Voeckler prays to keep jersey

It would take a miracle for Thomas Voeckler to lose his lead in the Tour de France in Lourdes after the 152-km 13th stage on Friday, one of the shortest of the race.

The Frenchman, who leads Luxembourg's Frank Schleck by 1:49 and Australia's Cadel Evans by 2:06 overall, survived three gruelling climbs in Thursday's first day in the Pyrenees and the classic Aubisque pass should not cost him the jersey as it is situated more than 40 kms from the finish line.

"Everybody believed my Europcar team to be weak but the guys showed all day how strong they were," said Voeckler after finishing behind the favorites in the 12th stage.