Greg Van Avermaet of BCM Racing ruled Stage 13 of the 2015 Tour de France on Friday, while Chris Froome of Team Sky did enough to maintain his lead in the race for the yellow jersey.

Van Avermaet scored his first ever stage victory in the Tour de France after an intense sprint match against Peter Sagan of Tinkoff-Saxo. Sagan looked poised to win the stage, but Van Avermaet saved his best for a final push to keep his lead to rule the 198.5 kilometer race from Muret to Rodez.

"This victory means a lot to me," Van Avermaet said. "It's a big one. Finally I've made it after missing out on several occasions, especially at the classics. I came to the Tour to win a stage. I targeted the first week. Then I survived the Pyrenees with today's stage in mind and I've succeeded."

Sagan, who will still wear the green jersey in Stage 14, admitted that he made a big mistake by waiting longer than it should be before launching an attack down the stretch.

"I was waiting for too long," Sagan said. "It's my mistake. I have to thank my team for the good job done before the sprint but my mistake was to sit down behind him instead of passing him straight away and continue my effort till the finishing line. I've increased my lead in the green jersey classification but that wasn't my priority today."

Below is top 10 finishers on Friday.

  1. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) 4hrs 43mins 42secs
  2. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo)
  3. Jan Bakelants (AG2R) +3secs
  4. John Degenkolb (Giant) +7secs
  5. Paul Martens (LottoNL)
  6. Chris Froome (Team Sky)
  7. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana)
  8. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo)
  9. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
  10. Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing)

Meanwhile, despite finishing sixth on Friday, Froome maintained his lead in general classification. He is still two minutes and 52 seconds ahead of second-placed Tejay van Garderen and three minutes and nine seconds ahead of third-place Naira Quintana of Movistar.

Alejandro Valverde of Movistar remained in fourth place, followed by Geraint Thomas of Team Sky. Alberto Contador of Tinkoff-Saxo, Robert Gesink of LottoNL, Tony Gallopin of Lotto, Vincenzo Nibali of Astana and Bauke Molema of Trek round up the top 10 in general classification.

Complete classification are available on this link. Photos and highlights of Stage 13 and previous stages in the 2015 Tour de France can be viewed on this link.

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