Chris Froome regained the Tour de France leader’s yellow jersey as Team Sky’s late surge allowed the three-time champion to gain vital seconds over previous leader Fabio Aru.
Team Sky have, through a combination of Froome and Geraint Thomas, led the race for all but two of the race’s 14 stages so far.
Italy’s Aru took the jersey from Froome on Thursday’s stage 12 after turning an 18s deficit into a six second lead, but Saturday saw the Team Sky man reverse that gain and re-establish his 18s lead.
Team Sunweb’s Michael Matthews took the stage win in Foix following an uphill sprint that saw Team Sky drive the pace in the closing stages and Froome finish seventh on the road, with Aru 30th, 24s behind his rival for yellow.
And Froome - who is aiming to win a third Tour de France title in a row, and fourth in total - was surprised by his gains on the day.
"I didn't think I could get the jersey back on this stage," said the Briton.
“It did help to know finish from two years ago, but I'm back in yellow because the team kept me at the front.
“Without their job, there's no way I could keep my position. In the last 500m, I heard shouting in radio, ‘push, push, push’…
“It's amazing to hear that. Every second here is worth fighting for. It is still so close.
"It is a great day.”
Sunday sees the riders tackle a 189.5km stage from Laissac-Sévérac l'Église to Le Puy-en-Velay that features four categorised climbs, including two category one climbs, with the closing stages likely to see a race to the line down the descent off the Cote de Saint-Vidal.
Sportsbeat 2017