he was within reach of victory, although he must have known what was coming when he and Houle failed to shake Pedersen, the superior sprinter, on the road into town.

The trio had pulled away from four other breakaways in the final 12km of the stage and finished five minutes ahead of the peloton, with the main contenders finishing together to ensure Jonas Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey, two minutes and 22 seconds ahead of Tadej Pogacar Geraint Thomas in third place.

After Wednesday and Thursday’s big battles on the high ground, Friday’s profile appeared relatively flat – a rare opportunity for sprinters who have been starving since the race left Denmark.

But with a hilly track, crosswinds and high, high temperatures in the Rhone Valley, there were never any guarantees and it showed.

Pedersen left Wright and Hugo Houle well behind at the end of the 192km stage

Seven riders got away early and Pedersen always held the trump card with teammate Quinn Simmons present in the breakaway.

They were given a short leash, rarely longer than two and a half minutes. But when Caleb Ewan, one of the few sprinters who would have liked this terrain, fell with 70km to go, Lotto-Soudal fell behind and the peloton’s chase lost momentum.

Knowing he was the marked man in the group, Pedersen seized the initiative, attacking 12 km away, only Wright and Houle were able to hold on.

Wright, looking to follow Tom Pidcock’s win at Alpe d’Huez on Thursday, tried to get rid of the Dane on a short climb before the final three kilometers but the 23-year-old Londoner, exhausted on a sweltering hot day, quickly let himself go fall back on his saddle.

“I knew I had to do that last little kicker to beat Mads but to be honest I just didn’t have the legs,” said the Bahraini driver. “He surprised me when he attacked, but he was stronger than me.

Jonas Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey, two minutes and 22 seconds ahead of Tadej Pogaca

“Mads has won some big bike races but I was in it, I was happy to have done it. I said before the stage that I wanted to come into the break, but it was difficult to come into the break. It was better to be on break because you get more ice, more water to pour over your head. Not bad for a British kid.”

Pedersen has won a number of big races, none bigger than the World Championships in Yorkshire in 2019, but this was his first stage win in a three-week race.

“It’s incredible to finally win,” said the 26-year-old. “I knew the form was really good. I definitely missed opportunities in the first week.

“In the last week there haven’t been many chances for a guy like me, so to take the chance today and get the reward is really nice, not only for me but for the whole team. We only came here with riders for stages (wins) and now we have one so it’s such a relief.

“(The plan was) If there were more than four guys at the break then I should be there because we didn’t know how other teams were going to ride the final climb with 45km to go. For a long time I thought it was a mistake to go into the break because we only had two minutes, but it paid off in the end.”