Meersman eventually finished fourth behind Drucker, Bora Argon’s Rudiger Selig and Giant-Alpecin’s Nikias Arndt, while Movistar’s race leader Nairo Quintana maintained his significant advantage in the general classification over Team Sky’s Chris Froome.
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Quintana tried on four occasions to leave Froome through a series of rapid accelerations while the British rider responded again and again to draw level and finish with the same time after a fascinating duel. “I looked at the route and I told myself that I had to try something”.
Gesink, riding for Lotto NL-Jumbo, fought off leg cramps as he surged ahead of Kenny Elissonde and Egor Silin to win the 196-kilometer (122-mile) route finishing at the Col d’Aubisque category-one summit after almost six hours.
Conti, 23, celebrated the greatest moment of his career to date when he stormed to a solo victory in the hilly 213.4km ride between Bilbao and Urdax-Dantxarinea to secure his Lampre-Merida team their first stage win in this year’s race.
“My calendar and Froome’s has been pretty similar, in terms of wear and tear, this season, and also my legs feel exhausted at this point of the year… but I hope to keep it going into this final week, hopefully better than Chris, to conserve this leader’s jersey”.
Saturday’s 14th stage is 196km long from Urdax to Aubisque and includes three first category climbs before the final hors category ascent to the finish.
As Quintana forged on ahead, although the Colombian was finally beaten by Italy’s Gianluca Brambilla at the finish, Froome was the biggest loser, ceding over two and a half minutes. The former Vuelta victor lost nine minutes in the overall standings and plummeted from third place to 19th.
“It was a hard day, for sure”, said Sky’s sport director Dario Cioni.
Catching the leaders proved too much for the British rider, but the time he gained throws him into contention for the title in the remaining seven stages.
A second Colombian, Esteban Chaves of Orica-BikeExchange, completes the virtual podium 20 seconds behind Froome with Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) breathing down his neck a further five seconds back.
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Quintana leads Froome by 54 seconds after Froome’s stage 11 victory in Pena Cabarga on Wednesday. “Valverde is out of the game – that’s good news. I knew that he was looking for time and if I sat in, it was general classification for Quintana and the stage for me”.
