LOURDES, France, July 15 (UPI) -- Thor Hushovd grabbed the lead in the final 1 1/2 miles Friday and charged home for his first stage victory in the 2011 Tour de France.
France's Jeremy Roy took a daring lead as the riders climbed Col d-Aubisque and had a sizeable advantage over Hushovd and David Moncoutie until the final stages of the 94.8-mile run from Pau to Lourdes.
But Hushovd pulled away from Moncoutie with about 3 miles to go and caught Roy 1 1/2 miles later. He continued to pull away for his ninth career Tour de France stage win.
Hushovd, who led the overall standings for much of the first week, covered Friday's Stage 13 route in 3 hours, 47 minutes, 36 seconds. Moncoutie was 10 seconds back and Roy crossed 26 seconds behind Hushovd.
Overall leader Thomas Voeckler finished with the main group of riders in 17th and retained the yellow jersey. He leads Frank Schleck by 1 minute, 49 seconds and Cadel Evans by 2:06. Andy Schleck, Frank's brother, is 2:17 off the pace in fourth.
Saturday's Stage 14 sweeps across the Pyrenees for 104.7 miles from Saint-Gaudens to Plateau de Beille near the village of Cabannes. The route includes five climbs of Category 2 or tougher, including an uncharacterized climb in the final 9 miles.
