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Those who are superstitious may be a little concerned about the seventh stage at the 2018 Tour de France, it’s falls on Friday the 13th.
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The longest stage of the 2018 Tour de France happens to fall on Friday the 13th. Some believe it to be an unlucky day – but that’s just superstition, right?
Early in the history of the race, there would be a rest day after each stage and thus the first three times that a Friday the 13th fell while the Tour was being contested, there was a rest day. Coincidence? Maybe.
The most recent winner of a stage of the Tour de France on this date is David Millar (pictured) who claimed a victory in Annonay on a day when it took around 100km to establish the so-called ‘early break’. The escapees held off the peloton and the Brit celebrated his first win at the Tour since his suspension for issues relating to doping.
This year, it will be the 15th time that there has been a Friday the 13th in July since the inception of the Tour in 1903.
For the sake of interest, here is a summary of the stage winners and leaders of GC on this ‘unlucky’ day.
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| Year | Stage | Stage winner | Race leader |
| 1906 | Rest day | — | René Pottier (FRA) |
| 1917 | Rest day | — | Philippe Thys (BEL) |
| 1923 | Rest day | — | Henri Pélissier (FRA) |
| 1928 | 20 | Maurice Dewaele (BEL) | Nicolas Frantz (LUX) |
| 1934 | 10 | René Le Grevès (FRA) | Antonin Magne (FRA) |
| 1945 | — | No Tour that year | — |
| 1951 | 9 | Raphaël Géminiani (FRA) | Roger Lévêque (FRA) |
| 1956 | 9 | Roger Hassenforder (FRA) | Roger Walkowiak (FRA) |
| 1962 | 20 | Jacques Anquetil (FRA) | Jacques Anquetil (FRA) |
| 1973 | 12a | Luis Ocaña (ESP) | Luis Ocaña (ESP) |
| 1973 | 12b | Lucien van Impe (BEL) | Luis Ocaña (ESP) |
| 1979 | 16 | Lucien van Impe (BEL) | Bernard Hinault (FRA) |
| 1984 | 15 | Fréderic Vichot (FRA) | Vincent Barteau (FRA) |
| 1990 | Rest day | — | Claudio Chiappucci (ITA) |
| 2007 | 6 | Tom Boonen (BEL) | Fabian Cancellara (SUI) |
| 2012 | 12 | David Millar (GBR) | Bradley Wiggins (GBR) |
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