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Evenepoel cuts Pogacar's lead with time-trial win
- Olympic champion Evenepoel completed the 26.1km course along the shores of Lake Geneva in 32 minutes and 19 seconds.
- It was the 26-year-old Belgian's second successive stage victory after he triumphed on Sunday's mountainous 15th stage.
- Slovenia's Pogacar crossed the line in 32min and 47secs as his overall lead was trimmed to 4min 32secs.
Remco Evenepoel cuts Tadej Pogacar's lead at the top of the general classification by 28 seconds with a dominant victory in the time-trial on stage 16 of the Tour de France. Remco Evenepoel cut Tadej Pogacar's lead at the top of the general classification by 28 seconds with a dominant victory in the time-trial on stage 16 of the Tour de France. Olympic champion Evenepoel completed the 26.1km course along the shores of Lake Geneva in 32 minutes and 19 seconds.
It was the 26-year-old Belgian's second successive stage victory after he triumphed on Sunday's mountainous 15th stage. Slovenia's Pogacar crossed the line in 32min and 47secs as his overall lead was trimmed to 4min 32secs. The rest of the field finished more than a minute back, with Denmark's Mattias Skjelmose taking third.
Evenepoel acknowledged it was "pretty special" to secure his fourth Tour stage victory overall on Belgium's national day. "It's amazing, it was a very nice time-trial with a lot of people on the side of the road, Evenepoel said. "I read this morning it's been a while since Belgium won on national day, so I'm proud to be the one.
"My whole family from both sides being here, my parents came just today. My wife is here with her parents and the siblings as well. Evenepoel's team-mate Florian Lipowitz suffered a setback, though, after he was forced out of the stage through injury.
Two days after two-time former winner Jonas Vingegaard crashed out of the Tour while sitting second overall, Lipowitz went down hard on a bend. The German had been fifth in the standings until that point and had set the fourth fastest time in the three intermediate time-checks. But several minutes after he crashed, Lipowitz was escorted to a medical vehicle holding his left arm.
"That's very unfortunate, it's like a bitter-sweet pill to swallow with this victory, so I wish him all the best and I hope it's not too bad, Evenepoel added. 1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 32mins 19secs 2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +28secs 3. Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +33secs 4. Thymen Arensman (Ned/INEOS Grenadiers) +34secs 5. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita/Soudal Quick-Step) +36secs 6. Bruno Armirail (Fra/Decathlon-CMA CGM) +37secs 7. Joshua Tarling (GB/INEOS Grenadiers) +40secs 8. Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1min 20secs 9. Tom Pidcock (GB/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) +1min 48secs 10. Lenny Martinez (Fra/Bahrain-Victorious) +1min 52secs 1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 56hrs 14mins 18secs 2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4mins 32secs 3. Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +6mins 51secs 4. Paul Seixas (Fra/Decathlon-CMA CGM) +7mins 11secs 5. Juan Ayuso (Spa/Lidl-Trek) +9mins 22secs 6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +10mins 14secs 7. Lenny Martinez (Fra/Bahrain-Victorious) +12mins 50secs 8. Tom Pidcock (GB/Pinarello-Q36.5) +12mins 58secs 9. Jordan Jegat (Fra/Total Energies) +22mins 50secs 10. Yannis Voisard (Swi/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +24mins 18secs Evenepoel criticises doping tests as Vingegaard crashes Hoy backs Glasgow 2026 for 'massive success' Tour de France quiz: Can you name every winner since WW2?
Source: BBC Sport