Evenepoel secures stage 16 time trial victory at Tour de France
Remco Evenepoel claimed a decisive victory in the stage 16 individual time trial of the Tour de France, held over a 26.1km course from Évian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains. The Belgian rider, a time trial world champion, finished with a time of 32 minutes and 19 seconds, marking his second stage win in this year’s race.
Evenepoel’s performance saw him gain 28 seconds on Tadej Pogačar, who currently holds the yellow jersey. Despite the significant gain, Evenepoel acknowledged that challenging for the overall Tour victory, given his deficit of 4 minutes and 32 seconds, was not his focus. He expressed pride in his win, which occurred on Belgium’s national day, and noted the support of his family at the event.
Evenepoel’s Dominance and Teammate’s Crash
Evenepoel’s victory was described as bittersweet due to the crash of his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate, Florian Lipowitz. Lipowitz, who was in fifth place in the general classification at the start of the day, crashed in the closing kilometres of the stage after his wheel reportedly slid out on a bend. Evenepoel stated he would miss Lipowitz for the final week of the race.
During the time trial, Evenepoel demonstrated his strength, passing the second time check 56 seconds faster than Mattias Skjelmose and 14 seconds quicker than Pogačar. His impressive pace was evident from the start, as he went through the first checkpoint 21 seconds faster than any other rider.
Key Performances and Course Details
The stage featured a challenging course that included the second-category Côte de Larringes, a 9.7km climb with a 4.3% gradient, followed by a descent towards Lake Geneva. The terrain was not a typical flat and straight time trial, incorporating 500m of climbing between the start and finish points, both located at an altitude of 390m on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Earlier in the day, Josh Tarling of Netcompany-Ineos set the initial fastest time of 34 minutes and 21 seconds. His teammate, Filippo Ganna, finished just four seconds behind. Bruno Armirail of Visma-Lease a Bike then surpassed Tarling’s time, setting a new fastest mark of 34 minutes and 14 seconds. Mattia Cattaneo of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe further improved this, shaving off 13 seconds to record a time of 34 minutes and 1 second.
Thymen Arensman experienced an unfortunate delay at the start gate, reportedly rolling off around 10 seconds late. Despite this, he managed to slot into second place, just four seconds off Cattaneo’s time at that point. Pablo Castrillo of Movistar, the Spanish time trial champion, also showed strong form, passing the second checkpoint quicker than Cattaneo.
General Classification and White Jersey Battle
Following stage 16, Tadej Pogačar maintains his lead in the general classification. Remco Evenepoel remains in second place, with Isaac del Toro in third. The battle for the white jersey, awarded to the best young rider, saw Isaac del Toro and Paul Seixas in a close contest. At the second time check, they were neck and neck, with Seixas ultimately gaining a five-second advantage at the finish line.
Other notable riders in the top ten of the general classification include Juan Ayuso, Mattias Skjelmose, and Lenny Martinez. Tom Pidcock, who finished 12th on the stage, moved up to eighth in the overall standings, less than ten seconds behind Martinez. The stage results saw Evenepoel finish first, Pogačar second, and Skjelmose third.
The next stage will see Niall McVeigh take over blogging duties, with the live coverage returning for stage 18 on Thursday.
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Source: theguardian.com
Nathan Crowley is the Sports News Writer at NewsUK, covering rugby union, golf and boxing with six years of reporting experience. He moved from regional newspapers into digital sport. He holds a degree in Journalism from Cardiff University and completed an NCTJ diploma. Based in Cardiff, he plays amateur rugby and follows the Six Nations closely. “Speed and accuracy are not a trade-off in sport news.”
