<p>Tour de France leader Chris Froome lost valuable time on Friday after former champion Alberto Contador attacked in the flat 13th stage, won by Briton Mark Cavendish.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Froome held on to the leader's yellow jersey but lost one minute nine seconds to Contador after being left behind as the Spaniard and his Saxo-Tinkoff team mates accelerated away.<br /><br />Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who had started the day second overall, also lost out when he had a mechanical problem at the 84-km mark of the 173-km stage through central France and the peloton did not wait for him.<br /><br />Team Sky's Froome, who had gone into the stage 3:25 ahead, now leads by 2:28 over Dutchman Bauke Mollema who was third on the day.<br /><br />Contador, the champion in 2007 and 2009, moved up to third place overall, 2:45 behind, after finishing seventh.<br /><br />Cavendish, who won a sprint to the line with green jersey holder Peter Sagan of Slovakia, collected his 25th Tour stage win.</p>
<p>Tour de France leader Chris Froome lost valuable time on Friday after former champion Alberto Contador attacked in the flat 13th stage, won by Briton Mark Cavendish.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Froome held on to the leader's yellow jersey but lost one minute nine seconds to Contador after being left behind as the Spaniard and his Saxo-Tinkoff team mates accelerated away.<br /><br />Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who had started the day second overall, also lost out when he had a mechanical problem at the 84-km mark of the 173-km stage through central France and the peloton did not wait for him.<br /><br />Team Sky's Froome, who had gone into the stage 3:25 ahead, now leads by 2:28 over Dutchman Bauke Mollema who was third on the day.<br /><br />Contador, the champion in 2007 and 2009, moved up to third place overall, 2:45 behind, after finishing seventh.<br /><br />Cavendish, who won a sprint to the line with green jersey holder Peter Sagan of Slovakia, collected his 25th Tour stage win.</p>