Italian Vincenzo Nibali continued his domination of the 2014 Tour de France by winning the 13th stage and extending his overall lead to more than three minutes.
Proving to be too much for his rivals, Nibali ruled the 197.5 kilometer stage to win his third stage of the competition. Afterwards, he told AFP: "I think I'm in the best form of anyone in the Tour. I'm sorry we don't have the duel we hoped for with Froome and Alberto but I got here in great form to be very competitive and my level is very high."
The Italian was referring to reigning champ Chris Froome and two-time champion Alberto Contador who both have left the race.
Nibali of Astana was almost a minute ahead of the field, with Spaniard Alejandro Valverde and Frenchman Thibaut Pinot coming in at second and third, respectively. As a result, Valverde is now second overall but is still 3:37 behind the yellow jersey while Pinot climbed up to fourth trailing Nibali by more than four minutes.
But the biggest loser of the stage was Richie Porte of Team Sky who came in nine minutes behind Nibali. He would drop from second overall behind Nibali to 16th overall after the stage.
Nibali showed how strong a rider he is by repelling an attack by Valverde in the final 10 kilometers of the stage. He then pulled away from the pack in the final six kilometers and Valverde failed to catch up.
With eight stages left, is Nibali headed to a Tour de France championship? Tell us @SportsWN.
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